AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): CRUEL LIFE INSIDE — “ECLIPSIS VITAE”

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Mar 092021
 

 

With their debut album Eclipsis Vitae the Italian band Cruel Life Inside have created a thoroughly captivating experience from start to finish. Inspired by both a commitment to channeling dark and intense emotions, ranging from pain and rage to suffering and hope, as well as by the rich landscapes of their Calabrian homeland, C.L.I. lead the listener through a continuously ebbing and flowing experience that is often dreamlike but also titanically powerful.

In crafting this wide-ranging musical journey, the trio that make up C.L.I. have deftly interwoven a variety of stylistic ingredients that include atmospheric black metal, melodic doom, post-metal, and prog-rock, as well as bringing in instrumental textures that include lush cinematic soundscapes, classically inspired piano performances, and acoustic guitar, with vocals that vary between evocative clean singing to vicious snarls.

Today it’s our pleasure to present a full stream of this remarkable record in advance of its joint release by Casus Belli Musica and Beverina Productions on March 12th, preceded by a few more thoughts about what you’ll hear. Continue reading »

STORTREGN – IMPERMANENCE

 Album Reviews  2 Responses »
Mar 092021
 

(Today we present Andy Synn‘s review of the new album by Switzerland’s Stortregn, set for release this Friday via The Artisan Era.)

As some of you may be aware, I recently did a full, four album deep-dive into the discography of Melodic Black/Death Metaller’s Stortregn.

The benefits of this are two-fold. First off, it enabled me to re-acquaint myself with the band prior to the release of their new record. And, secondly, it means that I don’t have to waste time during this intro delving into the band’s origins and evolution – anyone who wants to do that should go check out the previous article from January – and can instead focus on the here and now.

This is particularly fortunate because their fifth album marks something of a turning point for the Geneva-based quintet, now signed to The Artisan Era, as they pivot even further towards a sound even more distinctly informed by the Melodic and Technical shades of the Death Metal spectrum.

Continue reading »

FRACTAL GENERATOR: “MACROCOSMOS”

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Mar 082021
 

 

(DGR catches up with the new record by Canada’s Fractal Generator, which was released in January by Everlasting Spew Records.)

You’ll likely be reading this one way out of chronological order given the tendency I’ve developed with this album to want to dive back in, write a little, crawl back out, and then dive back in again.

As a result, there’s been multiple discs from the moment this review started that have coasted into and out of my purview.

But, needless to say, as of recent I have been absolutely buried in a wall of incredibly dense Death Metal.

And while I’m talking about multiple albums one could also ascribe that feeling to Fractal Generator‘s newest album Macrocosmos all on its own.

Continue reading »

AN NCS EP PREMIERE AND A REVIEW: SCITALIS — “AWAKENING”

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Mar 052021
 

 

Today the black metal band Scitalis from the north of Sweden make their debut with an EP named Awakening that’s being released by Vendetta Records, and to help spread the work we’re presenting a full stream of its six ravaging tracks.

Presented through a clear and powerful production (which makes effective use of channel shifting), the music is persistently pitch-black in its temperaments, though it explores them in dynamic fashion and with piercing, mood-altering melodies that become key ingredients within changing episodes of upheaval and surrender. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): ORECUS — “THE OBLITERATIONIST”

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Mar 042021
 

 

On March 12th the Swedish modern death metal band Orecus will follow up their 2016 Conclusion EP with a debut album accurately named The Obliterationist through Violent Groove (a label whose own name is entirely fitting for this band’s music). Today we present a full stream of the album, preceded by a preview of what you’ll be in for.

Orecus choose to begin the album with the title track, and it provides an explosive introduction to their terrifically destructive and disturbing strategies. It delivers jolting and jabbing riffs with pile-driving power and savage energy, accompanied by gritty, ferocious, belly-deep growls and attention-grabbing drum rhythms, which often provide a counterpoint to the rapid-fire riffing and which, in the chorus, transform into maniacal blasting as the music soars in delirious, blazing fashion. The song builds up to an even more brutalizing and compulsive hammer-sequence whose piston-driven blows will send your head pumping like an oil derrick. Continue reading »

THE CROWN: “ROYAL DESTROYER”

 Album Reviews  3 Responses »
Mar 042021
 

 

(We present Andy Synn‘s review of the new album by the Swedish death metal band The Crown, who are celebrating their 30th anniversary this year. Metal Blade will release the new record on March 12th.)

One thing I’ve learned, in all my years trapped on this primitive dirtball inhabited by psychotic apes, is that it doesn’t take much for human beings to give in to their tribalistic instincts.

