REVIEWS: CENTINEX (“DEATH IN PIECES”) AND NEXORUM (“DEATH UNCHAINED”)

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Jun 102020
 

 

(In this post DGR reviews two new albums, one by Sweden’s Centinex released by Agonia Records on May 29th, and one by Norway’s Nexorum released by Non Serviam Records on March 6th.)

 

CENTINEX – DEATH IN PIECES

The path Centinex have charted since their return in 2014 has been an interesting one, if not one of the more uncompromising returns out there. They’re a band who are meant to be taken at face value, a death metal group playing the most stubborn version of it that they can, and benefiting from a renewed interest in that particular sound right around the time they came back.

The band exists partially as the other side of a death metal coin for bassist Martin Schulman (and at this point basically the last one standing of the earliest formations of the band) with the other half being a more modern-oriented death metal group with former Centinex members in the form of Demonical. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): VALDRIN — “EFFIGY OF NIGHTMARES”

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Jun 092020
 

 

On their new album Effigy of Nightmares the Cincinnati band Valdrin have used their music to illustrate an epic narrative, and as the title suggests, it’s a nightmarish one. Like their previous album, 2018’s Two Carrion Talismans, the new record focuses on the antagonist of the band’s self-created Ausadjur mythos, a being named Nex Animus. As the band explain: “The story chronicles the tour of a nameless narrator through the halls of Hosptium Mortis, the nightmare hospital below the Orcus underworld itself, where Nex tortures and lobotomizes the dissident gods of his domain.”

Even that brief verbal synopsis has a chilling effect. But the ways in which Valdrin‘s harrowing new music guides us through this frightening netherworld are even more chilling, more threatening to a listener’s sanity, and much more likely to haunt listeners’ dreams for a long time to come. Set aside half an hour and prepare yourself for an experience in electrifying audio terror as we present a full stream of the album in advance of its June 12 release by Blood Harvest Records. Continue reading »

AN NCS SPLIT PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): BOB MALMSTRÖM AND DISPYT

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Jun 092020
 

 

In this unusual year of 2020 the Finnish “borgarcore” band Bob Malmström are celebrating their tenth anniversary. In addition to popping champagne and blowing out candles they chose to commemorate the occasion by releasing a series of three split 7″ vinyl records.

In the first of those, Sälj Åland, they teamed up with the long-running Finnish melodic hardcore band The Enchained (whose history extends back to 1997). Bob Malmström‘s side of the split included two tracks, and in January we premiered the band’s video for the title song.

Two months after that first split, the band released the second one with Tvärnitad from Sweden (which we’ll comment on below, since we failed to do so in April), and now the time has come for the third split to be revealed, on the eve of its June 10 release. This latest split includes the music of the Finnish black ‘n’ crust band Dispyt (whose ranks include Mathias Lillmåns of Finntroll and …and Oceans fame), in addition to Bob Malmström‘s own contributions. Continue reading »

POST MORTAL POSSESSION: “CATCOMBS OF BEDLAM”

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Jun 092020
 

 

(Here, Vonlughlio reviews and recommends the new album by Pittsburgh’s Post Mortal Possession, which was released on May 30 of this year.)

This time around I have the opportunity to talk about the band Post Mortal Possession, who first gained my attention back in 2018 with their debut album Perpetual Descent released by Lord of the Sick Recordings.  Before that I had no idea of this project and their previous EP’s released in 2014 and 2016, but the debut album was a great balance between tech and BDM elements, and the varied vocals patterns stood out for me a well.

Since I was not familiar with their EP’s, I decided to listen to them. They had a different vocalist for those releases, and I must say that the music was nothing groundbreaking, but nonetheless good stuff which  showcased the musicians’ amazing potential (the vocals were kind of a hit-or-miss with me, depending of the songs). Continue reading »

SHORT BUT SWEET (PART 2): TRUUS, BRZASK, LEECHES, OMNIVOID

 Album Reviews, SHORT BUT SWEET  3 Responses »
Jun 062020
 

 

This concludes a post I began here two days ago devoted mainly to new EPs I’ve been enjoying lately. This one is devoted to shades of black metal, and includes four debut releases.

TRUUS

I’ll begin with Dawn of Perdition, a stunning four-track assault by the band Truus from Bloomington, Indiana.

