THE EMPIRE OF AUGUST BURNS RED

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  4 Responses »
May 172011
 

August Burns Red has a mega-sized fan base. Let’s just take their Facebook “likes” as an indicator of that: 807,942 “likes” as of this writing. That’s a shitload. Now, I don’t mean to suggest we’re in awe or anything — we’re closing in on that number ourselves. With just 807,651 more likes, our NCS Facebook page will tie August Burns Red’s. So, we’re not in awe, we’re just stating the fact: For a metal band with a hardcore edge of extremity to their sound, they’ve built an unusually large empire of fandom.

The three of us who originally founded this site are among those fans, and we’ve posted about them a lot since we started NCS. They’re not as extreme as most bands we write about here, but they’re smart, creative songwriters, they play with passion, and their musical output shows they’re not standing still. Oh yeah, their songs are also distinctive and really memorable — so much so that we named ABR’s song “Meridian” (from the Constellations album) to our inaugural list of The Ten Most Infectious Extreme Metal Songs of 2009.

ABR has a follow-up to Constellations due for release on June 21, called Leveler. It features that interesting cover art above (by Jordan Crane) showing a house that’s been leveled (see what they did there?) by a tornado or hurricane or some kind of disaster, but with life going on anyway. Or at least chicken life. It’s not your typical metal cover, but we still thought it was eye-catching.

With the album release fast approaching, ABR has begun the process of fan titillation by uploading the first song from the album for streaming. It’s called, naturally enough, “Empire”, and it’s a metalcore bruiser. After the jump, we’ve got that song for you plus some additional details about the album. Continue reading »

KLONE YOURSELF

 Exceptions to the Rule, Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC, SHORT BUT SWEET  7 Responses »
May 172011
 

Too infrequently, we write about music that we pick out for listening based solely on the album cover art, not knowing anything about the music itself. Last July we did that for an album called Black Days by a French band called Klone. To crib from what we wrote about the album back then:

Well, it’s not my usual cuppa tea, which tends toward the more skull-pulping leaves grown on the jagged crags of Tartarus. For one thing, there’s a lot of more-or-less clean singing. . . . But, unexpectedly, I’m really diggin Klone. At a very high level (like, from space), the music straddles a line between the darker side of progressive metal and Chevelle-style hard rock. The instrumentalists are sharp and technically impressive, and even when his vocals are clean, Yann Ligner has an invigorating edge to his voice. The songs cover a wide range, from crosses between doom and prog, to melodic headbanging anthems, to dark dreams of hypnotic ambiance.

Today, we have some news to report about Klone: First, they’ve released a brand new two-part single called The Eye of the Needle that’s available for free download — and it’s absolutely worth hearing. Second, we came across a recent official video for one of the songs from Black Days, and it’s absolutely worth seeing. (more after the jump . . .) Continue reading »

SHORT, BUT SWEET: PRISTINA AND PANDEMONIUM

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC, SHORT BUT SWEET  20 Responses »
May 152011
 

Since the end of last week we’ve accumulated some small collections of new music that we think are very sweet. In a way, they’re all teasers for longer and grander things to come from some very good bands. Consider us well and truly teased. But this isn’t like getting all hot and bothered with a chick in the backseat of your car and then being denied the payoff. No, this is a good kind of tease.

Late last week we featured the first of these brief releases — a three-song EP from Swedish black-metal behemoths, Marduk. Today, we’ve got two more: New music from Pristina (U.S.) and Pandemonium (Poland).

PRISTINA

We were bowled over by this Connectuicut band’s 2010 debut album, The Drought (Ov Salt and Sorrow), and we weren’t the only ones. It has received plenty of attention and critical praise.  You can see our review of the album here, and our revealing interview of Pristina mainman Brendan Duff by using this link.

We heard from Brendan a few days ago with some very welcome news. First, Pristina has recorded three new songs that will only be made available as a limited edition EP at the band’s live shows, though one of them is available for streaming now (we’ll get to that).  Second, Pristina have finished writing their next album and plan to begin recording it shortly.  (more after the jump . . .) Continue reading »

SUPPORT

 Concert Reviews, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  2 Responses »
May 142011
 

Last night I went to see and hear live metal with NCS co-founder IntoTheDarkness and another friend. The main reason for going was to catch King Conquer and Idols, but we had tunsa fun listening to other bands on the bill, too. Especially for a Friday night, the crowd at Studio Seven was stunningly sparse. Fortunately, that didn’t stop the bands from raging as if the venue were packed to no-breathing-room capacity.

My fucking day job is compelling me to work today, so I don’t have time for a proper review of the concert. But I thought it would be, well — ungrateful — for me to say nothing at all. So, what do you do when you think a band has killed it on stage? What do you do when you get some fucking joy out of listening to a band’s music? What you should do (and I’m really lecturing myself here, not you) is to show some respect, to show some support, and not to be bashful about it even when you’re in the company of people who frown on the genre.

