NO CLEAN SINGING

AN NCS INTERVIEW: ANGUISH

Jun 132016

(Comrade Aleks brings us another interview from the domain of doom, this time confronting the Swedish band Anguish.)

This angry doom metal band from Swedish Uppsala made some noise with two full-length albums – Through the Archedemon’s Head (I believe that you at least have seen its artwork) and Mountain. Their slow, heavy, vocals are harsh and wheezing – they are too traditional for death doom metal and too tough for trad doom.

However, I have checked the band’s status time to time and didn’t see any news for some period. My duty called me to write an email to Anguish, and David Eriksson (guitars) answered me. Here’s his interview, done with the help of Anguish’s vocalist J.Dee, who periodically appeared from the shadows. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: PAGANIZER — “ANGRY ALL THE TIME”

Premieres 3 Responses »

Jun 122016

Of all the many musical projects of Rogga Johansson over an illustrious career, Paganizer is the oldest and longest-running, with the first demo (Stormfire) being released in 1998, followed by new releases or compilations almost every year since then. In this current year, the mighty Paganizer have again mounted a new death metal assault in the form of an EP fittingly named On the Outskirts of Hades, and today we bring you the premiere of its opening track: “Angry All the Time“.

What a great name for a song, and one that rings so true in the baleful light of Paganizer’s long and savage history. And it’s not only the title of the song that’s great. Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK: WAYFARER, BLACK CULT, HERMÓÐR, ADVERSUM, GROTESQUE CEREMONIUM, KING SATAN

Album Reviews, SHADES OF BLACK 6 Responses »

Jun 122016

I scattered three posts over three days during the last week recommending music in a blackened vein from a lot of premieres and releases I had accumulated on various lists that I keep — and I still didn’t exhaust everything I wanted to recommend. So yes, I’m throwing still more at you today, while resuming my habit of publishing these Shades of Black posts on Sundays.

I have an array of advance tracks from forthcoming releases (including one new video) and a new single, by a total of six interesting and diverse bands.

WAYFARER

In 2014, Denver’s Wayfarer released an excellent debut album (via Prosthetic) in Children of the Iron Age, and now Prosthetic has scheduled June 17 as the release date for the band’s second full-length, Old Souls. So far, three songs from the album can be heard on Bandcamp, and they are well worth your time. Continue reading »

THE REARVIEW MIRROR: OBTAINED ENSLAVEMENT

THE REARVIEW MIRROR 5 Responses »

Jun 122016

As I’ve mentioned before, I wasn’t listening to extreme metal in the late ’80s or the ’90s. With the help of some knowledgable guides, I’ve spent time over the last decade trying to catch up on what I missed. It’s a deep history, and the process of exploration isn’t nearly finished. Today’s Rearview Mirror focuses on my most recent discovery (with thanks to Jan K. once again for turning me on to the album you’re about to hear).

Obtained Enslavement was a black metal band formed in Stord, Norway, in about 1989. The band’s founding members included Pest (who went on to become the frontman for Gorgoroth both before and after Gaahl), guitarist Døden, and drummer Torquemada, and they were soon joined by a phenomenal keyboardist who used the name Heks. Together they recorded two demos and four albums before disbanding (though additional musicians also participated on some of the albums). Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD (PART 2): DAWN OF DISEASE, LJOSAZABOJSTWA, DIRE OMEN

Album Reviews, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC 3 Responses »

Jun 112016

For the last four days running, I’ve been engaged in an attempt to catch up on new song and video premieres and recent full releases. The first three posts were devoted to black(ish) metal, and then yesterday I posted the first part of a Seen and Heard collection devoted to other corners of the underground.

My original plan for this Part 2 was to include a lot more music than you will actually find here, but I forgot about something I had agreed to do this morning with Ms. Islander, and so I’ve had to cut this short. Which means there will be a Part 3, probably tomorrow (along with another Shades of Black post), but maybe Monday.

DAWN OF DISEASE

Germany’s Dawn of Disease have a new album named Worship the Grave (which features cover art by Mark Cooper) that’s coming our way via Napalm Records on June 24. A couple of days ago, they revealed an album track called “The Sky Is Empty”, which is a real ass-kicker. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD (PART 1): ZEAL AND ARDOR, HOPELESS YOUTH, THRAWSUNBLAT, CONCRETE MASCARA, BENEATH THE STORM, JUPITERIAN

Album Reviews, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC 10 Responses »

Jun 102016

I spent the last three days doing some catch-up work on recent premieres and releases from the realms of black metal, and today it’s time to shift gears and begin a series of round-ups of new music from other corners of the underground. My NCS comrade DGR is working on a round-up of his own, but even between the two of us we still won’t succeed in covering everything good that we’ve found over the last two weeks (when our round-ups were scarce).

