SEEN AND HEARD: SHINING (SWEDEN), KATAKLYSM, THE RUINS OF BEVERAST, ARMAGEDON

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  5 Responses »
Aug 082013
 

Here’s the promised second part of today’s effort to catch up on noteworthy new things from the last several days.

SHINING

Sweden’s Shining announced a while back that their next album, 8 ½ – Feberdrömmar I Vaket Tillstånd (scheduled for release by Dark Essence on Sept 23), would feature many guest vocalists, in addition to frontman Niklas Kvarforth of course. As of today, we know who they are, and it’s an interesting list that includes more than a few black metal luminaries:

1. “Terres Des Anonymes” featuring FAMINE of PESTE NOIRE
2. “Szabadulj Meg Önmagadtól” featuring ATTILA CSIHAR of MAYHEM, TORMENTOR
3. “Ett Liv Utan Mening” featuring PEHR LARSSON of ALFAHANNE
4. “Selvdestruktivitetens Emissarie” featuring GAAHL of GOD SEED, WARDRUNA, ex-GORGOROTH
5. “Black Industrial Misery” featuring MANIAC of SKITLIV, ex-MAYHEM
6. “Through Corridors Of Oppression” featuring KVARFORTH

The songs themselves date back to an earlier era in Shining’s life. Original pre-production tracks of the songs were used as the foundation, with the addition of newly recorded bass and guitars as well as keyboards performed by Lars Fredrik Fröslie (Angst Skvadron, Wobbler, Asmegin). Should be worth checking out when it arrives. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: BROKEN HOPE, EVOCATION, NEW DOMINION

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  1 Response »
Aug 082013
 

You may have noticed that new music round-ups have been scarce this week. We’ve been going overboard on the reviews instead. However, I have been maintaining a constant vigil and collecting worthwhile new things as I’ve seen them. Only problem is that the list has grown so damned long, even after just a few days of watching and not writing, that the list has become unwieldy. So I’ve done some fairly random paring down and split this catch-up round-up into two parts, this being the first.

BROKEN HOPE

Do you sometimes wish that revered old bands who have fallen apart would just stay down, so you can be left with your fond memories instead of having them tarnished with a mediocre comeback? Unfortunately, it seems that comebacks tend to be mediocre a lot more often than awesome. But judging from the first new song in this round-up, that probably won’t be the case with Chicago’s Broken Hope.

They recorded five albums between 1991 and 1999 and then split up, but they’re coming back with a new album named Omen of Disease that’s due on October 20. The song that premiered yesterday is “Flesh Mechanic”. It’s a grisly riff monster, fresh guts dripping from its teeth, and trench-level roars bellowing from its throat. The solo in the song is white hot, and the whole thing is brimming with feral energy. If only all comebacks sounded this putrid. Continue reading »

STUFF I HAD TO FIND ON MY OWN ‘CAUSE ISLANDER & HIS CRONIES MISSED IT – 2ND EDITION

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  11 Responses »
Aug 062013
 

(I guess it’s obvious that neither I nor my NCS cronies wrote this.  Just like the first installment back in January, NCS guest contributor KevinP did this.)

IGORRR – Hallelujah

I was gonna save the best for last, but I was too excited and figured we’d start off with a huge mindfuck.  This is also my new favorite thing of all time (for this week anyways).  I’m even willing to give partial credit to our CEO for posting the Apathia Records Comp recently, which featured ÖXXÖ XÖÖX.  IGORR is the main solo project of Gautier Serre (of ÖXXÖ XÖÖX fame).  While listening to the prior band, I stumbled across this gem.

I’m not going to spoil it for ya, just listen and keep listening, it has a little bit of everything (even chicken clucks).  The French have officially cornered the market on weird shit.  “Vegetable Soup” makes me feel like I’m walking around EPCOT (yeah Walt Disney World), then a techno opera, a farm, a techno farm dance club, whatever.  (It also has plenty of metal parts, don’t be scared.)

http://adnoiseam.bandcamp.com/album/hallelujah
http://adnoiseam.bandcamp.com/album/nostril
https://www.facebook.com/IgorrrBarrroque Continue reading »

CONDUCTING FROM THE GRAVE: “INTO THE RABBIT HOLE” PLAYTHROUGH

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  2 Responses »
Aug 042013
 

(DGR wrote this feature about a new video from Sacramento’s Conducting From The Grave.)

