SHORT BUT SWEET: IMBIBED BY THE QUASAR — “DEMO 2014”

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Aug 112014
 

(DGR wrote this review of the first demo by a Sacramento group who have apparently been Imbibed By the Quasar.)

Imbibed By The Quasar are a new Sacramento-based death metal band, one born from the seeming ashes of the group Bispora (who at the time had hung up their hats but have since apparently reformed), a project known as Lunar Stereo, and Malevolent (whose drummer Greg Chastain pulls double time in both bands and whose keyboardist Jeff Clifford contributed a ton of material from other projects he had).

It’s super-rare that you’re able to find a project right as it starts out. Sometimes the planets align, however, and you get to see something from its genesis all the way to its baby steps and eventual exposure to the world. In this case I caught word of Imbibed By The Quasar very early while doing my seemingly random monthly check-in with bands I hadn’t heard from in a bit. Though Bispora weren’t going to be doing anything for a while, I was super-interested in learning what might be produced by the combination of a huge chunk of that band and people from Malevolent, a band who at that point had gone radio silent for some time.

On the group’s Facebook page, the guys had said it was going to be more death metal focused than Bispora. Given the history of some of the musicians in the band, this wasn’t too shocking a turn. August 1st saw the release of their aptly titled Demo 2014, ostensibly the world’s first exposure to the band. Let me tell you right away, boy is it a weird way to spend eight minutes and forty seconds. Continue reading »

KHEMMIS AND GOMORRAH

 Album Reviews, Exceptions to the Rule, SHORT BUT SWEET  7 Responses »
Aug 102014
 

Earlier today I posted a review of the Denver Black Sky 2014 festival, which I had the pleasure of attending last weekend with a fine group of old and new friends. I was already a fan of most of the bands on the two-day line-up, but the festival also introduced me to some excellent new discoveries. And two of them were the first two groups we heard on August 2 — Khemmis and Gomorrah.

If I had time, I’d write about more of the bands I heard for the first time in Denver, but I damn sure wanted to say something about these two, because they made such a memorable beginning to such a great weekend of music.

KHEMMIS

Khemmis make their home in Denver, and to date their available recorded output consists of a 2013 self-titled EP.  The cover of the EP is excellent — and it appeared on one of the two shirts that my friends and I bought after their set at Black Sky: Continue reading »

DEMONIC RESURRECTION: “THE DEMON KING”

 Album Reviews  5 Responses »
Aug 082014
 

 

(In this post TheMadIsraeli reviews the new album by India’s Demonic Resurrection.)

You know an album is good when you’ve had a hard time getting to the review because you keep listening to it.

I’ve blasted The Demon King by India’s Demonic Resurrection an absolute fuck ton of times.  It’s been about the only metal I’ve listened to in the last week or so (as evidenced by my Last.fm profile, if you were to look for proof).

It should be known by long-time NCS readers that anything spearheaded by Sahil ‘The Demonstealer’ Makhija we eat up like pigs eat slop.  This man knows his metal and is an astounding vocalist and magnificent songwriter, though I have to admit I’ve neglected the existence of his projects in the past.  Demonic Resurrection are an extremely tasty combination of death metal and thrash metal with some 90’s symphonic black metal cheese and power metal seasoning.  It almost feels like I’m listening to a combination of Death, Emperor, and Iced Earth.  It’s something that in theory shouldn’t work, but Demonic Resurrection have been rocking the sound for a while and it really makes them stand out. Continue reading »

SHORT BUT SWEET: LESSER LIFE — “GO HENCE UNTO A SWIFT AND BITTER DEATH”

 Album Reviews, SHORT BUT SWEET  1 Response »
Aug 082014
 

 

(DGR reviews the second EP by Lesser Life from Chapel Hill.)

I don’t know exactly who recommended Chapel Hill, North Carolina-based Lesser Life, but I know that their release The Light Will Never Touch You Again appeared on one of the many lists we featured as part of 2013’s annual year-end liststravaganza or what have you will call it. The Light Will Never Touch You Again is a manic release, filled with violence and a heavy dose of grind fed directly into its veins. It is one of those releases that captures nihilism well, and because of that the group have always remained in the back of my mind.

