NO CLEAN SINGING

FIFTH TO INFINITY: “OMNIPOTENT TRANSDIMENSIONAL SOULFIRE”

Jan 222016

(Andy Synn reviews the striking new album by Sweden’s Fifth To Infinity, which is out now via Avantgarde Music.)

One of my continuing joys in life is the discovery of new music, and each new year brings with it more potential to discover new bands, or even old bands I’ve never heard before, that I can then share with our readership here at NCS.

The (slight) downside to this, of course, is that there’s always a nagging voice in the back of my head worrying that this year will be the one when I don’t find anything good enough… particularly when compared with some of the utterly fantastic discoveries I’ve stumbled across in previous years!

So you can imagine how pleased I was to happen across this unexpected gem of an album so soon into the new year! Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: ABYSSUS — “MORBID INHERITANCE”

Premieres 8 Responses »

Jan 222016

Last year brought the release of the excellent debut album (Into the Abyss) of a Greek death metal band named Abyssus, a group that began life in 2011 as the solo project of Athenian vocalist and musician Kostas Analytis and now also includes guitarist Panos Gkourmpaliotis and bass-player Kostas Ragiadakos. And next month we will have more Abyssus music to enjoy as Transcending Obscurity Classics releases Once Entombed…, a compilation of all the music by Abyssus that preceded the new album. Today we bring you a song from the new compilation called “Morbid Inheritance”.

Once Entombed… includes the band’s 2014 split with crust grinders Slaktgrav, their 2014 EP Summon the Dead, (those songs were also included in a split that same year with the Czech band Morbider), the songs from their 2013 split with Greek death metal compatriots Nocturnal Vomit, and finally, the band’s 2012 debut EP Monarch to the Kingdom of the Dead. The music will be presented in reverse chronological order, with the latest material appearing first. It provides a history of how the band began and how their music has evolved — and you get a thrilling and varied ride every step of the way. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): LATITUDES — “OLD SUNLIGHT”

Album Reviews, Premieres 1 Response »

Jan 222016

The day has finally arrived when the many of you out there who have been mesmerized by the songs premiered to date from the new album by Latitudes will have the chance to hear all of it. For those who haven’t yet heard anything from Old Sunlight, something wonderful lies ahead of you.

I’m one of those people who have been mesmerized already — and much to my surprise. It is almost entirely an instrumental album, and when Adam Symonds‘ vocals do appear, they’re often as clear, clean, and delicate as fine crystal. I wouldn’t have guessed ahead of time that I’d be so enthralled by such an album, but Latitudes prove themselves to be powerful spellcasters. Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: AHTME — “THE SENTINEL’S ORDER”

Premieres 2 Responses »

Jan 212016

In this premiere we bring you a new video for a song by the band Ahtme — which is a new name for this Kansas City, Missouri, group, formerly known as The Roman Holiday. The song you’ll hear on this video is “The Sentinel’s Order“, which originally appeared on their self-released 2013 debut album, The Demonization, which was originally recorded with Navene Koperweis (Animosity, Animals As Leaders, Entheos) in San Francisco in 2009. And why, you might ask, has this video appeared almost three years after that album’s release?

Well, the answer is that Ahtme joined the roster of Unique Leader Records last fall, and the label will be re-issuing The Demonization on March 25. Rather than simply a relic unearthed from the past, the re-issue paves the way for a new album by the band under their new name, which they plan to record early this year. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: MOONSORROW, TAU CROSS, WORMED, CIRITH GORGOR, INTERMENT, EREB ALTOR, KATLA

Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC 8 Responses »

Jan 212016

I’ve had a crazy week, much of the craziness resulting from the demands of my fucking day job, coupled with hours spent yesterday morning anxiously working with our web host’s tech support to figure out how to get into the WordPress software for our site so I could write and post things — because it had spontaneously decided to lock me out.

Anyway, the net result of all this is that I’ve fallen way behind in both listening to and writing about new music — other than the enormous number of premieres we agreed to post this week. I’ve also been unable to write new installments of our 2015 Most Infectious Songs list. With luck, I can get that going again tomorrow.

