SEEN AND HEARD: VESANIA, SCAR SYMMETRY, DEATH WOLF, EXODUS

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  2 Responses »
Sep 262014
 

 

I failed to pull together a round-up of new music yesterday — as you may have noticed, we were pretty busy with a lot of other goings-on at the site. What that means is that I now have two days’ worth of new things to pore over in deciding what to throw your way.

And man, it has been one hell of a week for new songs and videos. I’m having trouble remembering another one so filled with worthy new debuts. Unfortunately, this means I won’t be able to cover everything that deserves to be covered. But we soldier on as best we can.

VESANIA

Yesterday brought a torrent of news from this excellent Polish supergroup whose music my comrade Andy Synn once described as “crushing blackened-death metal with a lunatic, symphonic twist”. Vesania’s discography, as it then existed, was the subject of one of Andy’s SYNN REPORTs in 2012, but that report is about to be rendered incomplete, because… Continue reading »

VIDEOGRAPHY: FOSCOR, WILL Z. AND FRANCESCA MARONGIU, JOHANNES MAIER AND HIS STUDENTS

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  No Responses »
Sep 252014
 

I was about to write that the videos collected in this post are off our usual beaten path, but upon reflection I concluded that we don’t really have a single beaten path. It’s more like a tangle of different paths from which the wanderer usually emerges beaten. Like an ant swarm, there may be a pattern in them, but when viewed from the air they would appear chaotic. Nevertheless, these videos in different respects are still probably off on tangents from the usual tangle at this site. Onward we go!

FOSCOR

The Spanish band Foscor trace their roots back to 1997. Since that time they’ve released three full-length albums, all of which have recently been made available on Bandcamp (here), along with the rest of their back catalogue. They’ve completed work on a fourth album, Those Horrors Wither, which is projected for release on November 25 (CD and vinyl). In advance of that, the band are releasing a 7″ single named Graceful Pandora, which includes the title track (it will appear on the album) and a second song, “Grand Believer” (which was recorded during the sessions for the new album).

Recently the band premiered a music video for “Graceful Pandora” that’s interesting to watch and interesting to hear. It’s perhaps even more impressive because the video was written and produced by the band and directed by Foscor guitarist Falke (with cinematography by Adrià Escanilla). Both the song and the video take as their subject the legend of Pandora and what she unwittingly set free upon the world by opening the famous box. As the band explain: Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: ABYSMAL DAWN, CANNIBAL CORPSE, ENTOMBED A.D.

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  3 Responses »
Sep 242014
 

This has been a big day for song and video premieres. In fact, all we’ve done today is post about song and video premieres. And in this post you’ll find three more.

ABYSMAL DAWN

As previously reported (with glee), Abysmal Dawn have a new album named Obsolescence coming out October 24 (Ger/Benelux/Finland) and October 27 (US/UK/World). It will be released by Relapse Records on CD, LP, and digitally. About an hour ago the band dropped another new song from the album named “The Inevitable Return To Darkness”.

It’s one heavy-assed ripper that kicks open the door to a death metal blast furnace. It’s fully loaded with technically impressive (and inventive) instrumental performances and voracious vocal filth, and it includes some cool dual-guitar harmony. Also, I can pretty much guarantee you’re going to want to bang your head like a bobble-head on a roller-coaster. Continue reading »

BLOODBATH BEGINS STREAMING THE FIRST NEW SONG FROM “GRAND MORBID FUNERAL”

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  21 Responses »
Sep 242014
 

About a week ago it was revealed that Bloodbath’s new vocalist is none other than Nick Holmes, the vocalist of Paradise Lost. At that time, it was further reported that the new album (Grand Morbid Funeral) “will see the return of the ravenous and cavernous growl that marked Paradise Lost’s debut album, Lost Paradise.”

Well, now you get to test the accuracy of that forecast, because the band have today premiered the first advance track from the new album — “Unite In Pain”.

This is an exclusive song stream, which means I can’t embed it for you. And fuck, I can’t even tell you what it sounds like, because, thanks to my fucking day job, I’m in a place at the moment where I can’t listen. But don’t let that stop you — here’s the link where you can find the song, and then feel free to leave Comments and let us know what you think: Continue reading »

JOB FOR A COWBOY: “SUN OF NIHILITY”

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  7 Responses »
Sep 232014
 

 

I confess that this crept up on me. I didn’t know Job For A Cowboy were so close to releasing a new album, but as you can see above, it has a name (Sun Eater) and a fantastic album cover. It also has a release date (Nov 11, via Metal Blade). And within the last hour we got our first taste of the music through the premiere of a song named “Sun of Nihility”.

At the moment I’m unable to listen to the song. I could tell you why, but then I’d have to kill you, and we wouldn’t want that, would we? So even though I’m quite curious to hear how this band’s sound has progressed (because in light of their history I’m expecting some continued changes), I’m deferring my own gratification in order to gratify you.

