NO CLEAN SINGING

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: ABORTED — “TERMINATION REDUX”

Dec 042015

Given the diversity of our tastes in metal, there aren’t many bands that all of the old-timers on our staff can unanimously unite behind with enthusiastic devotion, but Aborted is one of those. And so you can imagine, then, we’re almost beside ourselves with glee over what we’re about to deliver unto your unprepared eyes and ears — a brand new Aborted song and a brand new video to go with it.

The name of the song is “Termination Redux” and it will appear on a special 20th anniversary EP by the same name that will be released in January as a prelude to the band’s next full-length album

I said “unprepared” on purpose, because seriously, you’re not ready for what you’re about to see and hear — unless you’re a fan of horror and gore, in which case you’ll… eat this up. As a prelude to the slaughter banquet, let’s consider this statement by the band: Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: SEER — “ANTIBODY”

Exceptions to the Rule, Premieres 4 Responses »

Dec 042015

In the spring of this year I came across an extremely impressive debut EP by a band from Vancouver, British Columbia, named Seer. Entitled Vol. 1, it was self-released by the band late last year and consisted of two songs, “Glimmervoid” and “Hive Mind”. By the time I encountered the music (and praised it here), the Art of Propaganda label had announced that it had signed Seer for the release of a full-length debut that would include not only Vol. 1 but also four new songs under the name Vol. 2. Now we know that Art of Propaganda will release Vol. 1 & 2 on January 22, and we’re pleased to bring you the premiere of a song from Vol. 2 named “Antibody“.

I confess that one of the reasons I was first drawn to Seer’s music was the fact that they live in the Pacific Northwest, surrounded by the same combination of mountains, evergreen forests, rivers, lakes, and ocean that surround my own home base of Seattle, albeit about 150 miles further north. Like many bands in this region, the spectacular natural setting has influenced their music — along with an interest in fantasy, sic-fi, and the occult. And so while music reflects in certain ways the distinctive Cascadian atmosphere of this region, the band’s lyrical focus ventures beyond the bounds of what we see around us. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: THREE EYES LEFT

Interviews 2 Responses »

Dec 032015

(Comrade Aleks brings us this interview with Andrea from the Italian band Three Eyes Left.)

The angry guys from Three Eyes Left will teach you how to worship Satan through unholy acts of headbanging under heavy and driving doom riffs! This outfit from Italian Bologna started its work in 2004 as a trio: Maic sings and plays guitars, Ste is responsible for drums, and Andrea is a bass-player. So since the band was born, the guys have released three full-length albums; the latest one was put out by Go Down Records in May 2015 and it wears the name of Asmodeus demon. This record is the first part of trilogy; I’ve had a conversation with chief demonologist Andrea and he reveals some aspects of the Three Eyes Left iconoclastin cult.

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Hi comrade Andre! How are you? What’s new in the Three Eyes Left camp?

We are writing new material for the next chapter of our Demon Trilogy that began with Asmodeus and we’re trying to do our best with old songs for the next live concert. It will be somber and doomy like hell. Continue reading »

MARTRIDEN: “COLD AND THE SILENCE”

Album Reviews 25 Responses »

Dec 032015

(Andy Synn reviews the first album by Martriden in almost six years, which unexpectedly appeared on Bandcamp earlier this week.)

So formerly Montana-based and now Denver-based Progressive Black Metallers Martriden decided to go the Krallice route with the release of their latest album, and drop it onto Bandcamp earlier this week with little to no fanfare preceding its appearance. Thankfully for all of you, I’m a huge (borderline obese) fan of this band, so the second I spotted the message about its release I dived on it as if it were a live grenade/puppy and have been listening to it almost non-stop ever since.

What I’ve found, however, is that, for whatever reason, this is actually a pretty hard album to review. For me, anyway. I’ve written, deleted, and rewritten so many paragraphs about each track and then scrapped them totally so many times now that the version you’re currently reading bears little to no resemblance to what I originally intended when I first set out to form my thoughts into (semi)coherent sentences. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: AGAINST THE PLAGUES — “MAN’S MODERN WORLD”

Premieres 5 Responses »

Dec 032015

On December 18, the Dutch label Non Serviam Records will release the new album by multinational, Chicago-based extreme metal band Against the Plagues. Entitled Purified Through Devastation, it’s emblazoned with the flame-throwing cover art of Pär Oloffson and it includes a lot of flame-throwing music, too — as you will discover, through our premiere of a track called “Man’s Modern World“.