And yes, the genre in this instance happens to be deathcore. We don’t write about bands in that genre very often at this site, though last November we did review King Conquer’s debut album in glowing terms (here) and we also included one of their tracks on our list of  2010’s Most Infectious Extreme Metal Songs (here). I also think most of our readers aren’t into this kind of metal. But it’s like any other genre — there’s bad music in it and there’s good. Particularly when you hear the good bands throw themselves into a live performance heart and soul, then what you should do — what I’m doing — is to be honest about your admiration and show some fucking support. (more after the jump, including music . . .) Continue reading »

THE BEST METAL VIDEO OF THE YEAR (AND SECOND PLACE IS SO FAR BACK YOU CAN’T SEE IT)

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  14 Responses »
May 132011
 

I had plans for today’s posts. Really, I did. And then a few things happened last night that just blew them right outta my head. This happens often, so I’m not beating myself up about it. It’s just part of the price you pay when you have an impulsively enthusiastic personality — planning just becomes a fucking waste of time.

So, one of the things that happened was catching a blurb about Red Fang‘s new video on Blabbermouth. I skim through lots of shit on Blabbermouth without ever pausing, but Red Fang is a name I’d heard enough that I decided this would be a good chance to hear their music, along with moving pictures. I like moving pictures. And oh, I’m SOOOO fuckin’ glad I checked this out! Really and truly.

See, Red Fang is from fuckin’ Portland, which is just spitting distance away from The Emerald City, where our metallic island is located. They came out with an album this year on Relapse called Murder the Mountains. I haven’t heard all of it. In fact, I’ve only heard just the one song in the video. It’s called “Wires”. It’s not as extreme as most of the music we play here at NCS, and it involves, y’know, clean singing. But it’s just a fuckin’ good-time song with some monstrous discordant riffage, some thunderous drumming, and a few massive hooks.

And the video for the song is the shit. It’s like a real-life documentary of what happens when you give a bunch of fun-loving stoner band dudes a $5,000 check (drawn on the “Maidoff Bank”, no less) to make a music video. Now, $5,000 sounds like a lot of money, but you’d be amazed how fast you can spend it when you decide to buy an old station wagon, weld some armor on the front, and start driving through barricades of random shit set up on an aircraft runway.

But it wasn’t the station wagon that put the dent in the video trust fund (that old beater only cost the dudes $685). It was the crash helmets, the stockpile of milk, the mannequins, the pickles, the watermelons, the china cabinets, the Wurlitzer organ, the 15 cases of PBR, the bank of TVs, and lots more. You’ll see. The money goes fast when you get creative about destruction. (the video is after the jump, along with another gut-busting video from RF) Continue reading »

UNEARTH: “EYES OF BLACK”

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  8 Responses »
May 122011
 

Doesn’t it seem like whenever you see the word “metalcore” in commentary about new music these days, the word “generic” isn’t far away? The metalcore genre has now been with us so long that, at least in the eyes of metal “elitists” (so-called by, uh, fans of metalcore), it has become stagnant, stuck in the template that was hammered out more than a decade ago, recycling its familiar tropes and only rarely venturing into the realm of originality.

To be honest, that “generic” label could be applied to bands and albums in every genre of metal. Is it really more often true of new metalcore releases than, say, new death metal albums? And do we really need a band to break new ground in a familiar genre in order to find the music worthwhile? Or is it sufficient that a band know what they’re doing and do it well, even if there are no surprises in store?

Before “metalcore” became a dirty word in many metal circles, before the genre became saturated with formulaic music, there was Unearth. In our opinion, their albums have stood out from the burgeoning crowd, thanks to their talent for creating memorable hooks and melodies (and breakdowns) while preserving all that hardcore grit and aggression. It doesn’t hurt that they put on a head-busting live show — one of those bands we turn out to see whenever they get close to The Emerald City.

Unearth will be releasing their fifth album (Darkness In the Light) via Metal Blade on July 4, their first in two and a half years. Adam Dutkiewicz (Killswitch Engage) produced it, and KsE’s Justin Foley laid down the drum tracks. Last night, as a warm-up to the release, Unearth uploaded a song called “Eyes of Black” to YouTube. After the jump, we have the song and a few more words . . . Continue reading »

NEW SONG FROM THE FACELESS (GROAN)

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  27 Responses »
May 112011
 

This post is what we consider a “public service announcement”. In other words, we’re informing you of something that we know many of you will be interested in learning — but not because we’re recommending it to you.

Within approximately the last hour, The Faceless posted a “pre-production preview” of a new song called “The Eidolon Reality”, which will appear on the band’s next album, due sometime this fall. This is not the final mastered version of the track. I’m not sure why the band (or Sumerian) decided to release this instead of waiting until completion of mastering, but they did.

