NO CLEAN SINGING

ABNORMALITY: “MECHANISMS OF OMNISCIENCE”

Apr 282016

(DGR reviews the new album by Boston’s Abnormality.)

For a long time Abnormality were one of my pocket bands to always recommend to everyone whenever people were having their death metal offs, sharing their most brutal bands, their quickest groups, the ones they felt more people needed to hear. Abnormality have always been a good hybrid of those three reasons, and hence always ended up with me asking if people had heard of them: They were quick, brutal, and I honestly felt that they got better with each release and that more people needed to hear them.

Abnormality are a five-piece whirling machine of brutal death metal hailing from Massachusetts. They’ve been around for some time now, with a demo that hit in 2007 and two other releases to their name — a fantastic EP known as The Collective Calm In Mortal Oblivion, and an equally awesome album in Contaminating The Hive Mind. When news came out that Metal Blade had picked up the band for their most recent release, Mechanisms Of Omniscience, there was a sense that someone had finally gotten the hint. Continue reading »

AUSTIN WEBER ROUND-UP aka FOREVER PLAYING CATCH-UP (Pt 2)

Album Reviews, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC 3 Responses »

Apr 272016

(Austin Weber continues to pitch in on round-up duty with the second part of a multi-part post recommending metal we haven’t previously covered. You can find Part 1 here.)

Arms – Blackout

You ready to get down with some nasty math-grind? Because Arms bring it throughout every jagged and howling minute of their sophomore full-length, Blackout.

I have Ken Reda from Bhavachakra (previously covered in a song premiere here at NCS!) to thank for tipping me off to this most excellent display of virulent rad viciousness! I think it’s additionally cool that the diverse and complex sonic whirlwind that Blackout delivers is the result of only one guy, Orlando, Florida-based musician/sound engineer Paul Hundeby. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: INDICA (JAYESH TALATI)

Interviews No Responses »

Apr 272016

(We present Comrade Aleks’ interview of Jayesh Talati, guitarist/vocalist of the Australian band Indica, whose new album Stone Future Hymns was released earlier this year.)

Indica is an experimental psychedelic doom outfit which incorporate influences of stoner and noise in its musical body. Being active since 2012, Indica has lived through necessary lineup changes, yet its core has remained the same – Jayesh Talati (guitars, vocals) leads his project deeper into his hazed trips, or rather real hallucinogenic adventures. The result of his collaboration with new members is the fresh full-length album Stone Future Hymns. Jayesh is here to share the news about Indica and its works. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: PHANTOM GLUE — “A WORKER-LESS MILL”

Premieres 2 Responses »

Apr 272016

Vocalist and rhythm guitarist Matt Oakes of Boston’s Phantom Glue explains: “Worker-less Mill refers to a building that begins to take on the qualities of a giant living entity. It perceives itself as the messianic offspring of the Sumerian goddess Inanna. More broadly it’s about objects taking on living qualities. And the history of graven imagery and idols.”

If this explanation of the concept behind the song you’re about to hear peaks your interest, there’s more where that came from, because through the course of Phantom Glue’s releases to date, the band have been building a mythological occult history of the Americas (and an apocalyptic future). Their new album is named 776, and it “explores an unwritten history of the United States a millennium before the signing of the Declaration of Independence”.

As a lifelong fan of science fiction and fantasy (including alternate histories), I was immediately intrigued after reading these descriptions of 776, before hearing a single note — and then held my breath waiting to find out if the music would be as interesting. A sigh of relief soon followed. Continue reading »

SCHAMMASCH: “TRIANGLE” (PART I: THE PROCESS OF DYING)

Album Reviews 5 Responses »

Apr 272016

(We present the first of a three-part review by Andy Synn of the new triple album by the Swiss phenomenon Schammasch.)

It’s no secret that Contradiction, the second album by Swiss occultists Schammasch, is one of my all-time favourites. But where does a band go from a massive, potentially life-changing release like that?

Well, apparently you push things even further with a triple-CD release, split up into three distinct movements concerning the process of death, detachment, and transcendence, comprising some of the most ambitious, progressive, and creative compositions you’ve ever put together.

