AN NCS PREMIERE: “CALL OUT THE DEAD” BY BEASTWARS

 Premieres  8 Responses »
Aug 202012
 

If you recognize that amazing artwork above by Nick Keller, it may be because just a few days ago we included it in a feature about his work. It graces the cover of an equally amazing self-titled album by New Zealand’s Beastwars. And today, we’re pleased as all hell to premiere a song from the album entitled “Call Out the Dead”.

Beastwars originally self-released this album in their home country in May 2011, where it generated a ton of buzz and earned the band a nomination (as one of only three finalists) for Best Rock Album in the 2011 Vodafone New Zealand Music Awards as well as selection as one of seven finalists (out of 87 submissions) for the country’s 2011 Taite Music Prize. Now the album is finally getting a worldwide release through Destroy/EMI Records — on September 11 in North America and a day earlier elsewhere.

No one song on the album fully represents the album as a whole, which is one of the reasons why it’s such a thoroughly enjoyable listening experience. Every song has its own character, yet they’re related to each other through the presence of powerful, earth-moving riffs, enormously catchy hooks, and the completely riveting vocals of Matt Hyde (which are themselves dramatically variable).

The album reminds us of the best work of Mastodon, though more primal and occult in its feel, with helpings of Sabbathian-style doom, Melvins-style sludge, Alabama Thunderpussy-style Southern groove, psychedelia, and a whole shitload of evil. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: MORDBRAND – “CONSUME THEM” FROM “KOLUMBARIUM”

 Album Reviews, Premieres, SHORT BUT SWEET  No Responses »
Aug 162012
 

Mordbrand is a three-man death metal juggernaut from Sweden whose work has appeared frequently at NO CLEAN SINGING and drawn considerable attention elsewhere, too. Consisting of vocalist Per Boder (ex-God Macabre), guitarist/bassist/backing vocalist Björn Larsson, and drummer Johan Rudberg, Mordbrand have chosen (so far) to release their music in small portions. There was a 2010 split with Evoke, an attention-grabbing EP in 2011 entitled Necropsychotic (reviewed here), and a split with Bombs of Hades released earlier this year under the title No Life (featured here).

Since the release of the No Life split, Mordbrand have recorded two more songs destined for release by Deathgasm Records as a 7″ vinyl bearing the name Kolumbarium. The two songs are “Consume Them” and “Let Them Slumber”. The second one features guest vocals by Nox from the excellent Swedish band Craft.

Originally expected this summer, manufacturing delays have pushed off Kolumbarium’s availability — the latest word is that it will be released by late September or early October. However, because we are awesome, we have been allowed to hear the two songs in advance. Because you are awesome, you will also get to hear one of them before you finish reading this post. Yes, in a moment of weakness, Mordbrand agreed to allow NCS to provide the world premiere of “Consume Them”. And man, does it rip hell. Continue reading »

KARYBDIS: “FROM THE DEPTHS” — AN NCS FULL-ALBUM STREAM

 Album Reviews, Premieres  4 Responses »
Jun 292012
 

Students of Greek mythology will recognize Kharybdis as the name of a sea monster, a spawner of whirlpools who together with Scylla created a smashing gauntlet of death from which few seafarers escaped. Karybdis is also the name of a smashing UK-based metal band whose mythology-themed debut album From the Depths we’re proud to stream for you in full today.

I’m almost (but not quite) at a loss for words to describe the music on From the Depths. It’s like a full-speed collision of a multitude of metal genres — most prominently, melodic death metal, groove metal, thrash, and hardcore, with different elements more dominant than others, depending on the song. Imagine a fusing of the musical styles of At the Gates, Lamb of God, The Black Dahlia Murder, and Darkest Hour. Or think about The Absence or the late, lamented The Famine — but don’t forget to throw in a few symphonic enhancements, a jazz guitar solo, and old-school breakdowns (the kind that break necks without being introduced by a bass drop).

You get Gothenberg galloping; jagged pneumatic riffing; blazing, layered melodic leads and swirling solo’s; booming bass lines you feel all the way through your core; wonderfully varied attacking drums; tempos that turn on a dime; and an impassioned vocalist (Rich O’Donnell) who has an extended range of unclean styles, from cavernous roars to cauterizing howls and paint-melting shrieks.

Also, every one of these high-voltage songs functions like a giant mosh-trigger — press play and you’ll be looking for the first solid object against which you can hurl yourself. But shit, this thing also includes string instrumentals that sweep and dance with elegance — and I’m talking about real strings (violin, viola, and cello), not the artifice of a synthesizer. Continue reading »

AN EXCLUSIVE NCS PREMIERE: “THE HORRORS OF HOME” BY KARTIKEYA

 Premieres  13 Responses »
Jun 212012
 

At NCS, we follow Moscow’s Kartikeya like hawks, because their music is excellent, because they don’t sound quite like anyone else, and because they don’t stand still. The band are at work on a new album, to be called Samudra, which we understand should be ready for release later this year, and they’ve been teasing their fans about a new single from the album to be released June 22.

