DOES LENGTH MATTER?

 Mosh Pit, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  50 Responses »
Feb 112012
 

No, no, no.  This post isn’t about dicks.

Wait!  Where are you going?  Hang on for a minute and let me explain.  This may be interesting even if it’s not about penises, difficult as that may be to believe.

The subject of this post is one I’ve thought about before and discussed with others outside these pages. Here’s what finally prompted me to throw it open for NCS discussion — this Facebook status by Sweden’s Mordbrand, whose killer 2011 EP Necropsychotic we reviewed here and whose November 2011 split with their fellow Swedes in Bombs of Hades we featured here:

“It looks like MORDBRAND’s discography will mostly consist of EP’s and splits at the moment. We’re excited about all suggestions, proposals and offers we have in front of us. But here’s a question to YOU: If a band produces enough material on small releases – is a full-length then necessary? The way we see it: If we record a handful of songs, we can really focus on them and make them turn great. If we record full-lengths, we’ll have less time working on each track. This calls for an interesting discussion!”

Yes, it does call for discussion. As a fan, what would you rather see from the bands you like — shorter but more frequent releases or full-length albums that are more spaced out, e.g., a new one every couple of years? Do you tend to take a band more seriously, particularly a new band, if they release album-length material instead of EPs? Is it the meat or the motion? Continue reading »

GRUESOME GLORY: “CONSUMING THE ANTI-LIFE EQUATION”

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  30 Responses »
Feb 102012
 

This is the third of today’s three single-song posts. I realize that when I started today’s series I said all three songs would be new ones from bands I already knew about, but that’s not the case. I didn’t intend to lie, but I found another song I need to share, and it’s from a band I only discovered today.

The band is Gruesome Glory and they’re from Iceland. Just a few days ago, they added a new song to their SoundCloud page called “Consuming the Anti-Life Equation”, and it’s one hell of a song. The band is relatively young as are its members, but don’t let that fool you. “Consuming the Anti-Life Equation” is technical death metal, but (to quote a recent snarky comment we received about a different band), the music is NOT “mindless wankery”.

True to the band’s name, it’s gruesome, largely thanks to the cadaverous vocals, and yes, it’s full of jabbing riffs, rapidly slithering arpeggios, and other forms of flashy fretwork. But it also has some funk, some groove, and plenty of low-end heft, plus some sweet bass-work. This is making me think of Pestilence. Continue reading »

ENTHRONED: “OBSIDIUM”

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  2 Responses »
Feb 102012
 

Here’s the second of today’s three posts about new song premieres from bands we like.

Last month, we featured the eye-catching cover art created by Olve J. W. l for an album I’m highly anticipating — the new one from Belgian black metal band Enthroned. They recently signed a two-album deal with Agonia Records. Their new album, Obsidium, will be released on March 20 in Europe and on April 10 in North America.

Yesterday, the band debuted the album’s magisterial title track. It’s a charging, plunging animal with claws out and teeth bared, marked by an insistent, needle-like guitar melody that’s already hooked itself in my head. Nornagest’s scraped-throat, mid-range vocals are passionate and powerful, and the brief moment of clean singing behind them works quite well.

This is a jam that I would put on a repeat loop for the morning if I could. It bodes well for the album as a whole. Have a listen after the jump. Continue reading »

BORKNAGAR: “ROOTS”

 Exceptions to the Rule, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  4 Responses »
Feb 102012
 

Yesterday, I devoted three separate posts to three new songs by three different bands (not counting that track by some djent band named Meshuggah). Though I don’t plan to make a habit of this, I’m doing it again today, because yesterday and today I spotted three more songs worth sharing around. But unlike yesterday, today’s songs come from bands whose music I already know.

First up is Borknagar. We already splashed the eye-catching Marcelo Vasco cover art for their new album Urd (here), and now we have the first song from the album — “Roots”. Here’s what Borknagar mastermind Øystein G. Brun had to say about the song on the band’s official site:

“In regards to the depth, diversity and magnitude of our new album, “Urd”, it almost feels painful to slice off just a tiny bit of the bloody roast for the very first official “starter”. I would argue that each and every song on the new album stands on solid ground, but as usual with our music, the songs empower each other in the context of a full album.

That said, “Roots” is probably the song on the album that gives you the most representative impression of “Urd”. Musically it contains most of the elements that framework the musical universe of BORKNAGAR, and lyrically this song is gnawing on the very spine of our lyrical tradition. Hope you enjoy this song, the first tiny glimpse into our new opus. The beast is about to be unleashed…”

The song debuted yesterday exclusively on DECIBEL magazine’s on-line site and on Metal Hammer’s site. I’d recommend a visit to either place, because the song is worth hearing. Continue reading »

IS IT TOO EARLY IN THE MORNING FOR THIS? FUCK NO!

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  14 Responses »
Feb 102012
 

 

Let me just get this off my chest: Fuck the Big Four. If we must have thrash, then let it be scum thrash punks drunk on metal and burning in a vaginal hell. Preferably written, performed, and recorded by a band named Prostitute, whose members preferably are called Scum and Slag.

Preferably playing songs like “Homage To Oblivion”, “Hell Is For Heshers”, “Let’s Fuckin’ Fight”, and “Titanium Scrotum”.

Yeah, go ahead and laff it up. I bet you think this is funny. But that’s because you haven’t heard the music yet. It’s dirty thrash, full of hell, booze, blood, and snot. It’s moshing, head-butting music that doesn’t give a rat’s ass — but damn it’s a kick in tender parts to hear. These two dirtbags know how to throw one compulsive riff after another until your mind is one big filthy riff, with evil vocals echoing off the walls of that empty cell you call a life.

