HAPPY HANGOVER DAY (Part 1): ETERNAL TEARS OF SORROW, AMON AMARTH, KATAKLYSM, AND MUMAKIL

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  3 Responses »
Jan 012013
 

Your humble editor has been so busy over the last four days with year-end lists, Most Infectious Song posts, and non-blogging life events that I haven’t compiled a news/new-music round-up since last week. However, I was watching out for developments, and now I’m finally collecting those which seemed worthy of notice. I have enough items to vomit forth into your laps that I’ve divided them into two posts, this being the first.

ETERNAL TEARS OF SORROW

It would be poor form to start the new year at NCS without some Finnish metal. As it happens, this first day of 2013 has delivered something new from Finland, and what it delivered also gives us a chance to start the new year by again confusing people. Sowing confusion makes life worth living.

The news is that Finland’s Eternal Tears of Sorrow have a new album entitled Saivon Lapsi that’s scheduled for release on February 22. It features album art (above) by Travis Smith. In addition to that news, the band also premiered today a music video for one of the new songs, “Swan Saivo”. The video is a beautifully made allegory with a visually arresting finish (and includes some great footage of the band headbanging). And I enjoyed the song, too . . . though its appearance at this site will indeed confuse some people. Continue reading »

JUST A FEW JAPANESE METAL BANDS

 Phro's Posts, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  29 Responses »
Dec 312012
 

(Yesterday, TheMadIsraeli began what turned out to be a glowing review of a new album by a Japanese metal band named Shatter Silence with his opinion that, generally, “Japan’s metal scene sucks”. Here follows a response by our Japan-based contributor Phro, whose own blog is here.)

So, apparently if TheMadIsraeli doesn’t know anything about your scene, it sucks. While we probably shouldn’t spend too much time kowtowing to the whims of Internet badasses, here’s a list of some Japanese metal bands I found after 15 minutes on Google. Gee, that wasn’t so hard, was it?

(Obviously, this is hardly a complete list, nor is it in any way representative of the entirety of the Japanese metal scene. And it largely reflects my personal taste, though I’ve included some bands that I know are popular, even if I’m not necessarily a fan.)
Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: BRUJERIA, RECTIFIED SPIRIT, APOTHESARY, AND AN NCS PODCAST!

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  6 Responses »
Dec 292012
 

Happy fuckin’ Saturday to one and all. I’m starting to think about what kind of rowdiness I should get into on New Year’s Eve. I may really pull out the stops and stay up ’til 10:30 this year, and maybe see if there are some fireworks on TV in a later time zone. Y’know, get really raw and wild. I might even try to get frisky with my wife, though I’ll have to get her liquored up and hide her knives.

In the meantime, here are a few items of interest I discovered over the last 24 hours.

BRUJERIA

Don’t tell my wife, but I have rough, hot, sticky man-love for Brujeria. I would dearly love to catch them live, and get up really close where I could feel their heat and they could feel mine, and perhaps there would be an exchange of bodily fluids such as sweat and saliva. And I could wear a bandana over my face and a ballcap and I’d brush up on my Spanish so I could yell along to the lyrics without sounding like the fuckin’ gringo that I am.

But until then, I will have to make do with videos such as the one below, which was shot at the RBF Club in Sofia, Bulgaria, on December 21, 2012, by Vasil Vasev. The up-close-and-personal footage is high-quality and captures the sense of chaos that I imagine a Brujeria show would spawn. Also very cool: the flashes of green that appear in this black-and-white film. More of Vasse’s clips from this show can be found here. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: TAAKE, WORMROT AND A GOAT, YELLOWGOAT, and MOTH

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  12 Responses »
Dec 272012
 

And here we go again . . . a round-up of things I saw and heard by sifting through the effluent of the internet and my e-mail in-box in search of shiny nuggets.

TAAKE

I learned this: It turns out that 2013 will mark the 20th anniversary of metal musicianship for Hoest, the main man behind Norwegian black metal veterans Taake. The fact that Hoest is still alive and making music of any kind is worth celebrating all by itself. The fact that Taake continue to deliver superb metal is icing on the birthday cake.

Here’s one of the things that’s being done to celebrate the anniversary: On March 1 in Norway and March 4 everywhere else, Dark Essence Records will be releasing a 20-song, 2-CD collection of Taake music entitled Gravkamre, Kroner og Troner (“Burial Chambers, Crowns and Thrones”). The contents are primarily rare and previously unreleased songs, as well as alternative versions and recordings that have previously been available only on vinyl — but the album will also include exclusive new tracks.

Today I saw that Taake have begun streaming one of the tracks from this anniversary album named “Et Pust av Oeyne”. It’s a riff-heavy mosh-trigger of a song, marked by Hoest’s scathing vocal attack and some old-school, hard-rocking rhythms. It also includes a dose of blasting and thrashing, as well as a lengthy, spiraling melodic breakdown.

I’m really digging the variations in the song and hope you will, too. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: VALDUR, DRAGGED INTO SUNLIGHT, SYBREED, AND STAGNANT WATERS

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  4 Responses »
Dec 262012
 

Understandably, the last couple of days haven’t brought the usual flood of music debuts and metal news. However, I did spy some items of interest that I thought were worth sharing with you as you recover from all that fuckin’ holiday cheer.

VALDUR

We’ve been tracking the doings of this Mammoth Lakes, California collective quite closely this fall and winter. I first came across (and wrote about) them more than two years ago following release of their excellent second album, Raven God Amongst Us. In September I found out that Valdur had finished writing their new album and were set to begin recording it in November, and I also found out about an excellent two-song EP entitled The Hammer Pit that they self-released this past summer, consisting of “rough version” of two new songs. We featured those songs here and here, and both tracks are now streaming at Bandcamp.

