PENSÉES NOCTURNES : “GRAND GUIGNOL ORCHESTRA”

 Album Reviews  No Responses »
Feb 122019
 

 

(Wil Cifer prepared this review of the new album by Pensées Nocturnes, which was released on February 1st by Les Acteurs de L’Ombre Productions.)

This French band’s last album was an eccentric mix of black metal and chaotic cabaret jazz. This time they are fully committing to a Circus theme. Seeing this report, I assumed this album was bound to sound like Mr. Bungle. In some ways, they don’t prove me wrong.

Where Mr. Bungle hinged heavily on the vocal power of Mike Patton, these guys instead invest more in setting the stage of a place back in time. The vocals are more of a chattering narrative and swing back and forth from operatic singing to growls of anguish. Blast beats are thrown in, against a sway of an angular waltz. This time around the sounds are more layered. It is this layering that paints the exotic sonic pictures. Continue reading »

OBSCURA / FALLUJAH / ALLEGAEON / FIRST FRAGMENT – LIVE IN LONDON 08/02/19

 Concert Reviews  6 Responses »
Feb 112019
 

 

(Andy Synn wants you to know that he took in another show. This time, Obscura, Fallujah, Allegaeon, and First Fragment drew him to the environs of London on February 8th, yielding this report plus video of the event.)

For whatever reason, possibly known only to the gods themselves, tonight’s show was one of three big package-tours plying their metallic wares in the capital all on the same evening, with Behemoth/At The Gates/Wolves In The Throne Room on at Kentish Town Forum and Psycroptic/Aversion’s Crown/Within Destruction/Hadal Maw/Hollow World making The Dome in Tufnell Park their home for the evening.

Thankfully, as I’d caught the latter tour a few days earlier in Manchester, my choice between the remaining two options was an easy one to make, as while I’m a fan of practically all the bands on both bills (to a greater or lesser extent), I wasn’t hugely taken with either of the most recent Behemoth and At The Gates albums, whereas I was very high on the most recent Obscura album (and, spoiler alert, the upcoming new Fallujah too).

So it was off to the O2 in Islington for me! Continue reading »

PSYCROPTIC / AVERSION’S CROWN / WITHIN DESTRUCTION / HADAL MAW / HOLLOW WORLD – LIVE IN MANCHESTER 06/02/19

 Concert Reviews  4 Responses »
Feb 092019
 

 

(On February 6th our man-about-town Andy Synn made the trek to Manchester, England, to take in a show at Rebellion Club, and this is his report, with videos of the event.)

If there’s one thing I know about Metal fans it’s that we, both individually and collectively, are often willing to put up with a lot of shit – be it a long journey, or an excessive amount of sub-standard music – to see the bands we love live.

Well, for tonight’s show, featuring four Australian acts and one Slovenian group, I had to contend with both, making a five-hour round trip and sitting through a couple of less than stellar performances, just for the opportunity to see Hadal Maw live for the first time (although, let’s be honest, I doubt I’ll ever turn down an opportunity to catch Psycroptic either). Continue reading »

DROTTNAR: “MONOLITH”

 Album Reviews  2 Responses »
Feb 082019
 

 

(This is Andy Synn‘s review of the new album by the Norwegian extremists Drottnar, which is being released today by Endtime Productions.)

So it’s only the first week of February and I’m already feeling pretty overwhelmed and behind the curve when it comes to covering and critiquing new albums this year.

Heck, there’s at least three records from 2018 that I still really want to give some extra coverage to, if and when I can actually find the time!

As you might imagine then, this has forced me to make some pretty tough choices about how I use my time effectively and exactly what bands/albums I need/want to write about, with several painful cuts having to be made to my review list to accommodate all the other work, life, and band pressures currently competing for my attention.

Thankfully there are certain artists whose albums are basically guaranteed a write-up, and self-proclaimed “Bunker Metal” battalion (and previous Synn Report recipients) Drottnar are one of them. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): ELECTROCUTION — “PSYCHONOLATRY”

 Album Reviews  1 Response »
Feb 062019
 

 

If you were somehow ignorant about the history of the Italian death metal band Electrocution, you might guess from their possession of such a prized extreme-metal name that they first came to life a long time ago, and you’d be right. Originally founded in 1990, they’re rapidly approaching their 30th birthday. Not uncommonly for a band of such a vintage, there have been numerous line-up changes over the years, but founding vocalist/guitarist Mick Montaguti still leads the band, and on Electrocution’s new album Psychonolatry, he’s joined by other musicians whose astonishing performances, along with his own, send this record into the stratosphere.

