AN NCS PREMIERE: A FULL ALBUM STREAM OF MIASMAL’S “CURSED REDEEMER”

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May 122014
 


From the first seconds of the first song on Cursed Redeemer, Sweden’s Miasmal rip the door open on a death metal blast furnace, and the conflagration doesn’t diminish (much) from then until the album’s final notes. It’s an adrenaline rush that also happens to be adroitly composed and performed with top-shelf skill, and we’re damned happy to bring you a stream of the whole scorching thing, right here, right now, on the day before its US release.

Miasmal (who include two members of the excellent Agrimonia) call Gothenburg home, but don’t be fooled by the geography: This isn’t melodic death metal (though the songs do include a slew of memorable melodic hooks), and it’s not predominantly gore-drenched or doom-driven death metal either.

If you’re familiar with the history of death metal in Sweden, then you know that it was influenced in its early development more by punk and d-beat hardcore than the scene in the U.S., and that comes through loud and clear in Cursed Redeemer. But these dudes also know how to kick out some mighty galvanizing thrash licks, too. And they also deliver blunt-force trauma with convincing enthusiasm. Continue reading »

JUST BEFORE DAWN: “COUNTERBATTERY”

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May 072014
 

Early last month we were stoked to break a bunch of news (here) about the new album (The Aftermath) by Sweden’s Just Before Dawn and to bring you sample music from two of the album’s songs. Today, we’re equally stoked to introduce your ears to a new free single that JBD are introducing to tide fans over until The Aftermath becomes available. The new song is named “Counterbattery”.

In case you’re just hearing about JBD despite how often I’ve written about them, this is the project of musician Anders Biazzi (Blood Mortized), who in addition to being a talented songwriter, guitarist, and bass-player, must also have a silver tongue — because he always seems to succeed in assembling a stellar line-up of vocalists and guitar soloists for JBD’s albums. He’s succeeded again on “Counterbattery”. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: ZGARD — “UNDERWORLD BELLS”

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May 072014
 

Zgard is the one-man project of western Ukrainian musician Yaromisl; the name refers to an amulet in the culture of the Huzuls, an ethno-cultural group who for centuries have inhabited the Carpathian mountains, and Carpathian folklore has been a strong inspiration in the music of Zgard. The band’s fourth album has now been completed under the name Contemplation, and it’s scheduled for release by Svarga Music on June 23, 2014. Today we bring you the premiere of the album’s closing track, “Underworld Bells” [Дзвін потойбіччя].

Contemplation has been my first exposure to the music of Zgard, and “Underworld Bells” exemplifies much of what makes the album as a whole so captivating. Like almost all the tracks, it’s a long song, running almost 11 minutes, and yet I’m betting your interest won’t flag in the least as it pulls you into its epic atmosphere. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: SEPTICFLESH — “BURN”

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May 072014
 

As we’ve been faithfully reporting for months, the Greek symphonic death metal titans Septicflesh have a new album fittingly named Titan that’s coming our way in North America via Prosthetic Records (June 24). We’ve previously featured the first advance track from the album (“Order of Dracul”), and today we have the pleasure of helping premiere a second song named “Burn”.

The name is well-chosen, because the song does indeed burn. Blazing tremolo riffs blacken the music and turn it into a ripping assault. But that’s just for starters. The song also includes a massively headbangable stomping riff — as well as a beautiful soaring melody spun out like glistening gossamer by lead guitar and symphony. It’s a hell of a song. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: ORUGA — “HERETICS”

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May 052014
 

Following a 2010 demo (Blitzkrieg Lady) and a self-titled 2011 EP, the French band Oruga are on the verge of seeing release of their debut album, Blackened Souls, via Apathia Records. A video clip for one track (“Ghosts of Anneliese”) premiered last month, and today we bring you a second offering with our premiere of the album’s opening onslaught, “Heretics”.

Blackened Souls was recorded “live in the studio”, and that was the right move. The music itself is like a raw and ravaged abrasion, and the immediacy of the performance comes through vibrantly in the recording.

“Heretics” begins with spoken words over the vibration of massive, groaning chords that lumber like a great beast dragging its way to a final resting place. The voice howls with wounded conviction, the staggering riffs hit with bone-shattering force, the drum beats slam like a sledge, and a dense of atmosphere of despondency settles like the mantle of night. Continue reading »

AN NCS DUAL-SONG PREMIERE: INFIRMARY AND AETHERIUM MORS

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May 012014
 

On May 15, Eihwaz Recordings (a sub-label of Bindrune Recordings) will release an unusual split by West Virginia’s Infirmary and UK-based Aetherium Mors: The split really consists of a full four-track EP by each band. Two songs from the split have previously debuted (here), and today we bring you two more — one from each of the bands.

