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SCAR SYMMETRY: “THE SINGULARITY (PHASE II — XENOTAPH)”

Jul 112023

(In June Nuclear Blast released Scar Symmetry‘s first studio album in nine years. DGR was in no great hurry to review it. And you’d better be in no great hurry to read the review, because he has a lot of thoughts about it.)

Ever since its early June release, I’ve thought a lot about Scar Symmetry‘s newest album The Singulary (Phase II – Xenotaph) and what it means for the band, the limits of artist freedom, the effect of a long wait between albums, Scar Symmetry‘s place within the overall heavy metal world, and just how much the naming of an album really matters in relation to the music within.

Long story short, for an album that is recognizably one of the most Scar Symmetry albums that could’ve feasibly been conceived, it sure has set the old brain muscles aflame, and for better or for worse not all of that relates to the quality of music contained within Xenotaph‘s near hour of run time. Because what does it mean for a band like Scar Symmetry to essentially vanish, go dormant for nine-plus years and then reappear with an album that sounds like it too was placed within stasis itself and basically continues right where the band left off from their previous adventures – though it takes a few songs to get there? Continue reading »

BEST OF BRITISH: BURNER / CALLIGRAM / COFFIN MULCH

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Jul 102023

(Andy Synn is back with three recent examples of “the best of British” for you to enjoy)

Despite my ongoing efforts to expose and highlight some of the “best” and/or up-and-coming examples of British Metal over the years, there’s still a fair few people who seem to think I don’t do enough to “support the scene”.

Of course, digging into this a little deeper, it inevitably transpires that this accusation stems either from the fact that I don’t cover everything that the UK scene has to offer – both because I simply don’t have the time to cover it all and because, to be honest, it’s not all worth covering – or is a consequence of my attempts to offer a more measured and balanced critique, which sometimes involves providing some constructive criticism, rather than just flying the hype flag simply because something is “home grown”.

The consequence of this is – or should be – that you know that when I write about something I do so because I think it stands out from the crowd a little (or a lot). And while I’ve definitely been guilty of underrating/overrating a few things here and there before now, I don’t think I’ve ever written about anything that isn’t at least interesting. And the three albums you’re about to read about are definitely that (and much more besides).

SHADES OF BLACK: SZNUR, DISCORPORATE, A//PLAGUE, ANONYMOUS SKULL, NIGHTGOAT INVOKATE THE STARS, AUTGER

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Jul 092023

Over the last few days, in between other things, I wandered down an underground musical path that took some very unexpected turns. Rather than focus on names that might be well-known, I focused instead on obscurity. I did recognize two names whose new music I explored (they begin and end today’s collection), but most I had never before.

In each instance, something about the music grabbed me, even when in some instances it initially seemed to pose a rude challenge to my ear drums. I hope you’ll find it an interesting musical odyssey, as I did, straight through to the fascinating surprise that’s waiting at the end. I don’t expect everything will appeal to everyone, but what does?

SZNUR (Poland)

As noted, I’m beginning with a name that already resonated well with me thanks to my discovery of the band’s third album, Dom Człowieka, soon after its release by Godz Ov War Productions about two years ago (which I enthusiastically reviewed here). Now Sznur‘s fourth album Ludzina is on the way from the same Godz Ov War. I haven’t yet heard all of it, but the two tracks currently streaming are high-octane fuel for the reptile brain. Continue reading »

KONSENSUS: “LIFE DEPRIVED”

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Jul 072023

(As you’ll see from the following review, DGR got his grind tank fully fueled up by the new album from the Greek one-person operation Konsensus that came out last month.)

The opportunity to open a review or writeup with ‘wow, it sure is a great time such and such genre’ is always an appreciated one. Cards on the table though, one of the best parts about being a grind fan and writing about grind music whenever the chance strikes is that it is generally always a good time for grind because the formula is so honed down and about as high or low stakes as you want it to be that someone out there, somewhere, will have picked up on the punk-as-fuck ethos of ‘what if we just play really fast and beat the hell out of the instruments behind it’ and more often than not, be pretty dang good at it.

There are obviously highlight releases every year – for fucks sake, this a Rotten Sound year – but if you likes you a good ole’ fashioned circle-pit riff and a whole bunch of energy being expelled outwards in a direction that boils down to ‘everywhere’, the hyperspeed musicians who make their grind out of all things blastbeats, heavy and fast, are able to provide. Greece’s one-man show Konsensus was one of those highlight releases back in 2021. Bravely launched during the glory years of endless frustration at people’s damned near-malicious ignorance and brilliantly armed to the teeth, New Age Of Terror was a solid hit to the system that promised a whole lot of fury for music in the future, and now in 2023 we have that in the form of a full-length under the title of Life Deprived. Continue reading »

THINGS YOU MAY HAVE MISSED (BUT SHOULDN’T)

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Jul 062023

(Andy Synn presents four albums from the last month – or so – that you may have overlooked)

What is there to say about today’s selection of albums – which run the gamut from Hardcore to Black Metal to Death Metal to Doom – beyond the fact that you really should check them all out?

Well, hopefully a lot, because otherwise this is going to be a fairly short (and boring) article!

