ESOTERIC: “PARAGON OF DISSONANCE”

 Album Reviews  12 Responses »
Nov 112011
 

Metal album names rarely seek to describe the sound of the music that lies within. The name of Esoteric’s new album comes close. Much of the music on the album is indeed a paragon of dissonance. But what is not dissonant on the album, juxtaposed with what is, is what makes the music so remarkable.

In dominant form on most of the songs is the aural equivalent of a planetary catastrophe, something akin to the Chicxulub asteroid that impacted the Yucatan peninsula roughly 65 million years ago and killed off an unfathomable numbers of species, including (probably) most dinosaurs. Titanic distorted riffs are accompanied by screeching psychedelic noise to produce an overwhelmingly bleak panorama — the pounding of protesting life back into primordial ooze by a downpour of anvils from above.

Nearly as slow-paced as funeral doom, the songs paint a picture of the inexorable eradication of light and life, and the truly harrowing vocals (a combination of gruesome abyssal roars and the kind of abraded, hair-raising shrieks more common to black metal) cement the feeling of impending extinction.

If this were all that the songs achieved, kudos would still be due, because the music so excellently embodies the power of doom metal, especially when it’s layered with stylistic borrowings from death- and black metal. But we come back to what is not dissonant . . . Continue reading »

THRONE OF KATARSIS: “VED GRAVEN”

 Album Reviews  6 Responses »
Nov 112011
 

(NCS guest contributor Trollfiend emerges again from his lair to provide this review of Ved Graven, the new album by Throne of Katarsis.)

Like a lot of people, I reacted pretty negatively toward Sasha Frere-Jones’ piece on black metal in The New Yorker magazine (featured at NCS here).  However, upon reflection, I have decided that he was just examining something he knew little about through the lens of The New Yorker‘s oeuvre, and probably shouldn’t be faulted for that.  So with that in mind, I have decided to review Throne of Katarsis’ new album Ved Graven in a similar vein.

Throne of Katarsis hails from Norway and could be said to embrace the legacy of the so-called “True Norwegian Black Metal” (TNBM) scene in the same way that avant-garde sculptor Naum Gabo embraced the abstract conceptions of Wassily Kandinsky and evolved them, along with the synthetic gemoetries of his older brother Antoine Pevsner, into the perhaps narcissistically coined legacy of Constructivism….though it’s plain to see that their nihilistic worldview borrows an instinctive post-Nietzschian schadenfreude zeitgeist from Heidegger.

The band displays a certain neo-Satanic pageantry that evokes the remarkable dance-dramas of Izumo no Okuni in the Tokugawa shogunate-Edo period of the 1600s, as well as the kumadori stage makeup of Ichiwaka Danjuro from the same time, though one might assume that this style of performance is currently enjoying a downturn in popularity, much like the Saruwaka-machi era of these Japanese dance-dramas. However, the transcendence of these blaspheming iconographies is assured via cathartic self-expulsion; as Descartes tells us, “…something which I thought I was seeing with my eyes is in fact grasped solely by the faculty of judgment which is in my mind.”  I couldn’t agree more.  (more erudition after the jump . . .) Continue reading »

ICED EARTH: “DYSTOPIA”

 Album Reviews  2 Responses »
Nov 102011
 

(ElvisShotJFK, a long-term member of the NCS community, provides this guest review of the new album by Iced Earth.)

Iced Earth and bands like them aren’t exactly material that’s usually covered here at NCS, but when Islander made a post about the band streaming the title track from their latest album (here), it seemed to generate some interest, along with discussion over what kind of metal Iced Earth plays. To that end, I would say that they are a breed of power metal that leans more towards thrash than progressive metal, as many of the band’s peers (most of them European) tend to do. While they aren’t immune to some of the trappings of the genre (the cheese, the flash), they deliver an aggressive, tight, galloping metal that borrows from the likes of Iron Maiden and Judas Priest without being too blatant.

Over the past 20 years or so, Iced Earth have gone through many line-up changes, founder and rhythm guitarist Jon Schaffer being the sole remaining original member. However, as with most bands, it is the changing of singers that has been more notable – not to take anything away from the rest of the guys, who’ve also been in the ranks of Testament, Megadeth and Futures End, among others. Though he was the third singer (after Gene Adam and John Greely), Matt Barlow became the de facto voice of Iced Earth, a powerful singer who was as impressive (if not more so) live as in the studio.

