THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER: “NIGHTBRINGERS”

 Album Reviews  4 Responses »
Sep 282017
 

 

(Andy Synn reviews the new album by The Black Dahlia Murder in advance of its October 6 release by Metal Blade Records.)

It’s extremely fitting that the striking, crimson-hued cover art that you see above has been provided by the legendary Kristian Wåhlin, aka Necrolord, who last worked with The Black Dahlia Murder on the cover for their career-defining Nocturnal, as Nightbringers is without a doubt the band’s best release since their 2007 breakthrough.

That’s not to disparage or denigrate the albums the band have put out in the intervening years (Deflorate in particular remains a personal favourite of mine), but the harsh, bitter, ugly truth of the matter is that, try as they might, the Michigan quintet have never quite managed to fully replicate that strange mix of power and precision, heaviness and hooks, menace and melody, that came together on their third record.

But album number eight definitely comes very, very close. Continue reading »

LOINCLOTH: “PSALM OF THE MORBID WHORE”

 Album Reviews  1 Response »
Sep 282017
 

 

(Todd Manning reviews the new album by the Virginia/North Carolina instrumental metal band Loincloth, which will be released by Southern Lord on September 29.)

During the Death Metal explosion of the early ’90s, there existed an anomaly on Earache’s legendary roster, an incredibly complex and off-kilter Doom Metal act by the name of Confessor. Boasting dramatic, high-pitched vocals and very technical music, Confessor stuck out like a sore thumb in a scene dominated by blast beats and death growls. At the time, most people obsessed over the vocals. But nowadays, the world seems to have come around and considered their debut, Condemned, to be a classic, and in those conversations it’s the music getting equal attention.

After the band broke up for the first time, while in the midst of trying to follow up their debut, bassist Cary Rowells and drummer Steve Shelton went on to form Fly Machine and then subsequently moved on to Loincloth, an instrumental trio in which they are joined by guitarist Tannon Penland. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: RUNESPELL — “UNHALLOWED BLOOD OATH”

 Album Reviews, Premieres  5 Responses »
Sep 272017
 

 

The first press release I saw for the debut album of Australia’s Runespell concluded by describing it as a “mesmerizing maelstrom of alternately grim/gorgeous frequencies”, presenting “flickering refractions of times distant and as yet lived, black metal wielded as weapon, totem, and portal simultaneously”. All those sentiments I’ve quoted are accurate, but the one that rang most true is the characterization of the music as a portal into the past.

In one sense that rings true because the music links arms with the venerated traditions of Scandinavian second-wave black metal, but it’s also true in another sense: The music has a mythic atmosphere, one that casts the mind’s eye back into distant centuries, to times (whether imagined or real) that have spawned sagas of warlike defiance and sacrifice, of bloodshed and bereavement, of heroic striving and irredeemable loss. To make your way through this vividly imagined and beautifully rendered album is to become moved, and enthralled.

And we will now give you a chance to make your own way through the album as we premiere a full stream of Unhallowed Blood Oath in advance of its September 29 release by Iron Bonehead Productions. Continue reading »

AN NCS EP PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): SAINT BARTHELEMY’S TEMPLE — “THE COLD MOUTH OF THE EARTH”

 Album Reviews, Premieres, SHORT BUT SWEET  No Responses »
Sep 272017
 

 

On the night of 23–24 August 1572 (the eve of the feast of Bartholomew the Apostle), the king of France ordered the killing of a group of French Protestants who had gathered in Paris to attend a royal wedding. The assassinations led to a wave of Catholic mob violence that spread throughout the city and into the countryside, resulting in the deaths of thousands.

The French extreme metal band Saint Barthelemy’s Temple have taken this paroxysm of violence and hatred as the inspiration for their name, and their new twenty-minute EP The Cold Mouth of the Earth will soon be released in October by Atavism Records. Today we bring you a full stream of its three powerful tracks — “De Potentia Saturni“, “To the Baneful Oblivion“, and “The Sword of the Victor“. Continue reading »

FOREVER PLAYING CATCH-UP (PART 2): KUUJEOJABENOJUJANOMIASHIKUSHIJA, THE HEADS ARE ZEROS, EMPIRINE

 Album Reviews  3 Responses »
Sep 272017
 

 

(This is the second part of a multi-part series by Austin Weber focusing on 2017 releases that we haven’t previously reviewed. Part 3 will follow tomorrow, and further installments are expected next week.)

 

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, and that delayed it until now. The focus here is on releases that dropped in 2017 that haven’t been covered at NCS yet. We’ll run through a boatload of harsh and unorthodox black metal, mountains of mathcore, death metal of all stripes, a few technical grindcore acts, a ton of different prog-metal bands, some sick instrumental metal jams, and a whole lot more. Hopefully you will find something new you enjoy in each installment.

