GHOUL PATROL’S “SIX FEET UNDER” VIDEO: WHO KNEW YOU COULD LINE DANCE TO DEATH ‘N’ ROLL?

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  11 Responses »
May 182012
 

I have at least one of these moments every day, and usually more than one: when I feel like a moron.  I just had my first one for today.  I watched the first official video from Finland’s Ghoul Patrol and realized how stupid I was for not listening to their debut album, Ghoul Patrol, when it came out last fall (on the Spinefarm label).  Because this song is a goddamned headbanger’s delight.

Seriously, if you can keep still while hearing this song, then your bondage gear is on too tight. It’s some mighty fine death ‘n’ roll that ought to give you an acute case of sore neck syndrome in no time at all.

And the video is hilarious, from the first “moooooooo” to the last one.

I’ve been waxing nostalgic about my youth in Texas recently, but one thing I never got into was country western dancing. That kind of music wasn’t the kind of country I liked, and the kind of bars and dancehalls where people did that kind of thing were full of  . . . not really my kind of people. Now, if they’d been line dancing to music like Ghoul Patrol’s, I’d have had a whole different feeling about it.

Truly an inspired video.  And to think that it took a metal band from Finland (or at least a Finnish video production company) to come up with the idea.  Watch it after the jump, especially if you know what line dancing is. Continue reading »

YOUR MORNING TRIP THROUGH HELL AND BACK: ISRATHOUM, ENABLER, PUTRID PILE, AND JOHNNY WINTER

 Eye-Catchers, Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  11 Responses »
May 182012
 

I spent last evening in Tacoma witnessing a momentous event in the life of a friend and then celebrating it with her and her family. Had a blast, but between that and day-job shit, I didn’t make much headway on reviews I’ve been trying to write. I did have time to latch on to a few new songs that struck a chord, and they’re in this post. Also, on the way out of Tacoma back to Seattle, I saw something that sent me on a nostalgia trip — more on that at the end of this post. But first, I bring you Hell.

ISRATHOUM

I latched onto this band (or they latched on to me) almost entirely as a result of that eye-catching album cover you see above. It’s for their second full-length release, Black Poison and Shared Wounds, which is out now on Daemon Worship Productions (the same label/distro that’s handling the U.S. release of the new album by Iceland’s Svartidauði that I wrote about two days ago.

Israthoum was originally created in Portugal during the early 90’s, but its members relocated to The Netherlands around 1998. The three current members are, shall we say, devoted followers of The Left Hand Path. All three of them also interchangeably play bass and guitars on the album (one of them also plays the drums), and all three share vocal duties.

Daemon Worship have put two songs from the album on SoundCloud — “The Unravelling Traveller” and “The Presence, The Baying”. The music is scathing — definitely not for the faint of heart. But beneath the surface veil of blasting and rending there lurks an almost avant-garde layer of complexity that reminded me in some ways of Deathspell Omega, and I found the melodies crouching in the dark corners of my head long after the music stopped. Continue reading »

HACKTIVIST RIFF TEST

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  19 Responses »
May 172012
 

So there’s this UK band called Hacktivist.  TheMadIsraeli wrote a post about them in January that garnered 83 comments, and I didn’t even write half of them like I usually do. To my rudimentary way of thinking, that means Hacktivist generated some interest, despite the fact that a big chunk of the comments weren’t very nice and despite the fact that Hacktivist combine two dirty words in most elitist metal circles: rap and djent.

I’m all about pandering to the interests of NCS readers. So, I’m writing this post despite the fact that all I have is a riff test that Hacktivist posted today, a riff test that lasts only 1 minute and 17 seconds — and that’s including a synth intro and outro (yes, apparently even riff tests require intro’s and outro’s). And no rap.

[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/46698319″ iframe=”true” /]
 
Continue reading »

AGALLOCH SUMMER TOUR TAKING SHAPE

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  6 Responses »
May 172012
 

Earlier this year we reported about a note by Agalloch on their Facebook page that they were planning a 30-day tour of the U.S. and Canada this summer.  All the dates have not yet been announced, but this morning I saw a note on Lambgoat reporting the following schedule, which is obviously not yet complete.  I’m liking where they intend to start this thing:

7/12 Seattle, WA @ The Crocodile
7/13 Vancouver, BC @ Rickshaw Theatre
7/20 Chicago, IL @ Reggie’s Rock Club
7/22 Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Ballroom
7/23 Toronto, ON @ TBA
7/25 Cambridge, MA @ Middle East Downstairs
7/26 Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
8/1 Atlanta, GA @ The Earl
8/3 New Orleans, LA @ One Eyed Jacks
8/5 Austin, TX @ Red 7
8/9 San Diego, CA @ The Casbah
8/11 San Francisco, CA @ Great American Music Hall

It appears that a band called Taurus will be along for the ride. And in other Agalloch news, the band have a new EP, Faustian Echoes, on the way. It consists of a 20-minute long conceptual track and was recorded live onto two-inch tape with Billy Anderson at Jackpot Studio in Portland, Oregon, on March 24-25. A release date has yet to be set, but we will keep you updated about it. The EP is slated to appear on both vinyl and CD.

