AN NCS EP PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): DEATHNOISEFREQUENCY — “HORRID DIRGE”

 Album Reviews, Premieres, SHORT BUT SWEET  2 Responses »
Jul 172020
 

 

Straight out of Saudi Arabia comes Deathnoisefrequency. That’s right, Saudi Arabia, not the easiest platform from which to launch a new musical project, and perhaps especially not one named Deathnoisefrequency. But that’s what the duo of Ghassan Al Fudail and Ahmed Mahmoud have done. Both of them have also been bandmates in a Saudi doom/death metal project named Grieving Age, but here they’ve turned in a different direction, one that’s described as “a limitless musical experiment with an all-encompassing creepy, dark and depressive atmosphere where noise and death metal are smashed together with reckless abandon”.

In 2016 Deathnoisefrequency released a single but have now re-surfaced with a debut, two-track EP named Horrid Dirge — which itself is merely a part of a forthcoming LP projected for release by the end of this year. Today is the EP’s official release date, and to help spread the word we’re premiering a full stream of the sounds. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): NEKUS — “DEATH NOVA UPON THE BARREN HARVEST”

 Album Reviews, Premieres, SHORT BUT SWEET  3 Responses »
Jul 152020
 

 

Death Nova Upon the Barren Harvest is an evocative title. The words alone suggest a desolate experience fraught with menace and morbidity, and a portrayal of crushing despair beneath the incandescence of the sweeping scythe that eventually cuts us all down. The words alone provide an inkling of what the music might bring, but the sounds prove to be even more terrifying and soul-crushing, and they also give vivid meaning to the idea of a “death nova”.

That title is the name chosen by the German death-dealers Nekus for their debut EP. Although it’s this band’s first recorded work, it’s no surprise that Blood Harvest Records seized upon it and is giving it a lavish release that includes a full panoply of physical editions — CD, cassette tape, and vinyl. The CD and cassette versions are set for release on July 17th, while the vinyl is set for August 28th. Now you’ll learn for yourselves why the label is backing this so hard. Continue reading »

AN NCS EP PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): LIBERATIA — “WHERE THE WRETCHED LIE SLAIN”

 Album Reviews, Premieres, SHORT BUT SWEET  1 Response »
Jul 142020
 

 

One thing leads to another, even when you don’t see the progression of cause and effect, sometimes with disastrous results, sometimes with happy ones. This is a tale of the latter kind.

In December of last year I happened upon a video I couldn’t turn away from despite its adverse effects on my appetite, in part because I wanted to see where it was going and in part because the song — “The Flayed Man” — was such a death/thrashing powerhouse. That was my introduction to the band Liberatia from Vancouver Island, but it wasn’t my last encounter with them.

In May of this year I latched onto another Liberatia video, quite different from the first one, for a song called “Adaptive Biology“, and wrote about that one too.

And then we were invited to premiere the entire EP that includes those two songs as well as two others — an invitation we greedily accepted. And so now we present the entirety of Where the Wretched Lie Slain in advance of its release on July 17th. But first, a bit of background for newcomers… Continue reading »

PATHOLOGICAL SADISM: “REALMS OF THE ABOMINABLE PUTREFACTION”

 Album Reviews  2 Responses »
Jul 132020
 

 

(Vonlughlio returns with a strong recommendation for an under-the-radar album released in April by the Thai band Pathological Sadism via Amputated Vein. The label recommends it for fans of Heinous Killing, Goretrade, Devourment, Acranius, and Vulvectomy.)

Today I want to recommend Realms of The Abominable Putrefaction, the debut album of Pathological Sadism from Thailand, which was released by Amputated Vein Records on April 24th. For me it was a welcome surprise — I was not aware of this project and listened to it without any expectations.

I decided to look back into the project and learned that its inception was in 2011 and that they released their first EP in 2013, which turned out to be 16 minutes of pure BDM stravaganzza which captivated me once the first note dropped. After this, the band went quiet until 2017 when they released a two-song demo that continued the path from their previous effort. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD ON A SATURDAY: REBEL WIZARD, KÖRGULL THE EXTERMINATOR, INFESTICIDE, UNDEAD, BULL ELEPHANT, VERMILIA

 Album Reviews, Exceptions to the Rule, Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC, SHORT BUT SWEET  5 Responses »
Jul 112020
 

 

If you’re a fan of Enslaved, Pallbearer, Kataklysm, Black Crown Initiate, Oceans of Slumber, surely you know about the new singles they released over the last few days from their next albums (most with videos), and if you didn’t know, now you do (just follow those hyperlinks to listen and watch). You probably also saw the announcement of a new Napalm Death album and Decibel’s “Get Behind the Mask” feature with photos of 140 masked-up artists.