Intermittently since the craziness began, I have managed to discover the interesting new things I’ve collected in this post, though I still have lots of catching up to do. I’ll begin with two news items and then move into actual music.

MOONSORROW

Yesterday brought the very welcome announcement that Finland’s Moonsorrow will release their seventh studio album on April 1 (via Century Media). The title is Jumalten Aika, which means ‘The Age Of Gods’ in English. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: ABYSSE – “ARCHITECTURE OF BONES”

Premieres 2 Responses »

Jan 212016

That is such a cool photo on the cover of the new album by Abysse. It’s what first got me interested in the music, and the music turned out to be very interesting as well.

The name of the album, as you can see, is I Am the Wolf, and it follows this French band’s debut full-length En(d)grave in 2012 and three shorter releases dating back to 2006. Three songs from the album have premiered previously, and today we’re bringing you a fourth — a track called “Architecture of Bones“.

There is no clean singing on this album. There is in fact no singing at all. But I’m pretty sure you won’t miss it; I certainly didn’t. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE: EHNAHRE — “DOUVE”

Premieres 6 Responses »

Jan 212016

(Austin Weber introduces our premiere of the new album by Boston-based Ehnahre.)

I’ve been following Boston-based experimental doom/death/ and the whole kitchen sink sounding band Ehnahre for a couple years now, first hearing their music in 2012, I believe, when their terrifying-yet-strange record Old Earth was freshly out. Now with the band on the cusp of releasing a new record called Douve this Friday, we’ve been given the chance to stream it a day early — because this is one hell of a musical experience that deserves to have a spotlight shined on it.

Several of the current and past band members’ former ties to Kayo Dot should clue you in on the kind of unorthodox and difficult-to-categorize experience that Douve holds in store. Douve can neither be described in simple terms, nor boxed in stylistically due to its many shifts in style and genre from song to song. Taken as a whole, it’s a class-act example of musical deconstructionism, with multiple metal and non-metal influences colliding and informing the album’s schizophrenic identity. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: WHORID — “HARBINGER OF FALSE PROMISES”

Premieres 6 Responses »

Jan 212016

For the second day in a row, we’re bringing you a premiere that’s well off our usual beaten paths. This time the artist is Whorid, the solo project of Philadelphia’s Daniel Suffering (who is also a member of Theologian, a band we’ve mentioned here before in the distant past and who just released a new album called Dregs late last year). The track is named “Harbinger of False Promises” and it appears on Whorid’s new album, Bloated Pig Carcasses In A Shallow Wake.

Perhaps you are now guessing that the music isn’t friendly, and if so, give yourself a pat on the head. We are told that the concept of the album is based on “obsession turned to reality, then demise, with themes of stalking, BDSM, social anxiety, substance abuse, and eventually murder, where no one wins.” Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: WIDOWER — “THE UNHOLY OATH”

Premieres 5 Responses »

Jan 212016

There’s not much left of the mangled carcasses on the cover of Widower’s new EP, The Unholy Oath, and it looks like what’s left is about to be trampled again by those demonic steeds and their spiky driver. Having heard the EP, I’d say that’s fair warning of what you’re in for as a listener.

The Unholy Oath is the second EP by this foursome from my old hometown of Austin, Texas, and we’ve got a full stream of it for you down below — one day before its official release. Although the cover itself foretells the carnage that awaits you, I’ll add a few more words of introduction. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE: TRUE CROSS — “PURE DIVORCE”

Exceptions to the Rule, Premieres No Responses »

Jan 202016

Pure Divorce is the name of the new album by the multi-state band True Cross, set for release on January 22 by Seeing Red Records. In some striking ways, it’s quite different from much of the music to which we devote attention at this site. But we’re featuring a full stream of the album here for good reasons, despite the fact that it’s off our usual beaten paths.

The music on Pure Divorce is difficult to sum up in simple terms, which is precisely part of its attraction. It’s heavy and hammering, it’s moody and mystical, it’s drenched in grief and it’s exultant. There are mesmerizing passages of great beauty, where chiming guitars and reverberating clean vocals cascade like a sonic aurora borealis, with flowing melodies that are moving and memorable. And there are places — often within the same song — where huge riffs hit with staggering force. Continue reading »

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