And because Agalloch is on my mind, I have a quality video after the jump of the band performing “Bloodbirds” and “In the Shadow Of Our Pale Companion” at the Ragnarök Festival in Germany on April 13, 2012 (via Brooklyn Vegan). Continue reading »

THE POWER OF THE RIFF (AND THE SKINS): DUKATALON (again) AND JUCIFER

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  2 Responses »
May 162012
 

I wasn’t planning to write any more posts for our site today, but then I had one of those synchronicity/serendipity moments that often make me think cosmic forces are trying to send me a message (and I’m not talking about the alien microwave transmissions, because all the foil I’ve used to cover the walls blocks those).

While taking a break from the work I’m supposed to be doing in order to justify my salary, I saw a a link from a friend on Facebook to a Jucifer video I hadn’t seen before. And then soon after that, I got word that Dukatalon had posted another video in their “Zimmer” sessions series. Both videos and both performances exploded my eggshell skull, wadded up the remains, and tossed them into a dimension where happy riff addicts go to smile away the hours.

But in addition to both of them being happily skull-rending, these two videos share another trait: They demonstrate that a massive amount of metal might can be created by (almost) nothing more than one talented guitarist and one talented drummer (and a fuckload of distortion). The fireball shred is icing on the cake.

JUCIFER

I’ll wager that those of you who ever have seen a live show by Gazelle Amber Valentine and her husband Edgar Livengood have become Jucifer fans for life. It only took me the one time. Oddly, it spoiled me so bad that I don’t listen to their recordings that much, because they fall so far short of capturing the live experience. It was, with no exceptions I can think of at the moment, the LOUDEST metal show I’ve ever attended, and it was also one of the most riveting/crushing/satisfying shows I’ve seen; at the same time as they’re inflicting a gigaton of sonic trauma, they have a magnetic stage presence that rivets your attention. Continue reading »

DEATH WORSHIP FROM ICELAND: SVARTIDAUÐI AND VANSKÖPUN

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  7 Responses »
May 162012
 

How things have changed. In April 2010 I wrote a THAT’S METAL! post mainly for the purpose of displaying photos of the magnificent eruption of Iceland’s Eyjafjallajokull (ay-yah-FYAH’-plah-yer-kuh-duhl) volcano, which you may recall wrecked havoc on air transportation as far away as the UK and the European continent. But because this is a metal blog, I thought I ought to find some Icelandic metal as musical accompaniment for the rad pics.

I hunted and hunted across the interhole as it then existed, and I remember I didn’t find much. Of what I found, the best music was by a band called Changer, so I went with that. I’m sure there were many more Icelandic metal bands creating music back then than I was able to find, but it still struck me that the scene had a pretty low profile internationally.

It’s certainly much easier today to find music by a broad array of excellent Icelandic bands, and two of them in particular have become favorites at NCS — Atrum and Sólstafir. Hell, just last weekend I discovered another one — Severed Crotch (discussed in this post). Over the last few days I’ve been exploring two other Icelandic bands whose music is even more extreme than what I’ve heard from Iceland previously. Theirs is the kind of black/death metal that invokes the word “ritual” when performed live, or the term “apocalyptic metal”, or perhaps the phrase “death worship”. For English speakers, their names are also not nearly as easy to pronounce as those other bands’: Svartidauði and Vansköpun.

SVARTIDAUÐI

Svartidauði’s name means “Black Death”. That weird letter near the end is an “eth”, with a “th” sound. Between 2006 and 2010 they produced three demos and they contributed a song to a split in January 2012 with a Chilean band called Perdition (the eye-catching artwork for that split is up above), which was released by a German black metal label called the World Terror Committee.  They are now planning for the release of an album under the name Flesh Cathedral, which will be distributed in Europe by Terratvr Possessions and in the U.S. by Daemon Worship Productions. The artwork for that monstrosity is right after the jump. Continue reading »

LISTENABLE TEASERS: LIVARKAHIL, DEW-SCENTED, SYBREED, AND ZONARIA

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  7 Responses »
May 162012
 

Over the last 24 hours I saw different kinds of web teasers about new music from four bands whose past material I’ve really liked, and by coincidence I found out about all of them through Facebook posts by the French label, Listenable Records (even though Listenable is not currently the label for all the bands).  So it made sense to collect all those teasers in one post, right?

