SHADES OF BLACK (PART 2); MUKA, EKDIKĒSIS, ERIPHION, HELL-BORN

 Album Reviews, SHADES OF BLACK  No Responses »
Jan 312021
 

 

As promised in Part 1 of this column, Part 2 is devoted to a group of complete new albums that were just released during the last 10 days, most of them unusually unsettling but also fascinating. With apologies to the bands, and maybe to you if you usually bother to read rather than just listen, I’ve resorted to a time-saving strategy of just picking one track from each album to write about in detail, and then adding only the most cursory preview of everything else.

For the first two records I’m again indebted to Rennie (starkweather) for making me aware of them.

MUKA (Croatia)

Patologija Poniznosti is a new EP by this band from Zagreb that just came out today, so I obviously haven’t spent much time with it. But I’ve spent enough time to learn that Muka have become no more merciful than they were on their 2017 EP, Sveta Stoka, which I briefly reviewed here. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): AD NAUSEAM — “IMPERATIVE IMPERCEPTIBLE IMPULSE”

 Album Reviews, Premieres  4 Responses »
Jan 292021
 

 

On February 12th Avantgarde Music will release Imperative Imperceptible Impulse, the second album by the Italian band Ad Nauseam.

The label states that the album is not for everyone, but represents “the true meaning of Avantgarde”. And while that statement could be interpreted as a calculated effort to create intrigue, when you hear the album you will realize that it is honest and accurate. And hear it you shall, because below you’ll find our premiere of a full stream of the record.

It is indisputably true that Imperative Imperceptible Impulse is not “easy listening”. Although it includes moments that become eerily mesmerizing, most of the minutes are supercharged with maniacal energy and packed with mind-boggling instrumental extravagance. Though structures and repeating patterns can be discerned as they loop back around to where they began, the dominant impression of all the intricate permutations is one of madness run rampant, and the inventive use of dissonance and discord, executed with eye-popping technical prowess, creates an experience that is both dazzling and disturbing. Continue reading »

THE RUINS OF BEVERAST: A RETROSPECTIVE (AND A REVIEW OF “THE THULE GRIMOIRES”)

 Album Reviews, Metal News  No Responses »
Jan 292021
 

 

(The scheduled release by Ván Records of a new album by The Ruins of Beverast inspired our contributor Nathan Ferreira to prepare the following extensive retrospective on the band’s catalogue, as well as thoughts about the new album and its place within the ever-changing evolution of the band’s music.)

The Thule Grimoires is the latest work in a sprawling back catalogue that encompasses an incredible variety of unique textures which consistently go beyond what one expects out of a band in the atmospheric black/doom metal pantheon. Alexander von Meilenwald’s attention to detail in every facet of his music (composition, aesthetics, musicianship, lyrical themes, you name it) has long been the envy of one-man black metal bands everywhere. Everything about The Ruins of Beverast is cloaked in a sense of artistry and greater meaning that has grown and evolved throughout the band’s career.

Because of this, and because of the ridiculous amount of layers and themes in The Thule Grimoires, I felt it desirable to reflect on von Meilenwald’s back catalogue to give more context to what makes this band and this album so special.

Along the way, I’ve also included some streams for listening, as well as links to older interviews for anyone looking for a more detailed background on the origins behind this wonderful project; the man behind the music certainly has an erudite and articulate character, which only really comes out when he speaks and writes. Hopefully this write-up can succeed in doing a modicum of justice to such an astonishing career. Continue reading »

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”

 Album Reviews, Premieres, SHORT BUT SWEET  No Responses »
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”

 Album Reviews  3 Responses »
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”

 Album Reviews  No Responses »
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”

 Album Reviews  12 Responses »
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 »

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