Today I saw that Valdur have released a new single entitled “Blast Beast”, which DECIBEL premiered today. The artwork for the single (which you can see above) is fantastic. The single is available for free (pay-what-you-want) download on Bandcamp, and it’s really good. Continue reading »

DAEMONICUS, HUMANITY DELETE, YELLOWTOOTH

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  1 Response »
Dec 232012
 

I’m still catching up on new music and videos that I noticed over the last week. The songs from the three bands that I’ve collected in this post share a certain something, a death metal kinship, a bond forged with massive hammers and tempered in the fires of a crematorium. It’s music that is un-tempted by the flash and fireworks of modernity, quite happy to simply smash bones into splinters and scatter blood spray like a driving rain.

But although all of the songs have a primarily primal appeal, they’re all really good, really powerful, highly capable of awakening the reptile brain that dozes in all of us and getting it moving and shaking. And they each bring a special flair and style that elevates them above your standard old-school pummeling. Hope you enjoy these holiday goodies from Daemonicus (Sweden), Humanity Delete (the one-man project of Sweden’s Rogga Johansson), and Yellowtooth (U.S.) as much as I have.

DAEMONICUS

Daemonicus came together in 2006, and have recently released their second album, Deadwork, via Abyss Records. Stupid me, I’ve had the promo for this album since September but failed to pay attention until yesterday, when I heard two of the album’s tracks via the internet — an official video that debuted at the end of November for “Nothing But Death” and another song named “The Grandeur of Total Termination”. I fear that I may never manage a proper review given how backlogged I am, but I’m at least going to say something about these two songs. Continue reading »

NEW DEEDS OF FLESH: “RISE OF THE VIRVUM JUGGERNAUT”

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  5 Responses »
Dec 222012
 

January 1, 2012. That’s the date on which I first saw the album cover for the next full-length release (the 8th) by California’s Deeds of Flesh, Portals To Canaan. Naturally, I posted about it immediately in an installment of our EYE-CATCHERS series. The artist is Raymond Swanland.

At the time of that post, the only music we had was a “pre-production teaser” for the new album — just Guitar 1 and “drum mapping” (no 2nd guitar, leads, or vocals). Now we’re almost a year down the road, and finally today brought us the debut of the first song from the album — “Rise of the Virvum Juggernaut”.

It’s been a very long wait for new music from this band, especially with the first album teaser being released almost one full year ago. But yes indeed, the wait has been worthwhile. “Rise of the Virvum Juggernaut” is a mechanized slaughterhouse of crushing brutality combined with a brain-centrifuging swirl of start-stop technical acrobatics. It seethes and swarms with alien energy and gnashes its sharp teeth in voracious hunger. It sounds already like the tech-death monster to beat in 2013. Continue reading »

VIDEOSLAUGHTER FOR YOUR SATURDAY: FLESHGOD APOCALYPSE, OBLIVION, AND EXHALE

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  8 Responses »
Dec 222012
 

I’ve been distracted for days and consequently have fallen behind in taking note of new music and videos. The catching up begins now. So does the sonic slaughtering, with three ear-grabbing and eye-catching new videos.

FLESHGOD APOCALYPSE

This Italian band is one of our site’s true favorites, and their 2011 album Agony was a big hit around here, as it was just about anywhere else you might have looked in the world of metal last year. 2011 was a breakout year for FA. Extensive touring was one reason for the band’s sky-rocketing profile, but their fantastic official video for “The Violation” had a lot to do with that, too.

As of this morning, we now have a second official video for Agony. This time the song is “The Forsaken”. The video was again directed by Salvatore Perrone, and it’s another winner. It’s ingeniously conceived and beautifully filmed, and it captures the quasi-gothic, neo-classical drama of the song, which is one of Agony’s best. It’s right after the jump. Continue reading »

FIVE OF MY FAVOURITE . . . SONGS ABOUT THE APOCALYPSE

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  6 Responses »
Dec 212012
 

(Andy Synn wrote this latest installment in the “Five of My Favourite” series.  He seems pretty smug, given that today isn’t over yet.)

Well since the world didn’t end (you’re welcome by the way…) how about a quick column on five of my favourite songs about… the end of the world?

 

SCAR SYMMETRY – “CALCULATE THE APOCALYPSE”

Ah, what a tune. Thick and crunchy cyber-ised melodic death metal, with lyrics about the destruction of the world via the medium of a gigantic asteroid. Our inevitable destruction has never been so catchy.

‘Estimate time of impact
Calculate the fatal fact
Estimate the cataclysm
Calculate the apocalypse’

Continue reading »

NEW SONGS FROM CLOUDKICKER AND ARKHUM

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  3 Responses »
Dec 202012
 

I’m still catching up on new songs from the last few days. Here are two you should hear.

CLOUDKICKER

Cloudkicker is the alter ego of Ben Sharp, a one-man instrumental wizard, maybe the king of all the one-man instrumental wizards who have made their mark over the last 2 or 3 years. Today I learned that Cloudkicker has bestowed upon metaldom a Christmas gift, which takes the form of a new song named “Signal/Noise”. The song is a free download on Bandcamp. It is better than most Christmas gifts you will receive, unless you’re expecting someone to give you your own island or a sex slave.

The beats of the song have gotten under my skin, and the distorted guitars have abraded it from the outside. It scampers and pulses and rotates like a burrowing machine as it digs through my head. Merry fucking Christmas. Continue reading »

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