FREE SHIT: WEAPONS OF SELF-DESTRUCTION, VOL 2

 Free Shit, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  2 Responses »
Feb 252014
 

Well, for reasons previously explained, I thought we would only manage two posts for today, but this news item is quick to describe and easy to recommend: The French label Kaotoxin Records has just released a “pay what you want” sampler of music from the label’s artists entitled Weapons of Self-Dectruction, Volume 2 — and it’s a hell of a compilation. Check out the line-up of the 17 bands whose songs appear on the sampler:

Anal Penetration
Antropofago
C.O.A.G.
Colosus
Darkall Slaves
Department of Correction
Eye Of Solitude Continue reading »

BEYOND GRACE: “MONSTROUS”

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  14 Responses »
Feb 252014
 

I have a pain in my butt, the kind that Preparation H will not ameliorate: The old fucking fay job is impinging on my precious blog time. This is the main reason why we have a grand total of only two posts today, this being the second one.  It will continue to have its way with me over the next couple of days, so NCS content may continue to be scarce and my butt will continue to hurt. My NCS comrades are also being diverted by such distractions as sleeping late, cleaning their rooms, and evading creditors. One of them is also currently on tour in the UK with one of his bands.

The one who is on tour is Mr. Andy Synn, the band in question is Beyond Grace (formerly known as Bloodguard), and the tour in progress is headlined by The Monolith Deathcult, with additional support from Talanas and an appetizing assortment of other bands at each venue. Details about that are available here.

But the main point of this post, other than advising of my hurting butt and reminding you about that tour, is to alert you to the fact that Beyond Grace have just released their debut, three-song EP, the name of which is Monstrous. Continue reading »

NEW MUSIC FROM ENTHRONED AND DEUS OTIOSUS

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  6 Responses »
Feb 242014
 

I thought about saving the two songs in this post until our next round-up of new music, but I’m too excited to wait.

ENTHRONED

A scant six days ago I received the news in my e-mail inbox that Agonia Records will be releasing the 10th studio album by Belgium’s Enthroned on April 15. The title is Sovereigns, and it’s now available for pre-order at this location. I wrote about that news even though I had no music to share, because hell… it’s Enthroned!

Now I have new music to share. “Of Feathers and Flames” is the song’s name. It’s both a blitzkrieg assault of feral power and a stomping death march, both a ravaging storm and a swirling fog of funereally bleak melody, both a merciless battlefield fusillade and a dismal downpour of staggering hammer blows. After being stunned by 2012’s Obsidium I had very high hopes for Sovereigns. Sounds like expectations will be met. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: INSOMNIUM, DOOM’S DAY, VANHELGA, VAMPIRE, TARDIVE DYSKINESIA

 Exceptions to the Rule, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  14 Responses »
Feb 242014
 

Happy fucking Monday. Blech, it really hurt to write that. Here are some recommended tunes and videos I heard and saw over the last 24 hours, most of them on a day that wasn’t a fucking Monday.

INSOMNIUM

This first item falls into the category of breaking news:  Century Media has just announced details about the new album from Finland’s Insomnium, along with a teaser of the music. The album’s title is Shadows of the Dying Sun, and the cover art is at the top of this post. It will be released on April 29 in North America and April 28 in Europe.

The teaser is brief — 1:23 of new music. It consists of chiming guitars against a backdrop of ghostly ambience. It feels like the lead-in to some monstrous doomy riffs — but that could just be wishful thinking on my part. More wishful thinking: I would like to have this album today instead of two months from now. Undoubtedly advance tracks will be released. Undoubtedly we will have them here as quickly as we see them.

Check out the teaser next. Continue reading »

I WISH YOU WERE…

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  13 Responses »
Feb 232014
 

Like all human beings (at least the ones who are alive), I have a temper. I try to keep it in check. Most of the time I succeed. I try not to inflict harm or wish harm on anyone, no matter how big a diseased dick they might be. Most of the time I succeed. Sometimes you have to stand up for yourself, and sometimes losing your temper is the most effective way of dealing with a problem. But for unimportant annoyances, that’s generally the wrong answer.

Over the years I’ve learned lots of techniques for letting pointless bullshit roll off me. Deep breaths help. Walking away helps. Sometimes returning bullshit with kindness can be disarming.

But sometimes my head is thinking… I wish you had explosive diarrhea… I wish you were being butt-raped by an anteater… I wish you had to live with someone like you… I wish you were dead….

But as of today I have learned a new mental technique for dealing with bullshit that doesn’t involve wishing harm on whatever jerk is stoking my temper. It’s a new kind of wish… and it allows me to play some music on the site, which we haven’t done at all this weekend. We really can’t let the weekend end without some metal. So, allow me to present Cycle Sluts From Hell and their 1991 hit… Continue reading »

FRIDAY FILMS: ASTROPHOBOS, KYPCK, WILDERUN, FOSSILS, and ALLITERATIVELY RAPPING AT WARPSPEED

 Exceptions to the Rule, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  11 Responses »
Feb 212014
 

I apologize for the lack of creativity in the title of today’s (somewhat) alliterative round-up, but since everything I’ve selected comes in video form it seemed logical. I thought about “Friday Phlegm”, but not all the vocals in these babies are phlegmy. There are actually a lot of exceptions to our rule in here.

