FOREVER PLAYING CATCH-UP (PART 4): ANTHESIS, TRAUN, DIRT

 Album Reviews  1 Response »
Oct 172017
 

 

(We resume the rollout of Austin Weber’s ongoing series devoted to reviews of 2017 releases we haven’t previously covered. You can find Part 1 here, Part 2 here, and Part 3 here.)

In spite of what the naysayers will tell you, I’m of the opinion that there’s an absolutely ridiculous amount of good metal releases coming out all the time, many of them coming from new groups or independent groups that we’re just now catching onto for the first time.

This lengthy round-up has been in the works for awhile, but I kept adding more and more to the list of what I wanted to cover. Hopefully you will find something new you enjoy in each installment.

ANTHESIS – THE AGE OF SELF

Anthesis are yet another killer band I was made aware of by my good friend and fellow obscure music junkie, Amir Ostrowsky. I was very impressed with the music here after he sent me The Age Of Self, so it definitely warranted coverage in this article. Continue reading »

A DOOMED DESCENT (PART 3): TEMPLE OF VOID, VÖLUR, SHAPE OF DESPAIR

 Album Reviews  1 Response »
Oct 172017
 

 

(We present Part 3 of a series of reviews by our Russian connoisseur of all things doom, Comrade Aleks, and today he shares impressions of, and music from, three more 2017 releases. Go here to check out Part 1 and here for Part 2.)

The Doom Cult reveals its brutal nature tonight…

First of all, I’d like to remind you of the well-known ghouls from Temple Of Void. Next is the heathen coven Völur with their latest record Ancestors. And the third stage of this doom descent is Shape Of Despair, in case you missed the reissue of their monumental demo Alone In The Mist. Continue reading »

SKINEATER: “CEREBRAL RELICS”

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Oct 162017
 

 

(Norway-based metal writer Karina Noctum returns to NCS with this review of the new EP by the Swedish death metal band Skineater.)

In addition to contributing to NCS, I do like to post music on two fairly big Facebook pages (Death Metal Institute and Viking, Folk, Black Metal and more). We get hundreds of post requests weekly and I keep on opening them because at times I stumble across something as good as Skineater’s Cerebral Relics.

This Death Metal band has members from acts such as Wombbath, In Thy Dreams, Pale King, Geist, Infernaeon, Ninety Minute Reflex, The Absence, Defiatory, Feared, and Wachenfeldt. Continue reading »

THE BEST OF BRITISH, 2017 (PART 8): HORRIFIED / OVEROTH / THE KING IS BLIND

 Album Reviews  4 Responses »
Oct 152017
 

 

(Here’s another edition of Andy Synn’s series of reviews focusing on sonic extremities from his homeland.)

So it turns out that it’s been over two months since I last put together one of these columns.

That doesn’t mean that there’ve been no good albums issued from these green and pleasant lands in the meantime of course (as a matter of fact I’ve reviewed albums by Dvne, Vacivus, Paradise Lost, and Dawn Ray’d in the intervening period), just that I haven’t had the time or the wherewithal to collate the right candidates for a proper “Best of British” collection.

That all ends today though, with this Death Metal focussed feature on three of the UK’s brightest and fastest-rising stars. Continue reading »

HUMAN EXCORIATION: “CELESTIAL DEVOURMENT”

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Oct 122017
 

 

(Our friend from the Dominican Republic, Vonlughlio, who loves brutal death metal more than food, prepared this review of the first album in a decade by Human Excoriation.)

So today I wanted to do a small write-up about a band whose music I was familiar with only through a couple of songs from their first album. The band is the US BDM act Human Excoriation, and this past June they released their sophomore effort entitled Celestial Devourment via Pathologically Explicit Recordings.   The fact that this label released the album and that Justin Downs (Purulent Necrosis, Vituperate, Scatology Secretion) was in charge of vocals, peaked my interest in this project.

