AN NCS EP PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): ENDLESS DISEASE — “HAIL THE COMING END”

 Album Reviews, Premieres, SHORT BUT SWEET  No Responses »
Aug 062018
 

 

Destroy Your Fucking Life. Our Dawn Is the End. There Is No Hope. Supreme Misanthropic Darkness. And now Hail the Coming End.

Those are the titles of the releases so far by the Texas band Endless Disease, the last of which is out today. The titles alone, not to mention the band’s name, proclaim a world-view steeped in bleakness and boiling with disgust. If there is any hope here, it seems to be the hope that the pestilence of human existence will be extinguished sooner rather than later… and not one tear will be shed by this band when that day arrives. And therein lies a paradox about the music — because the music is electrifyingly alive, like a fight that will rage to the bitter end. Continue reading »

OMNIUM GATHERUM : “THE BURNING COLD”

 Album Reviews  3 Responses »
Aug 062018
 

 

(We present Andy Synn’s review of the new album by Finland’s Omnium Gatherum, which will be released by Century Media on August 31st.)

Before I kick this review into high-gear, I want to clear something up once and for all… despite sharing some superficial similarities (and, these days, a guitarist), Omnium Gatherum and Insomnium really don’t sound all that much alike, and it would take a truly committed contrarian to suggest otherwise at this point.

Truth be told, regardless of whether you think they ever even sounded all that much alike in the first place, the differences between the two bands have only become more pronounced over the years, as while the latter have spent their time pursuing a moodier, more melancholy sound, the shameless synths ‘n’ solos approach favoured by the OG crew has taken them in a markedly different direction, to the point where their highly anticipated eighth album finds the Finnish sextet now occupying the same sort of highly energetic, audaciously anthemic, niche once inhabited by In Flames in their prime. Continue reading »

SHORT BUT SWEET: ÂME NOIRE – “THE TREE THAT BEARS ROTTEN FRUIT”

 Album Reviews, SHORT BUT SWEET  2 Responses »
Aug 022018
 

 

(This is Andy Synn‘s review of the new EP by Âme Noire from Melbourne, Australia, which was released on July 13th.)

Amidst all the (well-deserved) hype for the soon-to-be-released new EP from Australian death-dealers Hadal Maw (officially released tomorrow, but available to hear in full right here, right now), there’s a good chance that many of you might have overlooked the fact that there’s also another band of down-under denizens – Melbourne-based quintet Âme Noire — with a shiny new EP to promote, and I feel like it’s my responsibility to try and make sure that it doesn’t get completely overlooked or overshadowed by its more famous sibling. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): MONGREL’S CROSS — “PSALTER OF THE ROYAL DRAGON COURT”

 Album Reviews, Premieres  4 Responses »
Aug 012018
 

 

The eye-catching cover art for Psalter of the Royal Dragon Court provides immediate clues to the music of Mongrel’s Cross, as captured in this, their second album. It’s ravaging and regal, sinister and searing, warlike and overflowing with a kind of mythic grandeur. It’s the sound of saga, with an aura of larger-than-life fantasy surrounding all of its movements. And it’s almost relentlessly explosive, blazing like a comet in the heavens, or like the fireballs erupting from that clash of titans on the cover.

And unless you think I’ve gotten too carried away, and gone too over-the-top in my reactions to this thoroughly over-the-top music, just listen for yourselves — which you’ll be able to do right now, as we premiere the entire album in advance of its release by Hells Headbangers on August 3rd. Continue reading »

REDUCED: “MAJESTY FROM WITHIN”

 Album Reviews  3 Responses »
Jul 302018
 

 

(Vonlughlio is back, and this time he brings us a review of the new album by the Indonesian brutal death metal band Reduced.)

This time around for NCS, I have the opportunity to write about a release from New Standard Elite, a BDM label that first began operations back in 2012. In those early days, I began talking to label owner Daniel (also the drummer for Inherit Disease) about BDM in general, bands we liked, and what he had envisioned for his label.

As time passed , the label signed amazing bands like Gorgasm, Cerebral Effusion, Disentomb, Seminal Embalmment, Chalera, Vulnus, Abnormal Inhumane, Hymenotomy, Nithing, Excoriation, and Abhorrent Castigation, to name only a few, and gained recognition around BDM as one of the best, and a favorite among fans around the globe. Of course, like anything in life, there are moments of difficulty, and the label was no exception to the rule. Continue reading »

INTEGRITY AND KRIEG: A SPLIT

 Album Reviews, SHORT BUT SWEET  No Responses »
Jul 272018
 

 

(This is Todd Manning’s review of the new split by Integrity and Krieg, which will be released by Relapse Records on August 3rd.)

Oftentimes, split recordings are an opportunity for two lesser known bands to introduce each other to their respective fan bases. It is representative of the camaraderie of the underground, and one of both Metal and Hardcore’s most beloved formats. What we don’t see as often are two well-established acts doing a split together. While there are a few examples, such as Napalm Death’s work with the Melvins and Converge, these exceptions prove the rule.

