AN NCS EP PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): TENEBRIFIC — “LABYRINTH OF ANGUISH”

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Apr 032024
 

Tenebrific is a new band from Australia, a studio project created by Adam Martin of Golgothan Remains and Sarcophagum, in collaboration with Cris Bassan from Decrepid. Their debut release (in which they’re aided by some special guests) is an EP fittingly named Labyrinth of Anguish, which is set for release on April 8th.

The band have described the EP (quite accurately) as a release that “offers a glimpse into the abyss of existential despair, inviting listeners to confront their own inner demons and navigate the labyrinth of anguish.” “Throughout 22 minutes,” they say, “we summon monstrous and hallucinatory blackened death deformations that echo the howls of tortured souls and the whispers of malevolent entities.”

Over the course of three substantial tracks, the EP progresses as a single cohesive and carefully planned journey, one that really must be heard straight through to get the full effect — and fortunately, that’s what you’ll be able to do further down in this article as we premiere the full stream. Continue reading »

KORPIKLAANI: “RANKARUMPU”

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Apr 032024
 

(Below you’ll find Didrik Mešiček‘s review of Korpiklaani‘s new studio album, Rankarumpu, which will be released this Friday, April 5th, via Nuclear Blast Records.)

Korpiklaani is one of the first bands I ever properly got into – even though I thought they were way too heavy when I was a very, very different child at the age of about 13. For that reason, they’re one of those bands that will always be a bit more special as we’ve spent a lot of time together many years ago, and in my mind, a new Korpiklaani release can’t possibly be bad. Luckily, one is very close, as Rankarumpu will be released on April 5th through Nuclear Blast.

In more recent history, the band has oscillated quite wildly. From the 2018 release, Kulkija, which was widely considered not great and had an odd, somewhat melancholic, overarching sound that I can only describe as farmy, except for a few tracks that picked up the tempo and involved a bit more of that typical Finnish humppa, to 2021’s Jylhä, which, I still insist, is the band’s best album – at least musically. That is, however, not the same as being the most palatable or having the most drinking songs you can scream along to. Jylhä therefore showed maturity and renewed my faith in the Finns’ ability to write genuinely good music. Continue reading »

THINGS YOU MAY HAVE MISSED (BUT SHOULDN’T)

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Apr 032024
 

(Andy Synn presents four more handpicked morsels of metallic goodness from the last month)

I don’t think anyone is going to disagree with the following assertion, but… March was absolutely packed with new releases, any number of which could (and perhaps) should have been featured here.

Sadly, between the three of us (and our various (ir)regular contributors) we only have a limited number of hours in the day which we can dedicate to writing and reviewing… especially when you consider that we’d rather, wherever possible, provide some proper insight and analysis instead of just churning out a bunch of superficial – and largely interchangeable – puff-pieces just to get our numbers up.

With that in mind, here’s a short-list (ok, not that short) of artists I wish I’d written about… Apparition, Clarion Void, Convulsing, Horresque, Kollapse, Merrimack, Sacrificial Vein (absolutely love that one), Schattenfall, the flawed but fascinatingly ambitious debut from Waidelotte, Wounds… and which I hope you’ll still find time to check out.

Still, best not to focus on our regrets, eh? Especially since the four artists/albums I’ve selected for this edition of “Things You May Have Missed” – all of whom err on the more esoteric and/or unorthodox side, to a greater or lesser extent – represent some of the best that March had to offer.

Continue reading »

SUFFER: “GRAND CANVAS OF THE AESTHETE”

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Apr 022024
 


cover art by Ettore Aldo del Vigo

(We present Todd Manning‘s very enthusiastic review of the new album from Suffer, which was released by Wise Blood Records on March 29th.)

Most death metal bands define themselves by emphasizing one aspect of their sound. Maybe it’s speed or lack thereof, technicality versus primitivism, seeing how guttural they can be, and so on. On their latest, Grand Canvas of the Aesthete, which just came out on Wise Blood Records, South Dakota’s Suffer take a different approach; they define themselves by the balance they strike of all the elements of death metal that they incorporate. Continue reading »

GONZO’S HEAVY ROUNDUP, MARCH 2024

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Apr 012024
 

(March 2024 is in the history books, and in this column Gonzo reviews six albums that made it a good month to remember.)