KUUJEOJABENOJUJANOMIASHIKUSHIJA – HHEOALLE

If the name wasn’t a dead give-away, Kuujeojabenojujanomiashikushija are a strange fucking group, but thankfully it’s the good kind of weird. Avant-garde and experimental black/death is the name of the game here, and yet Kuujeojabenojujanomiashikushija’s take on the burgeoning style is fresh and uniquely eerie. At times quite minimalist and subtly psychedelic, the music on HHEOALLE has a distinctly smooth feeling in how it unfurls that I really enjoy.  Continue reading »

BLUT AUS NORD: A REVIEW OF “DEUS SALUTIS MEÆ” AND THE PREMIERE OF “APOSTASIS”

 Album Reviews, Premieres  9 Responses »
Sep 272017
 

 

At the bottom of this post you’ll find the first public streaming of a song from Deus Salutis Meæ (“God of My Salvation”), the new album by Blut Aus Nord. It’s the album’s fifth track and its name is “Apostasis“. It’s a great song by a groundbreaking band, and I wouldn’t blame you in the least if you skipped down and began listening, whether you continue reading what follows or not.

But if you’re curious about why I chose this song, how it fits within the album, and what else the album holds in store — though not in that precise order — read on. Continue reading »

VATTNET: “VATTNET”

 Album Reviews, Exceptions to the Rule  6 Responses »
Sep 262017
 

 

(Andy Synn reviews the new self-titled album by the newly named Vattnet, an exception to the Rule in our blog’s title.)

Let’s get down to brass tacks right away, shall we? Just because a band changes their sound doesn’t make them sell-outs/traitors/false… but, by the same token, when a band you love does decide to change their sound, there’s no rule that says you have to like it.

I know that statement might seem painfully obvious to most of you, but I felt like it needed stressing again, as I’ve lost count of the amount of sweeping generalisations and wild accusations I’ve seen thrown around by the various factions of fans (and ex-fans) of this band in response to the release of their new, eponymously-titled, album.

It’s definitely a fact however that Vattnet (formerly Vattnet Viskar) have radically reinvented their sound here, in a way that I imagine a lot of their old fans might not appreciate… Continue reading »

FOREVER PLAYING CATCH-UP (PART 1): RETAIL MONKEY, INCREATE, ESCHER

 Album Reviews  No Responses »
Sep 262017
 

 

(Today Austin Weber begins a multi-part series focusing on 2017 releases that we haven’t previously reviewed. Parts 2 and 3 will follow tomorrow and Thursday, and further installments are expected next week.)

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, and that delayed it until now. The focus here is on releases that dropped in 2017 that haven’t been covered at NCS yet. We’ll run through a boatload of harsh and unorthodox black metal, mountains of mathcore, death metal of all stripes, a few technical grindcore acts, a ton of different prog-metal bands, some sick instrumental metal jams, and a whole lot more. Hopefully you will find something new you enjoy in each installment.

RETAIL MONKEY – ADD/NIHILISM

Once again, I have the fine folks at Mathcore Index to thank for showing me another band I felt compelled to cover, and this time it’s Retail Monkey. Continue reading »

AN NCS EP PREMIERE: GOLDEN BATS — “SUPERPLATEAU”

 Album Reviews, Premieres, SHORT BUT SWEET  No Responses »
Sep 252017
 

 

I’m a relative latecomer to the music of Golden Bats, a distinctive one-man mauling machine from the vicinity of Brisbane, Australia. The first release I heard was the Falling Sparrows EP that surfaced last spring. It made an impact, something like a grenade going off inside my skull. I’m now keeping a close watch on what Golden Bats is doing.

Today Golden Bats has revealed a new two-song EP named Superplateau, which I had the shivering pleasure of hearing in advance of the release, and I’m helping spread the word about it… because it’s very good. Continue reading »

AN NCS EP PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): KULT MOGIŁ — “PORTENTAQUE”

 Album Reviews, Premieres, SHORT BUT SWEET  1 Response »
Sep 212017
 

 

Almost  two years on from the release of their debut album Anxiety Never Descending, the Polish death metal band Kult Mogił (whose name translates to “cult of graves”) have surfaced again with a new EP named Portentaque. It is an immaculate rendering of madness, each of its three tracks intricately plotted, constantly changing, persistently fascinating, and deeply unnerving.

The EP will be released by Pagan Records on September 29, and today we’re helping to premiere what has become one of my favorite EPs of 2017. Continue reading »

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