NO CLEAN SINGING

SEEN AND HEARD: MITHRAS AND OUBLIETTE

Aug 062016

I’m still in Las Vegas, writing this on a Friday night so that I can schedule it to appear in a burst of flame and a cloud of smoke on Saturday morning. I wasn’t sure whether this trip, which was to attend a wedding, would interfere with my blog obsession, but it has. And the result is that we haven’t had as many daily posts as usual since I left Seattle on Wednesday.

Another result is that the ever-growing list of new songs and videos I’d like to recommend has become more enormous, since I haven’t had time to assemble round-up posts. What to do? As it happens, that perplexing question was answered, sort of like receiving an epiphany.

The two new songs in this post are the only two metal songs I listened to on Friday, and that makes them the most recent metal songs I’ve heard. I listened to them back-to-back, late at night. They’re both outstanding, and beyond that, they seem to go together (I’ll be curious if you have a similar reaction). And since I’ve only got time to write about two songs before running completely out of gas, they solve my problem of which songs to pick from that enormous list of new things to include in this round-up. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: SERPENT ASCENDING — “ENTRANCE”

Premieres 3 Responses »

Aug 052016

Serpent Ascending is the solo project of Finnish musician and vocalist Jarno Nurmi, who was once a member of Slugathor and Nerlich and remains one of the two members of Desecresy. Five years ago, I, Voidhanger Records released a collection of Serpent Ascending demo tracks under the title The Enigma Unsettled, and on September 16 it will be releasing the project’s full-length debut, Aṇaṅku.

The new album includes eight tracks in the range of two-to-five minutes, and today we bring you a stream of the opening song, “Entrance”. Continue reading »

BENEATH THE NCS RADAR (PART 16): MURDRYCK, FORTERESSE, NEIGE ET NOIRCEUR, SHED THE SKIN

Album Reviews, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC 1 Response »

Aug 052016

( Norwegian blogger Gorger is back, highlighting still more releases that we have overlooked. To find more of his discoveries, type “Gorger” in our search bar or visit Gorger’s Metal.)

Whilst Islander is sulking in a hotel room in the gaudiest city in the US, because the slot machine stole all his cash after he couldn’t avoid the temptation of just testing them and trying to score some, I’m grabbing the opportunity to step in and steal the attention. Or I’m chipping in and helping out. It all depends on how you see it.

This time around, we’ll be blazing some black metal from Sweden as an appetizer, and feasting on a two-course black metal entrée from Canada, before blasting some explosive American death metal for dessert. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: GEHENNA AND BLEACH EVERYTHING

Premieres No Responses »

Aug 042016

Tomorrow (August 5) Magic Bullet Records will release a powerhouse split named Heavy Metal Suicide by two bands who throw everything they’ve got into uncompromising music that assaults the senses with raw, physical force — The Infamous Gehenna and Bleach Everything — both of whom are also working on new full-lengths.

Gehenna contributes two tracks that prove again the truth of the label “Negative Hardcore” that’s been attached to their music for more than two decades, while Bleach Everything launch three short, sharp shocks to your well-being. For readers who may be new to one or both bands, read on… or just jump to the player below for a vicious, gut-punching, head-battering experience. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: GAEREA (A VIDEO TEASER)

Premieres 12 Responses »

Aug 042016

This is an out-of-the-ordinary premiere for us. It’s an out-of-the-ordinary standalone post of any kind, premiere or not. Because what we’re bringing you isn’t a full song.

It’s out of the ordinary in some other ways, too: The name of the band is Gaerea, but I don’t know anything about who is in the band. I don’t know where they are from. And I don’t know what this is a teaser for.

But I think you’ll figure out pretty fast why we’re doing this anyway — because the music is out-of-the-ordinary, too. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: GATECREEPER, FÓRN, PREDATORY LIGHT, HOBBS’ ANGEL OF DEATH, OPETH

RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC 14 Responses »

Aug 032016

I’m finishing this post on the way to the airport, where I’ll board a flight for Las Vegas with my spouse to attend the wedding of one of her nieces. We’ll be there for three days. That may interfere with NCS activity for the rest of the week. If there’s not much up on the site between now and Sunday, that’s the explanation.