The latest exception now comes from the pairing of Hardcore legends Integrity and Black Metal juggernaut Krieg. It’s unlikely these groups got together as some sort of calculated marketing move, but rather out of a mutual respect for one another. Continue reading »

POUND: “POUND”

 Album Reviews  1 Response »
Jul 262018
 

 

Few people would probably notice, but I write very few album reviews unless they’re accompanying our premiere of a full album stream (and occasionally I include brief ones as part of a Sunday SHADES OF BLACK post). It’s not for lack of interest, but for lack of time. But I’ve been inspired by my friend DGR‘s massive catching-up exercise this week, in which he funneled 13 reviews our way in one fell swoop. There’s no way I can catch up to that extent, but I found myself with a little extra time over the last 24 hours, and so I’ve made a small effort to recommend two recent releases by bands near and dear to my black heart — and this is the second of those.

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It seems that every time I’ve written about Seattle’s Pound (who used to go by the name Lb.!), I’ve begun by reminiscing about how gob-smacked I’ve been by the hair-raising, head-spinning, ridiculously explosive nature of their live performances, and here I am doing it again. You really have to witness it to fully understand why it’s such a nerve-firing, nerve-rending experience, but while it’s impossible for any recording to do it justice — because you’ll only be able to hear, and not to see — their long-awaited debut album comes as close as one could hope for. Continue reading »

CATCHING UP: ZOMBIEFICATION — “BELOW THE GRIEF”

 Album Reviews  3 Responses »
Jul 262018
 

 

Few people would probably notice, but I write very few album reviews unless they’re accompanying our premiere of a full album stream (and occasionally I include brief ones as part of a Sunday SHADES OF BLACK post). It’s not for lack of interest, but for lack of time. But I’ve been inspired by my friend DGR‘s massive catching-up exercise this week, in which he funneled 13 reviews our way in one fell swoop. There’s no way I can catch up to that extent, but I found myself with a little extra time over the last 24 hours, and so I’ve made a small effort to recommend two recent releases by bands near and dear to my black heart. One more will follow this review today.

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In his brief introduction to DECIBEL‘s premiere stream of Zombiefication‘s new album earlier this month, Dutch Pearce wrote that “this Mexican duo seem to have undergone a potent metamorphosis” since their last releases, and that “Below the Grief  bombards the listener with sounds both reminiscent of the past and completely novel in the realm of death metal.” Although he didn’t elaborate, I would agree. Continue reading »

DGR’S MULTI-BAND REVIEW NIGHTMARE (PART 4): JACK KETCH, ALTARS OF GRIEF, ALUCINARI, APOPHYS

 Album Reviews  2 Responses »
Jul 262018
 

 

(DGR delivered a tome of reviews so massive that we decided to serialize it throughout the week so as to avoid fracturing your spine beneath its weight. This is the 4th and final part of the series.)

On occasion we find ourselves backlogged with albums that we want to write about but seem never able to find the time to do so. Sometimes this results in multiple review ideas getting tossed and never revisited, and at other times you get posts like this one as we deseperately try to hammer out a whole bunch of reviews about EVERYTHING that we’ve been listening to.

In this case that means 13 different releases, unsorted by genre and from all varying walks of all things heavy. So, with the floodgates now fully open, let us wade further forth into the rushing waters of heavy metal to recommend some stuff that perhaps might have flown by you.

Jack Ketch – Ashes Of Vesuvius

You may have caught it in the opening of my Light This City review, but a lot of bands who’ve been silent for the better part of a decade have decided that 2018 would be a good time to come back. Maybe it’s just the general sense that the world is on fire right now, but a bunch of groups are now putting stuff out as if they’ll never get another chance to do so. Among the increasing number that are returning to us are two local Sacramento acts, one of which released a new album I reviewed yesterday (Journal) and the other of which is Jack Ketch, whose new EP The Ashes Of Vesuvius is a stunning turn of events from the band’s previous material. Continue reading »

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

 Album Reviews, Premieres  No Responses »
Jul 252018
 

 

By coincidence, in the NCS post immediately preceding this one my comrade DGR acknowledged that thrash has been “something of a blind spot for this site”. “We basically have a handful of favorites and will notice absolute standouts among newcomers, but overall we’ve never had a fully dedicated thrash person here”. And that’s all pretty much true — including the part about noticing absolute stand-outs among newcomers, and man, do I have one of those for you here in Missouri’s Degrave.

When I saw references to Vektor in the press materials for their new self-titled album, I was both excited and skeptical — because Vektor blaze like a meteor in the night sky, and the kind of stuff they pull off is hard for anyone to compete with. But it turns out that the music on this new Degrave album is legitimately mind-blowing.

These tracks are so head-spinning that it left this listener constantly bewildered and bedazzled, wide-eyed at the technical pyrotechnics on display here, and in a state of gob-smacked wonder at the sheer exuberant devilry displayed by the song-writing.  I could hardly be more excited to share the full album stream with you today — and I say that for whom thrash is pretty far down the list of favorite metal genres Continue reading »

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