“A New Journey Awaits You”

 Album Reviews  15 Responses »
Mar 172011
 

Okay, so I know I suck at contributing to this site. I haven’t written anything for NCS in quite some time. But, every so often, a piece of media comes along in some form, whether it be a movie, a TV show, or in this case, a piece of music, that changes your life. It has an effect on you that you can’t quite explain, but you can’t stop listening to it. It grabs you, holds on, and doesn’t let go, making you think and reflect on where you are in your life.

For me, Chicago metal band Born of Osiris‘ new album The Discovery, set to drop on March 22nd, did just that. I’ve now listened to it six times in less than 24 hours and I believe that it is not only the best album of the year, or the past two years, but I am not afraid to say that it is now my favorite album of all time.  (more after the jump, including a song . . .) Continue reading »

CELTACHOR

 Album Reviews  3 Responses »
Mar 172011
 

You know what day this is, of course. Yes, it’s the anniversary of the day when the rubber band was patented in 1845. It’s also the birthday of wrestler Samoa Joe, and the first anniversary of Alex Chilton’s death. On this day in 1789, during the American Revolutionary War, George Washington granted the Continental Army a holiday “as an act of solidarity with the Irish in their fight for independence.”

Okay, I’m forgetting something, I know I am. There’s something else about this day that I’m supposed to remember. Hmmmmm. I got it! It’s St. Patrick’s Day! At least here in the U.S., it’s the day when everyone pretends they’re Irish, and in celebration of Irishness, we all wear green and get totally shit-faced.

Getting shit-faced while wearing green is all well and good — I will be doing both. But while I’m here at NCS, I prefer to celebrate the grand day by focusing on Irish metal, and specifically on a Dublin band called Celtachor — a name which could loosely be translated as “the Celtic is everything”.

And for this band, so it is. Celtachor’s hybrid of black ‘n roll and folk music is inspired by Irish legends. It’s a re-telling in the language of extreme metal of stories that have been passed down for a long time. The music isn’t slick. It’s rough around the edges. Hell, it’s rough all the way through — but Celtachor’s music is honest, it has heart, it’s real, it will set your head to banging — and you can download their new demo for free. (more after the jump . . .) Continue reading »

THE SYNN REPORT, PART 8: THE MONOLITH DEATHCULT

 Album Reviews, THE SYNN REPORT  44 Responses »
Mar 162011
 

Yesterday we posted an interview with Michiel Dekker of The Monolith Deathcult. Today, our UK contributor Andy Synn, who apparently writes as fast as a peregrine falcon can fly, prepared this companion retrospective in his latest edition of THE SYNN REPORT.

In order to keep up a bit of consistency on the site, I’ve shuffled The Monolith Deathcult up a few notches in my list of bands, so as to best take advantage of Islander’s interview with band main-man Michiel Dekker. Rest assured that the next Synn Report will finally get me back on track with the band I have been wanting to address for several weeks now!

Stormtroopers of avant-garde death metal, The Monolith Deathcult originally formed in 2002 under the moniker “Monolith” before switching to the far more verbose and distinctive title they operate under today. Fusing brutal, technical death metal with grandiose symphonic sounds, industrial strength electronics and a historically focussed lyrical bent, the band have thus far crafted three albums of devastating yet artistically complex death metal.

Eschewing the “more for more’s sake” attitude of speed and technicality so prevalent in death metal, TMDC chose to step sideways, incorporating and exploring new ideas, more twisted song-structures and an array of extraneous instrumentation into their sonic sculptures. Less of a “progressive” band than they are an “experimental” one, TMDC’s main goal appears to be the stretching of traditional death metal boundaries to, and perhaps even beyond, their breaking point. (more after the jump, including music . . .) Continue reading »

CHILDREN OF BODOM: RELENTLESS, RECKLESS FOREVER

 Album Reviews  7 Responses »
Mar 142011
 

It’s not a good sign when you begin to play a Children of Bodom album with trepidation, if not downright fear — fear that it would be as largely forgettable as Blooddrunk, fear that one of your personal gateways to the realms of extreme metal would begin to tumble further down the barren road toward formulaic pandering, fear that a band which used to have some real teeth to go along with all the flashy fretwork and power-metal keyboard riffing would begin to gum their food. That was me — fearful.