Electrocuton haven’t been prolific in their releases. Two decades passed between the band’s first album and their second one, and this third one follows the second by five years. But once you listen to Psychonolatry — which we’re giving you the chance to do right now — you’ll quickly realize that something this extravagant couldn’t have been accomplished without a lot of careful planning, tremendous care, and a ton of hard work. Things like this don’t grow on trees, and they don’t get thrown together quickly. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD (PART 1): GODS FORSAKEN, KĀLA, SAMHARA, TARGET, SIELUNVIHOLLINEN, ULTRA SILVAM

 Album Reviews, Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC, SHORT BUT SWEET  4 Responses »
Feb 052019
 

 

Yesterday I learned of the postponement of an album premiere I had expected to write for today. If I had a less obsessive personality, I would have used that unexpected free time to go for a walk through the uncommon snow that turned the forested area where I live into a wonderland (because most workplaces, including mine, were closed down yesterday — because a little snow works like a paralytic agent on the City of Seattle). Instead, I spun my way through a couple dozen new songs… while occasionally staring out the window at the brilliance of that uncommon snow.

As you can already tell, since this is Part 1 of something I worked up, I liked quite a lot of what I heard, and thought you might too. I’m confident there will be a second Part… but not sure about a third… it depends on whether the snow melts and the paralysis loosens.

GODS FORSAKEN

What a very nice coincidence. Almost exactly one year ago we were anointing a song from this Swedish band’s debut album (In A Pitch Black Grave) as one of 2017’s Most Infectious Extreme Metal Songs, and a year and a day after that event they released the first single from their second album. And damned if it isn’t already a contender for the 2019 edition of that list. Continue reading »

DESCRAVITY: “ANATHEMA”

 Album Reviews  No Responses »
Feb 052019
 

 

(This is Vonlughlio’s review of the new album by the Japanese band Desecravity, recently released by Willowtip Records.)

It’s been quite a bit since my last small review here at NCS. Nonetheless, I now have the opportunity to write about one of my favorite acts from Japan. That band is Desecravity, and they released their third album entitled Anathema via Willowtip Records this past 25th of January.

This band was formed back in 2007 but it was not until 2012 that they released their debut effort, Implicit Obedience. I was fortunate to discover that release the same year thanks to a review that popped up in my newsfeed (my apologies, I don’t recall from where), and the cover art and name caught my attention. Continue reading »

DOWNFALL OF GAIA: “ETHIC OF RADICAL FINITUDE”

 Album Reviews  1 Response »
Feb 042019
 

 

(This is Andy Synn’s review of the new fifth album by Germany’s Downfall of Gaia, which will be released on February 8th by Metal Blade.)

One of the best, and most memorable, gigs/tours of the last several years for me was the absolutely mind-blowing co-headliner of Downfall of Gaia and Der Weg Einer Freiheit in 2015, which saw both bands putting on an absolute masterclass (not a word I use lightly) in power, precision, and raw emotion that still, even now, shines incredibly brightly in my memory.

It certainly helped, of course, that both bands were touring behind albums that were (and still are) widely considered to be the best of their career, with Aeon Unveils the Throne of Decay actually earning itself a much-coveted spot on my Critical Top Ten of 2014 (and Stellar only just missing out on the following year’s list).

But while neither band’s immediate follow-up was able to fully replicate the impact and intensity of their predecessor(s), I think you’ll be pleased to hear that Ethic of Radical Finitude comes pretty darn close to recapturing the pure magic of Aeon Unveils… even if that album still remains the band’s magnum opus. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): TELÜMEHTÅR — “THE WELL”

 Album Reviews, Premieres  1 Response »
Feb 042019
 

 

Ten years ago the French one-man black metal project Telümehtår made its debut with a self-recorded and self-released demo named Blåck. Now, a decade later, Telümehtår has re-surfaced with a new album entitled The Well, which is set for release on February 16th. Today we present a full stream of its nine tracks, preceded by the following impressions.

Drawing inspiration from the spirit of such early black metal bands as Emperor, Darkthrone, and Ulver, but without slavishly aping them, Lord Telümehtår has created an extravagant, blazing tumult of moodiness and despair, creating the sounds of terrible madness born of pain, yet glorious in their devastation. In one sense, the songs are minimalist in their composition, yet they are wholly engulfing both in their sound and in their emotional impact, creating an air of scarring pageantry, like the surround-sound scores to mythic sagas of impassioned striving and inevitable, calamitous tragedy. Continue reading »

RIPARIAN: “RIPARIAN”

 Album Reviews  No Responses »
Feb 042019
 

 

(Todd Manning wrote the following review ofthe impending self-titled debut EP by Pittsburgh’s Riparian, which will be released by Grimoire Records on March 1st.)

Not to split hairs, but in the sweet spot between Grindcore and Death Metal there seems to be a small niche of what one might consider Death-Grind, a movement that may have reached its apex in the early aughts and was best exemplified by such acts as The Red Chord, Misery Index, and Cephalic Carnage. Pittsburgh’s Riparian are mining this same vein of brutal goodness on their self-titled debut EP, due out on March 1st courtesy of Grimoire Records.

To be clear, the alchemy that Riparian utilize is a sound that might eschew the most technical corners of the Death Metal world, but also isn’t nearly as primitive as most Grindcore acts nor their OSDM counterparts. What we are left with instead is a pulverizing blend of grind beats and mid-tempo muscular riffing. Occasional solos and Doomier passages that also pepper the proceedings give the EP an unpredictable quality as well. Continue reading »

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