SEEN AND HEARD ON A SATURDAY: SATYASENA, DAWN OF A DARK AGE, OBSCENE WORSHIP, HOLDLAJTORJA, THE SEPT, MYAELIN, SANGUINARY EMPEROR

 Album Reviews, Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  No Responses »
Nov 112023
 

I have a lot to recommend today. I made some of these choices and wrote some of these words earlier in the week. I have to hurry through the rest of it this morning because a wind storm is in progress outside and the branches bombarding the roof are beginning to sound like a war zone.

Cozy inside, I can tolerate that, but where I live near Puget Sound the power lines are overhead, cradled by forest limbs, and when the limbs go down (as they will, somewhere on this little grid), the power and the internet will go out too. So, I’m hurrying now….

SATYASENA (U.S.)

The first song I chose is just gloriously wild, a high-speed roller-coaster for your mind that should leave it yelping with glee.

If I were a kinder person and more capable of self-restraint, which I’m not, I’d just stop there and not spoil the fun, much of which comes from being surprised by what happens in the song. On the other hand, I doubt that any preview words can really spoil the thrills of “My Passion“, so here goes: Continue reading »

GONZO’S HEAVY ROUNDUP, OCTOBER 2023

 Album Reviews  1 Response »
Nov 102023
 

(With October now behind us and November well on its way, our friend Gonzo returns to NCS with reviews of some October releases that made a very positive impression.)

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about all the ways music connects us as a people. The metal community is, more often than not, a refuge for this kind of thinking. It’s especially noticeable when everything else in the world starts to suck.

A couple of weeks back, I saw Blackbraid open for Wolves in the Throne Room. The former’s unapologetically indigenous approach to their music was, and always is, a great reminder of how heavy music isn’t just for one group of people. It’s for everyone. Hearing such music in a live setting, in the company of other like-minded humans, was refreshing. It reminds me why I make time to write about this shit in the first place.

And I know I’m not alone in saying that it’s all too easy to go down a doom-scroll rabbit hole these days. Between that sense of existential dread and the aforementioned gratitude for metal, I had plenty of inspiration for this month’s roundup. I was right – it turned out to be a real fucking doozy.

(As I’m typing this, at least one person is secretly jotting down “Doom Scroll Rabbit Hole” for the name of their one-man psychedelic black metal project.) Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): LEFT EYE PERSPECTIVE — “CONUNDRUM”

 Album Reviews, Premieres  3 Responses »
Nov 092023
 

Sometimes comparisons of one band’s music to the music of other better-known bands works pretty well. Other times you scratch your head or vigorously shake it — what the hell was that writer thinking?

But in the case of the Belgian band Left Eye Perspective, their label Argonauta Records hit the nail on the head: The band’s debut album Conundrum really does sound like someone gene-spliced Mastodon, Gojira, Baroness, and The Ocean.

Or to frame the matter differently, their music proves to be a highly contagious alchemy of sludge, stoner rock, progressive metal, and grunge. Adventurously executed with a lot of instrumental and vocal flair, it brings powerhouse grooves, flights of head-spinning elaboration, mood-moving atmospheres, and plentiful doses of lysergic acid diethylamide.

You’ll see for yourselves what we’re getting at, because today we’ve got a full stream of this magnetic album on the eve of its release. Continue reading »

BEST OF BRITISH: PLEIADES, SEA MOSQUITO, WARCRAB

 Album Reviews  2 Responses »
Nov 092023
 

(Andy Synn presents three more metallic morsels from his green and unpleasant homeland)

As always I’ve done my best to cover as many of the homegrown acts from here in the UK who have released albums this year and, ultimately… have probably only written about a small fraction of them.

But that’s always going to be the case, I suppose. I’m just one person after all (at least, I think I am) and can only do so much with the limited time that I have.

Plus, to be brutally honest, because I only write about albums I actually like that means some good stuff that I, personally, just don’t really rate is going to end up getting left by the wayside.

So consider this my apology to every band and artist I wasn’t able to feature this year. It’s not you, it’s me.

Continue reading »

VASTUM: “INWARD TO GETHSEMANE”

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Nov 082023
 

(We’re pleased to present Todd Manning‘s review of the latest album by a band who’s a favorite among all the old-timers around here — and should become one of your favorites if they’re not already. The full album stream debuted today, and you’ll find that below as well.)

California-based Vastum is becoming a death metal institution. Their latest, Inward to Gethsemane, is due out on November 10th and is their fifth full-length on 20 Buck Spin.
Vastum has always looked to legendary acts like Autopsy, Incantation, and Cianide for inspiration. Yet, they create an atmosphere that’s equal parts haunting and nasty that sets them apart from the rest of the old-school death metal crowd. Continue reading »

MEPHORASH – KRYSTL-AH

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Nov 072023
 

(Andy Synn lavishes praise and worship on the new album from Mephorash, out Friday)

I love a band with ambition, don’t you?

