PRIMORDIAL: BLOODIED YET UNBOWED

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  8 Responses »
Mar 082011
 

In recent weeks we’ve written about two up-and-coming Irish black-metal bands — Wound Upon Wound and Eternal Helcaraxe. But today we have the pleasure of providing for your aural delectation a new track from Primordial — arguably Ireland’s finest black/folk band. The song is called “Bloodied Yet Unbowed”. It’s from their new album Redemption At the Puritan’s Hand, which is scheduled for release on April 26 by Metal Blade. It will be the band’s first album in four years.

Here’s what Primordial’s vocalist Alan “Nemtheanga” Averill has said about the album:

“Expectations, my friends, expectations! Yes, it contains rabble-rousers and hooks and choruses, memorable themes and dynamics but also it has darkness in spades. It has grit, filth and foreboding. Dark sweeping tragedy as always mixed with blood stirring defiance!

“The recording, of course, was booked during what has turned out to be one of the worst winters in living memory in Europe. Leaving Ireland at -15 to travel to a -20 Wales, trudging through feet of snow, slipping on black ice and basically having our bollix frozen off for three weeks left me thinking next time I’m going to record in the Bahamas and fake all this grimness. For good measure, I got what looking back must have been swine flu recording the vocals. In fact, some I can’t remember recording, I was so out of my head on painkillers and energy drinks. Suffering for your art is overrated, believe me.”

That may be so, but if suffering is what it takes to create a song like “Bloodied Yet Unbowed”, then more bands must suffer. (more after the jump . . . including a link to the song) Continue reading »

THE AMENTA: V01D

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  59 Responses »
Mar 082011
 

As a general proposition, I can only take industrial metal in small doses, but The Amenta‘s 2008 album n0n was such an extreme, brutal piece of mindfuckery that I couldn’t resist it, and still can’t. The band took elements of black metal and death metal and stewed it in a smoking vat of industrial rhythms and synthesized noise. The result was something cold, vicious, disgusting, nihilistic, raging, hate-fueled — and yet often as catchy as ebola in its rhythmic hooks and small infusions of melody.

Today, The Amenta have returned with an unusual “multi-media release” called V01D. There’s an audio component and a video component. The audio is a 16-track album mastered by Alan Douches consisting of one new song (the title track); six new “electronic experiments”; re-recorded versions of five songs from n0n and the band’s previous album Occasus (2004); and re-mix versions of four of those five previously released songs.

The video component includes professionally filmed and recorded clips of the band performing four songs live in Sydney, Australia, plus one music video for the song “Vermin”.

All of this — the 16-track album and the five videos — have been released as of today, and what’s even more unusual is that despite the obvious effort that went into creating this, The Amenta are making all of it available for free download at www.theamenta.com. In the band’s words, this is their “response to download culture” — which I guess is a way of saying, “our shit will be up on the web in no time anyway, so what the fuck?”

After the jump, we’ve got the disturbing music video for “Vermin” and the new song, which is a surprise, but a very fine one. Continue reading »

STILL MORE DIVERSIONARY TACTICS: FLESHGOD APOCALYPSE, EASTERN FRONT, AND TAAKE

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  8 Responses »
Mar 062011
 

We seem to be stuck on triads. On each of the last two days, we featured the music of three bands. This being the third day, it appealed to our rudimentary desire for symmetry to feature three more. A triad of triads. Today, we’ve got a fairly new video of Fleshgod Apocalypse (Italy), a song from the recent U.S. label debut of Eastern Front (UK), and a not-new video of a not-new song from a not-new band — but one we finally decided to check out — Taake (Norway). Let’s get right to it:

FLESHGOD APOCALYPSE

Don’t know how I missed this.  On February 21, a video appeared on YouTube of Fleshgod Apocalypse performing live at The Bonecrusher Fest 2011 in Utrecht, Holland, the night before. If there were such a thing as an official NCS “mascot”, this band would be it. We’ve probably dropped their names in posts and comments more than any other band.

We fantasize about offering them vast sums of money to come live in Seattle and be our official house band, y’know, after one of those stupendous offers of cash from Nigeria or Ghana or Mali or Hong Kong materializes — which we know will happen if we’re patient and continue to lead a clean, godly life and do good works for those less fortunate than ourselves. Can I get a big “Amen!”?

No, no, no, I did not ask for a big “Hail Satan!” Let’s try that again:  Can I get a big “Amen!”?

