THY ART IS MURDER: “HATE”

 Album Reviews  2 Responses »
Mar 242013
 

(TheMadIsraeli delivers this review of the forthcoming album by Australia’s Thy Art Is Murder.)

I really think at this point deathcore has become like an abusive husband to me. He keeps mistreating me, but I go back to him because he looks like he might’ve really changed this time, only to end up beating my face in with the dinner plate of the sandwich I didn’t make correctly for him that one time.

Thy Art Is Murder have definitely brought another one of those moments of blind hope as far as deathcore and I are concerned. I was ready to sign the restraining order, but Hate came along and made the kind of violent love to me that you just don’t get over.

Thy Art Is Murder have been around for a bit. With several EP’s and an acclaimed debut to fall back on, these Aussies definitely showed that they are a Grade A cut above their contemporaries. The thing is, with this new album Hate, Thy Art Is Murder now only consist of two founding members: drummer Lee Stanton and bassist Sean Delander, who actually gave up his guitar position to fill that role. The question, then, is how does Hate rack up when the band now lacks 3/5 of the members who produced what got them noticed? Continue reading »

THE SYNN REPORT, PART 33: MAN MUST DIE

 Album Reviews, THE SYNN REPORT  9 Responses »
Mar 222013
 

(Andy Synn delivers another SYNN REPORT, assessing the discography of Scotland’s Man Must Die.)

Recommended for fans of: Cryptopsy, Katakylsm, Job For A Cowboy

 

You want brutal? Well this Scottish band are here to give you brutal, no holds barred, no quarter given. Though they’ve gotten more technical and more complex over the years, they’re certainly no flashy tech-death band, instead delivering gut-wrenching shots to the solar-plexus that qualify their “technical” skills with a big capitalised “DEATH METAL” uppercut.

There’s a scrappy, thrashy underbelly to the band’s armour-plated, tank-like delivery of steroid-injected metallic rage, which allows for some surprising flashes of melody here and there, while the megaton riffage and bulldozing drumming patterns ensure maximum devastation with every listen. Neck-snapping rhythms and sudden shifts in timing and tempo attest to the group’s impressive, but never overblown, technical abilities

The band were actually signed to Relapse until not long ago, and their current status as an unsigned act really is mystifying, particularly when you consider that the band’s sound seems primed to capitalise on the resurgence of both Suffocation and Cryptopsy, while also having one foot (or at least a toe) in the thrash revival aesthetic, as well as appealing to the new-school death metal fans brought into the fold by the tech-friendly stylings of Demonocracy or Deflorate.

Thankfully, the group haven’t given up, and have a PledgeMusic campaign currently active where they’re hoping to get the money to cover the recording and production of their fourth album. If you like what you hear below then I implore you to head over to http://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/manmustdie and show the group some love! Continue reading »

SOILWORK: “THE LIVING INFINITE”

 Album Reviews  10 Responses »
Mar 202013
 

(In this post we present DGR’s take on the new double-album by Sweden’s Soilwork.)

When it was initially announced that Soilwork would be releasing a double album I think that a pretty good chunk of us metal blogging morons did a collective half groan at the prospect of that much Soilwork music hitting at the same time. With their last two albums – Sworn To A Great Divide and The Panic Broadcast – it seemed that the band had become the very paragon of consistency. You could put on either disc and catch a few pretty good songs, but most either felt as if they had been written entirely for the choral hook part or came off as interchangeable.

Not that this was some sort of awful atrocity, but you can see how there would be a sense of burnout in some quarters whenever the group’s name was brought up – especially since you can’t fault the band’s work ethic when it seems like a new Soilwork disc hits every two years like clockwork, no matter what changes happen within the band.

Imagine then our reaction when Soilwork released “Spectrum Of Eternity” as the lead-off song from The Living Infinite. It was exciting. Not only did the band sound rejuvenated, but there was some seriously heavy music going on there – something that previously had just been reserved to a small batch of songs like “Blind Eye Halo”. It was weird and refreshing as hell to do something that we hadn’t done in an incredibly long time, which was to move a Soilwork release high up on the most anticipated albums list.

Now that the album has come out I can comprehensively report that what the band teased at with “Spectrum Of Eternity” is in full effect here. On The Living Infinite Soilwork sound like a band full of life and with something to prove, combining all of their best elements as they’ve changed throughout the years into one great cohesive package. Continue reading »

SULPHUR AEON: “SWALLOWED BY THE OCEAN’S TIDE”

 Album Reviews  19 Responses »
Mar 152013
 

(What follows is Andy Synn’s review of the new album by Germany’s Sulphur Aeon.)

Let’s keep things short and sweet… this is an awesome album. Ass-crushingly evil death metal, with a bludgeoningly heavy guitar tone, a brooding horror-filled atmosphere, and a penchant for matching bloodthirsty extremity with chilling, epic melodies.

The funny thing is that, in all the reviews I’ve seen of the album, people have been throwing around a large assortment of different comparisons and influences – many of which seem either to be a case of people seeing what they want to see… or people copying what they’ve seen others write.

