AN NCS VIDEO PLAYTHROUGH VIDEO PREMIERE: THE SECOND FOVEA — “VIBORA”

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Dec 142023
 

For someone like this writer, who has played no musical instrument since rebelling against compulsory piano lessons as a pre-teen, watching talented musicians perform is like watching a magic show.

Watching metal musicians perform at aggressive speeds is even more magical, and perhaps watching drummers is the most fascinating, because after all they’re using all four limbs doing four different things at any moment but usually without sounding like four trash cans crashing down some stairs.

And so I tend to be attracted to playthrough videos by drummers, including the one you’re about to see, which features skinsman Priyam Srivastava performing on the song “Vibora” by The Second Fovea. Continue reading »

AN NCS EP PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): MRTVI — “GREAT CLEANSING COME UPON US”

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Dec 142023
 

Beginning in the spring of 2017 we’ve premiered music and videos by MRTVI six times. Today makes the seventh time — but it may be the last.

We’ve been consistently fixated on the music of this solo project of Serbian artist Damjan Stefanović because it has been so consistently interesting, and so difficult to pigeonhole in genre terms (though “experimental black metal” might come closest, simply because the music has been unconventional).

The music has always been personal, and often autobiographical. For that same reason, it may have run its course with the EP we’re now premiering in full on the even of its release. Here is what Damjan has told us about Great Cleansing Come Upon Us: Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: COGNIZANCE — “SHADOWGRAPH”

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Dec 132023
 

The rise of Cognizance has been near-meteoric, thanks to the impact of their 2019 debut album Malignant Dominion and especially their second full-length Upheaval in 2021. We spilled our own fair share of words about both of those here, embracing their storming, head-spinning technicality but also appreciating the nuance revealed within their turbocharged yet precise shredding and blasting, and thus their ability to create songs worth dissecting in addition to experiencing the sheer thrill of being overwhelmed.

And speaking of thrills, it has been thrilling news indeed to see that these UK tech-death maestros will have a third album coming our way in January of the impending New Year. Entitled Phantazein, it’s a concept album picked for release by the band’s new label Willowtip Records, and today we’re thrilled to premiere an official video for a new album track named “Shadowgraph“. Continue reading »

AN NCS EP PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): CAVERN — “AMALGAMATION OF ABNORMALITIES”

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Dec 132023
 

In this feature we’re premiering a debut demo by Cavern, a band about whom we don’t have much info to share, which is rare. We know that one member who writes the music and performs the instrumentation is in Portugal and the vocalist is in France, and that’s all we can say. But of course we have the music.

The name of the demo, which will be released on Bandcamp through the Primitive Archive label on December 15th, is Amalgamation of Abnormalities. It includes five tracks, and of course we’ll give you our preview of the music in addition to the opportunity to hear them and form your own impressions. Continue reading »

AN NCS EP PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): FERAL FORMS — “PREMALIGNANT”

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Dec 122023
 

Before the first notes are heard, Feral Forms‘ debut EP Premalignant ought to grab attention quickly among gnarly denizens of the metal underground. There’s the “for fans of” recommendation by the labels who are releasing it: Angelcorpse, Teitanblood, Diocletian, Black Curse.

And then there’s the fact that this Italian quartet features current and former members of The Secret, Grime, Claustrum, and Fierce.

And then there’s that cover art, staring you in the face with those bulging eyes, dissolving face, and strange forehead cavities.

Now that they (and we) have your attention, it’s time to launch the music, though we must say that the EP’s title is either misleading or just plain scary: If this EP’s music is “premalignant”, it’s frightening to think what Feral Forms might do if they decided to channel fully emergent malignancy. Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: IXIAN — “VINES IN TIME WILL COAT THE GRAY”

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Dec 112023
 

Ixian is the prolific solo project of Daniel Shroyer from Athens, Georgia. This year alone Ixian has released two splits, an EP, and four albums. The most recent album, Vines In Time Will Coat The Gray, came out in September, and was co-released by Owlripper Recordings.

