Album Reviews Archives - Page 145 of 557

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): THRASHERA — “BASTARDOS DA NOITE”

Jul 192022

Much has been written about the history of thrash metal, and in those annals you’ll discover how it evolved from both the stripped-down rebelliousness of punk and the influences of earlier “classic” heavy metal, adding more speed, more aggression, and an even more defiantly confrontational attitude to the music. One thing that sometimes gets lost, especially in how the genre has evolved, is that some of the earlier practitioners made the music also sound downright evil.

The Brazilian band Thrashera haven’t forgotten that. It may have something to do with the fact that their own homeland spawned such bands as Sepultura, Dorsal, Atlântica, Chakal, and Vulcano, not to mention Sarcófago. But whatever the reason, these dudes revel in the “golden age” of thrash, when it was taking shape as a world-eating but still deeply underground and confrontational force.

Their roots are plain for all to hear, but they’re so damned good at what they do that the music sounds explosively alive — and yes indeed, downright evil — rather than generic and worn out. You’ll believe this for yourselves when you hear their new album Bastardos da Noite, which we’re streaming in full today in advance of the record’s imminent July 20 release by Helldprod Records. Continue reading »

ANTIGAMA: “WHITEOUT”

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Jul 192022

(Here’s DGR‘s review of a new album by the Polish band Antigama. It was released a few days ago by Selfmadegod Records.)

When discussing Poland’s Antigama one of the chief genre-descriptors applied to the band is grindcore. Antigama‘s songwriting style, ethos, and general blast-fueled approach are fully within that world, but beyond that people get more abstract because the term grind doesn’t fully fit them as well as it should.

There’s more to Antigama than that, and it’s where you’ll often see ideas like “futuristic” and “cybergrind” thrown around, due in large part to Antigama‘s chaotic musical nature. At first pass through any Antigama release it does sound like the group are caught in the midst of an instrumental hurricane, and it’s only afterward when you realize that much of what the band are doing is calculated and controlled.

Not only that, but it also sounds much clearer than most other bands in their genre-sphere. There’s a sharp and angular technicality to Antigama‘s style that is hard to replicate with a production style so clear that it’s scientifically sterile. Whereas many bands bury themselves in reverb, distortion and general noise, everything Antigama have done has been to justify all of that being there – not just something to add to the general atmosphere. Which is why the group’s newest release Whiteout – abstracted artwork and all – is exciting, because even though it’s been five years since the group’s last EP and seven since the last full-length, it is made very clear early on that the group still have complete control of the chaotic maelstrom of sound within. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): BATTLEGRAVE — “CAVERNOUS DEPTHS”

Album Reviews, Premieres 1 Response »

Jul 182022

The Australian duo Battlegrave chose a suggestive name for themselves, one that evokes both warlike savagery and visions of death and all its horrors. Further clues to their music (or at least some aspects of it) are evident in the remarkable hand-painted cover art by Shaun Farrugia for their sophomore album Cavernous Depths. It’s subterranean and supernatural, and has the hallmarks of an instant classic.

But of course these are all merely hints. Of course, other hints are to be found in the band’s previous releases, the 2017 EP To Hell With War and their first album, 2018’s Relics of a Dead Earth, but don’t put too much stock in those hints, because Battlegrave‘s music has evolved from then until now, morphing (as the band themselves have observed) “from more of a Crossover Thrash project to a Thrash/Death project, and now closer to straight-up modern Death Metal”.

One thing hasn’t changed, and you’ll figure it out damned fast when you listen to the new album today in advance of its July 22 release by Bitter Loss Records, and that’s the speed and ferocity of Battlegrave‘s attack. Continue reading »

IMPERIAL TRIUMPHANT – SPIRIT OF ECSTASY

Album Reviews 1 Response »

Jul 182022

(Andy Synn says… grab your laudanum and snuff, it’s time for some glorious musical depravity)

All that glitters is not golden… or so they say. And Imperial Triumphant have spent the last several years peeling back the gilded veneer of New York city to reveal the rotten apple beneath.

Along the way they’ve continued to push the boundaries of Black Metal – both sonically and structurally – to the point where it’s debatable if the term even applies to their music any more.

Of course, the issue with constantly pushing boundaries like this is that you rarely have time to stop and take stock of who and where you are, with the result being that the idea of external progress often trumps the possibility of internal growth.

Which brings us to Spirit of Ecstasy, an album which – unexpectedly – finds Imperial Triumphant looking more inwards than forwards, seemingly more at home, more at ease, more comfortable, in their own shining skin then ever before.

But “comfortable” doesn’t mean “complacent” by any means. Because a band with nothing left to prove is also a band with nothing left to lose…

SHADES OF BLACK: SCARCITY, RAAT, STEINGRAB, LYCOPOLIS, NOCTU, MANTAR

Album Reviews, SHADES OF BLACK 1 Response »

Jul 172022

As you could already deduce from the previous two posts at this site, in recent days I found more than the usual amount of time I could devote to new music. My day job left me alone, or I ignored it, and I shrugged off household chores too. Baseball presented the only serious competition, because a certain team in the Pacific Northwest is on a historic winning streak (and I hope I didn’t just jinx them by mentioning that).

Focusing on black metal for purposes of this column, I settled on one dazzling album, a collection of quite varied “singles” from forthcoming records, and a new video. You’ll also find poetry.

SCARCITY (U.S.)

Scarcity‘s new album Aveilut (a Hebrew word for mourning) is difficult to describe. In part because it’s a single 45-minute composition, and in part because the trip maneuvers and whipsaws us through a spectacular labyrinth, it defies efforts to explain that “this happens, and then that happens, and then this other thing happens”. How tedious that would be, despite the hope that mapping the album would make it easier to comprehend.