LIVARKAHIL

Last September I featured (here) the new official video from this French band for a song called “Above All Hatred”, which was then due to appear on their second album, Signs of Decay. The music reminded me of Behemoth-style blackened death metal with some DevilDriver groove in the mix, and man, did it have one motherfuckin’ head-smasher of an opening riff. Actually, the whole song was a sweet head-smasher. Signs of Decay was a wonderful album, too — one of many I just never got around to reviewing last year.

Livarkahil are following up Signs of Decay with a free digital EP named Wrath of God, which will be released later this month. I like that strategy of following a full-album release with a free EP.  Today, Listenable and the band started streaming a track from the EP called “Through Hatred and Devotion” — and yes, hatred is a consistent theme for Liverkahil. The song proves once again that Livarkahil know how to start a song strong — and how to follow the intro with pummeling rhythms, blistering vocals, and catchy melodies. Have a listen to this brutal beast right after the jump. Continue reading »

FREE SHIT FROM A389

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  3 Responses »
May 162012
 

A389 is a new discovery for me.  A389 is a DIY record label and distro based in Baltimore, Maryland.  I found out about them through a FB post by Masakari, a Cleveland band whose music you should get to know if you don’t already.

Truth is, I’m not familiar with the majority of the bands whose music A389 distributes, because the music tends to be in genres that I don’t follow closely. But I do know about some of them, and the ones I know about are adept at using music to split skulls and ignite the bloodstream.

A389 have just compiled a digital mixtape for free download. There are . . . wait for it . . . 52 tracks on this thing. It includes a mix of previously unreleased or forthcoming songs plus material from recordings that are already in circulation. As before, I didn’t recognize most of the bands on this comp, but the ones I did recognize are strong:

Ilsa
Ringworm
Young And In the Way
Gravehill
Full of Hell
Trapped Under Ice
Masakari

Now a comp this big will take up some room — 211MB on your hard drive. Fortunately, you don’t have to take the plunge blindly, because A389 is streaming every song on the comp. And after the jump, I’ve picked out a few songs to stream here — yeah, I downloaded this comp already, and I’m glad I did. It’s a mix of styles — death/doom, hardcore, crust-punk, d-beat, grind, and more — and it will beat the holy hell out of you. Continue reading »

PHOTOSHOPPING (AND ILSA) FTW

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  16 Responses »
May 152012
 

I saw this on a friend’s FB status. Too damn good not to share.

That isn’t the original photo, however.  This appears to be the original photo:

Hell, for all I know, the second one was Photoshopped, too.  Regardless, it’s also awesome.  I’m all in favor of reasoned, dispassionate, intelligent discourse about the issues of the day.  But sometimes you just gotta say Fuck This Guy, which is a sentiment I’ve been having a lot since seeing some of the predictable right-wing reactions to President Obama’s coming out in support of gay marriage. Continue reading »

ABS (and DEATH OF SELF)

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  13 Responses »
May 142012
 

I have never seen my abs.  I will never see my abs.  It’s just not in the cards, despite the fact that I’m pretty close to the weight I’m supposed to have for my height.  Even when I was at my trimmest, most athletically fit, I couldn’t see them . . . and those days are far back in the rear-view mirror.

Angela Gossow, on the other hand, has abs. Having seen this photo taken at Arch Enemy’s Wages Of Sin Anniversary show in Tokyo on April 14, 2012, I don’t know why she ever wears shirts and tops that drop below her upper ribcage. Man, when you got it, flaunt it.

Look at her fucking arms, too! I know that with Arch Enemy as big as they are, she travels in better style than 99% of all metal bands, but still: Where does she find the time to work out this intensely, and how does she avoid all the alcohol and shit food that comes with touring?  Oh, wait.  I know.  You don’t have to fucking tell me.  It’s called self-discipline.  A concept I’ve read about, but one that’s totally academic to me.

I’m sorry, but as awe-inspiring as Angela looks in this photo, it fucking depresses me on another level. By coincidence, about 5 minutes after I saw this photo, I heard a song that kind of sums things up. It’s called “Visions Of A Shit Life”, which is kinda what I see when I catch myself naked in a mirror. It’s by a Denver grindcore band called Death of Self (yeah, that’s a fucken appropriate name, too), which features the vocalist/guitarist (Ethan) from Clinging To the Trees Of A Forest Fire. It has the benefit of being a goddamned kickass song, too. Continue reading »

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