Well, I can tell that ain’t gonna fuckin work with this crowd, so let’s just go back to FA.  (after the jump . . .) Continue reading »

MORE DIVERSIONARY TACTICS: NEW MUSIC FROM TARDIVE DYSKINESIA, AGORAPHOBIC NOSEBLEED, AND CARCERI

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC, SHORT BUT SWEET  10 Responses »
Mar 052011
 

So, yesterday we threw together a hodge-podge of new music and videos that proved very diverting to us, and maybe to you, too. And then, in an awesome display of synchronicity — or serendipity, or kismet, or some other word that’s supposed to signify things that are coincidental but maybe were meant to happen — more new music appeared on our NCS radar screen, as if sent from an all-knowing über-mind that tracks and understands the strange and twisted paths of our neural connectivity.

Here’s how this happened. One of the bands we included in yesterday’s post was Outcast, from France, and their new song “Elements”. The music put us in mind of some other bands, one of which (as we said) was Tardive Dyskinesia — a Greek band whose music we’ve been hooked on for a while. And then the next thing we knew, we got an e-mail from none other than Tardive Dyskinesia giving us (and everyone else in the world) an entire live album to download for nothing, nada, bupkis.  Fuck.

And that was just the start. We then got another e-mail telling us that one of our grindcore gods, Agoraphobic Nosebleed, had put up two new songs from a split they’ve done with a band called Despise You. Fuck.

And then we got another e-mail from Misha, the vocalist/guitarist for Akelei (a Dutch band whose very impressive 2010 debut album we reviewed here) asking us to check out Carceri, a death-metal band in which Misha’s brother Josha is the drummer, and in which Misha also used to play. In his e-mail, he used words like “fast”, “brutal”, “technical”, and made reference to “twisted lyrics”. Fuck. That pushed all the right buttons for me. And there you have the story of how today’s post took shape.  (more after the jump . . .) Continue reading »

DIVERSIONARY TACTICS: NEW MUSIC FROM PESTILENCE AND OUTCAST, AND A NEW MASTODON VIDEO

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  21 Responses »
Mar 042011
 

Are you in the mood for a diversion from whatever else you’re doing or were about to do? Good!  Because we thought we’d share some new music that we heard in the last 24 hours from Pestilence and Outcast, plus a new video clip of Mastodon playing “Crack the Skye”, which will appear on their forthcoming DVD. It’s all ridiculously good. Why else would we want to share? Get ready to be . . . diverted.

PESTILENCE

Dutch death metal band Pestilence has been cranking out skull-crushers since 1986 — not counting that extended hiatus between 1994 and 2008.  The band count among their alumni the likes of Tony Choy (Atheist, Cynic) and Martin Van Drunen (Hail of Bullets, Asphyx). Their current line-up is also loaded with talent, including fretless bassist Jeroen Paul Thesseling (Obscura) and original or near-original members Patrick Mameli (vox/guitar) and Patrick Uterwijk (guitar).

They’ve got a new album due in late April on Mascot Records called Doctrine, and it’s been on our “highly anticipated” list. Two days ago, Pestilence made the seventh track from the album available for streaming, and we’ve got it here. It’s called, appropriately enough, “Sinister”.

It combines enormous pile-driving riffs with near-experimental, prog-sounding guitar leads/solos, and pummeling double-bass. It’s a head-smasher of a song, but it also engages the non-reptile part of the brain (ie, the part you sometimes think with). For some of you, the throaty vocals may take some getting used to, but trust me, this is a cool song. It’s coming your way right after the jump . . . Continue reading »

HOLY FUCK: NEW XERATH

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  28 Responses »
Mar 012011
 

Xerath is one of our favorite UK metal bands. Their 2009 release was called “I” (that’s a Roman numeral one). We liked that album so much that we’ve written about Xerath here, here, and here in the past. If you haven’t listened to Xerath before, here’s their own description of what they do (which is pretty accurate): “Xerath is a modern cutting-edge orchestral metal band – combining crushing metal riffs and grooves with cinematic symphonic arrangements.” For short, they call the sound “orchestral groove metal” or “chug-score”.

Think of an amalgamation of Strapping Young Lad, Meshuggah, and Dimmu Borgir. Think of the kind of syncopated guitar rhythms that make djent fanboys slobber combined with meaty melodeath riffs and epic keyboards.

Xerath has finished work on a new album, entitled “II”. It’s due for release by Candlelight Records on May 3. And the reason for this post is that yesterday Xerath made the first track from that album available for streaming, plus they revealed the cover art for the album, which is an eye-catcher. We’ve got the song and the artwork after the jump . . . Continue reading »

TECH YOURSELF TO DEATH: NEW MUSIC FROM OBSCURA, GORGUTS, AND BTBAM

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  15 Responses »
Feb 262011
 

This will be quick, because I hadn’t planned on any posts today besides the earlier THAT’S METAL! nonsense, but what I’ve found this morning is just too much awesomeness not to share with you: brand new songs from Obscura, Gorguts, and Between the Buried and Me.

