SEEN AND HEARD: VINTERBRIS, BINAH, TENGGER CAVALRY

 Album Reviews, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC, SHORT BUT SWEET  15 Responses »
May 122014
 


Vinterbris — drawing by Kim Holm

A lot of music and videos reached my ears and eyes over the weekend and today, and I’ve been collecting the best of what I heard in a series of posts. I guess I could have called all of them “Seen and Heard”, but I labeled the first one today “Videography”, and the next one (to be posted tomorrow) will be “Shades of Black”. Here are the next three goodies:

VINTERBRIS

I first came across this band from Bergen (Norway) last month after discovering that the very talented Norwegian artist Kim Holm had created the cover art for their forthcoming new album, Solace. I found an advance song named “Fathoms”, liked it a lot, and featured it here. (You can listen to another one at Pitchfork, where Kim Kelly spotlighted it.)

Today Vinterbris unveiled a wonderful music video for another new song, “Dysphoria”, which fittingly features Kim Holm’s creation of artwork for the songs on the album. As the band have explained, nothing in this video is sped up or otherwise altered. Continue reading »

VIDEOGRAPHY: VALLENFYRE, ABORYM, MASTIC SCUM

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  4 Responses »
May 122014
 

Mondays are usually big days for metal premieres, and today is no exception. We had one ourselves (but of course you’ve already checked that out, haven’t you?), and I’ve selected a few more that I thought were worth spilling some words over — and worth your ear and eye time, too, of course. I’ve included two of them in this post, along with another recent premiere; all of these are new videos.

VALLENFYRE

I’m sure we could think or more things to write about this band’s new album Splinters, but we’ve written quite a lot already. So I’ll just crib from the last line of our review and leave it at that:  “Splinters is straight-up volcanic desolation at its finest”.

What’s new from Vallenfyre today is an official video for the title track, which premiered at Metal Hammer. It’s an excellent song and the video is a very well-made, very creative interpretation of the music. I quote from the band’s statement about the video: Continue reading »

BONUSES!

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  16 Responses »
May 112014
 

(DGR brings you this collection of bonuses, because he loves you. Well, maybe not you in particular, but the idea of you.)

Don’t worry, I know ninety percent of the time whenever my name pops up it’s because I’ve got another long review written up, and believe me, I’ve got three of those in the works. I’ve found myself stricken with a bit of writer’s block at the moment, though, so I began to distract myself by starting this article that you see here, and since then have found myself expanding upon it more and more. Now I am generally interested in potentially digging up rarer tracks and doing a series on them.

One of the things that has always aggravated the completionist side of my mind has been the release of limited editions and the inclusion of bonus tracks. I know I’m not the only one, but when it comes to content I tend to be one of those people who absolutely devours it and I need every single piece of it when it comes to albums that I have enjoyed and loved over the years. Of course, this often means there are always one or two songs that I discover later, recorded around the same time and included on some odd Japanese or rare edition, and oftentimes those songs are also great. But a lot of people may not even be aware that those tunes exist.

So what I found myself doing recently was starting to record my thoughts on bonus tracks in my regular reviews of albums here. However, there have been occasions when I really wish I had gotten the chance to go more in depth with those songs, or wound up neglecting them for many a reason — the review copy didn’t have them, general forgetfulness, or just no way to add another paragraph to the already ridiculously long tome of a review I had written. However, I still had those thoughts half-recorded or germinating, and I figured I’d finally take the time to expand upon them and let people know about some of the recent extra songs they may have missed and whether they’re worth hunting down. Continue reading »

OFF THE BEATEN PATH: PLANNING FOR BURIAL, KING DUDE, STRIGASKÓR NR. 42

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  11 Responses »
May 102014
 

Well, here we are at another Saturday, an unusual one for me because I was a good lad last night and did not celebrate the end of the work week by getting thoroughly shit-faced (you know, the whole “where did I leave my pants?” and “Is that my blood?” thing). It is therefore likely that I will welcome the dawn of the new day.

I say “likely” because I am writing this on Friday night, though it will be posted automatically on Saturday morning, and I can’t rule out the possibility that before I crawl out of bed on Saturn’s Day, a septic-tank pumper truck will lose control, do a barrel roll into my yard, and leave a load of raw sewage on my doorstep. I hate when that happens.

Where was I?

Oh yeah, I have some new music for you. And because Saturday morning promises to be an unusual one (barring a tragic sewage mishap), I thought I’d package together some out-of-the-ordinary songs. To be clear, they’re out of the ordinary under almost all circumstances, but they’re mainly out of the ordinary at this site because they’re different from the usual fare. But I hope you’ll still give ’em a spin. I’m sober, so trust me. Continue reading »

NEW NASTINESS FROM AUROCH, DE PROFUNDIS, AND CREST OF DARKNESS

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  8 Responses »
May 092014
 

I’m in a tug of war with my fucking day job, but I pulled it into the slop long enough to throw together this small collection of nasty new songs and a video. Now it’s my turn to get pulled into the slop — see you on Saturday when we will have… something… probably something covered in slop.

AUROCH

As previously reported, Vancouver’s Auroch have a new album named Taman Shud that will be released on June 24 by Profound Lore, with vinyl coming via Dark Descent. I’ve been very high on this band based on their past efforts, and the new song that debuted yesterday is a strong sign that Taman Shud will be a worthy successor. “Noxious Plume” is the name of this ode to all things poisonous and wantonly destructive. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: SERPENTINE PATH, WO FAT, BONEMECHANICS, ANOPHELI

 Exceptions to the Rule, Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  7 Responses »
May 082014
 

This is a small collection of new songs and videos that I found today. I thought you might enjoy them. I sure did.

