SEEN AND HEARD: POLYPTYCH, SETENTIA, DESPITE, CROWORD, FORRAEDERI

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  4 Responses »
May 132016
 

Polyptych-Defying the Metastasis

 

For reasons I’ve explained before, I’ve had less time than usual to surf for new metal, partly because I’ve been getting home so late at night from hospital visits. Last night I made it home a bit earlier than usual, faced again with an enormous amount of stuff in our in-box and a continuing flood of new music appearing on social media. What to do?

I decided to just look at a few of the e-mails we received yesterday, and I had surprisingly good luck with that.  I discovered all the songs you’re about to hear in that way. But first, a piece of welcome news….

POLYPTYCH

Last month we had the pleasure of premiering the title track to Defying the Metastasis, the new album by Chicago-based Polyptych. Today the album has been officially released in digital form (physical CDs will be available by the end of the summer), and the album is so damned good that I thought it was worth spreading the word — and giving you a chance to listen to all of it. Continue reading »

DEATH BENEFITS: CENTINEX, SORCERY, GHOULGOTHA, GOD ENSLAVEMENT, GRAVE DESECRATOR, AIRLINES OF TERROR, DEATHCROWN

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  5 Responses »
May 112016
 

Centinex-Doomsday Rituals

 

I’m still significantly distracted from the mission of NCS these days for personal reasons that I’ve described in previous posts, and that will likely continue to be the case for at least the next week or two. But although the round-ups haven’t been coming as frequently as usual, I did manage to pull this one together over the last few days. All the songs (and one video) are fairly recent and all provide some very tasty flavors of death metal (lots of cool cover art in this post as well). For better or worse, I need to keep my own verbiage short and let the music speak for itself.

CENTINEX

That’s a hell of an album cover up there (created by Bahrull Marta of Abomination Imagery) for a hell of a band — Sweden’s Centinex. Their new album Doomsday Rituals is set for release by Agonia Records on July 8.

The band’s current line-up, which is different from the one that released eight albums prior to the disbanding of Centinex in 2005, is truly impressive: Martin Schulman (Demonical) on bass, Sverker Widgren (Demonical, Diabolical) on guitars, Alexander Högbom (October Tide, Spasmodic) on vocals, and Kennet Englund (Interment, Centinex 1999-2003). And so is the new song that premiered yesterday. Continue reading »

BENEATH THE NCS RADAR (PART 12)

 Album Reviews, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  5 Responses »
May 092016
 

CD Folder

 

(Our Norwegian comrade Gorger continues his distinctive series recommending albums that have somehow eluded our attention. To find more of his discoveries, visit Gorger’s Metal.)

Running a one-man site (old-school style, edited via usb-typewriter and quill on touch surface) takes its toll when attempting to cover as much as possible.

Hence, I’ve been too busy to leand a hand to Islander lately. To make up for it, and to rid myself of my March writings, I’m tossing in six albums this time. I hope you’re hungry. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD ON A SATURDAY: BEASTWARS, HIDEOUS DIVINITY, FEARED, FORMLESS, DENOUNCEMENT PYRE, AND FREE SAMPLERS FROM APATHIA, DARK DESCENT, AND UNSPEAKABLE AXE

 Free Shit, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  6 Responses »
May 072016
 

Denouncement Pyre-Black Sun Unbound

 

Some people may have noticed that I failed to compile even one round-up of new music all of this past week (unless you count that little Warriors in Forests thing). I’ve still been spending hours every afternoon or evening in a hospital ICU trying to help support my injured friend and her family.

For those of you who have been following my scattered references to this tragedy, my friend came out of her coma yesterday, though she still drifts in and out of consciousness and is now beset with other medical issues in addition to her injury.  It’s too soon to tell exactly how seriously impaired she will be as a result of the injury to her brain.  She can answer some simple yes or no questions by moving her fingers or foot, but she hasn’t attempted to speak and doesn’t move much. I’m trying to remain hopeful, but this is still heart-breaking.

Though I haven’t had time to do much for NCS this week besides write introductions to premieres, I have been keeping a list of new song and album streams and videos that I’ve noticed. As usual, there’s a shitload of them, far too many to write about in one post. I picked a handful to include in this post (and Austin Weber wrote an introduction to one of them as well). I’m also planning to prepare a Shades of Black post for tomorrow to collect others. Continue reading »

DOOM SONGS: A “SEEN AND HEARD” FEATURING CANDLEMASS, WO FAT, TEMPLE OF ABANDONMENT, FUNERAL MOTH, MERCHANT, AND COME TO GRIEF

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  4 Responses »
May 052016
 

 

(Grant Skelton returns to NCS after a bit of a hiatus with a round-up of new doom songs.)

I’ve been a bit MIA from our beloved NCS for the last couple of months, as my educational pursuits had taken priority over my creative ones. But now I have returned to the fold, bringing with me a harvest of disinterred dredgings of doomy delight. Continue reading »

WARRIORS IN FORESTS: WARBELL AND FEJD

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  6 Responses »
May 042016
 

Warbell-Havoc

 

Few metal video concepts have been beaten to death more thoroughly than visions of sword-wielding warriors from a mythic age spilling blood in a northern forest. Somewhere, as you read this, a Ph.D. student is writing a thesis devoted to this subject, morbidly aware that he’ll still have no job when it’s done, but deluded by the belief that he can develop an explanation for the ubiquity of this trope which is more meaningful than the simple truth: metal videos have warriors in forests because it’s fucking metal.

