AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): OBITUS — “SLAVES OF THE VAST MACHINE”

 Album Reviews, Premieres  5 Responses »
Feb 132017
 

 

The Swedish black metal band Obitus have done something remarkable: They’ve made a 45-minute album consisting of a single song that’s on the attack relentlessly, and yet it’s a harrowing thrill-ride straight through to the end.

Now you can either skip straight to the end of this post and start listening to our stream premiere, or you can continue reading, but I wouldn’t recommend trying to do both at the same time — or trying to do anything else while listening to this onslaught. For those who might be interested in more of a preview before you throw yourself into the tornado, I shall continue. Continue reading »

WARPATH: “BULLETS FOR A DESERT SESSION”

 Album Reviews  1 Response »
Feb 132017
 

 

(TheMadIsraeli reviews the new album by Warpath from Hamburg, Germany, which is out now via Massacre Records.)

Warpath are an interesting musical discovery for me. Originally a thrash metal band that had some moderate underground recognition in the ’90s, the band hung it up until the culmination of a reunion that resulted in a subsequent comeback album. Vocalist Dirk Weiss is the only original member, collecting an entirely new lineup. Warpath, in name, has come back, but with a new sound and one that’s impressive. It would be a shame for people to miss out on this.

Bullets For A Desert Session is a powerful testament to hybridization in metal, and an impressive metallic golem of deathly proportions. While thrash metal is still a part of Warpath’s sound, the band have mixed in the metallic heft and drag of bands like Celtic Frost and Crowbar, the filth of High On Fire, and a style of death/thrash that sounds a lot like The Crown. Dirk Weiss’s vocals are almost like a demonic version of Lemmy Kilmister mixed with the low-end grit of The Crown’s own Johan Lindstrand. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE: HEREZA — “I BECOME DEATH”

 Album Reviews, Premieres  4 Responses »
Feb 132017
 

 

There’s a song on the new album by HerezA called “Uništi, Pali, Ruši”, which are the Croatian words for “destroy, burn, tear it down”. Those same words could be the banner for the album as a whole, though the album’s name is equally indicative of what lies within: I Become Death.

This is HerezA’s second album, following their 2015 debut full-length, Misanthrope. The new one is being released today by the Polish extreme metal label Godz ov War Productions, and below we have a full stream of the album for you. Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK (PART 2): AORATAS, KASSAD, PANDEMONIUM, KEISER, SEMINARY, CAFFA

 Album Reviews, SHADES OF BLACK, SHORT BUT SWEET  1 Response »
Feb 132017
 

 

This is Part 2 of a post I started yesterday and decided to divide because I kind of went overboard with the volume of music. As I explained yesterday, this 2-parter includes streams of two full albums, three full EPs, two singles (I added one since yesterday), and advance tracks from two forthcoming releases. And lots of my words, of course. In the middle, I’ve spliced one very exciting piece of news… which comes first today.

AORATAS

On Friday, Debemur Morti Productions announced that Naas Alcameth, the mastermind behind Nightbringer and Akhlys, has joined the label with a new project named Aoratas, and an album that will be released later this year.

The announcement included a statement by Naas Alcameth that I’m just going to quote in full. I trust I don’t need to explain why this is newsworthy, but if an explanation is needed, I’d simply point you to the stream of The Dreaming I, which I’ve included below the statement. Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK (PART 1): HETROERTZEN, IMPERCEPTUM, IMHA TARIKAT, ANCIENT TUNDRA

 Album Reviews, Metal News, SHADES OF BLACK, SHORT BUT SWEET  4 Responses »
Feb 122017
 

 

I tend to go overboard with the volume of music in these Shades of Black posts, but this one includes even more minutes of listening than usual. In this one you’ll find streams of two full albums, three full EPs, one single, and advance tracks from two forthcoming releases. And lots of my words, of course. In the middle, I’ve also spliced one very exciting piece of news.

Due to the size of this post, I’ve divided it into two parts. Part 2 is almost finished, but because of the volume of music here in Part 1 and in yesterday’s post, I think I’ll wait until first thing tomorrow to unveil it.

HETROERTZEN

Hetroertzen is a Chilean band now based in Sweden. I first discovered them through the music on their last album, 2014’s Ain Soph Aur (which I reviewed at length here). Their new album, Uprising of the Fallen, is now set for release by their new label Listenable Records on February 24. Continue reading »

GLOSON: “GRIMEN”

 Album Reviews  6 Responses »
Feb 092017
 

 

(Here’s Andy Synn’s review of the new album by Sweden’s Gloson.)