You may remember that the last time we checked in with the Conducting From The Grave guys, they were neck deep in their kickstarter campaign and had just released a song entitled “Into The Rabbit Hole”. Well, the band succeeded, garnering close to 19k out of the original goal of 15,000 and have since announced that the disc will likely see a late-September/early-October release as they figure out how to get the merchandising side of things taken care of.

A few days ago the band also uploaded a playthrough video of the aforementioned “Into The Rabbit Hole” song that rotates between guitarists Jeff and John and bassist Jordan. I think playthrough videos are interesting as hell because you can really learn how to play a song yourself by studying them, or in my case just rest your head in your hands as you’re reminded you’re not even half the musician that these guys who are just shredding away are. I don’t even play guitar and watching these guys fly along to the song is fascinating.

I have heard bits and pieces of the full self-titled release and it’s a pretty good one to look forward to. It has a metric fuckton more guitar playing than Revenants, so if you missed that element from that disc, it’s back, and hybridized with a much more death-metal focused sound. Until we get more to show off from that disc though, you’ll just have to be satisfied with another take on this song. Continue reading »

MECHINA: “CEPHEUS”

 Album Reviews, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  3 Responses »
Aug 042013
 

(DGR shares some thoughts about the new single from Chicago’s Mechina.)

Let me just take a quick breath and describe this song for you, as my reaction upon listening to it for the first time.

Holy shit.

It’s not often that you’re justified in describing a song this way, but my first run through the new Mechina song after having Empyrean in my hands for the better part of eight months was a great feeling. There’s something to Mechina’s hybrid of symphonic elements with industrial death that provides constant moments of absolute excitement. When I first heard the band with Andromeda I felt the need to post about that song almost immediately, and since then I’ve found one or two songs that I can’t help but be incredibly excited by on each release.

I thought they had almost peaked with “Anathema” and “Elephtheria” off of this year’s Empyrean, but then the violence of “Cepheus” hit, and my excitement for anything new by these guys reached a fever peach once again. Continue reading »

GRAVE MIASMA, ALTARS, FACEBREAKER

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  7 Responses »
Aug 032013
 

To start the weekend, I’ve collected new death metal in this post that I strongly recommend, from three very good bands.

GRAVE MIASMA

This UK band made quite an impact with the two EPs they’ve released to date — 2009’s Exalted Emanation and 2010’s Realm of Evoked Doom — and now they’ve completed a debut album entitled Odori Sepulcrorum that’s due for release on September 13 (September 17 in NorthAm) by Profound Lore and the German label Sepulchral Voice. It was reportedly recorded on analog format using vintage equipment, and it features wonderful cover art (above), painted with acrylics on glass by Denis Forkas.

So far I’ve only heard one of the new tracks, “Ovation To A Thousand Lost Reveries”. It made me think of the song we streamed earlier this week from Ulcerate’s new album. It’s a roaring storm of ancient blackened death metal, the riffs moaning and grinding and oozing with putrescence. The drum tone is titanic, and the barbaric vocals echo like roars of the awakened dead across the vault of dank crypts.

Like Ulcerate, Grave Miasma prove that there is still fertile ground for creative growth in the graveyard of wholly dominating death metal. The song is wonderfully inventive while remaining rotten to the core. Stupendous stuff. Continue reading »

RÄJÄ ‘N’ ROLL WITH RÄJÄYTTÄJÄT

 Exceptions to the Rule, Off Topic, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  2 Responses »
Aug 022013
 

This has been the kind of day when I’ve wanted to go postal on our web host (Bluehost). Our site — and every other site hosted by Bluehost, HostGator, HostMonster, and JustHost — has been down for nearly the entire day. A few times it has come back up for a few minutes, and then disappears again. It’s up again now, but who knows when it will go down again? Fuckers.

