NEW SOUNDS: CARCASS, MERCENARY, MISERY SIGNALS, BEYOND, ENTRAILS

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  7 Responses »
Jul 102013
 

I mentioned in today’s first post that I was cut off from the interhole most of yesterday and missed lots of stuff that should have been the subject of yesterday’s posts. So I’m catching up. I’ve found so many interesting developments from both yesterday and this morning that I’m going to hold my verbiage to a rare minimum and let the music speak for itself.

CARCASS

The band’s first single (“Captive Bolt Pistol”) from their new album (Surgical Steel) proved controversial. (The song appeared on a CD exclusively sold with the 85th issue of the German “Legacy” Magazine in order to promote the Party.San Metal Open Air festival, and someone uploaded it to YouTube from there). The haters (I’m not one) seemed primarily to be those fans who think Carcass jumped the shark after Necroticism, and therefore they’re disappointed in the Heartwork-style stylings of the new song.

Yesterday brought us another taste, an official video teaser that appears to be a playthrough of an instrumental part of another song. Haters will still hate. I am still not one of them; I still like what I hear. You can listen to the teaser after the jump. But today also brought us the very cool album cover for Surgical Steel, which you can see above. It was created by British photographer Ian Tilton, who also did the cover for Necroticism. Now, here’s the teaser: Continue reading »

PREMIERES: ELITE, OATHBREAKER, ASG, AND NEXILVA

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  4 Responses »
Jul 082013
 

This Monday has turned into a day of premieres (not even counting the one we did ourselves for Razormaze). I’ve collected in this post a handful that I enjoyed, from Elite (Norway), Oathbreaker (Belgium), ASG (US), and Nexilva (UK).

ELITE

I was originally turned on to Norway’s Elite more than two years ago via one of Andy Synn’s SYNN REPORTS about the band. Almost five years have passed since Elite’s last album, We Own the Mountains, but it appears the band are planning to release a new one before this year ends. Today they released a promo version of a new track called “This Is Where All Ends”. It reflects some changes from much of what has come before.

The song is mid-paced and majestic in its atmosphere, with a soaring chorus to match whispers of black metal darkness in its jagged verse. For most of the song’s duration, the vocals are near-clean, though ragged and anguished in their passion. The song has gotten stuck in my head, too. Check it out next. Continue reading »

GRINDING FOR A CURE: VOLUME 2

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  4 Responses »
Jul 062013
 

I’m going to repeat some of the back story about “Grinding for a Cure” that I described (here) back in February, for those of you who have forgotten and for new readers. It’s a project that started small and has truly exploded. The organizers set up shop and started spreading the word about their mission only in mid-January of this year — and their mission was to raise money to fund research into a cure for Alzheimer’s disease by selling a grindcore compilation. In a surprisingly short amount of time, they assembled a genuinely impressive line-up of bands and released a 100-track Volume I comp, which is still available here. The compilation was assembled by Dorian Rainwater of Noisear, Christine Coz, and Chris Messina of Swamp Gas.

Even as that comp was being released, the organizers had a bunch of other songs already in hand for a follow-up, and more have been coming in since then. Yesterday, they released Volume II for download on Bandcamp. Although they still have 10 more submissions coming their way, Volume II as it now stands includes 90 songs from 90 bands from all over the world. And the music isn’t limited to grind, though that’s the dominant style of music that’s represented. I’m just going to mention the names of some of the bands we’ve written about at NCS (from memory), and even this abbreviated list will give you an indication about the range and quality of the music on offer:

Psudoku, Drug Honkey, Horsebastard, Flourishing, Impetigo, Human Cull, Noisear, Dephosphorus, Phobia, and Sarcolytic. Continue reading »

TEASERS: KALL, BLACK CAP MINER, BLACKOUT, AND FETO IN FETUS

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  3 Responses »
Jul 062013
 

In this post I’m pulling together new music from four bands that I heard yesterday which made quite an impression. All of them are tracks from forthcoming releases, and all of them succeed in building interest for what’s coming. None of them sounds remotely like the others.

KALL

Over the space of four albums released from 2006 to 2011, Sweden’s Lifelover built a large and intense following, and many people have credited them with being an important influence in the development of depressive black metal as a recognizable sub-genre. However, 2011’s Sjukdom proved to be the band’s last album. In September 2011, Lifelover’s principal songwriter Jonas “B” Bergqvist died of what was reported to be an overdose of prescription medication, and the remaining members decided to end the band.

However, about a year later, word surfaced that three of Lifelover’s former members — vocalist/guitarist “( )” (Kim Carlsson), guitarist “H” (Henrik Huldtgren), and bassplayer Fix — had decided to start a new band. The band’s name is Kall (Swedish for “cold”), and yesterday I discovered that Kall has released a song from a forthcoming EP. The song’s name is “Då, nu – Jag och Du”, which according to Google Translate means “Then, Now — Me and You”. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: GORGUTS, KARTIKEYA

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  5 Responses »
Jul 052013
 

Happy 5th of July to one and all!  Though often overshadowed by yesterday’s holiday, July 5 is the anniversary of the date in 1775 when the Continental Congress adopted the so-called Olive Branch Petition attempting to convince King George III of the colonies’ affection and loyalty (while appealing for relief from various grievances). King George, of course, rejected the petition and declared the colonies to be in a “state of open and avowed rebellion”. I bet he later wished for a do-over on that decision.

Anyway, while indulging in solemn remembrance of the Olive Branch Petition this morning, as well as the 76th anniversary of the introduction of Spam to the market by Hormel Foods Corporation and the 67th anniversary of the first public sale of the bikini, I found time to observe a couple items of metal interest, which are discussed below.

