NO CLEAN SINGING

AN NCS INTERVIEW: OBELYSKKH (STUART WEST)

Jun 062016

(Comrade Aleks brings us this interview with Stuart West of the German doom titans Obelyskkh.)

Bulky and massive, Obelyskkh rises over the German doom scene like a mammoth ancient extraterrestrial ship. The band experiments over its own distorted and transmutated form of psychedelic doom metal, mixing within their songs elements of different subgenres and retelling through their songs myths and archetypes of the past. There are three albums in Obelyskkh’s discography, and musically they’re different though united with the idea of experiments, improvisation, and dark unearthly vision. Their third album Hymn to Pan was released in 2013, so I was wondering if they planned to release something new. It was difficult, but finally Stuart “The WhizKid” West (guitars, synth) answered my questions. Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: INVIDIOSUS — “NEUROTIC MISERY”

Premieres 3 Responses »

Jun 062016

(Austin Weber brings us this premiere of a video for a song from the new EP by Minnesota’s Invidiosus.)

Longtime NCS readers might be familiar with Minneapolis death metal squid squad Invidiosus since we’ve been covering them frequently here since 2014 — not to mention that the band shares a bassist (Todd Farnham) with fellow NCS favorites Amiensus. We last covered Invidiosus back in February, when we helped them launch a badass stand-alone single called “Neurotic Misery”. Continuing to release new tunes while persistently evolving, the band is including this single on an upcoming EP called Guided Towards The Inevitable, which will come out on Friday, June 17th, through Twin Town Tyrant Records. I’ll also help the band stream all five songs a few days before the EP’s release over at Metal-Injection on Tuesday, June 14th, just as a heads-up!

Ahead of its release, we’ve got a refresher of “Neurotic Misery” for you in the form of an exclusive launch of a music video for the song. Like previous videos by the band that we’ve premiered, this one again shows the fun and silly side of the band instead of being a solely performance-focused piece. If you missed the song when we premiered it months ago, that’s all the more reason to make sure to hit play below and take in some eclectic and tasty death metal. Continue reading »

BENEATH THE NCS RADAR (PART 14): EP SPECIAL

Album Reviews, SHORT BUT SWEET 6 Responses »

Jun 062016

(We welcome you to the glorious 14th part of our Norwegian comrade Gorger’s highlighting of releases we haven’t previously reviewed. To find more of his discoveries, visit Gorger’s Metal.)

I’ve got a few shorter releases to share with you today. I’m calling it an EP special, but for good measure, I’m tossing in a split and a graphic novel(!) too. I’ve also shortened down my ramblings to leave you sore-eared rather than sore-eyed. Enjoy. Continue reading »

NAILS: “YOU WILL NEVER BE ONE OF US”

Album Reviews 3 Responses »

Jun 062016

(Wil Cifer reviews the new album by Nails.)

Over the years trends in metal come and go, leading up into 2016 when grindcore and powerviolence seemed poised to break through into the metal mainstream. What Weekend Nachos failed to deliver is now jackhammered into your face by this trio from California, who possess a guitar tone as nasty as the instrument can achieve while still being able to create riffs capable of holding together actual songs. For the purpose of this review, the word “song” is used to refer to sharp bursts of rage.

Grindcore has never been my forte, as the genre’s range of dynamic expression sonically feels like coloring with only the red crayon of anger. While this might limit what many bands do, Nails are savants at coloring with this crayon so well that your only choice is to hold on for the jolting ride. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: TERRA TENEBROSA — “GHOST AT THE END OF THE ROPE”

Premieres 4 Responses »

Jun 052016

After the first two albums by Terra Tenebrosa — 2011’s The Tunnels and 2013’s The Purging — the arrival of a new album is like the mysterious appearance of an intricately carved box in a puff of indigo vapor. The strange sigils and runes seem to shimmer of their own accord in the gnarled, leaden wood. What lies within becomes a matter of intrigue. You can be fairly sure that the contents will be dark, disturbing, and otherwise dismissive of genre boundaries, but beyond that it’s difficult to foresee what the alchemical processes of The Cuckoo’s art have rendered.