Don’t get me wrong, there are often times when all I’m looking for are some meaty riffs and tasty hooks, and any band that can satisfy that craving is a band I’ll probably come back to again and again, but there’s something to be said about swinging for the fences, going the extra mile and… other, related clichés.

Whatever you want to call it, that’s exactly what Mephorash have done on Krystl-Ah, employing a twelve-person choir (paid for entirely out of their own pockets) and a variety of other instrumental embellishments and creative collaborators to help their music achieve its ultimate form.

Continue reading »

THINGS YOU MAY HAVE MISSED (BUT SHOULDN’T)

 Album Reviews  1 Response »
Nov 062023
 

(Andy Synn presents four more artists/albums from last month which you may not have heard)

Would you look at that… it’s somehow November already. Which means, in a little over a month, I’ll be taking over NCS for a full week and publishing my lengthy round-up of all the Great, Good, and Disappointing releases of the year – the ones I’ve heard and feel at least semi-qualified to give an opinion of – culminating in my usual Critical and Personal top ten lists.

As always, it’s impossible for me to listen to, or cover, everything that’s released over the course of a year, but that doesn’t mean I’m not going to try and squeeze in as many reviews and recommendations as I can before then.

Making the decision of who/what to include, however, seems to be getting harder and harder – albums which almost made the cut this month include END‘s absolutely devastating The Sin of Human Frailty, the stellar debut album from Voidescent, and the predictably excellent new record from Slidhr – but I’m confident that the four selections I’ve made, two of which were “surprise” released without any warning or fanfare, will be well worth your time (and mine).

Continue reading »

THE LUNA SEQUENCE: “I ONLY REMEMBER FALLING”

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Nov 062023
 

(Oakland-based The Luna Sequence brought us a new album in September, and today DGR brings us his extensive reactions to the new music.)

Those who’ve walked many miles with our site will know that there are a few things we love to do around here. We like some good off the wall cover art that’ll blind people, we love us some patterns and numbers to nerd out on, and we love making the joke about getting around the ‘no clean singing’ rule – because when have we ever broken that before? – by reviewing music that has no singing at all.

Then you get into the more personal enjoyment that specific authors gain a rise out of, and in this case, yours truly absolutely enjoys throwing electronics and industrial projects on the main page, just knowing that it is going to be completely different from the wall-to-wall brutality/banshee-shrieking we enjoy posting on a day-to-day basis.

Luckily, musician Kaia Young has proven to be a bastion and has been able to provide on more than one occasion the opportunity to knock out two birds with one stone, and do both the ‘no clean singing’ joke and the electronics side of thing with their The Luna Sequence project. Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK: THE AMENTA, STILLNESS OF A DYING WORLD, EXCOMMUNICATIO, DELETRIX

 Album Reviews, SHADES OF BLACK  No Responses »
Nov 052023
 

Welcome back, or welcome for the first time. For those who were with me for yesterday’s round-up, I’ll spare you a detailed update on my vaccine-induced congestion and say only that my body’s mucus factory is still vigorously pumping out the product, my wishes be damned.

Like yesterday, I wish I could have made this collection longer. Under the circumstances (which include a rare outing from my hermitage with my spouse this morning), it’s the best I could do. I did attempt to make it a varied experience, with a curveball at the end.

THE AMENTA (Australia)

Well of course we’re leading this column with a new video from The Amenta, because we’re nothing if not slavish in our attention to what they do.

It makes a special kind of sense today because the song that’s the subject of the video is The Amenta‘s cover of Diamanda Galás‘ hymn to Satan, “Sono L’Antichristo“, which originally appeared on her Plague Mass album. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): SANCTUM SATHANAS — “INTO THE ETERNAL SATANIC DAMNATION”

 Album Reviews, Premieres  No Responses »
Nov 032023
 

Well, strictly speaking, this isn’t a premiere. Due to getting our wires crossed, the album we’re writing about was actually released by Inferna Profundus Records two days ago. But what the hell, it will be a premiere for some of you landing at this page who haven’t yet discovered the album, so we’re forging ahead anyway.

And to be sure, Into the Eternal Satanic Damnation is an album worth discovering. It’s the debut full-length by the Chilean band Sanctum Sathanas, which is principally the project of Magister Nihilifer Vendetta 218 (aka Magus Xem Deitus) from Funeral Fullmoon, Blood For Satan, Faustian Spirit, and Vanagandr, joined for this album by drummer Unholy Tormentor.

You already understand, of course, that the album is a form of wrathful devotion to Lucifer (and indeed “Wrathful Devotion” is the name of the record’s closing track). Yet realizing that will still leave many questions unanswered about how the devotion is expressed and whether it will prove inspirational to listeners — questions answered today. Continue reading »

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