SEEN AND HEARD: TENGGER CAVALRY, AETHERIAN, OUTER HEAVEN, DYPHTÊ, FRAMEWORK, DREAMSHIFT

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  3 Responses »
Oct 162017
 

 

You may have noticed that my posts have been scarce over the last few days — nothing at all over the weekend (Andy’s Best of British kept us from going dark altogether) and only one post on Friday and one on Thursday. The reason is that last Thursday my employer hosted its annual retreat, which was in Montana this year.

As usual, it has a very good time. But between the travel, the work-related meetings, the staying up late while getting hammered with co-workers, and the watching of some playoff baseball, NCS temporarily fell far down the ladder of my life. I wasn’t even been able to keep up with our e-mail traffic or my usual daily searching through statuses of friends, bands, and labels on Facebook.

Needless to say, I’m way behind. So what I’m doing here is collecting some music I actually had planned to post last Thursday, but ran out of time before leaving Seattle — though I have added two more songs I became aware of since then. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: HENRY KANE, APOTELESMA, PASSAGES

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  2 Responses »
Oct 102017
 

 

One of the daily risks of running a blog like this one, which is a part-time yet obsessive hobby rather than a full-time business, is that almost all plans are subject to derailment. The old fucking day job and other personal obligations spring surprises, and they usually take precedence. And so, although I had planned a much bigger round-up than this one, I’ve been diverted, and am now impulsively picking just these three new songs from that much bigger group.

I’m not even going to call this “Part 1”, which would imply I might have a Part 2 tomorrow. But who knows? We’ll just see how tonight and tomorrow go…

HENRY KANE

I hope you already recognize the name Henry Kane, but in case you don’t, it’s the name that the veteran Swedish vocalist and musician Jonny Pettersson borrowed from a character in the Poltergeist film series for his solo metal project — a project that lengthens a resume which already includes participation in Wombbath, Ursinne, Just Before Dawn, Vholdghast, Syn:drom, Ashcloud, and Skineater.

Through Henry Kane, he has put a unique spin on his beloved Swedish death metal in a debut album entitled Den Förstörda Människans Rike that was released earlier this year by Transcending Obscurity Records. And now we have a new Henry Kane track to enjoy from a forthcoming split. Continue reading »

SOL DE SANGRE AND DESPISING AGE

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  1 Response »
Oct 072017
 

 

I thought about not putting anything together for the site today, just taking a break and working on some round-ups and reviews I’ve planned for Sunday and Monday. After all, there have been some other Saturdays and Sundays over the last 8 years when we haven’t posted anything. Maybe 9 or 10, total. Still bugs me when that happens. So it won’t happen today after all.

But I am scaling back. I’ve picked just two songs to share. I noticed them for the first time this morning; things I found earlier in the week are part of the bigger round-ups mentioned above. These two helped get my sluggish morning blood get going when I heard them.

SOL DE SANGRE

I’ve rapidly become a fan of Sol De Sangre, even though I’ve now only heard two songs by them. The first one I wrote about here a month ago is a tribute to Altar of Madness-era Morbid Angel named “Más Abajo del Infierno” — which is now available on Bandcamp. The second one, “Muertos Con Ojos Estallados“, popped up on YouTube just yesterday, and is yet another summoning of the evil death metal these dudes grew up with. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: MORBID ANGEL, AUROCH, PAROXSIHZEM, SICARIUS, THE NEGATIVE BIAS, HÄIVE, THE KAHLESS CLONE, WITCHES MOON

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  7 Responses »
Oct 062017
 

 

The weekend is nearly upon us. And before we close the books on the work week and begin whatever we cook up for the site on Saturday and Sunday, I thought I’d collect a few recent and recently discovered items of interest — two items of news at the outset, and then five new songs. I should mention that we also have two more premieres coming today… don’t miss those!

MORBID ANGEL

Morbid Angel being the iconic band that they are, even their belching after a sumptuous meal would provoke strong and inconsistent reactions among a vast fan base. Just imagine the reactions to yesterday’s announcement of a new album, one whose name begins with a “K” and is framed by the cover art you see above.

I usually don’t read extended comment threads on the internet, unless they appear on this site, because it’s like walking at night through a park littered with dog turds where the owners didn’t have the common courtesy to put them in flaming bags. But I read a few yesterday on Morbid Angel’s announcement. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: ASEITAS, GHOLD, LUSTRE, NEKRASOV, DSKNT, HVILE I KAOS

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  1 Response »
Oct 042017
 

 

For various reasons I fell a couple of days behind in scouring the web and our in-box for new music that might be worth hearing. Last night I made an effort to catch up on what I’d missed the last two days. I created a list of links to the song streams that I found, which I thought would be worth checking out. There were more than 30 streams on my list by the time I stopped looking. That’s on top of the dozens that I haven’t yet heard from other recent lists.

This isn’t an uncommon experience. It’s for this very reason that posts like this one are tagged “Random Fucking Music” — because there’s just no methodical or thorough way to keep abreast of everything. And there’s an unavoidable element of randomness in deciding what to check out.

Last night I made my way through about 10 of the tracks on the list, and picked the ones you see here to recommend. That selection, however, isn’t random. I picked these streams because I thought they were very good, and to provide a bit of variety. (I’ve also included one news item near the middle.)

