BLOODGUARD ARE NOW BEYOND GRACE (AND THEY HAVE A NEW SINGLE AND VIDEO)

 Metal News, Premieres, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  11 Responses »
Feb 062014
 

As many of you know, NCS writer Andy Synn is the frontman for a UK band named Bloodguard — or rather they used to be named Bloodguard. As of today, the Bloodguard name has been laid to rest. Henceforth, the band shall be known as Beyond Grace. And in addition to spreading the word about that change, we’re delighted to bring you the intergalactic premiere of the band’s new video for the song “Panopticon”, which is also being released via Bandcamp as a single.

But before premiering the video I’m going to turn this post over to Mr Synn, who explains the name change, future plans for the band, and other news. — Islander

********

So… where to start? The decision to change our name was not an easy one to make. We realise it comes with potential costs, but it also has a host of benefits we just couldn’t overlook.

Why the new name? A lot of reasons really. The old one doesn’t really suit us anymore, it fits awkwardly in some ways, and is surprisingly hard to get people to remember. Whereas the new name suits the lyrical direction – more socio-political, more transhumanist – and the new sound of the band – heavier, more technical, more death metal – much better.

Plus it sounds way cooler when you growl it onstage.

Bloodguard is no more… Beyond Grace is born. Continue reading »

PREMIERES: HERESIARCH AND MASSACRE

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  10 Responses »
Feb 052014
 

For your audio-visual enjoyment, here are two brand new songs I just heard. I did not group them together randomly. I grouped them together because they make a one-two punch of merciless destruction.

HERESIARCH

Heresiarch are a New Zealand band whose last EP, Hammer of Intransigence, I reviewed here. “In the main,” I wrote, “Heresiarch’s EP is designed to provide unmitigated sonic violence, a thorough immersion in warlike atmospheres, and in that it succeeds in striking fashion…. If I’d only known, I’d have stocked up on some radiation sickness medicine before listening.”

I was stoked to learn this morning that Iron Bonehead Productions will be releasing a new Heresiarch 7″ EP named Wælwulf this coming March (the killing cover art is above), and that one of the three new tracks is now streaming on Bandcamp. “Endepræst” is the name of the song and it’s about 6 minutes of militaristic black/death, beginning as a march and moving into a frontal charge, with cannons blasting and the air filled with tremolo’d shrapnel and the howls of ravening wolves. The song devolves into a gruesome golem stomp of massive proportions, the guitars continuing to buzz like wasps, the vocalist continuing to roar and howl like something inhuman. Continue reading »

UPDATES: BABY METAL (A NEW ALBUM) AND THE WAGAKKI BAND (A NEW VIDEO AND A NEW ALBUM)

 Exceptions to the Rule, Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  12 Responses »
Feb 052014
 

Here are a couple of quick update items about Japanese bands we’ve written about in the past.

BABY METAL

Long-time readers of the site know that we have a thing about Baby Metal. A non-pervy thing, I hasten to add. If you’re new to the site, you can find all our prior blathering here. The breaking news is that Baby Metal, at long last, have announced they will be releasing an album. Entitled BABYMETAL, it will become available on February 26 via iTunes and assorted other sites (for CDs), which you can find via the band’s FB page or their web site.

The band have released a trailer for the album. It’s mainly just a string of clips from previous videos, but I’ll stick it up here anyway: Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: MORBID FLESH, WARPSTONE, FUOCO FATUO

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  5 Responses »
Feb 042014
 

Still catching up on new music I missed over the last couple of days, I’ve compiled this collection of new songs by three European bands that I recommend highly.

MORBID FLESH

I make no secret of the fact that I have a quivering weakness for old-school, reeking-corpse death metal. It’s a genre in which I expect no molds to be broken, but I do want the right spirit and the right flair — faithfulness without tedium. Morbid Flesh from Barcelona, Spain, definitely meet those expectations.

They’ve recorded a new EP under the title Embedded In the Ossuary, which is scheduled for release on March 31 through Germany’s Unholy Prophecies. It caught my eye because of the wonderful cover art (above) by Javi Castaño and because it was recorded, mixed, and mastered by Javi Bastard of Spain’s Graveyard, and he knows a thing or two about old school death metal (Graveyard’s Jordi Gusi is also a member of Morbid Flesh). Recently, Unholy Prophecies began streaming a Morbid Flesh track named “Charnel House”, and I listened to it this morning. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: SEPTICFLESH, KYPCK, PROFANE OMEN

 Exceptions to the Rule, Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  6 Responses »
Feb 042014
 

I’m in catch-up mode for new things. This is the second round-up of news and new music for today, and there will probably be a third. The first one is here. The following collection should keep you off-balance.

SEPTICFLESH

Yes, it appears that the band have decided to join the two words of their name into one, but a rose by any other name will smell just as sweet. Or, in this case, will sound just as sweet. I saw this announcement on the band’s Facebook page this morning:

“We have completed the recordings of our upcoming full length album. The album will consists of 10 songs that were recorded once again at Devasoundz Studios Athens Greece and at Prague with the collaboration of the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir. The album will be released this summer via Season of Mist for Europe and via Prosthetic Records for America.

“We are really exhausted, but also very proud from the result. We worked very hard with Logan Mader (former MACHINE HEAD and SOULFLY guitarist that has worked considering album sound, with bands as CAVALERA CONSPIRACY, FEAR FACTORY, GOJIRA) to bring you the ultimate death metal soundtrack for your darkest dreams. The compositions are progressive with a lot of emotional peaks, while at the same time the songs sound very aggressive. Also we had the chance to work for the first time with a full children choir, beside the regular adult choir, and that helped us dive deeper into darker cinematic atmospheres.”

Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: IMPETUOUS RITUAL, BENEATH, EYECONOCLAST

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  5 Responses »
Feb 042014
 

I mentioned in my last post that I didn’t spend much time with new music debuts over the last day or two. I’ve learned the hard way that if I snooze for even 24 hours, I miss a lot of worthwhile stuff. And so I’m hoping to get a couple of round-up posts written for today, because I found a metric fuck ton of worthwhile goodies while catching up this morning. Let’s start with some perty pitchers, shall we?

IMPETUOUS RITUAL

I saw that dark piece of artwork this morning, the one at the top of this post. Profound Lore Records says it’s the cover for Unholy Congregation Of Hypocritical Ambivalence, which is the name of an album due out sometime in April by Impetuous Ritual. The band’s first album, Relentless Execution Of Ceremonial Excrescence, was released back in 2009. This is clearly a band with a pronounced fondness for multisyllabic utterances. I can get behind that.

Impetuous Ritual are from Brisbane, Australia, and their ranks include members of Portal and Grave Upheaval. That makes me interested. This music from their last album also makes me interested: Continue reading »

WATCH THE NEW FLESHGOD APOCALYPSE VIDEO FOR “PATHFINDER”

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  1 Response »
Feb 032014
 

When I got around to picking a song from Fleshgod Apocalypse’s 2013 album Labyrinth for our still-evolving list of last year’s “Most Infectious Extreme Metal Songs”, the one I chose was “Pathfinder”. Earlier this morning, the band premiered an official video for the same song, and it’s excellent.

As you may know, Labyrinth is a concept album which draws on the legend of the labyrinth at Knossos on the island of Crete as a metaphor for each person’s search for his or her true self. Some knowledge of the myth may assist in following what happens in the video. According to The Font of All Human Knowledge:

“The myth of the Minotaur tells that Theseus, a prince from Athens, sailed to Crete, where he was forced to fight a terrible creature called the Minotaur. The Minotaur was a half man, half bull, and was kept in the Labyrinth – a building like a maze – by the king Minos, the ruler of Crete. The king’s daughter Ariadne fell in love with Theseus. Before he entered the Labyrinth to fight the Minotaur, Ariadne gave him a ball of thread which he unwound as he went into the Labyrinth so that he could find his way back by following it. Theseus killed the Minotaur, and then he and Ariadne fled from Crete, escaping her angry father.”

Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: NEW ALBUM TEASERS, A NEW ÆVANGELIST SONG, A NEW DARKANE VIDEO

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  4 Responses »
Feb 012014
 

Here are some things I spied and heard over the last 24 hours, including a destructive new song and an invigorating new video. But I begin with some teasing photos that appeared in my Facebook news feed. The first one is above, accompanied by these words:

“Legendary Florida Death Metal pioneers Massacre will return with their first studio album effort in almost 20 years! Programmatically entitled Back From Beyond, the album will be released on March 24th in Europe and April 1st in North America.”

Here are some others, with the verbiage that accompanied them. If you don’t recognize the faces, hover your mouse over the images.

“New Album nearly complete! 1.31.14”

Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK: LOATHING, HISS FROM THE MOAT, SMUTEČNÍ SLAVNOST, AND DRAKWALD

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC, SHADES OF BLACK  9 Responses »
Jan 312014
 

This is a collection of new songs and videos I discovered over the last 24 hours. Some of it, but not all, is black metal. I’ve used that “Shades of Black” label again because there’s a lot of dark, malevolent power in all the music — and a lot of evil fun to be had, too.

LOATHING

I heard from this Polish band two weeks ago, with the news that their debut album We Are the Hunt was set for release on January 20. I dicked around and failed to pounce on it, but yesterday I did discover both a lyric video for “Warspite” and a second song from the album, “I Rot Inside”. They’re both supremely good, and although I’m now very interested in hearing the whole album, I’m so behind in writing reviews that I at least wanted to make sure I said something about these two songs.

I suspect that many Polish death metal bands get tired of being compared to Behemoth or Hate, or maybe they’re flattered? I do mean to flatter Loathing with those references, although I don’t mean to suggest they sound exactly like either of those other magnificent bands. Their music does convey a similar kind of demonic majesty, the huge booming riffs and spine-shaking drum beats thundering with titanic might, the occult melodies writhing like freed serpents, the deep vocals roaring with malignant power (and howling with passion in the second song). Continue reading »

WRONG: “THEY LOOK AT ME” (A VIDEO)

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  4 Responses »
Jan 302014
 

These dudes may wear black veils, but they are not Black Veil Brides. Make no mistake about that. Their name is Wrong, they’re a black metal band who hail from Madrid, Spain, and they have recently released an official video for a song named “They Look At Me”. I discovered it via Terrorizer, and I’ve quickly become enthralled by it. Wrong explain the concept behind their music as follows:

The universe of Wrong focuses their concept on a post-apocalyptic and dystopian earth, where the few people that remain after a devastating earthquake in the core of the earth, struggling for survival in the most disheartening misery between death, sickness, wild clans, cannibalism and savagery, the vision of a dystopian and gray future where the worst stories of human decadence are narrated through obscure passages only for the wandering, abandoned and the wretched souls.

“They Look At Me” is both chilling and beautiful, both sorrowful and vitriolic. It has a vivid, compelling bass line that makes its presence known almost immediately; a sweeping, melancholy melody that insinuates itself into the memory; moments of ravaging tremolo evisceration and assaulting blast-beats; entrancing keyboard notes that come and go like wraiths; and a vocalist who sounds like a rabid wolf. Continue reading »

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