OBSCURA

This band have a new album called Omnivium due for a March 29 North American release on Relapse Records.  In mid-January, we featured the first song from the album, called “Septuagint”. Now, the band have released a second song, called “Vortex Omnivium”, which you can stream after the jump. As you listen, you can also gaze upon the wonderful album art above, executed by Orion Landau (who has also created art for the likes of Origin, Dying Fetus, and Disfear).

Obscura, if you don’t know, is a German progressive death metal band from Germany composed of guitarist/vocalist Steffen Kummerer (Thulcandra), guitarist Christian Müenzner (ex-Necrophagist), fretless bassist Jeroen Paul Thesseling (Pestilence), and drummer Hannes Grossmann (Blotted Science, ex-Necrophagist). All of these dudes are exceptional musicians — very fast, hyper-technical, jaw-droppingly good. As their last album (2009’s Cosmogenesis) abundantly demonstrated, they can also write songs that are as catchy as they are technically challenging.

For purposes of this post, it’s also fitting to note that the band took their name from a 1998 Gorguts album called Obscura. Listen to the new song right after the jump. Continue reading »

NEW SOILWORK VIDEO; SHOULD HAVE GONE WITH MY FIRST IMPULSE

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  12 Responses »
Feb 242011
 

Do you remember that not long ago we compiled an NCS list of THE MOST INFECTIOUS EXTREME METAL SONGS OF 2010? Well, some of you do. Others are newcomers and still others have recently destroyed the brain cells that were responsible for remembering that list.

On that list, we included a Soilwork song, “Epitome”, from their Panic Broadcast album. I really wrestled with that one, because I thought there were three songs on the album that were viable candidates. The first time I thought about it, my choice was “Let This River Flow”. And then I changed my mind, partly because many of you let it be known, through comments and otherwise, how much you liked “Epitome”.

“Epitome” is a very infectious song, and a good song, too. But I’ve still got a soft spot in my heart, or in some other organ that functions when I feel heartless, for “Let This River Flow”. So, imagine my excitement in seeing, just minutes ago, that Soilwork has released an official video for that song. I so excite that I gotta put it up here on our web site — especially because it’s my favorite kind of metal video. (go watch it after the jump . . .) Continue reading »

UPDATES: THE HAUNTED AND ULVER

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  23 Responses »
Feb 242011
 

We’ve got a couple of quick updates for you about bands we like (used to like?), one of which we’ve been writing about recently — The Haunted and Ulver. The cause for the updates? Both bands have recently made brand new songs available for streaming; in The Haunted’s case, it’s the third song to be released from their forthcoming album.

The verdict? Well, there’s good news and bad news.

THE HAUNTED

Previously, we’ve featured the first two songs from The Haunted’s new album, due for release next month: “No Ghost” and, as recently as yesterday, “Disappear”. Today, the band put up the new album’s title track, “Unseen”, for streaming on their Facebook page.

The good news is that if you like Chevelle-style hard rock with metal riffs and clean singing, you will like the new song. It’s probably better than whatever is topping the hard rock charts these days, but honestly, I wouldn’t know because I don’t get near that kind of music any more.  The bad news? (more after the jump, including Ulver’s new track . . .) Continue reading »

NEW SONG FROM THE HAUNTED

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  16 Responses »
Feb 222011
 

Sweden’s The Haunted have a new album — Unseen — scheduled for release by Century Media next month. In late January, we featured a new song called “No Ghost” from the album that the band performed live on Swedish TV, and then added to that videos of other songs from the band’s diverse history of music (here).

Last night The Haunted premiered yet another new song from Unseen on a BBC radio program, which allegedly will be streaming on the BBC site for the next six days (though we couldn’t find a live streaming link). But we’ve also got a YouTube clip of the song, as ripped from the radio show, for you to hear.

The album art for Unseen has also become available since our last post, which you can see above. It’s by a friend of the band named Frode, who also did the art for the band’s rEVOLVEr album (2004). We’re not sure what the butterfly-wings-plus-grasping-hand imagery means, but we like the color scheme, especially because it resembles our own.

As for the song, it doesn’t sound anything like “No Ghost” — but as we said in the earlier post, you never really know what you’re going to get from this band. This one is pretty straight-up hard rock. It’s got a heavy undercarriage with some nice lead guitar phrases and a compulsive rhythm section, but there’s nothing but clean singing.  Sigh.  Listen after the jump . . . Continue reading »

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