AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): KERES — “HOMO HOMINI LUPUS”

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Feb 222024
 

As described by The Font of All Human Knowledge: “Homo homini lupus, or in its unabridged form Homo homini lupus est, is a Latin proverb meaning ‘A man is a wolf to another man,’ or more tersely ‘Man is wolf to man.’ It is used to refer to situations where a person has behaved comparably to a wolf. In this case, the wolf represents predatory, cruel, and generally inhuman qualities; in essence, the person is held to be uncivilized.”

The Italian black/death metal band Keres took that proverb as the name for their debut album which is due for release on February 23rd via Gruesome Records. It is, for them, a truth about the human condition that provokes disgust and rage. They define humanity as “the biggest plague on earth”:

“Over the centuries we killed each other for the most trivial reasons, hiding behind religion, political ideologies, false respectability and many other bullshit with the purpose of justifying what we have done and are still doing. But the truth is that our nature will always lead us to crave what we don’t have, bringing endless conflicts for this thirst of power, which will bring upon us our own demise. In the end, only ruins and dust of what we are will remain, this is our true legacy. We deserve extinction.”

Keres obviously don’t mince words. They don’t pull any punches in their music either, as you will discover for yourselves through our complete premiere stream of their new album today, on the eve of its release. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): COUNTING HOURS — “THE WISHING TOMB”

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Feb 212024
 

No matter where; of comfort no man speak:
Let’s talk of graves, of worms, and epitaphs;
Make dust our paper and with rainy eyes
Write sorrow on the bosom of the earth

That’s not the last time we’ll quote Shakespeare in this article, but we begin with that excerpt from Richard II for a reason, which you may understand when you hear Counting Hours‘ The Wishing Tomb, which will be released on February 23rd by Ardua Music.

These Finnish dark metal torchbearers have a way with words too. Here’s how they introduce this new album:

“The Wishing Tomb represents a cathartic journey. It’s an exploration of human frailty, dreams, and the unspoken. The tomb symbolizes both longing and release—the place where wishes crystallize and fade away. Counting Hours invites listeners to step into this cryptic space, where emotions resonate and time loses its grip.” Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: OPIUM DEATH — “THE CONDEMNED”

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Feb 202024
 

On April 19th the Chicago-based extreme metal band Opium Death will release a debut album named Genocidal Nemesis. It’s an angry album, focused on hubris and its role in the downfall of humankind. The album’s cover art itself draws on this theme. As the band’s bassist/vocalist Donald Nadzieja explains:

For the significance of the album artwork, to us, it represents hubristic suicide, self-end caused by something you were foolishly convinced was a good thing. Obvious heroin reference but the guy on the needle was addicted to money and power. It is a common theme that happens throughout the album and we thought this represented that very well.

As you’ll see, this theme surfaces in the second single from the new album that we’re premiering today. Its name is “The Condemned“. Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: LARES — “10 HYGIEA”

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Feb 202024
 

“Music Appreciation” is the name of a short horror movie by Lucas Milhomen that hasn’t been released yet. During the covid lockdown the Berlin-based metal band Lares were asked to collaborate on the movie by creating their own version of the main soundtrack theme written by the composer Eylül Biçe, and to perform it in the movie.

The name of the song that Lares made is “10 Hygiea“, and we’re presenting it today through a surreal video shot and edited by Paolo Lombardi that makes use of live footage from Lares‘ recent concert at Reset Club in Berlin.

The song is a stand-alone single, but it also serves as a wake-up call for people who have been waiting for a new record by this distinctive German group — and a new record will indeed arrive this coming spring (we have some details about that after the presentation of “10 Hygiea”. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: VOHA — “RAVEN CRY”

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Feb 192024
 

A great deal of music across all genres is made in homage to what has come before it. It is the affection for something heard that provides the inspiration for something new. Often, this leads to mere mimicry at first, though sometimes it provides the foundation for subsequent originality. Sometimes, and more rarely, the homage is so striking, so eye-opening, that you almost forget where the inspiration came from, and we have an example of that today.

The young Croatian artist behind the black metal band Voha has made clear that in the making of Voha‘s new album Majestic Nightsky Symphonies, he drew inspiration from Dimmu Borgir as an important influence, but also was driven by inspiration from the likes of Emperor, Odium, Nokturnal Mortum, Obtained Enslavement, Sacramentum, Old Man’s Child, Vinterland, and Gehenna.

