NOISEM: “BLOSSOMING DECAY”

 Album Reviews  3 Responses »
May 122015
 

 

(Our pal Leperkahn took a break from his studies and wrote this review of the new second full-length by Baltimore’s Noisem.)

Hi guys. As some of y’all who’ve lurked around this cult for a while might know, my writing output has plummeted considerably more or less since I started up my time here at The University of Chicago. Put briefly, UChicago surely earns the unofficial slogan “If I wanted an A, I would’ve gone to Harvard”, and taking four paper-based classes doesn’t leave oodles of time to wax ecstatic about the wax I’ve been literally of metaphorically spinning.

That said, when I have a moment (or pretend to have a moment, to the chagrin of future me), I still like to pop in here and give my two cents about stuff I’ve been digging that might not have been properly reviewed here yet. Also, in the case of Noisem, I’ve got a streak and reputation to keep up here – I’ve reviewed everything they’ve done for NCS except for the split 7” they put out with Occultist, and even that was mentioned in my review of their Consumed 7”. Thus, I’m here once again, and for good reason – if you thought Agony Defined or any of the material released from these guys since then has been good, just wait until you dig into Blossoming Decay. Hell, even if AD wasn’t your cup of tea, give this one another shot – it’s a whole different beast from its predecessor(s). Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE: HAAR — “THE WAYWARD CEREMONY”

 Album Reviews, Premieres  1 Response »
May 082015
 

 

Following the release of two well-received EPs in 2010 and 2012, Scotland’s Haar have recorded an hour-long debut album that is being released by the Italian label ATMF.  The album’s name is The Wayward Ceremony, and we’re bringing you a full stream of all seven songs.

When I see that an album comes with cover art by Costin Chioreanu, I presume the music is going to be good. This may not be logical, but it turns out to be a completely valid inference in the case of The Wayward Ceremony. Continue reading »

BLURRING: “BLURRING”

 Album Reviews  3 Responses »
May 082015
 

 

(Austin Weber reviews the debut album by Blurring, which features a lot of impressive veteran names in the line-up.)

While we are only now entering the fifth month of 2015, it’s already been one hell of a year for what I would dub sophisticated and or eclectic grindcore — from Theories’ debut, to the new Oblivionized, the new Antigama, the new Cloud Rat, and the just-released album Romantic Love by Dendritic Arbor. That alone is more cream-of-the-crop grind then we are typically graced with in a single year! While my eardrums are already thoroughly decimated by all these impressive grind releases, there’s another band called Blurring who are right up there at the top as well. Fans of our site may remember I last wrote about Blurring last year, and I’ve been anxiously waiting for the band’s self-titled debut ever since.

The band is a by-product and reflection of the famed and rightly lauded Rochester, N.Y., grind scene, and their line-up is jaw-dropping, with people from many of the best grind bands ever, period. First you’ve got Dan Lilker, who played in Brutal Truth and Nuclear Assault, among others. Then you’ve got two former guitarists from the almighty Kalibas, Scott D’Agostino and Matt Colbert, plus drummer Eric Burke (who is also well-known as a guitarist) of Sulaco/Lethargy fame, along with countless others. And the group is rounded out by vocalist Mark Weldin, who used to play in a band called Warblade.

When you have a band with as much pedigree as these guys have, the end result is likely to be terrifying, in the best way possible of course. But enough of me drooling over the awesome absurdity of their line-up, let’s get on to the music. Continue reading »

YIN AND YANG: VORUM, NEKROMANTEION, AND PSYCHEDELIC WITCHCRAFT

 Album Reviews, SHORT BUT SWEET  4 Responses »
May 082015
 

 

Last weekend I randomly picked three new short releases and listened to them back-to-back. And then I listened to them again in reverse order. And then I crawled around on the floor for a while trying to find my brain, which had been dislodged and fallen out somewhere along the way. I think I found it, though it might have been a walnut that I lost last week.

Anyway, I’ve decided to review all three of these lovelies in the order in which I heard them (the first time). The first two releases in this collection have some things in common with each other, but they could both hardly be more different from the third one. I’m not saying you should necessarily listen to them back-to-back, and it may actually be unlikely that your tastes are configured (as mine are) in a way that will make all of this appealing to you. But I do hope you’ll give each one at least a taste-test.

VORUM

Finland’s Vorum have recorded a new EP named Current Mouth (the cover of which is above). It will be released on CD by Sepulchral Voice Records on May 18, with vinyl coming later. It follows the band’s 2013 debut album Poisoned Void. Current Mouth will leave you bleeding at the mouth, and probably from other orifices, too. Continue reading »

GORGOROTH: “INSTINCTUS BESTIALIS”

 Album Reviews  6 Responses »
May 082015
 

 

(Andy Synn reviews the new album by Gorgoroth.)

Somehow it’s been almost six whole years since the last proper album by Black Metal stalwarts Gorgoroth. And what a long six years they’ve been, filled with a multitude of ups and downs, highs and lows, one particularly ill-conceived re-recording, and a rather public spat with their (now ex) vocalist Pest.

So you can probably be forgiven for being a little wary about the group’s new album, their ninth (or tenth, depending on how you’re counting), and only their second with Tomas Asklund behind the kit, as well as their first with yet another new vocalist (Triumfall’s Atterigner) behind the mic.

But you needn’t be unduly concerned. Although Instinctus Bestialis may not be the masterpiece necessary to truly thrust the band back to the forefront of today’s Black Metal scene, when it all comes together it is in fact very, very, good indeed. Continue reading »

DENDRITIC ARBOR: “ROMANTIC LOVE”

 Album Reviews  3 Responses »
May 052015
 

 

(Austin Weber reviews the new album by Dendritic Arbor, which is out as of today on Grimoire Records.)