I’ve gotten into the habit of doing random check-ins with bands that pop into my mind, especially the ones who I may not have heard from in a bit, and Lesser Life have been I had consistently kept an eye on until about the end of May. Were it not for my infatuation with their Over In A Millisecond shirt with the artwork from Shining’s V – Halmstad on it, then it would’ve likely stayed that way, a victim of me assuming that they were probably on the two-year album cycle.

However, at the end of July I found myself at the face of a new EP, put out scant weeks after I had taken a breather on keeping up with the band. The title is Go Hence Unto A Swift And Bitter Death, so if there were any worry about the band suddenly shifting course and deciding to write songs about nice things, we can shove those back under the table — because if Go Hence Unto A Swift And Bitter Death is any proof, Lesser Life are still pissed. Continue reading »

IDYLLS: PRAYER FOR TERRENE

 Album Reviews  3 Responses »
Aug 072014
 

 

(DGR wrote this review of a new album with an arresting cover.)

Idylls are a punk group hailing from Brisbane, Australia, that I came across while wandering through different concentric circles on Facebook, bouncing from one band to another as I worked on my screed for a single song by The Fevered. They’re a dense and hefty combination of hardcore punk with a big emphasis on noise, and they have somehow managed to pack a saxophone into the mix — because if you ever needed an instrument to just have wailing notes that are as loud as possible, a saxophone can pack a ton of power into it.

I took note of them especially, because the group have a new album out known as Prayer For Terrene, which they released back in March, meaning this isn’t the most prompt review, but wow, what a find. There exists a pretty good-sized cross-section of punk, hardcore, and noise that I think appeals to heavy metal fans. The punk side of music is, admittedly, one or our blind spots at NCS, and when we do cover it we usually prefer it with artwork depicting bears with bandoliers strapped across their chests. Continue reading »

SHORT BUT SWEET: LEPROUS DIVINITY — “ENSLAVEMENT”

 Album Reviews, SHORT BUT SWEET  3 Responses »
Aug 042014
 

 

(DGR reviews the debut EP by Leprous Divinity.)

Given that California has a huge population, you could rightly assume that this state dishes out a humongous amount of music on a daily basis. Not only that, but genre shifts and sonic waves seem to be massive here — moving through the metal scenes here like tsunamis. So if there is one sound that seems to be catching on, a ton of bands will be doing just that — or will be newly formed to play around with the style.

You could also correctly assume that right now, judging by the scale of California’s metal output and no doubt because of the massive spotlight being shined on it by the recent renaissance of the Unique Leader label and its slate of artists, that we seem to be on one hell of a death metal kick at the moment. Whether it be the brutal, tech, slam, or prefix-core aspects of the genre, you better believe that we’ve been dishing it out in spades.

Thus, it is hard as hell to get noticed, especially if you’re just launching your band off the ground and are attempting to tread a super-fine line. Such is the situation faced by Leprous Divinity, a group whose sound is rooted in the combination of brutal death metal’s slamming elements and the downward-focused chug of deathcore, resulting in a super-slow, gargantuan slab of metal designed for the sole purpose of crushing people beneath its weight. Continue reading »

THE SYNN REPORT, PART 49: JUNIUS

 Album Reviews, Exceptions to the Rule, THE SYNN REPORT  13 Responses »
Jul 292014
 

(In this 49th edition of THE SYNN REPORT, Andy Synn reviews the discography of Junius from Boston, Massachusetts. Their music is an exception to our Rule.)

Recommended for fans of: Deftones, Katatonia, Solstafir

I first heard about this band in a rather unusual way back at the tail-end of 2011, when they stepped in at the last minute as replacements for Ghost, who were forced to drop off Enslaved’s North American tour at the last minute due to visa issues. Having no prior knowledge of the band at all, I was particularly intrigued when I started to see a quiet shit-storm floating around certain parts of the internet about “that indie band opening for Enslaved”, and felt compelled to check them out… after all, there must be something to them to be causing such a fuss.

And I’m glad I did, because the music they make is astonishingly beautiful and moving, with a sense of haunting atmosphere and blooming melodic power. The guitars shimmer and blossom in great waves of light and shade above an electric foundation of looping bass lines and lithe, progressive drum work, while the vocals – pulsing with echoes of both Joy Division and The Smiths – weave their own distinctive spell of captivating, clean-sung poetry and passion.

