SHORT BUT SWEET: VOIDHAVEN — “VOIDHAVEN”

 Album Reviews, SHORT BUT SWEET  4 Responses »
Oct 192018
 

 

Today is the release date (through Solitude Productions) for the debut EP, self-titled, of the German band Voidhaven, whose line-up includes members of Crimson Swan and Ophis — and it proves to be a masterful interweaving of traditional doom metal and doom-death that plumbs depths of hopelessness and misery yet has the capacity to send the heart soaring.

Voidhaven is now available for listening through YouTube and Bandcamp streams that we can share with you. It consists of two songs of approximately nine minutes apiece — long enough to cast powerful and lingering spells, but not too long, never risking a fall into monotony. Continue reading »

AN NCS EP PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): GATHERING DARKNESS — “THE INEXORABLE END”

 Album Reviews, Premieres, SHORT BUT SWEET  No Responses »
Oct 192018
 

 

It’s probably a common phenomenon among metal fans to make guesses about a band’s musical genre based on their choice of name. The name Gathering Darkness, for example, might suggest flavors of doom, and when the band first formed 20 years ago, their focus was indeed on a doom-drenched variant of death metal, as reflected in their first demos. But as the years passed, the sound changed, and the suggestion of a dark, atmospheric, doom-centric focus which the name might still convey is no longer reliable.

As the interests of this Spanish band evolved, the focus turned to brutal death metal, but that genre label might itself be a misleading indicator of what the group have created for their new EP, The Inexorable End, which is being released on October 21st in celebration of their 20th anniversary, and which we’re presenting in a full stream today. Continue reading »

UN: “SENTIMENT”

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Oct 192018
 

 

(These are Grant Skelton‘s thoughts about the remarkable new album by the Seattle-based funeral doom band Un, which is out now via Translation Loss Records, along with thoughts by vocalist/guitarist Monte Mccleery.)

In Thus Spake Zarathustra, Friedrich Nietzsche wrote:

“What have we in common with the rose-bud, which trembleth because a drop of dew hath formed upon it?”

A rose is a floral archetype. For centuries it’s been associated with romance, youth, and sensuality. Furthermore, it represents a paradox — a juxtaposition of beauty and pain. A rose is beautiful to behold with the eye, but painful to hold with the hand. In Nietzsche’s metaphor, the rose trembles. It trembles because it has been acted upon by precipitation. By the vicissitudes of nature. By the weight of something it needs to survive. While precipitation is a source of nourishment, an excess of it can be fatal to the rose. Continue reading »

BARÚS: A REVIEW OF “DROWNED” AND THE PREMIERE OF “DISSEVER”

 Album Reviews  3 Responses »
Oct 182018
 

 

(On October 22nd Memento Mori will release Drowned, the debut album by the French band Barús, and in this post Andy Synn reviews the album and presents our premiere of a track from it named “Dissever“.)

It’s always gratifying to see a band you love grow and evolve, especially if it’s a band you’ve been into right from the very start.

Case in point, we’ve been fans of French Death Metal quartet Barús ever since the release of their self-titled EP back in 2015 (you can read more about that here) and I’m pleased to say that, despite having to wait over three full years, our patience is about to be richly rewarded with the advent of their long-gestating debut album, Drowned. Continue reading »

SHOW REVIEW: MOTSTRØMS

 Concert Reviews  No Responses »
Oct 182018
 

 

(One of our Norway-based contributors, Karina Noctum, prepared this evocative review of the Motstrøms concert on September 29 at the Myrens Dam in the heart of Norway’s Telemark region. All of the accompanying photos were taken by Andrea Chirulescu.)

I was fortunate enough to be able to attend Motstrøms, which translated from Norwegian means “against the current”. Motstrøms was a celebration of a long and many-faceted musical career. It was about Emperor, Ihasahn’s solo project, the projects he has developed together with his wife Heidi Tveit, as well as the musical contributions of significance from other important musicians such as Leprous and Raphael Weinroth-Browne, among others.

Motstrøms is a fitting name indeed, taking into account Ihsahn’s musical character. I was excited when I first heard about it, and felt right from the beginning that it was going to be a special evening. I started getting “the I can’t believe I’m here” feeling just before arriving, the kind of feeling I do not get in Oslo anymore. Besides, Emperor were going to play some songs, and I had to be there. I have been following pretty much every Emperor concert I could attend, and I’m grateful for any new concerts because I know it will stop abruptly some day, and that will be it. Continue reading »

WITCH RIPPER: “HOMESTEAD”

 Album Reviews  4 Responses »
Oct 172018
 

 

(We present Andy Synn‘s review of the fantastic debut album by Seattle-based Witch Ripper, which was released on September 13th.)

For the most part, the use of comparisons – “so-and-so frequently reminds me of whatsisname” – is one of the most practical and important tools in a reviewer’s repertoire, allowing them to immediately put readers in the right area or mindset when encountering a brand new band/album.

