SEPULTURA AND SATYRICON

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  33 Responses »
Jul 192012
 

We’re all toiling away here at NCS on various projects, none of which are quite yet finished for this morning. Actually, to be brutally honest, I was sleeping instead of toiling away, and before that I was fucking off. I have no idea what the other idiots who work here have been doing, and I use the term “work” loosely, since nobody gets paid shit for scribbling about metal at NCS. Actually, I do have an idea what they’ve been doing, and it’s called “life”, which is bullshit because having no life is one of the key qualifications for “working” at NCS, and they all checked the “has no life” box on the NCS “employment” application, so what’s up with that?

Anyway, I haz nothing at the moment, so I’m doing this: I’m playing for you two excellent old songs plus some covers of them that I found this morning. I love these songs, and so it goes without saying that you love them, too. So we will all feel the love this morning, and then we can all do what we do when we feel the strong love, which in most cases will involve some kind of autoerotic satisfaction (and yes, you may take photos, but you may not send them to me because I don’t want to spoil my appetite before breakfast).

The first song is “Slave New World” by Sepultura, and I’m talking old-school Sepultura, from 1993’s Chaos A.D. You, of course, know this song and love it as much as I do, because it is such a great fuckin’ metal song. I think you will also like the cover of the song that Norway’s Dead Trooper did back in 2010, because I like it a bunch. I like it better than the cover Trivium did (also in 2010), though their cover still sounds good, because the riffs in this song are so damned compelling. I just like the original Max Cavalera vocals and the Dead Trooper vocals better.

The second song is “Forhekset” by Satyricon, from their 1996 Nemesis Divina album. It’s another great song, though I’m guessing many people would pick “Mother North” as the best song on that album. But anyway, today I saw a new video by a Québec band named Haeres performing a cover of “Forhekset” live back in March. I really like the cover — it’s not a carbon copy of the original, and it sounds really good. Continue reading »

SHIT SEEN AND HEARD: SONNE ADAM, ERUPTED, SILENT PATH, AND REIGN OF THE ARCHITECT

 Exceptions to the Rule, Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  8 Responses »
Jul 182012
 

Collected in here are items I randomly happened upon last night while browsing the internest and checking out links sent in by our ever-vigilant readers.

ITEM ONE

Sonne Adam are an Israeli death/doom band whose 2011 Century Media debut, Transformation, garnered a lot of critical praise. It was also one heavy motherfucker. Yesterday, I saw the news that the band’s first two-song EP, The Sun Is Dead, has been released by Van Records as a 7″ vinyl with that new cover art you see above.

Sonne Adam are also now working on a new EP to be entitled Doctrines of Dark Devotion, and yesterday they started streaming (for a limited time) a rough mix of a new track called “Bestow the Crown of Death”. Shit sounds heavier than oceans, darker than your worst nightmares. Guitars grinding on HM-2 overdrive; awesome reverberating vocals, deep as trenches and cracked like the windows in an abandoned warehouse; eerie guitar instrumentals swirling above the massive grinding noises underneath.

This is a very cool song and makes me tumescent for the new EP. Stream it right after the jump. Continue reading »

“VIKING METAL”

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  113 Responses »
Jul 172012
 

In one of yesterday’s posts I compared a song from Sweden’s King of Asgard to Naglfar and Immortal, and I got questioned about that comparison in one of the comments, suggesting that King of Asgard is a Viking metal band. That caused me to consider, certainly not for the first time, what “Viking metal” really means and whether there really is such a thing as a “Viking metal” genre.

These are questions that have been argued in many other places at many other times. For example, our brother Trollfiend devoted a post to the subject at ALSO, WOLVES last fall, insisting that, yes, it’s a genre and it’s defined by the band’s lyrical themes (though he also implied that, musically, it’s a subset of black metal). Other people contend it isn’t a genre at all, or that if it is, it begins and ends with Bathory and early Enslaved and everyone else can go fuck off. And still other people say it’s a pointless question — you either dig the music or you don’t, and who gives a rat’s ass what you call it.

The fact that there seems to be no consensus about how to define “Viking metal” weighs in favor of the argument that it isn’t a genre. That conclusion is bolstered by the significant diversity in the music of bands who different people classify as “Viking metal” (see, e.g., the bands included in the “Viking metal” tag at Last.fm or the Viking metal genre group at Metal Archives). Genre classifications are usually (though not always) defined by widely accepted hallmarks of the musical style, and if no such consensus exists, or if the sound of the music isn’t really the defining characteristic, can we really say that “Viking metal” is a genre?

