HACKTIVIST: “ELEVATE”

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  16 Responses »
Apr 022013
 

Just minutes ago, UK-based Hacktivist released a new song named “Elevate” for free download, with an accompanying video. I am posting this news and the video in part because I like the song and video and in part because I always enjoy the comments we provoke when we write about Hacktivist.

Hacktivist do have their supporters around these parts, but like the Marines logo says, they are the few, though they are proud. As for everyone else, you’ll just have to suck it up and soldier on (and leave your comments).

Hacktivist haven’t yet turned into a black metal band. It’s still rap + djent. I have no ability to judge the quality of the rhymes (I listen to very little rap), but at least they’re still going on about something serious, and those rhythms still get my head bobbing.

To download the track for free, go HERE. To watch and listen, just follow along after the jump. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: CHTHONIC, AMORPHIS, REPTILIAN DEATH, WASTED LAND, AND REGARDE LES HOMMES TOMBER

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  11 Responses »
Apr 022013
 

I didn’t have time to compile a daily round-up yesterday, so there’s a lot of shit to cram into this one. I’ll try to keep words to a minimum and let the music, the videos, and the imagery speak for themselves.

ITEM ONE: CHTHONIC

2011’s Takasago Army marked the time when I finally got into Taiwan’s Chthonic. It was interesting and multi-textured, in addition to kicking large amounts of ass. So I’m now quite interested in their next album, Bú-Tik, which will be released by Spinefarm this summer. Today, the sexy cover art was revealed. Apparently, nearly 100 people volunteered to be the model for it.

The album cover is eye-catching for sure, though it doesn’t exactly suggest that the new album will be devoted to history and tradition. Yet in this new interview the band’s eye-catching bassist Doris Yeh suggests that it will. I’m up for it. Continue reading »

BANDS YOU NEED TO HEAR: EMPYRIOS

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  4 Responses »
Apr 012013
 

(In this post TheMadIsraeli introduces us to a new discovery from Italy.)

Here at No Clean Singing, while the name is definitely partially tongue in cheek, it actually is partially serious.  We like our metal pure, undiluted, and free from the corruption of things not carnage-inducing.  However, some exceptions to the rule are simply too good to ignore.

Empyrios are a band from Italy that not many are aware of.  Italy in recent years has really been earning a reputation based on death metal exports such as Fleshgod Apocalypse, Hour of Penance, and Hideous Divinity.  Empyrios, I imagine, are not as well-known because they are not death metal, but rather play an aggressive style of proggy groove metal that really channels the spirits of Nevermore and Symphony X, among others, with tastefully incorporated influences that are rather alien in the midst of sounds you might hear from the likes of Meshuggah or Fear Factory.

I suppose, to define it further, they play a combination of groove metal, power metal, industrial metal, and thrash, with heavy syncopation in the groove aspect.  No one sounds like these guys, even if the influences are obvious and familiar. Continue reading »

METAL ARCHIVES HITS 90,000 — AND SENOBYTE IS THE LUCKY 90,000TH

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  16 Responses »
Mar 312013
 

Thanks to a tip from Happy Metal Guy, I learned this morning about an interesting status that went up on the official Facebook page for Encyclopaedia Metallum – The Metal Archives:  They have now reached 90,000 bands listed in the database.

That’s a really impressive accomplishment for one of the most useful sites on the web for lovers of metal, and I thought congratulations were in order. So, CONGRATULATIONS!

In that same FB status, Metal Archives also identified the band who became their 90,000th addition to the band database — a new 3-man outfit from New Brunswick, NJ named Senobyte. Yesterday, Senobyte released a two-song demo, which is now listed on their Metal Archives entry, and both songs — “Pumpkinhead” and “The Beyond” — happen to be available on Soundcloud. So, of course, I had to check ’em out. After all, this is history in making!

And guess what? Senobyte have really got something good going on. Continue reading »

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 »

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