ASTROPHOBOS

The name of this first song and video is “Soul Disruptor”, and that’s truth in advertising. It comes from the debut album Remnants of Forgotten Horrors by the Swedish black metal band Astrophobos. The album was released last month by Triumvirate Records and is now available on Bandcamp.

I’ve not heard the whole album, but I have read Madame X’s review of it at Angry Metal Guy, and her comparisons to Naglfar and Dissection seem spot-on based on “Soul Disruptor” (and by the way, those are stellar bands with which to be compared, in my book). The music is both searing and melodic, both skin-scarring and blood-pumping. And the video is quote good, too — as long as you’re not prone to epileptic seizures or subliminal suggestion. Continue reading »

RECALCITRANT ROUNDUP: A NEW YEAR DAWNS

 Album Reviews, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  9 Responses »
Feb 202014
 

(Our friend Austin Weber returns with another collection of short reviews, with album and song streams.)

While 2014 doesn’t appear to have as many big league releases coming thus far, new and upcoming bands of all stripes will no doubt fill the void in quality. What follows are a smattering of different songs to hear and love or hate. Hate is more fun, but who knows maybe you will find something you enjoy?

HANNES GROSSMANN — THE RADIAL COVENANT

Over the last few years, I’ve witnessed numerous metal writers describe a band as sounding like Obscura. Whether or not that’s true, the point remains that it’s hard to get more Obscura-sounding than Hannes Grossmann, because duh, he is in Obscura. The Radial Covenant is his first solo record, written entirely by him, and accompanied by a jaw-dropping assortment of metal gods and legends. The album was crowdfunded into existence and just recently released. I should not need to explain how beyond-badass the ripping technical and melodic death metal core of The Radial Covenant is, though the experimental and progressive sides to the record are just as phenomenal. This is a higher quality death metal release than most of what’s coming out right now. So go buy it now, don’t be a late adopter. Continue reading »

THURSDAY THROTTLING: PILGRIM, MASTIC SCUM, THE GREAT OLD ONES, KUOLEMANLAAKSO, SHROUD OF THE HERETIC

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  12 Responses »
Feb 202014
 

As you can see, I’ve decided to forge ahead with alliterative titles for the daily music round-ups this week. Lucky for you, there are only two more days in the week after today. Also lucky for you, I have found five pleasurable new songs over the last 24 hours that will put you in a chokehold, kind of like erotic asphyxiation.

PILGRIM

This Rhode Island duo’s 2012 debut album Misery Wizards turned a lot of heads, and now Metal Blade is primed to release their second album — II: Void Worship — on April 1 (a few days earlier in Europe). I was attracted to this news by the colorfully killer album art by Adam Burke, and that in turn led me to explore the album’s first advance track, “The Paladin”.

Whereas Misery Wizards was largely a crawling, bludgeoning behemoth of classic doom, “The Paladin” rocks very fuckin’ hard, driven by utterly filthy and utterly irresistible riffs. It’s a smoking, chugging steamroller of a song, with The Wizard’s wailing vocals riding over the top like a ring-wraith. The doom isn’t gone, but it’s been super-charged. This one is already on my list of candidates for 2014’s most infectious songs. Continue reading »

WEDNESDAY WARSTRIKES: ANCIENT ASCENDANT, ANIMALS AS LEADERS, ARCHSPIRE, BLOODWAY, COLTSBLOOD

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  4 Responses »
Feb 192014
 

I’m still in alliteration mode, though I’m not completely happy with today’s title. Given the bands’ names, I probably should have gone with “The ABCs of Metal”. In alphabetical order, here are six new songs from five forthcoming albums that I discovered over the last 24 hours, all of which come highly recommended.

ANCIENT ASCENDANT

We’ve been closely following the progression of UK-based Ancient Ascendant, with very positive reviews (by Andy Synn) of both their 2011 debut album The Grim Awakening and their 2012 EP Into the Dark. Last month we reported the very nice news that the band had signed with Candlelight Records for the release of a new album (with Dan Swanö again handling the production). Now we’ve got the album title — Echoes and Cinder — and the album art (above), plus a new song that premiered yesterday.

The song’s name is “Riders”, and you can hear it next. It will give you a hell of a blistering, black-thrashing ride, something like being snagged by a giant red-eyed bat horde flying from their cave for a night on the hunt. Damned infectious, too — you’ll want to limber up your neck muscles before listening because heads will bang. Continue reading »

ANDY SYNN’S TOP 10 SONGS OF 2013

 LISTMANIA 2013, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  8 Responses »
Feb 182014
 

(Amazingly, my comrade Andy Synn thinks I left off some deserving tunes from my list of last year’s most infectious metal songs, and what follows is his supplement.)

Ok, so that title might be slightly inaccurate – what I’ve actually chosen here are ten of my favourite songs from last year that were cruelly, inexplicably overlooked by the NCS “Most Infectious” list/s, not necessarily the top ten all-time best-ever songs of 2013. Subtle but distinct difference.

In all honesty, you’d probably be better off calling this “Andy Synn’s List of Ten of the Most Distinctive Songs of 2013”. They might not be my absolute top ten favourites (though there’s definitely a significant cross-over), but they’re the ones that just felt right to talk about.

I’ve tried to avoid repetition as much as possible – though there are a few artists here who did make an appearance on the main list. Largely, however, I’ve tried to use this as an opportunity to highlight some songs that deserve more attention and that (for whatever reason) didn’t get it on any of the preceding NCS lists! Continue reading »

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