Ixian‘s releases move around quite a lot in their stylistic ingredients. Metal-Archives classifies Ixian as “Post-Black Metal”, but that’s probably because they couldn’t think of anything else for music and noise that’s so difficult to pin down.

Some of the conceptual themes of the newest album were captured in the poetry of the title track’s words: Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: ANDRACCA — “OCEANS OF FIRE”

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Dec 082023
 

Through their new album To Bare the Weight of Death, which will be released next month by Vendetta Records, the UK black metal band Andracca delve into deep subjects, perhaps the most profound and challenging subjects that confront, or eventually will confront, all of us.

The album’s title itself points to its themes — the experiences of grief and despair caused by death, and in this case, the acceptance of mortality, a reconciliation with death that can be life-affirming. Inspired by the band’s own personal experiences and struggles with loss, the album is intended to manifest “a unification of life and death”, “a triumph of resilience and will, inviting listeners to embrace their own lives with renewed vigor”.

Obviously, these subjects are emotionally powerful, ranging from extreme trauma to struggle, and ultimately to endurance, acceptance, and maybe something even more valuable. They are subjects that call music of equal emotional power.

Did Andracca succeed? You’re about to get the beginning of an answer through our premiere of a video for the song “Oceans of Fire“. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: SAEVUS FINIS — “AEONS OF SPIRITUAL STARVATION”

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Dec 072023
 

Seemingly out of nowhere the Portuguese band Saevus Finis has appeared, with a debut album named Facilis Descensus Averno that’s set for release on January 12th by Transcending Obscurity Records.

For the very few of you who don’t keep a Latin dictionary close to hand, Saevus Finis means “the savage end” and Facilis Descensus Averno means “descent to hell”. Entirely fitting, those words, because the Saevus Finis rendition of death metal on their debut is indeed savage and hellish — punishingly heavy and unnerving in the extreme, a musical fashioning of destructive ruination, sheer madness, and harrowing agonies that makes a startling impression.

As tangible proof of these opinions, today we’re presenting the third song from the album to be revealed so far. Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: STAGES OF DECOMPOSITION — “SKID ROW SLASHER”

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Dec 062023
 

The decomposition of organic matter proceeds in stages. In humans, the process includes the body’s own chemical actions and putrefaction as well as the work of bacteria and, in the right settings, the feeding of worms, maggots, flies, and other creatures. But what must precede the increasingly disgusting stages of decomposition is… death.

With that learning in mind, it’s no accident that the brutal slamming L.A. death/grind band Stages of Decomposition chose that name for the music they intended to make, and have made — which is gutting, gruesome, and foul. But they are also clearly aware that death must precede rot and bodily ruination, and so their music is also ruthlessly lethal.

On their new album Raptures of Psychopathy, Stages of Decomposition lean into the most violent and punishing aspects of their sound, and we have a prime example in the new album track we’re presenting today, along with a blood-spraying video, in advance of the record’s February release by Gore House Productions. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: RESIN TOMB — “PURGE FLUID”

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Dec 062023
 

When we see the name Resin Tomb the first words that come to mind, based on the previous releases of these Australians, are “bombardment”, “fragmentation”, and “incineration” — music used as weaponry — followed by thoughts of “agony” and “mental breakdown”. “Hellish terrors” is another phrase we’ve used in descriptions of their previous noise.

Of course, most surface-dwellers would recoil from anything so-described. In our case, it just makes us eager for more — and more is what we will have when Transcending Obscurity Records releases this harrowing band’s debut album Cerebral Purgatory next month, to help usher in the New Year with ruination.

So far, two tracks from the new album have surfaced (“detonated” is probably a better word), and today we’ve got a third one for you, one that is indeed destructive but one that also brings shivering chills. Its name is “Purge Fluid“. Continue reading »

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