ROUND-UP: ROTTING CHRIST, HYPOCRISY, TRAIL OF TEARS, VHÖL

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  3 Responses »
Feb 232013
 

When it comes to music debuts and hot breaking news, Friday’s aren’t usually very eventful. But yesterday was an exception. I posted a lot of new things yesterday as they were happening, but still didn’t cover everything, due to day-job bullshit. Today I’m catching up, with a collection of more sweet new items.

ROTTING CHRIST

These Greek heavyweights have been rolling out many new songs from their new album Kata Ton Daimona Eaytoy, which Season Of Mist will be releasing next week. But yesterday, the entire album became available for streaming on several sites, including Metal Hammer.

I’m completely sold on this album, though I’ve been holding fire on explaining why because we do have a review in the works. I will once again merely say that you should hear this album. And now you can — via the player I’ve embedded right after the jump. Continue reading »

HORRIFIC (Part 2): GRAVEWURM, PLAGUE WIDOW, AND CURSED ALTAR

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  1 Response »
Feb 222013
 

Last night, by chance, I listened to six new songs in a row that really grabbed me. In different ways, they were all horrific . . . and horrifically good. The first three were featured in Part 1 of this post earlier today, and here are the next three — from Gravewurm, Plague Widow, and Cursed Altar.

GRAVEWURM

Gravewurm are a band who started life in Pennsylvania in the early 90’s and now appear to be based in Virginia. They’ve released eight albums and a slew of demo’s, splits, and EPs — yet I’m fairly certain that last night was the first time I’ve ever listened to their music. My education continues.

The track I heard last night is named “Mistress of Blood and Fire”. It’s available for download on Bandcamp and will appear on the band’s next album, Infernal Minions, which is due for release by Hells Headbangers on May 14. I got a Bandcamp alert about the appearance of this song yesterday, and once I saw the name Hells Headbangers, I knew I had to check it out. Damned glad I did. Continue reading »

SOILWORK: ANOTHER NEW SONG AND OUR PREVIEW OF “THE LIVING INFINITE”

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  1 Response »
Feb 222013
 

When I first learned that Soilwork’s new album would be a double disc, I was skeptical. It’s difficult for most bands to create even one album’s worth of solid music at a time, and releasing two at once seemed like an idea fraught with risk — especially because of the unevenness of the band’s last album.

But man, The Living Infinite has confounded my expectations. It’s extremely solid from end to end over the course of 20 songs. That’s not to say that the songs are all of equal quality, but this really is an excellent album that justifies the dual-disc format.

We have kind of an unusual review planned for the album next week, which TheMadIsraeli will tell you about below, along with his own preview thoughts about the album. And then after that you’ll find yet another new song from the album that debuted today: “Long Live the Misanthrope”, from disc 2. Continue reading »

SUFFOCATION’S “AS GRACE DESCENDS” (THE VIDEO)

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  1 Response »
Feb 222013
 

“Grace” means different things to different people. In the case of Suffocation, it seems to mean guzzling booze, moshing your nuts off, tossing your cookies, and getting your head thoroughly wrecked by a blowtorch blast of death metal. I can get behind that philosophy.

Not long ago the band released their official video for the song “As Grace Descends” from their new album Pinnacle of Bedlam. As for the album as a whole, check out our review here, as well as our entertaining interview with the band’s bass player Derek Boyer. As for this individual song and the video, let’s just say that they’re both badass.

See and hear for yourself right after the jump. Pinnacle is out now on the Nuclear Blast label. (thanks to DGR for the prompt tip about this) Continue reading »

HORRIFIC (Part 1): IMMOLATION, AZRATH-11, HUMANITY DELETE, AND LANTERN

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  5 Responses »
Feb 222013
 

I couldn’t monitor metal news as closely yesterday and the day before as usual, so I tried to catch up last night. I saw and heard a lot that interested me. But I hit one stretch when, by chance, I listened to six new songs in a row that were . . . horrific . . . and horrifically good. The first three of those are in this post — from Azrath-11 (Italy), Humanity Delete (Sweden), and Lantern (Finland). The next three will be in a subsequent post. But first, a bit of welcome news from . . .

IMMOLATION

A new Immolation album? Yes please!

At a time when Slayer seems to be immolating itself after 30 years of existence, Immolation are still going strong in their 27th year. Yesterday they announced that Kingdom Of Conspiracy is the title of their ninth full-length album and that Nuclear Blast will release it on May 14 in North America.

This follows 2010’s Majesty And Decay and the strong 2011 EP Providence.  Very stoked for this. Continue reading »

A FAST ROUND-UP OF NEWS AND MUSIC: VHÖL, ROTTING CHRIST, BEYOND CREATION, AND MEMORY GARDEN

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  1 Response »
Feb 202013
 

As I write this (which was the night before it will be posted), I’m sitting in a hotel room in Texas with a crap-load of day-job work ahead of me on the day you will read this. Actually, I have a crapload of work I should be doing right now. And so this will be the fastest NCS round-up ever — more like an index than anything else.

