CLEAN SINGING: 40 WATT SUN AND ARKAN

 Album Reviews, Exceptions to the Rule  9 Responses »
May 032011
 

This site is called NO CLEAN SINGING for a reason. It’s not just a gimmick. We really do prefer our metal with harsh vocals. In part, that’s because the music of bands who feature unclean vocals tends to be extreme in other ways we like, too. But we’re not completely dogmatic about the “no clean singing” thing — we do like some metal that mixes clean and unclean vocals (see Andy Synn’s review of Scar Symmetry’s latest album yesterday, for example), and on even more rare occasions, we enjoy metal that includes nothing but clean singing. We call that kind of music “Exceptions to the Rule”.

Today, we want to write briefly about two recent albums that fall into that category of exceptions — the debut album from UK doom lords 40 Watt Sun and the unusual (and amazing) second album from a French band called Arkan. We’ll get back to our usual, nasty fare in our next post.

40 WATT SUN

We don’t claim to be experts in the genre of traditional doom metal. We try to provide variety in the music we cover at NCS, but doom is a category that we just don’t listen to very much, and as a result we’re fairly ignorant on the subject. In fact, we’re so ignorant that we knew nothing about this band and listened to a promo copy of their new album without any idea of what the music would sound like. If we’d known more about it in advance, we probably would have skipped over it. Ignorance can sometimes be a good thing, because we’re damned glad we discovered this band’s debut, The Inside Room. (more after the jump, including tracks to hear . . .) Continue reading »

SCAR SYMMETRY: “THE UNSEEN EMPIRE”

 Album Reviews  6 Responses »
May 022011
 

(Andy Synn joins us again today with his review of the The Unseen Empire, the new album from Sweden’s Scar Symmetry. The Unseen Empire was released on April 15 in Europe and will be released on May 17 in North America via Nuclear Blast Records — that’s the North American jewel-case cover art above.)

I have to admit right now that Dark Matter Dimensions was my favourite of SS’s releases thus far. Although the two new vocalists were not fully integrated together, I felt that the musicianship and song-writing on their last album was nothing short of stellar. Too often the band was referred to merely as an afterthought to the impressive vocals of Christian Alvestam, yet on this latest record the new vocalists have made huge, leaping bounds of progression, matching the capabilities of the musicians and material surrounding them as never before.

Comparing their performance with that of their predecessor is now a pleasure, rather than an unfortunate chore, as the harsh vocals are now more varied and aggressive, lower, harsher, higher, more emotionally convincing, while the clean vocals have also pushed themselves to greater heights, smooth yet unexpected melodies matched by digressions into piercing falsetto and powerful, intensely emotive singing. The new blood and new-found variety allows the band to explore vocal arrangements and melodies which would never have been possible or thought of with their previous vocalist. (more after the jump . . .) Continue reading »

RAY’S MUSIC

 Album Reviews, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  24 Responses »
Apr 272011
 

Sometimes we get into e-mail exchanges with NCS readers, and sometimes we learn a few things about them that you wouldn’t know just from reading their comments here on the site. Take Ray Heberer, for example (he uses only his first name when he leaves comments). Ray is 15 years old, approaching his 16th birthday. He lives in Taiwan. He goes to a demanding school, he’s on the track team, and he began visiting this site not long ago.

Ray is also a guitarist, and he also plays bass. He’s been playing for about 2 years, which would mean he started when he was about 13. I think I was still breast-feeding at 13. The only instrument I could play with when I was 15 was the one attached to my body. So, in one sense, what Ray does sort of depresses me. And, for those of us who are a bit insecure about our own talents, this story gets worse.

Ray also composes and records his own music, he’s a fair hand with synthesizers, and he’s the centerpiece of three bands (Haemic, Dreams of Winter, and Bloodred Fullmoon), plus his own solo project (Reclusive Forest Council). It’s all metal, but because Ray evidently hasn’t yet settled on the style of music he wants to make his focus, each of these projects explores different styles.

And to top it off, Ray is good. How good? Well, you’re about to find out. We’re going to play you some of Ray’s music, including a medley of melodies from the forthcoming Dreams of Winter album that Ray created just for NCS. We predict the time will come when you’ll be proud to tell people, “Hey, I heard that dude’s music on NCS when he was only 15!” (more after the jump . . .) Continue reading »

SATYROS: RIVEN

 Album Reviews  19 Responses »
Apr 252011
 

Satyros is a three-piece German band established in 2005. Initially, the focus of their musical endeavors was black metal, the style reflected in their 2007 self-titled debut. However, they made significant changes in their style as they began to write songs for the second full-length, Riven. That album has now been released, and the band has chosen to make it available for free download. In a word, it’s stunning.