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): GUTSLIT — “CARNAL”

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Jul 062023

Almost six years ago the Indian extreme metal band Gutslit released their eye-opening second album Amputheatre, and now we’re on the eve of release of their third album Carnal. As we did roughly six years ago for Amputheatre, today we’re hosting a premiere for the new album by these brutal death/grind marauders, but this time it’s the whole record you’ll have a chance to hear, all eight neck-wrecking and eviscerating tracks —

Carnal is the name of the new full-length, and as the band explain, it “explores the intricate struggles of the human psyche and the conflict between good and evil,” and features tracks that draw inspiration from infamous serial killers, offering a unique perspective on the human experience”. Carnal also marks the return of Aditya Barve (Skewered in the Sewer) on vocals and features guest vocals by Benighted‘s Julien Truchan on the track “Bind Torture Kill.” Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): UAMH — “AT THE EDGE OF THE LOCH”

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Jul 052023

On July 7th, Fiadh Productions will (with considerable delight) release At the Edge of the Loch, the debut full-length by the Montana-based atmospheric black metal artist Uamh. As the album title itself suggests, Uamh‘s music draws inspiration from Celtic traditions, and subtly interweaves old folk instruments, along with drumming that sounds more stripped-down and even primitive than flashy (but still makes a visceral impact).

On the other hand, with one prominent exception, the vocals take the form of raw black metal screams, and the music, which derives its greatest strengths from the ravaging and ringing power of the carefully layered guitars, is capable of searing the senses and melting hearts as well as opening the mind’s eye to breathtaking panoramas.

We have a lot more thoughts about each of the album’s five compelling tracks, all of which we’re sharing with you today in advance of the album’s release this Friday, but we ought to begin the introduction with Uamh‘s own words: Continue reading »

NOTT: “HIRAETH”

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Jul 052023

(What we have here is Todd Manning‘s review of Hiraeth, the new album by the duo Nott that’s set for release on August 18th by Silent Pendulum Records.)

It’s probably not helpful to call an album ‘heavy’ on a website such as No Clean Singing, but what I want to get across is that the new release by Nott, Hiraeth, is immensely, cosmically, insanely heavy. This duo, consisting of Julia Geaman on drums and Tyler Campbell on guitar, bass, and vocals, now hail from the Pacific Northwest and play a brand of death-doom that will surely cause California to fall into the ocean.

Starting with the opener “Torn”, Nott unleashes riffs that sound like a boulder being dropped off a skyscraper. They deal in a similar vein of apocalyptic atmosphere as Ulcerate but there exists an additional dimension of darkness here that sets them apart. When the occasional blast beat surfaces, there’s a darkness not unlike early Immolation. Continue reading »

BLACKBRAID – BLACKBRAID II

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Jul 032023

(Andy Synn takes a second look at Blackbraid and their new album)

The thing about overhyping a band, or an album, is that it doesn’t really leave you much room to manoeuvre in the future.

After all, if [Record A] was so perfect how is it possible that [Record B] – which we all agree is an altogether superior and more mature piece of work – is somehow better?

Case in point, while Blackbraid II undoubtedly improves upon its predecessor in a myriad of subtle ways it’s also not without its flaws, which I’d imagine presents certain writers/reviewers with a difficult decision to make.

Because either they acknowledge that II is the better album despite its imperfections – in which case they have to admit that they went a little overboard with praising I – or they have to continue to pretend that the band can do no wrong… in which case, how is it possible to improve on perfection?

SHADES OF BLACK: KRIEG, DEATHMOOR, PORTA NIGRA, ZIGOTA

Album Reviews, SHADES OF BLACK 5 Responses »

Jul 022023

Here we are again, ready to blacken the Sabbath with some new things you might not have heard, the kind of things that would ruin most people’s days but I hope will turn yours into warming bonfires. Well, maybe not warming, more like incinerating, but still welcome I hope. What’s ahead is a new stand-alone single, a couple of tracks from a forthcoming album, and two just-released full-lengths.

KRIEG (U.S.)

Neill Jameson has made a name for himself as a music writer, often wise-cracking, irreverently cynical, and creatively foul-mouthed but with a finely-honed and widely respected taste that makes lots of people pay attention to his recommendations of underground gems. We’ve benefited from that here ourselves, usually through his year-end lists for our site but also at other times when he’s been moved to send something our way.

But before he made a name for himself in those ways, he and his band Krieg made a name for themselves in the annals of U.S. black metal. Krieg‘s musical output, beginning with their debut album in 1998 (recently reissued by The Devil’s Elixirs Records), ran in a hot, year-after-year torrent through 2018, mostly splits and EPs but with 7 more albums also scattered along the way. Then there was a four-year pause before 2022 brought forth a split with Crucifixion Bell, which demonstrated in electrifying fashion that although Time may have aged Krieg‘s members, it definitely hasn’t dulled their knives or moderated their musical savagery.

And now we’ve got a new Krieg single named “Bone Whip,” which is captured on one of those flexi-discs in the new issue of Decibel magazine (the one with Mizmor on the cover, available for purchase here). As disclosed at Decibel’s site, the song was recorded during the sessions for Krieg‘s next album (the name of which is Ruiner), but won’t be included on that album. Continue reading »

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