AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): STARGAZER – “PSYCHIC SECRETIONS”

 Album Reviews, Premieres  1 Response »
Jan 282021
 

 

(On February 1st Nuclear War Now! Productions will release the fourth full-length by the Australian genre-splicing band StarGazer, and today we premiere a full stream along with a review by Andy Synn.)

Australian alchemists StarGazer have always been a hard band to properly pin down.

Ask ten different people to describe them and you’re likely to receive ten different answers.

They’re a Black Metal band. Or a Thrash band. Or a Death Metal band. And what that play is either Progressive Black Metal, Blackened Thrash, or Technical Death Metal… or some uniquely unorthodox hybrid of all three.

Or maybe they’re something else entirely.

Long story short, no-one seems to be able to agree, and the various permutations of style and genre which people ascribe to the band are now almost as innumerable as the stars themselves.

And now, with the release of their long-awaited fourth album (which we’re premiering here today) it’s time for that debate to begin anew. Continue reading »

AN NCS EP PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): GRAVEDÄNCER — “RIPPING METAL”

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Jan 272021
 

 

As much as many of us enjoy the realms of the avant garde within the world of metal, no dyed-in-the-wool metalhead would ever deny the continuing appeal of the Old Guard, or the visceral thrills that can be generated by newer bands who embrace the sounds that formed the foundations of heavy metal and carry them forward with the right spirit and uncommon skill. Which brings us to Gravedäncer.

This Brazilian duo, composed of members of Flageladör and Tyranno, have created a debut demo, righteously named Ripping Metal, that’s an electrifying hybrid of early black metal and NWOBHM — think of a union between Judas Priest and Venom. The songs are stripped-down and unpretentious, neither forward-looking nor artificially embellished. They depend on the power of the riff, and a devotion to sulphurous audio aromas that promise the delights and dangers of hell.

And as you’ll discover through our premiere of the demo today in advance of its January 29 release by the Helldprod Records, the primal appeal of what they’ve done is damned near irresistible. Continue reading »

MEFITIS: “OFFSCOURINGS”

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Jan 272021
 

 

(On January 30th Hessian Firm will release a new album by the California band Mefitis, and here we present a guest review by Lonegoat, the man behind the “necroclassical” project Goatcraft.)

An exhibition of metal understanding and dexterity, Offscourings presents some things to consider regarding the current state of metal and its possibilities. The first thing which is immediately apparent is that Mefitis will not traverse a solely death metal path. Their debut Emberdawn showed that they are capable of creating narrative songs within the death metal lexicon; riffs that are seamlessly glued together to present to the listener an experience of perpetual development during the songs’ duration. Offscourings takes a detour from standard death metal by assimilating avant-garde tendencies that have become more accepted in metal. This is not to say that they are playing it safe. The music is unmistakably their own and not something derived from appropriation. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): OCEANA — “THE PATTERN”

 Album Reviews, Exceptions to the Rule, Premieres  3 Responses »
Jan 262021
 

 

It has been a long time coming — a very long time — but on January 29th the Roman band Oceana will release their debut album The Pattern through Time To Kill Records. But it seems the time is right, even if the album is arriving 25 years after Oceana’s debut demo and EP, and the strength of the new album is such that fans of progressively inclined melodic death metal will be grateful the band did not die an early death.

Given the passage of so much time, all will be forgiven who are unfamiliar with the band. It was the brainchild of Massimiliano Pagliuso, who has been the guitarist for the Italian band Novembre throughout those same 25 years, and it was he who revived Oceana, bringing together original drummer Alessandro “Sancho” Marconcini and another old friend, Gianpaolo Caprino, as second guitarist.

How the rebirth happened, and the themes that inspired The Pattern, are subjects addressed by Massimiliano Pagliuso in an extensive statement that you will find below. What you will also find below is a full stream of the new album, preceded by a few reactions of our own. Continue reading »

NERVOSA: “PERPETUAL CHAOS”

 Album Reviews  6 Responses »
Jan 262021
 

 

(We welcome a new contributor at NCS — Aleksha McLoughlin — who begins with a review of the new album by the revised Brazilian death/thrash band Nervosa, which was released on January 22nd by Napalm Records.)

April 2020 seemed like a death sentence for the female-fronted thrash/death metal band Nervosa. Guitarist and founding member Prika Amaral had the tough choice to make when it came to replacing their entire line-up. The result isn’t a resounding triumph, but it does enough to justify the band’s place at the fringe of female-fronted extreme metal.

Let’s get the obvious out of the way early on: Even when upgrading to a four-piece from their tried and tested original trio, Diva Satanica (Bloodhunter) simply lacks the vocal power of Fernanda Lira, and Mia Wallace’s bass lines are largely buried in the fairly mid-heavy mix.

