THE REARVIEW MIRROR Archives - Page 5 of 7

THE REARVIEW MIRROR (HEDON CRIES)

Feb 212016

(DGR prepared this Sunday’s metal retrospective.)

I figured for this Rearview column that I would take you on a shorter trip through time than we have been prone to. I know that this isn’t the shortest, as once before we made a trip to 2013 with The Amenta, but I figured that was a special-use case since we were zeroing in on such a specific section of that album.

This time, I thought we would travel all the way back to 2011, a time when No Clean Singing was actually a real website — although at the time not one I wrote for. We have a calnder at the office that refers to these years as B-DGR and A-DGR. I have noticed that someone has changed said calender to a picture of a dumpster fire, though, but I’m not sure who yet. Continue reading »

THE REARVIEW MIRROR

THE REARVIEW MIRROR 1 Response »

Feb 142016

(DGR takes over this Sunday’s weekly feature on the metal of yesteryear.)

I’ve decided to hijack the Rearview Mirror column this Sunday because there’s been an idea playing on my mind for the past few days, as I’ve been going over my music collection trying to dig up more obscure stuff that we’ve never taken the time to talk about on NCS — in some cases, because the site wasn’t around yet.

It’s the idea of abums that I’m not quite sure why I have, but when I give them a listen I find that they were generally good discs that I’ve forgotten about. Most of the time, I would argue that it’s because they were half-good albums, discs that to me were enjoyable but for whatever reason just did not stick.

There are a handful of albums out there that I would describe as half-good — hinting at greatness but instead dragged down back into the “good” realm for a variety of reasons. Whether because of odd song choices, too much time devoted to uninspired mid-tempo tracks, or strange production, they tend to weigh on me more than I’m willing to admit, mostly as I find myself saying, “You know, they were on to something with a handful of these songs”. More often than not, I find that my “half-good” discs tend to be from local bands, but in this case we’ll be going on an international trip to Germany. Continue reading »

THE REARVIEW MIRROR (NECROPHOBIC)

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Feb 072016

Sweden’s Necrophobic was formed in 1989 by drummer Joakim Sterner and guitarist David Parland (who left the band in 1995 to concentrate on Dark Funeral and took his own life in 2013). Their debut album, The Nocturnal Silence, was recorded with Tomas Skogsberg at Sunlight Studios and was released by Black Mark Productions in 1993. It really has not aged in 23 years; it’s still a great album. Six more albums followed, the most recent of which is 2013’s Womb of Lilithu, and it’s a very impressive discography, with a sound that blends ingredients from black metal and death metal while incorporating memorable melodies into a framework of undeniable savagery.

Not surprisingly given the band’s longevity, there have been many line-up changes over the years, with Sterner being the only constant member. In recent years the band has included guitarist Fredrik Folkare (Unleashed, Firespawn) and bassist Alex Friberg (Firespawn).

One of the most recent changes was the ouster of long-time vocalist Tobias Sidegård in 2013 on the eve of Womb of Lilithu’s release after being convicted of domestic violence and sentenced to prison. He has been replaced by none other than Anders Strokirk — the man who was Necrophobic’s vocalist when they recorded The Nocturnal Silence but left the band not long after its release. Continue reading »

THE REARVIEW MIRROR (THE CHASM)

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Jan 172016

In this Sunday’s look back at songs from the past, the band I’ve chosen to feature is The Chasm. Unlike most of the bands featured in this series so far, The Chasm are alive and kicking, though their history is a long one.

Metal Archives tells us that the band originated in Mexico City in 1992, “when vocalist/guitarist Daniel Corchado left his previous band (Cenotaph) to pursue his own musical vision.” The band released a demo in 1993 and a debut album (Procreation of the Inner Temple) in 1994. They would go on to release two more albums, 1995’s From the Lost Years… and 1998’s titanic Deathcult For Eternity: The Triumph, before relocating to Chicago, where they’ve been ever since. Continue reading »

THE REARVIEW MIRROR (ABSU)

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Jan 102016

Eventually, I’m sure Absu would have popped into my head as a subject for one of these Sunday look-backs at metal from years past. But it happened sooner than later because of the announcement a few days ago that Absu would be embarking on their first full American tour since 2013, with stops in 42 cities — preceding the expected release later this year of their new album Apsu. If you want to check the schedule, scroll to the end of this post.

