Album Reviews Archives - Page 378 of 557

THE KING IS BLIND: “OUR FATHER”

Mar 022016

(Andy Synn reviews the debut album by The King Is Blind, released in January by Cacophonous Records.)

Going into this review I was, for some reason, under the strong impression that I’d covered UK Death Metal types The King Is Blind before here at NCS. However, a quick search revealed only a cursory mention of the band here and there and, as it turns out, the last time I wrote about them at any sort of length was for Terrorizer over a year and a half ago… oh, the humanity!

Thankfully, the release of the band’s debut album Our Father affords me an opportunity to correct this egregious oversight, as the Essex quintet have come out all guns blazing with this one! Continue reading »

MOONSORROW: “JUMALTEN AIKA”

Album Reviews 4 Responses »

Mar 012016

(Wil Cifer reviews the new album by Finland’s Moonsorrow.)

It’s been five years since the Finnish overlords of pagan metal left us with Varjoina kuljemme kuolleiden maassa. The new album, Jumalten Aika (“The Age of Gods”), opens with folk instruments, creating a ritualistic aura. After a minute and a half of this they storm into the larger-than-life metal you have come to expect from them.

The black metal side of what they do is toned down on this album, as this one dives into folk metal on an epic scale. Holding true to their mission statement, the album does have a commanding Viking feel, without inspiring you to go into a jig with your drinking horn. Continue reading »

POGAVRANJEN: “JEDVA ČEKAM DA NIKAD NE UMREM”

Album Reviews 1 Response »

Mar 012016

(Allen Griffin reviews the new album by Pogavranjen, which only yesterday KevinP praised at our site as one of February’s top 5 releases.)

Croatian Black Metal madmen Pogavranjen have just released their latest full-length, Jedva Čekam Da Nikad Ne Umrem, courtesy of Poland’s Arachnophobia Records. Those familiar with the band’s avant-garde tendencies will not be surprised to find that the group have delved deeper into indescribable and unknowable depths on their latest opus. Whereas past releases have found the group twisting Black Metal in a myriad of unexpected directions, Jedva Cekam Da Nikad Ne Umrem shows them transcending normal genre categories to settle into a sound entirely their own. Continue reading »

SHORT BUT SWEET: SYNODIK — “A MATTER OF PERCEPTION”

Album Reviews, SHORT BUT SWEET 2 Responses »

Mar 012016

(Andy Synn reviews the latest release by the Italian band Synodik.)

It was way back in 2012 when itinerant Italian Tech-Death types Synodik released their debut album, which largely flew under the radar for most people (including yours truly). In fact I almost missed out on their latest EP as well, seeing as how it was actually released over 12 months ago now, and I honestly only stumbled across its existence by pure chance.

You’ll be thankful I did though as, despite the fact that it’s only a mere three tracks long (one introduction, and two full songs), there’s a lot here to satisfy even the most discerning of Progressive/Technical Death Metal aficionados… and hopefully grab the band a few new fans in the process. Continue reading »

SHORT BUT SWEET: ROTTEN COLD / DISTASTE (SPLIT) AND W R I T H E (SELF-TITLED)

Album Reviews, SHORT BUT SWEET 2 Responses »

Feb 292016

(DGR brings us two reviews of two new cataclysmic musical assaults.)

The foraging for new sounds with which to ruin your hearing never stops here at NoCleanSinging, it just happens to move a little slower than usual as work hits its busy season for a few weeks. As such, I’ve been in the mood for the sort of music that can wipe away any sense of reality by fire, and I figured I’d share my two most recent listens that have allowed me to do that.

Both of these hit in January and have been sort of waiting in my back pocket, armed and ready to be deployed at a moment’s notice and, almost inevitably, something happens that causes one’s day to go sideways. Both of these releases are short, quick hits of adrenalin to the system and they both appear angry as hell. So if you need a good way to light a match on your day, here goes…

ROTTEN COLD / DISTASTE: A SPLIT

A few years ago I went on something of a grind kick here at NCS. Never really delved too deep into the underground, but had found a list of bands that I thoroughly enjoyed. A lot of them, to no surprise, took a lot of inspiration from bands like Nasum/Rotten Sound (who themselves have a disc hitting really soon) and more, from that specific breed of grind band. They were all lightspeed-heavy, blaster-style bands, and the whole thing that triggered my exploration was curiosity as to what musician had been in what project and what side projects they had been in. Continue reading »

SHORT BUT SWEET: ITHAQUA (“THE BLACK MASS SABBATH PULSE”) AND CRUSTY OLD TOAD (“NEFARIOUS OCCURRENCE”)

Album Reviews, SHORT BUT SWEET 7 Responses »

Feb 272016

It’s possible that I owe each of these two bands an apology for reviewing their new releases alongside each other. I swear I wasn’t trying to be ironic or make any mischief. It just happened that I listened to both of them back-to-back, liked them both (for somewhat different reasons), and was anxious to spill some words about them. So I’m striking while the iron is hot in my head.

