TEASED: BLODSGARD AND SOREPTION

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  1 Response »
Jun 162013
 

In recent days two bands I’m very high on have released teasers of music from albums I’ve been waiting on for a long time (with a level of eagerness that hasn’t diminished as the months have rolled by).

BLODSGARD

Norway’s Blodsgard haven’t yet released a full-length album, only three demos — but the debut album is on the way. Its title is Monument and it will soon be made available both digitally and on CD via a label called The Oath (an exact release date hasn’t been announced). Yesterday, the band unveiled the killer cover art for the album (above), created by one of my favorite metal artists, Mark Cooper (Mindrape Art), as well as excerpts of all the songs.

When I first found out about Blodsgard in September 2011, the most recent demo — a four-song offering called Solve et Coagula— hadn’t even been released for public distribution, and the band had no plans to do so. I got a chance to hear it and then obtained permission to provide a link to a special 3-song download for our readers, which included two tracks from Solve et Coagula plus another even more recent song, as a companion to my review. All three songs, which are still available for free, will appear in remastered form on the forthcoming album. Continue reading »

PROMETHEE: “LIFE/LESS”

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  3 Responses »
Jun 152013
 

Hell-raising Friday nights bring apocalyptic Saturday mornings, and so it is that on this Saturday morning my ass is dragging through the wreckage I made of my life. I’ll probably feel normal by about sundown, if I’m lucky. I do have some things our other writers sent me overnight, but the words are all blurry at the moment. While I wait for my eyes to focus, I’m going to give you a video to watch and a song to hear, to pass the time in a pleasant way.

The video is brand new and comes from a Swiss band named Promethee. The song is named “Life/Less” and appears on their debut album, Nothing happens, Nobody comes, Nobody goes. The music is a mantic, frantic burst of melodic, metallic hardcore. It includes a lot of frenzied, spastic guitar exercises, but the notes ring out in chiming waves almost as often as they give your head a good shake to see what might come out of its orifices. And in the mid-section Promethee settle into a groove that will get your head slamming something fierce (or at least that’s what happened to me, which may explain why printed words look kinda blurry at the moment). Also, vein-bursting vocals and a bass guitar that gets a moment to shine near the end.

But regardless of how you might react to the music, the visual part of this video is worth watching all by itself. It was filmed in black and white, with the band in silhouette against a white screen most of the time, and it has a cool kaleidoscopic quality (along with other eye-catching visual effects).   Also, a really pretty woman. Continue reading »

MUMAKIL: “DEATH FROM BELOW” VIDEO

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  2 Responses »
Jun 142013
 

This post is about a video from the band Mumakil. Their new album Flies Will Starve is coming out on June 25 in North America (and on slightly earlier dates in Europe). The video is for a song called “Death From Below”.

I can’t watch the video. I’m not in a place where I can watch it. I know nothing about it. I have only these words from my NCS comrade DGR, who sent me the link: “I’m attempting to write this sentence while seizing up. It’s Difficult.”

The video is after the jump. If you’d care to, please feel free to leave a comment and tell me what happens, and any reactions to the song, which I can’t hear at the moment.  Thank you for your attention. I’m going back to work now. Continue reading »

ÆVANGELIST: “NIGHTMARE FLESH OFFERING”

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  12 Responses »
Jun 142013
 

This will be an unusual day for us. My fucking day job is going to keep me away from a computer all day and my comrades who write for the site are also otherwise occupied. So the odds are this post will be the only one we have for you today. Therefore, I’m going with something that will open up your abdomen and leave your guts in a steaming pile at your feet. Because that’s just the kind of friends we are.

Ævangelist’s 2012 debut album De Masticatione Mortuorum in Tumulis was stunning. On the scale of stunning things, it was right up there next to the seven-inch steel bolts fired into the foreheads of corn-fattened cattle who’ve reached optimal slaughter weight in a feedlot. No one knows about the emotional life of penned cattle, but as a normal un-penned human, I found that album both galvanizing and frightening.

I have friends who subject themselves to the risk of death on a weekly basis, but if you live a life less filled with the death wish, as I do, then you hunt for that special feeling of impending extinction in your music. Ævangelist grants your wish. And now they have something that’s both new and old, something that will efficiently turn you into rump roast, flank steak, standing rib, and brisket. Continue reading »

NEW THINGS FROM DARK TRANQUILLITY, EXHUMED, AND CORPSET

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  2 Responses »
Jun 132013
 

Here are a trio of things I spied on the web this morning. The first two are in the nature of coincidental follow-ups, since our last post was a review of Dark Tranquillity’s new album, and since yesterday we frothed at the mouth over the newly announced North American tour involving Exhumed (headlined by Dying Fetus and also featuring Devoured and Abiotic). And then the last item is a semi-obligatory check-in with Finnish metal.

DARK TRANQUILLITY

The August issue of DECIBEL magazine (order-able here) includes yet another installment in the magazine’s Flexi-Disc series, and this one is a previously unreleased song by Dark Tranquillity entitled “Sorrow’s Architect”. The song was recorded during the sessions that produced the band’s new album Construct. DECIBEL kindly began streaming it today on SoundCloud.