So, with few words, here are news items and new music I saw and heard that I want to spread around.

VHÖL

Yesterday Profound Lore unveiled the cover to the VHÖL self-titled debut album, which you can see above. The artwork is by band member John Cobbett with design by Kevin Gan Yuen. The release date is April 16. Why do I care about this album? Because the band is composed of the aforementioned John Cobbett (Hammers of Misfortune, ex-Ludicra, GWAR, and Slough Feg), Aesop Dekker (Agalloch, Worm Oroborus), Sigrid Sheie (Hammers of Misfortune), and Mike Scheidt (YOB). For more about this band, see my previous posts. Continue reading »

THE FACELESS “DECONSECRATE” VIDEO

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  2 Responses »
Feb 192013
 

Not long ago The Faceless released an official video for “Deconsecrate”, a song from last year’s Autotheism album (reviewed here by DGR). I suppose everyone who cares to has already heard the song, with its schizophrenic mix of prog, tech death, and jazz. It’s a song that caught me off guard when I first heard it — and I can’t say I’ve gone back very often to give it more time.

But a strange thing happened to me when I listened to the music in the new video, after having put quite a bit of space between me and it: I really enjoyed it.

I also enjoyed the really well-made video directed by Ramon Boutviseth. If you know the lyrical themes of this album, the story won’t come as a great surprise. However, if you think it’s showing a theft in progress, thing again. Watch after the jump. Continue reading »

FROM THE SUBLIME TO THE RIDICULOUS, WITH CREST OF DARKNESS, ANTESTOR, JOHN CLEESE, AND SABAZIUS

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  7 Responses »
Feb 192013
 

Here is a truly random collection of items I came across over the last 24 hours that I’d like to share. On the sublime end of the continuum are new videos from Crest of Darkness and Antestor. On the ridiculous end of the range is a new YouTube clip from Sabazius — the longest clip ever uploaded to YouTube, and it’s a metal song. And in between I have something from the immortal John Cleese that’s both sublime and ridiculous.

CREST OF DARKNESS

Norway’s Crest of Darkness have a new album (their sixth studio release) named In the Presence of Death that’s scheduled to appear on February 25 via My Kingdom Music. Just 12 days ago I wrote about the first new song to debut, a track called “From the Dead”. This morning brought a second new song — “Demon Child” — via an official video. Actually, the song seems to be a special video mix, and so it may differ somewhat from the album track.

I really like the song for the same reason I enjoyed “From the Dead” — Crest of Darkness mix things up. There’s certainly plenty of face-ripping black metal viciousness, but the song also segues into a catchy-as-fuck rock beat that really got my head nodding. Continue reading »

MID-DAY ROUND-UP: THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN, SYBREED, AND FEARED

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  4 Responses »
Feb 182013
 

Today and the next few days are pretty jammed with the work that pays the bills, but I just took a break long enough to spot the following tidbits I’d like to pass around like a family-sized bag of popcorn.

THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN

I saw an announcement that The Dillinger Escape Plan have revealed the title of their next album — One of Us Is the Killer — and a general timeframe for release — May — as well as the album cover (above).

The album will be released by the band’s imprint label Party Smashers Inc. and will be distributed in NorthAm by Sumerian and by BMG everywhere else.

I also saw that DEP has already begun scheduling tour dates in the U.S. and overseas. Many more dates will follow, but you can see the initial list right after the jump. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: LOST SOCIETY, INFILTRATOR, DEMILICH, KATATONIA, SEPTIC FLESH, FLESHGOD APOCALYPSE, CARACH ANGREN, NAILS, AND NE OBLIVISCARIS

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  10 Responses »
Feb 182013
 

Hey, happy fucking Monday to all you brain-dead metal heads. Here’s a big collection of new music and news that I came across at the start of my bleary-eyed morning today.

LOST SOCIETY

I’ve confessed before that straight-up old-school thrash is not among the metal genres that are nearest and dearest to my black heart. In addition, I’ve become even more numb due to the avalanche of re-thrash releases by many new bands who all sound alike to me. But with that said, I’m digging the shit out of a new song clip that premiered today by a Finnish band named Lost Society.

The song title alone hooked me: “Braindead Metal Head”. And then the music Finnish-ed me off. It’s a jet-fueled, out-of-control thrash rocket with multiple warheads. The riffing is catchy as fuck, the vocals are pleasingly drunk on the high energy, and the obligatory guitar solo is a first-class trip to shred city. This is speed metal I can get behind.

The video strings together words of high praise by the likes of Mille Petrozza (Kreator), Schmier (Destruction), Andreas Kisser (Sepultura), Craig Locicero (Forbidden), and Kragen Lum (Heathen), and they might know what they’re talking about. Continue reading »

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