The new album is named The Reverses and it will be released on June 17 (June 22 in North America) by Debemur Morti. The significance of the title and its connection to the albums that preceded it have yet to be revealed. What has been revealed so far is a lyric video for a song called “The End Is Mine To Ride”, and today we’re helping to share a stream of a second track, “Ghost At the End of The Rope”. Continue reading »

A MARYLAND DEATHFEST RECAP (PART 5)

Concert Reviews 11 Responses »

Jun 052016

It’s time for me to bring this five-part reminiscence about Maryland Deathfest 2016 to a close and try to get back to more typical NCS activities this week.

I said when I started this recap that I wanted to give a round of applause to the best bands I saw at MDF, organizing them into four categories. The first three categories I nicknamed Swedish (and Dutch) Death Metal Supremacy, Shades of Black, and The Black Death. However, there’s no common denominator among the five bands grouped together today, so I’m calling this collection Divergent Delights.

I was thinking about Mixed Martial Arts, but much of the music here isn’t martial. Assorted Ass-Kicking was appealing, but I don’t think “ass-kicking” really fits everything either. Maybe Variegated Victories would have worked. Continue reading »

A MARYLAND DEATHFEST RECAP (PART 4)

Concert Reviews 9 Responses »

Jun 042016

Friday beer/brunch at Alewife with friends.

For those of you just now joining this series about Maryland Deathfest XIV, I’m in the process of highlighting the bands whose performances were the best of the ones I saw and heard in Baltimore beginning on Wednesday of last week.

Rather than doing a day-by-day recap, I’ve organized the bands into four somewhat loosely defined categories. Yesterday’s feature was a “Shades of Black” collection of black metal bands, and before that was one under the heading “Swedish (and Dutch) Death Metal Supremacy”. I’m calling today’s celebration “The Black Death“, not only because that describes the general style of music performed by the following six bands, but also because they all spread a lethal kind of auditory plague.

Presented in the order in which I witnessed the performances over 5 nights and 4 days, and I’ve again included my photos of each band (most of which are gathered at the end of this post). Continue reading »

A MARYLAND DEATHFEST RECAP (PART 3)

Concert Reviews 13 Responses »

Jun 032016

MDF merch

For those just now joining this series about Maryland Deathfest XIV, I’m in the process of highlighting the bands whose performances were the best of the ones I saw and heard in Baltimore beginning on Wednesday of last week.

I’ve organized those bands into four categories (not rigidly defined, mind you). Yesterday’s feature was about “Swedish (and Dutch) Death Metal Supremacy”, and for today’s collection I’m borrowing the title of one of our long-running series about new music — Shades of Black — because I’m spotlighting six black metal bands of varying styles whose sets I really enjoyed. I’ve again included photos of each band (most of which are gathered at the end of this post). Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: CANDLEMASS

Interviews 2 Responses »

Jun 032016

(Comrade Aleks brings us this e-mail interview with Mats Levén, the new vocalist of the legendary Candlemass.)

Everyone knows Candlemass and I bet that all of you know that the band is returning with a new EP, Death Thy Lover. The date of this release is already set – it’s today, the 3rd of June. With Mats Levén on vocals, the band is active, now awakening from slumber and returning on the road. Well, I’d like to surprise you with the astonishing live interview which we planned to do with Mats, but he didn’t find the time for it in his tight schedule, so with all my respect this foreword is as brief as his blitz answers I received by email. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: INERT — “OBLITERATION OF THE SELF”

Premieres No Responses »

Jun 032016

Inert is the name of a two-man band whose debut EP Obliteration of the Self will be released on June 17. 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. These days, distance isn’t the impediment to creative collaboration that it used to be — and in the case of Inert that’s a very good thing.

We’re happy to bring you the premiere of the title track to this new EP. It accomplishes an impressive feat: It pulls heavily from some distinct death metal bloodlines, most of them venerable and some more modern, and integrates the stylistic influences in a way that sounds natural and also completely killer. Continue reading »

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