V IS FOR VAMPIRE, VULGAR TRADE, AND VISCERAL HATRED

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  4 Responses »
Jan 232014
 

I love it when a plan comes together, particularly when I have no plan until it comes together. Just tripping along through the interhole and the in-box this morning, and I come across one fine new song by a band named Vampire. And then I come across another one by a band named Vulgar Trade. I think to myself, “Self, wouldn’t it be cool if I came across another fine new song by a band with a ‘V’ name?” And then it happened! And here they are…

VAMPIRE

Thanks to a Facebook post by my friend Vonlughlio I learned that there is a newish Swedish band named Vampire. Surely, I thought, that name was taken long ago, and I don’t mean by Bram Stoker. Anyway, after producing a demo in 2012 (available on Bandcamp) this band landed on the Century Media label, which will release their self-titled debut album in March. And through the good graces of said label a song from the album was premiered yesterday by Stereogum on this side of the Atlantic and by Terrorizer on that side.

The new song is named “Howl From the Coffin”. True to the band’s name, it sinks its fangs deep into the jugular with the kind of toothsome, rocking/thrashing riffs that hail from an earlier time and ravenous howls of gruesome glee. Hellishly good soloing, too! Listening is an electrifying experience that will conjure memories of feral death metal from the late 80s and early 90s. Continue reading »

TWO NEW CANDLELIGHT SIGNINGS WORTH NOTICING: ANCIENT ASCENDANT AND COLTSBLOOD

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  10 Responses »
Jan 222014
 

The last 24 hours brought news of two new signings by Candlelight Records that I thought were worth some attention.

ANCIENT ASCENDANT

We’ve been following the progression of UK-based Ancient Ascendant (pictured above) very closely, with very positive reviews (by Andy Synn) of both their 2011 debut album The Grim Awakening and their 2012 EP Into the Dark. With the EP, the band transitioned to a somewhat different style than had been evident on their debut album and the EP that preceded it (The Heathen Throne). To quote Andy:

“The thrashier stylings of The Grim Awakening have been drastically pared back to make room for a more cutting, blackened approach, replacing thrashing vigour with blackened vitriol, while maintaining the monstrous death metal heart of the band. The songs now have more of a cut and thrust to them, slashing and slicing with psychotic precision, where before they were, at times, simply content with a more bludgeoning form of sonic brutality.”

They’ve now written and recorded a new album (with Dan Swanö again handling the production) that Candlelight plans to release later this year, and it’s one we’re very interested to hear. Congratulations to both Candlelight and the band on this promising new partnership! Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: HANGING GARDEN, DRUG HONKEY, VALLENFYRE, VETUR

 Exceptions to the Rule, Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  29 Responses »
Jan 212014
 

I’ve been in a state of Seahawks-inspired delirium since Sunday morning. Apart from my own ridiculous heights of excitement, the city I call home as been completely engulfed in a similar type of out-of-body experience. Everyone wants to talk about Sunday’s win and the impending Super Bowl trip, even the people who are still trying to figure out how many innings it takes to complete a football game. You can’t listen to radio or watch any kind of sports-related TV without being engulfed in Seahawks talk (although much of it has consisted of uninformed yammering about Richard Sherman). Some of you have probably found yourselves in a similar environment in past years, but it hasn’t happened here in Seattle in a long, long time.

One result of all this is that I’m way behind on my usual search for metal news and new metal. This morning I did tear myself away from Seahawks mania long enough to check out a few things and put this post together.

HANGING GARDEN

If you haven’t heard the 2013 EP by Finland’s Hanging Garden, stop wasting time and go find it. I don’t want to have to tell you twice. I Was A Soldier (Lifeforce records) is worth your 15 minutes, and all the other minutes you’ll spend with it after the first listen. To give you some evidence of why the EP is so worthwhile, allow me to show you a video that premiered today for its final track, “Will You Share This Ending With Me?” Continue reading »

CHECK OUT THE NEW SINGLE FROM THE HAUNTED: “EYE OF THE STORM”

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  9 Responses »
Jan 202014
 

Last June we were delighted to report that The Haunted’s founder Patrik Jensen had succeeded in breathing new life into the band by convincing two former members — vocalist Marco Aro (The Resistance, Face Down) and drummer extraordinaire Adrian Erlandsson (At the Gates, Paradise Lost) — to come back to the fold along with original bassist Jonas Björler, and by recruiting young guitar wizard Ola Englund (Feared, Six Feet Under) to join the  line-up. They have recorded a new three-song “single” entitled Eye of the Storm, which will be released by Century Media on January 21, and today they premiered the title track.

Jabbing riffs and swirling lead guitar arpeggios erupt over a deep, grumbling bass line and an immaculate drum track. A beautiful but all too brief guitar solo flies by, and Marco Aro howls the  lyrics in fine, caustic fashion. Feel free to debate whether the band have recaptured their past greatness, but at a minimum, this is a catchy, head-bobbing number that’s got me smiling. Listen after the jump. Continue reading »

WATCH AMON AMARTH’S VIDEO: “FATHER OF THE WOLF”

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  6 Responses »
Jan 182014
 

I’ve had virtually zero blog time since leaving Seattle early yesterday on a work-related trip. I haven’t even had time to listen to music, much less write about it. (You may have noticed, for example, that now two days have passed since the last installment in our MOST INFECTIOUS SONG series). Things aren’t likely to improve tomorrow, though we ought to be back to normal on Monday (“normal” being a relative term, of course).

I was saved from the dreadfulness of having nothing new on the site today by a message from my comrade DGR, bringing to my attention that Amon Amarth finally released their 10-minute mini-movie for the song “Father of the Wolf”. The band played the video at the first show of their U.S. your last night, and now it’s on YouTube. And now it’s on NCS.