But rather than provide commentary about those widely touted events I decided to turn my piggish snout toward the sniffing out of truffles your own snouts might not have detected yet, which is mainly how we use our olfactory organs at NCS.

REBEL WIZARD

Rebel Wizard‘s new album Magickal Mystical Indifference was just released yesterday by Prosthetic Records, and to celebrate the occasion they’ve also just released a colorful, metal AF new video (made by Exotic Corpse) for an album track named “raiseth up all those that be bowed down“. Continue reading »

DISAVOWED: “REVOCATION OF THE FALLEN”

 Album Reviews  1 Response »
Jul 102020
 

 

(Here’s Vonlughlio’s review of the long-awaited new by Disavowed, which will be released on July 31 through Brutal Mind, with artwork by Jorg de Vos.)

This time around I have the opportunity to write about Disavowed from the Netherlands and their upcoming album Revocation of the Fallen, to be released via Brutal Mind.  This is something that fans of this project have been waiting on for 13 years.

At the inception of this band back in 1994 they were known as Nocturnal Silence until they changed to their current name in 2000 and released the Point of Few demo. They released their debut album Perceptive Deception  the following year, and it’s considered a classic among BDM fans, one that is still consistently played across the planet. Continue reading »

ATAUDES: “MERECEMOS LA EXTINCIÓN”

 Album Reviews  No Responses »
Jul 092020
 

 

(In this post Andy Synn reviews the debut album of the Argentinian band Ataudes, which was released on May 25th.)

Following on from yesterday’s trip to Chile today we’re hopping across the border to take a look (and a listen) at Argentinian duo Ataudes (Cristian Viegas and Jonatan Zarate), whose promising debut album delivers a mix of deathly intensity and blackened bite strongly reminiscent of early Extol. Continue reading »

SATURNO: “MENHIR”

 Album Reviews  4 Responses »
Jul 082020
 

 

(Here’s Andy Synn‘s review of the new album, released on May 30, by the Chilean band Saturno.)

One thing that I love about Metal (one of the many things I love about Metal) is how much of a global phenomenon it’s become.

And while the majority of coverage still focuses on bands from Western Europe and North America, we’re seeing more and more music from Africa, Asia, and Central/Southern America breaking through every year, reinforcing the fact that the love of the riff transcends all national boundaries.

With that in mind, today’s trip takes us to the West coast of South America to dance around the fire with Chilean Death/Doom quintet Saturno. Continue reading »

TRIAL: “1”

 Album Reviews  2 Responses »
Jul 062020
 

 

(This is Todd Manning‘s review of the debut EP by the UK band Trial, which is set for release on July 10th.)

We might associate the Eighties with some sort of neon-nightmare Glam Metal and New Wave bastardized Pop Music, but there was definitely a strain of post-collapse apocalypticism running through the underground of Metal, Punk and Industrial at the time that seems to capture the dystopian/collapse feeling better than just about anyone, including those of us who now seem to be living out that particular dream. Trial might be of today, but they tap that Eighties eschatological strain as well as anyone.

This music sounds like it was composed in a plastic coffin, one of many strewn across the nuclear wasteland. The guitar summons the feel of primitive Thrash, simple riffs played in a minimalist fashion, almost sounding as if they’ve been ripped from some long-lost cassette demo. These are then juxtaposed against a cold and punishing drum machine and an equally disaffected vocal style that seems smuggled in from a Post-Punk record. The result is both captivating and punishing, often walking a fine-line near the fist-pumping goodness that recalls the Heavy Metal of an earlier time, yet with a layer of noise and abstraction poured over the mix that keeps this from being just a nostalgia trip. Continue reading »

MANTAR: “GRUNGETOWN HOOLIGANS II”

 Album Reviews, SHORT BUT SWEET  1 Response »
Jul 032020
 

 

(This is Andy Synn‘s review of the new covers EP by the German band Mantar, (a favorite at our site since the beginning), which is out now on Brutal Panda Records.)

Is it just me, or has it been a hell of a long week?

I’m not just talking about things here at NCS either. My job has been keeping me extra busy every single day, and between that and trying to balance things at home and with the band… it seems like I haven’t had a moment to spare, and right now I honestly feel like I could sleep for a week.

Because of that, because of everything that’s been going on, I’ve decided that I wanted to end the week on something a little bit more “fun”. After all, the only reason any of us write here for NCS (it’s certainly not for fame or fortune) is because we enjoy it. And if we’re not enjoying it, then what’s the point?

Thankfully it didn’t take me long to settle on what to write about, as not only are Mantar one of my favourite bands of the last decade but their new covers EP is one hell of way to pay tribute to the group’s influences and inspirations. Continue reading »

 Older Entries  Newer Entries