Anyway, I’m posting this now mainly to let people know that we’re still here. But I’m also including some music that cheered me up and diverted my murderous mood, to the point when I’m not even thinking about those Bluehost clowns. It’s not metal, but it’s from Finland, so that kind of makes it metal anyway. Fucking Bluehost.

The band has got more umlauts in their name than Bluehost has IQ points: Räjäyttäjät. Apparently, it means “Detonators” in English. Apparently, in Finland they call the band’s music “Räjä ‘n’ roll”. They’re releasing their debut album on August 30 via Ektro Records. You gotta admire this album title, which I like much better than motherfucking Bluehost:

AWOPBOPALOOPOP ALOPBAM RÄJÄ!

The song I heard is an advance track called “Ei Hauskaa”, which apparently means “No Fun”. But I’ll tell you, I had a shitload of fun listening to it, even while hoping that the earth swallows up Bluehost and shits it out. Continue reading »

VIDEOGRAPHY: BEAST WARS, BLOCKHEADS, UNCLE ACID AND THE DEADBEATS, DREAMING DEAD

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  6 Responses »
Aug 022013
 

Yesterday brought a big group of video premieres. Here are four that I liked a bunch.

BEASTWARS

This New Zealand band’s 2013 album Blood Becomes Fire remains one of my favorites of the year (I reviewed it here), and the opening track “Dune” is one of my two favorite songs on the album. It’s a high-intensity mauler marked by Matt Hyde’s no-holds-barred vocals, by massive riffs that grind like giant grit-encrusted gears about to lock up, and by drums that punch and rumble.

Yesterday the band released a stunning animated video for “Dune”, funded by a government program called NZ On Air and created by Skyranch.tv, with ingenious work by director Simon Ward, illustrator Cory Mathis, and a cool FX team. It’s a freaky time-travel story that’s a feast for the eyes. It’s fitting that it’s loaded with dinosaurs, since Beastwars’ riffs are saurian in their immensity. You’re in for a wild ride, next. Continue reading »

DEATH METAL: WAR MASTER AND MORTHRA

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  8 Responses »
Aug 022013
 

Yesterday was kind of a strange day here at the NCS metallic island. We put up a big stream of posts, but most of them were short-and-fast alerts about new tours or new songs, because your humble editor was preoccupied with the demands of his fucking day job and didn’t followed through on more time-consuming ideas that were originally slated for the day. Better luck today.

I’d like to begin whatever emerges at NCS on this Friday by flattening you with some metal of fucking death. I have two songs. I heard both of them yesterday when I came up for a gasp of air from the miasma of my paid work. If you like fucking death metal, I believe you will smile when you hear them (after you finish picking up your teeth).

WAR MASTER

War Master are a new discovery for me. They’re from my one-time hometown of Houston, Texas, and their last release was a 2011 debut album named Pyramid of the Necropolis. They’ve now recorded a new EP entitled Blood Dawn, which will be released on August 7.

Last month they began streaming an advance track on Bandcamp called “Bastard Horde”, which can be obtained right now for $1. It’s goddamn titanic — a blasting, grinding, heavy-as-hell battle-tank on a merciless old-school rampage in the vein of Bolt Thrower. The monstrous riffs and irresistible grooves in this baby will smash you into smithereens. I’m in love. Or at least in lust. Continue reading »

ANOTHER NEW SONG FROM FLESHGOD APOCALYPSE: “MINOTAUR (THE WRATH OF POSEIDON)”

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  4 Responses »
Aug 012013
 

You already know what we think of Labyrinth, the new album by the almighty Fleshgod Apocalypse, because surely you have read Andy Synn’s laudatory review of it. And surely you have already heard “Elegy”, the first track from the album to be released for streaming. And surely you will now listen to the second song that just appeared on YouTube as a lyric video, “Minotaur (The Wrath of Poseidon)”. Surely.

Labyrinth will be out on Aug. 16 in Europe, Aug. 19 in the UK, and Aug. 20 in North America via Nuclear Blast Records. Listen to “Minotaur” next and please share your thoughts in the comments. Continue reading »

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