NO CLEAN SINGING

OUR LIST OF 2015’S MOST INFECTIOUS EXTREME METAL SONGS (PART 24)

Feb 122016

Welcome to the 24th Part of our roll-out of 2015’s Most Infectious Songs, as chosen by me and me alone. I have a constricting feeling around my throat as I bear down on my self-imposed Sunday deadline for finishing this list, when in fact I’m not really close to exhausting all the songs I want to write about. I have some terrible decisions to make this weekend.

The rest of the songs on the list can be inspected via this link.

AMORPHIS

I don’t suppose Amorphis really needed to make a “comeback” album. They haven’t really gone away, and the massive core of their fan base has never left them. But I still think of Under the Red Cloud as a comeback album. Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK: DEATH FETISHIST, PTAHIL, WALDGEFLÜSTER, CANTIQUE LÉPREUX, GOATPSALM

Album Reviews, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC, SHADES OF BLACK, SHORT BUT SWEET 8 Responses »

Feb 122016

I usually post collections such as this one on Sundays, to make the Sabbath blacker. But I’m sitting on so much good new metal in a blackened vein that I decided to share this collection now. I’m hoping to put together another one for Sunday.

DEATH FETISHIST

Just a couple of days ago, the eminent Debemur Morti Productions announced the signing of a new band from Portland, Oregon, named Death Fetishist, whose debut album will be released by the label later this year. To commemorate the blessed event, Death Fetishist released a single-song EP entitled Lucifer Descending yesterday — which follows a two-song EP (Whorifice) released on the first day of this month. Both EPs are available on Bandcamp.

The person behind Death Fetishist is the prolific Matron Thorn, who is also the principal driving force in Ævangelist as well as the protagonist in a large number of solo projects, including Benighted In Sodom. He is the vocalist in Death Fetishist and performs all the instruments other than drums and percussion, which are handled by Grond Nefarious. Continue reading »

OMNIUM GATHERUM: “GREY HEAVENS”

Album Reviews 9 Responses »

Feb 122016

(Andy Synn reviews the new album by Finland’s Omnium Gatherum.)

As you know, we’re not really in the business of publishing negative reviews here at NCS. In fact I think the very idea of publishing something wholly negative gives Islander heart palpitations.

Still, I have to say that Grey Heavens, the seventh album by Finnish melodeath titans Omnium Gatherum, is, without a doubt, a thoroughly frustrating listening experience.

There are times when it positively crackles with the band’s patented musical magic, driven by the same passion and energy that made The Redshift, New World Shadows, and Beyond such thrilling, electrifying albums, ably accented by characteristic tinges of proggy melancholy and shamelessly extravagant fretboard theatrics.

Unfortunately, there are also times (more than I’m really comfortable with, truth be told) where it limps rather than gallops along, with a much more uneven gait, hamstrung and prevented from reaching its full potential by a nagging feeling of over-familiarity and a sense of “been there, done that” which lingers like a vaguely unpleasant odour.

Like I said… it’s frustrating, fluctuating as it does between utterly stupendous, and unsatisfyingly stock in its delivery. But that doesn’t make it a bad album. Just an uneven one. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: ÉOHUM — “THE APATHETIC PLAGUE”

Premieres 1 Response »

Feb 122016

Montreal’s Éohum have completed work on their second EP — entitled Ealdfaeder — and it’s now scheduled for release by Mycelium Networks on March 18. From this five-track, 30-minute release, we bring you today the premiere of a distinctive and moving song called “The Apathetic Plague“.

When you listen to the track, it may help to understand the thematic concept of Ealdfaeder and the reflections that inspired the music, because from the band’s perspective they seem to be inseparable. As Éohum’s founder and guitarist Jeremy Perkins explains, “The album speaks generally about the lost voice of past cultures who were colonized and the decaying relationship humanity has with nature due to the societies we live in. The loss of traditions we held and relationships we had with nature.” Continue reading »

NCS PREMIERE: EXTERMINATION TEMPLE — “PHYSICAL TORTURE”

Premieres 6 Responses »

Feb 122016

Are you sitting down? If you’re not sitting down, you should probably sit down. In a big heavy chair that’s hard for you to turn over. Maybe get someone to tie you to the chair, strap on a neck brace, and put a rawhide dog toy between your teeth so you don’t bite your tongue off. Okay, I might be exaggerating a little bit, but since I know what’s coming, I thought it might be better to be safe than sorry.

The name of the song we’re premiering is “Physical Torture” and it’s the lead-off track from Lifeless Forms, a four-song 7″ EP recorded by a one-man Swedish band named Extermination Temple. The EP will be released on March 4 by Apocalyptic Visions, which is not only the name of the label but also a decent description of what you’ll have when you listen to this. Continue reading »

OUR LIST OF 2015’S MOST INFECTIOUS EXTREME METAL SONGS (PART 23)

MOST INFECTIOUS SONGS-2015 4 Responses »

Feb 112016

There’s definitely no way I can come up with any unifying theme for this latest trio of songs that I’m adding to our 2015 Most Infectious list, other than the fact (and it is a fact) that they are all highly infectious and I like the hell out of them.