INFIRMARY

Infirmary are a West Virginia duo consisting of guitarist/vocalist Aaron Carey (Nechochwen, Unwilling Flesh) and bassist/drummer Andrew D’Cagna (Nechochwen, Obsequiae, Brimstone Coven, Unwilling Flesh). Their EP included in this split is entitled Suffering For Eternity.

If you’re familiar with the other bands of Infirmary’s line-up, you may not be prepared for the devastation they unleash under the Infirmary name — but you will become educated when you hear our premiere of “Forced Into the Flames”, which is the first track on this striking split. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: LISTEN TO A FULL STREAM OF ABORTED’S “NECROTIC MANIFESTO”

 Album Reviews, Premieres  6 Responses »
Apr 282014
 

(In this post BadWolf reviews the new album by Aborted — The Necrotic Manifesto — and we bring you for the first time anywhere a full stream of the album in its entirety.)

When you have a staff as wild as the NCS crew, it’s pretty difficult to arrive at anything approaching consensus. Between Islander, myself, Izzy and Andy, not to mention our various contributing writers, we like pretty much every style of metal (Note: that sentence, to anyone just casually reading this site, probably sounds completely absurd. You’re right. It’s totally absurd, but follow me). Concordantly, whenever there’s a record that every single one of us feels strongly about, it’s worth getting up and taking notice. One such record was Aborted’s 2012 rager, Global Flatline, which somehow wound up on every single one of our year-end lists. Maybe that’s why we have the privilege of streaming its successor, The Necrotic Manifesto, in its entirety for you below!

Aborted haven’t messed with their formula much in the last two years, which is good; why mess with perfection? The Belgian five-piece combines gory death metal with hardcore and grindcore influences as well as anybody else. If you wanted, you could call them a deathcore band, but why would you want to? Their approach doesn’t rely on big, meaty breakdowns to carry otherwise limp songs. Sure, there’s a massive bruiser at the end of “The Davidian Deceit,” but the three minutes leading up are chock full of squealing guitar runs and lock-step grooves as well. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: ARCTURUS — “RAUDT OG SVART”

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Apr 262014
 

Norway has been home to a very long list of groundbreaking metal bands, many of whom are sadly no longer with us. Arcturus are one of the survivors. Their roots go back to approximately 1990, and although their demise has been rumored more than once, they continue to forge ahead. As they have moved forward, they have evolved, transforming themselves through a persistent desire to experiment with the boundaries of metal, and with black metal in particular.

Their last release at this writing was a critically acclaimed 2006 DVD entitled Shipwrecked In Oslo, which captured the band’s 2005 live performance at the Sonic Solstice Fest in Oslo, Norway. The line-up for the performance consisted of Steinar “Sverd” Johnsen (keyboards), Jan Axel “Hellhammer” Blomberg (drums), Knut Magne Valle (guitar), Hugh “Skoll” Mingay (bass), Simen “ICS Vortex” Hestnæs (vocals), and Tore Moren (guitar).

Now, the Finnish label Blood Music has taken the soundboard recording of the concert and professionally re-edited and remastered the audio for release on CD and vinyl. Continue reading »

INFESTUS: “THE REFLECTING VOID” (A FULL ALBUM STREAM)

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Apr 252014
 

Earlier this month Andy Synn reviewed the stunning new album by Germany’s Infestus for us (here). In his concluding paragraph, he wrote:

“The beautiful, unforgettable cover art embodies the album so well – this is music from the darkest depths of the human mind, a black, malignant tumour of pain and anguish which spreads its tendrils widely to encompass a host of dark emotions and warped musical influences, creating a truly immersive, unforgettable experience.”

Today we’re pleased to bring you a full album stream of The Reflecting Void, which has just become available via Debemur Morti for both listening and download on Bandcamp. In addition, the album can also now be ordered on CD at this location or on 12″ gatefold vinyl at this one. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: FALL OF THE ALBATROSS — “LIKE A GOOD TORNADO”

 Premieres  1 Response »
Apr 202014
 

(Austin Weber provides the following introduction to our premiere of a new song by New York-based Fall of the Albatross.)

Fall Of The Albatross are a band I’ve covered before at NCS, having previously witnessed their diverse chaos live and written about it here. The group used to have a vocalist but later became an instrumental-only band, as they were when I saw them. The music you will hear below is a taste of their new sans-vocal style from their upcoming full-length, Enormous Cloud, coming out on June 24th. This is wildly original, next-level instrumental metal, concocted from a plethora of different genres and styles, with the elements arranged against each other in unique, non-linear ways.

I’m a sucker for song titles that perfectly capture the essence of the music, and when you hear “Like A Good Tornado”, you’ll understand that the title expertly encapsulates the splendidly spastic, whirlwind nature of the song. That the title defines the music as a good tornado is a key point of distinction, since tornados are typically bad — and this is anything but! Continue reading »

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