NO CLEAN SINGING

AN NCS PREMIERE: HORDAK — “PADRE”

Dec 172015

January 10, 2016, is the date set by Russia’s Casus Belli Musica for the release of Padre, the new album by the Spanish metal band Hordak, and today we have for you the premiere of the album’s title track.

This is Hordak’s fourth album in a career that began in 2002. For those unfamiliar with the band, they have described their music as “Celtiberian Pagan Metal“, a word that refers to the peoples formed by the merger of emigrated Celts and the native Iberians of what is now Spain — the Spanish equivalent of Scandinavian Viking music and Slavonic pagan metal from Eastern Europe.

The new album is a musically diverse work, with some songs that are warlike in their savagery and fiery pacing and others that are stately and majestic. Some of the songs include textures added by acoustic guitar, flute, violin, and even xylophone, while others simply ride you down in ripping onslaughts of metallic fury. And the album also includes guest vocal appearances by Forefather’s Wulfstan and Uruksoth from CrystalMoors. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE: SUPREME CARNAGE — “SENTENCED TO THE CROSS”

Album Reviews, Premieres 4 Responses »

Dec 172015

On December 18, Redefining Darkness Records will release Sentenced By the Cross, the new album by Germany’s Supreme Carnage, and today, on the eve of its release, we bring you a full stream of the entire album.

This is music for fans who want lots of juicy red meat in their death metal. It’s not overly complex or wildly inventive. The approach to song-writing is straight forward, with traditional verse-chorus structures. And though they’re from Germany, the band have clearly aligned themselves with old-school legends from the Swedish school such as Asphyx, Grave, Entombed, and Bloodbath — with an embracing of Bolt Thrower as well.

But although Supreme Carnage aren’t out to reinvent the wheel, they are very, very good at what they’ve chosen to do, and Sentenced By the Cross is tremendously satisfying from beginning to end — the songs are heavy as hell, compulsively headbangable, and ridiculously infectious. Continue reading »

LISTMANIA 2015: A YEAR-END LIST FROM MANTEEGWA

LISTMANIA 2015 18 Responses »

Dec 172015

(Long-time reader and commenter Manteegwa prepared this list of favorite releases from 2015 — and it’s an interesting one.)

For me, 2015 felt like a year where the great releases were peppered evenly throughout. In a time marred by political strife and violence, metal helped me stay positive and realize that there are people out there who still pour their efforts into creation rather than division.

KEVINP’S ALBUMS OF THE MONTH — DECEMBER 2015

Album Reviews, Listmania 15 Responses »

Dec 172015

(Here’s the last of KevinP’s monthly selections for 2015, naming his Top 5 favorite albums released or scheduled for release during December.)

Since I’ve had plenty of time with this month’s releases to formulate my list, along with the fact that things start to get slow once Xmas week arrives, you’re getting this a little earlier than normal. Also, my Top 25 Albums and Top 5 EP’s of the Year will be posted the first week of January. Nothing else profound to say, so let’s get on with it. Continue reading »

2015 — A YEAR IN REVIEW(S): THE CRITICAL TOP 10

LISTMANIA 2015 32 Responses »

Dec 172015

(This is the fourth of Andy Synn’s traditional week-long series of posts looking back on the year in metal. We’ve previously presented his lists of the Great, the Good, and the Disappointing albums of the year.)

Over the years I’ve moved further and further away from presenting this list as a classic, numbered ranking of albums, and more towards viewing it as a time-capsule of sorts, picking out what I think are ten of the absolute best of the year to represent the absolute pinnacle of the year in Metal.

Of course, limiting it to only ten entries means it’s far from exhaustive in capacity, but I’ve tried – as far as I’ve been able – to give a rounded overview of the past twelve months, embodied in these ten selections which I really think represent the sheer quality and diversity of metallic delights released over the last year.

Interestingly enough, there’s a LOT of clean vocals on the list – by my count there’s a good 6 out of 10 releases on this list which incorporate clean singing, in one way or another, across albums running the gamut from Black to Death to Doom… heck, two of these albums use 100% clean vocals! (You’re killing me! I hope the paramedics get here soon! — Islander)

There’s also a strong “Progressive” vibe to a lot of this year’s selections, no matter what genre they come from… though there’s also a couple of albums on here which prove that sometimes all you need to be the “best” is to play harder, faster, and heavier than the competition!

Overall this year’s top 10 is comprised of 3 acts from the UK, and 3 acts from the USA, a Swedish duo (not the only two-piece on the list, might I add), a bunch of German cultists, an unbelievably savage Polish ensemble, and one multi-faceted, multi-national collective… and those are all the hints I’m going to give you! Continue reading »

LIST OVERLOAD?

