SEEN AND HEARD: GHOST’S ALBUM DELAYED BY TIGHTASS CD MAKERS, PANDEMONIUM CELEBRATE “EVERLASTING OPPOSITION”, AND I DISCOVER ARKHON INFAUSTUS

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  13 Responses »
Mar 302013
 

On this lazy Saturday morning, I found these items of interest while surfing the waves of our metallic ocean.

GHOST B.C.

I’m still having trouble typing “Ghost B.C.” instead of “Ghost”. And as if legal problems with their original name weren’t enough bullshit to endure, this Swedish band seem to have encountered fresh new bullshit in getting the CDs produced for their new album, Infestissumam.

According to Spin.com, release of the album has been delayed from April 9 to April 16 because four different U.S. compact disc manufacturers have refused to print a piece of artwork (shown above) that was destined for the deluxe version of the album. More from Spin.com:

“We kept on getting turned down because of the CD art, which is basically a 16th century illustration of an orgy,” a source close to the band told SPIN. The NSFW illustration, inspired by the work of Gustave Dore, showcases what looks like a forest nymph orgy, but it’s the religious iconography at the top that convinced manufacturers to turn off the printing press. Continue reading »

SHADE EMPIRE, DEATHEMBER, MOSS, AND BEHEMOTH

 Exceptions to the Rule, Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  7 Responses »
Mar 292013
 

Time for another round-up of new music. What grabbed my attention this morning were the following new songs from Shade Empire (Finland), Deathember (Sweden), and Moss (UK), plus a small video announcement by Behemoth (Poland).

SHADE EMPIRE

Shade Empire are a Finnish metal band whose massive, 74-minute-long fourth album — Omega Arcane — will be released by Candlelight Records on May 3 in Finland, on May 6 in the rest of Europe, and  sometime in June in North America.

June is so far away that it might as well be Pluto, but although patience will be tested, I’m absolutely convinced the wait will be worthwhile. Why? Because Shade Empire have just released an official video for an edited version of the album’s first single, “Ruins”, and it’s really impressive.

The song is scathing, sweeping, and soaring, a riveting mixture of styles that include elements of black metal, melodic death metal, and doom, with orchestral touches that enhance the drama rather than clog the arteries with cheese. Fans of bands such as Insomnium and In Mourning would do well to pay attention — especially because the video itself is just as magnetic as the music. Beautifully filmed and edited, it’s a badass feast for the eyes. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: IMMOLATION, LIAR IN WAIT, AND PSYCHOTIC PULSE

 Exceptions to the Rule, Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  6 Responses »
Mar 282013
 

There’s a song in this little round-up of new stuff that’s an outlier on this site. To make it go down easier, I’ve sandwiched it in between two slices of festering filthiness. You’re welcome.

IMMOLATION

One week ago Immolation debuted the title track from their forthcoming album Kingdom of Conspiracy, which will be discharged on May 14 by Nuclear Blast. I wrote about it then, praising it as a song that sinks its teeth into your neck but transfixes your attention while you bleed out with shifting dynamics and the effective incorporation of infected melodies in the midst of bludgeoning riffage.

Yesterday the band released a lyric video for the song, and while I would have selfishly preferred a new track, this one can stand being heard again (and again). Here’s the new lyric video for “Kingdom of Conspiracy”: Continue reading »

KEEP OF KALESSIN SCOOPS: NEW VIDEO (“INTROSPECTION”), NEW VOCALIST

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  10 Responses »
Mar 282013
 

(photo credit: Astrid Gjersøe Skåtterød)

Andy Synn, beloved NCS writer and intrepid foreign correspondent, is currently attending the Inferno Festival in Oslo, Norway (damn his eyes). Late yesterday afternoon your humble editor received a message from Andy with a couple of scoops about one of our favorite bands, Keep of Kalessin.

First, Andy reported that KoK had debuted a new song and video — “Introspection” — at Inferno. This explains the meaning of the cryptic countdown that has been going on for the last week at KoK’s Facebook page (more about that in a minute). Andy described it thusly: “Epic song. Epic video. Crushing drum sound. Awesome riffs and melodies.”

Second, Andy relayed that KoK’s vocalist Thebon has parted ways with the band and that the man pictured above — KoK’s guitarist, songwriter, and composer Arnt “Obsidian C” Gronbech — has stepped up to become the new vocalist and frontman. Continue reading »

FOLLOWING UP: BEASTWARS GIVES AWAY A NEW SONG

 Free Shit, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  4 Responses »
Mar 272013
 

For the second time today I realized I was a day early with a couple of yesterday’s posts. Yesterday I posted a review of the forthcoming second album by New Zealand’s Beastwars — Blood Becomes Fire — which in my opinion will stand as one of the best albums of 2013 when this year draws to a close. And then today Beastwars began giving away a song from the album.

As it happens, that song is one of the two I like best out of a collection that’s very strong from start to finish. Its name is “Caul of Time”, and it’s a good example of the power and the passion that runs throughout the album. It’s also heavy as hell.

Go HERE to stream and download the track on Bandcamp. I also want to stitch it into the fabric of NO CLEAN SINGING, so it’s also streaming at this site right after the jump. Continue reading »

THE FIRST TASTE OF DARK TRANQUILLITY’S NEW ALBUM: “CONSTRUCT”

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  3 Responses »
Mar 272013
 

Dark Tranquillity were one of my first loves as a budding fan of extreme music, and you never forget your first loves. And so although I was not as thoroughly bowled over by their last album as I wish I had been, I’ve still been eager to hear their new one. Entitled Construct, it’s due for release via Century Media on May 27 in Europe and May 28 in North America.

