NEW MUSIC FROM ARKHON INFAUSTUS, MONOLITHE, SPECTRALE, AND HEIR

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  7 Responses »
Jun 092017
 

 

Yesterday, in a single release, Les Acteurs de l’ombre Productions premiered enough new music from stylistically significant bands to populate an entire SEEN AND HEARD post here, in addition to furnishing many other previously released songs that are well worth hearing and re-hearing.

I spotted this compilation not through the push of press promotion, but because many of my musician friends and other appreciators of extreme music spattered my Facebook feed with notices about it. So glad they did.

And because the stream is on Soundcloud and Bandcamp, I’m installing it below. And there you will hear brand new songs by Arkhon Infaustus, Monolithe, Spectrale, and Heir — about which I’ll offer some unrequested impressions — plus other excellent songs from previously released albums by Au-Dessus, Time Lurker, Pénitence Onirique, Maïeutiste, and Pensées Nocturnes. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: INCANTATION, PARADISE LOST, DESOLATE SHRINE, SCHAMMASCH, KHOST, ONE MASTER, KZOHH, PÁRODOS, SUBLIME CADAVERIC DECOMPOSITION, ORANSSI PAZUZU

 Eye-Catchers, Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  6 Responses »
Jun 082017
 

 

Not for the first time, I had a discussion with a few of my NCS comrades at Maryland Deathfest about how much stuff I post most days. I think their feeling was that 4 posts a day at NCS should be considered adequate, and that more tends to result in reader/listener overload. While I think this is good advice for my exercise of editorial discretion, and undoubtedly would help relieve the frenzied stress levels of my daily existence, the sad fact is that I… just… can’t… fucking… help myself! I see or hear something that gets me excited, and I feel an apparently irresistible compulsion to share it.

And so, while today I’ve already posted an album review and plan to post three premieres (one of which is a full album, accompanied by a review), I also decided to compile this round-up. On the bright side, two of the following 10 items(!) only consist of artwork and news — and I could have made this soooo much longer, but I’m saving some new discoveries for this weekend.

INCANTATION

I was gob-smacked the first time I saw Eliran Kantor’s artwork for the cover of Incantation’s new album. Even now, seeing the piece with the band’s name and the album title on it, my gob is still smacked. The first single from the album has also proven to be a gob-smacker. But before we get to that, here’s Eliran Kantor’s explanation about the inspiration for his painting on the cover of Profane Existence: Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD ON A SUNDAY: SÓLSTAFIR, DEATH FORTRESS, MALEFIC LEVITATION, DEATH OF KINGS, CANVAS BLACK, BRIQUEVILLE, VLK, RECTAL HYGIENICS

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  2 Responses »
Jun 042017
 

 

More than a week has passed since the last time I compiled a round-up of new music for our site, the delay mainly caused by my MDF trip to Baltimore. As I look at the over-stuffed schedule of premieres lined up for the coming week, it may be another week before I can do another one.

Needless to say, I have a dramatically large list of new and newly discovered music from which to make selections. There’s not much rhyme or reason to my choices for this round-up, except of course that I like all of them — and hope you will too.

SÓLSTAFIR

I’ve been a devoted fan of Sólstafir for many years, staying with them as their music has evolved and their fame has grown. Yet we’ve written very little about the band’s new album Berdreyminn. I suspect one reason is that when most of us here decide what to write about, we tend to favor bands who could use a little extra support rather than those who are already getting voluminous amounts of attention from sites with a far broader reach than ours. And Sólstafir are certainly in that category now. Continue reading »

SEEN BUT (MOSTLY) NOT HEARD: TAU CROSS, GOATWHORE, OF WOLVES, F41.0, URN, ROTTEN SOUND, COSMIC REEF TEMPLE, SOLAR TEMPLE

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  2 Responses »
May 242017
 


Tau Cross

 

As I begin typing these words I’m on an airplane just entering the air space of Michigan, and if all goes well will be landing in Baltimore in 1 hour and 52 minutes. Maryland Deathfest awaits.

I spent the first part of the flight scrolling through the NCS in-box, adding to my very long list of music to check out. As you know, that’s a ridiculously long list. I don’t expect to get much blogging done while MDF is in progress, so I impulsively decided to write this thing.