Apsu will be this North Texas band’s eighth studio album in a career that goes back to 1991, and their first one in six years. It completes a trilogy that began with Absu and Abzu. It will be interesting to hear what the band have concocted for this album. It will also be interesting to see the artwork of the very talented Polish artist Zbigniew Bielak, who we’re told has created separate covers for the CD and LP formats, as well as eight individual art pieces based on the album’s lyrical components.

But the point of this post isn’t to speculate about the next album, it’s to scatter a few tracks from the past. Continue reading »

THE REARVIEW MIRROR (DISSECTION)

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Jan 032016

The first two albums by Sweden’s Dissection are among my all-time favorite metal albums. They proved to be enormously influential, and they have had enormous staying power. It’s about time that we featured them in one of these Sunday look-backs at past releases.

In April of 2011 we published a guest post by “Kazz” in which he identified some other bands that were contenders for the heirs to Dissection’s throne. It’s still a really good read, and I recommend it to you:

https://www.nocleansinging.com/2011/11/04/heirs-to-the-throne-dissection/ Continue reading »

THE REARVIEW MIRROR (VERDUNKELN)

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Dec 272015

I’ve started rolling out this year’s list of extreme metal’s “Most Infectious Songs” (there will be another installment later today). Back in 2012, I included in that year’s list a song by the German band who’s the subject of this Sunday’s backward look into metal’s past lives. I’ve already forgotten what put this band back into my head, since they’ve released nothing further since that 2012 album. I hope they will make a New Year’s resolution to give us more.

Verdunkeln took shape in the late ’90s. Its two core members Gnarl (vocals, guitar) and Ratatyske (drums) were also in another German black metal band named Graupel. Both bands are still listed as active by Metal Archives, though now only Gnarl is identified as the sole member of Verdunkeln. Continue reading »

THE REARVIEW MIRROR (STATIC-X)

THE REARVIEW MIRROR 18 Responses »

Dec 202015

It’s Sunday, and that means it’s time once again for a backward glance at the metal of the past. I will undoubtedly get some eye-rolls at today’s selection, but I have some personal nostalgic reasons for doing it.

Static-X was founded in 1994 by vocalist/guitarist Wayne Static after his previous band Deep Blue Dream dissolved following his bandmate Billy Corgan’s decision to concentrate on his other band Smashing Pumpkins. Static-X signed with Warner Bros. Records for the 1999 release of their debut album Wisconsin Death Trip, an album that went platinum in 2001. Five more albums followed, but in my humble opinion none of them was as good as the first one. Continue reading »

THE REARVIEW MIRROR (SARCÓFAGO)

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Dec 132015

For this week’s look back in time, we have some music by the influential Brazilian extreme metal band Sarcófago.

Between the band’s founding in 1985 and their break-up in 2000, they recorded four full-length albums and an assortment of demos and EPs. Their 1987 debut album I.N.R.I. was a vital “first wave” release in the evolution of black metal, and even the appearance of the band on the album’s cover was influential in the corpse-painted visual ethic of the genre. The drummer on that album, D.D. Crazy, also pioneered in the use of blast-beat drumming.

Sarcófago’s second album, The Laws of Scourge (1991), marked a change in musical direction. As explained in The Font of All Human Knowledge: Continue reading »

THE REARVIEW MIRROR (WEAKLING)

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Dec 062015

As has been true of many of the bands we’ve featured in these backward-looking Rearview Mirror posts, Weakling had come and gone before I ever heard of them. But I heard a lot about them in the years that followed their demise.

The band apparently took their name from a song by Swans, from the album Filth. Bay Area guitarist John Gossard started the band, along with guitarist/drum programmer Robert Williams of Ubzub. By the time Weakling released their first — and only — album in 2000 (Dead As Dreams), the line-up included (in addition to Gossard — who also provided the vocals) guitarist Joshua Smith (The Fucking Champs), bass-player Sarah Weiner, drummer Sam Foster, and keyboardist Casey Ward.

The band split up in 1999, before the album was even released. According to The Font of All Human Knowledge: Continue reading »

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