Reviews Archives - Page 185 of 601

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): BLEEDING MALICE — “THY KINGDOM COME”

Aug 062021

Thy Kingdom Come is the debut album of Bleeding Malice from Minsk, Belarus, and it’s being released today. In the band’s words, it’s a 9-track tale “about a man with his sins and weaknesses, who for a moment realized that the scales were irrevocably tilted to one side. Memories rush one by one, but the step into emptiness has already been taken….” In telling that tale, the song lyrics use words of disgust, vengeance, and hate, mixed with words of confusion, torment, and despair.

It’s an intense and disturbing narrative, and the music is equally intense and disturbing. The album is also surprising in its amalgam of genre ingredients. You may think, as you begin to move through the album, that you’ve figured out what Bleeding Malice are all about, but they continually defy expectations with unexpected twists that strengthen the desire to continue listening, and to listen again. Continue reading »

NIGHT CROWNED: “HÄDANFÄRD”

Album Reviews No Responses »

Aug 052021

(This is DGR’s review of the new album by the Swedish band Night Crowned, which is out now on the Noble Demon label.)

It doesn’t seem like it was that long ago that we found ourselves checking in with Night Crowned and their first full-length release, Impius Viam. Granted; a large part of that feeling is attributable to us missing the boat on the late-February release and coming around to it eight months later. Yet even considering that, you’d have to admit that returning to the stage a year and a half later with a follow-up release is a pretty quick turnaround time.

That prospect can be terrifying, since albums released year-over-year can be pretty hit-or-miss depending on how prolific the musician is, and on top of that last year was just generally a fucking mess. When given such a massive amount of time to be trapped inside, what else is a musician likely to do other than create, and it seems like that is the path Night Crowned chose.

The group’s second full-length came out via Noble Demon in early July and plays fully into the moodier-sibling aspect that one expects from any growing family. Bearing album art now fully in black and white, lyrics and song titles mostly in Swedish, and a less-packed run time where the only peaceful bit is the title song, Hädanfärd is a ferocious follow-up. It leans much more on the extreme side of things, and save for a few surprising deviations with clean vocal lines, it is the sort of release that never lets up, playing fully into the apocalyptic blastfest one expects from a group veering further into their black-metal inspirations. Continue reading »

THINGS YOU MAY HAVE MISSED (BUT SHOULDN’T)

Album Reviews 6 Responses »

Aug 042021

(Andy Synn draws your attention to four more albums from last month which he feels went overlooked)

Just like the month before, July was absolutely packed with new releases, from bands both new and old, many of which we simply didn’t get around to devoting as much time and attention to as we might have wanted.

As a result, picking just four albums to write about for this article was a serious headache, only slightly alleviated by the fact that the big man himself (Islander, not god, though I’ll forgive you for confusing the two) has written a little something about several of the bands I was considering featuring here – Anatman, Codex Nero, Serpentrance – in the last week or two.

It still wasn’t an easy decision though and so, if I have time, I may end up doing a second one of these columns just to assuage my guilt over not having written about so many new and up-and-coming artists this last month.

In the meantime, however, please enjoy this distinctly blackened edition of “Things You May Have Missed”.

RUIN: “SPREAD PLAGUE DEATH”

Album Reviews No Responses »

Aug 022021

(Wil Cifer reviews the new third album by the California death metal band Ruin, which will see release on August 27th on 12” vinyl by Nameless Grave Records, on cassette through Nero One Records and Death Metal Cult, and on CD through Goat Throne Records.)

Death metal should be the sonic equivalent of the kind of aggression that possessed Charles Manson’s hippie love slaves when they carved the baby from Sharon Tate’s womb. That is the same vibe I hear when listening to this album. There is not a bunch of pulp horror posturing but real violence from the hateful heart.

This cult of deviants is back with a nastier and grimmer offering, which is impressive, as I really loved Human Annihilation. These miscreants deliver the kind of dense heaviness they are known for, but this time around the songwriting has more attention to detail and the playing is more musical with actual guitar melodies wallowing in the murk. Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK: HORNWOOD FELL, CODEX NERO, PROFANE DESECRATION, CHAOS LUCIFERI

Album Reviews, SHADES OF BLACK 1 Response »

Aug 012021

This week I decided to devote the column to four complete new releases, three of them albums and one of them an EP. I found all of them to be tremendously gripping in different ways.

HORNWOOD FELL (Italy)

It would go too far to call Hornwood Fell chameleons. They do change their musical colors, but not to match and blend in with some background setting (such as what other bands might be doing). They change to capture colors in their own heads, which seem to move like pools of mercury on a subtly shifting sheet of steel, catching different lights. And it’s not just the sounds that shift and re-form. The themes and inspirations change too. Continue reading »

GONZO’S HEAVY ROUNDUP, JULY 2021

Album Reviews No Responses »

Jul 302021

Erdve

(Gonzo presents another end-of-month roundup spotlighting releases that have attracted his enthusiastic attention.)