“Venomous” opens the album as it means to go on. Guitars have a significant body; very much leaning into that old-school razor-thin tone and presence. We’re assaulted as listeners by a steady combination of bouncy thrash and proto-death guitar riffs that are catchy, but occasionally ring hollow. Continue reading »

DALIT: “MOKSHA”

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Jan 252021
 

 

(This is Andy Synn‘s review of the new album by the Norwegian band Dalit, which they released on January 15, 2021.)

Between my day job, writing for NCS, and various bits of ongoing band business, it’s going to be a busy week for me this week, so I’m not going to waste your time (or my own) with a lengthy preamble here.

Let’s just say, instead, that if you’ve ever wondered what a combination of Satyricon and Paradise Lost might sound like, well… you’re about to find out. Continue reading »

THERMOHALINE: “MAELSTRÖM”

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Jan 222021
 

 

(Here we have Andy Synn‘s review of the debut album by the multinational avant-garde black metal band Thermohaline, which had its surprise Bandcamp release today.)

Give us a choice between covering a big-name band or a relative unknown and we’ll plump for the latter 99 times out of 100.

That’s just the way we roll, and the way it’s always been.

Granted, we’re not against covering bigger, more well-known acts, particularly if/when we think we’ve got an interesting or unique take to offer, but for the most part our efforts are best focussed on the underdogs, the underrated, and the under-exposed… bands like blackened, avant-garde genre-blenders Thermohaline. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: FERAL LIGHT’S “CONJOINT LIGHTLESSNESS” (AND A REVIEW OF THE NEW “CEREMONIAL TOWER” EP)

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Jan 222021
 

 

Last September at NCS Andy Synn devoted the 125th edition of his Synn Report (here) to the discography of Minnesota-based Feral Light, whose music he recommended for fans of  Tombs, Cobalt, and Wolvhammer. In Andy’s words, Feral Light (drummer Andrew Reesen and guitarist/vocalist Andy Schoengrund) “deal in a gritty, gruesomely groovesome brand of Black ‘n’ Roll which has, over the years, also developed an increasingly savage-yet-sombre (not to mention ever-so-slightly proggy) edge to it”.

The latest record in their discography as it existed at the time of Andy’s retrospective was the 2020 album Life Vapor, which he characterized as Feral Light‘s “darkest record yet”, a “more refined and more atmosphere-heavy album than either of its predecessors”, but also “even more focussed and ferocious”: “[F]or what it might lack (or sacrifice) in terms of bombastic hooks and swaggering attitude it more than makes up for in sheer intensity and potent staying-power, making for an overall more fulfilling, and no less thrilling, listening experience from start to finish.”

If you haven’t yet encountered Feral Light, you should definitely check out Life Vapor — but you really couldn’t go wrong with any of their albums. And thankfully, the band continue to forge ahead. On February 26th they will be releasing a new three-song EP named Ceremonial Tower, and today it’s our pleasure to premiere one of those three tracks — “Conjoint Lightlessness“. Continue reading »

AETHYRICK: “APOTHEOSIS”

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Jan 212021
 

 

(Here is Andy Synn‘s review of the new album by the Finnish band Aethyrick, which is set for release by Sinister Flame on January 22nd — tomorrow!)

I have to begin this review with a mea culpa.

I clearly remember listening to Aethyrick’s previous album, Gnosis, when it was released last year. I remember enjoying it, I remember making notes about it, I remember fully intending to review it… but somehow, for some reason, it never happened. And that’s no-one’s fault but my own.

However, time heals all wounds – or, at least, gives us an opportunity to atone for them – and the recent release of the prolific Finnish duo’s third album means I’m not going to make the same mistake twice. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): GRABUNHOLD — “HELDENTOD”

 Album Reviews, Premieres  1 Response »
Jan 192021
 

 

Take a good look at the cover art for Grabunhold’s debut album Heldentod, because it provides a few pertinent clues to the music. In elaborate fashion, the drawing depicts a blending of the supernatural and the medieval. A castle looms in the distance, banners flying in a cloud-cloaked mountain fastness. In the foreground a hellish king, surrounded by ghastly creatures emerging from the earth, gazes over long columns of dread warriors marching toward that distant fortress. And above it all, a crossed sword and mace adorn the ornate lettering of Grabunhold’s name.

Like the fantastical cover art, Grabunhold’s formulation of black metal is itself a blending of the supernatural and the medieval. It is itself cloud-cloaked and majestic, warlike and elaborate. It often rings with the resonance of ancient music, and it reaches spectacular heights, but it is also persistently shadowed by dread and sorrow. It merits the well-worn term “epic”, but there is an earnestness and sense of devotion in the music that prevents it from sounding calculated or “cheesy”. And its multiple facets are so memorable that it’s likely to have staying power over years to come.

Thus it’s with considerable pleasure that we present a full stream of the album in advance of its January 22nd release by Iron Bonehead Productions — preceded (of course) by a bushel of additional words. Continue reading »

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