A SAMHAIN HARVEST (Part 3): CRYPTICUS, ABORTED, SAILLE, TWIST ENDING

 Album Reviews, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC, SHORT BUT SWEET  4 Responses »
Nov 012014
 

 

Ideally I would have posted this collection yesterday, to accompany the first two “Samhain Harvest” posts, but I take comfort in the fact that Samhain lasts until sunset today (November 1), even though most of the costumes will have already been retired for another year and some of you are now suffering from apocalyptic hangovers.

CRYPTICUS

Yesterday, just in time for Halloween, Patrick Bruss and Brynjar Helgetun, also known as Crypticus, released Horror Grind Mixtape #2 “Chains For Devils”. I wrote about two songs from this album when they debuted in August, but now we have the entire monstrosity.

On Bandcamp it’s organized into two tracks — “Chains For Devils” and, as a bonus, a cover of one of my all-time favorite Asphyx songs, “Scorbutics”. But “Chains For Devils” actually consists of nine parts, two of which feature a special guest appearances — Rogga Johansson (Paganizer, and many, many more) providing growls on “Strike the Iron Stake” and Stevo do Caixão (Impetigo, Twist Ending) providing shrieks and lyrics on “Among the Absurb”. Continue reading »

A SAMHAIN HARVEST (Part 2): PTAHIL, BLOODBATH, T.O.M.B.

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  5 Responses »
Oct 312014
 

The Font of All Human Knowledge tells us that Samhain “is a Gaelic festival marking the end of the harvest season and the beginning of winter or the ‘darker half’ of the year” and is celebrated from sunset on October 31 to sunset on 1 November, about halfway between the autumn equinox and the winter solstice. It is a liminal time when spirits more easily enter our world, a time of divination rituals and the revisiting of souls of the dead.

In celebration of blessed Samhain I’ve harvested a collection of news and new musical offerings, a bounty large enough to warrant two posts, this being the second (this being the first).

PTAHIL

Just in time for Samhain, Indiana’s Ptahil have released an official video for the song “Don’t Drink From the Waters of Lethe” from their 2014 album Born Against, which is available on Bandcamp (here). The song is a fitting choice of this day and a blast to hear, beginning as an ominous processional and then erupting about halfway through into a conflagration of corrosive riffs, frenzied soloing, and pummeling drum beats, as the bestial vocals proclaim a warning. Continue reading »

A SAMHAIN HARVEST (Part 1): NAPALM DEATH, DARK TRANQUILLITY, ASCENSION, PSEUDOGOD

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  5 Responses »
Oct 312014
 

The Font of All Human Knowledge tells us that Samhain “is a Gaelic festival marking the end of the harvest season and the beginning of winter or the ‘darker half’ of the year” and is celebrated from sunset on October 31 to sunset on 1 November, about halfway between the autumn equinox and the winter solstice. It is a liminal time when spirits more easily enter our world, a time of divination rituals and the revisiting of souls of the dead.

In celebration of blessed Samhain I’ve harvested a collection of news and new music, a bounty large enough to warrant two posts, this being the first.

NAPALM DEATH

Yesterday  brought the announcement that Napalm Death will release their 15th studio album entitled Apex Predator – Easy Meat on January 26th in Europe and January 27th in North America. Frontman Barney Greenway provided this explanation of the album’s title and concept: Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: THE CROWN, DIRE OMEN, BLOODBEAST, CIRCA SURVIVE

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  3 Responses »
Oct 282014
 

Here’s part two of a round-up post I began earlier today. Collected here are the best of the new songs and videos that I saw and heard over the last 24 hours.

THE CROWN

We reported last month that after the passage of four years since Sweden’s The Crown released their comeback album Doomsday King, which Andy Synn praised in one of his earliest posts for our site as “a masterpiece of wild fury and calculated aggression, blurring the lines between razor-sharp thrash and full-speed death metal”, they will be returning in January with their eighth album, Death Is Not Dead.

Century Media has also just released a 7″ vinyl single from the band that includes one of the new songs — “Headhunter” — plus the band’s cover of “Unfit Earth” by Napalm Death. And yesterday the band unveiled a music video for “Headhunter”. Continue reading »

NEW ALBUM NEWS: PSYCROPTIC, BELL WITCH, BLOTTED SCIENCE

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  3 Responses »
Oct 282014
 

 

While wading through the interhole yesterday I discovered quite a few gems floating shining like tiny beacons of light in the ever-present fecal flow. To avoid over-taxing your attenuated attention spans I’ve divided this collection of nuggets into two posts, this being the first.

PSYCROPTIC

Psycroptic and Prosthetic Records announced their union yesterday. Prosthetic will be released the band’s new self-titled album worldwide next spring (EVP Recordings will be handling the release in Australia, New Zealand, and Japan). And once again we can begin scratching our heads about the decision of a band with a full and widely admired discography to self-title an album. What do that mean?

