THE WORLD WILL NOT END, BECAUSE . . . DARKTHRONE, DEVOURMENT, AND LIGHTNING SWORDS OF DEATH

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  3 Responses »
Dec 202012
 

Dozens of metal bands have been releasing new music this week as if the world were going to end tomorrow.

What’s that?  You say the world IS going to end tomorrow?  I think you’ve got your facts wrong.  Darkthrone, Devourment, and Lightning Swords of Death are planning to release new albums AFTER tomorrow, and if the world were going to end, surely they would know, because they’re all capable of bringing the world to a fitting end if they so desired. So I’m not buying it.

In addition to giving you some details about those forthcoming albums, I’ve collected in this post some new musical sounds from the last two of these bands. So, continue reading (and listening) as you breathe sighs of relief.

DARKTHRONE

As we previously reported, this iconic and musically ever-moving Norwegian duo have completed work on their new album The Underground Resistance, and it’s now set for release via Peaceville Records on February 25. This morning I was blessed to receive the eye-catching cover art for the album created by Jim Fitzpatrick, which you can gaze upon above. In addition, the press release I received provided this teaser of a description about the music: Continue reading »

HIGHER CRITICISM: AN INTRODUCTION

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  14 Responses »
Dec 192012
 

(TheMadIsraeli embarks upon a new reviewing project . . . as he will now explain.)

How many of you have ever gone back through a band’s discography (particularly a band with a semi-lengthy one) in order to attempt to re-evaluate your opinion about the music of said band?  I do this from time to time and enjoy doing it quite often.  People who know me know I’ve done this with Pantera and Between The Buried And Me multiple times (bands who will just never win me over no matter what). In the case of some bands this process has caused me to change my opinion, though in others (as noted) my opinion has simply been reaffirmed.

Doing this with Gojira recently caused me to regain my appreciation for them again, and it was in doing that that I got this idea in my head. NCS readers who are interested can follow me on my journey as I do this.

So, let’s outline how it will work:  I pick the band.  I tell you my opinion of said band before I begin the process. In listening to the music, I won’t so much review their albums as just weave a stream-of-consciousness thought blanket, and then once we get to the end of the discography, I’ll state my reconsidered opinion.

So what band is going to be my first victim?

Kataklysm. Continue reading »

NEW ARSIS VIDEO DEBUT: “CARVE MY CROSS”

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  3 Responses »
Dec 192012
 

Not only did Scion A/V finance the production and free distribution of the killer new Arsis EP, Lepers Caress (reviewed here), they’ve also financed production of a video for one of the new songs, “Carve My Cross”, and you can now witness the results.

The song really sells itself. It’s a head-spinning onslaught of tech-death fire and brimstone, with guitar acrobatics and drum pyrotechnics that will make your eyes bug out. James Malone is also in fine voice, which is to say his vocals are capable of stripping paint from the walls.

As the video shows, Mr. Malone has shorn his flowing black locks. Unlike Samson, the loss of hair has not sapped his strength, as a guitarist or as a vocalist.

Apart from revealing the new Malone look, the haunted-house video (directed by David Brodsky) is nicely done and fun to watch (it includes tentacles as well as acting performances by the band) . . . but the song remains the true star. Watch it after the jump. Continue reading »

ROTTING CHRIST DEBUT A NEW SONG FOR FREE DOWNLOAD: “IN YUMEN – XIBALBA”

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  8 Responses »
Dec 182012
 

As we reported recently (and ecstatically), Rotting Christ’s new album is named ΚΑΤΑ ΤΟΝ ΔΑΙΜΟΝΑ ΕΑΥΤΟΥ (“Do What Thou Wilt”), and is scheduled for release by Season of Mist in North America on March 5. Today the band have debuted the opening track from the album: “In Yumen – Xibalba”. And if that weren’t exciting enough, the song is also now available for download at the Season of Mist website.

Here’s the thing. I happen to be on one of those frustrating situations where I’m able to write this post and get it up on our site, but unable to listen to the song. Because I’m in a place where that would be severely frowned upon (and I don’t mean a cathedral). So, please listen to this song and then please leave a comment with your reactions, because I’m dying to know what this sounds like.

And to hear it, go past the jump, where you’ll find a YouTube embed of the track that I found. Continue reading »

SOILWORK DEBUT A BLISTERING NEW SONG: “SPECTRUM OF ETERNITY”

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  7 Responses »
Dec 172012
 

Sweden’s Soilwork will be releasing their ninth studio album, a double CD entitled The Living Infinite, on February 27 in Asia (via license to Marquee Records), in Europe on March 1, and in North America on March 5 through Nuclear Blast Records. Tonight, the band debuted the first new song from the album, “Spectrum of Eternity”.

Every time I’ve reported news about The Living Infinite, I’ve tempered my interest with some kind of comment to the effect that although hope springs eternal, my expectations aren’t high. I do love this band, and I’ve loved at least one song on every album they’ve released, but the percentage of songs I’ve loved has declined over time.

But holy shit, “Spectrum of Eternity” has caused my expectations to soar. After a brief head-fake of an intro, it turns out to be absolutely blistering — a real high-energy powerhouse of a song. Speed Strid’s harsh vocals have never sounded more vicious and his clean vocals have never been more powerful; he hits some high notes I had no idea he was capable of reaching. Continue reading »

SUNDAY SEEN AND HEARD: GHOST, HOWLING, AND ARKONA

 Exceptions to the Rule, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  4 Responses »
Dec 162012
 

From me to you, new things discovered today . . .