But it may not interfere. Everyone I know who will be at this thing, including my wife, plans to spend a lot of time in the casino. I’m not much for gambling; throwing away money in an undoubtedly losing cause tends to sap the pleasure after a while. And since I’m not keen on getting broiled outside, that leaves the hotel room… and metal.

In the meantime, here’s a quick round-up of new music. Because time is short, I have to largely dispense with reviews/descriptions today. The last time I did this, a reader jumped on me for not at least providing a genre description, so I’ll do that. Continue reading »

SHORT BUT SWEET: VOIDSPAWN — “PYRRHIC”

Album Reviews, SHORT BUT SWEET 8 Responses »

Aug 032016

Time is limited and always fleeting, while new metal seems to rush at us in a boundless flood. Within that limitless tide, some of the most remarkable gems are short releases by obscure new projects, and this is one of them.

The name of this new death metal project is Voidspawn, a duo consisting of multi-instrumentalist M. and vocalist A. Their debut EP is named Pyrrhic and it was released on July 31. Pyrrhic includes three songs, and they are stunningly good. Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: BEYOND THE DARK — “THE EMPTY LAND”

Premieres 3 Responses »

Aug 032016

At the end of last November the Roman band Beyond the Dark released their self-titled, six-track debut EP. I’ve now forgotten how I discovered it. I intended to sample only a song or two, but it pinned me in place like a butterfly beneath a needle until the last song had finished — and then I got busy writing about it. Today I have an excuse to revisit that little gem because we’re premiering a guitar play-through video for one of the songs, “The Empty Land”.

As I wrote last year, “Beyond the Dark play melodic death metal without forgetting that the genre is still supposed to be death metal.” The vocals are feral and ferocious, and the scything riffs and bone-rattling drumbeats combine to deliver a sensation of rampaging savagery. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: ARGUS

Exceptions to the Rule, Interviews 2 Responses »

Aug 022016

(Comrade Aleks returns to NCS with this interview of Butch Balich, vocalist of the Pennsylvania heavy doom band Argus.)

Despite the Lovecraftian monstrous form of giant Argus who dwells on every artwork of this band, the Argus outfit doesn’t exactly resemble such a brutal creature. Since the year 2005 they have played a solemn and stoical blend of doom and heavy metal, bringing down on listeners stories of endurance and damnation.

The band regularly play live shows, and usually Argus do not make their listeners wait for too long before giving them some new music periodically, but three years have gone by since the release of their third full-length Beyond the Martyrs, and it’s time to ask the obvious question about new material the band has to offer. This question is well-timed, as Argus’ voice Butch Balich has some important news for you. Continue reading »

WAKE, THEORIES, AND VERMIN WOMB TO ENGAGE IN SEISMIC ACTIVITY THROUGHOUT WESTERN NORTH AMERICA, WITH ASSISTANCE FROM NCS

Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC 3 Responses »

Aug 022016

During the month of October and continuing into the first week of November, three bands with tremendous firepower at their disposal will threaten the structural integrity of venues up and down western North America, from Tijuana, Mexico, in the south to Vancouver, BC, in the north. The bands are Wake, Theories, and Vermin Womb, and we’re helping spread the word about this tour, basically because we enjoy the spectacle of large-scale demolition jobs — and because this is a completely DIY tour booked by the bands that deserves our support.

If you get out a map and trace the precise route of this tour, it comes uncomfortably close to tracking some major fault lines that run down the West Coast. Theories play two shows in Nevada and then join Wake and Vermin Womb for performances at the Southwest Terror Fest in Tuscon (headlined by Pig Destroyer and Agoraphobic Nosebleed). After that the tour heads to Tijuana for the bands’ first-ever appearance there and then turns north and rampages right up the coast, through California, Oregon, Washington, and then on across the border into British Columbia. Continue reading »

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