In a word, it’s fantastic. Check it out: Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: ONTOGENY, PROFANE OMEN, RUINE

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  4 Responses »
Jan 172014
 

This will be my last post for today because my fucking day job is taking me out of town and I’ll be disconnected from the almighty inter hole for the next 7 or 8 hours.  That means no new installment of the “Most Infectious Song” list until tomorrow.  However, I did have time to pull together three new things I saw and heard last night — which I obviously think you need to see an dear, too.

ONTOGENY

I received this message from my comrade DGR:

“Ontogeny are going again, which is cool. They’re a San Francisco based Tech-death band that includes members of the group Anomalous. They have a new disc coming called Hymns Of Ahriman. It’s been three years since the last one. These guys write epic death metal songs that become whirlwinds at the drop of a hat, and Ontogeny have a tendency to just go straight into grind right in the middle of a song.

“I guess they couldn’t wait to have a fully produced song out so they just posted the pre-pro demo of the song “Phantom Love”. It’s 8:30 of just sheer madness. They put it up on the 10th of last week and it seems no one picked up on it.” Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: ALTERBEAST, ETHEREAL, HORIZON ABLAZE

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  5 Responses »
Jan 162014
 

Earlier today I posted a delayed round-up of new music and newsy things that I intended to post yesterday. This round-up is somewhat more timely, and collects three songs and related news that I just discovered today and that I heartily commend to your attention, in alphabetical order.

ALTERBEAST

Alterbeast (formerly comically known as the Gary Busey Amber Alert) are a Sacramento band I first heard about through my NCS comrade DGR (who wrote this review of one of their live shows last October). They are now among the Unique Leader stable of artists, and this spring Unique Leader plans to release their debut album Immortal.

Yesterday we got a first look at the album’s striking cover art by the talented Raymond Swanland (click the image above to see it in its full glory), and we also got a premiere of the album’s first track, “Flesh Bound Text”. You may momentarily be lulled by the piano and violin intro, but you will be jolted fully upright by the tech-death onslaught that follows. It flies like a highly accelerated horde of bats awakened from their slumber by a grenade detonation. But as jet-fueled and acrobatic as the instrumental performances are, what makes the song even more noteworthy are the start-stop dynamics and the deft incorporation of a swirling guitar melody. Awful damned impressive. Continue reading »

CARNIFEX: A SONG PREMIERE + ALBUM DETAILS + TOUR NEWS

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  4 Responses »
Jan 162014
 

Once upon a time, long ago, when deathcore was a new thing, I was a fan. One of the bands I particularly enjoyed was Carnifex. As has been true of other early deathcore progenitors, their music has slowly evolved more in the direction of straight death metal. But their latest song, which premiered today in a lyric video, is a bit of a return to their roots. Its name is “Dragged Into the Grave” and it comes from their new album Die Without Hope, which will be released on March 4 in North Am and March 7 in Europe by Nuclear Blast. The cover art was created by Godmachine.

The new song will please Carnifex fans, and it will not change the minds of anyone who has written off the band based on previous experience. I’m featuring it here as much for nostalgic reasons as anything else (you can hear it after the jump).

In related news, it was announced yesterday that Carnifex will begin a U.S. Tour next month with support from Betraying the Martyrs, I Declare War, Here Comes the Kraken, and Assassins. Here’s the schedule: Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: ALFAHANNE, INTEGRITY, DYSCARNATE, MORBUS CHRON

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  6 Responses »
Jan 162014
 

I intended to post this round-up of recommended new things yesterday, and even then the news and new music included herein was a bit dated. But life got in the way and I wasn’t able to finish it until now. In the meantime, even more new things hit my fractured radar screen. And so, if life will just stay out of the way, I’ll have another round-up for you later today.

ALFAHANNE

According to a press release I received, Alfahanne are a Swedish band formed in 2010 with members who have been in the black metal scene since the early 90’s in bands such as Vinterland and Maze of Torment — Pehr Skioldhammer (vox and guitar), Fredrik Sööberg (guitars), Niklas Åström (drums), and Jimmy Wiberg (bass). They released a split named Grym with Sweden’s Shining last year, which I haven’t heard. They’ve now recorded a debut album, Alfapokalyps, which is due for release via Dark Essence on February 10 in both CD and vinyl formats (orderable here).

In addition to featuring eye-catching cover art (above), the album includes guest vocal contributions from Niklas Kvarforth (Shining), V’gandr (Helheim), and Hoest (Taake). Recently, the band started streaming an advance track named “Såld På Mörkret”, which includes Hoest’s contribution as a vocalist. It’s a helluva song. Continue reading »

OCULUS INFERNUS — IN WHICH THE PROFESSOR EXAMINES HELLBEAR, KROSSBURST, AND SATANIKA

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  16 Responses »
Jan 162014
 

(We welcome back Professor D. Grover the XIIIth (ex-The Number of the Blog) with what we hope will be the first of many regular appearances at our site. Today, he introduces the music of three bands whose names are new to NCS.)

Greetings and salutations, friends. It has been too long, it seems, and although my life is filled nearly to its brim, I find that the old urges to write still surface from time to time. Although I lack the time and attention to run yet another site independently, my good friend Islander has always been an exceptionally welcoming host, and No Clean Singing has perhaps the best base of readers to be found on the internet among the various metal sites out there. As such, when I decided to revive Oculus Infernus Industries on a part-time basis, I knew where I needed to go.

In this particular missive, I shall present to you three works from musical collectives with whom you may not be familiar. Fear not, as this is intentional. It is ever my aim to unearth those diabolically unknown recordings so that you may peruse them for yourselves and reach your own determinations regarding their true meanings. Let us commence. Continue reading »

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