In addition to that welcome news, today also brought the first taste of music via an album trailer. In addition to ambient orchestration, the trailer includes a snippet from a new song, and I’m really liking what I hear — because what I hear sounds downright vicious. Increased viciousness from Dark Tranquillity happens to be just what I want.

You’ll also see variant artwork for the different formats of the album, and they all look damned cool to me.

Check out the trailer right after the jump, and feel free to share your thoughts about what you hear and about whether this band still gets your motor running. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: WORMED, NEGATOR, AND MONOTHEIST

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  9 Responses »
Mar 272013
 

We keep our eyes and ears open so you don’t have to. Except when you’re crossing the street. You should keep your eyes and ears open when you do that. Also when driving and performing open-heart surgery. There might be a few other exceptions that I’m not thinking of at the moment, but otherwise we can be your eyes and ears. And here are a few recommended things we’ve seen and heard this morning: new music from Wormed (Spain), Negator (Germany), and Monotheist (Florida).

WORMED

“Tautochrone” is a fuckin’ great song. It’s by Spanish death metal band Wormed and it appears on their excellent new album Exodromos. It’s a brutal, blazing song, but Wormed add both technical and near-ambient melodic elements that most purveyors of brutal death don’t even dream of doing, and Wormed do it superbly.

And I’m thinking of that song why? Because yesterday Wormed released an official video for it. I haven’t yet figured out whether it’s the video that’s strobing and shaking, or my eyeballs. Either way, it’s cool. Continue reading »

FOLLOWING UP: TARDIVE DYSKINESIA – “CRAWLING IN THE MUD”

 Free Shit, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  1 Response »
Mar 272013
 

Yesterday, in a post devoted to recent metal art, I included the piece you see above (created by Manster Designs). It mysteriously appeared, without explanation, on the FB page of a Greek band I admire named Tardive Dyskinesia. If I’d only waited a day . . . because now the band have revealed what it’s all about.

The artwork was created for a “new” single named (of course) “Crawling In the Mud”. The song was originally recorded during the 2008 studio sessions that produced the band’s 2009 debut album, the terrific The Sea of See Through Skins, but it was not included on the official release of that album by Coroner Records. As of today, the band have made the song available for free download in a package that also includes two live tracks — “We, the Cancer” (from the band’s latest album Static Apathy In Fast Forward) and “Complicity” (from The Sea of See Through Skins) — plus a high-res version of the above artwork and a band photo and logo.

I’m just going to focus on that “ghost” song “Crawling In the Mud” because I hadn’t heard it before today. Continue reading »

THE CORE-LESS BREAKDOWN: A LIST

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  29 Responses »
Mar 272013
 

 (I wish I had thought of this cool idea for a post. But BadWolf beat me to it — and this is his piece.)

It’s not news to anyone reading this ( I hope) that heavy metal culture has an elitist streak. In fact, read enough comment threads on this blog and others, and you will notice a tiered system of elitism, false barricades that we, as fans, erect to keep ourselves distanced from a perceived wasteland that is ‘the mainstream.’ By virtue of reading a metal blog, I’d wager you’re already a step or two up on the elitism pyramid. By definition, as a metal blogger, I am MORE than a few steps up on the elitism pyramid. But I’m not far enough up to lose my sense of perspective.

There is an appropriate amount of ironic self-distancing when appreciating art. The top of the elitist pyramid? Probably black metal purists, and look how even the mainstream lambasts the true corpsepaint-set as clowns. Those folks would do well to remember that most of the Norwegian attack bands abandoned the strict black metal template quite rapidly. Ihsahn is in a prog band now. Mayhem put electronica all up in their second album.

But at the same time, from where I stand, the lowest rung of elitism is abjectly deserving of ridicule as well. And what constitutes that bottommost rung? Probably the bias against breakdown-centric bands. You can even see it on No Clean Singing—we’re covering a lot more black metal than deathcore these days. Continue reading »

EYE-CATCHERS: TARDIVE DYSKINESIA, PENTAGRAM (CHILE), ASG, AND ENTRAILS

 Exceptions to the Rule, Eye-Catchers, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  5 Responses »
Mar 262013
 

Here’s another installment of things I saw and heard over the last 24 hours while merrily rambling along the by-ways of the interhole. The theme of this installment is METAL ART RULES!

TARDIVE DYSKINESIA

This Greek band’s debut release The Sea of See Through Skins was one of my favorite albums of 2009. One version of the album apparently included a bonus track named “Crawling Through the Mud”, though I don’t think it was on the copy of the CD I bought; at least I don’t see it on my iPod, which is where I transferred the music from the disc before eventually storing the CD away with a gazillion others that my spouse made me remove from our cluttered house.

And that’s all I can say about the wonderful artwork above that mysteriously appeared on Tardive Dyskinesia’s Facebook page yesterday. I don’t know who created it, and I don’t know what music it will eventually accompany. Maybe the band is about to release that bonus track as a single?

Anyway, the band’s 2012 album Static Apathy In Fast Forward ain’t too shabby either. Here’s TD’s cool official video, released earlier this month, for “Time Turns Planets” from that album. Prepare for a spine-jolting, head-scrambling experience. Continue reading »

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