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 »

ABORTED’S “GLOBAL FLATLINE”: THE FULL-ALBUM STREAM

 Premieres  4 Responses »
Jan 202012
 

To flense the flesh from the bones with scalpels and with teeth.  To pulverize and grind the bones into powder.  To mix the powder with spraying arterial blood and force the mangled body to drink deep while the masters of its doom howl with maniacal glee.

To do all this and leave the victim smiling and begging for more. This is the trick.  Many have tried to master it, few have succeeded. On their new album, Global Flatline, Aborted show us how it’s done.

Rising above all else they’ve achieved before, this multinational collective have produced a head-whipping, face-shredding album that will cleave its way into your cranium and take up residence there — and you’ll be begging them not to leave. Scalpel-sharp riffing, obliterating drumbeats, explosive bass drops, tempos that flip upside-down on a dime, solo’s that jet like an acetylene torch, wonderfully bestial vocals — it’s all there.

And that would be enough, but mother of fuck, there’s still more — melodies swimming through the maelstrom of each song that sink them fast into your memory, and thunderous grooves that are irresistibly convulsive. You want the first skyrocket of the 2012 death metal season? Look no further than Global Flatline.

We’ve got two reviews of the album at this site (here and here), but as good as those are, there’s really nothing like hearing the music for yourselves. We’re SO fucking pleased to premiere a full stream of this fine album, which you can hear right after the jump. Continue reading »

ANOTHER NCS EXCLUSIVE PREMIERE: THE LYRIC VIDEO FOR “TRANSITION” BY SIGHT OF EMPTINESS

 Premieres  1 Response »
Jan 182012
 

Lyric videos for metal songs seem to be increasing in popularity, but many of them are disappointing. They often consist of nothing more than images of an album cover or the band, with the words scrolling or fading in and out. And many times you’re better off not knowing the words. Lyrics aren’t critical to the kind of metal we listen to at NCS, because you usually can’t understand what the vocalist is singing, and they often turn out to be a forgettable distraction from the music — or worse — when you see them in print while listening.

Well, the brand new lyric video for the song “Transition” by Costa Rica’s Sight of Emptiness turns out to be a different breed of cat. This is a video well worth seeing, and we’re proud to give it an exclusive premiere.

You should already be familiar with the song — we premiered it here at NO CLEAN SINGING one week ago, and it’s damned cool. The lyric video now enhances the listening experience, creatively interpreting the lyrics through an intriguing (and ominous) animation that ends with the unfolding of the cover art for the “Transition” single, which you can see above.

The eye-catching animation was created by Andrés Montero Conde at B2crea (http://www.b2crea.com/), and it’s a kick to watch. The lyrics themselves tell the story of a rebirth, a transition and transformation of a being . . . but there’s a dark undercurrent to this story. Watch it after the jump (we recommend you take this to full-screen mode if you’re viewing it on a computer). Also after the jump, some exciting recent news about Sight of Emptiness. Continue reading »

AN EXCLUSIVE NCS PREMIERE: “TRANSITION” BY SIGHT OF EMPTINESS

 Premieres  9 Responses »
Jan 112012
 

From left to right: Rafa Castro (Lead Guitar), Gabriel Arias (Electronics), Eduardo Chacón (Singer), Rodrigo Chaverri (Drums), Andrés Castro (Lead Guitar), Esteban Monestel (Bass & Backing Vocals)

 
To really set the stage for this story, we have to turn back the clock two years. In January 2010, we found out about a very impressive melodic death metal band from Costa Rica named Sight of Emptiness. What got us hooked were three songs from the band’s second album, Absolution of Humanity, that were then streaming at MySpace, plus a cool video of the band performing a fourth song — and we wasted no time posting about Sight of Emptiness here.

We wrote about them again in September 2010 on the occasion of the band’s release of a video capturing their performance of the song “Burning Silence” in front of 15,000 people in San Jose, Costa Rica, when they opened for Megadeth. Since then, the band have continued to perform and to build a an international fanbase — and to write new music.

And today we’re stoked to give you the world premiere of a new Sight of Emptiness single — “Transition”. It’s a killer song — one that rolls like a blast-wave of explosive detonation from start to finish, one that hits that sweet spot where the flash of cathertic high-energy intersects with shimmering melodies. It also reflects positive growth and evolution in the band’s sound.

In addition to the song, we’ve also got a short interview with the band and another video — after the jump. Continue reading »

AN EXCLUSIVE NCS PREMIERE: DEICIDE’S “HOW CAN YOU CALL YOURSELF A GOD?”

 Metal News, Premieres, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  19 Responses »
Feb 042011
 

On February 15, the infernal majesty of DEICIDE will unleash hellfire on our fragile world with Century Media’s release of the tenth album in their storied career, To Hell With God. Today, we are proud (and duly humbled) to provide the exclusive premiere of the closing track from the new album, called “How Can You Call Yourself A God?”

As we wrote yesterday, this is a red-letter day for us. Not only is this our first world premiere of a song, it’s a song by one of death metal’s true icons — a band whose name every devoted deathmetalhead knows, a band who helped brick and mortar the foundations of a genre on which so many other bands have built their own work.

Deicide put the “fuck” in “I don’t give a fuck”. They put the “bad” in “bad-ass”. They may have put the “ass” in “bad-ass”, too. They represent all that is unclean about NO CLEAN SINGING. In a nutshell, for us, getting to premiere a Deicide song is like a fever-fueled, ringing-wet, nightmarishly horrific dream come true.

In debuting a track from the new album, we’re joining MetalSucks, who premiered “Hang In Agony Until You’re Dead”, and Invisible Oranges, who premiered “Into the Darkness You Go”, in helping to introduce the new album to all of you. We have a few words about the song itself — plus the fucking song — right after the jump. Continue reading »

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