We have three days left before this long list reaches the end. The other songs can be found here.

KRONOS

We premiered a song from Arisen New Era (though not the one I’ve chosen for this list), and DGR reviewed the album for us here. As DGR noted, this was something of a re-launch for this band whose roots extend back to the mid-’90s — their first album since 2007 and one with a new vocalist and new drummer in the ranks. Continue reading »

GET TO THE POINT: ORANSSI PAZUZU

Interviews 4 Responses »

Feb 112016

(KevinP brings us another installment in his ongoing series of brief interviews, and today he puts questions to Ontto, the bassist of Finland’s Oranssi Pazuzu, who have a new double-album named Värähtelijä headed our way.)

K: The first time I listened to Värähtelijä it did not feel nearly as “immediate” when compared to Valonielu. But after 3-4 full spins of the new album it is much weirder yet more memorable at the same time.

O: Yeah, Värähtelijä is a bit more of an introvert album. The idea was to create a dark and hypnotic fog that you can get lost in, instead of going after instantly catchy riffs. We used lots of polyrhythms on this one, so many times there are two riffs playing simultaneously. Also, since it’s a double album, I get that it might need a bit more chewing. Didn’t try to make it intentionally weird, though. Rather I think it’s more “free”.

K: You and Jun-His started the band in 2007, but you’ve had a stable recording lineup since the first release in 2009. I find that refreshing since your music is by no means easy to digest. Normally I think it would be difficult to keep 5 people in that same mindset.

O: We were friends with the guys already when we started the band, so that helps a lot. The reason why the band sounds like it sounds is that each one of us adds their own thing into the mix. Sometimes that sounds schizophrenic, but it’s not necessarily a bad thing when you’re searching for psychedelic effects. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: WORMED, COBALT, MISTUR, DESTRÖYER 666,

RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC 10 Responses »

Feb 112016

I didn’t pounce on some of the songs in this round-up as fast as I would have liked, but it seems that there are people who still manage to discover new music through these collections even when the songs aren’t piping hot right out of the oven. But I’ll start with a couple of tracks that actually did just premiere today, before getting to the ones that appeared earlier in the week.

I’m sad to say that this is a day when I’m pressed for time, and so I’m unable to whip together the mini-reviews that usually accompany songs I’m enthusiastic about. I’ll say only that I’m REALLY enthusiastic about all of these.

WORMED

Today Revolver Magazine hosted the debut of not one but two new songs off Krighsu, the new album by Spain’s Wormed. The tracks are named “The Singularitarianism” and “Eukaryotic Hex Swarm”, and are accompanied by this description from the band: Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: SUPREME CARNAGE — “SKIN TURNS BLACK”

Premieres 2 Responses »

Feb 112016

In mid-December we had the pleasure of premiering a full stream of Sentenced By the Cross, the new album by Germany’s Supreme Carnage, which has now been released by Redefining Darkness Records. Today we bring you another Supreme Carnage premiere — the new video for one of the album’s hard-hitting songs: “Skin Turns Black“.

“Skin Turns Black” is a great example of why Sentenced By the Cross is so much fun. It affects your head in many different ways: It slugs you in the head; it gets your head banging; and it’s laced with a dark melody that gets stuck in your head. It’s death metal that’s both grim and galloping, mixing heavy grooves and racing riffs with seductive guitar leads and a scintillating solo. Continue reading »

CROWDFUNDING… OR, HOW I LEARNED TO STOP WORRYING AND SPEND MY MONEY WHERE IT DOES THE MOST GOOD

Mosh Pit 4 Responses »

Feb 112016

“Progress” by Agostino Arrivabene

(Andy Synn has been thinking… and now shares his thoughts in defense of the phenomenon of crowdfunding.)

I’m often surprised, and yet not surprised at all, at the amount of ire and controversy that surrounds the issue of crowdfunding.

On the one hand it’s seen as a way for bands to engage more directly with their audiences, to cut out the middleman, and get their music directly into the hands of their audience (whilst also, hopefully, cutting down on the oft-crippling levels of debt they would otherwise accumulate).

Yet on the other hand barely a month goes by without someone – whether an older band feeling crotchety, or a newer band trying to establish their “punk” credentials – getting their underwear in a twist over the issue, calling it “pathetic”, or equating it with “begging”, while stating that “real” bands like them never had to do that (simultaneously bolstering their own perceived credibility in the process, whilst also ignoring the hundreds and hundreds of “real” bands who take out loans from banks or friends or family in order to fund their music).

Still, I can see where both sides are coming from (to an extent anyway), even if I don’t necessarily agree with where they end up. Continue reading »

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