HARM’S WAY: “COMMON SUFFERING”

 Album Reviews  No Responses »
Sep 192023
 

(This is Wil Cifer‘s review of Common Suffering, the new album by Chicago’s Harm’s Way which will be released by Metal Blade on September 28th.)

Here is a band I was reluctant to give a chance due to the whole straight-edge thing. Given my personal beliefs and lifestyle choices, the straight-edge sub-genre feels conflicting in the same way that causes me to avoid Christian bands.

I was lured into being more open-minded thanks to King Woman’s Kristina Esfandiari guesting on the single “Undertow”. The simmering darkness and willingness to explore eerie melodies set the Chicago band apart from the tough-guy hardcore I expected from them. Thus began my descent into their fifth full-length Common Suffering.

Their second album for Metal Blade carries a great deal of crossover appeal, though from a different angle than their previous release Posthuman, and I felt inspired enough by this album to dig back into their catalog and visit that as well. Continue reading »

AN NCS EP PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): MAGNITUDO — “SCOTOMA

 Album Reviews, Premieres  No Responses »
Sep 182023
 

The first song on a new EP by the Italian band Magnitudo, and the first single from it released for streaming, is named “Monument“. As we wrote here when we first heard it, it proves to be a fitting title given the immensity of the sounds.

The band erect a towering wall of guitars above humongous pounding drums, and then they make the wall writhe as horrific roars and howls intrude. Bent on destruction, Magnitudo also inflict slugging jolts as the drums hammer the spine, and they also spin out sweeping waves of ominous melody and slowly slithering filaments of sonic poison that put the frighteners in the bloodstream while the band attempt to break every bone in your body.

And so with that one track Magnitudo don’t just demonstrate the worthiness of the song name, they make one wonder whether the EP’s other three songs create music of similar imposing magnitude. You’re about to get the answer to that question. Continue reading »

TOMB MOLD – THE ENDURING SPIRIT

 Album Reviews  8 Responses »
Sep 182023
 

(Andy Synn steps into the fray to try and uncover the truth about the new Tomb Mold album)

If there’s one thing I think we can all agree on it’s that the amount of excessive “hype” that goes on in the more metallic ends of the media spectrum – from professionally written puff-pieces to overly-effusive amateur tweet-fests – has gotten pretty silly.

Every new album is “album of the year”. Every new band is “the saviour of Metal”. And so on, and so forth.

It sometimes seems like there’s just no room anymore for the sort of nuanced, constructively critical analysis that would actually add something to the conversation. Everyone’s just out to be the first to market with the hottest take or the most fawning regurgitation of the provided press materials, which makes it difficult to get a clear or honest picture of things.

And when the buzz around an album is as deafening as it was about The Enduring Spirit it can be even harder to know what, or who, to trust.

Continue reading »

BEST OF BRITISH: GEIST / HAAR / THE SALT PALE COLLECTIVE

 Album Reviews  No Responses »
Sep 142023
 

(Andy Synn offers up another triple-taste of British steel)

Let me tell you something, the last quarter of this year is absolutely packed with awesome (and potentially awesome) new releases.

And that’s just as true when you take a look at the UK scene too, with a bunch of big names and new contenders scheduled to drop their proverbial bombs over the next couple of months.

As a primer for all that, I’ve selected three albums – two from last month, one set for release next week – that I can practically guarantee are going to end up on several end-of-year lists.

They really are that good, embodying the best of the best of merciless Metallic Hardcore, audaciously unorthodox Black Metal, and dynamcally doomy, drone-inflected Post-Metal, respectively.

Continue reading »

AN NCS EP PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): HURONIAN — “BEYOND FROZEN HEIGHTS”

 Album Reviews, Premieres, SHORT BUT SWEET  1 Response »
Sep 132023
 

The birth of the Italian band Huronian in 2020 was one of the silver linings to the lethal black clouds with which the covid pandemic was then shrouding the world.

