WATAIN: “THE CHILD MUST DIE”

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  11 Responses »
Jul 172013
 

Swedish black-metal horde Watain have a new album named The Wild Hunt coming on August 19 in Europe and August 20 in the US via Century Media Records. A two-track single (All That May Bleed) was released on June 21, and that was followed by the band’s official lyric video for the single’s title track (featured at NCS here). And now we’ve got another new song from the album, “The Child Must Die”.

The vocals are still soul-scraping, but much of the song may have more kinship to melodic death metal than the kind of scathing black metal you might be expecting. Yet although the song might be considered more “accessible” than Watain’s more typical output, it’s also multi-faceted, which should come as no surprise to fans of this band. It’s juiced with electricity and moments of thundering power, and it features a thrilling guitar solo. I’m quite liking it, though I’ll be curious to see what kind of reactions we’ll get in the comments.

Listen to the song next. You’ll find the lyrics below the video. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: KRALLICE, STOMACH EARTH, AND OCCULTIST

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  4 Responses »
Jul 162013
 

Did you miss our usual daily round-up yesterday? Well, you’re not alone. I missed it, too. In other words, I failed to write one. Instead, I decided I ought to do some of the work I actually get paid to do, even though I didn’t have a gun to my head. What a dumb idea. That meant I had to spend a few hours late yesterday and last night catching up on what I missed in the world of metal instead of continuing my experimentation on the development of pocket-sized nuclear fusion engines and the negotiation of lasting peace in the Middle East. But, you know, a person’s got to have his priorities straight. Here’s what I found:

KRALLICE

I like Krallice. I also like synchronicity. Less than a week ago I reported that Krallice spent a week in the studio this month recording three songs for a forthcoming split release with a project of Blut Aus Nord’s Vindsval named Vjeshitza. And then last night I found that the unparalleled (((unartig))) had filmed a Krallice set at Public Assembly in Brooklyn on July 14 that included two untitled new songs. Could these be two of the songs on the forthcoming split? Oh, I bet they are.

The videos are kind of dark, but the sound quality is good, as it usually is with an (((unartig))) production. But you should boost the volume so you don’t miss Mick Barr’s guitar leads, or for that matter what Nick McMaster, Colin Marston, and Lev Weinstein are also doing. Continue reading »

PURE AUDIO DESTRUCTION: ANAAL NATHRAKH LIVE AT ROSKILDE

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  6 Responses »
Jul 142013
 

On July 6, 2013, Britain’s Anaal Nathrakh played the Roskilde Festival in Denmark. The entire set was streamed live over the internet and it was filmed for posterity as well. The band received a DVD of the show and they’ve been “tweaking” the footage to improve the audio and alter the visual appearance a bit. Tonight they uploaded the first clip to YouTube, and more will be coming.

The first clip is the very beginning of the set and includes “Drug-Fucking Abomination” from their 2011 album Passion. The visuals have been given a kind of grainy, sepia-toned quality, which looks very cool. The sound is just absolutely obliterating.

For those of you unfamiliar with AN, this is a good example of the band’s cross-genre conflagration, and an introduction to the four different vocalists who live in Dave Hunt’s body. For those who are already fans, you’re gonna love this.

There is only one way to listen to the clip — VERY FUCKING LOUD. Boost that volume ’til the goo comes out your ears and you feel your internal organs beginning to liquify. Watch and listen/liquify after the jump. Continue reading »

ROUND-UP: NORTHLESS, AEGAEON, IN DEFENCE, GODLESS ANGEL

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  7 Responses »
Jul 142013
 

I’ve had a busy weekend, with two late nights in a row catching Deafheaven and Autopsy/Black Breath in Seattle (yes, they all killed), on top of more activity than usual during the daylight hours. But I did manage to do some web surfing and e-mail reading and found quite a lot of new things to like. I’ve collected a few of them in this post and will try to round-up the others for another post tomorrow.

NORTHLESS

I heard a lot of good things about this Milwaukee band’s last album Clandestine Abuse (2011), but somehow it got lost in the mountainous piles of music I intended to check out. I’m not going to miss the next one. Its title is World Keeps Sinking and it’s due for release on August 23 by Gilead Media. And why am I not going to miss it? Because this morning I heard the album’s first advance track, “Kuru”, and it kills.

The mid-paced song is freighted with earth-splitting sludge riffs and laced with caustic hardcore-style howls, heavy as fuck and doomed as a village in the path of a lava flow. But there’s more to the song than the weight of sledgehammers coming down on fragile skulls and the dissonance of squalling guitars. The band incorporate some surprising instrumental segments that hint at post-rock and even jazz, without diminishing the music’s suffocating atmosphere of hopelessness. Good stuff — which you can hear next (the album can be pre-ordered here). Continue reading »

THE GENIUS OF MIKE PATTON + JOHN ZORN

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  3 Responses »
Jul 132013
 

John Zorn is a composer, multi-instrumental performer (though probably best known as a saxophonist), arranger, producer, improvisor, impresario, and MacArthur Fellow. Over a career spanning four decades, he has he has explored a wide spectrum of music and worked with a vast array of other musical artists. This year he turns 60 years old. In celebration of his birthday, he has been performing a series of worldwide concerts called “Zorn@60”. Last night, July 12, he put on one of these birthday parties at the Barbican’s concert hall in London. He had a few notable guests with him on stage, including Mike Patton.