The band was formed back in 2006 by Travis Cook and Nate Turpin after Methadone Abortion Clinic. The purpose of this new project was to remove the skin of humanity, and with the release of their 2007 debut album Virulent Infestation you can witness that. It has all the BDM standards (lyrics and all) and it has become among my favorite debuts. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): BLOODSTRIKE — “EXECUTION OF VIOLENCE”

 Album Reviews, Premieres  No Responses »
Oct 112017
 

 

When you listen to some albums, you get the undeniable feeling that the people in the band really — really — love what they’re doing, that they’re in the throes of a fierce enthusiasm for the kind of music they’re making. And when that kind of passion is communicated through the songwriting and the performances, it becomes highly infectious, like the raging fever of a disease. That’s the feeling I got when listening to Bloodstrike’s new album, Execution of Violence — which we’re streaming for you today in advance of its October 13 release by Redefining Darkness Records and Raw Skull Recordz.

In this band’s case, the principal subject of their explosive devotion is Swedish death metal of the old school, an homage to a pantheon that includes such names as Entombed, Grave, Unleashed, and Dismember — though there’s more than a little Bolt Thrower dedication in the music as well. “Explosive” and “infectious” really are the right words for it — or at least two of the right words. Other words include grisly, gruesome, supernatural, and macabre. Continue reading »

A DOOMED DESCENT (PART 2): MARCHAFUNEBRE, KABBALAH, ECHOLOT

 Album Reviews  1 Response »
Oct 112017
 

 

(We present Part 2 of a series of reviews by our Russian connoisseur of all things doom, Comrade Aleks, and today he shares impressions of, and music from, three more 2017 releases. Go here to check out Part 1 of this series)

Today we’ll meet three faces of doom: a traditional one performed by Marchafunebre, vintage rocking by Kabbalah, and psychedelic and bluesy stylings from Echolot.

 

Marchafunebre:  Under Will (Australis Records)

Inspired by Solitude Aeturnus and late Candlemass, this Chilean band appeared seven years ago. The hour-long EP includes Marchefunebre’s first demo Hymns Of The Final Holocaust (2010) and three new tracks. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE: NAZGHOR — “INFERNAL APHORISM”

 Album Reviews, Premieres  2 Responses »
Oct 112017
 

 

The Swedish black metal band Nazghor continue their relentless march forward with their sixth album in less than five years. Their latest achievement, Infernal Aphorism, will be released on Friday the 13th of October by Non Serviam Records, and as we did when their last album was released in 2016, today we present a full stream of the new one.

As has become a pattern for Nazghor, established almost from the beginning, the new album is a 10-track, hour-long affair. In the face of such prolific creativity, it’s worth asking again the logical question: How good can the music be when it flows in such a torrent, with these very substantial albums appearing in such rapid succession?

Well, I’m pleased to report that the music of this new one, just as was true of 2016’s Death’s Withered Chant, is tremendously good — quite possibly the pinnacle of their achievements so far. Continue reading »

AN NCS EP PREMIERE: KHANDRA — “ALL IS OF NO AVAIL”

 Album Reviews, Premieres, SHORT BUT SWEET  4 Responses »
Oct 102017
 

 

I have very little background information about Khandra. They are a new black metal band from Minsk in Belarus. Based on the photos included in this post, the line-up appears to consist of two men, although I don’t know their identities or what musical endeavors they might have pursued before forming this alliance. It is a classic case of the music having to speak for itself.

On October 11, Khandra will release their debut EP through Bandcamp. Its title suggests the emotional cast of the music — All Is Of No Avail. The names of the two songs convey the sense of a similarly gloomy mood: “Where Death Has Settled In Life” and “Presence Is No Longer Relevant“. But what of the music itself? Continue reading »

FLESHKILLER: “AWAKEN”

 Album Reviews, Exceptions to the Rule  2 Responses »
Oct 102017
 

 

(Here is Andy Synn’s review of the debut album by the Norwegian band Fleshkiller, which was released on September 15.)

It’s no great secret that a number of the NCS crew are fans of Extol, myself included.

So when it was announced (quietly) that the band were going back on hiatus, but that guitarist/songwriter Ole Børud would be continuing on in the same vein with his new project Fleshkiller I’ll admit that my feelings were somewhat mixed.

On the one hand the realisation that there wouldn’t be any more Extol for the foreseeable future (if ever) certainly stung but, at the same time, I was happy to know that Børud would be carrying on the band’s legacy by repurposing the riffs, melodies, and songs that had already been written into material for Awaken.

Because, and let’s be brutally honest here, his guitar work has always been probably the most defining element behind Extol’s sound, just as it is the driving force behind Fleshkiller. Continue reading »

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