At least I hope it will be gratifying. Please feel free to leave a Comment and explain whether you are gratified or disappointed. When I’m able to listen to the song I’ll toss in my two cents. The music is below. Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK: VARATHRON, NIGHTBRINGER, 1349, MYRKUR, ASHES, VIDEMUR

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC, SHADES OF BLACK  11 Responses »
Sep 232014
 

 

I sometimes play fast and loose with that “Shades of Black” title, but this time it genuinely fits the music I’ve collected here. The song streams represent many different shades and phases of black metal, and regardless of your preferences within the genre, I suspect you will find something to like before you reach the end. Of course, I like all of it.

VARATHRON

The long-running Greek black metal band Varathron will be releasing their fifth album, Untrodden Corridors of Hades, later this fall.  It comes five years after their last full-length, but based on the strength of the new album’s first advance track, this is one of those cases where I’m inclined to say, “It was worth the wait!”

“Realm of the Obscure” is thoroughly galvanizing, a non-stop rush of multi-faceted riffs that writhe like serpents, stab like knives, and hammer like mallet blows. The acrobatic and often pyrotechnic drumwork is equally varied and matches up beautifully with the varied movements of this long song, and the vocals are thoroughly ravenous. It’s the kind of music that’s voracious and malignant but with a highly seductive melody and an aura of imperial might. Really excellent. Continue reading »

NECROMANCING THE STONE: “FROM GRAVES TO INFAMY”

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  3 Responses »
Sep 232014
 

 

If you browsed our site yesterday, then this post will come as no surprise. Yesterday I wrote about the existence of a recently revealed “supergroup” whose band name — Necromancing the Stone — I thought was a winner and whose members consist of these dudes:

James Malone (Arsis) (guitars)
Ryan ‘Bart’ Williams (ex-The Black Dahlia Murder) (bass)
Jeramie Kling (The Absence) (drums)
Justin Wood (Brimstone Coven) (guitars)
John Williams (Brimstone Coven) (vocals)

As reported yesterday, the band have recorded a three-song EP named Before The Devil Knows You’re Dead that was to be released today. It will be available on Bandcamp, and shirts are already available at this location. The EP was mixed by Peter Tagtgren at Studio Abyss, with additional mixing by Eyal Levi at Audiohammer Studios. The EP’s cover art, which you can see next, was created by Mark Riddick: At this writing, only one song has now been made available for streaming — it’s name is “From Graves To Infamy”. More about that in a minute — but first, the cover art: Continue reading »

AT THE GATES: LISTEN TO THE TITLE TRACK FROM “AT WAR WITH REALITY”

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  16 Responses »
Sep 222014
 

 

The time has finally arrived: At the Gates have just premiered the title track from their forthcoming comeback album At War With Reality — their first new music in 19 years.

There have been considerable differences of opinion within the community of metal about whether this comeback was a good idea, and considerable speculation about what the new music would sound like — would it be in the vein of Slaughter of the Soul or more like the earlier albums? Well, now we have our first clue to the answers to those questions.

It’s hard to know how representative the title track is of the album as a whole, but I’m damned glad to have it. It’s a fast-paced song with racing, jabbing riffs, and it’s also immediately memorable. Tompa Lindberg’s vocals are by definition going to give the music a scarring, bloodthirsty quality, but the guitar solo is the sweepingly melodic centerpiece of the song. And yes, it’s a very melodic song — a very good one, in my book. By sheer coincidence, I was listening to the title track to Terminal Spirit Disease last night (because I really like that song), and this new one could easily link arms with it. Listen next…. Continue reading »

OVERFLOWING STREAMS (PART 2)

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  4 Responses »
Sep 212014
 

I haven’t had much blog time available since last Thursday because of job-related travel and activities, so I’ve fallen behind in posting about new songs and videos that I think you might enjoy. To catch up, I’m including a giant fuckload of them in this two-part post. And in a rare display of brevity, I’m letting the music speak for itself.

I’ve also salted this post with a smattering of older music that I discovered only recently. Part 1 of this large collection can be found here. Beginning with that post and continuing through this one, the music is presented in alphabetical order by band name.

THE HAUNTED

New video: “Eye of the Storm”
Album: Exit Wounds
Label: Century Media
Band location: Sweden

https://www.facebook.com/hauntedofficial Continue reading »

OVERFLOWING STREAMS (PART 1)

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  4 Responses »
Sep 212014
 

I haven’t had much blog time available since last Thursday because of job-related travel and activities, so I’ve fallen behind in posting about new songs and videos that I think you might enjoy. To catch up, I’m including a giant fuckload of them in this two-part post. And in a rare display of brevity, I’m letting the music speak for itself.

I’ve also salted this post with a smattering of older music that I discovered only recently. So here we go, presenting the music in alphabetical order by band name. Part 2 will follow late today.

1349

New Video: “Slaves”
Album: Massive Cauldron of Chaos (to be released in NorthAm on Sept 30)
Band location: Norway
Label: Season of Mist

https://www.facebook.com/1349official Continue reading »

 Older Entries  Newer Entries