AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): ZMARŁYM — “DRUGA FALA”

 Album Reviews, Premieres  5 Responses »
Nov 182021
 

 

I write a lot of premieres, indeed one or more every damned day. I have many reasons for doing that, but one of them is the opportunity it affords to discover something I might otherwise miss, something out of the ordinary and invigorating, and that’s exactly what happened when we were invited to host a full stream of Zmarłym‘s debut album Druga Fala in advance of its November 21 release by Godz Ov War Productions. It struck me like a bolt from the blue, immediately captivating and head-spinning from the first listen.

The album title is Polish for “Second Wave”, and it does indeed mark this trio’s second release, following a 2020 EP, Ziemie jałowe. The fact that it’s only the band’s second effort makes it all the more remarkable. It provides a rich cornucopia of surprises, a truly adventurous black metal album that pulled this the listener in and didn’t let go. It has quickly become a 2021 favorite of mine. Continue reading »

AN UNHOLY TRINITY: BORNHOLM / DEMONIC TEMPLE / WHOREDOM RIFE

 Album Reviews  2 Responses »
Nov 182021
 

(The nights are growing darker, and the hour grows late, but Andy Synn is still finding time to cover a few obsidian gems from the Black Metal scene that you may not have checked out yet)

It’s looking like my annual week-long litany of year-end lists will commence either on the 6th or 13th of December this year, depending on whether or not I end up doing some last minute shows with my own band during either of those weeks.

Either way though, that means there’s very little time left to write up and review some of the various albums which are going to appear on those lists, so some harsh decisions are going to need to be made regarding what gets reviewed, and what gets left by the wayside, over the next few weeks.

Case in point, selecting the three artists/albums which I’ve chosen to cover here today meant I had to skip writing about several big and/or highly anticipated new albums from the likes of Der Weg Einer Freiheit, Plebeian Grandstand, Ars Magna Umbrae, and more.

Hopefully someone else from the NoCleanTeam™ will be able to find time to pen a few thoughts about some of them (and, even if not, at least one of them is scheduled for a Synn Report some time soon) but, in the meantime, I’d like you to instead turn your attention to this trilogy of blackened terror by Bornholm (HU), Demonic Temple (PL), and Whoredome Rife (NO). Continue reading »

A DGR REVIEW ARCHIVE (PART 4): DEVILS REEF, VAELMYST, DISKORD

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Nov 182021
 

 

(We reach the end of DGR‘s nearly week-long collection of reviews, in which he attempted to clear out the backlog of writing about favored releases before year-end Listmania descends.)

Devils Reef – A Whisper From The Cosmos

Even though the plague-times we live in currently mean that we have a whole army of musicians who effectively haven’t been able to do anything but be trapped at home, I still find myself very intrigued by the quick turnaround on certain releases. The Frederick, Maryland based crew of Devils Reef released their album Chosen By The Sea in January of this year and then early October saw the group return with five more songs in the form of an EP, A Whisper From The Cosmos – from one terrifying unexplored depth to another, it seems, just in the opposite direction.

There’s definitely some interesting stuff happening on A Whisper From The Cosmos. It seems that in the span of time between the two releases this year Devils Reef have really leaned into their influences and drew from a well that could see them being compared to Revocation and Alkaloid almost immediately. Makes sense then, that if you have a peek at some of the recommended releases by the band on their Bandcamp page, you’ll spot both Alkaloid’s Liquid Anatomy and The Outer Ones by Revocation among others. Continue reading »

A DGR REVIEW ARCHIVE (PART 3): BE’LAKOR AND MAYSALOON

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Nov 172021
 

 

(This is the third Part of a week-long series of reviews by DGR as he tries to clear out a back-log before year-end Listmania descends.)

Be’Lakor – Coherence

Australia’s prog-death long-form masters Be’lakor are now five albums deep into their career, with their latest record – and second for Napalm Records – Coherence releasing just a few days before Halloween this year. Despite the five-year gap between Coherence and its older sibling Vessels, there’s no sign whatsoever that Be’lakor are making any attempt to change what works for them.

Since 2009’s Stone’s Reach the run-times for their albums have consistently stayed within the fifty-five minute to one-hour range. Part of the experience has been listening to how the band try to earn their time with you, because in all honesty, with the absolute flood of metal that is out these days, it’s a pretty big ask that you invest an hour of your time with one specific group.

In Be’lakor‘s case though, they’ve nearly always earned the right to do so and have proven time and time again that their ‘no part left behind’ writing style can be made to work within the confines of the prog-minded melodeath scar that the band have carved into the Earth. Continue reading »

VERTEBRA ATLANTIS – LUSTRAL PURGE IN CERULEAN BLISS

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Nov 162021
 

(The year may be winding down, but it’s not over yet, and there are many more gems for Andy Synn still to uncover, including this one by Vertebra Atlantis, which was recently released by I, Voidhanger Records)

There are, let’s be honest, quite a few ridiculously talented individuals in the Metal scene, a revelation which I’m sure comes as a surprise to exactly none of you.

