SHORT BUT SWEET: ALMYRKVI — “PUPIL OF THE SEARING MAELSTROM”

 Album Reviews, SHORT BUT SWEET  6 Responses »
Jun 282016
 

Almyrkvi-Pupil of the Searing Maelstrom

 

(In this post Andy Synn reviews the new EP by Iceland’s Almyrkvi, now available on Bandcamp.)

Black Metal has a long history of dealing with darkness in all its many forms… so it’s not surprising that so many of its adherents eventually turn their eyes towards the vast, vacant heavens and seek inspiration in the bleak emptiness of the void.

And so it is with Iceland’s Almyrkvi, the brainchild of Sinmara guitarist Garðar S. Jónsson, whose debut EP Pupil of the Searing Maelstrom seeks to capture the fearsome cold and endless nothngness of the celestial abyss in five impressively atmospheric and morbidly mesmerising tracks. Continue reading »

AN NCS EP PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): AU CHAMP DES MORTS — “JOUR SE LÉVE”

 Album Reviews, Premieres, SHORT BUT SWEET  3 Responses »
Jun 272016
 

Au Champ Des Morts cover

 

In April we were privileged to bring you the premiere of the title track to Le Jour Se Lève, the debut EP of a precocious French band named Au Champ Des Morts, and today we share with you a stream of the entire EP, which has now been released by Debemur Morti Productions.

ACDM was founded in 2014 by Stefan Bayle (Anorexia Nervosa) and Migreich (VULV), and this EP is a precursor to the band’s debut album, which will also be released by Debemur Morti. The EP consists of two songs, both of which quickly establish this band as one to watch closely. Continue reading »

SHORT BUT SWEET: JUST BEFORE DAWN — “THE GHOSTS OF THE EASTERN FRONT”

 Album Reviews, SHORT BUT SWEET  3 Responses »
Jun 132016
 

Just Before Dawn-The Ghosts of the Eastern Front cover

 

The Swedish death metal war machine Just Before Dawn has already given the world two excellent albums (Precis innan gryningen (2013) and The Aftermath (2014)), and the first installment in a trilogy of EPs (2015’s The Dead and Those About To Die), and now JBD mastermind Anders Biazzi and a formidable battalion of allies are on the verge of launching their latest offensive — a new EP named The Ghosts of the Eastern Front. — and below you will find some thoughts about the EP as well as a teaser video with audio samples from the songs.

Like the first EP in the trilogy, this new one will be released on cassette tape by Till You Fukkin Bleed Records, and the songs on the cassette will also later be included on a new full-length release planned for later this year. Continue reading »

AN NCS EP PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): INERT — “OBLITERATION OF THE SELF”

 Album Reviews, Premieres, SHORT BUT SWEET  No Responses »
Jun 102016
 

Inert-Obliteration of the Self

 

One week ago we premiered the title track from Obliteration of the Self, the debut EP by an insurgent death metal duo who call themselves Inert, and today we deliver a full stream of the entire EP, which the band are making available as a free download for a limited time.

For those who missed our earlier premiere, I’ll repeat the band’s origin story: Both members (guitarist Xavier Aguilar and vocalist/drummer Gustavo Garcia) knew each other for many years from the metal scene in Barcelona, Spain, but didn’t join forces in Inert until Xavi moved to Stockholm, Sweden. Perhaps something in the Swedish water infiltrated Xavi’s creative juices, but whatever caused this duo to join forces only after considerable distance separated them, we should be thankful for it. Continue reading »

BENEATH THE NCS RADAR (PART 14): EP SPECIAL

 Album Reviews, SHORT BUT SWEET  6 Responses »
Jun 062016
 

collage

 

(We welcome you to the glorious 14th part of our Norwegian comrade Gorger’s highlighting of releases we haven’t previously reviewed.  To find more of his discoveries, visit Gorger’s Metal.)

I’ve got a few shorter releases to share with you today. I’m calling it an EP special, but for good measure, I’m tossing in a split and a graphic novel(!) too. I’ve also shortened down my ramblings to leave you sore-eared rather than sore-eyed. Enjoy. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: ILL OMEN AND SLAUGHTBBATH — “PESTILENTIAL HIEROPHANIES”

 Album Reviews, Premieres, SHORT BUT SWEET  1 Response »
May 262016
 

Ill Omen Slaughtbbath split art

 

Two striking black metal bands separated by the Pacific have joined forces in a new split release coming out tomorrow on 7″ vinyl from Iron Bonehead Productions. The split’s title, Pestilential Hierophanies, is a conjunction of the two track names on the album, with Australia’s Ill Omen contributing “Whited, Pestilent Sepulchre…” and Chile’s Slaughtbbath providing “Inverted Hierophany”.