More than a few music industry observers have been opining that as consumers increasingly get their music by way of digital downloads (both legit and illegit), CDs will become a thing of the past, and albums will, too. Their forecast is that the current trend of people buying individual songs in digital form will strengthen, and that the recording of full albums will eventually wither away, not being worth the time or the money.

These forecasts may prove to be accurate in the case of many musical genres, and even in the realm of metal, it does seem that more and more bands are releasing EPs in lieu of full-length albums, in part because that enables bands to keep their fans engaged by presenting new music more frequently than if they waited to amass a full album’s worth of new songs. It’s also tough to deny that most albums don’t contain a full album’s worth of great songs. Sometimes bands would better off by releasing an EP-length collection of good material rather than straining to fill a full-length with an uneven compilation of music.

On the other hand, albums like Riven make me hope those industry forecasts turn out to be wrong, at least for metal. Riven is approximately one hour in length, encompassing 12 songs, and every song is strong — all killer and no filler. The album takes the listener on a journey, as good albums should, and this is a journey that’s well worth that hour of your time.  (more after the jump . . .) Continue reading »

BILL SKINS FIFTH: “FROM WHAT LIES BENEATH”

 Album Reviews, SHORT BUT SWEET  19 Responses »
Apr 242011
 

Our focus today is on an unsigned Finnish band named Bill Skins Fifth, whose debut EP caught our attention late last year, and who have just released a new one that’s outstanding. For a band that’s only two EPs into their recording career, they’re way up the learning curve and making a very strong statement that they’re a band to watch.

Bill Skins Fifth (whose name will be recognized by sharp-eyed fans of the movie Silence of the Lambs) was formed in Salo, Finland, in 2008 and in 2010 they released their first work, a four-song EP called Act One. We featured that EP in a post last December as part of our Finland Tribute Week (here), and what we said then bears repeating: “They’re technically capable and they have that special talent that separates bands who have a future from those who don’t: They know how to write songs. To be more precise, they create music that has distinctive melodies and a recognizable structure. They establish themes, they explore variations on those themes, and they return to those introductory themes again.”

Yesterday, the band self-released their second EP, From What Lies Beneath — five songs with a total run-time of just over 19 minutes. It accomplishes what you like to hear from a new band whose music you like: It shows progress. Don’t get me wrong — Act One was damned good — but the new EP shows increasing sophistication in the songwriting and increasing assurance in the execution. (more after the jump, including a link for download of the new EP . . .) Continue reading »

THE BROWN BOOK: “PYRAMID SCHEME”

 Album Reviews, SHORT BUT SWEET  19 Responses »
Apr 232011
 

The Brown Book is a band we discovered in March 2010. Back then, they had an album to their credit called Thirty-Nothing, and we frothed at the mouth about it in a review and interview we posted here. Fast forward slightly more than one year, and here we have a new EP from The Brown Book called Pyramid Scheme. The band also now has available a Bandcamp page (here) where you can get a digital download of The Pyramid Scheme with a “name your price” option, as well as Thirty-Nothing for $4.

Now that we’ve got those logistical details out of the way, here’s why you should care about the new EP: Because it sounds like your life, though possibly with more distortion. There are times when you feel balanced, in sync with what’s happening around you, in control of your destiny. But you soon realize that feeling is fleeting, when all hell breaks lose, when you feel pulled in a dozen different directions at once, when the ground gives way beneath you, when an impersonal universe comes crashing down on your best-laid plans and all you can do is ride with it and do your best to enjoy the utter unpredictability of existence.

Or perhaps your life is more charmed and orderly than most, in which case you may need to better appreciate the freedom and sense of abandon that chaos brings. Either way, as a soundtrack to how you live or as a crushing departure from the ordinary, Pyramid Scheme is worth hearing.  (more after the jump, including a taste of the music . . .) Continue reading »

BECOMING THE ARCHETYPE: CELESTIAL COMPLETION

 Album Reviews  No Responses »
Apr 192011
 

(Today, our UK contributor Andy Synn follows yesterday’s retrospective on Becoming the Archetype with a review of the band’s new album, Celestial Completion.)

Perhaps Becoming The Archetype’s most ambitious album yet begins with the strange, symphonic introduction of “The Resonant Frequency Of Flesh”. Haunting choral voices and a sweeping Danny-Elfman-aping score backed by pounding drums and punchy slabs of guitar, which segues seamlessly into “The Magnetic Sky”, juxtaposing Jason Wisdom‘s familiar, powerful roar with a stunning clean vocal refrain, the first incidence of prominent clean vocals since The Physics Of Fire. The oceanic rise and fall of crushing heaviness and sinuous guitar work showcases the band’s joyous song-writing talents, indulging both their love of metallic force and bright, shining melody.

