ABYSMAL DAWN: “PHYLOGENESIS”

 Album Reviews  1 Response »
Apr 142020
 

 

(This is DGR’s review of the new album by California’s Abysmal Dawn, a long-time favorite of our site, set for release on April 17th by Season of Mist.)

Upon the release of the first single from Abysmal Dawn‘s latest album Phylogenesis, there was a moment of surprised realization amongst the goofballs who comprise the NCS staff: “Has it really been five and a half years since their previous release Obsolescence?” And yet, with a late October 2014 release date for that album and a late April 2020 date for the group’s latest, that much time has indeed passed.

You wouldn’t know it though. For a few of those aforementioned goofballs Obsolescence was kind of lightning-in-a-bottle for the Abysmal Dawn crew. The disc quickly became something of a default resort — it was a constant go-to, so that the album seemed like it had always been there, and the passage of time quickly became irrelevant. If you were out of ideas of things to listen to, Abysmal Dawn had found a way with that album to land on a median among the varying degrees of modern death metal, kicking out a solid near-fifty-minute slab of solid groove and relentless blast.

The question with Phylogenesis then becomes, did the band seek to do that again? What odd twists and turns might they have taken? Hell, what sort of effect did the lineup-shifting that happened in between these two discs produce? Continue reading »

BLACK CURSE: “ENDLESS WOUND”

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Apr 142020
 

 

(Here’s Andy Synn‘s review of the debut album by Colorado’s Black Curse, which was recently released by Sepulchral Voice.)

To paraphrase a very tall, very shiny, Russian man:

“…four or five moments… that’s all it takes to be a hero make a good album…”

And, you know what? He’s right. If your album has four or five moments, four or five songs, which truly stand out, and stand the test of time, then you’re probably good.

The thing is, really great albums, albums like Endless Wound, don’t just settle for four or five moments per record, they offer up four or five of these moments in practically every song! Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): TITAAN — “ITIMA”

 Album Reviews, Premieres  2 Responses »
Apr 132020
 

 

In the broadest and most simplistic terms, the monumental new album by Titaan is a sequence of startling juxtapositions of sound and atmosphere. A single track of more than 46 minutes in length, Itima operates like a musical flux capacitor, capable of sending listeners through time into an ancient age as well as far into the future. And the music is itself constantly in flux, flexing between states of overpowering, densely layered chaos and mystical yet morphing ambient drift into wondrous and blood-freezing realms.

As in the case of Titaan’s debut album Kadingir, the project’s alter ego Lalartu (whose identity and location remain a mystery) has worked alone, which makes the extravagant achievements of Itima all the more jaw-dropping. It is evident that this massive composition required meticulous planning and is the result of extensive attention to detail, everything well-calculated to pitch the listener into a gigantic and perilous labyrinth of sounds and sensations that seem completely divorced from mundane earth-bound existence.

To be sure, the full experience requires patience, but on the other hand it doesn’t take long to become transfixed by what’s happening, and to lose track of time as the music’s rituals hurl you without warning across millennia and into mystifying dimensions both nightmarish and celestial. Today we’re providing the chance to lose yourself in the labyrinth of Itima through a fukll stream of the album in advance of its April 16 release by ATMF. Continue reading »

OLD MAN GLOOM: “SEMINAR IX: DARKNESS OF BEING”

 Album Reviews  2 Responses »
Apr 132020
 

 

(Seattle-based writer Gonzo returns to NCS with this review of a new album by the star-studded Old Man Gloom, whose release day was accelerated by the band and Profound Lore Records and is out now.)

Never the types to be conventional, post-hardcore/sludge superheroes Old Man Gloom have again released not one, but two, new albums: Seminar VIII: The Lightness of Meaning, and Seminar IX: The Darkness of Being. Originally not scheduled to be released until May 22, the band decided to stagger the double effort with a surprise release of Seminar IX back in late March. Seminar VIII will keep its original release date of May 22.

To limit any head-spinning confusion, this review covers Seminar IX.

Confused yet? Good, me too. Continue reading »

PURE WRATH: “THE FORLORN SOLDIER”

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Apr 102020
 

 

(The following is Mike Johnson‘s review of the new album by the Indonesian black metal band Pure Wrath, which was released on March 6th by Debemur Morti Productions.)

It is strange to think how innovation of technology has allowed us to reach anyone around the world. However it also seems to have been accompanied by a major decrease in the educational focus on the history of other countries around the globe. Being educated in America, classroom sessions regarding history only focus on major events within American history. The rest of the world’s history is glazed over for almost the entirety of the year.

Pure Wrath, however, does their part to change this with their newest release entitled The Forlorn Soldier. Hailing from Indonesia, Ryo, the sole member, offers a unique blend of Atmospheric Black Metal that has strong Winterfylleth, Saor, Panopticon, and Sojourner influences. But it is interesting for other reasons as well. Continue reading »

 LEBENSSUCHT: “-237,15°C”

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Apr 092020
 

 

(Here’s Andy Synn‘s review of the anxiously awaited debut album by the German/Austrian/Belgian band Lebenssucht, which was released on April 7th through Thanatoskult.)