ITHAQUA: “THE BLACK MASS SABBATH PULSE”

When I first came across this band’s debut demo Initiation To Obscure Mysteries more than a year ago (here), I didn’t know anything about them other than the fact that they seemed to be from Greece. But that demo was an arresting experience, and I felt grateful that Iron Bonehead spread it around.

Now, a year later, Ithaqua finally have a page on Metal-Archives (along with the other bands with the same name who are not them), they seem to have attracted a following, and Iron Bonehead will again be releasing their music. This time it’s a two-song 7″ named The Black Mass Sabbath Pulse, and it’s even more impressive than the demo. Continue reading »

INVERLOCH: “DISTANCE|COLLAPSED”

Album Reviews 3 Responses »

Feb 262016

(Allen Griffin rejoins us with this review of the new album by Inverloch from Melbourne, Australia.)

Following up 2012’s critically acclaimed EP Dusk|Subside, Australian Doom/Death juggernaut Inverloch are set to release their debut full-length Distance|Collapsed this March via Relapse Records. Inverloch consists of Mark Cullen (guitars), Ben James (vocals), Chris Jordan (bass), Paul Mazziota (drums), and Matthew Skarajew (guitars), and you won’t read anything about this band without reference to Mazziota and Skarajew’s involvement with the seminal diSEMBOWELMENT, and this particular article will be no different. But there is certainly justification for this beyond the two bands’ sharing common members, seeing as how Inverloch started off under the moniker d.USK, performing material from diSEMBOWELMENT’s only official album, Transcending into the Peripheral. And while Inverloch might be performing original material, their sound is perfectly in keeping with their lineage.

For the uninitiated, what we are dealing with here is a Death/Doom hybrid that trawls through the darkest depths of crypt stench. The most immediate analogues for this sound are Incantation’s first two albums or, in more recent times, the work of Hooded Menace. But with Inverloch, there are also elements that add a more obscure, or what one might call a mystical, slant to the material. The group achieves this by juxtaposing clean guitars over the top of the crushing foundation laid down by the rest of the band. This is a consistent feature of both incarnations of this outfit and one of the things that makes them so fascinating. Continue reading »

THE SYNN REPORT, PART 69: ORANSSI PAZUZU

Album Reviews, THE SYNN REPORT 3 Responses »

Feb 262016

(In this new edition of THE SYNN REPORT, Andy Synn has picked a fine day to review the discography-to-date of Finnish marvels Oranssi Pazuzu — including the band’s brand new album that’s due for release today, for which we have a full album stream for you to hear.)

Recommended for fans of: Nachtmystium, (mid-period) Enslaved, Killing Joke

After two more Death Metal leaning editions of The Synn Report, I think it’s time to take things in a… different… direction. And, if there’s one thing that can be said about Oranssi Pazuzu it’s that they’re definitely “different”.

After all, the Finnish quintet have never been your stereotypical Black Metal act and have rarely, if ever, played up to the expectations of their audience. Over the course of the last 9-or-so years the quintet have released three (now four) critically applauded albums fusing the base elements of Black Metal with massive injections of proggy psychedelia and surrealistic sonic experimentation, constantly pushing their sound in ever more unusual, unconventional directions.

With their fourth full-length album Värähtelijä set for release today, now seemed like the perfect time to suit up and take a trip out into the void in the company of these Finnish cosmonauts! Continue reading »

GOMORRAH: “THE HARUSPEX”

Album Reviews 8 Responses »

Feb 242016

(Andy Synn reviews the new album by Gomorrah from western Canada. Full music stream included.)

Are you a fan of Origin? Cattle Decapitation? Carnifex? Blood Red Throne?

How about massive, mechanised Death Metal with hints of Deathcore brutality and a poisonous undercurrent of blackened, industrial effluent?

Then do I have an album for you… Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE: RIPPER — “EXPERIMENT OF EXISTENCE”

Album Reviews, Premieres 9 Responses »

Feb 242016

In the early days of this new year we had the pleasure of hosting a song premiere from the new album by the Chilean hell-raisers in Ripper, along with a review of the album by our guest Allen Griffin, who summed up the music with these words:

“Titled Experiments of Existence, this release in many ways appears to channel the savagery of groups like Possessed, Dark Angel, and particularly Pleasure to Kill-era Kreator. Yet, one thing that quickly becomes apparent to the listener is the precision of execution. One hesitates to use the term ‘technical’ for all the baggage that comes along with it, but this difficult material is performed flawlessly. The aggression, though, is never compromised. This is neither Watchtower nor Voivod, just a death/thrash hybrid performed at the highest standard.”

Today we’re bringing you the chance to discover fully for yourselves what Allen was talking about as we premiere a full stream of Experiment of Existence. Continue reading »

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