“Internal Illumination” is perhaps the most purely death metal track the band has done on an album since their Terminate Damnation days, replete with hellishly low gutturals, gripping blast-beat sections and an utterly crushing ending slowdown that drags the listener’s ears through a mire of sludgy riffing and dragging drum fills. It also employs the newly developed blackened screams which are now part of the band’s vocal arsenal, adding further variety to their multi-faceted, expressive vocal arrangements.  (more after the jump . . .) Continue reading »

CONTEMPORARY CAVEMEN COVER CLASSICS

 Album Reviews, Metal News, SHORT BUT SWEET  No Responses »
Apr 162011
 

Norway’s Goat the Head have fully occupied a metal niche that was waiting to be filled since . . . uh . . . the Paleolithic era: contemporary primal caveman death metal. (And did you know there’s a Paleolithic weight-loss diet?) Here at NCS, we love this band. We’ve posted about them so many times in the past that we’re expecting royalty checks from the massive sales of Goat the Head music that our publicity has no doubt generated. What about it dudes? Royalty checks in the mail?

You may not want to wade through all of our posts, but for background info, here’s a link to one of them (our review of the band’s latest album).

The reason for this post is that Goat the Head has just released a four-song EP called Wicked Mimicry that includes three covers and one original tune. Despite the title of this post, not all the songs they cover are really “classics”, but we exercised a little license in order to get an alliterative post title (using the second definition of “alliteration” once again, Misha).

The covers are a punk song (“Decapitated”) by the immortal Broken Bones, a heavy metal song (“King of Rock and Roll”) by the immortal Dio, and a blues song (“Beer Drinkers and Hell Raisers”) by the immortal ZZ Top. The original tune is the title track, “Wicked Mimicry”. Put it all together, and it’s a fuckin’ party from start to finish.  After the jump, our impressions plus a chance for you to hear one of these tracks . . . Continue reading »

ULVER: WARS OF THE ROSES

 Album Reviews  6 Responses »
Apr 152011
 

(Our UK contributor Andy Synn provides this review of the new album by Norway’s Ulver, which will be released by the Kscope label on April 25 in the UK and on May 3 in the U.S.)

At their recent London show, Ulver, in traditionally uncompromising fashion, elected to play the entirety of their as-yet unheard new album, start to finish, as the majority of their set without reference to the classics or fan favourites. Thus my first exposure to the music was as part of a brilliant, shining experience of crystalline dynamics, stark, psychedelic sounds and captivating visuals. Thankfully, the record stands up to this live experience, confirming and expanding upon my initial impressions.

Essentially Wars Of The Roses stands as a companion piece to Shadows Of The Sun. Where Shadows… was warm and subtle, the new album is colder and more starkly portrayed. Much as the artwork of Shadows… reflects the warm shades of melancholy contained within, so does the beautiful, minimalist black and white art of Wars… reflect the clarity and extremity of emotion contained within.

Yet for all the cold and stark presentation of dichotomous musical elements on this album, there is a deep seam of emotion to be discovered beneath the surface. Whereas Shadows… was earthy and masculine, Wars… is ethereal and feminine, a female moon to a male sun, brilliant whiteness and deep shadows containing grand sweeping vistas of divergent emotions.  (more after the jump . . .) Continue reading »

SEPTIC FLESH: THE GREAT MASS

 Album Reviews  5 Responses »
Apr 122011
 

(Our UK contributor Andy Synn provides his review of an album we’ve been eagerly awaiting here at NCS — the new one from Greece’s Septic Flesh, due for release by Season of Mist on April 18 in Europe and one day later in NorthAm.)

Ladies and gentlemen, for my next trick I’m going to attempt to review the new Septic Flesh album without ever explicitly mentioning their previous album Communion (not counting this mention obviously)!

Equally comfortable playing the roles of death metal behemoths, gothic troubadours and classical composers, Septic Flesh have crafted another deep and rewarding piece of majestic, symphonic metal that carefully navigates the pitfalls and clichés which plague many of their peers. Largely this is due to their focus on making the more esoteric elements of their sound just as important and vital to their success as the guitar riffs and drum patterns which underpin them.

I for one could not imagine these songs without the complex classical arrangements, nor see them existing without the frantic energy provided by the furious drums and guitars. At no point is the orchestration treated as an afterthought, or designed simply to fill otherwise empty space, and equally it has been used at the expense of the metallic heart which powers the songs. Rather, the classical elements have been composed to suit the core metallic might of the band . . . which has itself been influenced and shaped by the core classical influences that run through their musical veins!  (more after the jump . . .) Continue reading »

 Older Entries  Newer Entries