I am happy to say that, at least for now, those fears have subsided. The new COB disc, Relentless, Reckless Forever, is not as relentless or as reckless as I might have wished, but it’s a step up from the last album. The band genuinely bear their fangs and flex some claws more than they have in recent memory, the borderline-cheesy, pop-metal stylings have been dialed back, and on some songs the band take a few welcome steps outside their comfort zone.

Having said that, not all is completely well in the Land of Bodom. For me, the question posed by the first single, “Was It Worth It?”, is “not really” (despite the presence of an infectious chorus riff). The closer, “Northpole Throwdown”, is a song destined to be forgotten — an uninspired thrash-and-keyboard sandwich that just isn’t spicy enough. And then there’s a number called “Pussyfoot Miss Suicide”. It’s not nearly as embarrassing as the song title (how could it be?). In fact, it’s a heavy song musically, but I made the mistake of reading the lyrics. Embarrasing.

On the other hand, the album includes a collection of real standouts, some of which will make my personal “Best of COB” playlist. (more words after the jump, plus a song . . .) Continue reading »

RUDRA

 Album Reviews  28 Responses »
Mar 112011
 

Let’s get right to the point: The new album from Singapore’s Rudra is brilliant. From beginning to end, it’s one of the most engaging works of metal we’ve heard this year.

In the ancient Indian collection of Sanskrit hymns known as the Rigveda, Rudra is referred to as a god associated with wind, storm, and lightening. Rudra was also known as the archer and is associated with the hunt and with terrible power.

As noted, Rudra is also the name of a metal band from Singapore who released their first demo way back in 1994 and their debut album in 1998. Five more studio releases have followed, with the last two forming the first installments of a trilogy called Brahmavidya: 2005’s Primordial I and 2009’s Transcendental I. The trilogy is now complete with Rudra’s release on March 3 of Immortal I.

We will come to how these three albums tie together conceptually, but we’ll focus first on the music, as we hear it, on Immortal I. (more after the jump . . .) Continue reading »

THE HUMAN ABSTRACT: DIGITAL VEIL

 Album Reviews  7 Responses »
Mar 082011
 

(Our workaholic contributor Andy Synn checks in for the second day in a row, this time with his review of The Human Abstract‘s new release, which debuts today.)

WARNING: THE FOLLOWING ALBUM CONTAINS LARGE DOSES OF CLEAN SINGING. THOSE WITH A WEAK DISPOSITION SHOULD NOT ATTEMPT TO LISTEN TO THIS ALBUM WITHOUT MEDICAL PERMISSION.

A remarkably divisive band, the career of the collective known as The Human Abstract has had many ups and downs, infuriating their core fan base with various changes in direction, alienating the metal elite with their associations (perceived or real) with many of the more maligned bands and sub-genres of the modern age, and frankly pursuing an altogether contrary and wilfully difficult career path.

Of particular note has been the band’s inconsistent and frequently changing line-up. Since their formation in 2004 the band have accrued a large number of ex-members and existed in a surprising variety of different forms.

The plus side of all this has been that the band have forged a fiercely unique identity within the metal sphere. While they will never be heavy or “legitimate” enough to cross-over with fans of truly heavy death metal influenced bands, they do incorporate some truly abrasive moments of honest to god metallic harshness amongst the neo-classically influenced guitar-work and soaring, prog vocals lines. (more after the jump . . .) Continue reading »

THE SYNN REPORT, PART 7: MYRKSKOG

 Album Reviews, THE SYNN REPORT  3 Responses »
Mar 072011
 

(NCS contributor Andy Synn joins us again with a look back at the music of Myrkskog.)

Hello ladies and gents. This edition of The Synn Report is going to be somewhat shorter than usual as I’ve also been focussing on getting one or two reviews done as well. Not to worry though, the next edition will once again be a lengthy and comprehensive retrospective (truth be told, next week’s band was originally intended to be this week’s band, but their discography is longer and a lot harder to define than this one, so I’ve gone for the easy option this time around!).

Forming in 1993 in Drammen Norway, Myrkskog fuse rampaging death metal brutality with the bleakness of black metal and the harsh clamour of industrial elements into a focussed, unstoppable killing machine. Their first release, Deathmachine, was an intense powerhouse of wall-of-sound industrial noise, blackened melody and death metal power. Second album Superior Massacre saw the band pursuing a more death metal oriented direction (partially due to the departure of guitarist Savant M) which paid tribute to the Floridian death metal sound, albeit still incorporating some darker, black metal tones and underlying, inhuman synths.

