NO CLEAN SINGING

ZOLTAR’S SHORT BUT SWEET: CRANIAL TORMENT, ETERNAL DIRGE, HOROH, PYRE

Feb 172025

(Our French contributor Zoltar has provided us with short reviews of four recently released records, two of them reissues of music dating to the ’90s and two of them brand new, from just a bit earlier this year.)

CRANIAL TORMENT – STADES OF REPRESSION

There weren’t that many ‘pure’ death metal bands to speak of in Greece in the late ’90s, one of the only notable exceptions being Inveracity and their killer debut Circle Of Perversion released through Unmatched Brutality (who else?) back in 2003. The thing is that most of the leaders of the movement, like Septicflesh – or Septic Flesh in two words as they were called back then – Horrified or Nightfall (the latter featuring a then rather unknown yet super promising drummer called George Kollias who would soon rise to fame with Nile), had all moved on to greener pastures.

So to say that local hardcore maniacs like Vassilis ‘Bill’ Benakis (guitar and vocals) and future Repulsive Echo Records founder Kostas Vaxevanos (drums) were wasting their time talking to a wall would be quite an understatement. Yet as Cranial Torment the pair nevertheless recorded no fewer than three demos – the second being almost album-length, clocking at 30 minutes – in between August 1998 and May 1999 before vanishing into oblivion, until now. Continue reading »

BLEEDING THROUGH – NINE

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Feb 172025

(Andy Synn continues his murderous, on-off, love affair with OC Metalcore crew Bleeding Through)

It’s entirely appropriate that the cover for Bleeding Through‘s new album features a solitary figure standing at a crossroads… because that’s pretty much where Bleeding Through have stood their entire career.

Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been a fan of the band for a long time – I think it was their seminal second album, Portrait of the Goddess, which first brought them to my attention, right before they had their big breakthrough with 2003’s This Is Love, This Is Murderous – but that doesn’t mean I’m blind to their flaws.

In particular they’ve always seemed torn between two competing urges – whether to double down on the more blisteringly aggressive and abrasively “blackened” side of their sound (as they did to such great effect prior to their hiatus with their 2010 self-titled and 2012’s blazing The Great Fire) or to take the poppier (and, inevitably, more popular) path by following in the footsteps of some of their more radio-friendly peers (as they did in the aftermath of This Is Love…’s unexpected success).

Their 2018 comeback album, Love Will Kill All found them trying to split the difference (which, to be clear, doesn’t have to be a bad thing) but ultimately resulted in a rather compromised record that didn’t leave much of an impression, and since then the only real insight into the band’s musical direction has been 2022’s Rage EP… all of which means there’s a lot of questions, and a lot of expectations, to be answered by NINE.

SHADES OF BLACK: CHRISTIAN NECROMANCY, ЗАРЕЗНИЦА, FRAGDA, INOMIATUM KALOUNAPTHRAH, MIDRYASI’S KULT, ALDAARON

Album Reviews, Exceptions to the Rule, SHADES OF BLACK, SHORT BUT SWEET 1 Response »

Feb 162025

(written by Islander)

I hope you’re having a good day. I hope the following music will make it better.

I used roulette-wheel and craps analogies yesterday, and it’s even more fitting today. Without exception, I had never heard the music of any of these bands before, so picking them was a spin of the wheel and a roll of the dice. I did also land on some songs that didn’t bring much payback; those aren’t here, only the winners. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD ON A SATURDAY: DORMANT ORDEAL, LABYRINTHINE HEIRS, CHAOS INCEPTION, DECREPISY, BELNEJOUM, HABAK, PIGPEN, ALLEGAEON, BURIED REALM

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Feb 152025

Dormant Ordeal – Photo Credit: Piotr Dzik

(written by Islander)

Another week has gone by and I’ve had another session with the roulette wheel of new releases, watching the bouncing ball land in one pocket after another as I mentally spun. It’s a fair analogy, since there are 37 or 38 pockets on a wheel and that’s in the ballpark of new releases from the past week I thought might be worth checking out. Also fair, because of the general randomness of my choices of what to listen to.

But the process is also a little like casino craps, getting an instinct about a shooter and betting on particular outcomes. And so I mentally bet on some of the bands from last week I thought were likely to be winners – and some were and some weren’t.