Well, it may only be June 21 in the U.S., but it’s June 22 in Russia — and so the song is ready for release now. And to our very happy surprise, we get to premiere it!

The single is called “The Horrors of Home”, and the artwork features the photography of Greg Shanta. The song itself also includes some noteworthy guests, in addition to the members of Kartikeya: NCS favorite Keith Merrow, who contributes a winding, rippling guitar solo, and vocalist Aleksandra Radosavljevic.

“The Horrors of Home” may be the most multi-faceted piece of music that Kartikeya have yet created, combining complex hammering rhythms, passages of ethnically-influenced dreamlike ambience (made even more otherworldly by Aleksandra Radosavljevic’s wordless vocals), a soaring chorus, sections that put me in mind of the dark melodic death metal of bands such as Insomnium, and maybe even a flavor of Devin Townsend and Machina-era Smashing Pumpkins. And the male vocals on the album really provide an array of tones — from bestial death metal howls to blackened shrieks to rousing cleans.

Do listen to this piece of dark, transfixing music right after the jump . . . and then we’ll tell you how to get it for yourself. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: SVYATOGOR’S “DOCTOR VERITAS”

 Premieres  1 Response »
May 212012
 

I suspect that when the words “experimental” or “avant garde” are mentioned in connection with metal, most people’s reactions fall into one of two categories: Some stifle a gag reflex and feel the impulse to run for the hills, and others experience a quickening of the pulse at the prospect of finding something new and different in a musical landscape saturated with sameness. I’m in the latter group — but at the same time I’ve learned the hard way that those “experimental” and “avant garde” labels can cover a multitude of musical sins, encompassing a lot of dreck as well as some true gems.

In the case of Doctor Veritas, the recently released third album from Ukraine’s Svyatogor, we have gems. You may remember that in early April, I included a recently released song from the album (“Work Hard. Eat. Watch.”) in an NCS post (here), though conceivably it may have escaped attention since it was preceded in the post by videos of . . . flying penguins and a deluge of guns.

I’m not taking any chances this time. This time, Svyatogor get a post all to themselves as we assist in the international premiering of a second track from the album — the title song, “Doctor Veritas”. Thanks to the band’s label, Svarga Music, a CD-quality file of the song is also available for free download. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: 7 HORNS 7 EYES — FULL STREAM OF “THROES OF ABSOLUTION”

 Premieres  22 Responses »
Apr 192012
 

January 26, 2010 — the day when I first saw and heard 7 Horns 7 Eyes. They were the only local Seattle band on a night that included The Binary Code, Revocation, and Hypno5e. They played last, and I nearly left because I had an early start at work the next day, but I didn’t — and man, was that a piece of good fortune. As I wrote the next day in a review of the show for this site, I was thoroughly blown away: “If merit counts for anything (and unfortunately, it doesn’t always), these hard-working dudes will find a place in the vanguard, and the kind of widespread notice they deserve.”

Since that night, I’ve seen the band put on more riveting live shows and written about them frequently at NCS. They’ve undergone some changes — including the addition of vocalist J.J. “Shiv” Polachek (who has recently become an NCS guest columnist). But perhaps the biggest change is that they’ve signed with Century Media and Basick Records, and they’re on the verge of releasing their debut album, Throes of Absolution: April 24 in North America (Century) and a day earlier in Europe (Basick).

Not all success stories are happy ones (lots of low-talent artists become successful), but this one sure as hell is, and we’re stoked to show our support by streaming the entirety of Throes of Absolution for your listening pleasure.

If you’re new to 7H7E, I’ll say this much for now and save the rest for our review, which will be coming soon: This is a really good album. Jolting stop-start rhythms, dark keyboard atmospherics, thunderous bass-lines, guitar leads and solo’s that go off like fireworks, beastly vocals, swirling melodies, excellent songwriting.

Oh, one more thing: Jeff Loomis makes a guest appearance on “Regeneration”. Continue reading »

AN NCS SONG PREMIERE: FLAYED DISCIPLE’S “INTERCEPTOR”

 Premieres  3 Responses »
Mar 262012
 

It was nearly Halloween Eve last year when I stumbled across a UK band called Flayed Disciple and their deliciously titled EP, Ejaculate While Killing. In a burst of enthusiasm, I summed up the music thusly: “This shit is a freaked-out blast of death-thrash, like some Formula One machine with a corpse at the wheel, fishtailing across a crowded highway and leaving smoking wreckage in its wake.”

Fresh wreckage is now on the way, because Flayed Disciple have completed their debut album, Death Hammer, and it’s scheduled for release on May 28. Even better, they’ve authorized us to provide the intergalactic premiere of the album’s third track, “Interceptor”. And even better still, they’re making that song available for free download so you can carry it around with you like a severed finger.