I don’t have kids (nor do I want them) but I have to imagine that the feeling I get watching certain bands develop is the same one which a proud parent must get when watching their child first learn to walk, or talk… or give up their dreams and settle into a life of soul-crushing drudgery.

Ok, maybe it’s not exactly the same, but it’s definitely rewarding to see bands you’re invested in, particularly ones you’ve been following since their very beginning, living up to their potential.

Case in point, multinational Black Metal collective Lebenssucht, who I/we have been following at NCS since their debut EP, Fucking my Knife, have finally released their first full-length album this week, and it’s one hell of a ride. Continue reading »

DERANGED: “DEEDS OF RUTHLESS VIOLENCE”

 Album Reviews  3 Responses »
Apr 082020
 

 

(Here’s Vonlughlio’s review and recommendation of the new album by the Swedish death metal band Deranged, who began life in 1991, and whose latest full-length is out now via Agonia Records.)

I am now here to write about a band I have been a fan of since the late ’90s and believe have always been consistent in their vision of BDM over the years. That band is Sweden’s Deranged and they just released Deeds of Ruthless Violence on March 27th via Agonia Records.

This is one band whose music I have enjoyed and still ask myself why it does not have the recognition it should. I mean, sure, they have fans around the world and are well-respected but I wish more for this project. They have been consistent with their art and vision and have released music that has transcended the test of time. Continue reading »

AN NCS EP PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): DOWNCROSS — “CURRENT TOWARDS END”

 Album Reviews, Premieres, SHORT BUT SWEET  No Responses »
Apr 082020
 

 

The Belarusian black metal band Downcross made a startling debut with their first album, Mysteries of Left Path. To paraphrase what we wrote in introducing our premiere of the album early last year, every one of the eight tracks on the album was emotionally powerful, and powerful in the production of their sound. They included magnetically attractive melodic hooks and shifts among contrasting moods within each song — from cold-hearted to glorious, from bereft to barbaric, and much more.

There was also heavyweight heft in the low end, and tremendous, penetrating, gleaming vibrancy in the guitar tones (without becoming completely “clean” in their tone). The drumming rocked and romped as often as it thundered, and there were as many hook-laden strummed chords as the dense wash of blazing tremolo vibrations.

The duo of vocalist/drummer Ldzmr and guitarist Dzmtr quickly proved that their debut was no fluke, because their second album (which we also premiered last fall), What Light Covers Not, was also tremendously good, and further vivid evidence that Downcross are gifted songwriters. Continue reading »

THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER: “VERMINOUS”

 Album Reviews  9 Responses »
Apr 072020
 

 

(This is Andy Synn‘s review of the new album by The Black Dahlia Murder, due for release on April 17th by Metal Blade Records.)

If I were forced to select one word to describe The Black Dahlia Murder’s particular brand of high-stakes, high-adrenaline Death Metal that word would undoubtedly be… anthemic.

After all, one of the band’s defining features has always been their ability to conjure up a seemingly endless series of contagious, crowd-friendly choruses and red-hot hooks to balance out their molten metallic mayhem, with much of this burden often falling to lunatic-larynxed frontman Trevor Strnad, whose distinctive delivery – part predatory preacher, part Death Metal drill sergeant, part crazed carnival barker – is an inimitable part of the group’s sound.

The band’s last album, 2017’s superb Nightbringers, in many ways felt like the apotheosis of this, with songs such as “Kings of the Nightworld” and the titanic title track featuring some of the catchiest, most bombastic material the group have ever written.

The thing is… once you’ve peaked like that, there’s almost nowhere to go but down. So the big question now is whether or not Verminous is going to be a victim of the band’s success, or whether the gang have found a way to escape the curse of diminishing returns… Continue reading »

SYMBOLIK: “EMERGENCE”

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Apr 062020
 

 

(On April 10th The Artisan Era will release the debut album of California’s Symbolik, and today we present DGR’s detailed review.)

Stockton, CA’s Symbolik are a band I’ve been following for a long time. Seeing their logo pop up on a few local show flyers way back in the early 2010s led to me finding the group’s EP Pathogenesis and being so impressed by it that I wound up seeing the band live three times after that. They were one of those groups I had thought was going to really cut a swath through the hyper-speed tech-death scene at the time, long before it had started congealing around a handful of specific record labels that would later unwittingly codify an overall sound. However, things progressed slowly in their camp and barring a single entitled “Diverging Mortal Flesh” that came out in 2015, Symbolik remained fairly silent save for the occasional here-and-there show.

It wasn’t until earlier this year, over eight and a half years after the release of their Pathogenesis EP that we finally heard from the group — now signed to The Artisan Era and ready to release a full-length debut entitled Emergence. Continue reading »

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