AN NCS PREMIERE: NECROTUM — “SHATTERED FLOW OF TIME”

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Dec 202023
 

Gaze upon the fabulously ghastly cover art for Necrotum‘s new album Defleshed Exhumation and you’ll know that death metal will follow.

The writhing and hook-lined tentacles, their shadows stretching into the endless distance, the skeletons immersed in putrefying fluids, all of it overseen by the sunken eyes of a looming death’s head, it all foretells gruesome horrors to come.

But what kind of death metal awaits us? Surely something rancid, surely something influenced by progenitors from the ’90s… and those guesses prove to be correct, but don’t go far enough, as you’ll understand when you hear the track we’re premiering today in advance of the album’s January release by Memento Mori. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: DIPYGUS — “THE DOVER DEMON”

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Dec 192023
 

The last time we premiered a song by Dipygus (here) we resorted to the word “macabre” not once but twice. Feeling somewhat nauseated, we also shared the results of our researches into the meaning of the band’s name and a particularly disgusting bodily infiltration referred to in the title of the song we shared.

We shared other info about this California band’s wide-ranging but thoroughly bizarre thematic interests, but not nearly enough. A more complete listing of those unusual interests would swell to extravagant proportions, but this time we’re going to provide the more complete exegesis… eventually… after we’ve dealt with the meat of the matter today, which is another Dipygus premiere.

But don’t overlook that historical record at the end of this article, because it’s highly entertaining Continue reading »

AN NCS TEASER PREMIERE: ABERRATION AND DIABOLIC OATH

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Dec 182023
 

Here, we’re doing something we almost never do — premiering brief excerpts from songs off a forthcoming release. Such things are mere teasers, even more teasing than the premiere of a complete song from an album or EP that you can’t yet hear in full.

So why did we cave in and sweep away our usual reticence to brutally tease our visitors? You’re about to find out. Continue reading »

AN NCS EP PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): THE SEPT — “MMXXIII”

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Dec 152023
 

We’re at an inhospitable time of year for the release of new music. Ardent metal fans tend to be looking backward in reflection rather than keeping their eyes on what’s coming from the near horizon or noticing what just dropped in front of them, and of course everyone is immersed, whether in joy or misery, in the distractions and chores of the inescapable “holiday season”.

And yet, as always, the end of the year brings musical gems, even if they sadly may go unnoticed, and The Sept‘s new EP MMXXIII is one of those.

But let’s be clear up-front: This isn’t a pretty, sparkly gem. It has many facets, but their edges are jagged and may leave you bleeding if you’re not careful, and the colors are obsidian. Staring too long may also bring about madness. Continue reading »

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 »

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