GORGUTS

Little more than two weeks ago, we finally learned the album title (Colored Sands), track list, and release dates for the first studio album by Gorguts in 12 years — as well as hearing the album’s first single, “Forgotten Arrows”. I think it’s fair to say that the song was greeted by a boisterously enthusiastic reception. Gorguts’ Luc Lemay took notice, and yesterday he recorded a video thank-you to the band’s fans. Continue reading »

DECAPITATED GIVES THE VIDEO TREATMENT TO “404”

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  4 Responses »
Jul 052013
 

Well, finally. Of all the songs on Decapitated’s superb 2011 album Carnival Is Forever, “404” was the one your humble editor picked for Our List of 2011’s Most Infectious Extreme Metal Songs (though it was a close call between that one and “United”). And although Decapitated have produced multiple music videos for Carnival, “404” was overlooked for video treatment — until about an hour ago.

Now we’ve got it — a montage of clips from live performances set to the studio track of the song. It’s a reminder of both what a fuckin’ awesome song this is and what a killer live show Decapitated deliver.

As a trained medical professional, I also want to remind you about the importance of doing your neck-loosening exercises before watching this, so you don’t pull a muscle when your head starts bouncing to and fro and every which way. Here it is: Continue reading »

FIVE OF MY FAVOURITE . . . METAL BALLADS

 Exceptions to the Rule, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  18 Responses »
Jul 052013
 

(Andy Synn delivers yet another list of favorite things that come in five’s. And to quote one of the most memorable comments we’ve ever received, almost everything in this list “runs totally contrary to NCS statement”.)

So today’s post was originally going to be a review of an awesome black metal album I’ve had on the backburner for a few months now… but instead I did this. So sue me. I like singing.

Ballad need not be a dirty word in metal. Although I share with you a general distaste for the way in which most mainstream rock/metal bands defecate a steaming pile of melodramatic emotion onto a disc just to prove how “sensitive” they are, I’d say that by now we can spot these sort of box-ticking attempts at cross-over appeal a mile away. You can tell when a band is trying too hard, or when it’s done just because of the “hit factor”.

But what I’m talking about here are the sort of metal ballads that are both organic to their creator’s sound (as opposed to say, how every other tough-guy groove metal band has a generic ballad-y love song “for the ladies” to show that although they’re ‘dangerous tough guys’, they’ve really got a heart of gold…) and also still maintain that sense of power and depth, and often complexity, that has become synonymous with the metal genre.

So, anyway, here’s five of my favourite, artistically rewarding, emotionally affecting, metal ballads. You’ll find that they’re mostly (say 75-85%) clean sung, but I don’t think that should be a bar to the appreciation of a quality song. What’s more each and every one just fits with the sound and identity of the band as a whole. Continue reading »

FREE SHIT: AN APATHIA RECORDS COMPENDIUM

 Free Shit, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  7 Responses »
Jul 052013
 

Apathia Records is an independent French record label founded in 2009.  They say they have only one rule: “We sign what we like.” The truth of this statement is demonstrated by a digital compilation of music entitled Compendium: Year I – III that Apathia has just released for free download.

The compilation consists of 11 tracks by 11 different bands, and stylistically the music is all over the place (and includes bands that are outside the realm of what we usually cover at NCS). It includes groove/thrash from Heart Attack; death metal from Genital Grinder and Como Muertos; gothic avant garde by Wormfood;  ambient rock/metal from Përl, Lyan, and Blien Vesne; post-rock by What Mad Universe; and mind-fucking music that there’s simply no easy way to describe from Pryapisme, ÖXXÖ XÖÖX, Abstrusa Unde.

I managed to track down embeddable streams of all the songs on the comp except the one by Heart Attack and I’m including them after the jump (for Heart Attack, I’ve got a different song from the same album that includes guest vocals by Shawter of Dagoba).

To get the compilation, go to THIS PAGE. When you get there you will have to like Apathia on Facebook, tweet them, or give them a +1 on Google Plus to unlock the download. The digital file includes a digital booklet. Check out the song streams next. Continue reading »

A JULY 4 ROUND-UP: KONTINUUM, DEAFHEAVEN, MAJESTIC DOWNFALL, GALVANO, AND GOG

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  2 Responses »
Jul 042013
 

Happy Fourth of July to all you U.S. denizens. I don’t really go in for flag-waving hoo-hah, but this will nevertheless be the only NCS post for Independence Day (so it will be a jumbo round-up). My wife and I will be entertaining some special visitors from the other side of our Great Land this afternoon, and then tonight we’ll be mourning one of the members of the intrepid NCS aeronaut pigeon squadron, who deliver most of our metal news to us.

They got confused and delivered some of the items you’ll be hearing today to one of our neighbors, and after he heard what it was, he opened fire, mortally wounding one of those brave flyers. She will live in our hearts forever. We’re planning a simple grave-side ceremony, followed by ritual execution of one of the neighbor’s kids. I suggested we just put out an eye, but half measures weren’t acceptable to the other aeronauts. And really, who can blame them?

It’s a stirring sight to witness a small screaming child dropped into a pit of spikes from 100 feet by pigeons flying in the Missing Man formation, and painted in the death markings of their race with a mixture of pigeon shit and ditch water.  Better than fireworks.

KONTINUUM

What better way to begin celebrating the Birth Of Our Nation than with some Icelandic metal? Yes, I know it’s a cliched thing to do on the 4th, but I’m old-fashioned at heart. Continue reading »

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