Fans of technical death metal have mixed opinions about The Faceless. We here at NCS are fans of technical death metal, and we liked Akeldema and, to a lesser extent, Planetary Duality. But to be honest, this new song made me cringe. Literally. Cringe.  I even have a hard time developing an opinion about the instrumental work and the growly vocals because the song includes some truly bad clean singing. There. I said it. Go past the jump and listen for yourselves.  Be forewarned, I think the YouTube clip is set to begin playing automatically. Continue reading »

WHAT DO THESE NAMES HAVE IN COMMON: BLACK DAHLIA MURDER, JOB FOR A COWBOY, BEHEMOTH, BARN BURNER, SISTER, FALCONER, GENTLEMANS PISTOLS

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  11 Responses »
May 112011
 

Give up? The answer is: They’re all bands who are signed to Metal Blade, they all have new releases on the horizon, and they all have new songs that Metal Blade has packaged together in a digital stream emanating from SoundCloud.

Here’s the line-up of music:

Black Dahlia Murder: “Moonlight Equilibirum” (album: Ritual)
Job For A Cowboy: “Misery Reformatory” (album: Gloom)
Behemoth: “Slaves Shall Serve” (album: Abyssus Abyssum Invocat)
Barn Burner: “Keg Stand and Deliver” (album: Bangers II: Scum of the Earth)
Sister: “Hated” (album: Hated)
Faloner: “Svarta Ankan” (album: Armod)
Gentlemans Pistols: “I Wouldn’t Let You” (album: At Her Majesty’s Pleasure)

All of these albums are scheduled for release on June 7, except the first and last ones, which will be released June 21.

There is good news and bad news here. The good news is that we can listen to these 7 songs right here, right now. The bad news is that these are the only songs from the albums that we’ll be able to hear, because the Rapture is coming on May 21.  (more after the jump . . . including breaking news about the end of the world) Continue reading »

BRUTALIZE ME! (NEW SLAMS FROM ABOMINABLE PUTRIDITY)

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  40 Responses »
May 102011
 

Fuck. We just made a u-turn on our musical road — right into the path of an 18-wheeler semi-truck going about 80 mph. Cruising along, listening again to that excellent From Exiles cover EP (see this post), and then we saw that Moscow’s Abominable Putridity put up two new tracks on YouTube yesterday. Paused the From Exile, punched “play” on the first AP track — and got flattened. Pancaked. Road kill. Now just a nasty smear of guts and mangled tissue on the pavement. Fuck.

Do you know Abominable Putridity? We first found out about them early last year when we did a feature on Cameron “Big Chocolate” Argon (Disfiguring the Goddess, etc.), who played some live shows with the band in Russia and recorded some vocals for them, too. Their debut album, In the End of Human Existence (2007), is a crushing behemoth of brutal death-metal loaded with Devourment-style slamming riffage. But, shit, that was roughly four years ago.

It appears the long wait for new Abominable Putridity is just about over. The band signed to the Brutal Bands label last year, and it appears recording and production work on the next album is done. It will be called The Anomalies of Artificial Origin. It will feature awesome album art by Par Olofsson (we did a screen-grab of one of those YouTube clips to feature at the top of this post and blew it up, but we really want to see a high-resolution image of this thing).

As for the vocals, we’ve been snooping around forums and message boards and found some comments from the band’s guitarist Sergey indicating that Matti Way (Cinerary, Liturgy, ex-Disgorge, ex-Pathology) has done the lead vocals for all the tracks, and that guest backing vocals have been provided on different songs by Angel Ochoa (Condemned, Cephalotripsy), Corey Athos (Deeds of Flesh, Flesh Consumed), and one other (so far unidentified).

As for the new songs, there are two of them, and they don’t mess around. Wantonly destructive fuckers, but with irresistible groove. Go past the jump and listen — that is, if you’re in the mood to be pummeled about the head and shoulders and left to bleed out. Continue reading »

MORE NEW SONGS: REVOCATION AND TOMBS

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  9 Responses »
May 092011
 

The next album from Boston’s Revocation has been on our get-without-fail list since about the beginning of the year. We now have a release date from Relapse Records — August 16 — and the pre-order packages are now up for sale.

We also now have the album title (Chaos of Forms) and the album cover, which is awesome. And last, but not least, only a few hours ago Revocation posted a track from the album (the first to see the light of day) called “Cradle Robber” on their Facebook band-page. It’s a helluva song. Once again, Revocation makes thrash come vibrantly alive — the music is not only fast and wild, but in both off-tempo and full-speed passages, David Davidson’s technical guitar pyrotechnics make your head spin. The drumming on this track is insane, too.

Now, flip your mind upside down for this next one.  New York’s Tombs also has a new album on the way, also on Relapse. Titled Path of Totality, it will land on June 7 in North America, and it’s another one we’ve been anticipating eagerly. Two songs from that album have already premiered — “Silent World”, which debuted on NPR, and “Vermillion”, which launched at BrooklynVegan.com. Today, a third one — “To Cross the Land” — premiered on Stereogum.com.  We’ve got more to say about those songs, plus the new Revocation track, after the jump. Continue reading »

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