After the terrorist attacks in September of 2001, Barlow wanted to leave the band and pursue a career in law enforcement, but was talked out of it, Horror Show and Tribute To The Gods being the last of his output before being granted his release during the recordings for The Glorious Burden; he didn’t seem to have the passion for music anymore. Continue reading »

LEPROUS: “BILATERAL”

 Album Reviews  11 Responses »
Nov 102011
 

(NCS writer Andy Synn reviews the new album from Norway’s Leprous.)

Ok, I originally had a longer and more traditionally deconstructive review written up for this. But while re-listening to the album for about the fifth consecutive time, I realised nothing I was writing was really getting to the heart of this utterly genius, utterly addictive gem of an album.

Who/what does it sound like? Well there are elements of Porcupine Tree’s depressive progressive excursions and Devin Townsend’s ambitious mutant pop melodies, along with the bombast of Queen and the precociousness of early Dream Theatre to boot. Similarities to Ihsahn’s solo work of course abound, Leprous being the backing band he employs to give life to his beautiful and barren soundscapes in the live setting (the band also features his youngest brother-in-law, fact fans) as do comparisons with the off-kilter force of sadly departed esoteric metallers Oceans Of Sadness. Yet that’s not all.

There’s the unhinged madness of Sigh, the introverted progressive might of Into Eternity, a throwback 70’s haze that recalls Opeth’s more self-indulgent moments, a cock-sure strut that can only stem from the over-the-top 80’s output of Queensryche, the meandering and sleep-walking structures of latter-day Cynic, the unashamed, operatic excesses of Muse, the singular power of Enslaved, the madcap mentality of Arcturus… my god, it’s like an unholy amalgamation of everything vibrant and progressive from the last several decades, mixed up and spat out in this narcissistically beautiful, yet vaguely unnerving form. (more after the jump . . .) Continue reading »

THE TOP 5 VADER ALBUMS

 Album Reviews  9 Responses »
Nov 102011
 

(In this post, TheMadIsraeli expresses his enthusiasm [which yours truly shares] for Poland’s Vader.)

There is NO ONE out there like Vader.  One of my top three death metal bands, to be sure, next to Suffocation and Dying Fetus. They may even be my favorite death metal band of all time.  Whether it be Piotr Wiwczarek’s mighty hoarse roar, or the fact they had one of THE best drummers in metal of all time in Doc (R.I.P), or the fact that their style of breakneck-speed death metal with a hyper-fast thrash undercurrent has been frequently copied but rarely equaled, the band is stupendous. These are my 5 favorite Vader albums of all time.

Released in 1993, this album was way ahead of its time.  The Ultimate Incantation, as an initial mission statement, was (and is) a highly impressive one.  Yeah, there was a lot of very good death metal being created at this time, with now-classic bands such as Deicide and Cannibal Corpse making their mark, what Vader had going for them was much better songwriting, more distinctive and memorable riffs, and overall a more mature sound that turned out to be quite forward-looking.

While the early music of some other death metal veterans sounds very much like a product of their times, the music on this album STILL sounds completely relevant, as evidenced by Vader’s XXV — a 2008 album in which Vader re-recorded a slew of fan favorites, five of which were from The Ultimate Incantation.  Songs like “Dark Age” or “Vicious Circle” were death metal assaults built for the 2000’s all the way back in the early 90’s. (more after the jump . . .) Continue reading »

PATHOLOGY: “AWAKEN TO THE SUFFERING”

 Album Reviews  4 Responses »
Nov 082011
 

(How could you not read an album review by someone who calls himself The Baby Killer? How could you not guess that someone who calls himself The Baby Killer would just eat up the new album by Pathology?)

Sometimes in death metal the phrase “simple but effective” isn’t just a description, it’s a way of life. Such is the case with San Diego slamsters Pathology, who have risen from relative obscurity to one of the last bastions for tr00 brutal death metal in the space of just a few albums. Their previous release, last year’s Legacy of the Ancients, was not only their first with a major label (Victory), but was also easily one of the best slam albums since Devourment’s Butcher the Weak, and fans of brutality the world over rejoiced that a band this legitimately heavy was getting some mainstream attention. Or at least I was, I dunno about you guys.

And now here we are approximately one year later, and these bad boys have already done more than their fair share of touring, gone through some lineup changes, and still managed to churn out another slab of slams (try saying that five times fast) in the form of their new full-length Awaken To the Suffering. (more after the jump . . .) Continue reading »

SVARTTJERN: “TOWARDS THE ULTIMATE”

 Album Reviews  16 Responses »
Nov 062011
 

(Today’s second guest post comes your way from the depths of Trollfiend’s lair, where you can’t walk without tripping on a femur or mashing a skull further into the muck. He’s reviewing the new album by Svarttjern.)

