IGORRR: “SAVAGE SINUSOID”

 Album Reviews  5 Responses »
Jun 222017
 

 

(In this post TheMadIsraeli reviews the new album by the French band Igorrr, which was released within the past week by Metal Blade Records.)

 

Sometimes, when it comes to metal or heavy music in general, a concentrated dose of proper fucking insanity is the right call. Sometimes, you don’t need lyrics and sometimes all is said by a good vocalist shrieking his mind out into a mic with no intention of conveying anything other than exactly what you hear. Sometimes, you need accordion. Lots of fucking accordion. Continue reading »

HEIRESS: “RESTLESS AIM”

 Album Reviews  No Responses »
Jun 212017
 

 

(Andy Synn reviews the new album by Seattle-based Heiress.)

 

Listening to this collection of material – some of it simply rare, some as-yet-unreleased – by Seattle metallites Heiress, is something of a bittersweet experience for me, due to how much it recalls two of my favourite, and now sadly defunct, bands – Himsa and Burst.

The similarity to the former is mostly accounted for by the presence of one John Pettibone – whose voice has lost none of its savage, sandpapery snarl – behind the microphone, but heavier numbers such as “Kodiak” and “Suffocate On Command” also have more elements than just the vocals in common with the dearly-departed Thrash-core quintet.

But the comparison to Burst is also undeniable at times, as the band’s particular brand of atmospheric, Hardcore-tinged Post-Metal is often a dead-ringer for that of the (in)famous Swedes, and songs such as “Restless Aim” – all fluid, hypnotic rhythms and sparkling melodic undercurrents – and the punchy, punky catharsis of “Distant Hold” could almost have been drawn straight from Origo or Lazarus Bird if you’re willing to squint a little. Continue reading »

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

 Album Reviews, Premieres  9 Responses »
Jun 202017
 

 

Undergang have become masters of a particular kind of lean and mean audio horror, one that is simultaneously brutish and primitive, atmospherically morbid and grotesque, mercilessly destructive, physically jolting, and virally infectious. They write compact songs that are nevertheless dynamic in their pacing and rhythmically varied. And they execute their strategies just as masterfully as they have conceived them.

All of these talents are powerfully on display in this Danish band’s new album Misantropologi, which will be released by Dark Descent Records on June 23, and today we have the privilege of bringing you the streaming premiere of all 10 tracks. Continue reading »

DEITY: “DEITY”

 Album Reviews  1 Response »
Jun 202017
 

 

(TheMadIsraeli wrote this review of the self-titled debut album by the Canadian death metal band Deity, which was released earlier this month.)

 

I have a very hard time getting into a lot of the technical and progressive death metal that’s being released these days because so much of it misses the fucking point. It’s all plastic mixes, weak noodly riffs, with death metal as the least prevalent of ingredients. It just… isn’t death metal, man. Whether bands are fellating their fretboard with an overly digitized guitar tone and simply running through rote, stock melodic progressions or playing what amounts to really bad progressive rock with weak black metal vocals and no power, it’s no wonder I’ve tended to gravitate toward either old school death metal, or death metal that’s just straightforward and no bullshit.

Sometimes, though, I run across bands like Deity and my hope is restored. I remember the beauty, the majesty, and the putrid overwhelming crushing power that can be channeled once the musicianship and spirit are on par with each other. Continue reading »

BENEATH THE NCS RADAR (PART 24): SKÁPHE, NETHERBIRD, IMINDAIN, MOONLIGHT PROPHECY,

 Album Reviews  3 Responses »
Jun 192017
 

 

(Our friend Gorger from Norway brings us this 24th installment in his ongoing series reviewing releases we’ve overlooked. To find more of his discoveries, type “Gorger” in our search bar or visit Gorger’s Metal.)

Four reviews in a row means quite a lot of text to ingest. I’ve been pondering on a way to decrease the amount without compromising too much on the content. I’ve come up blank save for one solution. A means that involves resorting to self-promotion. I was hoping to avoid this attention-seeking hey-look-at-me-everyone approach, but what the hell, I’ll give narcissism a shot.

Feel free to comment on this, the music or how your wife left you due to you wasting three years on a useless Ph.D. on perpendicular circular movements in vacuum. Or simply enjoy some tunes without blabbermouthing about it, if that suits you. Continue reading »

WODE: “SERVANTS OF THE COUNTERCOSMOS”

 Album Reviews  4 Responses »
Jun 192017
 

 

(Andy Synn prepared this review of the new album by Wode.)