Word of their existence spread through a self-titled EP released that year, and then spread further through a very impressive 2021 debut album, As Cold as a Stranger Sunset.

Now Huronian are returning with a new five-track EP. Entitled Beyond Frozen Heights, it’s set for release on September 15th by Gruesome Records, and today we’re bringing you an advance listen to the whole record. Continue reading »

LIMBS – EVERYTHING UNDER HEAVEN

 Album Reviews  No Responses »
Sep 132023
 

(Andy Synn sets out once more to explore the post-genre hybrid of Limbs)

The bitter truth is that, no matter how dedicated and conscientious you are about trying to keep up with new releases, you’re always going to miss stuff.

Heck, there are albums which have gone on to become all-time favourites of mine that I didn’t get around to hearing until months, sometimes years, after their original release, and bands I’ve been fans of ever since they started who I didn’t realise had something new out until they announced they were working on their next record.

Thankfully, however, I’m only a little late to the party when it comes to Everything Under Heaven, the recently-released third album from Manila-based trio Limbs.

Continue reading »

AN NCS EP PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): AABODE — “MOIST”

 Album Reviews, Premieres, SHORT BUT SWEET  4 Responses »
Sep 122023
 

In this article we present a full stream of the debut EP by the two-person band Aabode from the French town of Nancy. The EP’s name is Moist, and it’s set for release on September 15th by Godz Ov War Productions. The label introduces it, at a high level, with these words:

Aabode is a dissonant, haunting twisted mixture of industrial beats and death metal riffing. Low-tuned, blackened, oppressive death metal riffing provided by Aabstracter is combined with ambient noise and glitched 808’s drum patterns. Assymetric track composition is overhanged by Abyssal‘s harsh vocals.

But like most views from a high level, that summary, while useful, omits the details. So let’s move into the EP at ground level, where the riotous dangers it poses to sanity are more apparent. Continue reading »

MOROKH – INSOMNIA

 Album Reviews  1 Response »
Sep 112023
 

(Andy Synn continues his ongoing love-affair with Morokh, whose new album was released just last week)

Having written about Morokh several times before, I probably don’t need to spend much time introducing them (if you’re looking for a primer then check out what I wrote about their two most recent releases here and here).

And the fact that I’m not wasting any time with some sort of long-winded intro is even more appropriate when you consider how quickly the band themselves cut to the chase on their new album, Insomnia.

Continue reading »

FINSTERFORST: “JENSEITS”

 Album Reviews  2 Responses »
Sep 082023
 

(Having made his NCS debut yesterday, guest contributor Didrik Mešiček comes right back with the following review of a new album-length EP by Finsterforst, which is out today on AOP Records.)

Finsterforst first appeared on my radar with their previous release, Zerfall, which turned out to be one of the best (blackened) folk metal releases of 2019. The Germans insist on their rather complex musical style, which can seem daunting at first, but it’s very worth investing some time into their music as it does reward you with every listen.

This time the band are back with a new EP (although at 40 minutes, is it really an EP?) called Jenseits, which is really one song, divided into four parts. It will be released on September 8th on AOP Records. Continue reading »

UADA: “CREPUSCULE NATURA”

 Album Reviews  2 Responses »
Sep 072023
 

(We welcome guest contributor Didrik Mešiček, who makes his first NCS appearance with the following review of a new album by Portland-based Uada which is set for release by Eisenwald on September 8th.)

I didn’t know I liked Uada up until this spring. Sure, it was vaguely alluring, with a sense of a woodland ritual and thus I had respect for the band, but their music never truly grabbed me. However, I got to see them live in March and while the sound was actually really bad, it was still very enjoyable.

In the following weeks, having listened to the setlist a few more times, I realised I absolutely adore their melodic and ritualistic black metal sound, and that means this album could not be released at a better time for me. Crepuscule Natura will be released on the 8th of September on the Eisenwald label, almost exactly three years after their previous album, Djinn. Continue reading »

 Older Entries  Newer Entries