There’s a raw, scorching abrasion in the riffs, matched by the incendiary madness of the vocals, and a powerful low-end thrust coupled with dynamic, skull-busting drumwork. Opener “Fourth Seal” incorporates sensations of imperious power and wild writhing and wailing derangement, while the moaning and braying chords and flickering leads of the title track create an atmosphere that’s more ominous. Both tracks are tremendously intense, and manage to spawn visions of terrifying grandeur as well as spine-tingling violence. Continue reading »

SHORT BUT SWEET: COSMOVORE / INSTIGATE / LIVING GATE

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Jun 052020
 


Peter Paul Rubens: “The Fall of the Damned”

 

(Andy Synn helps us end our week-day posts (though more will be coming this weekend) with the following trio of reviews.)

I really feel like I’ve let you all down this week. I had originally intended to write a bunch of different articles this week, but somehow – primarily due to having to focus on work and band stuff instead – time has slipped through my fingers.

Still, better late than never, right? So here’s a quick write-up of a trio of killer EPs I’ve been jamming lately. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): ABOVE AURORA — “THE SHRINE OF DETERIORATION”

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Jun 052020
 

 

Founded in Poznań, Poland in 2015 and now living in Reykjavik, Iceland, the black metal band Above Aurora began walking a desolate path through bleak musical terrain in their 2016 debut album (aptly named Onward Desolation), and then took another step deeper into emotional darkness with their 2018 EP, Path To Ruin (also aptly named). And now they are ready for the release of their second album, The Shrine of Deterioration.

No one familiar with the band’s trance-inducing strategies and minimalist (though quite powerful) modes of expression, or the chilling hopelessness of their moods, should expect any radical revision of their style, which has already been powerfully established. And indeed, The Shrine of Deterioration is also well-named. Yet the album is not simply the same dire-wolf that stalked our darkest moods in the preceding releases. Above Aurora continue to walk their path, but they have become even more sure-footed as guides to the cold, lightless places within us all — as you will discover through our full stream of the album in advance of its June 6 release by Pagan Records. Continue reading »

GUT: “DISCIPLES OF SMUT”

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Jun 042020
 

 

(Vonlughlio prepared the following review of the new album by the German band GUT, which was released by Splatter Zombie Records on May 15th.)

I have to say that I love comeback stories, just as many others around the globe do, and when the comeback is unexpected it’s even better. Of course, the most important aspect of story is still always the music.

The subject of today’s comeback tale is the German death/gore/grind band GUT, who have been around since the early ’90s. For me their 1995 album Odour of Torture is a pure delight for fans in the genre, and so underrated in my opinion.  After that came some splits and EPs the same year — and then came silence. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): LJOSAZABOJSTWA — “GŁORYJA ŚMIERCI”

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Jun 042020
 

 

We’ve been following the progress of Ljosazabojstwa (from Minsk, Belarus) since the beginning, reviewing their debut 2016 debut demo (here), reviewing and premiering their 2017 debut EP Sychodžańnie (here), and reviewing their second EP, 2019’s Lszb (here). It is thus a welcome occasion for us to now premiere and review the band’s debut album, Głoryja Śmierci, which will be released by Godz Ov War Productions on June 8th.

While we’re incapable of pronouncing Ljosazabojstwa‘s name, we understand that in English it means “murder of fate”. We’re also incapable of pronouncing the Belarusian titles of the five substantial tracks encompassed by the new album, whose lyrics are also in the band’s native tongue, but the music speaks for itself, sometimes in a language we can all understand and sometimes in the esoteric incantations of black magic. Continue reading »

SHORT BUT SWEET (PART 1): HERESIARCH, ANTEDILUVIAN, VEGAS, LIKTAL

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Jun 042020
 

 

I’m way behind in compiling round-ups of new music and video streams, but nevertheless I thought I’d use this time to recommend a collection of recently released EPs, and to offer a few words about a forthcoming split. All but one of the EPs are debut releases; the one that’s not is actually a preview of a forthcoming album. The split comes from two well-known bands (at least in the underground) whom we’ve written about extensively in the past.  Sadly, I don’t have any music streams from the split that I can share with you at this point, which makes its inclusion here a rarity.

As you can see, I divided this collection into two parts, with the second half coming later today.

HERESIARCH / ANTEDILUVIAN

The split I just mentioned is entitled Defleshing the Serpent Infinity. It will be released by Iron Bonehead Productions on July 31st. New Zealand’s Heresiarch contributes three tracks to the split, and Canada’s Antediluvian joins in with two. Continue reading »

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