The band have been described in several ways… “Alt Metal”, “Post Rock”, “Indie Metal”, “Art Rock”, “Shoegaze Doom Metal”… though none of them really hit the spot. There’s certainly elements of Post-Punk and New Wave in their DNA, that’s obvious enough, as well as a fascination with the metallic atmospherics of acts like Neurosis and Isis, but really their sound is quite unique – oddly anthemic, yet strangely apocalyptic.

Ultimately then, the proof is in the listening. Perhaps start with their latest EP, and work your way backwards. After all, this may not be typical NCS fare, but you trust me… right? Continue reading »

DISKORD: “OSCILLATIONS”

 Album Reviews  1 Response »
Jul 282014
 

(In this post Austin Weber reviews the new album by Norway’s Diskord.)

For those not yet in the know, Diskord are a long-running death metal act from Oslo, Norway. Their last album, 2012’s Dystopics, caught my eye by way of a tip off from the then-editor of Invisible Oranges, Doug Moore. Ever since my initial exposure to it,  I have been hopelessly hooked on these guys and their unique and zany brand of death metal.

Diskord are firmly rooted in old school death metal, but the delivery comes across in a more modern way — revolving around a spastic, stop-start, blast-and-lurch approach. Although the production follows a natural and grimy old school death metal aesthetic, the music itself doesn’t squarely fit into the box of new old school death metal, at least when compared to the purely primitive manner with which other bands are delivering it. This is something else entirely, and to my ears, far more interesting. Continue reading »

FOCUS ON BLOOD HARVEST (Part 2): ASCENDED DEAD, ENERGUMEN, KURNUGIA

 Album Reviews, SHORT BUT SWEET  2 Responses »
Jul 282014
 

The Swedish label Blood Harvest Records plans to release a series of 7″ EPs between now and year-end. Yesterday I reviewed the first two of those EPs to reach the label from the pressing plant (here). In this post I’ve collected thoughts about the next three that are planned for release, which are now at press.

http://www.bloodharvest.se
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Blood-Harvest-Records/300012152033

ASCENDED DEAD

Ascended Dead come our way from San Diego, and include current or former members of Ghoulgotha, whose Blood Harvest EP was one of the two covered in Part 1 of this series. Their release is a four-song collection entitled Arcane Malevolence, which follows the band’s four-song demo released in 2012.

The label pitches the band with references to the likes of Possessed, Necrovore, and the early sounds of Morbid Angel and Sarcofago, and that should give you an idea of what you’re in for. This is thick, murky, grinding death metal, the gears of the monstrous machine choked with grime and spewing noxious fumes as it barrels ahead at a murderous pace. Continue reading »

TYRANT OF DEATH: “ASCENDANCY”

 Album Reviews  2 Responses »
Jul 282014
 

(DGR wrote this review of the new album by Toronto’s Tyrant of Death.)

One glance at the track lengths of Tyrant Of Death’s new release Ascendancy should tell you everything you need to know about this album. With each song exceeding a ten-minute run time, Ascendancy is an intimidating as hell disc. Tyrant Of Death has released a few longer tracks in its time on this earth, but has never before collected a bunch of them in one location. At first glance without listening, it looks like Tyrant Of Death gone prog.

Ascendancy is the fifteenth (!) Tyrant Of Death release, with a time gap of about a year since last year’s Nuclear Nanosecond, an album that itself emerged after a longer gap of time compared to Tyrant Of Death’s more prolific days when three or four albums a year would hit. It’s not Senmuth numbers, but this project has a lot of material out there, which has meant that with every release the band has had to work insanely hard to differentiate itself from the pack, not only from other musicians but also from its own huge slab of work.

Ascendancy is the grandest attempt at that yet, with its longer track run-times and a bevy of guest musicians from throughout the circle of bands with whom project owner Alex Rise has long associated — meaning that four of the five songs on Ascendancy have vocal tracks as well as a guest guitarist or two. Ascendancy is an ambitious disc — one that moves from the industrialized chaos of Anaal Nathrakh to the oblivion of blasts and science fiction influences that have long worked their way into the Tyrant Of Death formula. And almost all of it moves at a breakneck pace, with almost no room to breathe until the album’s closer, “Biomechanical”. Continue reading »

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