Like any tool, of course, it can be misused in the wrong hands, which often provokes a rather furious backlash from fans/readers who’ve taken umbrage to a writer’s choice of references, to the point where I’ve seen commenters driven into a full-on fit of apoplectic, caps-lock-inducing rage at the mere suggestion that a certain band might possibly, maybe, ever so slightly, sound like another group (or two).

It’s a ridiculous overreaction of course. My saying, for instance, that Seattle-based riff-warriors Witch Ripper frequently remind me of both a more lithe and limber version of High on Fire or a less-scatterbrained variant on Mastodon’s more proggy musings, isn’t meant as a criticism or an accusation of plagiarism… far from it… it’s meant very much as a compliment and as a way of pre-emptively getting potential readers/listeners into the right headspace where they can properly appreciate the album in the right context. Continue reading »

ABORTED: “TERRORVISION”

 Album Reviews  2 Responses »
Oct 162018
 

 

(This is TheMadIsraeli’s review of the new album by Aborted, which Century Media released on September 21st.)

Aborted have evolved in quite a fascinating way over the years.  They are, in my mind, one of death metal’s most essential bands, especially in the brand of more chaotic, panicky, fast-as-fuck brutality, and they have developed a pretty diverse discography as they’ve moved from album to album.  The MOST interesting thing about Aborted, though, was how a band whose only original member is the vocalist and almost couldn’t seem to keep a steady song-writer or writers for more than a single album, finally succeeded in cementing not only a definitive sound but also one that’s paid off in dividends ever since Global Flatline.

They did that by locking in a song-writer and guitar virtuoso in the person of Mendel bij de Leij, who was dedicated to preserving a previous sonic direction for Aborted, a first for the band.  Believe it or not, until Global Flatline, Aborted  underwent a change in both guitar players every other album, with one always getting changed out in every album. And that’s not counting the rotating gallery of drummers and bassists the band has had.

Mendel wasn’t in Aborted when Global Flatline came out, but I think it’s pretty cool that he’s helped steer the band toward preserving a sound, rather than writing an entirely different type of album again, especially since what Aborted are doing now is pretty multi-faceted.  I’m sure, though, that vocalist and only remaining founding member Sven de Caluwé has also steered the direction toward this more focused sound as well. Continue reading »

INSIDIOUS SQUELCHING PENETRATION: “WRITHING IN DARKNESS”

 Album Reviews  No Responses »
Oct 152018
 

 

(For your disgusting pleasure, Vonlughlio reviews the debut album by the sickos in Insidious Squelching Penetration.)

As I mentioned in my last small write-up, for me 2018 has been a good year for music, especially in the BDM genre. I’ve particularly enjoyed discovering bands that came out of nowhere to blow me away with their releases, including Galvanizer and The Heretics Fork. Just wonderful music that keeps the listener engaged for every second. Such is also the case for this band called Insidious Squelching Penetration and their debut album, Writhing in Darkness, which was released October 12th via Lord of the Sick Recordings.

I first found out about the band thanks to a FB post from the label promoting their demo Delectable Rectal Mind, so I decided to check it out and bought it from the band soon after. This demo had the rawness I like in Goregrind and a straightforward approach, with songs below the one-minute mark (which is typical in this genre). The vocals went hand-in-hand with the music, and reminded me of Last Days of Humanity. Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK: WELTSCHMERZ, DEWFALL, MAGOTH, PANDISCORDIAN NECROGENESIS

 Album Reviews, SHADES OF BLACK  2 Responses »
Oct 142018
 

 

For this Sunday’s column I’ve picked music from four bands we’ve never previously written about at NCS. Three are advance tracks from forthcoming records, and one is a complete new album, released just yesterday.

WELTSCHMERZ

To begin, I’ve chosen a song from the second album by a band who, despite their German name (which seems to mean “world-pain” or “world-weariness”), are Dutch. We’re further informed that weltschmerz “is a term coined by the German author Jean Paul and denotes the kind of feeling experienced by someone who understands that physical reality can never satisfy the demands of the mind”. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): DEKAGRAM — “MAY FLIGHTS OF DEVILS GUIDE YOU HOME”

 Album Reviews, Premieres  No Responses »
Oct 122018
 

 

I think it might be best to begin the introduction to this premiere with a few words of warning.

Without any advance preparation, the music immediately assaults the sense, so intensely and so abrasively that the impact is shattering… and for some of you, it will be unpleasant. The layering of high, mind-searing tremolo riffing erupts in an immediate boil, coming in rippling waves of frightening urgency, with a no less urgent snare drum persistently driving the rhythm. There’s virtually no low-end heft in the sound at all, which is made even more incinerating by absolutely terrifying, brain-scarring, reverb-drenched shrieks.

So there — you’ve been warned. And now I’ll explain why you should stick with the song despite the way in which Dekagram starts this musical bonfire. And yes, this album (or EP, depending on where you draw the line) is one song — one 22-minute composition that goes places you probably won’t expect. Continue reading »

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