Having said that, we may still threaten to overwhelm our readers with the volume of what we’re recommending. To give you a chance to catch your breath, I’m dividing my collection of recommendations into at least two parts, with the second one to come tomorrow (Saturday). I’ve also attempted to mix up the styles of music within each of these two parts in the hope of appealing to a broad array of tastes (and keeping you off-balance, of course).

ZEAL AND ARDOR

Zeal and Ardor is the name of a music project based in New York City. I’m calling it a “project”, because I have no idea who is behind it, or whether it’s the work of one person or more than one; I’ve searched and can find no background information at all. This mysterious project released a self-titled album in June 2014 that I did not know existed, and in mid-April of this year they released a second one named Devil Is Fine — which is unlike anything I’ve heard before. Continue reading »

AN NCS EP PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): INERT — “OBLITERATION OF THE SELF”

Album Reviews, Premieres, SHORT BUT SWEET No Responses »

Jun 102016

One week ago we premiered the title track from Obliteration of the Self, the debut EP by an insurgent death metal duo who call themselves Inert, and today we deliver a full stream of the entire EP, which the band are making available as a free download for a limited time.

For those who missed our earlier premiere, I’ll repeat the band’s origin story: Both members (guitarist Xavier Aguilar and vocalist/drummer Gustavo Garcia) knew each other for many years from the metal scene in Barcelona, Spain, but didn’t join forces in Inert until Xavi moved to Stockholm, Sweden. Perhaps something in the Swedish water infiltrated Xavi’s creative juices, but whatever caused this duo to join forces only after considerable distance separated them, we should be thankful for it. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: VOKONIS (SIMON OHLSSON)

Interviews No Responses »

Jun 102016

(We present Comrade Aleks’ interview of Simon Ohlsson, vocalist/guitarist of the Swedish band Vokonis, whose new album was released in late May.)

Wild, angry, and full of energy, Swedish power trio Vokonis ride in their thunderous chariot right from nowhere throwing lightning and rattling at full scale! This loud combination of doom metal and stoner is straightforward and masculine, you hear it and get the revelation — Vokonis have big balls and they literally show it on their brand new album Olde One Ascending!

We had a talk with Simon Ohlsson, singing guitarist of Vokonis. Bring it on Simon! Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK (PART 3): IMPERIUM DEKADENZ, SPIRE, MORTHUS, FIRTAN, BLOODRAIN, DREAD SOVEREIGN

Album Reviews, SHADES OF BLACK 9 Responses »

Jun 092016

This is the third and final part of a post I began two days ago devoted to recent song and video streams, as well as full releases, in a blackened vein. This doesn’t exhaust what I’d like to recommend from what I’ve been listening to over the last week or so, but after this I’m going to get back to the more usual schedule of posting these Shades of Black collections on Sundays. Hope you find some things to like in what follows. In case you missed the first two parts of this post, here are links:

Part One
Part Two

IMPERIUM DEKADENZ

I first discovered this German band in the spring of 2010 and wrote a review of their then-current album Procella Vadens (which is superb), except I wrote it as if Suffocation’s Frank Mullen were writing the review. Seemed like a good idea at the time. I failed to review their next album, 2013’s Meadows of Nostalgia (also excellent), only managing to praise two songs from it. And now a third album is on the way, with the first advance track premiering yesterday at Rolling Stone (of all places). Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: MONOLITHE — A TEASER FOR “ZETA RETICULI”

Premieres 4 Responses »

Jun 092016

Only six months ago we were privileged to bring you the premiere of a full-album stream on the release date of Epsilon Aurigae, the the fifth album by the remarkable Parisian doom band Monolithe. But that album was only the first part of a two-album conceptual work, and the second part — entitled Zeta Reticuli — has now been scheduled for release by Debemur Morti Productions on July 8. As was true of Epsilon Aurigae, the new album is composed of three long tracks, and today we’re helping share a video teaser that will begin whetting your appetite for the full experience.

In my review of the last album, I attempted to describe the experience as something akin to “diving into a deep blue hole, with crushing pressures and glowing phosphorescence all around you, or perhaps like a venture into the cold void of space. Either way, you really lose the sense that you’re standing on solid ground.”

That album was brimming with dark atmospheric music, incisively textured and powerful in its emotional impact. But for all of its alien ambience and bereft melodies, the album was also a heavyweight crusher, and one of the most mesmerizing doom albums of 2015. Understandably, I’ve been eager to discover the second half of this musical saga. Continue reading »

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