I won’t deny, for example, that there might well be elements comparable to the steamrollering death metal of Bolt Thrower or aspects of Dissection’s scalpel-sharp black metal fury present here, but I think people are fishing, rather awkwardly, when they speculate that these are primary influences… particularly when there are far closer, and far more accurate, comparisons to be made. It definitely seems like one writer felt like they heard a bit of Bolt Thrower in there, and everyone else has just copied him. Continue reading »

DUCKGRIND BLITZKRIEG

 Album Reviews  4 Responses »
Mar 152013
 

(We are delighted, and slightly queasy, to welcome Phro back to NCS with a story that was spawned by some new duckgrind from Finland’s Artists Are Idiots.)

Phro’s note: There is more duckgrind to be had. You can skip the story and go right to the music at the end if you want. No one will know and no one will blame you. Artists Are Idiots can be liked, messaged, poked, molested, and cock-rubbed on Facebook. Their music is available on bandcamp at a reasonable price. This is a video about animal penises. 

The reporter walked through the hastily erected hospital tents with a hand over her mouth, attempting to hold down her lunch of bacon and fried duck vaginas (“We eat what we kill,” her escort had told her). All around her, victims of the war moaned in agony. Ears bitten off, hair stained with duck shit, eyes punctured by projectile corkscrew cocks, and noses filled with duck cum. Staring blankly into the roof the tent, squeezing a teddy bear to his chest, a child not more than 12 whispered to himself. The reporter swore she heard the words “duckgrind blitzkrieg,” but surely, she told herself, she had misheard him. Such mercilessness was unimaginable, even for the avian enemy. Continue reading »

MINUSHUMAN: “BLOODTHRONE”

 Album Reviews  3 Responses »
Mar 132013
 

(In this post, NCS guest contributor Booker reviews a 2011 album by a French band we-ve written about before — Minushuman.)

The land of France once again shows its cred for putting out some solid metal with Minushuman’s 2011 release Bloodthrone. Part melodic death, part hardcore, part thrash, they bring a stripped-down but full-throttle sound that’s bound to get heads bobbing. Sometimes you just want to forgo complex time signatures and proggy song structures, and just crank up some heavy sounds with a driving beat… and if you’re in that mood, here’s some Bloodthrone to reach for.

I first came across these guys from a random day spent checking out the Season Of Mist catalogue. Minushuman? Wasn’t that a song written for Metallica’s S&M? Well, whatever the inspiration for their name, according to their bio they toured around under the moniker ‘Dark Poetry’ until rebranding themselves for their debut album Watch the World Die in 2008, released by the obscure record label MH Prod. They obviously managed an upgrade to Season Of Mist for their sophomore effort, Bloodthrone, released way back in 2011. Continue reading »

BANDS YOU NEED TO HEAR: CROW BLACK SKY

 Album Reviews  6 Responses »
Mar 122013
 

(NCS writer TheMadIsraeli, who is not exactly an ardent fan of black metal, has found a black metal band from South Africa that has captured his affections.)

Black metal, I think it’s safe to say is one of THE most over-saturated sub-genres of metal EVER, or at least that’s what my personal experience tells me.  I’m sure those of you who pirate can agree with me. Go on any torrent site that deals in music specifically, and under metal you’ll see five black metal albums for every album of a different genre.  That may be understandable, considering that most of it is plain boring dreck that’s only been made possible by the advent of home recording.  We live in the age of the bedroom musician; sometimes it hurts my soul even thinking about it.

Don’t get me wrong, sometimes those projects turn out to be good, even great.  However, for me nothing beats a unit of musicians uniting to create wondrous audio ecstasy.  Black metal is a style that, in my estimation, especially benefits from the organic nature of a BAND writing the music, especially given the last decade where the best black metal seems to have relied on an intense layering of textures — when the bands aren’t taking an outright savage approach.

This is all by way of preamble to Crow Black Sky, an interesting discovery that I’m pretty sure the NCS readership will be able to get behind. Continue reading »

THORNGOTH: “SCHWARZ-KARG-KALT”

 Album Reviews  4 Responses »
Mar 112013
 

As an enthusiastic admirer of this German band’s 2010 album Leere (reviewed here), I welcomed the chance to hear their newest work Schwarz-Karg-Kalt (“black-barren-cold”), which is due for release next month. In a word, it’s excellent.

Uniting elements of black metal, death metal, and doom, Thorngoth have delivered a monster of an album that’s both massively powerful and mesmerizing, both harrowing and ethereal. It’s atmospheric music, but unlike some forms of metal labeled with that term, it doesn’t rely on ambient sounds, prolonged repetition of motifs, or songs of extended length. Instead, Thorngoth build an aura of enveloping darkness and doom through the accumulated weight of the music across the space of nine tracks.

The title song, which opens the album, is an effective introduction to Thorngoth’s plan of attack. It employs huge distorted bass and guitar riffs and compelling drum rhythms, creating a titanic low end that radiates power as a result of the superb production of the recording. As happens on other songs, shimmering keyboard effects and layered, reverberating guitar notes provide a counterpoint and a contrast. Continue reading »

IT LOOKS LIKE SOMEBODY’S NIGHTMARE

 Album Reviews  3 Responses »
Mar 042013
 

(In this post we have a guest review by NCS supporter and commenter Marious.)

Today I’d like to bring your attention to SamarA, an incredible band that I’ve had the privilege to gig and/or barbeque with several times. The band is a force to behold live as fog rolls in, images of nuclear explosion and natural disasters play on the back drop, audio samples loop, and the guitars slowly build up a palpable tension. By the time the first song actually begins and the piercing vocals cut in, chances are good that they have your full attention. I never get tired of seeing these guys.

Continue reading »

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