Genres are a good thing. There, I said it.

Okay, I admit that I have zero musical knowledge and only know what a ‘blast beat’ is because I looked it up on Youtube (and I’m still not 100% sure, as the video I watched appeared to be in Swedish).

I could argue endlessly about what constitutes pure blackened crustgrind doomcore and would still not be able to tell the difference between it and blackened doomgrind crustcore, even if it came up and blackenedly doomground the crust right off my own core. But having said that, I still say genres are good. They give us a foundation to build on, they prepare our ears for the particular kind of ass-fucking ears get from the metal we love, and they give us something to argue endlessly about on metal website forums.

So I’m going to go out on a limb and call Svarttjern ‘blackened death’. I have no fucking idea if such a thing exists, and I’m willing to bet my priceless collection of Burger King collectible sippy cups that at least seven people are going to call me a goddamn moron for not knowing that Svarttjern is, in fact, not even close to blackened death and is more like deathified black. Bring it, bitches.(more after the jump . . .) Continue reading »

GHOST: “OPUS EPONYMOUS”

 Album Reviews  26 Responses »
Nov 062011
 


Record Label: Rise Above/Metal Blade | Year: 2010/2011 | Genre: Hard Rock

By Willard Shrapnelspear

Death Cab For Cutie is one band you will never dream of mentioning in an album review about a band under a record label like Metal Blade, and one that was even featured on the June cover of extreme metal magazine, Decibel, earlier this year. However, I am about to accomplish the unthinkable: When this album’s opening instrumental track, “Deus Culpa”, started off with tranquil synths, I had to double-check that I was not playing Death Cab For Cutie’s Plans album by mistake. It simply sounds so similar to the introduction of “Marching Bands Of Manhattan”!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Se4NBz5N_SA
Continue reading »

SHORT BUT SWEET: BORIS THE BLADE’S “TIDES OF DAMNATION”

 Album Reviews, SHORT BUT SWEET  7 Responses »
Nov 052011
 

(Guest writer Austin Slagle-Knauss makes his first NCS appearance with a review of a new EP out of Australia.)

What do you think when you hear “Australian metal band”? First band I think of is Did You Mean Australia (who are not from Australia, but from Cincinatti) followed by Parkway Drive and the lesser known Thy Art is Murder. Well, there’s a new act on the horizon that will rival any of the bands mentioned before: Behold Boris the Blade and their new ep Tides of Damnation.

Think about the name for a moment and you might guess it’s another shitty core band trying to use a cool Snatch reference for a name. But upon my first time hearing them, I was pleasantly kicked in the head with a brutality that I was not expecting.

The band is a 5-piece from Melbourne, Australia, with ex-The Red Shore guitarist Roman Koester, who brings out the big guns, whether delivering a slow, daunting breakdown as in in the instrumental “Wastelands” or the full-on aural assault that is “Like Wolves” (which features guest vocals by CJ McMahon of Thy Art Is Murder).

The band has already made it to Number One on the Australian iTunes metal chart, and with good reason: This band makes you want to fucking devastate anything or anyone that crosses you. (more after the jump . . .) Continue reading »

SHORT BUT SWEET: ROSICRUCIAN’S “BENEATH THE WAVES”

 Album Reviews, SHORT BUT SWEET  No Responses »
Nov 042011
 

(Fresh off an NCS co-sponsored UK tour with his band Bloodguard, NCS writer Andy Synn returns to these pages with his review of a remarkable EP by Bristol’s Rosicrucian.)

It’s always a pleasure to encounter music where form is so perfectly suited to function. In this case, Rosicrucian’s flowing, tide-driven take on post-black metal dynamics is described and elucidated perfectly by the artwork and the song titles, which fit effortlessly into the musical aesthetic as a whole, enhancing the experience of the listener. The fit is seamless and seemingly effortless, the art adding whole dimensions to the music as an experience.

The slow-building tension of “Beneath The Waves” is the sound of a storm gathering on the horizon, whose furious winds and explosive cloud-bursts of emotion sweep down upon the listener with elemental force. Torrents of blasting, storm-driven drumming meld with instances of gleaming ambience, an azure haze which paints the song with a deep shade of existential despair.

The ringing coda of “Lest We Forget” is a thing of crystalline clarity and beauty, its skeletal spectre reduced to its starkest bones by the weight of ages, its remains exhumed by the passage of time to reveal both the beauty and brutality of our finite existence.  Exposed to the merciless elements, we are stripped bare by the scathing winds of tumultuous, blackened fury which carry these notes of striking melody with vibrant, unflinching power.  (more after the jump . . .) Continue reading »

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