SEEN AND HEARD: MANTAR, MORFIN, SVARTTJERN, THY DISEASE, WORDS OF FAREWELL

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  6 Responses »
Jan 282014
 

I was going to post this yesterday, but we had so many other things to do yesterday that I ran out of time. But although a day late, the five songs collected here are still fairly new. All of them premiered since last Friday and all of them caught my ears in a vice-like grip and shook my head like a maraca, producing a similar rattling sound with the small object inside my skull. As usual for these collections, the styles of metal are different, but it’s all good. The bands are presented in alphabetical order.

MANTAR

Mantar are a new two-piece band, half German and half Turkish, whose debut album Death By Burning is scheduled for release by Svart Records, on February 7. I hadn’t heard any of their music before, but the strange cover art drew me into CVLT Nation’s debut of a new track named “Spit”.

Interestingly, the only instruments used on the album are guitar and drums (no bass), but “Spit” is still plenty heavy. Comparisons have been drawn to the likes of Melvins, Motorhead, and Darkthrone. “Spit” is a black, hammering rocker with a boatload of fat, distorted riffs and a drum attack that seems bent on dismantling skulls. It’s catchy as fuck, and Mantar’s vocalist has the kind of raw, scarring tone that leaves faces in shreds. Excellent nastiness. Continue reading »

BEHEMOTH PREMIERE ANOTHER NEW SONG: “ORA PRO NOBIS LUCIFER”

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  4 Responses »
Jan 282014
 

Pray for us, Lucifer, because Poland’s Behemoth have just released another new song from their forthcoming album The Satanist. And the song’s name is “Ora Pro Nobis Lucifer”, which is Latin for… pray for us Lucifer.

The song stream comes in the form of a lyric video that includes artwork and text from inside the digipak booklet. Nergal wrote the music. The lyrics were written by Nergal and Krzysztof Azarewicz.

The song provides yet further cause to be excited for The Satanist. It rumbles, it rolls, it stalks in a solemn procession. The guitar melody drills like a weapon and rings like chimes. Nergal, of course, sounds like he thoroughly believes in his pronouncements. Listen next. Continue reading »

ALIVE: AEVANGELIST, ARTIFICIAL BRAIN, AND OBITUARY (PLAYING THREE NEW SONGS)

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  10 Responses »
Jan 272014
 

I came across some new live videos last night that I’d like to share. The first two are performances by Ævangelist and Artificial Brain at Brooklyn’s St. Vitus bar on January 25, 2014. I’ve been following both bands for a long time, but this is the first time I’ve seen what they look like on stage.

The new album by Ævangelist, Omen Ex Simulacra, was released last November by Debemur Morti. For my money, the most compelling track on a very compelling album is the long closing song “Abysscape”. To quote what I’ve previously written, it’s “a dense, bottomless, indigo whirlpool of doom, made for immersion. Immense grinding guitars match up with immense, horrific vocals and stunning drumwork. Alien keyboard melodies call out like the cries of homeless souls. The ravaging music alternately storms and drifts. You look into the void, and ‘Abysscape’ is there, looking back at you.”

How nice that the Ævangelist video filmed at St. Vitus by Frank Huang was the performance of “Abysscape”. And how nice that the alien nature of the song was matched by an otherworldly performance, beginning with the band’s live bassist — ][ — shrieking his lungs out for minutes on end before the song kicks into gear and lead vocalist Ascaris starts discharging his horrific, abyssal roars. Performing against a red backdrop but nearly immersed in shadow, both ][ and the band’s musical mastermind Matron Thorn are covered in strange sigils, and the top of Ascaris’ face is concealed by a creepy mask. Visually, the band is as arresting and unsettling to watch as their music is to hear. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: FRAMEWORK AND FOREVER DAWN

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  7 Responses »
Jan 262014
 

I went to an annual party last night with co-workers, friends of theirs, and friends of mine. It’s a celebration of the life of Robert Burns on his birthday. He would be 255 years old if he were still around. I feel 255 years old this morning. I blame the amber bead.

As has become traditional, this morning I’m going to a “hangover-cure, southern-fried” feedbag at a friend’s house, attended by whoever else besides me survived last night’s blowout. There will be hair of the dog, in addition to a mess of high-calorie comfort food, none of which will cure my hangover — but misery loves company.

All of this is by way of excusing the fact that I don’t have a big mess of comfort metal to serve you today. But I hate to let a day go by without something new, and thanks to my NCS comrades, I have two somethings to throw up here on the site before I go ineffectually attempt to cure my hangover.