Trying to pick out signal moments as illustrations of the music wouldn’t work very well either, because there are so many, and because they dramatically diverge from each other. Continue reading »

WORMROT: “HISS”

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Jul 152022

(We present Wil Cifer‘s review of the new album by Singaporean grinders Wormrot, which was released by Earache Records on July 8th.)

Grindcore in and of itself is not typically my thing. There are bands like Portrayal of Guilt and Nails that I am a fan of who started as grindcore and evolved past the temper tantrums of their youth to find themselves in a dark space in life that they lashed out at with their instruments in a more variable sonic manner. As for Wormrot, I have heard their previous work, which proves them as being one of the most polished acts in the genre.

My ears have to warm up to what they do on the new album, as the first song and the second song run together before these sounds begin to catch my ears, like the briefly sung vocals on “Broken Maze”. This album finds them embracing a wider range of vocal styles. This is one of the album’s strengths; though this is bittersweet, due to the fact the singer parted ways with the band after this was recorded. Rather than a swan song it feels like they are coming into their own as songwriters here, even if the songs are only a minute long. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): CRESTFALLEN DUSK — “CRESTFALLEN DUSK”

Album Reviews, Premieres 1 Response »

Jul 142022

Great volumes of music flow through the back of this portal every year, and smaller but still significant volumes flow through the front of it in our daily recommendations for those who visit the site. The range of genres is broad, reflecting the divergent tastes of those who write here. In combination, our recommendations could be considered head-spinning both in their number and in their diversity. Yet despite that, some bands still stand out like beacons on a nightside hill.

In my case, one of those bands that continually drops my jaw like few others is the Tennessee group Primeval Well, whose fascinating amalgams of black metal and old country/folk music is unlike anything else out there. In reviewing the two Primeval Well albums released to date, I’ve spilled torrents of enthusiastic words about their music in an ongoing struggle to explain what it does and how it makes me feel.

And so when I learned that Primeval Well ‘s vocalist/guitarist Ryan Clackner (also in Vile Haint, Stump Tail, and Spintria) had embarked on a new project, I couldn’t wait to hear the music. He named that new project Crestfallen Dusk, and its debut album shares the name. I wondered how it might compare to Primeval Well, because it was logical to assume there must be some difference, else why begin a new project?

The complete answer comes today, because today we’re sharing a full stream of all six tracks in advance of its July 22 release by Moonlight Cypress Archetypes and Folkvangr Records.

WAKE – THOUGHT FORM DESCENT

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Jul 142022

(Andy Synn reviews Thought Form Descent, the upcoming sixth album from Canada’s Wake)

They say that the only constant in life is change – and Wake‘s discography is a prime example of this.

Casting an eye/ear over their back-catalogue you can observe their sound evolving, little by little, with each and every release, but 2020’s Devouring Ruin was such a quantum-leap that I think even the band themselves must have been surprised by what they had created.

Perhaps that’s why their new album, Thought Form Descent (scheduled for release next Friday) feels more reflective – though still blisteringly intense – than anything they’ve ever done before… because they’ve finally taken the time to take stock of who they are, where they’ve come from, and what they might become.

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): CRITICAL DEFIANCE — “NO LIFE FORMS”

Album Reviews, Premieres 6 Responses »

Jul 132022

A bit more than three years ago the Chilean thrash band Critical Defiance released their debut album Misconception through Unspeakable Axe Records. It was reviewed here by TheMadIsraeli. You won’t find many people more devoted to thrash than him, or more knowledgeable about the genre, its history, and its evolution. And so his abundant enthusiasm for Misconception carried a lot of weight among those of us who knew him.

Among other things, he wrote: “These guys are very old-school-minded, but they aren’t trying to imitate the sound — they embody it, seeking to break their way into the public consciousness by approaching from a different front of channeling the heights of thrash based on technical endurance. I’m talking bands like Dark Angel, Coroner, Watchtower, old Kreator, Forbidden. Not many bands attempt this school of thrash metal if they’re into visiting old school sounds because I think it’s difficult to write thrash like this without sounding needlessly excessive. Thankfully, Critical Defiance never fall into this trap….”

Now these prodigiously talented Chileans are returning with a sophomore album named No Life Forms, set for release by the same Unspeakable Axe Records on July 18th. Did they fall into a sophomore funk, or did they hit the heights again, or maybe even soar higher? You can guess our answer, given that we’ve agreed to premiere the full album stream today. Continue reading »

SAKIS TOLIS: “AMONG THE FIRES OF HELL”

Album Reviews 2 Responses »

Jul 132022

(We present DGR‘s review of the first solo album by Sakis Tolis from Rotting Christ, which was released this past spring.)

Sakis Tolis is one of the more prolific music creators out there. The Rotting Christ name remains relevant in press cycles because the band always seem to have some sort of new song or project going on, and considering that the main two behind Rotting Christ are the Tolis-crew it wouldn’t be hard to say that a lot of that is because the band is a creative avenue for him. It hasn’t even been too much of a stretch for the lines to blur between the projects Sakis has been involved in, such that Rotting Christ have been known to break out a cover or two of songs by Thou Art Lord over the years.

This is the reason the March release of Sakis Tolis‘ solo album Among The Fires Of Hell so interesting, since the body of work that he’s responsible for is so vast already. Within seconds of starting up the album – if you weren’t aware already – it becomes clear who has been mostly responsible for a lot of the writing within Rotting Christ over the years. Among The Fires Of Hell is surprising even, because it creates a weird situation where the question that winds up being asked is that, for a musician with as vast a body of work as his, is there really so much left to say that it requires a full solo release? Continue reading »

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