A SENSE OF GRAVITY: “TRAVAIL” (A REVIEW AND A FULL ALBUM STREAM)

 Album Reviews, Premieres  4 Responses »
Feb 132014
 

(TheMadIsraeli brings us a review and the premiere of a full-album stream for the debut album by Seattle’s A Sense of Gravity.)

A Sense of Gravity are a terrific band.  Composer and guitarist Brendon Williams has kept in touch with me for the last couple of years, allowing me to hear what they’ve been doing from their demo material onward.  I’ve loved everything he’s ever shared with me, yet I’ve refrained from mentioning them before, mainly because I wanted to see how they turned out. Finally they have completed a full-length.  Travail is brutal, dynamic, and full of twists and turns.  Imagine a cluster-fuck smattering of Meshuggah, Allan Holdsworth, Emerson Lake and Palmer, Scar Symmetry, and Extol, and you have A Sense of Gravity.

This album is diverse, with some songs driven by pneumatic ballet, some driven by pure caustic sprays of speed-powered hellfire, and some delivering pure, undiluted fusion-jam indulgences.  Travail has a great deal of fun contained within it, all while showcasing serious, intelligent musicianship at its core.  The twists and turns are many, producing a sonic labyrinth.  The album almost sounds like metal done by Jazz Fusion guys, as opposed to metal guys with jazz backgrounds, and that turnaround style-incorporation gives the music a unique vibe. Continue reading »

AN NCS EXCLUSIVE PREMIERE: TELLUSIAN – “THE COLLYER BROTHERS”

 Premieres  4 Responses »
Feb 102014
 

(In this post, Austin Weber brings us an exclusive song premiere and provides the following introduction to the music of Tellusian from Malmö, Sweden.)

While Crowpath have been broken up for several years now, a new outfit (new to most people) called Tellusian has sprung from their demise. Including in their ranks both Crowpath’s vocalist Henrik Ivarsson and drummer Erik Hall, Tellusian have been slowly teasing out their curious and amorphous nature in short EPs. Now they are gearing up to release Collision, their debut full-length. After talking with them, they graciously agreed that an NCS song premiere would be cool, and they chose “The Collyer Brothers”.

The song is a journey that, once it unfolds, reveals an oddball progressive nature nestled inside a ravenous core. Expanding freely from a recurring central riff segment, the song dives into technically complex sludge with death and black metal shards, and sneaks in a luminious instrumental reflection toward the end. “The Collyer Brother” lurches and grinds in perfect yin/yang layering. The monstrous growls, shrieks, and roars of Henrik Ivarson serve to blanket the song with a palpable sense of disgust. Caught up in the whirlwind are carefully balanced hypnotic leads and a warm, delicious bass presence prone to following its own path, all fused to a backbone of pummeling, stop-start drumming hell-bent on destruction. Continue reading »

BLOODGUARD ARE NOW BEYOND GRACE (AND THEY HAVE A NEW SINGLE AND VIDEO)

 Metal News, Premieres, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  11 Responses »
Feb 062014
 

As many of you know, NCS writer Andy Synn is the frontman for a UK band named Bloodguard — or rather they used to be named Bloodguard. As of today, the Bloodguard name has been laid to rest. Henceforth, the band shall be known as Beyond Grace. And in addition to spreading the word about that change, we’re delighted to bring you the intergalactic premiere of the band’s new video for the song “Panopticon”, which is also being released via Bandcamp as a single.

But before premiering the video I’m going to turn this post over to Mr Synn, who explains the name change, future plans for the band, and other news. — Islander

********

So… where to start? The decision to change our name was not an easy one to make. We realise it comes with potential costs, but it also has a host of benefits we just couldn’t overlook.

Why the new name? A lot of reasons really. The old one doesn’t really suit us anymore, it fits awkwardly in some ways, and is surprisingly hard to get people to remember. Whereas the new name suits the lyrical direction – more socio-political, more transhumanist – and the new sound of the band – heavier, more technical, more death metal – much better.

Plus it sounds way cooler when you growl it onstage.

Bloodguard is no more… Beyond Grace is born. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: “HARVEST OF SHAME” BY FIRST REIGN

 Album Reviews, Premieres  9 Responses »
Jan 202014
 

(In this post TheMadIsraeli reviews the debut album by First Reign from BC, Canada, and we bring you the premiere of a full-album stream.)

What a beast of an album.

Non-European melodic death metal that’s REALLY good is really hard to come by. It always has been. For every one band from somewhere else, you could name three European bands of at least equal weight. First Reign are a Canadian band who I believe are at the head of the class of what they do. I’ve covered them before, reviewing their debut EP, but with the band’s debut album, Harvest of Shame, they’ve undergone a transformation. They are more technical, more progressive, and with a much darker tonality.

Imagine the ferocity of At the Gates, the guitar acrobatics and power-metal clean interjections of Into Eternity (pre-Stu Block), and a Death-like sense of composition, combined with some traditional death metal carnage, and you have First Reign. Harvest of Shame is a bleak, twisting labyrinth of melodic death metal might. The band’s seamless integration of their various influences and their commitment to producing melodic death metal that is truly their own is astounding. I’d be hard-pressed to name any one band who truly sounds like this one, even though I can rattle off the names of others who have laid the groundwork for their sound. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: “SENTENCED TO GRIND” BY ASS TO MOUTH

 Premieres  5 Responses »
Jan 102014
 

Something about this Polish band’s name causes it to stick in the memory. The delicacy and gracefulness of the band’s name are matched by the name and cover art of their new album, Degenerate, which is due for release by Selfmadegod Records in February 2014. Last November I wrote enthusiastically about the album’s first advance track (“Under the Razor’s Edge”), and now we have the degenerate pleasure of premiering another song, “Sentenced To Grind”.