To my ears, it sounds much in the vein of the more “experimental” songs on Construct, predominantly mid-paced and moody, with dreamlike, synth-assisted instrumental passages that add a dark ambience to the song (nut no clean singing). I do like it. Go HERE to listen. Continue reading »

KYLESA: THE VIOLITIONIST SESSIONS

 Exceptions to the Rule, Free Shit, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  4 Responses »
Jun 132013
 

We’ve mentioned The Violitionist Sessions twice before, but you may have forgotten. In the words of the site’s proprietors: “The Violitionist Sessions are 3 questions and 3 songs with bands from Denton and passing through Denton, Texas. The sessions are all recorded live in a living room with no overdubs and no fancy tricks. The goal is to document a moment in time. This is what happened in Denton, Texas.”

Yesterday, The Violitionist Sessions put up videos of the three songs recently performed in that living room by Savannah’s Kylesa. They also made the live recordings available for free download on Bandcamp. And they also included an interview of the band. The three songs are “To Forget” (Spiral Shadow), “Said and Done” (Static Tensions), and “Hollow Severer” (Time Will Fuse Its Worth). All of that is collected here, though I’m also going to embed the videos after the jump.

As has been true of every recording I’ve heard from The Violitionist Sessions, the sound quality is outstanding, and Kylesa were really hitting it hard in these sessions — tight, tough, trippy, and plenty heavy. I’m not well-versed in Kylesa’s music — hadn’t heard any of these songs before — and it was an eye-opener for me. “To Forget”, in particular, made a big impression when I watched and listened to these videos. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: WATAIN, SQUASH BOWELS, DRAUGR, AND SAIVA

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  9 Responses »
Jun 132013
 

Herein, a selection of four items I came across yesterday that I guarantee will appeal to you. Assuming that your tastes are identical to mine. Otherwise, no guarantees. But have no fear, the bands featured here are so diverse there’s bound to be something that will turn you on.

WATAIN

As we previously reported, this Swedish horde 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”) will be released on June 21.

Yesterday Watain unveiled the album cover, which you can see above. It’s a painting in oil and mixed materials by the phenomenal Zbigniew M. Bielak, who created (among other things) the artwork for Watain’s last album, Lawless Darkness, as well as the cover for the single.

More info, including the track list, can be found at Watain’s official site (here). Continue reading »

BLOODGUARD LIVE — MANCHESTER / BRADFORD / LONDON

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  1 Response »
Jun 122013
 

(Andy Synn is doing a quick last-minute plug for three shows in England that begin tomorrow night and run through Saturday night, featuring his band Bloodguard. Book your flights without delay!)

So this may be a little last-minute, but honestly, I’ve been so busy booking these shows, getting the other bands sorted, practicing, promoting… I haven’t had much time to write for NCS at all, let alone use it as a platform to advertise the show!

Still, I’m taking the chance now, so open your eyes, and your minds, and check out the various bands we’ve got sharing the stage with us over the next couple of days.

If you’re really feeling generous, you should come on down, and drag your friends along too! The more support we get (and the more t-shirts we can sell) the better things will be!

After the jump, all the dates, and links to all the bands! Continue reading »

TOAD, THE GARDNERZ, AND FESTIVAL OF THE FUCK BANDS

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  4 Responses »
Jun 122013
 

I don’t know if you noticed, but we’ve been pretty light on content the last two days (not meaning to take anything away from Andy’s haiku reviews, but what’s lighter than haiku?). I had to be out of town for 2 days for my fucking day job, one of those deals where I was going from early ’til really late, with almost no time to check out what’s been happening in the world of metal or listen to music or write much. As a result, I find myself way behind, so far behind that trying to catch up seems unrealistic. Basically, I’m just a big behind.

But I’m not completely empty-handed this morning.  I did spot a few items on a quick survey of my e-mail and Facebook that I thought were worth sharing. Here they are. Things should be getting back to ab-normal around here today or tomorrow.

TOAD

TOAD are from Phoenix, Arizona. They aren’t actually named after toads. The name is an acronym for Take Over and Destroy. But I like the fact that they just go fuckin’ ugly with TOAD.

I got interested in the band about 10 days ago when I spotted the killer artwork you see above (by Sean Williams), which appears on their forthcoming EP Endless Night (click it to make it bigger). I waited for the release of some music, and yesterday I got some. I actually got an advance of the EP, which I haven’t heard yet (fucking day job), but the reason I’m including TOAD in this post is that Pitchfork premiered a song from the EP for everyone to hear. Continue reading »

NEW VIDEOS FROM EXTOL AND CHTHONIC

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  3 Responses »
Jun 112013
 

Within the last 24 hours two of our favorite bands have released new videos. Norway’s Extol have premiered a video for “A Gift Beyond Human Reach”, a song from their forthcoming self-titled album, which is due for release in a couple weeks (the album can be ordered here). It’s a cool song and a cool video to watch — a different kind of performance clip, as you’ll see.

And Taiwan’s Chthonic have released a third video in support of their new album, Bú-Tik, which will be released in North America via Spinefarm Records US digitally on June 18 and on CD June 25 (for pre-orders, go here). The new video is for “Supreme Pain For the Tyrant”. In teh words of the band: “Metalheads travel back in time to 1930s to disrupt a party between Nazis and KMT! Check out the incredible Martial arts, modern dance, debauchery, and Oriental Metal!!”

Both videos are definitely worth seeing and hearing, so go do that righty after the jump. Continue reading »

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