I have, and always will be, a voracious consumer of new music. Though nothing may take the place of how much fun it was to trade tapes with other weirdos in dark corners behind every sweaty beer-stained venue in creation, it’s sure as hell convenient to now find the same variety of under-the-radar bands on Bandcamp and Spotify.

With this installment of my monthly Heavy Roundup, I managed to find a list of bands that span the metal spectrum. I think that’s a testament to how insanely diverse and varied extreme music has become. And, seriously, few things bring me more joy in life than making playlists and sharing new music with people.

Hence, this column was born. Here are the albums and EPs I’ve highlighted from the month of July (and technically, one from June that passed me by until now.) Continue reading »

AGRYPNIE – METAMORPHOSIS

Album Reviews 2 Responses »

Jul 292021

(Andy Synn casts his ear over the latest album by one of his long-time favourite bands, Agrypnie, which is set for release next week via Art of Propaganda)

Here’s a piece of unsolicited advice for any budding writers/reviewers out there: one thing you have to realise – and remember – is that every band’s newest album is going to be the first time some people hear them.

So it’s no good just writing for the faithful. No matter how big or famous or well-established a band might be you can’t just assume everyone is going to be familiar with their work.

Case in point, despite its name, not much has changed for Agrypnie on Metamorphosis, as the album still offers the same tumultuous tapestry of searing blastbeats, stomping rhythms, and soaring leads which made records like 2018’s Grenzgænger, 2013’s Aetas Cineris, and so forth, such an enervating and electrifying experience.

But if you’re not already familiar with the band’s work, then that isn’t really going to mean much to you, is it?

So this is for all you new people – if you’re looking for something that’s both subtly “progressive” and seriously aggressive, something that sits somewhere between the introspective intensity of early Alcest and the melodic muscle of Insomnium (or, if you’d prefer, the blazing fury of Der Weg Einer Freiheit and the gleaming grandeur of Dark Tranquillity), then you should do yourself a favour and give this album a listen ASAP.

AN NCS PREMIERE: HEADSHRINKER — “SUFFOCATING TOMB”

Album Reviews, Premieres 1 Response »

Jul 282021

(Nathan Ferreira provides this introduction to our premiere of another track off the debut album by Headshrinker, with additional insights into the album as a whole.)

I had been sleeping on the promo materials for Callous Indifference waiting for me in my mailbox, not fully compelled to listen. The album art is subtle and understated, the band logo a plain font, and the “OSDM meets Death/Doom with mathy dissonance” descriptor used in the email title was kinda intriguing but also not unheard of either.

That they feature Havok’s drummer doesn’t move the needle for me (I’m not too familiar with them, and as such don’t know Pete Webber’s style), and I wasn’t acquainted with Polyptych, the more progressive black metal styled group the other three members previously played in. Because of the volume of promotional materials I sift through to find the golden riff nuggets, my brain can become fried by similar descriptors across emails, and Callous Indifference just happened to have surface aesthetics that got lost in the shuffle.

But then, head honcho Islander gave a premiere of “The Burn of Indifference”, first Headshrinker song released to the public. That article was just the push I needed to dive into this band further, and I am very thankful I did. (I was a fan and reader of this site well before I contributed to it, after all). Continue reading »

REVIEWS: ENSHINE, ASYLUM, HUMAN OBLITERATION, VILE SPECIES, DISTANT

Album Reviews No Responses »

Jul 282021

(DGR compiled the following four reviews to help clear out his backlog.)

The first one of these smaller and shorter review roundups was pretty death metal focused and also well-travelled, taking us all over planet Earth in the quest for the finest gurgles and blastbeats upon which to gorge ourselves. It also helped alleviate some of the guilt of having such a massive collection of bands I’d wanted to write about but was quickly watching the sand dwindle on available time given that we’re slowly crawling towards another likely back half of the year flood.

However, as is always the case, there was still another collection waiting in the wings and this one much more diverse across the musical spectrum, though equally world-traveling. Mileage-wise it may be a little more concentrated, as it’s fairly European-focused but we do reach the outskirts a bit, with this roundup taking us to places like a France/Sweden combo act, all the way to Texas, to the Netherlands, to Greece, to the wild and exotic reaches of Sacramento, California.

If that seems like a wild mess, then let me assure you, this collection of music is also wild, but after this I may be as close to having a clean slate as I’m ever going to get. So, let’s start my second attempt at a ‘shorter’ review roundup and get this ball rolling. Continue reading »

ARID – ARID

Album Reviews No Responses »

Jul 272021

(Prepare for a short, sharp shock to the system courtesy of Andy Synn‘s review of the recently-released self titled album by Crust-Punk-Death-Metal crossover crew Arid)

In an ever more complex, chaotic, and downright confusing world it’s always nice to stumble across something utterly unpretentious, knowingly uncomplicated, and unapologetically nasty… something that doesn’t care about tropes or trends, clicks or cliques, and which solely exists for the purpose of kicking ass and busting heads.

Because, you know what they say… busting makes me you feel good.

Older Entries Newer Entries