Now, you may be interested to know (or to remember, if you’re an older fart like me) that Interceptor was the name of the vehicle driven by Mel Gibson (before he turned into a completely weird fuck) in the first two of the Mad Max movies. That was a fine car — a modified version of the 1973 XB GT Ford Falcon Coupe, which was a production car exclusive to Australia, with a big supercharger protruding from the hood.

Flayed Disciple’s “Interceptor” is similarly a fine song with a big protruding supercharger. Smoking thrash riffs eat up the pavement like a black machine being speed-shifted into ramming mode. And when the supercharger kicks in, you get a heated blast of guitar shred. Continue reading »

FULL ALBUM STREAM: ELYSIAN’S “WIRES OF CREATION”

 Album Reviews, Metal News, Premieres  9 Responses »
Mar 232012
 

We’ve premiered individual songs before, but this is a red-letter day at NCS because today we’re premiering a full-album stream. The album is Wires of Creation (scheduled for release on March 26), and the band is Australia’s Elysian.

We first came across Elysian through one of our EYE-CATCHERS experiments — in which we listen to new music based solely on the appeal of the album art (the Wires cover was then, and still is, very cool). At that time, only one song from the album was available for listening (“Mans Design”), and it was a powerhouse piece of music. Now we’ve heard the whole album, and it fulfills the promise of that first song.

Elysian’s metal is both complex and primal, stylistically diverse and intricate in its composition, yet infused with atmospheric melodies and head-busting grooves. Wires of Creation is a dynamic work that both leads the mind down a labyrinthine path and packs a physical punch. It’s progressively minded melodic death metal that brings to mind an imaginary collaboration between Dark Tranquillity and pre-Harvest Opeth, but with other ingredients in the mix as well.

The band was founded by guitarists Gabriel and Nathan Hutchinson, and their interplay — part throw-down duel and part harmonious collaboration — is a large part of what makes the music so engrossing. They jab in a blur of hard punches, they bring the fiery shred, they spin webs of atmospheric melody. Gabriel is also responsible for keyboard additions that enhance the music with beats of electronica and soaring ambience. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: NAGLFAR — “AN EXTENSION OF HIS ARM AND WILL”

 Premieres  23 Responses »
Feb 242012
 

Drawing upon Norse mythology, Sweden’s Naglfar named themselves for the ship made from the nails of the dead that was foretold to carry the hordes of Hel across the waters, bringing them into battle with the gods of Asgard during the cataclysmic events of Ragnarök. The band released their first demo, Stellae Trajectio, in 1994 and their first album (Vittra) in 1995. On March 26, Century Media will release Naglfar’s sixth album, Téras, and today we’re privileged to stream the North American premiere of its fifth track, “An Extension of His Arm and Will”.

In addition to appearing on the album, the song will be released on Monday (Feb. 27) as a limited-edition 7″ single that will also include a non-album b-side song, “As Long As They Fear.” A white vinyl version will be limited to 100 copies exclusively for U.S. customers, and both black and transparent red vinyl versions will be shipped in the EU, also in limited quantities. They can be ordered through CM Distro via these links:  http://bit.ly/zk8eeq (EU) and http://bit.ly/yA7P3k (US).

Naglfar now features a line-up consisting of vocalist Kristoffer W. Olivius (the band’s original bass player, who become lead vocalist following the 2005 departure of Jens Rydén), guitarist Andreas Nilsson (who has been with the band since its inception), and guitarist Marcus E. Norman (who joined in 2000). The drums for Téras were recorded by Dirk Verbeuren (Soilwork, Scarve).

Téras will be Naglfar’s first album in almost five years. One song from Téras — “Pale Horse” — has already debuted, and we featured it here on the day before Christmas. The new song that we’re premiering today confirms that Téras will be well worth the wait. Continue reading »

ANOTHER SIGHT OF EMPTINESS VIDEO PREMIERE: INSTRUMENTAL “TRANSITION”

 Premieres  1 Response »
Jan 242012
 

We’ve been fortunate to make the long-distance acquaintance of a talented metal band from Costa Rica named Sight of Emptiness, and we’ve been honored to help them spread the word about their new single, “Transition”. In addition to premiering the audio version of the song itself (here), we also premiered the eye-catching animated lyric video for it (here).

Today, we’ve got one more “Transition” premiere to give you — but this one comes with a twist. Today’s feature is a brand new performance video of the band playing “Transition”. Professionally filmed and edited by Andrés Montero and Sebastian Pérez, with lots of cool split-screen shots, it’s fun to watch — and of course the song is still all kinds of badass.

The twist is that this version of the song is purely instrumental — and it still works. In fact, even though only the vocals have been subtracted from the mix, it sounds almost like a new song. I hope that when the band eventually releases the single for purchase it will include both versions.

So go past the jump and watch the NCS premiere of this “Transition” video. Continue reading »

 Older Entries  Newer Entries