This new song is a strafing run of burly, hammering riffs, a high-energy drum attack, and howling/shrieking vocals that will stand your hair on end. And man, it has a powerhouse groove that will keep you coming back for more. This is top-shelf grind from a band worth watching closely. Be sentenced to grind right after the jump. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: “AT THE PLATEAUS OF LENG” BY ROGGA JOHANSSON’S MEGASCAVENGER

 Premieres  2 Responses »
Jan 082014
 

Rogga Johansson is a one man army. He has been a fixture or a session musician in so many bands that it’s easier to just send you to the list at Metal Archives rather than try to name them all here (even though that list is probably incomplete). One of his more recent projects is named Megascavenger, and today we’re high as kites over the chance to premiere the title track from the new Megascavenger album, At the Plateaus of Leng.

Rogga Johansson is also a death metal riff machine. Riffs roll out of his mind and fingers like weapons from an assembly line — black, oiled, loaded, and ready to spew destruction. At the Plateaus of Leng is packed with them. Although Johansson is also one of death metal’s most distinctive (and horrifying) vocalists, he has lined up a ridiculous collective of guests to vomit hate on this new album. This is a “who’s who” list so eye-popping that we will provide it in full:

1. “At The Plateaus Of Leng” (Vocals by DAVE INGRAM of Bolt Thrower/Benediction)

2. “The Festered Earth” (Vocals by KAM LEE of Massacre)

3. “And Then The Death Sets In” (Vocals by AAD KLOOSTERWAARD of Sinister)

4. “The Mucus Man” (Vocals by MARTIN VAN DRUNEN of Asphyx/Hail of Bullets)

5. “Like Comets Burn The Ether “(Vocals by DAVE ROTTEN of Avulsed) Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: “INCENDIUM” BY BURIAL HORDES

 Premieres  12 Responses »
Jan 022014
 

I first happened upon Burial Hordes from Greece last January after discovering their split release with Enshadowed, which is excellent (reviewed here). They have a new album on the way, entitled Incendium, which will be released later this month by the Polish label Hellthrasher Productions. It features cover art by Mark Riddick, production by Devo Andersson (Marduk), and eight tracks of striking music divided into two “chapters” — “Decay” and “Fall”. Today we have the privilege of exclusively premiering the new album’s title song, “Incendium”.

It’s a gripping piece of music, shrouded in darkness and weighted by a choking atmosphere of doom and despair. Deep, ominous riffs accompany hoarse, heartless roars and hair-raising shrieks, while an off-the-chain drum performance infuses the music with powerful energy, and chiming guitar notes create an almost ethereal contrast. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE — CRYPTODIRA: “AN UNMARKED GRAVE”

 Premieres  2 Responses »
Dec 302013
 

(Through the efforts of NCS contributor Austin Weber, We have the privilege of premiering a new EP by a New York metal band named Cryptodira. Austin provides the following introduction.)

Cryptodira are part of a new breed of metal bands. They don’t play within merely one style or genre but instead craft a multi-faceted sound all their own. I’ve compared them to East Of The Wall before, due to their post-metal influence, but Cryptodira are quite comfortable interspersing death metal and groove into their music as well.

While Cryptodira’s new EP, An Unmarked Grave, does not come out until January 4th, they graciously hooked us up with an exclusive stream ahead of its release. Both tracks are chaotic treats of swirling chaos and swelling calm, though some differences between them are apparent.

Track one, “Descension”, is certainly the faster of the two, exploding with a violent energy, abounding in frenzied, hard-hitting drums until (as usual) the band take you into beautiful instrumental reprieves and a lengthy singing passage. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: “PROFANE” BY THE CONJURATION

 Premieres  2 Responses »
Dec 132013
 

(NCS contributor Austin Weber introduces our exclusive premiere of yet another advance track from the forthcoming album by The Conjuration.)

As I mentioned rather recently when talking about The Conjuration here at NCS, they have a new album entitled Surreal on the horizon. While I have been informed it may be a couple months before it’s released, sole band member Corey Jason wanted to give us a bad case of aural AIDS caused by metal in the form of a new track entitled “Profane”. If anyone else suffers a similar reaction, please let me know so we can swap pics!

As far as The Conjuration tracks go, this one is a bit more straightforward, yet it still gives off the same mentally deranged vibe I’ve grown to love in the band’s music. While largely an aggressive death metal number, the early slight instrumental pause builds up the tension wonderfully— especially when coupled with the unsettling raspy howl that creepily appears for a few seconds hiding under the music around the 1:32 mark. Continue reading »

TEMPEL — “RISING FROM THE ABYSS”

 Premieres  4 Responses »
Dec 102013
 

“Tempel” is the new name of an Arizona band formerly known as Temple. Those of you who are already familiar with their music are probably already fans. For everyone else, remember the name, because their debut album On the Steps of the Temple is a gem. Prosthetic Records will be giving it a broad-scale release in January 2014, and today we’re delighted to offer you an exclusive taste of what’s coming by featuring one of the album’s many strong tracks, “Rising From the Abyss”.

On the Steps of the Temple is an instrumental album, and one that succeeds brilliantly despite the lack of vocals. While much instrumental metal leans toward the proggy, post-metal end of the musical spectrum, Tempel have woven their dark tapestry primarily with strands drawn from death metal, doom, sludge, and black metal.

A musical meditation on greed, self-delusion, and their perils, On the Steps of the Temple is ominous, densely layered, and utterly crushing. Even for a solely instrumental work that exceeds 50 minutes in length, it’s an intense listening experience that commands attention from beginning to end. Continue reading »

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