 

The absolutely stunning self-titled album by British Black Metal initiates Wode was, without doubt, one of the finest albums released in 2016.

In fact, I felt so strongly about this assertion that I even went as far as to select it as part of my Critical Top Ten albums, stating that it captured “the true spirit of classic Black Metal with unflinching, unapologetic ferocity, without ever resorting to simply aping the classics” – a statement, and a decision, which I continue to stand by today.

Clearly aiming to capitalise on the momentum generated by their debut, the Mancunian quartet (now incorporating the additional guitar and synth work of one Karl Sveinsson) wasted no time in writing and recording their second album, Servants of the Countercosmos, which finally dropped at the end of last month, and which is available right now from the group’s Bandcamp site.

The big question, however, is this – is the band’s latest slab of blackened beef as devilishly delicious as their debut, or has the short turn-around time between albums left things feeling a little… undercooked? Continue reading »

ANDY SYNN PRESENTS: REVIEWS IN HAIKUS (COLDFELLS, PURE WRATH, ROSK)

 Album Reviews, Reviews In Haikus  10 Responses »
Jun 162017
 

 

(We present another edition of Andy Synn’s three-line reviews.)

With Islander and associates currently knee-deep in the complexities and logistics of this weekend’s Northwest Terror Fest, it looks like it’s fallen to me to try and keep the lights on around here.

Honestly, the things I do for this place…

Anyway, to keep things ticking over, here’s a little something to highlight three bands who have, so far, slipped between the cracks of our usually comprehensive coverage (other than a couple of mentions in some round-ups), all of whom lean towards the darker, more atmospheric side of things. Continue reading »

DEATH FORTRESS: “TRIUMPH OF THE UNDYING”

 Album Reviews  7 Responses »
Jun 152017
 

 

(Andy Synn reviews the just-released new album by New Jersey’s Death Fortress.)

Following the release of their debut album, Among the Ranks of the Unconquerable, New Jersey triumvirate Death Fortress quickly became one of my favourite Black Metal acts of the modern era.

Heck, I’d even go so far as to say that they’re one of the very best Black Metal bands ever to come out of the USA at this point.

As a result, my expectations for this, their third full-length album, are practically sky-high, and I’ve been champing at the bit to get my hands on it ever since it was announced.

So, now that the album has finally appeared online (with surprisingly little fanfare), it’s time to see whether the third time is (still) the charm. Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK (PART 3): EREB ALTOR, LVX HÆRESIS, BLYH, FELLWARDEN, WĘDROWCY-TUŁACZE-ZBIEGI

 Album Reviews, Exceptions to the Rule, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC, SHADES OF BLACK  2 Responses »
Jun 132017
 

 

This is the third and final installment of a SHADES OF BLACK feature that I began two days ago. You’ll be shocked to learn that as long as this post has been, I added music from two more bands on top of what I originally planned for this Part 3 yesterday. If I hadn’t been placed in restraints by orderlies here at the asylum, I would have added more.

EREB ALTOR

The wonderful Swedish band Ereb Altor, who have taken their main cues (but not their only ones) from the mythic Viking metal of Bathory as established in Hammerheart and Twilight of the Gods, have a new album named Ulfven that will arrive on July 21 via Hammerheart Records. Earlier today they revealed a song from the album that’s simply magnificent. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): TIRED MINDS — “LOOM”

 Album Reviews, Premieres  No Responses »
Jun 122017
 

 

Loom is the new album by the post-hardcore band Tired Minds from Newcastle, Australia. It’s scheduled for release on June 16 by Art As Catharsis, and today we bring you a full stream of the album.

“Post-hardcore” can be an amorphous label, encompassing a range of different sounds with greater or lesser degrees of hardcore in the scaffolding of the music and variations in the other construction materials as well. In the case of Tired Minds, attempting to formulate a linguistic synopsis for the music is especially challenging — Art As Catharsis pulls together references that extend from The Dillinger Escape Plan to Converge, from La Dispute to Cursed, and even The Bronx. And indeed, this wrecking crew aren’t moving down any well-manicured, well-mapped, straight-ahead path. And “easy listening” definitely isn’t a term in their vocabulary. Continue reading »

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