Although next spring is very far away, yesterday’s announcement also included the news that on November 4 the band will release a digital single from the new album, a song named “Echoes To Come”. And there’s a teaser of music from this single as well — which you can hear right here (all 19 seconds of it): Continue reading »

FULL ALBUM STREAM: BLOODSHOT DAWN — “DEMONS”

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  2 Responses »
Oct 272014
 

 

Demons, the new second album by Bloodshot Dawn from the UK has now been officially released, and with the release has come a full stream of the album on Bandcamp.

We’ve been singing the praises of this album since the first advance track appeared, culminating in an enthusiastic review of Demons by TheMadIsraeli, who calls it “the pinnacle of what melodic death metal could still strive to be, but seems largely unwilling to be at the moment” and his likely album-of-the-year winner.

But you don’t have to take our word for it — right after the jump you can listen to Demons in its entirety. The album is available on CD at this location (along with related merch), and a digital download can be obtained here: Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: NE OBLIVISCARIS AND MORTUARY DRAPE

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  2 Responses »
Oct 272014
 

Here are a couple of items that were brought to my attention this morning. I thought you might want to know about them, too.

NE OBLIVISCARIS

This Australian band’s eagerly anticipated second album Citadel will be released by Season of Mist on November 7. Through a timely e-mail from one of our supporters, I learned that the entire album is now streaming on KillYourStereo.com. I presume the album will eventually be streaming at other sites scattered around the world, but this seems to be the first one. Go here to listen:

http://killyourstereo.com/news/1037625/ne-obliviscaris-citadel-au-album-stream Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK: THE DEATHTRIP AND HUMAN BODIES

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC, SHADES OF BLACK  3 Responses »
Oct 262014
 

I’m still in Texas visiting family and friends and not listening to much new metal, but before I once again leave the interhole for the real world for the rest of the day, I thought I would share a few things that have been wrecking my earholes this morning.

THE DEATHTRIP

The Deathtrip are a two-man band consisting of UK guitarist Host (Thine) and vocalist Aldrahn (Thorns, Dødheimsgard, ex-Zyklon-B). Their debut album, which was mixed by Thorns‘ Snorre Ruch, is scheduled for release by Svart Records on November 14 and its title is Deep Drone Master. It includes session drums by Dan “Storm” Mullins and Jon Wesseltoft on bass.

Two songs from the album are available for listening — “Flag of Betrayal”, which premiered two days ago on Metal Hammer, and “A Foot In Each Hell”, which surfaced earlier this month. They’re hell-ripping storms of vintage Norwegian black metal with razoring riffs that penetrate deeply and a monstrous offering of inflamed vocal passion — searing music surrounded by the flames of arcane energy. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: ANTIVERSUM AND CENDRA

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  15 Responses »
Oct 252014
 

 

Hey motherfuckers, happy Saturday. I’m still in central Texas visiting family and friends and spending a lot more time yakking than listening to new music. But this morning I did discover some infernally excellent new songs that put a charge in the reptile part of my brain, which is basically everything enclosed by my skull. Hope you dig this nastiness as much as I have.

ANTIVERSUM

Antiversum are from Zurich, Switzerland. Based on this interview, it appears that the band’s members are also involved in numerous other projects, with names such as Blakk Old Blood, Deathcult, Asag, Goatfukk, none of which I’m familiar with — yet. I learned about Antiversum through a tip from KevinP. Their musical output so far consists of two tracks that first appeared on Soundcloud in August — “Total Vacuum” and “Finis Aeternitum”.

The comparisons with Bölzer are inevitable, both because of the bands’ shared nationality and also because of certain similarities of style. The music is highly atmospheric black/death, with the band churning out a dense, poisonous fog of morbid riffs driven by attention-grabbing drum-and-cymbal assaults. The vibrating haze of sulfurous murk generated by the riffs is cold, hostile, and malignant, and the eerie cosmic melodies suggest that this impenetrable haze is populated with alien entities. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: PERDITION TEMPLE AND MYSTICUM

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  2 Responses »
Oct 242014
 

I’m about to bolt for the airport — not because of the fucking day job, for a change, but to visit family in Austin and maybe have time for a bit of the Housecore Horror Film Festival. If the wi-fi works on the airplane, I might turn up again, but otherwise this round-up of new music will be today’s final post. Although this post isn’t a long one, trust me, it’s a good one.

PERDITION TEMPLE

I have BadWolf to thank for the discovery of this first new song. It comes from a band named Perdition Temple. Despite the fact that they have two albums out in the world (Edict of the Antichrist Elect from 2010 and 2014’s Sovereign of the Desolate), I don’t think I’ve previously explored their music.

The band’s line-up, which includes some veteran names, is as follows: Continue reading »

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