The band’s notoriety is partially down to their connection to Zyklon, the post-Emperor project of Samoth and Trym, effectively a continuation of Myrkskog’s musical legacy and featuring both Destruchthor and Secthdamon of Myrkskog. Early guitarist Savant M also went on to form the militant industrial black metal outfit Disiplin after playing his part in the recording of Deathmachine. However, you may or may not be aware of the members’ more high-profile positions in some legendary extreme metal acts, as drummer Secthdamon played bass for Emperor on their recent reunion dates and guitarist Destructhor has served time as a touring guitarist for 1349 and is currently a permanent member of Morbid Angel. (more after the jump . . .) Continue reading »

MOONSORROW: VARJOINA KULJEMME KUOLLEIDEN MAASSA

 Album Reviews  3 Responses »
Mar 032011
 

(UK contributor Andy Synn is back with a review of the brand new release from Finland’s Moonsorrow.)

One of the greatest, and grandest, of all folk-derived metal acts, the proud men of Moonsorrow have always been consummate storytellers, mining a rich seam of Finnish folk-history in order to weld its themes and melodies onto a more traditional metal backbone of heavy, surging guitars and rampaging drums.

Never a band for catchy choruses per se, the songs on this album instead feature numerous recurring melodic themes which act as character pieces, holding the narrative of each song together via their tasteful deployment and haunting hooks. These variable refrains serve as our guides through the often linear progression of the album, keeping us invested whilst the band ignores the standard trappings of metal composition and song-writing in favour of a more organic approach to story-telling, performed at its own pace and with little regard for the more stock conventions of the modern album as a commercial entity.

The folk elements are perhaps less vibrant this time around, as the subject matter of the album requires a more sombre tone, although there remain moments of uplifting melancholy and heroic themes which rise and swell as the songs dictate. (more after the jump . . .) Continue reading »

NOMAD

 Album Reviews  2 Responses »
Mar 012011
 

In sporadically sampled reviews of previous releases by Poland’s Nomad, the phrase “brutal death metal” appeared often (along with words like “evil”, “blackened”, and “satanic”). Four years have passed since the band’s last release (The Independence of Observation Choice). In that time, perhaps their musical interests have evolved, because that “brutal death” label doesn’t fit Nomad’s forthcoming album, Transmigration of Consciousness.

What label does fit? Must we afix a label? No, we don’t. Gazing at the stupendous album cover by Michael “Xaay” Loranc, we can instead think of the music that paces the stroke of oarsmen on a giant longship plowing the waves of interstellar gas, emerging from a galactic vortex to carry cities and citadels into an ominous void where no humans have gone before.

Or, to be more prosaic, we could tell you that Transmigration of Consciousness is a kind of death-metal rave, a seamless flow of syncopated rhythms and synth-driven interludes that effectively combines elements of melodic black metal, industrial metal, and tyrannical death.

Or we could just tell you that we’ve near-destroyed our neck muscles repeatedly snapping our rattled heads to this album.  (more after the jump . . .) Continue reading »

WOUND UPON WOUND

 Album Reviews, SHORT BUT SWEET  4 Responses »
Feb 252011
 

Black metal in Ireland seems to be alive and well and exploding with talent. I have a feeling that metalheads outside of Ireland will be hearing more and more about that scene. Here in the Emerald City, where the weather is now probably even more dank and dreary than in the Emerald Isle, we know the names Primordial and Altar of Plagues, but we have now heard the music of two Irish black metal bands in as many weeks — Eternal Helcaraxe (which we wrote about here) and now Wound Upon Wound — that have truly knocked us down.

Listening to the five-song, 2010 EP (Grievance) by Dublin’s Wound Upon Wound is like witnessing a musical odyssey. Whether what we hear is evidence of the band’s song-writing progression over time in a particular musical direction or simply canny track organization, moving from the first song to the last is a fascinating and immersive experience – like being slowly pulled into an increasingly dark and somber dream.

It is also a genuinely impressive experience, because the band play with great confidence and a remarkably mature understanding of song structure and the ways in which music can elicit a range of emotional responses. This is a taste of potentially wonderful things to come, and we won’t have to wait long for confirmation, because Wound Upon Wound have a debut album on the way.  (more after the jump, including a track to hear . . .) Continue reading »

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