I wish I could tell you more about Prostitute, but all I know is that they’re from Gainesville, Florida, and their debut album — Vaginal Hell Demos — is available for free download courtesy of Satanik Recordings and Bandcamp. Stream one song on the player that follows the jump and I bet you won’t want to stop. And if you do, well then I guess I was wrong: It’s too early in the morning for this. Continue reading »

MESHUGGAH LEAK

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  18 Responses »
Feb 092012
 

This news is spreading like a viral wildfire across the netz, and who are we to question it? It appears the godalmighty Meshuggah have intentionally leaked a new song through the website http://iamaleak.com. I’ve read that the domain was registered by the band’s manager, and that suggests the connection. Plus, the motherfuckin song sounds like Meshuggah.

News of the leak has appeared here and there through anonymous posts, with this message:

the ophidian whispered those who seek shall be rewarded….

a sonic declaration of spIte And resentMent
its resonAnce grinding to dust our souls
the twine of revenge tightLy strung
its subharmonics thE undoing of All

and for those who asK for my name? / dotcom

Go past the jump and give this song a listen. Continue reading »

GORY BLISTER: “SOUL-BORNE MALADIES”

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  5 Responses »
Feb 092012
 

This is the third of three posts today featuring single songs recently released for streaming by bands who are new blips on our radar screen. This one comes from an Italian band named Gory Blister.

Now, it seems that the core members of Gory Blister have been playing off and on since the early 90s, with three albums to their credit and a fourth one scheduled for release by Bakerteam Records on April 23, to be titled EarthSick. What caught my eye was the report that Nile’s Karl Sanders would be making a guest appearance on two songs — one of them being “Soul-Borne Maladies”, which the band have recently released for streaming.

Before you Nile fans get too wild, Sanders is contributing vocals, not guitars, and the vocals are a near-chanting monotone, cavernous and cadaverous. But Gory Blister do just fine with their own instrumentals and song-writing. Their brand of technical death metal is all flying fingers and blazing footwork, constantly changing tempos and bludgeoning rhythms. And when the guitar solo in this song erupts, it’s like the second coming of Vesuvius.

Damned fine blowtorch metal, and it appears we have another Italian death metal album to anticipate this year besides the next one from Hour of Penance. Put on your asbestos suit and have a listen after the jump. Continue reading »

DISSIPATE: “MOTION”

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  1 Response »
Feb 092012
 

This is the second of three posts today that focus on individual song releases by bands we’ve only recently discovered here at NCS. Credit to TheMadIsraeli for tipping me to Dissipate.

Dissipate are a prog/djent band from Livermore, California. Given my personal tastes in music, a little bit of prog/djent goes a long way, and a lot of prog/djent should just go away. I’m not trying to ignite a debate, just being clear about where I’m coming from.

However, although the nekro part of my multiple personality disorder has become increasingly dominant over time, I’m not too kvlt to dismiss this genre altogether. I still occasionally get a charge out of the sheer instrumental exuberance that some bands display, and that’s how I’m feeling about Dissipate’s new song, “Motion”.

Dissipate has chosen to include their fans in the gestation of this song, first posting their talented guitarist Mike Gianelli’s play-through of a rough mix last fall (here), then following that in January with a different play-through by the band’s bassist, JT (here), and finally uploading a Gianelli play-through of the finished song yesterday.

Despite the fact that I’m not conditioned to eat up this kind of music in big mouthfuls, I found myself hypnotized by this new video. Continue reading »

FORCEPS

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  6 Responses »
Feb 092012
 

This is the first of three short posts today about single songs from divergent corners of the metal sphere — divergent not only geographically, but also musically.

Forceps is a Brazilian band who plan to release a debut EP called Humanicide later this year. I don’t know how many songs it will include, when it will be released, or what factors will determine the timing. What I know is that the band have released a song from the album for streaming. It’s on YouTube and Bandcamp. The name of the song is “Transmutation of Internal Organs”.

I came across them via a Facebook friend’s recommendation. When I began listening, my loosely organized brain immediately began loosely organizing the music according to genre. I thought, “brutal slam metal, with groove.” Gunner drumming, hammering/blistering riffs, abyssal growls. And then some spacey atmospherics intruded, and the vocals elevated into an abraded shriek. And then at 2:40 a too-short phalanx of headbangery came running out of hiding. And then came a brief burst of melody.

By song’s end, I decided my original genre classification was wrong, or at least too simple. Brutal, yes. Slamming, yes. But the tech-intensive riffing and all that groove and the vocal variety and the catchy melodic hooks — they mean something else. Whatever the label, this is nice. Check it out following the jump; we’ll update you when the EP drops. Continue reading »

ESTONIAN BASS AND DRUM

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  6 Responses »
Feb 082012
 

Let’s see now . . . where do we go next? The progression so far today: French old-school gore/death from NecroWretch; abraded female vocalization (and a flood of accompanying commentary) from Landmine Marathon, Wykked Wytch, and Izegrim; teasers from Finland’s Before the Dawn; words from the Demisery duo; and death-rap from Death Grips. Decisions, decisions . . .

I know!  We need some stripped-down bass and drum from Estonia’s Neoandertals! And to be clear, I am NOT talking about that pseudo-rave electronic music that came out of the UK in the early 90s. Blech! No, I’m talking about this:

That’s a track from a Neandertal instrumental album called Australopithecus that’s scheduled for release on February 17 and will be available on Bandcamp HERE. But wait, there’s more! There’s this piece of freaky bass-driven death metal from the band’s 2011 album, Ebu Gogo Gutting the Child: Continue reading »

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