Album Reviews Archives - Page 381 of 557

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): RHINE — “AN OUTSIDER”

Jan 292016

I knew Seattle’s Gabe Tachell was something special when I discovered Duality, the 2011 debut album of his then-solo project Rhine (briefly reviewed here). When I heard it, I became intrigued about what he might do next. But as head-spinning as Duality was, it still couldn’t have adequately prepared anyone for the almost boundless extravagance of the band’s new album An Outsider.

Since Duality, Tachell has surrounded himself with a talented group of other musicians for the band’s live performances (which are strikingly impressive) — guitarist Alex Smolin, bassist James Porter, and drummer Carlos Delgado. But for An Outsider, if I have my facts right, Tachell did everything again other than perform the drums, which were handled by Sean Lang — and that makes the results even more astonishing. Continue reading »

ODYSSEY: “VOIDS”

Album Reviews 3 Responses »

Jan 292016

(Austin Weber wrote this review of the new album by Odyssey from Spokane, Washington.)

Beyond being perennial favorites of a few of us here at NCS, Odyssey have always stood out to me as an instrumental act operating on a different wavelength than most of the instrumental metal I listen to. And I say that as someone who listens to a lot more instrumental metal than most people. While I try not to inject too much personal commentary in reviews, I won’t have time to do as many reviews here in 2016 at times during the year, at least compared to my past output. So I figured, what the hey, let’s do a fun and in-depth one while I have a moment of time currently to do so!

As I mentioned in the write-up for the premiere of “Before There Were Eyes To See” here at NCS recently, Odyssey have mastered the art of writing instrumental metal that doesn’t forsake an aggressive bite and headbanging pulse. But beyond that, Odyssey has always had their own thing going on. And by that I mean that they existed and started developing their sound long before groups like Animals As Leaders, Chon, and countless other newer (by comparison) instrumental acts inspired a paradigm shift and explosive growth for various strains of instrumental metal. A lot of which I love to be sure.

And I think part of what makes Voids special is the sheer sonic diversity from song to song and moment to moment. Odyssey weave together a larger tapestry of influences and ideas than many of their peers. And the special touch they bring to their craft shows across all ten tracks on the album. Continue reading »

SHORT BUT SWEET: ITHAQUA / BØG — A SPLIT

Album Reviews, SHORT BUT SWEET 3 Responses »

Jan 282016

I’d like to recommend a new split release by a Japanese band named Ithaqua and an Australian band named BØG. I don’t know much about either band, and I’ve already now forgotten how I came across this split, but this thing has cleaved my head right in two.

ITHAQUA

The Ithaqua tracks feature truly mountainous bass-level riffs paired with creepy guitar excretions and banshee-shreiked vocals that contrast with the stupefying low-end weight. I’ll warn you that when the first track “Ghost” really starts to move, it hits a bulldozing groove capable of producing serious neck sprain.

The last couple of minutes in particular are just fucking ridiculous — a mix of unstoppable riff magic and deranged guitar psychedelia. Continue reading »

BENEATH THE NCS RADAR (PART 7)

Album Reviews 4 Responses »

Jan 262016

(Our Norwegian friend Gorger is back with another installment in his series recommending releases that we’ve managed to overlook. And be sure to check out Gorger’s Metal.)

I was rather surprised to learn that neither Diavolos nor Saligia has surfaced on the Nautical Crest Sea, but hey, that’s my cue to drag them out of the waters and bring them in from the cold. By coincidence, another Norwegian act will also be brought ashore.

They might brake this site’s moniker (thumb’ish) rule at times, but they absolutely deserve more attention and a larger audience, and considering the diversity in taste amongst NCS readers, I feel certain someone will embrace them. Finally, a few beached frozen Italian birds tag along.

With Death, Thrash, and Black metal, elements of Doom and Pagan, a few time travelers going off to the ’80s for inspiration, and something remotely resembling uniqueness^* here and there, this is another assorted four-course meal. I hope you enjoy at least a few of them.

^*Considering Islander’s comment on misuse of the word uniqueness, I better choose my words carefully. But on the other hand, every single snowflake is unique! Then again, they all look like fucking snow to me! (Also, one can never be sure that an album is really unique, as long as one hasn’t heard every single album released, that is, but no worries, folks, I’m working on it!) Continue reading »

BRUTALITY: “SEA OF IGNORANCE”

Album Reviews 5 Responses »

Jan 262016

(Grant Skelton reviews the new album by the resurrected Brutality.)

Is it just me, or do you ever feel like you enjoy your metal in absentia? The best tours never pass through your city (and perhaps not even your state). Or you discover a new band only to find out they play just 30 shows a year and you’d have to cross an ocean to catch them live. Indeed, the worst possibility is hearing an album, buying said album, then heading over to Encyclopaedia Metallum to get more information on the band. Then, your eyes widen. Your mouth is agape with terror as you behold the 2 most foreboding words in all of metaldom…”split up.”