ASEITAS

If you’re not already sitting down you probably should before you listen to this first song, because it has the kind of pulverizing punch and drive that can make one wobbly in the knees. Continue reading »

A MOMENT OF SILENCE

 Mosh Pit, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  6 Responses »
Oct 032017
 

 

Anyone who pays any attention knows this:  Every day is filled with tragedy, somewhere. We go on here, as everyone else does, because what else are we to do?

I think at some genetically encoded level we know death as well as we know anything. We repress the experience, we fight it, but we know it in our marrow. And we go on with our lives anyway, even when death intrudes in some particularly horrific and incomprehensible way, because in an unthinking way we’re geared to survive.

Enjoyment of our survival is tinged with guilt on days like yesterday and today, as unreasoning as that is. Still, we forge on, because every living thing is driven to do so, even living things as self-destructive as we are, with our giant, toxic, and beautiful brains. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD ON A SATURDAY: RADIATION, REDENIK, LETHVM, DEADSMOKE, DEATHFUCKER, PEACE IS JUST A BREAK

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  No Responses »
Sep 302017
 

 

September ends today. If history is a useful guide, we’re only about six weeks away from the point at which year-end lists will begin appearing (DECIBEL’s is the first high-profile one that I usually see, in mid-November). And yet, while a lot of people will soon be looking backward, we still have a full three months of new metal ahead of us.

Fortunately, those of us here at NCS have undergone body modification so that we have eyes in the back of our heads as well as those gazing forward. Using the latter pair, I’ve spied four forthcoming releases from which I’ve selected song streams in this round-up. Using the backward-looking orbits, I’ve also chosen some music from a pair of other releases that have already come out, though very recently. I’ve arranged the music so that we’ll start fast, slow down, and then ramp up again.

RADIATION

Bratislava, Slovakia, is home to the death/thrash band Radiation, whose debut album The Gift of Doom will be released by Witches Brew on October 17. I would like to draw your attention to a pair of songs from the album now streaming on Bandcamp, “Praise the God of Nuclear Fusion”, and the title track. Continue reading »

SAR ISATUM: “SAR ISATUM”

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  No Responses »
Sep 292017
 

 

(Our ally Gorger from Norway, who usually brings us reviews of albums and EPs that have traveled beneath our radar, today brings us music from an album that hasn’t yet appeared. To find more of his discoveries, type “Gorger” in our search bar or visit Gorger’s Metal.)

The more shit you have to do, the more life will find its way of putting a spoke in your eye. Thus, I’m keeping this short. But enough about me.

When I was asked to cover a self-titled single from Colorado based Sar Isatum, I realized it was outside my self-limiting borders of only covering what I deem as actual releases. I see this as more of a preview of something that looms on the horizon, but such a great one that I decided to share it on a more fitting platform. Namely No Clean Singing. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: CRYPTIC FOG, RITUAL NECROMANCY, FRONTIERER, KAVYK, DOGZILLA

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  2 Responses »
Sep 252017
 

 

I realize this is the third day in a row when I’ve compiled a round-up of new music. Some of you who don’t check in with us over the weekends are going to find a truckload of new tracks that have appeared since the end of the day Friday. Moderation, however, has never been our thing. I guess you could say we’re extreme in more ways than the music we tend to prefer.

It also gives me ghoulish pleasure to say that we’re not pausing after this: Three track premieres will be following this round-up today. And  there will be another round-up tomorrow (which will be my effort to complete the SHADES OF BLACK collection that I began yesterday but couldn’t finish due to a vicious hangover).

CRYPTIC FOG

To begin, I have a nearly 12-minute song from the debut album of Cryptic Fog, which at the time of this recording was a two-man operation consisting of guitarist/bassist Dave Bennett and drummer/vocalist Dan Klein. The name of the album is Staring Through the Veil, and the Swedish label Blood Harvest will release it on October 27. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD ON A SATURDAY: CALQUES, DEVILSPEAK, INFERNAL BLAST, LOBOTOMY DEPARTMENT, SHROUD RITUAL, VAULTWRAITH, WHEELFALL

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  4 Responses »
Sep 232017
 

 

I wrestled with myself over how to arrange the songs I’ve chosen for this Saturday round-up, trying to figure out the best flow from one track or video to another. No two of them are in the exact same genre space (although three of them do incorporate elements of industrial metal), and that complicated the endeavor. Eventually I gave up and arranged them in alphabetical order by band name.

This is one of those times when every band whose music is represented here was a new name to me when I checked out the songs. But it’s all good shit.

CALQUES

Our president was in Huntsville, Alabama last night, congratulating himself and riling up a crowd of people who don’t seem to realize he’s done nothing for them, calling black NFL protesters sons of bitches, basking in the glow of “lock her up” chants, continuing to brand Russian election interference a “hoax”, and promising to “handle” the “Little Rocket Man” in North Korea (the master plan apparently consists of name-calling). The crowd ate it up.

The two members of Calques live about three hours away in Montgomery, Alabama, but I’m guessing they didn’t make the drive for that rally. “All you get from Calques,” according to the Sentient Ruin label, “is the misery and oppression, the shortcomings, the failures, the ugliness, and the unappealing blight of the southern reality vomited on you through a swarm of shattered glass, mangled nerves, and razor wire.” Continue reading »

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