AN NCS EP PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): BLACK HOLE DEITY — “LAIR OF XENOLICH”

 Album Reviews, Premieres, SHORT BUT SWEET  2 Responses »
Feb 032021
 

 

Black Hole Deity is a new name in death metal, but it has a veteran line-up, whose instrumental and songwriting skills are on full display in the band’s absolutely electrifying debut EP Lair of Xenolich, which we’re premiering in full today in advance of its February 5th release by Everlasting Spew Records.

The band was first conceived by Cam Pinkerton and Chris White, co-founders of the death metal band Chaos Inception, and they then recruited Alec Cordero (from the death metal bands Cruelty Exalted and Calcemia) to handle lead guitar duties, and finally got none other than Mike Heller of Malignancy, Fear Factory, and Raven to handle the drumming.

Drawing upon supernatural and sci-fi themes, what this fearsome foursome have created is an explosive assault that’s a pure adrenaline rush, as well as one that inflicts megaton levels of stunning destructiveness. Listening to the EP, it’s very easy to imagine that you’ve been teleported straight into an alien war zone where advanced technologies are being deployed with both machine-like precision and breathtaking ferocity. Continue reading »

PORTRAYAL OF GUILT: “WE ARE ALWAYS ALONE”

 Album Reviews  4 Responses »
Feb 032021
 

 

(Here is Andy Synn‘s review of the new album by Portrayal of Guilt from Austin, Texas. The abum was just released by Closed Casket Activities.)

Raise your hands – who here remembers the halcyon days of abrasive, chaotic Hardcore?

You know what I’m talking about. Back when it seemed like half the bands were constantly on the cusp of imploding, and every song felt like a burning fuse about to explode?

Do you recall how it felt? The anger and the anguish. The tension and the terror. The overwhelming sense that anything could happen, at any moment, and everything might spontaneously combust without warning?

Well, my friends, you’re in luck, because those days are back… in PoG form! Continue reading »

GATECREEPER: “AN UNEXPECTED REALITY”

 Album Reviews  2 Responses »
Feb 022021
 

 

(Here’s Gonzo’s review of the unexpected new album by Arizona’s Gatecreeper, which was discharged by Closed Casket Activities on January 13th.)

From the endlessly bizarre timeline in which it’s being released to the sheer out-of-nowhere, smack-you-upside-the-head-and-run surprise of the release itself, I think it’s safe to say nobody saw this album coming.

And maybe that’s the point. After all, bands like Gatecreeper don’t really entertain much in the way of being subtle. Their bludgeoning songwriting, pounding rhythm section, and Chase Mason’s unearthly howl have solidified the band’s sound as instantly recognizable in the death metal underground.

And even though those elements are as present as ever on An Unexpected Reality, this sonic blowtorch falls a little short of the decimation it wants to inflict. Continue reading »

AN NCS EP PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): NATHR — “BEINAHRÚGA”

 Album Reviews, Premieres  No Responses »
Feb 022021
 

 

Manipulating and intertwining ingredients of black metal and funeral doom, the multinational band Nathr have pronounced themselves ready to open the graves of the old Viking capital of Nidaros and to make us imagine what will come forth. They proclaim their inspiration in these words: “We start to dig up the somber emptiness of our souls, to express the grievances of life.”

Nathr only began last year, and took shape as the union among Italian vocalist/lyricist Nathas (Funeral Harvest), the Dutch musician Northr (Funeral Harvest, and the dark ambient project Northr), who performs guitars, bass, and synths, and the Norwegian drummer Ond (Funeral Harvest, Keiser). Their first release is an expansive four-track EP named Beinahrúga, which seems to be an Old Norse word for a pile of bones, and it will be released through Signal Rex on February 12th.

What we have for you today is a full stream of Beinahrúga, preceded by some thoughts about the disturbing experience of it. Continue reading »

WEREWOLVES: “WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE”

 Album Reviews  2 Responses »
Feb 022021
 

 

(We’re wolves and so are you and so are Werewolves, whose mission in life is to make you wolves with a serious IQ deficit. Nathan Ferreira wrote this completely fitting review of this band’s second album, which is out now on Prosthetic Records.)

Hey there, NCS readers! Do you want to get stupid?

Of course you do, you’re on a website that exclusively covers harsh, heavy music. Well, I’ve got just the band for you: Werewolves. Continue reading »

LEGBA: “THE DEMON INSIDE”

 Album Reviews  2 Responses »
Feb 012021
 

 

(We present Aleksha McLoughlin‘s review of the new album by the South Carolina doom band Legba, which is set for release on March 5th, along with a stream of all the music.)

In times of pandemic and civil unrest, exactly what price are we willing to pay to escape back to a time long since passed? Legba’s newest release proves that such sentiment cannot come without a price.