Case in point, although we all know that music isn’t (or shouldn’t be) a competition, we sure do seem to love to pick our sides when it comes to pitting one band, or one genre, against another, and I’ll admit I’ve been just as guilty of this as anyone, especially in my younger days.

In fact, I remember quite clearly that, back in the early 2000s, when everyone else was still riffing on (and ripping off) Slaughter of the Soul I was that kid who was more than happy to tell whoever was willing to listen that they should be listening to Deathrace King instead, since The Crown were so obviously the superior band.

Of course, over the years I’ve grown up a lot and learned a fair few things, the most important of which is…

I was right. Continue reading »

BIOMORPHIC ENGULFMENT — “INCUBATION IN THE PARALLEL DIMENSION”

 Album Reviews  1 Response »
Mar 042021
 

 

(This is Vonlughlios‘ review of the new album by the Thai brutal death metal band Biomorphic Engulfment, which will be released on March 31 by Show No Mercy Records, with cover art by Paolo Girardi.)

We are into March and so far there have been some great BDM releases. I am excited to see what the upcoming months have in store for the genre. But I know about one of them already — the debut album by Thailand’s Biomorphic Engulfment, Incubation in the Parallel Dimension, which is set to be released by Show No Mercy Records on March 31st.

The project was born in 2015 under the name Parasitic Infestation until they changed it in 2017 to their current banner. They released the following year a one-song demo called “Pestilent Microparasitic Domination” that at the time I did not get the chance to listen to (which I now regret). Continue reading »

SULLEN: “NODUS TOLLENS, ACT I: OBLIVION”

 Album Reviews, Exceptions to the Rule  No Responses »
Mar 032021
 

 

(This is Andy Synn‘s review of the new album by the Portuguese band Sullen, which will be released on March 5th.)

Despite our site’s somewhat controversial (and, let’s face it, slightly inaccurate) name, there are definitely some of those among our regular readers who actively look forward to the times when we recommend something that falls more on the melodic, harmonious, side of the Metal spectrum.

Recent years have seen us singing (no pun intended) the praises of bands such as Arctic Sleep and Ecclesia, Klone and Close the Hatch, Astronoid and Sinistro, and it was just a few short month ago that I declared the new Protest the Hero album to be one of the very best records of 2020.

All of which, I suppose, is my way of saying that while we don’t go to the clean-singing well that often, when we do it’s because we think it’s something you’ll really like.

Something like the brand new album from Portuguese prog-metallers Sullen. Continue reading »

SARIN: “YOU CAN’T GO BACK”

 Album Reviews  2 Responses »
Mar 032021
 

 

(Here’s Gonzo’s review of the new album by the Toronto-based band Sarin, which is out now on Prosthetic Records.)

If you want to consider the future of “post-metal” as a genre, you won’t have to look very far to find the trailblazers showing us the way.

You could look as far back as the mid-’90s, when Neurosis began their transformation from sludgy hardcore into a subgenre-defining behemoth.

You could look at the glory days of ISIS circa 2005, when Aaron Turner and co. dished out slabs of ethereal heaviness that defied explanation.

And now, you can look at bands like Toronto-based Sarin, whose nasty, emotive brand of sonic vitriol is poised to bring post-metal into the present – with a vengeance. Continue reading »

AN NCS EP PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): REQUIEM FOR OBLIVION — “HINDSIGHT 2020”

 Album Reviews, Premieres, SHORT BUT SWEET  No Responses »
Mar 022021
 

 

Almost four years have passed since we last heard from Requiem For Oblivion, who make their home in Erie PA. Their last album back then, Burning Nation, was a head-spinning fusion of technical and progressive death metal that was multi-faceted, unpredictable, and electrifying. And now the band is returning… and some things have changed.

Requiem For Oblivion have marked their return with a new EP named Hindsight 2020 that will be released on March 5th, and which you’ll be able to hear for yourselves through our premiere of a full stream. Trying to sum it up as a challenge, but here’s a stab at it:

The music is mechanistic and merciless in its destructiveness but also freakish and twisted in its bizarre and surprising contortions — a display of cold machine power dialed up to titanic levels but operating within a state of untreatable psychosis. The grooves are so massive and punishing that they’ll tempt you to ruin your neck, but everything else about the music (and, to be honest, even the grooves themselves) will keep you (and your sanity) off-balance, to the point that by the end you may be asking, “What the fuck just happened?” You’ll wonder where you’ve been and how the hell you’ll find your way get back to where you started. Continue reading »

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