Both black metal and grind share quite a bit of common ground when you think about it; both styles revolve around creating ugly fucked-up music that traditionally lacks any sense of conventional melody, but more importantly, are the two styles of metal most often referred to as “noise” by people who aren’t fans. While black-metal-infused hardcore/grind/etc has become quite a thriving trend these days, up until now I never felt impressed by almost all of it, save for last year’s Plebeian Grandstand record and very few others. However, when I first heard of Dendritic Arbor last year courtesy of their track “Genie” through Islander, I knew these guys were something special, a band who had finally married the two styles in a way that benefits both, and more importantly as creators with their own unique compositional style. Their sarcastically titled new record, Romantic Love, is one of the best albums you’ll hear this year. I goddamn guarantee it.

Romantic Love starts out entrenched in hellfire and contempt for all life with album opener “Murmuration End”, a merciless patchwork of blackened sonic plagues and thundering, complex grind, schizophrenically fighting each other for control of the song’s direction. This is a trait common to many of their tracks — switching from grind-fueled black metal, to black-metal-fueled grind. I’ve yet to hear anyone else do it as well or as memorably as Dendritic Arbor. Continue reading »

CONTINUUM: “THE HYPOTHESIS”

 Album Reviews  1 Response »
May 042015
 

 

(Austin Weber reviews the new album by Continuum, which is out now on Unique Leader Records.) 

The California death metal scene never ceases to amaze me. What really makes me happy about the music from that region is that much like the Canadian death metal scene, a lot of very talented players are a part of multiple groups, leading to an overall higher quality of material coming from theses areas. And so, for example, we are treated to death metal supergroups such as Continuum, who are composed of: Guitarist/main songwriter Chase Fraser (Decrepit Birth/ex-Son Of Aurelius/ex-Animosity), vocalist Riley McShane (Son Of Aurelius/ex-Inanimate Existence), bass player Nick Willbrand (Eviscerated, ex-Flesh Consumed), guitarist Ivan Munguia (Arkaik, Brain Drill, Deeds of Flesh), and drummer Spencer Edwards (Son Of Aurelius).

In addition, the band’s debut album The Hypothesis includes a guest solo by Matt Sotelo from Decrepit Birth on track 9, “A Surreal Descent”, as well as a sweet guest vocal spot by Anthony Trapani (Severed Savior/Odious Mortem) on the second track, “The Epiphany”. Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK (PART 1): COFFIN HAZE, TAPHOS NOMOS, DEVILSPIT, BLOOD CULT

 Album Reviews, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC, SHADES OF BLACK  4 Responses »
May 032015
 

 

Over the last week I came across a lot of music I thought was worth sharing that could all loosely be labeled “black metal”, so much music that I’ve divided this collection into two parts. Part of what interested me was the diversity of the sounds. In some cases, the main connection to the label “black metal” is simply the spirit I sense in the songs, and in other instances simply the presence of certain musical elements in combination with others that aren’t typically associated with this increasingly amorphous genre.

And so, what you’re about to hear in this two-parter may be quite different from what you’re expecting — from deathly surf rock to Alcoholic Rural Black Punk Metal to “necroclassical”, and beyond.

COFFIN HAZE

So let’s start with the deathly surf rock. I have no idea who is in Coffin Haze or precisely where they’re located (other than somewhere in the UK) — and believe me, I’ve done some looking. The only reason I discovered them at all is because Caligari Records is going to be releasing their debut demo on tape later this year, and I happened to see a post about it on Caligari’s Facebook page. (In fact, I discovered all of the first three bands featured in this post through Caligari’s Facebook page.) Continue reading »

DOWNFALL OF NUR: “UMBRAS DE BARBAGIA”

 Album Reviews  10 Responses »
Apr 302015
 

 

(Andy Synn reviews the debut album of Argentina’s Downfall of Nur.)

Every year I hope that there’s going to be an album/EP/artist in general that becomes the year’s big discovery, not just for me, but for our readers here at NCS.

Previously I’ve directed your attention to bands like Amiensus, Khonsu, and Ion (and I’m more than willing to take credit for Hellish Outcast as well), while other writers here have in turn uncovered such amazing bands as Progenie Terrestre Pura and Wildernessking, which have gone on to become not only personal favourites of mine, but well-deserved favourites of this site and its community as a whole.

And although I thought I’d already stumbled upon this year’s entry when I came across the debut EP by Exgenesis (reviewed here) there’s no rule saying that a year can’t have more than one big surprise up its sleeve.

Which, of course, leads us to Umbras de Barbagia by Downfall of Nur. Continue reading »

ABJVRATION: “THE UNQUENCHABLE PYRE”

 Album Reviews  17 Responses »
Apr 292015
 

 

KevinP sort of stole my thunder yesterday on our site when he named Abjvration’s debut one of the Top 5 releases of April. But I’ll go him one better: The Unquenchable Pyre is one of the best releases I’ve heard all year.

The EP comes our way from Caligari Records. Originally, it was to be released exclusively on tape, but yesterday the label decided to begin making some of its offerings — including this one — available for digital download on Bandcamp. In the format in which I’ve listened to the EP, and as you can hear it on Bandcamp, the five tracks are in a single audio file. With just a couple of exceptions, it’s not entirely clear when one song ends and the next one begins; they flow from one to another, for the most part without discernible breaks. And they work supremely well that way. It’s like a single concerto of horror and pain. Continue reading »

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