To be clear, I’ve never played roulette or craps in my life, only watched without much understanding. I’m not much of a gambler with my own money; I care much more about losing than the chance of winning; I prefer to keep what I have; there are other ways of being entertained when the odds aren’t always stacked against you — like listening to the following songs: Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: SHRINE OF DENIAL — “I, MOLOCH”

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Feb 142025

(written by Islander)

It was a daring decision for the Turkish band Shrine of Denial and their label, Transcending Obscurity Records, to emblazon the band’s new album I, Moloch with the above artwork by Juanjo Castellano. A daring decision, because artwork that frighteningly magnificent represents a challenge: Can the music really match it?

Well, we’re in the process of finding the answer to that question, an answer that has unfolded through two songs revealed from the album so far, and a third one we’re about to present today in advance of the album’s March 7 release date. Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: DEVIL’S GATEWAY — “WASTELAND SANCTUARY”

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Feb 142025

(written by Islander)

Let’s start with a “FFO” reference for Devil’s Gateway that you should find interesting, though maybe perplexing: Sacrilege, Axegrinder, Amebix, Prophecy of Doom, early Paradise Lost and My Dying Bride, Godflesh, Deviated Instinct, Bolt Thrower.

In my case, all those names ring like golden chimes. But thinking about how all those influences would blend together leaves a big question mark, especially because I was not familiar with Devil’s Gateway before we were asked to host the premiere of a song (with lyric video) that will soon be placed before you. Continue reading »

CONTINUUM OF XUL – VORATORE

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Feb 142025

(Andy Synn keeps his review streak going with a another killer Death Metal album that just came out)

Death Metal, as we all know, is a global phenomenon these days.

And, if that wasn’t already obvious, our travels this week have taken us first to Scandinavia then to South America and now to Southern Europe where we’re about to discover what delights the debut album from Italian hellions Continuum of Xul (featuring both current and former members of Ad Nauseum, Defacement, and Antropofagus) has to offer.

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: CHÜZO — “BRUISED AND BROKEN”

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Feb 132025

(written by Islander)

Last fall the Montreal outfit Chüzo released an EP named M.T.M.D (Maximum Threshold, Minimum Decay). It was intended to introduce the world to their new lineup (still intact today), which features an internationally sourced group of Taiwanese/Brazilian transplant Mischa M on vocals, first-generation Chilean Canadian and mastermind Cristian S. on guitars and vocals, Carlos G from Venezuela on drums, and Alex S from Russia on bass.

The EP also served a second and even more important purpose — to introduce the world to the nature of their new music, a blender of grindcore, Swedish death metal, thrash, and hardcore punk that they named “Aggro Metal.”

To help spread the word about Chüzo in their new incarnation and the M.T.M.D EP, what we have for you today is the premiere of a video for the record’s third and final song, “Bruised and Broken,” which is a good description of how the song and video will leave you. Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: GLORIOR BELLI — “WELTSCHMERZ WIELD POWER”

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Feb 132025

(written by Islander)

Cleveland-based Dark Empire Records was originally founded by Dwid Hellion of Integrity in the early 1990s. It released music from such bands such as Confront, Apartment 213, and Integrity, as well as the 1994 compilation Dark Empire Strikes Back, which featured acts like Ringworm, Face Value, Pale Creation, and The Guns.

The label ceased operation in the mid-’90s but has revived, and its newest release will be a self-titled album by the French band Glorior Belli, headed our way in March.

The tale of Glorior Belli has been an interesting one. Their musical evolution began with the debut album Ô Laudate Dominvs in 2005, and then Manifesting the Raging Beast in 2007. By the time of their fifth album, Gators Rumble, Chaos Unfurls, they had made a name for themselves as purveyors of black metal infused with swampy Southern rock and blues (and their sole recording member Infestvvs had long before that re-named himself “Billy Bayou” in line with that evolution). Since black metal has loaned itself to hybridization probably more than any other extreme metal genre, others would have eventually done this (and probably not as well), but as far as we know, Glorior Belli was one of the first. Continue reading »

16: “GUIDES FOR THE MISGUIDED”

Album Reviews 1 Response »

Feb 132025

(Let week Relapse Records released a new album by 16 [aka -(16)-], and this week we’ve got Gonzo‘s review of the record below.)

Outside of the unholy trinity of The Melvins, Eyehategod, and Crowbar, you might be hard-pressed to name another longstanding sludge band that’s left their swampy mark on the scene quite like those three have.

If that’s the case, Southern California’s 16 would like a word. Continue reading »

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