Did I just say throw up? A Freudian slip. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: AGELESS OBLIVION, METSATÖLL, DOMAINS, LIE IN RUINS, CORPSESSED

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  12 Responses »
Jan 242014
 

The creative juices are REALLY flowing out there in metaldom . . . SO much juice . . . So sticky, so pungent . . . You just want to smear it ALL over and massage it into your scalp and make fluffy merengue with it . . . and

Ooops, sorry about that.  Where was I?  Oh yeah, a lot of creative juicing going on. LOTS of new metal songs to be spread around, like. . . well, you know. Here’s just a small smear of what I found this morning (more of what I found over the last 24 hours can be seen and heard here).

AGELESS OBLIVION

In July 2012 our own Andy Synn reviewed the debut album by a band from Hampshire, UK, named Ageless Oblivion. Here’s a relevant excerpt:

“You may not have heard of this band, but doubtless you will be doing so more in the future. With a fresh take on the death metal dynamic, this, their debut album, provides a master class in modern death metal, shot through with unusual progressive impulses. . . . The playing throughout is deft and highly skilled, without veering into territory one could describe (often dismissively) as “tech”. While there is no doubt some complex fretwork going on here, it’s always done in service to the song and as part of an overall pattern of interlocking riffs, woven together seamlessly. Drums clatter and pound with impressive force, eschewing the simple blast-blast-blast approach in favour of punchy, jarring kick patterns and sharp, hammer-blow snare-beats, while the vocals favour a tormented, guttural howl that successfully captures an all-too-human sense of rage and despair, making a rare emotional connection with the listener.” Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: STAM1NA, NOCTEM, BLACK MASK

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  10 Responses »
Jan 242014
 

Collected in this round-up are a few new videos and songs I came across over the last 24 hours that I thought were worth your time. This is the first of a two-part “Seen and Heard”. More recommended new things will appear later today.

STAM1NA

I’m a big fan of Finland’s Stam1na, but despite the fact that I really do enjoy their music, I always finding myself writing about them because of their videos (previous posts collected here). And I write about their videos because they’re so damned funny. And here I am again, writing about yet another Stam1na video — but not for the usual reasons.

This one premiered yesterday (credit to TheMadIsraeli for tipping me to it) and it’s for a song named “Panzerfaust” from their new album SLK (due for release on Feb 7). Man, did I get a surprise. First, the song hits like a blowtorch opened all the way up — a jolting piece of jabbing, hammering, thrashing mayhem with a swirling finger-tapped guitar melody and a stomping martial finish. When choral voices and militaristic chants aren’t being heard, Antti Hyyrynen’s vehement voice is raking like sharpened claws. Continue reading »

WATCH A NEW LIVE GOJIRA VIDEO FROM THEIR FORTHCOMING DVD: “FLYING WHALES”

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  2 Responses »
Jan 232014
 

 

Not long ago a certain web site that referred to the almighty Gojira as “French art-metallers” (wha???) premiered a live video of the band performing “Flying Whales” at London’s Brixton Academy last year, and holy shit, is it good!

The video is included in a CD/DVD of the entire performance at Brixton Academy, which will accompany an art book entitled Les Enfants Sauvages. One of the photos from the book appears above and more can be viewed at that other web site. You can order the book here.

Watch the video after the jump. You’ll be glad you did. Continue reading »

AN A CAPELLA COVER OF FLESHGOD APOCALYPSE THAT WORKS BETTER THAN YOU COULD IMAGINE

 Exceptions to the Rule, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  6 Responses »
Jan 232014
 

Dan-Elias Brevig is a wonder. He has taken “The Violation”, by those Italian maestros of utterly bombastic death metal, Fleshgod Apocalypse, and created a completely a cappela cover of the song in a YouTube video. And by “a capella”, I mean that he has not only recorded the growls and falsetto cleans from the song, he has also used his voice to mimic the song’s instrumental arrangements.

Think about the original for a moment, and ponder what this would entail. After you’ve stopped shaking your head and going “No Way!”, move past the jump and see/hear for yourselves. Mr. Brevig calls it a parody, but it’s pretty damned impressive.

(Dan-Elias Brevig is from the vicinity of Oslo, Norway; he has a band named Immetic (whose music may be found here); and his Facebook page is at this location. To give you another example of his pipes in action, I’ve included an Immetic song after the video; it’s partially an exception to our rule, but I’m digging it — and it sort of helps explain his affinity for Fleshgod Apocalypse.) Continue reading »

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 »

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