You can — and should — listen to both tracks below. I have a brief review first, and in a nutshell, this is one of the best splits I’ve come across this year.

ILL OMEN

The lone artist behind Ill Omen (“IV”) has quite a resume of participation in other groups, including his membership in Temple Nightside and previous work in Austere. Under the Ill Omen banner he has produced many short releases as well as three albums, including this year’s Æ.Thy.Rift. Continue reading »

SHORT BUT SWEET: THE LONE MADMAN — “DREARY TASK”

 Album Reviews, Exceptions to the Rule, SHORT BUT SWEET  No Responses »
May 242016
 

The Lone Madman logo

 

(In this post Grant Skelton reviews the new EP by Finland’s The Lone Madman — an exception to our “rule”.)

“…Finland has perhaps the most heavy metal bands in the world, per capita…” If President Obama himself is aware of Finland’s contributions to heavy metal, then it would certainly behoove us at No Clean Singing to follow suit (and obviously not for the first time). Children Of Bodom, Ensiferum, Shape Of Despair, Amorphis, Omnium Gatherum, Swallow The Sun, Skepticism, Insomnium. And those are only a scant few!

I must give credit to the stellar blog The Shrieks From Below for my discovery of Helsinki’s The Lone Madman. In recent years, I’ve become quite a doom hoarder. You know what they say. “Listening to doom all day keeps the reaper at bay.” If you’ve enjoyed the recent resurgence in heavy, traditional, and/or epic doom from Crypt Sermon, Below, and Pilgrim, then The Lone Madman are the cushion for your proverbial casket. Continue reading »

SHORT BUT SWEET: HISSING — S/T

 Album Reviews, SHORT BUT SWEET  No Responses »
May 232016
 

Hissing-ST

 

(Allen Griffin reviews the new self-titled 7″ EP by Hissing.)

Seattle trio Hissing is one of the latest additions to Southern Lord’s formidable roster and they are poised to release their self-titled 7″ in early June. Consisting of two crushing tracks, a little over eleven minutes of music, their sound can be described as an amalgamation of abyss-trawling blast beats, thick gutter sludge, and oppressive, mysterious atmosphere.

While drawing from a range of influences, Deathspell Omega, Portal, and Autopsy are the most obvious touchstones, and while these are not uncommon influences in the current scene, Hissing succeed where others often fail. There is a certain x-factor bands of this ilk rarely possess, but Hissing seem to have in spades. The material here, inspired by the human psyche trying to survive in hostile urban environments, is utterly convincing in both composition and execution. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): IN TWILIGHT’S EMBRACE — “TREMBLING”

 Album Reviews, Premieres, SHORT BUT SWEET  4 Responses »
May 192016
 

In Twilight's Embrace-Trembling

 

For me and many others, The Grim Muse by Poland’s In Twilight’s Embrace was one of 2015’s highlights — a multifaceted and uniformly strong melodic death metal album loaded with fantastic riffs, memorable lead-guitar melodies and solos, powerful performances by the rhythm section, and absolutely ferocious vocals. The band are now following that stand-out album with a new three-song EP entitled Trembling, which will be released by Arachnophobia Records on May 25 (which is also the day set for Arachnophobia’s release of a vinyl edition of The Grim Muse). Today we bring you a full stream of the new EP.

These three new songs were recorded by the band during the same sessions that produced The Grim Muse, but were set aside with the idea of this EP specifically in mind. True to the band’s penchant for creating variations in their core sound, each song is distinctive, no one of them quite like the other two — yet all three are both dark and blistering. Continue reading »

SKULL SMASHERS: AMONG GODS, DECEPTIONIST, GRIMUS, HIPOXIA, MINDWARP, MINOTAUR HEAD, TREACHEROUS, SLOMATICS, VEX, VIMIC

 Album Reviews, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC, SHORT BUT SWEET  8 Responses »
May 182016
 

Among Gods-Ghost Empire

 

Is this too much? Songs, albums, and EPs from ten bands collected in a single post instead of divided up and spread out over time so you can have recovery periods in between the skull-fracturing? I’m afraid it might be too much, but obviously not afraid enough to change the plan. Mainly, I’m too impatient to share all this fine new metal to worry very much about your cranial integrity.

In fact, you can think of this as a test for the hardness of your skull. If you can make it to the end, you have a Granite-Level Skull and should consider applying for employment as a crash-test dummy. People with Eggshell Skulls might not make it through the first track; R.I.P. Those of you in between are degrees of semi-hard and semi-soft, kind of like cheese.

AMONG GODS

Three-and-a-half years have passed since I last wrote about this band from Bergen after discovering them through a listening session for a MISCELLANY post. But the opportunity for a rediscovery has arrived, because on June 27 Argonauta Records will release their new album, Ghost Empire. Continue reading »

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