Creating symphonic black metal was the main goal, but Voha also used the album to express his love of fantasy tales, and so arranged it as a story of a Dark Lord and the Sorcerer who “helps him to regain the power of evil to forge new atrocity”. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: SHADOW LIMB — “SNAKE MOUNTAIN”

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Feb 192024
 

We’re about to premiere a song that’s simultaneously sinister and seductive, crushing and narcotic, alternately bone-smashing and anguished. Somehow it’s both visceral and elaborate, and ultimately both very unsettling and irresistibly captivating.

The success of the California band Shadow Limb in creating such contrasts and then turning them into complements of each other is impressive, and so is their skill in drawing together differing genre elements in order to do so.

The name of the song, which appears on the band’s new album Reclaim, is “Snake Mountain“, and it’s likely we’d be thinking of snakes while listening, regardless of the title. Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: CELL PRESS — “ORIGINAL URANIUM BABY”

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Feb 162024
 

About 3 1/2 years ago we premiered the self-titled debut EP of the Montreal band Cell Press on the eve of its release. We opened our introduction this way:

“If we could see your faces when you listen to it, there would be a great temptation to write nothing about the music and just watch your expressions change as all the surprises hit you like battering rams, expressions that might range from joy to panic to spine-tingling fear, and perhaps revulsion too. But since we can’t see you, on we go….”

And on we went, somewhat spoiling the surprises by referring to the music as “mad, mauling, and mind-bending — sometimes fiery and frenzied, sometimes cold and brutally destructive, and almost always so viscerally gripping that it makes your whole body want to move (even if some of the movements are spasms)”.

And so we couldn’t help but experience a kind of deviant glee when learning that Cell Press would be releasing their first full-length this March, a work named Cages, and more deviant glee when realizing we’d have the chance to premiere the video you’re about to witness for the second single off the album. Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: SUN OF NOTHING — “GHOST”

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Feb 152024
 

Metal genre labels begin to resemble scrambled eggs cooked with onions, peppers, tomatoes, and potatoes, with a sprinkling of cheeses and spices. The thought comes to mind in contemplating “experimental post blackened sludge metal”, which is how some have characterized the music of the long-lived Greek band Sun of Nothing.

But just as a flavorful breakfast scramble causes the mouth to water, Sun of Nothing‘s music is also very enticing, even though it might also make you think it’s the last meal you’ll be eating before the world ends. Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: KELEVRA — “CLEANSE WITH FIRE”

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Feb 142024
 

On March 8th the Canadian metal band Kelevra (from Regina, Saskatchewan) will release a new album named Oneiric, which follows by a significant 8 years their last record, 2016’s Lividity.

For all of us, those 8 years brought an immense amount of change and challenge, and no exception was allowed for Kelevra. Among other hurdles they had to surmount, their bass player Adrienne suffered severe heart damage caused by an extremely rare and usually lethal autoimmune disorder, damage that led to multiple surgeries, the implementation of an electronic device (which powered her heart even as she continued playing live shows), and eventually a heart transplant.

We mention Adrienne‘s experience here at the outset, because she is one of the performers you’re about to see in a guitar-and-bass playthrough video for a thrilling song named “Cleanse With Fire” off Kelevra‘s new album. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: HANDS OF GORO — “DEMONIZER”

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Feb 142024
 

What shall you give your love on this Valentine’s Day? This person advises against store-bought flowers because they’re not planet-friendly. Boxes of sweets that rot teeth and burgeon butts? Maybe not the best idea either. Is there anything you can do that isn’t damaging in some way (even though love is almost always damaging at some point)?

How about showing your affection with a gift of some thundering music that includes “elements of anthemic, epic, traditional heavy metal with torrents of harmonized savagery and brief ventures into the likes of punk, classic rock, and more”?

That’s the PR come-on for the self-titled debut album by Hands of Goro, which is set for release on March 1st. It’s a seductive come-on, and becomes even more seductive when you see that the band’s three participants include members of Spirit Adrift, Nite, Slough Feg, and former live members of Carcass and Angel Witch. Continue reading »

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