FIT FOR AN AUTOPSY: “THE SEA OF TRAGIC BEASTS”

 Album Reviews, Premieres  1 Response »
Oct 182019
 

 

(We present Andy Synn‘s review of the new album by New Jersey’s Fit For An Autopsy, which will be released on October 25th by Nuclear Blast and features cover art by Adam Burke.)

There’s a hoary old cliché that says “good artists borrow, great artists steal”.

We all know it, of course, but have you ever thought about what it’s really trying to say?

The point it’s trying to make, at least the way I see it, is that while some artists may borrow an influence here or there from various sources, the really great ones take these influences and make them their own.

And that’s precisely what prominent “Gojira-core” pioneers Fit for an Autopsy have done on their latest, greatest, album, taking the very best elements of the Duplantier brothers’ pre-mainstream work – the powerful riffs and primal vocals, the turbulent, tidal rhythms and melancholy melodies, the ear-catching, attention grabbing pick-scrapes – and stamping them with their own indelible mark. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): SHRINE OF INSANABILIS — “VAST VORTEX LITANIES”

 Album Reviews, Premieres  1 Response »
Oct 172019
 

 

Today W.T.C. Productions is releasing Vast Vortex Litanies, the highly anticipated second album by the German black metal band Shrine of Insanabilis. It has been highly anticipated because the band’s first album, 2015’s Disciples of the Void, was so damned good (and the follow-on EP, 2016’s Tombs Opened by Fervent Tongues… Earth’s Final Necropolis, proved that the debut was no fluke). But Vast Vortex Litanies is nonetheless better than everything that has preceded it — as you’ll discover through the full album stream we’re sharing today.

While the band’s song-writing reveals improved dynamism and the enhanced infiltration of sorcerous melodies, it is the heights of glorious yet frightening frenzy that stand out, and that make the album such a continuously exhilarating experience. Continue reading »

BEST OF BRITISH 2019: GEIST / GÉVAUDAN / GODEATER

 Album Reviews, Exceptions to the Rule  No Responses »
Oct 172019
 


Geist

 

(In this edition of Andy Synn‘s series on recommended releases by UK bands (presented by the letter “G”), the focus is on Geist, Gévaudan, and Godeater.)

Being a British writer for what is, primarily, a US-based (though not necessarily US-focussed) publication like NCS occasionally puts me in some odd, awkward positions.

For one thing, the level of autonomy afforded to me here is far greater than anywhere else I’ve written for, and, due to our location/reputation, there’s never any pressure on me to blindly “support the scene”, something which often forces other, UK-based, sites/zines to grit their teeth and find ways to be gratingly polite/positive even when they don’t really want to.

On occasion this “outsider” status has come back to bite me, for instance when a band (or their fans) decide I’ve not been nice enough about them, or when I’ve simply refused to cover a band because I didn’t think they were all that good, but, for the most part, it’s a very freeing position to be in, and not one I take for granted.

Hopefully it also absolves me of any accusations of bias or favouritism – I’m not covering these bands because I’m trying to ingratiate myself with them, or “the scene” in general, I’m doing it because I think our readers will want to hear them! Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: TAN KOZH — “TROISIÈME FONCTION”

 Album Reviews, Premieres  No Responses »
Oct 162019
 

 

Regular visitors to our site will be familiar with the French label Antiq Records, a label we’ve come to prize around here for exceptional releases by Grylle, Véhémence, Wÿntër Àrvń, Dorminn, and Créatures (to name a few). And now Antiq will be adding to that list with the striking debut album of the pagan black metal band Tan Kozh.

The name of the album is Lignages Oubliés, and it’s set for release on November 15th. Inspired by ancient Indo-European myths, the first part of the album (we’re told) “contains visions of the past and future wars and destruction, within the background the awakening of ancient pagan gods and the eternal turn of the wheel of time; the second part of the album is made of prayers addressed directly to ancient gods”.

What we have for you today is a stream of the album’s opening track, “Troisième Fonction“, which launches the first part of the record. Continue reading »

HORRIFIC DEMISE: “EXCRUCIATING EXTERMINATION”

 Album Reviews  No Responses »
Oct 162019
 

 

(Today Vonlughlio reviews the debut album of the U.S. death metal band Horrific Demise, which is out now on the Comatose Music label.)

The subject of today’s brief review is Excruciating Extermination, the first album by Horrific Demise, released via Comatose Music this past August 29th.  I believe this project was formed back in 2005 by Matt Bishop (Human Artifacts, ex-Lividity) and I heard of the name since he was working on this release for a couple of years. I was not familiar with this particular project, but was with his former band Lividity.