SERPENTINE PATH

The few songs I’ve heard from Serpentine Path’s new album Emanations have been flattening — including the one that Invisible Oranges debuted today. It’s the opening track, “House of Worship”. There’s so much tar in the song that you’ll be trying to peel it off your skin with a razor blade for the next month. It’s suffused with thick, viscous, riffs; a trudging pace; and a black, congealing atmosphere. Wretched howling and cobra-like soloing are the icing on this poisonous cake.

If you’re unfamiliar with Serpentine Path, the membership includes the three former members of Unearthly Trance, ex-Electric Wizard/ex-Ramesses performer Tim Bagshaw, and Winter’s Stephen Flam. The album comes out May 27 on Relapse. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: BELPHEGOR, ALLEGAEON, MEDICATED, MEANKIND

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  8 Responses »
May 072014
 

Here’s the second of today’s planned round-ups of new and noteworthy music and informational items that your fiends at NCS have selectively sifted from the slurry of the interhole for your enjoyment and edification.

BELPHEGOR

It seems to be “Seth Siro Anton” day at NCS. First we helped premiere a new song from his band Septicflesh, and now we have the unveiling of his very recognizable artwork for Conjuring the Dead — the forthcoming 10th studio album by Belphegor. The album was recorded at Mana Studios with Hate Eternal’s Eric Rutan. It’s due for release by Nuclear Blast on August 8 in North America and the EU and on August 11 in the UK and France.

More than three years have passed since Blood Magick Necromance, and so we’re pretty damned hungry for some new Belphegor here at NCS. We’re ready to be fed! As soon as we have music to play for you, you can be sure we’ll do that without delay. To keep tabs on Belphegor, their FB page is at this place. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: ORIGIN, WRETCHED, DEAD CONGREGATION, DOOM:VS

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  11 Responses »
May 072014
 

Over the last 24 hours I discovered (thanks in large part to tips from NCS friends) quite a lot of new music and news that I’d like to recommend to you — so much that I’m dividing the discoveries into two posts today, this being the first.

ORIGIN

I always look forward to new music from Origin. I know that, if nothing else, it will simulate the experience of wetting my finger and sticking it in a high voltage electrical outlet, except without the heart stoppage and the hair smokage.  And yesterday brought release details about the new Origin album — Omnipresent:

It will be released in North America by Nuclear Blast on July 8 (yet another birthday present for me!) and by Agonia Records in Europe on July 4. The cover art, which is visible above, is by Colin Marks (Nevermore, Kataklysm, Exodus), who also created the cover for the band’s Entity album.

Drummer John Longstreth, guitarist Paul Ryan, and bass-player Mike Flores are back, and this album will feature the Origin debut of ex-Skinless vocalist Jason Keyser. Colin Marston handled the mixing and mastering. Pre-ordering is available here for Agonia. This is a new band photo: Continue reading »

METAL FOR YOUR CINCO DE FUCKIN MAYO

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  24 Responses »
May 052014
 

I have mixed feelings about Cinco de Mayo. I grew up in central Texas, and celebrated the date every year after a certain point. On the other hand, the certain point was when I reached drinking age, which was the age at which my friends and I could convince winos to buy us tequila at liquor stores. That became a road to misery.

My first exposure to tequila was at age 16 on a high school Spanish Club trip to Monterrey. One of my buds, who was fluent in Spanish without having to be taught, evaded the teachers by climbing out a hotel window and down a fire escape on our first afternoon there, returning with a couple of bottles. That night I never made it out of the bus that took our teachers and us to some restaurant. I said I was sick, and that was no fuckin’ lie.

Even now, all it takes is the smell of straight tequila to bring on a wave of nausea. Doesn’t mean I’ve given up on it (there have been many subsequent tequila poisoning experiences in the many years since that Monterrey trip), but these days I prefer to take my poison in a margarita. Goes down easier, though a high percentage of the time I still wind up crouched over a toilet begging for mercy.

But I don’t mean to suggest that Cinco de Mayo is nothing more than a chance to get shit-faced. There’s rich history behind the date as well, but in my mind it’s also an excuse to revisit some Mexican metal. That’s another form of poison I can’t seem to resist. Continue reading »

THRASHED: DEATH ANGEL, DESTITUTION, NOCTURNAL WITCH

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  6 Responses »
May 032014
 

Here are a few new things I found this Saturday morning that I thought were worth recommending for your entertainment and edification. Can you guess what they have in common?

DEATH ANGEL

As I’ve said before (without repeating the reasons) I don’t listen to a lot of thrash and would not consider myself a seasoned, well-educated expert in the genre. But I’ve been a fan of Death Angel since seeing them perform live in Seattle 3 or 4 years ago — that was one electrifying set. This morning I saw that they’ve released a video for the title track off their latest album, 2013’s The Dream Calls For Blood (Nuclear Blast), and it reminded me of that show in a good way.

I like this particular song, too. There’s a lot of jolting kick in the music, and compared to what I suppose I’d call “thrash standard”, there’s also some beefiness in the production (which I prefer). On top of that, the song exemplifies the biggest factor that (for me) separates Death Angel from the run-of-the-mill: Rob Cavestany’s soloing, which isn’t just mindless shred. And hey, I’ll also admit that the song makes me want to stupidly yell along with Mark Osegueda: “Dream! Calls For! Blood!” Continue reading »

 Older Entries  Newer Entries