Since the wi-fi on this jet isn’t good enough to permit streaming, I haven’t heard most of what I’m putting in this post, nearly all of which I found during that e-mail reconnaissance. I encourage you to leave a comment with reactions, since I have almost none (so far). Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK: THY DARKENED SHADE, CHAOS INVOCATION, RIMRUNA, AGONIA BLACK VOMIT, DAEMONIAN, 1914

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC, SHADES OF BLACK  2 Responses »
May 212017
 

 

I’m still with family in my old hometown of Austin, Texas, enjoying yet another mini-vacation. Like yesterday, I did have a little time this morning to do some listening, but not enough time to do much writing.

So, as was true of yesterday’s OVERFLOWING STREAMS post, I’m once again recommending the following song streams but including only some basic info about the music. The difference is that almost everything you’ll find below comes from the realms of black metal. Continue reading »

OVERFLOWING STREAMS (SATURDAY): VALLENFYRE, DECREPIT BIRTH, FATHER BEFOULED, IMPETUOUS RITUAL, DYING FETUS, WRECHE, THE FATHER OF SERPENTS, RED FANG

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  10 Responses »
May 202017
 


Vallenfyre

 

I’m in Austin, Texas, this weekend. I didn’t think I would have time to do any NCS stuff, but did find myself with some time this morning — though not enough time to do much writing. What I’ve done instead is just collect a bunch of new song streams and videos and some basic info about each one.

I might be able to do the same thing tomorrow, but probably not more than that. Hope you find some things to like in the following eclectic collection. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE: DØDSENGEL — “INTEREQUINOX”

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  7 Responses »
May 192017
 

 

The brutish compulsions and unforced vices of daily life pour us like hot clay into forms. We move and solidify into shapes, and twist into shadows. Never quite as solid as stones, but at risk of freezing in our steps. The poison of implacable cell death leeches us from our first breaths, but provides a bargain — there is glory to be found in those breaths, if we can only find it before it is too late.

All of this doom, and all of this potential for exultation… art has ever sought to capture the experience. Probably, the intensity of our creeping and bounding on the edge of the precipice can’t really be captured by art, but Dødsengel come very close. Perilously close. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD (PART 2): INTEGRITY, KOLLAPSE, NECROHERESY, BARBARIAN, PORTRAYAL OF GUILT

 Album Reviews, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  3 Responses »
May 182017
 

 

Part 1 of this late-week round-up can be found here. I’m still not finished throwing recommendations your way, but Part 3 will have to wait until tomorrow. They’re closing the door on my airplane now.

INTEGRITY

Yesterday Integrity released an official video for “I Am The Spell“, a track off their new (12th) album Howling, For The Nightmare Shall Consume, which is described as “a conceptual foretelling of the final days of Armageddon”. It will be released by Relapse on July 14th. The lyrics tell you a lot about the sound of this new track: Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD (PART 1): PYRRHON, DER WEG EINER FREIHEIT, PERSECUTORY

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  3 Responses »
May 182017
 

 

I don’t know how far I’ll get with this project. I have a lot of music I want to share today, but I’m also boarding a plane for central Texas in a couple of hours. I’ve got two more parts of this round-up partially written, but still want to re-listen to the songs I’ve chosen before spilling out my impressions in print. I either will or won’t finish before I have to board, when streaming the music will become technologically  impossible.

As a last resort, I might just have to throw the remaining streams at you without my own words of wisdom. What a cruel twist of fate that would be. More likely, the series will just spill over into tomorrow.

PYRRHON

What Passes For Survival is the new album by New York’s Pyrrhon. Given this band’s track record, it will be a must-listen release, simply to discover what kind of twisting terrors their imaginations have conceived this time around. But we do now have a clue. Continue reading »

BYZANTINE: “NEW WAYS TO BEAR WITNESS”

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  2 Responses »
May 172017
 

 

I’m going to make this short and sweet. West Virginia’s Byzantine have just released a new video for a new song off their new album, The Cicada Tree, which will be released through Metal Blade on July 28th. We’ve been long-time fans of Byzantine at this putrid site, and have had high hopes for this new album. Based on this song, it sounds like those hopes will be fulfilled.

“New Ways To Bear Witness” is, among other things, catchy as hell. And those other things include the fact that it’s a primal, high-energy, thundering, grooving, thrashing, ass-kicker of a heavy metal song. Main man Chris “OJ” Ojeda is in fine voice, both when he’s putting the grit into the sound and when he sends his voice soaring, and the song also includes some memorable soloing, plus a dramatic melody that suits the serious-minded lyrics. Continue reading »

 Older Entries  Newer Entries