After time in developing the music he gathered some top musicians alongside him to record the album, including Anthony Voight on vocals (Sarcophagy, ex-Gorgasm),  Phil Good on bass (Lust for Decay, Necrotic Disgorgement), Tony Tipton on guitars (Sarcophagy, Regurgitaton, ex-Necrotic Disgorgement), and Kyle Christman on drums (Sarcophagy, Human Filleted, ex-Gorgasm). When I saw that lineup I thought, hot damn!!!! A great list of top musicians who have contributed to some amazing releases in the BDM world. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): PISSED REGARDLESS — “IMPERIAL CULT”

 Album Reviews, Premieres  2 Responses »
Oct 152019
 

 

In reviewing albums I usually avoid dropping the names of other bands as reference points, but in the case of the new record by San Diego’s Pissed Regardless, mentioning Ringworm, Integrity, No Warning, Darkest Hour, and label-mates Light This City is a good quick way of getting your head prepared for the album stream we’re presenting in advance of its October 18th release by Creator-Destructor. Just seeing those names all in one place is a significant tip-off to the variable ingredients Pissed Regardless have harnessed in Imperial Cult.

But it still probably won’t prepare you for just how crushing the album as a whole is, on multiple levels, or how electrifying it is to experience the band’s twists and turns as they take you through these ten tracks. Continue reading »

SHORT BUT SWEET: INTERFECTORMENT — “GROTESQUELY DECAY”

 Album Reviews, SHORT BUT SWEET  No Responses »
Oct 152019
 

 

(This is Vonlughlio’s review of the new EP by Indonesia’s Interfectorment, which was released on May 31st by Brutal Mind, and features cover art by Toshihiro Egawa.)

One of the BDM scenes that is well known for their passion, is the Indonesian one. They are an amazing group of fans who support BDM in all its forms and do not hide the happiness this genre brings to them. A lot of bands come from that region, and some are great ones.

Sometimes, with the number of bands who play BDM, it can be hard to distinguish one from the other in terms of sound. Regardless, there are still bands who stand out from that large pack and bring something special. In this case, it’s the project Interfectorment from (Bandung, West Java), who on May 31st released their long-awaited EP Grotesquely Decay via Brutal Mind. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): UNAUSSPRECHLICHEN KULTEN — “TEUFELSBÜCHER”

 Album Reviews, Premieres  1 Response »
Oct 142019
 

 

At the beginning of Unaussprechlichen Kulten‘s new album Teufelsbücher we hear a haunting piano melody and the swell of symphonic strings. The stateliness and solemnity of those moments is at odds with nearly everything else that comes after, and yet its mystifying grandeur is in keeping with the magnificence of the insanity that soon ensues and never really relents until the grandiose and sorcerous extravaganza of “Necromancy and Torment” brings the album to a close.

The six songs on Teufelsbücher are asylum dreams, hellish visions of menace and madness that also relentlessly challenge the listener’s own sanity. The ever-twisting-and-turning compositions are ecstatically exuberant and the performances technically bewildering. The music boils like an overheated cauldron of unchained creativity, un-tethered to trends and un-bowing to conventions. It’s as if the band, in the throes of a possession, succeeded in opening Pandora’s box, loosing upon the world, through the sounds of mutated death metal, a torrent of bat-winged and brazen evils, never to be sealed again. Continue reading »

THE GREAT OLD ONES: “COSMICISM”

 Album Reviews  5 Responses »
Oct 142019
 

 

(Andy Synn reviews the new album by The Great Old Ones, which will be released on October 25th by Season of Mist.)

My relationship with the French coven who refer to themselves as The Great Old Ones has been a long and fruitful one.

And it’s for this reason, among many others, that I feel a certain responsibility to provide you, our loyal readers, with the unvarnished truth (at least, as far as I perceive it) about their newest album, which is set for release next week. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD ON A SATURDAY: GRUZJA, VILLAINOUS TEMPLE, CRYPTIC BROOD, CONSTELLATIA, DIPLOID

 Album Reviews, Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  9 Responses »
Oct 122019
 

 

It’s been a hell of a week, and I do mean HELL. I’ll spare you the details, because no one likes a whiner (except the core supporters of our current President), but mishaps befalling a loved one and demands by my fucking day job have interfered (again) with my NCS time. These round-ups are always the first casualties when such things happen, so I thought I’d use this relatively placid Saturday morning to catch up a little.

I picked the following songs a couple of days ago after a rare opportunity this past week to do a bit of listening. Many other new songs have come out since then, adding to the long list that already existed, but I decided not to listen to anything else new and just get this done.

GRUZJA

Jeszcze Nie Mamy Na Was Pomysłu is the name of the second album by the Polish black metal band Gruzja, whose line-up includes members of Furia, Mentor, and Biesy (among other groups). It’s set for release (CD and digital) on October 22nd by Godz Ov War Productions, but the whole album is already streaming on Bandcamp. Google Translate tells us that the album’s title, in English, is “We don’t have an idea for you yet”. But Google Translate has a habit of mangling its translations of the Polish language, so I wouldn’t put too much stock in that rendition.

When I began the process of selecting music for this round-up, I only found one song from the album (“800 ZŁ”), which grabbed me in a head-lock, and only this morning discovered that the whole record had been launched on Bandcamp. Consequently, my impressions of the album as a whole may be a bit mangled, too, and have certainly been rendered hastily.
Continue reading »

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