Of course, it helps tremendously if videos of warriors in forests are accompanied by enjoyable music, and the two recent videos in this post have that going for them.

WARBELL

Warbell are a melodic death metal band from Jelenia Góra, Poland. They emphasize that they are “female-fronted”, because, let’s face it, that still gets certain fans interested. When I see that kind of advertising, however, it tends to make me want to run the other way, not because I think female growlers are less capable than male ones but because it often means a band have nothing else going for them besides a pretty face at the front of the stage. In Warbell’s case, I’m glad I didn’t run away. Continue reading »

JUDGING RELEASES BY COVERS

 Album Reviews, Eye-Catchers, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  12 Responses »
May 032016
 

Bosch-christs descent into hell

 

(Our old friend from New Zealand and occasional guest writer Booker brings us a collection of new releases discovered through their cover art, along with some very entertaining words.)

“You should never judge a book by its cover”, or so the saying goes. No doubt most of us try and do the same with our approach to metal. Yet somehow, in amongst all the diversity of music out there, the community of metal musicians seems to self-organize; just like some drops of T-1000 liquid metal coming together to form a greater terrifying machine, different minds and souls from across the world end up uniting in their artistic endeavours and adorning their albums with specific, identifiable, cover themes. For the most part, seeing a cover with a certain “typical genre X” album art style can lead you to a fair idea of what aural treasures lie inside, but sometimes they can come out of left field and surprise you. We shouldn’t judge albums by their cover, but let’s be honest: we might say we don’t, but we all do. Like masturbation.

Once upon a time back in NCS history, Islander ran a series called “Eye Catchers” dedicated to albums that hooked you in with their artwork (and other tasty aspects). As I was perusing Bandcamp for delicious new audio treats, I realised that I too was basing my decisions of what to listen to by inadvertently succumbing to the artwork, like a moth to flame. So I figured, the hell with it, let’s see where this folly-filled exercise leads me…. and after a few surprises, and some fails, here’s a few highlights I’d like to share. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: CIRITH GORGOR, GREY HEAVEN FALL, KARTIKEYA, THE ORDER OF ISRAFEL, REBEL SCUM, SEHER

 Exceptions to the Rule, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  2 Responses »
Apr 282016
 

Cirith Gorgor-Visions of Exalted Lucifer

 

Last Saturday I explained that because of a serious brain injury to a close friend and colleague, I wouldn’t be able to write much for the site this week other than introductions of premieres I had agreed to host, and that has proven true. When not working at my fucking day job, I’ve been with her and her family in the ICU. That’s not likely to change in the coming days. My friend is showing signs of progress, and it seems likely that she will wake up soon, perhaps today or tomorrow. And then we will begin to find out how the injury has affected her mental and physical functioning. I’m optimistic, and terrified.

Though my routine this week hasn’t been anything close to normal, I have discovered a few excellent new songs and videos, thanks to recommendations from friends, and I thought I would collect them here. I’m grateful for the supportive comments I’ve received from readers, and for all the posts I’ve received from our regular writers and guests this week to keep this train rolling on down the line.

CIRITH GORGOR

Visions of Exalted Lucifer is the name of the new album by the Dutch black metal band Cirith Gorgor, who began worshipping the Devil through their music back in the mid-’90s. This is the band’s sixth studio album and their first since 2011 (in the intervening years, the band’s line-up has changed). It was released by Hammerheart Records in February. Not long ago Hammerheart and the band released a lyric video for the song “A Vision of Exalted Lucifer”. Continue reading »

AUSTIN WEBER ROUND-UP aka FOREVER PLAYING CATCH-UP (Pt 3)

 Album Reviews, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  4 Responses »
Apr 282016
 

Spheron art

 

(Austin Weber continues to pitch in on round-up duty with the second part of a multi-part post recommending metal we haven’t previously covered. You can find Part 1 here and Part 2 here.)

Spheron – A Clockwork Universe

I’m actually surprised that the new Spheron record, A Clockwork Universe, hasn’t been covered here yet since their last one got covered quite a bit at NCS. At any rate, Spheron’s latest is a fantastic record that deserves to be heard by more people! For those unfamiliar, Spheron play a particularly proggy and dense sort of tech-death with a stronger emphasis on complex rhythm riffing over flashy lead playing. Continue reading »

AUSTIN WEBER ROUND-UP aka FOREVER PLAYING CATCH-UP (Pt 2)

 Album Reviews, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  3 Responses »
Apr 272016
 

Arms art

 

(Austin Weber continues to pitch in on round-up duty with the second part of a multi-part post recommending metal we haven’t previously covered. You can find Part 1 here.)

Arms – Blackout

You ready to get down with some nasty math-grind? Because Arms bring it throughout every jagged and howling minute of their sophomore full-length, Blackout.

I have Ken Reda from Bhavachakra (previously covered in a song premiere here at NCS!)  to thank for tipping me off to this most excellent display of virulent rad viciousness! I think it’s additionally cool that the diverse and complex sonic whirlwind that Blackout delivers is the result of only one guy, Orlando, Florida-based musician/sound engineer Paul Hundeby. Continue reading »

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