I’m going to assume you know who Mike Patton is. Patton and Zorn have collaborated in the past (for example, on the 2002 experimental electronic/jazz album Hemophiliac), and Patton has also guested on releases by Zorn’s Painkiller and Naked City groups. Along with Joey Baron and Trevor Dunn, Patton was part of the “Moonchild Trio” that first appeared as the performers on Zorn’s 2006 composition, Moonchild: Songs Without Words, and went on to record other Zorn compositions.

So, this has been a long run-up to the main reason for this post, which is to show you some videos from the Patton-Zorn collaboration at Barbican last night. All four apparently feature music from Zorn’s album Templars: In Sacred Blood, with the composition again being performed both on the album and last night by the Moonchild Trio. What Patton does with his voice blew my shit away. The experimental music is also very cool. I think I need to track down this album. Watch and listen next. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: ULCERATE, TWILIGHT OF THE GODS, CRAVEN IDOL, EVOKEN, CRYPTOPSY

 Exceptions to the Rule, Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  19 Responses »
Jul 122013
 

Here’s a collection of items I saw and heard yesterday while surveilling the interhole. The featured bands are Ulcerate (New Zealand), Twilight of the Gods (multinational), Craven Idol (UK), Cryptopsy (Canada), and Evoken (US), .

ULCERATE

The new album from New Zealand’s Ulcerate has been high on our “most anticipated” list for this year, and yesterday finally brought a lot of fresh news. The title of the album is Vermis, it includes 9 tracks, it’s nearly 55 minutes long — and it will be released by Relapse on September 17 in North America (September 13 in Germany and the Benelux countries and September 16 in the rest of the world). Pre-orders for the album and related merch are being fielded at this location. You can see the newly unveiled album cover above.

Yesterday also brought a video teaser for Vermis. It includes just an itty-bitty, teenie-weensie snippet of music, but it was enough to rattle my teeth. I think, just to be safe, I’ll make a dental appointment for the day after I get my hands on this album. The teaser is next. Continue reading »

FREE SHIT: DEATH HAMMER VOL I

 Free Shit, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  1 Response »
Jul 112013
 

We do like to keep our eyes open for free shit worth recommending to you, and here’s one that comes highly recommended. It’s a “mixtape” of death metal compiled by CVLT Nation — 25 songs by 25 bands, with a total run time of 2 hours, 18 minutes. It’s a mix of older and newer songs and includes a variety of death metal styles.

You’ll find some Immolation and Ignivomous, some Mithras and some Mitochondrion, some Cryptopsy and some Ulcerate, some Spawn of Possession and some Wormed, some Antediluvian and some Ævangelist, and much more. I really like the selection of music picked for this thing, which is why I’m pimping it.

The compilation is divided into two files that are downloadable via the Soundcloud players you’ll find at CVLT Nation or here, after the jump. Enjoy. Continue reading »

REVOCATION: “INVIDIOUS”

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  2 Responses »
Jul 112013
 

Not long ago Metal Sucks premiered another new song from the next album by Boston’s Revocation, which is set for release on August 6 in NorthAm via Relapse. The new one is called “Invidious”. It is . . . how shall I say this? . . . a big-booted kick in the ass, plus banjo.

It romps, it stomps, it rocks, it rolls. It thrashes, it smashes, it swarms, it shreds (of course). It has a bass drop, it has a clean-ish chorus, it has gang shouts. It has hooks, it’s arena-ready. Plus banjo.

My only complaint? Needs more banjo.

Go HERE to listen for yourselves. If you haven’t heard the first song from the album that premiered previously, you can catch that after the jump.

P.S. This whole album is awesome. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: GRAVE, PELICAN, WRUST, AND SHEOL

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  2 Responses »
Jul 102013
 

The avalanche of new and noteworthy metallic items that’s been going on all week has continued today. I caught a few of today’s new items in an earlier post, but already there are more. So, another fully loaded round-up follows . . .

GRAVE

More details about the new EP (Morbid Ascent) from Sweden’s Grave surfaced today. First, the release date was announced: August 26. Second, we got the tasty cover art by Costin Chioreanu (above). Third, we learned that Autopsy’s Eric Cutler will be contributing guest vocals on one of the two new songs on the EP — “Venial Sin” (the other one being “Morbid Ascent”). The EP will also include a cover of Satyricon’s “Possessed” as well as a remixed version of “Epos” from Risen From the Tomb and a track from Grave’s 1989 Sexual Mutilation demo (“Reality of Life”). Sounds like a very cool collection.

The EP is going to be released as a 12″ vinyl (in multiple colors) as well as a digital download, and Century Media says both formats will be offered for “a fan-friendly price”. Continue reading »

GORGUTS DELIVER ANOTHER NEW SONG: “OCEAN OF WISDOM”

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  3 Responses »
Jul 102013
 

Is it too soon to add the new Gorguts album, Colored Sands, to Best of 2013 year-end lists? I suppose it is, since we only have two songs from the new album to go on, but holy hell, are they good!

The newest one just premiered at Blabbermouth. It’s called “An Ocean Of Wisdom”. It’s heavy as hell, dark as night, and instrumentally acrobatic (as you would expect). It manages to be a dense, dynamic, complex, brutal, and atmospheric song all at the same time, while also providing the kind of top-shelf instrumental performances we knew the talent in this band would deliver.

Colored Sands will be released on August 30 in Europe and September 3 in North America via Season Of Mist. Here’s “An Ocean of Wisdom” (and big thanks to Vonlughlio for tipping me about this): Continue reading »

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