Aug 302021
 

 

Antediluvian‘s first album in more than eight years is a hydra-headed black/death monster. More than an hour in length, spread across 11 tracks, The Divine Punishment thematically explores ranging manifestations of carnal deviance and perversion, reveling in manifold forms of sexual blasphemy through sound. And what sounds these are!

The heads of this hydra writhe, changing places in your mind’s eye and also joining together to create visions of ultimate horror and depraved ecstasy. The music has an experimental quality, as if searching for the perfect potion of degradation and desire. Its contortions are unpredictable, its effects multifarious, its overarching impact both nightmarishly unnerving and wickedly seductive.

The album defiantly challenges attempts to describe it in conventional terms, though of course we’ll nevertheless throw caution to the winds and add further impressions. But thankfully we also have a full stream of the album just a few days before its September 1 release by Nuclear War Now! Productions. Continue reading »

Aug 302021
 

 

(Our pal Gonzo took in the 2021 edition of Psycho Fest in Las Vegas and returned to Denver fortunately symptom-free, other than what happened to his head over the three days of the fest, and he has provided a synopsis of the experiences, beginning with the following report on Day 1. We expect reports on the next two days as well)

DAY 1

There is no source of frustration quite like being forcibly stuck in an airport for any length of time longer than absolutely necessary.

I was reminded of this grim reality two Fridays ago when my arrival at Denver International Airport coincided with one of the airport’s underground trains catastrophically breaking down. Ensuing damage and delays had forced the airport to close all but one terminal. The scene was absolute chaos – security queues wrapped around entire terminals, people screaming at TSA agents, confusion, madness, panic… one woman ended up in handcuffs after going into a terrifying rage and sobbing. It was looking like the 10:15 a.m. landing at my final destination, Psycho Fest 2021 in Las Vegas, was slowly slipping out of my grasp.

By the grace of Thor, the one terminal that stayed open ended up being the one we were flying out of. The flight was delayed by an hour or two, but we were somehow able to board and land safely and without any further unexpected pandemonium. Vegas would have plenty of that in the days to come anyway. Continue reading »

Aug 292021
 

 

Time to blacken the christian Sabbath again, as is our want. I decided to be lazy yesterday rather than compile the usual Saturday round-up of new songs and videos, but I did devote some time to browsing blackened metal, including some music that’s been out in the world (but not in my head) for many months, and you’ll find the results below.

I would say there’s a more disturbing and depressive feel to these choices than might usually be the case. I’m not in therapy so I don’t know for sure if this is a reflection of changes in my usually sunny mood, though I wouldn’t be surprised if that were true. It might just be that the first song took me down that path, and everything else simply fell into place.

DEADSPACE (multinational)

We lamented the split-up of Deadspace when that was announced last year, but celebrated their final album, A Portrait of Sacrificial Scars, as the band’s best work of all. Happily, however, Deadspace have reunited, though I somehow overlooked that announcement, first disclosed in March, until yesterday. I also overlooked that in June the band released a video for a new song named “Moksha“. Continue reading »

Aug 272021
 

 

As I hoped, I had time to compile a second round-up on this Friday… and I have ideas for a third one tomorrow, so do check back. There’s no sandwich this time, unlike the first compilation today, just a severe case of whiplash as you go from the first song into what comes next.

DAWN OF SOLACE (Finland)

It appears that the revival of Dawn of Solace by Tuomas Saukkonen will be a lasting one, because a new album named Flames of Perdition is now set for release on November 12th via the Noble Demon label, and the first item I chose for this collection is a video for its first advance track, “White Noise“.

The emotional power and intensity of the song absolutely floored me. The intensity builds steadily, from its soft and wistful beginning through grim, heavy chords, neck-cracking drums, darting riffs, and the soaring, spine-tingling voice of Mikko Heikkilä (of Kaunis Kuolematon). It reaches a zenith of dark and moving impact via a stunningly beautiful and deeply moving guitar solo by Jukka Salovaara. Continue reading »

Aug 262021
 

 

As you can see, I found time to stitch together another round-up of new music today. As usual, it barely scratches the surface of new songs and videos I’ve spotted this week, but I thought the choices would collectively give our visitors whiplash, and it pleased me to think so.

The music I’ve chosen for today comes from three pre-established personal favorites and one newcomer that’s already made a very positive first impression.

GOAT TORMENT (Belgium)

We begin with a supercharged adrenaline rush, a track that delivers storming, Marduk-like sonic warfare which marries bullet-spitting and bomb-throwing drums, wild, incendiary riffing, dominating vocal savagery, and an exotic wailing solo with an Arabian flare. Continue reading »

Aug 252021
 

 

(Our old friend Justin C returns to NCS with the following review of the new album by the re-named Seattle band Filth Is Eternal, which will be released on August 27th by Quiet Panic.)