GHOST

I became an acolyte of Ghost after witnessing their live ritual twice in the last year. The music was already growing on me before those shows, but they sealed the deal.

Now we have a new Ghost song and a new live video performance of the song to go with it. Ghost began rolling out the song on-line, one recording track after another, and now the entire song is available for listening — and it’s also a free download.

“Secular Haze” has the rhythm of a waltz and fancifully begins and ends with the sound of a calliope. Like so many of the band’s songs, it’s poppy and catchy, and yet moments of ominous tension find their way into the melody. The song didn’t grab me as fast as some of the tracks on Opus Eponymous, but by the third listen I was hooked.

To hear the song and get it for free, go to this location and enter your e-mail address. You’ll then receive a download link by e-mail. To watch the new video, continue on past the jump. Continue reading »

WHAT LIES AHEAD

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  4 Responses »
Dec 162012
 

I thought I’d give you a preview of what’s coming at NCS in the weeks ahead.

LISTMANIA

This week we’re expecting two more year-end lists from what I’ve been calling “big platform” web sites — NPR and Pitchfork. And unless we see something else that’s unexpectedly interesting, those two will finish off our series on 2012 lists from other publications and web sites with big-scale audiences.

Beginning tomorrow, we’ll also start rolling out year-end lists from the NCS staff as well as guest writers. We’ve got 9 guest posts in hand and ready to go right now, and we’re expecting at least one or two more to come in. These lists reflect considerable diversity of tastes and should provide some new discoveries for everyone.

We also want to remind everyone about the Readers’ List resource. This is a post where we encouraged all of our readers to leave the names of their own favorite 2012 albums in the Comment section for others to see. There are a lot of great lists in the Comments to that post already, but we can use more. Go HERE to leave the names of your favorites and to see what other people are talking about. Continue reading »

FIVE OF MY FAVOURITE . . . B-SIDES

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  6 Responses »
Dec 142012
 

(In this post, NCS writer Andy Synn provides another installment in his “Five of My Favourite” series, with five killer b-side tracks from Himsa, Satyricon, Setherial, Skeletonwitch, and Marduk.) 

Ah, the humble b-side. The bonus track. The Japanese exclusive. How they toy with our emotions and loyalties. How many copies of an album are you willing to buy to get just the right track-list? How completest/obsessive are you? Is that itunes bonus track worth the extra dough? Have the band offered up these extra tracks for free download (some do, you just have to look for them)? Is there ANOTHER Roadrunner digipak re-release on the horizon, scraping the archives for all that they’re worth???

Anyway, recently I’ve started a slow but steady purge of my itunes library, removing the b-sides, bonus tracks and covers which I don’t consider worth the bit-space. This comes after several years of obsessive-compulsive trawling of the internet for downloadable versions of these extra special bonus tracks, or (even worse) buying up another, “better” copy of a cd I already own, just to have the completist’s wet-dream of an exhaustive track-list.

After several intense bouts of therapy I’ve made the first step in getting rid of these superfluous extra tracks that do nothing but clutter up my library and, at their worst, detract from or disrupt the intended track-listing of some of my favourite albums.

But it has also given me a chance to appreciate those b-sides which deserve their time in the spotlight – the very best of which I can’t help but wonder WHY they didn’t make the final cut, in many cases as they’re better than some of the actual album A-sides! So here we are, five of my favourite non-album b-sides. I’ve purposefully excluded covers and re-recordings, and just focussed on five original tracks that honestly deserved to be on an album! Continue reading »

SUFFOCATION: “AS GRACE DESCENDS”

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  19 Responses »
Dec 142012
 

As previously reported, the almighty Suffocation have a new album on the way in February via Nuclear Blast. It’s name is Pinnacle of Bedlam. Today, NB began streaming a track named “As Grace Descends”.

I am so damned happy to hear this track. It fulfills fervent hopes. It’s music that both strips flesh from bone and invigorates the mind with a flurry of technical wizardry, interesting drumwork, and a beautiful solo.

Also, Frank Mullen.  Listen:
 

ROUND-UP: TOURISM NEWS PLUS EVOKEN AND ENSHADOWED

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  2 Responses »
Dec 142012
 

Here are a few items I saw and heard over the last 24 hours that I thought were worth sharing.

TOURISM NEWS

Featured above are flyers for two North American tours. In Flames headlines the one on the left (the “Another Year Another Tour”), with support from Demon Hunter, All Shall Perish, and Battlecross. A partial schedule surfaced previously, but yesterday I saw what appears to be the complete calendar for the tour. It begins on February 2 in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, and ends on March 7 in Norfolk, Virginia.

The closest it comes to the Pacific Northwest is Vancouver, so I doubt I’ll catch this one. Otherwise, I would go. I’ve seen the top three bands multiple times before, but would enjoy seeing them again, and I’d like to see Battlecross for the first time.

The tour on the right hasn’t been officially announced. I caught wind of it when I was updating the NCS “NW Metal Calendar” page and saw that this line-up is scheduled to perform in Seattle on March 12. And then I poked around and saw that other sites have reported other leaked dates, including the one in Atlanta that’s featured in the flyer above.

This line-up is bizarre. The only thing the bands have in common is they all use guitars, bass, drums, and a human voice. The leaked dates for this one plus the In Flames tour schedule are after the jump. Continue reading »

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