For such a mammoth undertaking it only seemed fitting to address each distinct part of the album separately, so for the next three days, leading up to its physical release on Friday the 29^th of April, I’ll be publishing my thoughts on each sequential segment of Triangle, beginning with Part I: The Process of Dying. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: THROANE — “UN INSTANT DANS UNE TORCHE”

Uncategorized 1 Response »

Apr 272016

We have mentioned Dehn Sora many times on our site. On all those occasions, it has been because of his visual art, which has graced the covers of albums by such bands as Blut Aus Nord, Ephel Duath, Code, and Otargos. But he is a musician as well, and he has given his newest project the name Throane.

The first Throane full-length bears the title Derrière-Nous, La Lumière, and it will be released by Debemur Morti Productions on the 27th of May. To open the door to this work, we have the premiere of a song named “Un Instant Dans Une Torche“, and the video that accompanies it.

There is movement in the video. If you look away and look back again, you will see it more easily than if you stare unblinking. The symbolism of a slit throat. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: GODLESS — “ONEIROS”

Premieres 7 Responses »

Apr 262016

Godless are a new death metal band who have emerged from Hyderabad, India, with their debut EP Centuries of Decadence. The EP was mixed and mastered by Joe Haley of Psycroptic (he also provides a guest solo on the second track) and it will be released on May 7 by by Transcending Obscurity Distribution. Today we give you a taste of the album through our premiere of a song named “Oneiros“.

Fans of Neil Gaiman’s landmark comic series Sandman will be pleased to learn that the song was inspired by his work: “Oneiros” speaks of the shaper of nightmares. Continue reading »

AUSTIN WEBER ROUND-UP aka FOREVER PLAYING CATCH-UP (Pt 1)

Album Reviews, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC 2 Responses »

Apr 262016

(Austin Weber pitches in on round-up duty with the first part of a multi-part post recommending new metal.)

Hey there NCS readers, it’s been far too long since I stopped in with a massive round-up of obscure (and not yet covered at NCS) jams from all over the metal map musically. Seeing that Islander has been busy slaving away on work-related duties in order to raise funds to care for the recently rabies-infected horde of NCS Lorises, it felt like a good time to begin sharing some of the many bands I have piling up endlessly in multiple word files. There will be several more editions of this to come, so be sure to stay tuned.

Ever since Islander was kind enough to let me do some writing for NCS, this site has felt like home to me. Our audience is so special, and clearly more eclectic and willing to explore than visitors at most sites, it seems. So here’s to you, oh seekers of joy within chaos and serrated sounds. And also for those who are musically prog heads at heart! I made sure that none of what I’m covering here has been covered at NCS so far, so make sure to give everything a listen! Without further ado… it begins! Continue reading »

FIVE [SIX] OF MY FAVOURITE… CHIMAIRA SONGS

RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC 5 Responses »

Apr 262016

(Every now and then Andy Synn shares with us lists of favorite things that come in fives, and this is another one, though he stretched the number a bit this time.)

You may have noticed that my usual output has decreased somewhat over the last week or so. There’s no need to worry, it’s just been a combination of work/band/personal commitments all coming at the same time, requiring me to shift my priorities around a bit, meaning that NCS has had to take a bit of a backseat for a moment.

That should be coming to an end very soon, however, and I have a bunch of different reviews and columns lined up for May that I think you’ll all really enjoy.

In the meantime, however, since I’m still a little pushed for time and opportunity to write, I’ve dashed off this little piece in tribute to a band I’ll always have a soft spot for. Continue reading »

BLOG BREAK (PART 2)

Uncategorized 12 Responses »

Apr 262016

“Cloud in the dark night 8” by Pracha

When I wrote the last post with the title of “Blog Break”, I was off in a magnificent part of Montana partaking in a boondoggle for my day job. The explanation for this one is a tragedy.

On my last night in Montana I found out that one of my closest friends had been broadsided in her car by a Seattle emergency vehicle flying through a red light at a downtown intersection. She was uninjured — except for head trauma that required emergency brain surgery on Sunday night.

I flew home Monday morning and spent most of yesterday at a hospital ICU, watching her lie there on a respirator and feeding tube in a coma, trying to be supportive of her husband and parents. I felt sick beyond repair inside, and still do. She gave birth to her third child last fall. I guess he’s about eight months old now. Continue reading »

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