We’ve all been there. Grandma wants to hear some of the rock ‘n roll music the crazy kids are making these days, and Fucked and Bound is an obvious choice. Grandma needs a shot of adrenaline, not some droning doom, after all! But will the name be too off-putting? Especially after church?

Well, the band has made your life a little easier now with a new name, Filth Is Eternal. No, they haven’t changed the name in a craven attempt at Top 40 success, or probably even for Grandma. It just turns out that getting the word out about all your hard work during a pandemic, with no live shows plus social media platforms flagging you left and right for potentially being naughty content, your choice might come down to a name change or complete obscurity, as the band explained to Decibel last month. Continue reading »

Aug 252021
 

(Andy Synn would like to remind you all that only Death (Metal) is real)

I was doing an interview recently where I was asked “what makes a good Death Metal band?”

And, you know, for a moment I was stumped.

You see, they weren’t just asking about tuning, or tempo. Nothing so prosaic as that. They wanted something fundamental, something that transcended styles and sub-genres, something beyond technicality or brutality or melody.

But, eventually… it hit me.

It’s not about how fast you can blast, how low you can go, how huge you can groove… it’s all about love.

You heard me right. Underneath it all Death Metal is driven by love. Specifically the love of Death Metal.

And it’s the ability to convey and communicate that love, no matter what forms it takes, how technical or brutal, how melodic or symphonic, how dissonant or discordant or slam-tastic, which makes – or breaks – a band.

So let it be written, and let it be known… these three bands really love Death Metal.

Continue reading »

Aug 252021
 

 

The seasons trace a cycle of death and re-birth in the natural world. Winter is commonly regarded as the season of death, the descent of bitter cold and stricken leaves, of creatures in hiding and comforts lost. These days, of course, death seems more ever-present than ever, with no regard for seasons, even as we think of baking heat and burning landscapes rather than frigid domains. Sometimes it seems that we’re in the midst of an endless winter of the soul.

Winter is the main protagonist of the forthcoming second album by the Italian band Veil of Conspiracy, and when you hear the band’s mesmerizing amalgam of doom, death, and black metal, you can easily understand it as a transfixing portrait not only of the season but of the darkness of our own freezing journeys through grief, despair, and solitude.

Echoes of Winter is the album’s name, and today we have a full stream of it for you in advance of its release this coming Friday by BadMoodMan Music. Continue reading »

Aug 242021
 

 

For those familiar with the previous recordings of the California death metal band Ruin, it will come as no surprise that their new album Spread Plague Death is ruinous — ruthlessly unapologetically ruinous, in multiple ways. It’s titanically crushing, subhuman in its savagery, grotesquely filthy in its sound, and unrelenting in its devotion to building a macabre atmosphere of mutilating depravity and horror. It also happens to be perversely contagious and neck-wrecking as well as sadistically grotesque.

The band’s success in creating such tremendously obliterating destructiveness coupled with so many blood-congealing terrors, and doing so over the course of more than 44 minutes without overpowering a listener’s endurance isn’t a matter of happenstance but of calculation. It’s a testament to the band’s songcraft and an attention to detail that might not be expected, given how steadfastly brutal, morbid, and maniacal their strategies are.

You’ll have a chance to discover this for yourselves, assuming you’re not faint of heart, because we have a full stream of the album for you, just a few days away from its August 27 release by Nameless Grave Records and other allied labels. Continue reading »

Aug 242021
 

 

(Here’s DGR’s review of the latest album by the UK extreme metal band Necronautical, recently released by Candlelight/Spinefarm.)

Necronautical are a band we’ve been lucky enough to cover since their first record. They’re a somewhat familiar name around these parts since all of their releases have been here and they’ve been the subject of a Waxing Lyrical piece too. In fact, the group’s newest record – and second for Candlelight RecordsSlain In The Spirit is now my own third go for a review with this group. So there’s something of a written record of the band here as they’ve grown and evolved into the creature they are today.

We’ve watched as they’ve shifted in terms of both subject matter and the meaning of their name, expanding the group’s lyrical and philosophical reach into explorations of the mind. What was initially a sea-inspired voyage started to become journeys into deeper recesses of spirituality — still nautical, but less literally than before and, given the creeping influences of symphonic black metal on the group’s sound, increasingly ‘necro’ with every release.

Slain In The Spirit is the latest expansion of that, as it works as a natural evolution of what the band started on Apotheosis. The songs presented here are about as expansive as they were on the previous release but this time around, Necronautical have become a little bit more focused in the two years since Slain’s predecessor. Continue reading »