At just over 47 minutes in length, the album is a full-bodied offering of blackened death metal and features a revised line-up for this band, which includes current or former members of Damnation, Forest Of Impaled, Luciferion, and Throne of Sacrilege, among others. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: IRONCLAD, MORTALICUM, CRAWL, EXTOL, CRYPTIC HYMN, OF SPIRE AND THRONE, WOWS

Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC 7 Responses »

Dec 032015

(Grant Skelton brings us this collection of new music and videos by seven bands.)

IRONCLAD

To form a band and then release a debut EP in the span of only three months seems a daunting task. But that’s exactly what happened for Ironclad from South Wales in the United Kingdom.

Their current line up includes Steve Taran (bass) and John Courage (guitar), also of folk/pagan metal outfit Siluria. Trak is the man behind the drumkit, while Dean Fletcher (Black Tamanous, Godkilla) handles vocal duties. Continue reading »

FUNDRAISERS: VALE OF PNATH, BLACKHEARTS, MIHAI CARAVETEANU

Uncategorized 1 Response »

Dec 022015

It seems that almost every day brings news of metal bands or other artists associated with metal attempting to raise money for their projects (or their own survival) through crowd-funding campaigns. If we attempted to provide news of such things on a consistent basis, we’d probably never get anything else done around here. But the three items I’ve collected in this post caught my eye for differing reasons, and so I’m making an exception.

VALE OF PNATH

(Austin Weber graciously volunteered to write this first blurb, and these are his words.)

Back in 2011, a little-known band from Colorado called Vale Of Pnath dropped a monster of a debut full-length through Willowtip Records named The Prodigal Empire. With the passage of time, The Prodigal Empire has been rightly lauded as top-tier technical death metal music that fans of the genre hold dear. In the years following its release the band has lost and gained various members, which has unfortunately delayed the release of a follow-up from the group. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: HUMANITAS ERROR EST — “QUOD HOMO APPELLATUR MORBUS EST”

Premieres 5 Responses »

Dec 022015

Human Pathomorphism is the debut album by the German black metal horde Humanitas Error Est, and it’s set for release on January 11, 2016, by the unholy quartet of Satanath Records (Russia), The Black Plague (U.S.), Abstruse Eerie Radiance (Belgium), and The True Plague (U.S.). Today we present the exclusive premiere of a track from the album named “Quod Homo Apellatur Morbus Est“.

Few people alive can tell you what it’s like to be caught up in a cyclone, but you can imagine that experience when you listen to this song — except in this case it’s more like being whipped around in a tornado of flame and knives. Continue reading »

YOU’RE THE BEST AROUND, NOTHING’S EVER GONNA KEEP YOU DOWN (2015)

LISTMANIA 2015 15 Responses »

Dec 022015

(As part of our annual LISTMANIA series, KevinP brings us his round-up of awards for 2015.)

Here’s my rundown on the best stuff of the year that doesn’t fit into my Top 25 Albums and EP’s of the Year column (which will be published next month).

Best Metal Country: POLAND

How many Polish albums does it take to win the “best of” honors? Apparently 8. 1 to hold the lightbulb… ok, you’re not here for the jokes. This year featured releases ranging from outstanding to solid by Outre, Lost Soul, Blaze of Perdition, Mgła, Infernal War, Manipulation, Ogotay, and Kult Mogil. Greece, who won last years award, had yet another solid year, but was edged out by the big 3 kielbasas of Outre, Lost Soul, and Blaze of Perdition, a trio that’s impossible to beat. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: WRATHRONE (MATTI VEHMAS)

Interviews No Responses »

Dec 022015

(In this post, Latvian music journalist Evita Hofmane presents her interview with vocalist Matti Vehmas of the Finnish band Wrathrone, whose debut album Born Beneath is coming out next month.)

How many death metal bands are in Finland? Nobody knows.

Wrathrone saw the darkness of the day at the end of the year 2008, when Mr. Holm and Mr. Vehmas started to think how great it would be to start playing some good old death metal. And that is what they did.

The band is about to release their first full-length album Born Beneath on January 22nd, 2016, via Inverse Records. The album consists of eight slammering old-school death metal hits. The pre-sale has now begun worldwide at the Inverse shop (here) and at Levykauppa ÄX (here).

To promote the album they will begin the Born Beneath tour this December with two exclusive shows in the Baltics. After the release, the band will continue the tour in Finland and hopefully abroad as well! Continue reading »

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