So, I dunno if it’s just me, but 2024 has already been a banger of a year for heavy music after only three months. My best-of-’24 Spotify playlist has over 10 hours of music on it, and that’s just me throwing random shit in there on a fairly haphazard basis.

Later in April, I’m also taking a trip down the road to Red Rocks to see Amon Amarth headline a wild show that includes Obituary, Cannibal Corpse, and Frozen Soul. And by the time this piece goes live, I’ll have already seen Wayfarer perform “American Gothic” in its entirety at the Bluebird in Denver. Look for a review of that one coming up.

Good times await, my friends.

But first, let’s get to some new gems I’ve unearthed from metal’s grimy underbelly over the past 30 days. Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK: ROTTING CHRIST, CHARUN, SATANIC NORTH, DODENKROCHT, FRAGMENTUM, CANTIQUE LÉPREUX, BEDRÄNGNIS

 Album Reviews, SHADES OF BLACK, SHORT BUT SWEET  3 Responses »
Mar 312024
 

It is a good thing to be tolerant of people who are different from you, including people who believe things you think are ridiculous. But tolerance is sorely tested by people who are hypocrites and con-men, whose professions of faith are a cover for corruption, hatefulness, and abuse of others.

Having those people in mind today, and all the people who have fought back against them (with a kind thought also for the sweet people who humbly try to follow the precepts of such passages as Matthew 7:12 and 25:35-40), I picked the following five songs from forthcoming records and two complete releases to recommend to you on this Easter Sunday.

ROTTING CHRIST (Greece)

Rotting Christ, but of course I’m starting with them today. Their new album ΠΡΟ ΧΡΙΣΤΟU (Pro Xristou) — “Before Christ” — “serves as a fervent tribute to the last Pagan kings who resisted the onslaught of Christianity, guarding their ancient values and knowledge”. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): MONASTERY DEAD — “EGO SUM DOLOR”

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Mar 292024
 

Today we premiere a full stream of Ego Sum Dolor, the fourth album to emerge, after four years of work, from the Saint Petersburg death metal band Monastery Dead. It will be co-released on March 31st by Satanath Records (Georgia) and Australis Records (Chile).

If your Latin is rusty, the album’s title translate to “I am pain”, or perhaps “I am in pain”. Consistent with that title, the concept of the album is described as follows:

This is a story about a man doomed to experience all the suffering and torment destined for him in his life, here and now. He bears the burden of merciless retribution, which, like stigmata, he acquired by birthright, experiences pain and inflicts pain, is obsessed with destruction and destroys himself. His own wounds and those of his victims will never heal and will bleed forever.

Or to put it more succinctly: “The basis of the concept of the release is the idea that the real hell is our current existence on Earth.” Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): MOUNTAIN SHADOW — “MOUNTAIN SHADOW”

 Album Reviews, Premieres  2 Responses »
Mar 282024
 

As you can see, we’re premiering a full stream of the self-titled debut album by Mountain Shadow. In advance of the music stream we have delectable teasers to offer, beginning with this preview from Fiadh Productions, which will officially release the album tomorrow:

Mountain Shadow… is Pennsylvanian Folk Death Metal, existing between Archaic Death Metal, Atmospheric Black Metal, Funeral Doom & Bluegrass, exalting Appalachian Horror and the melancholic ruins of nostalgic America.

More teasers: The listing of instruments in the credits for the performances on the album, beginning with the two childhood friends who are the band’s members: Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: VERBERIS, ALLEGAEON, PARTY CANNON, MORTAL WOUND, VRYKOLAKAS, VERITERAS, OLD IRON, FRAIL BODY, ATARAXIA

 Album Reviews, Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC, SHORT BUT SWEET  1 Response »
Mar 282024
 

Lately I’ve been organizing these roundups of recommended new songs and videos in alphabetical order by band name, because that means I don’t have to spend any time thinking like a DJ, trying to figure out what makes sense in the flow of the music. Sometimes that has coincidentally led to interesting juxtapositions.

Today, however, I’ve chosen a different organizational scheme, because some of the songs naturally paired up with each other. So this collection includes a block of goofy stuff, a “hulking and hideous  death metal” block, a Seattle block, and some curveballs at the end, although the very end is more like a sequence of eephus pitches that sail in high and slow (look it up).

But to begin, you’ll find something that doesn’t fit anywhere else but left me wide-eyed and slack-jawed. Continue reading »

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