This was me when I discovered Brutality in recent years. Along with my zeal for the Bay Area thrash scene of the early ’80s, I’ve made no attempt to hide my similar interest in ’90s Florida death. The digital age affords us the capability to hear music from previous aeons of metal history. We can watch interviews and concerts (in all their archaic VHS glory). For some obscene amount of money, we might even find a so-rare-it’s-still-throbbing copy of a band’s demo cassette on eBay. But none of that can replace being part of a scene. Buying CDs and tapes, handing out show flyers. Actually witnessing local bands play for dirt cheap (or nothing at all) just so that they can get their music heard. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD (PART 1): ACERUS, MONOLITH, EMBALMER

Album Reviews, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC 3 Responses »

Jan 252016

I’m making an effort to catch you up on all the new music I discovered last week that I’d like to recommend. I was able to post one round-up on Saturday but couldn’t get one finished for yesterday, so the plan is to post two today, this being the first installment.

ACERUS

In a recent edition of our weekly Rearview Mirror series I featured some music from the long-running death metal band The Chasm, a group that came together in Mexico City and now makes their home in Chicago. I mentioned in that feature that The Chasm’s main man Daniel Corchado has a side project called Acerus, and Acerus released a new full-length on January 15 entitled The Clock of Mortality. If you know anything about The Chasm, I doubt I have to sell you on this new Acerus release. But in case this is all new to you, I’ll say this: Continue reading »

ULVER: “ATGCLVLSSCAP”

Album Reviews 11 Responses »

Jan 252016

(Andy Synn reviews the new album by Norway’s Ulver.)

Every Ulver album is unique. But the manner in which the band set about creating their latest opus is certainly more unique than usual.

The music and sounds found on ATGCLVLSSCAP are, in essence, the results of a series of lengthy live improvisations and extemporisations that saw the band taking hold of whatever idea or inspiration would come to them, whether new or old (some of these tracks building from seeds sown in earlier material), and spinning it off into strange and uncharted territory, creating and conjuring new songs and new sounds almost on the fly.

And yet, that isn’t the whole story, as the fruits of these recordings were then taken back to be analysed, deconstructed, re-tracked and (in some cases) further reimagined in the confines of the band’s home-studio, with the final results managing to capture and maintain the sense of spontaneity and invention from those early live sessions whilst bolstering them with 1.21 gigawatts of pure sonic super-science! Continue reading »

FIFTH TO INFINITY: “OMNIPOTENT TRANSDIMENSIONAL SOULFIRE”

Album Reviews 7 Responses »

Jan 222016

(Andy Synn reviews the striking new album by Sweden’s Fifth To Infinity, which is out now via Avantgarde Music.)

One of my continuing joys in life is the discovery of new music, and each new year brings with it more potential to discover new bands, or even old bands I’ve never heard before, that I can then share with our readership here at NCS.

The (slight) downside to this, of course, is that there’s always a nagging voice in the back of my head worrying that this year will be the one when I don’t find anything good enough… particularly when compared with some of the utterly fantastic discoveries I’ve stumbled across in previous years!

So you can imagine how pleased I was to happen across this unexpected gem of an album so soon into the new year! Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): LATITUDES — “OLD SUNLIGHT”

Album Reviews, Premieres 1 Response »

Jan 222016

The day has finally arrived when the many of you out there who have been mesmerized by the songs premiered to date from the new album by Latitudes will have the chance to hear all of it. For those who haven’t yet heard anything from Old Sunlight, something wonderful lies ahead of you.

I’m one of those people who have been mesmerized already — and much to my surprise. It is almost entirely an instrumental album, and when Adam Symonds‘ vocals do appear, they’re often as clear, clean, and delicate as fine crystal. I wouldn’t have guessed ahead of time that I’d be so enthralled by such an album, but Latitudes prove themselves to be powerful spellcasters. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE: FALL — “THE INSATIABLE WEAKNESS”

Album Reviews, Premieres 6 Responses »

Jan 192016

(TheMadIsraeli introduces our premiere of the new album by Fall from Corpus Christi, Texas.)

So here we are. We debuted a song from Fall a couple weeks back. I really like these guys, and this record, and there’s a stream at the bottom of the post so let’s get to the nitty gritty here.

Fall play a brand of pretty modern-minded, slightly progressive melodic death metal that invokes the best aspects of Soilwork, with ambience and syncopated grooves that call Textures to mind. It’s a cool sound, especially for a first full-length effort by a young band. And given the excellence of The Insatiable Weakness, this band deserves the exposure and recognition. Continue reading »

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