Is the lyrical content really enough, especially when much of the time you can’t make out the words in the songs when you hear them? Continue reading »

MORNING ROUND-UP: THE INIQUITY DESCENT AND VENOMOUS MAXIMUS

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  8 Responses »
Jul 172012
 

In this post are two videos from recent days that I missed in my daily rounds of the interhole looking for un-missable metal, and most truly, neither of these should be missed.

THE INQUITY DESCENT

We featured a previous video from this Finnish band back in February (here).  The band was formed in late 2009 by two childhood friends — songwriter and guitarist Mikael Mannström and vocalist Mathias Lillmåns, who provides vokillz for NCS favorites Finntroll and Magenta Harvest as well. They’ve produced two EPs as well as a 2012 full-length debut on Massacre Records, The Human Apheresis, which can be downloaded here.

Their new video is for a track from the debut album called “Collector Vs. Protector”. This song veers back and forth between a mid-paced segment with a stomping killer of a riff and a more accelerated part that’s a galvanizing death ‘n’ roll ass-kicker. And Mathias Lillmåns’ scalding vocals are fucken awesome. Watch this right after the jump. Continue reading »

THE CONTORTIONIST: FULL ALBUM STREAM AND DEBUT VIDEO FOR “CAUSALITY”

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  2 Responses »
Jul 162012
 

Within certain circles, much eagerness seems to have been building for the new album from Indiana’s The Contortionist. Entitled Intrinsic, it will be released tomorrow via eOne/Good Fight Music.

To be brutally honest, I can’t say that I’ve been among the eager, because my own tastes tend to veer off in different directions. But I have at least been interested, and I suspect some of you are in the same camp. So, as a public service, I want to bring two pieces of information to your attention.

First, the entirety of Intrinsic is streaming at this location, at least for a little while.

Second, today Noisecreep exclusively premiered the band’s official video for “Causality”, the album’s third track. The song combines djent-style pneumatics, prog-style instrumentals, a dreamy/spacy keyboard layer, and a combo of hardcore roaring and ethereal crooning. It becomes . . . beautiful. The well-made video is pretty to watch, too . . . the dreams of a middle-aged man, both a kind of discovery and a kind of emotionally wrenching journey.  Nice shots of the band performing, too.

Anyway, to check that out, follow this link.

100 RIFFS IN 12 MINUTES

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  8 Responses »
Jul 162012
 

Alex Chadwick has got some mad skillz. He’s a guitarist who made a video for something called the Chicago Music Exchange, and in the video he plays 100 famous guitar riffs, one after the other, straight through in one take. They’re arranged in chronological order, so you get something like a 12-minute history of rock ‘n roll. And he does it really fuckin’ well, changing the tuning on the fly and even quickly playing some bottleneck guitar when the riffs call for it. Since the video went up on YouTube in early June, it’s been watched by more than 2.8 million people . . . and counting.

The songs from which he selected the riffs are almost entirely rock songs, though you’ll see some metal in there, too.  What would really be cool would be to see someone as good as Chadwick do a video like this composed entirely of metal riffs — straight through, in one take.

By the way, in the video, Chadwick is playing a 1958 Fender Stratocaster Three-Tone Sunburst that the Chicago Music Exchange is selling for a cool $33,000.

For the old farts in the audience (including me), this video is like a trip down memory lane, and for the younger farts in the audience, it’s some schoolin’. Watch it after the jump. Continue reading »

DEUS OTIOSUS AND ETERNITY

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  3 Responses »
Jul 152012
 

Deus Otiosus is Latin for “idle god”. It’s a phrase that refers to a theological concept of a god who created the world, set it in motion, and then checked out, leaving things to unfold as they have, which is a convenient explanation for both the ugliness that human beings have persisted in inflicting on each other and nature’s periodic outbursts of destruction. Deus Otiosus is also the name of a pulverizing Danish death metal band we spotlighted in a MISCELLANY post last August.

Eternity, of course, is another big concept, one that’s especially hard for us mere mortals to wrap our minds around, bound as we are by time and a strict (if unknown) sell-by date. Of course, the concept of eternity requires no religious belief, and it’s no more provable. Eternity is also the name of a German black metal band who’ve been kicking around since 1994, which may not be as long as eternity but is still longer than some of our readers have been alive.

Today I discovered new music from both bands, and it seemed fitting to package them together in this post, though appreciating their music requires neither a leap of faith nor solving the great mystery of the universe.