Don’t you love it/hate it (delete as appropriate) when a band comes along, seemingly out of nowhere, with a debut album so good you struggle to grasp how they’ve actually managed it?

Because that’s exactly what Swedish Post-Sludgebringers Gloson have done. Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK: FERNDAL, MYSTAGOS, HYPNOS, MORAST, ERDVE, MISERY, EDEN WEINT IM GRAB

 Album Reviews, SHADES OF BLACK, SHORT BUT SWEET  10 Responses »
Feb 082017
 

 

Those of you impeccably tasteful metal aficionados who follow my Shades of Black posts know that I was too incapacitated to get one done for last Sunday. So I’m doing one now, although none of the songs collected here was included in what I planned to write about for last Sunday. I discovered all of these since then. I do still plan to complete the write-up I had originally conceived, perhaps later this week or at least for this coming Sunday.

FERNDAL

Yesterday, I was reminded about a German label named Einheit Produktionen by seeing their release schedule for the spring. I would have discovered these plans sooner if I’d been paying closer attention to our daily e-mail flood.

In April, Einheit will be discharging the self-titled debut album of a German black metal band named Ferndal, whose influences are described by Einheit as “reaching from Darkthrone to Windir, from Beethoven to Arvo Pärt and from baroque grace to romantic melancholy, within a veil of pure black metal aggression”. Is it any wonder I paused in my scurrying to have a listen to the first teaser of music? Continue reading »

ANDY SYNN PRESENTS: REVIEWS IN HAIKUS (BENIGHTED, HADAL MAW, AVERSION’S CROWN)

 Album Reviews, Reviews In Haikus  1 Response »
Feb 082017
 

 

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

Well, well, well… it looks like I’ve not done one of these since November.

Which I suppose isn’t too surprising, since most of December was dedicated to rounding up the previous twelve months in list form, as well as desperately scrambling to cover as many albums as possible before the end of the year, and most of last month was similarly focussed on catching up on some of the 2016 albums which we/you might have missed.

Thankfully I’m almost done looking backwards (yeah right) and am starting to switch my attention more and more towards new and upcoming albums from this, the year of our lord 2017.

So, in that spirit, here’s three albums of Death/Grind/Core goodness for you all to (hopefully) enjoy. Continue reading »

LORN: “ARRAYED CLAWS”

 Album Reviews  3 Responses »
Feb 072017
 

 

(TheMadIsraeli reviews the new album by the Italian band Lorn, which has just been released by I, Voidhanger Records.)

Black metal has rarely achieved that truly evil, blasphemous, horror sound that many bands have aspired to. It wasn’t until the style took a more melodic, progressive, and esoterically melodic approach that I started to care about it in the early 2000s or so. I don’t like Burzum, Bathory, or Darkthrone. Emperor was where my taste for the music started, and in following suit, all of my favorite black metal comes from that Emperor school of thought… until recently.

I suppose I couldn’t help but feel that first-wave and some second-wave black metal was just rather cartoony or something. I couldn’t take it seriously. I always wanted to hear an album or EP from this genre that truly succeeded in capturing the sound of a pit of hell opening up, or being trapped inside a dank chamber with a bunch of banshees torturing you with non-stop blood-curdling shrieks until you were incapable of knowing peace, sanity, or anything but the endless wail.

Lorn has done that. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): DIGIR GIDIM — “I THOUGHT THERE WAS THE SUN AWAITING MY AWAKENING”

 Album Reviews, Premieres  5 Responses »
Feb 072017
 

 

As I’ve mentioned before, we don’t agree to host premieres of music at our site until we have first listened to the music and concluded that it’s worth recommending to you, according to our own twisted tastes. When I began listening to what you’re about to hear, the band’s name was new to me and I had no clear idea what to expect. What I heard left me gasping and unnerved, emotionally stretched taut, and wide-eyed in wonder at what this mysterious duo had achieved. I felt myself enthralled by the unsettling sorcery of masters practicing a very dark but transportive art.

The band is Diĝir Gidim (whose location is unknown), and the title of the album is I Thought There Was the Sun Awaiting My Awakening. It will be released by ATMF on March 31, 2017. Continue reading »

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