Take Gabriele Gramaglia (aka G.G.), the mastermind behind The Clearing Path, Cosmic Putrefaction, and many other projects (several of which we’ve also covered here at NCS in the past), whose songwriting skills and instrumental abilities are, by this point at least, pretty much beyond question.

The thing is, however, that while I absolutely loved Watershed Between Earth and Firmament (and still do) nothing else that he’s done has quite affected me in the same way, even though I’ve still been able to appreciate both the sheer amount of talent and the obvious dedication to his craft he’s shown with each and every piece of work since then.

That all changed recently though, with the release of Lustral Purge in Cerulean Bliss, the debut album by Vertebra Atlantis.

Continue reading »

A DGR REVIEW ARCHIVE (PART 2): ZORNHEYM AND BROKEN GLASS SANCTUARY

 Album Reviews  1 Response »
Nov 162021
 

 

(This is the second Part of a week-long series of reviews by DGR as he tries to clear out a back-log before year-end Listmania descends.)

Zornheym – The Zornheim Sleep Experiment

We do love a spectacle around these here parts, and the recent release of The Zornheim Sleep Experiment is certainly one of those. The group’s second album takes us back within their concept-album universe, guiding us into the darkened halls of a comically evil mental asylum and the psychological-horror-movie events that take place within it.

The Zornheim Sleep Experiment doesn’t step too far beyond the foundation laid by the group’s previous album Where Hatred Dwells And Darkness Reigns, but instead refines it a lot, at times aiming to be a little bit more bombastic and also allowing for a multi-pronged vocal attack to get a ton of mileage out of many a folk-metal-inspired chorus and hybrid melodeath and black metal movement. Continue reading »

ASCENSION FESTIVAL MMXXI: A REPORT (PART 3)

 Concert Reviews  2 Responses »
Nov 162021
 

 

By the time most of you read this I will have begun the trip back to the Pacific Northwest from Reykjavík. Counting the early show-up time at Keflavik Airport, the long flight, the exit process at Sea-Tac Airport, and the eventual ferry ride home, my best guess is that it will take about 14 hours, not counting a pair of cab rides. With luck, I’ll be in bed between 4 and 5 a.m. tomorrow, Reykjavík time. But every minute and every mile will have been worth it.

If you had the patience to read Part 1 and Part 2 of this report on Ascension Festival Iceland MMXXI, you already know how much I loved it. I found something to enjoy in the performances of nearly every band, despite how varied the music turned to to be — indeed, because of that — and I only missed two of those bands over four action-packed days. Continue reading »

A DGR REVIEW ARCHIVE (PART 1): EXHUMED AND GRAND CADAVER

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Nov 152021
 


Exhumed

 

(This is the first Part of a week-long series of reviews by DGR as he tries to clear out a back-log before year-end Listmania descends.)

With year-end season quickly approaching it’s time for the final sailing of the good review ship. This time, like every year, there’s a collective of music that’s been unleashed over the past few months – and earlier, because the search for new noise never really stops – that deserves to be written about.

Whether it’s a surprise release from a larger name or a ‘why did we never follow up on this’ way down the line, this attempt to briefly review a whole smorgasbord of metal releases that emerged over the last few months is an effort to get some names out there before year-end season fully takes over the website and yours truly does the annual exercise of numbering things for my own amusement.

Throwing yourself into the heavy metal maelstrom never stops being fun – especially when you emerge from the other side with no clear idea how you’re still standing – so who knows what else we might discover in the near future. In the meantime though, here’s the first installment of a huge batch of offerings that may please the musical hordes. Continue reading »

ASCENSION FESTIVAL MMXXI: A REPORT (PART 2)

 Concert Reviews  5 Responses »
Nov 152021
 

 

The preamble to Part 2 of this report on the just-completed Ascension Festival Iceland won’t be quite as long as the intro to Part 1 (which you can find here), though I can’t resist including one episode I omitted yesterday.

As forecast, this Part of my report mainly includes commentary about the music and photos from the third and fourth days of the festival. As before, I’ve pretty much just copy/pasted things I posted on Facebook while the event was in progress.

Part Three, whenever I can get to it, will be some kind of wrap-up. Continue reading »

ASCENSION FESTIVAL MMXXI: A REPORT (PART I)

 Concert Reviews  4 Responses »
Nov 142021
 

 

Ascension Festival Iceland MMXXI come to a glorious end last night, surmounting what seemed like a non-stop swarm of perils to provide a fantastic experience for all who attended. I was lucky to be there from beginning to end, for all four days and nights.

Both for myself and for many others, it was the first live music we had witnessed since March 2020 or earlier. That gave the experience both an extra poignancy and an extra shot of energy. I can hardly imagine a better way to have a taste of “normalcy” after so long, though of course “normal” is now a highly relative term.

Of course the music was only part of what made this covid-delayed edition of Ascension so memorable. It was a reunion of old friends and the good fortune of making new ones.  I’ll remember the people and the conversations as much as the music. Continue reading »

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