DEUS OTIOSUS

This band (whose Facebook page is here) have a second album on the way later this year called Godless, which is another concept for explaining why shit happens. The very nice album cover is taken from an engraving by Gustave Doré. Today the band started streaming a song from that album called “Pest Grave”, which is about the black plague. It’s a blast of death metal mixed with blackened thrash and energized with fire-breathing guitar fury, and it includes a grim melodic breakdown. The abyss-deep vocals are vividly voracious, too. I liked it. Listen right after the jump — and bring on Godless! Continue reading »

OH THOSE CRAZY FINNS!

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  8 Responses »
Jul 152012
 

I would like to chalk this up to the benefits of clean living, but who am I kidding? It’s just more of the dumb luck with which my entire life seems to have been blessed.

So, I’m sitting around feeling all mopey and disgusted because of some news I saw this morning that turned an inspiring metal story into what looks like a big fuckin’ con job . . . which will be described in tomorrow’s first post. And on top of that, a run of five straight days of glorious weather in Seattle has been interrupted with some gray dankness up in the sky this morning. In a nutshell, I needed some cheering up, pronto.

And then what should appear in my e-mail in-box at just the right moment but a message from Finnish NCS fan jeimssi with a link to a brand new Mors Subita video, which includes some film made by jeimssi himself.

I pressed play, and suddenly I perked right up, I got the big smiley face, I banged my fuckin’ head. I barely resisted the urge to rip off my headphones, grab a brew, put the music on the external speakers, and start finding shit in my house to bust up — an urge I resisted at the last minute only after remembering that it’s 7:45 in the fucken morning and my wife is still asleep. That was a near thing, as in a near-death experience, as in yours truly coming THAT close to being the victim of a spousal homicide. Continue reading »

HIT AND RUN: DARKTHRONE, OMNIUM GATHERUM, TESTAMENT, AND INDESINENCE

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  6 Responses »
Jul 142012
 

Yesterday I started putting up short posts during brief windows of time permitted by my fucking day job, just trying to spread the word, for your entertainment and edification, about new videos, new music, and news that I’d seen yesterday. I got two of those posts up on the site and ran out of time before I could finish the third one. So here it is, a day late but no dollars short.

DARKTHRONE

I saw on the Terrorizer web site that this Norwegian duo have finished recording their next album, the first one since 2010’s Circle the Wagons, and that it’s scheduled for release later this year. You can bet that it will make waves and draw lots of attention, because it’s Darkthrone. What I wouldn’t venture to predict is what it will sound like, except it won’t be black metal, because Fenriz has kind of a “been there, done that” attitude about the band’s musical roots. The Terrorizer report did quote guitarist/vocalist Nocturno Culto, as follows:

“The album will be called The Underground Resistance. I can’t speak for Fenriz, but I think he’s going for more epic lyrics. I can only speak for myself and this time around they are very personal lyrics. It’s the first time I’ve ever tried this and it’s difficult to do it nicely and put it into good words. There was a lot of hate and people trying to ruin your day and I had stuff to say for my sake.”

Of the album, he adds: “Our music now is basically just metal, it will be a step away from the last album as usual.” Yup.

While I’m on the subject of Darkthrone, I’ll mention that the Peaceville label has re-issued the band’s 2001 album Plaguewielder as a special 2-CD set, with the second CD consisting of lengthy track-by-track commentary from Fenriz. It also includes new cover artwork by the amazing Zbigniew M. Bielak, which is right after the jump, big as life. Continue reading »

HIT AND RUN: THE ROTTED AND CHROME WAVES

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  4 Responses »
Jul 132012
 

Two more quick items to pass along, and I hope my day job will allow time for one more post like this one before this day is over. Fucking day job.

The items in this post are both videos. The first one comes from a UK band called The Rotted, whose most recent album Ad Nauseum was released by Candlelight last fall. We never got around to reviewing it, but I’ll tell you what, it’s a fuckin’ blast!

The new video is for a song from that album called “Surrounded By Skulls”. Can you guess why the mere title of that song appeals to me? But it’s not merely the title that’s appealing. The song itself is virally infectious. It’s a combo of crusty hardcore punk, d-beat, and death metal that’s irresistibly catchy, with a real shout-along chorus. The video is a kick to watch, too. Looks like a live show by these dudes would be some head-busting fun. Also, there are a lot of skulls.

The second video is from Chrome Waves, a band I’ve written about twice before. The last time (here), I was raving about a song from their debut EP called “Light Behind A Shadow”, and lo and behold that’s the subject of the band’s first official video, which Metal Injection premiered today. By the way, the album was released earlier this month by Gravedancer Records and it can now be ordered as a CD from this location, as well as downloaded from iTunes and Amazon mp3. Continue reading »

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