Legba are no strangers to inserting social commentary within their music, most noticeably on their prior album Hell, and yet the samplings of news reports telling of COVID-19 as it grips America might be their most haunting inclusion yet. Further still is the shocking fact that that report might actually be the cheeriest thing on this album, and that’s saying something. Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK (PART 2); MUKA, EKDIKĒSIS, ERIPHION, HELL-BORN

 Album Reviews, SHADES OF BLACK  No Responses »
Jan 312021
 

 

As promised in Part 1 of this column, Part 2 is devoted to a group of complete new albums that were just released during the last 10 days, most of them unusually unsettling but also fascinating. With apologies to the bands, and maybe to you if you usually bother to read rather than just listen, I’ve resorted to a time-saving strategy of just picking one track from each album to write about in detail, and then adding only the most cursory preview of everything else.

For the first two records I’m again indebted to Rennie (starkweather) for making me aware of them.

MUKA (Croatia)

Patologija Poniznosti is a new EP by this band from Zagreb that just came out today, so I obviously haven’t spent much time with it. But I’ve spent enough time to learn that Muka have become no more merciful than they were on their 2017 EP, Sveta Stoka, which I briefly reviewed here. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): AD NAUSEAM — “IMPERATIVE IMPERCEPTIBLE IMPULSE”

 Album Reviews, Premieres  4 Responses »
Jan 292021
 

 

On February 12th Avantgarde Music will release Imperative Imperceptible Impulse, the second album by the Italian band Ad Nauseam.

The label states that the album is not for everyone, but represents “the true meaning of Avantgarde”. And while that statement could be interpreted as a calculated effort to create intrigue, when you hear the album you will realize that it is honest and accurate. And hear it you shall, because below you’ll find our premiere of a full stream of the record.

It is indisputably true that Imperative Imperceptible Impulse is not “easy listening”. Although it includes moments that become eerily mesmerizing, most of the minutes are supercharged with maniacal energy and packed with mind-boggling instrumental extravagance. Though structures and repeating patterns can be discerned as they loop back around to where they began, the dominant impression of all the intricate permutations is one of madness run rampant, and the inventive use of dissonance and discord, executed with eye-popping technical prowess, creates an experience that is both dazzling and disturbing. Continue reading »

THE RUINS OF BEVERAST: A RETROSPECTIVE (AND A REVIEW OF “THE THULE GRIMOIRES”)

 Album Reviews, Metal News  No Responses »
Jan 292021
 

 

(The scheduled release by Ván Records of a new album by The Ruins of Beverast inspired our contributor Nathan Ferreira to prepare the following extensive retrospective on the band’s catalogue, as well as thoughts about the new album and its place within the ever-changing evolution of the band’s music.)

The Thule Grimoires is the latest work in a sprawling back catalogue that encompasses an incredible variety of unique textures which consistently go beyond what one expects out of a band in the atmospheric black/doom metal pantheon. Alexander von Meilenwald’s attention to detail in every facet of his music (composition, aesthetics, musicianship, lyrical themes, you name it) has long been the envy of one-man black metal bands everywhere. Everything about The Ruins of Beverast is cloaked in a sense of artistry and greater meaning that has grown and evolved throughout the band’s career.

Because of this, and because of the ridiculous amount of layers and themes in The Thule Grimoires, I felt it desirable to reflect on von Meilenwald’s back catalogue to give more context to what makes this band and this album so special.

Along the way, I’ve also included some streams for listening, as well as links to older interviews for anyone looking for a more detailed background on the origins behind this wonderful project; the man behind the music certainly has an erudite and articulate character, which only really comes out when he speaks and writes. Hopefully this write-up can succeed in doing a modicum of justice to such an astonishing career. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): STARGAZER – “PSYCHIC SECRETIONS”

 Album Reviews, Premieres  1 Response »
Jan 282021
 

 

(On February 1st Nuclear War Now! Productions will release the fourth full-length by the Australian genre-splicing band StarGazer, and today we premiere a full stream along with a review by Andy Synn.)

Australian alchemists StarGazer have always been a hard band to properly pin down.

Ask ten different people to describe them and you’re likely to receive ten different answers.

They’re a Black Metal band. Or a Thrash band. Or a Death Metal band. And what that play is either Progressive Black Metal, Blackened Thrash, or Technical Death Metal… or some uniquely unorthodox hybrid of all three.

Or maybe they’re something else entirely.

Long story short, no-one seems to be able to agree, and the various permutations of style and genre which people ascribe to the band are now almost as innumerable as the stars themselves.

And now, with the release of their long-awaited fourth album (which we’re premiering here today) it’s time for that debate to begin anew. Continue reading »

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