LISTMANIA 2015 34 Responses »

Dec 172015

I’m willing to bet a wheelbarrow load of loris droppings that we post more year-end lists than any other metal site. Not only do we post lists of the year’s best releases prepared by our own writers (other than me, because my mind doesn’t work that way), we also post lists that appear elsewhere, and every year we also post lists by long-time readers and assorted other guests, not to mention the ever-growing readers’ lists that are hosted here. The risk of doing this is obvious:

I’m already seeing comments, both on our site and on our Facebook page, by people who are starting to feel overwhelmed by the volume of year-end accolades and recommendations. I even received a message yesterday from one of our invited guests who was wondering whether people will bother to continue reading more lists — because we still have a LOT of lists yet to come.

I confess that I worry about this, too — though not enough to stop! So I thought I would tell you my reasoning behind doing what we do this time of year. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: DEATH FETISHIST — “FLESH COVENANT”

Premieres 4 Responses »

Dec 162015

Matron Thorn is a prolific musician, seemingly one of those people for whom making music is close to eating and sleeping as one of the essentials for survival, and probably even more important for the preservation of some semblance of sanity. The best-known of his collaborative projects is Ævangelist, his solo work includes Benighted In Sodom and Andacht, and he has contributed in less visible ways to the output of other well-known bands. Now he has created a new project, given the name Death Fetishist, and we’re helping spread the word about the first track to be made public.

The name of the new song is “Flesh Covenant“, and it is planned as part of a two-track EP projected for release by the end of January. If you visit the new Death Fetishist Facebook page, you’ll see the music described as “Psychedelic Occult Black Metal”. When I sought out a further statement of intent, I received this message:

“Somewhere in the rift between madness and catharsis is the true nature of Death Fetishist. All things impure and bleak to the spirit will be converted into a musical narcotic known only as Death Fetishist“.

AN NCS PREMIERE: THE WAKEDEAD GATHERING — “LUNGWORT”

Premieres 4 Responses »

Dec 162015

Gaze upon the frightening album art above (created by the talented Karmazid), and imagine the Great Grey Witch lurking in the ooze of an ancient festering swamp, watching and waiting in the Stygian blackness for the time of her revenge. It accompanies the new album by Ohio’s The Wakedead Gathering, an album that presents an allegory about those who would dismiss scientific inquiry in favor of religious fanaticism — “the story of of a witch hunt that turns hunter into prey and the children of those so-called ‘righteous’ perpetrators into something… not entirely human!”

The name of the new album is Fuscus: Strings of the Black Lyre, and it has been scheduled for release on February 5, 2016, by the always fascinating I, Voidhanger Records. The music on the record — which follows the band’s two previous full-lengths, Tenements of Ephemera (2010) and The Gate and the Key (2013) — displays a variety of terrifying sounds as it follows the narrative concept, and today we give you a sample of what lies in wait with our premiere of the fifth track, “Lungwort“. Continue reading »

LISTMANIA 2015: VONLUGHLIO’S LIST OF 2015’s TOP EPs

LISTMANIA 2015 6 Responses »

Dec 162015

(Our old friend and steadfast NCS supporter Vonlughlio has once again prepared his year-end list of albums, but first shares with us this list of his favorite EPs from 2015.)

First of all I want to start by thanking Islander for letting me do my end-of-year lists. Last year, for the first time I made my list of favorite albums up to 50, plus made a list of my favorite EPs and Honorable Mentions. This year I’m going to divide my year-end list into two posts. This first one will have my top 15 EPs and mentions of some of the places where I find new music. The second one will have my top 50 albums with the Honorable Mentions (when I’m done with that clusterfuck of a list – J).

So, to give you an idea of my year, let’s just say that it has been more Brutal than others. Some might like my list, others will hate it, but I’m doing this for me and the bands I like.

Here are my Top 15 EPs of 2015: Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: FLUMMOX — “PAN’S DAUGHTER”

Premieres 1 Response »

Dec 162015

(Austin Weber brings us the premiere of a new song from the band Flummox.)

While 2015 is drawing to a close as we speak, the world of music never really sleeps. Every year I’m already working on reviewing releases for the next year before the current one is over. So before the year ends let’s sneak in another new song with fresh music for your ears.

I first covered Tennessee-based progressive sludge/doom/whatever band Flummox here earlier in the year and wrote about their first record, Phlummoxygen. Somehow these crazy genre-bending weirdos are already close to releasing album number two, Selcouth, on February 12, 2016, through Tridroid Records. So if you want an early Christmas treat, we’ve got “Pan’s Daughter” to show you and get you hyped on Selcouth. Continue reading »

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