NO CLEAN SINGING

SEEN AND HEARD: POLYPTYCH, SETENTIA, DESPITE, CROWORD, FORRAEDERI

May 132016

For reasons I’ve explained before, I’ve had less time than usual to surf for new metal, partly because I’ve been getting home so late at night from hospital visits. Last night I made it home a bit earlier than usual, faced again with an enormous amount of stuff in our in-box and a continuing flood of new music appearing on social media. What to do?

I decided to just look at a few of the e-mails we received yesterday, and I had surprisingly good luck with that. I discovered all the songs you’re about to hear in that way. But first, a piece of welcome news….

POLYPTYCH

Last month we had the pleasure of premiering the title track to Defying the Metastasis, the new album by Chicago-based Polyptych. Today the album has been officially released in digital form (physical CDs will be available by the end of the summer), and the album is so damned good that I thought it was worth spreading the word — and giving you a chance to listen to all of it. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: ABOVE AURORA — “OPEN THE WOUNDS”

Premieres 1 Response »

May 132016

Onwards Desolation is the title of the debut album by the Polish band Above Aurora. It will be released by Pagan Records near the end of this month, and today we bring you the premiere of a track from the album named “Open the Wounds“.

Above Aurora juxtapose elements of atmospheric doom and black metal as a method of ratcheting tension and then releasing it. “Open the Wounds” is a good example of how well the band have mastered this technique, and of their skill at writing songs that seize the listener’s attention and then continue to exert a magnetic attraction even after the last note. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): HELLS — “PARADISE”

Album Reviews, Premieres, SHORT BUT SWEET 3 Responses »

May 122016

Tomorrow — May 13 — Seeing Red Records will release Paradise, the debut EP of a Philadelphia band appropriately named HELLS, and today we bring you a full stream of its six head-wrecking tracks.

When you listen to the music, it will quickly become clear that Paradise is an ironic title. At a minimum, it’s a term that must be understood in context, maybe one reflecting a worldview in which being beaten senseless or asphyxiated brings a glorious release from a daily rain of shit. Continue reading »

NEW ALBUM NEWS: MESHUGGAH AND INQUISITION

Metal News 6 Responses »

May 122016

Here are a couple of breaking news items that I suspect will be of interest to our readership.

MESHUGGAH

Not long ago Meshuggah posted a 16-second snippet on YouTube, with the words: “Fall.2016. Watch this space!” On Facebook, they embellished slightly: “Fall 2016 – new album, new tours.”

And isn’t that exciting? Continue reading »

MESSA: “BELFRY”

Album Reviews, Interviews 2 Responses »

May 122016

(Our Russian correspondent Comrade Aleks, who usually furnishes us with interesting interviews, brings us a combined review and interview today.)

The Italian band Messa first saw the light of day in 2014, and I believe that this quartet will surprise you with their alchemical combination of doom, hard rock, drone, and prog music. The Aural Music label released Messa’s debut record Belfry on May 6, 2016; they promised obscure and evoking doom, “scarlet doom” as they say. Mark Sade (guitar, bass, ambient stuff), Sara (vocals), Mistyr (drums), and Albert (lead guitar) run this coven; all of them have different musical backgrounds and it directly reflects in their music.

The band’s name speaks for itself, and Marco tells why they picked up this one: “Basically we were looking for a name with a few characteristics: Italian, with a female touch and kind of gloomy. Messa in English means Mass and it means a lot for us and especially for our society around us”. Continue reading »

ENTHEAN: “PRIESTS OF ANNIHILATION”

Album Reviews 7 Responses »

May 122016

(Andy Synn reviews the debut album by South Carolina’s Enthean.)

Before we begin, I’d like to talk a little bit about Emperor, if I may?

Following the band’s dissolution in 2001 the two main songwriters behind the Norwegian legends — Vegard Sverre Tveita, a.k.a. Ihsahn, and Tomas Thormodsæter Haugen, a.k.a. Samoth – both embarked on new musical endeavours of their own, with Ihsahn pursuing his more progressive leanings under his own moniker, while Samoth elected to follow a more deathly path, first with the mechanoid menace of Zyklon and then, more recently, with the thrashier strains of The Wretched End (whose new album I’ll also be reviewing very soon).

Despite being repeatedly questioned about it, both men have long been adamant that a full Emperor reunion, one which would result in a new album (as opposed to the occasional live show), just isn’t in the cards, largely because they’ve both moved on – personally and musically – and simply aren’t in the same place to collaborate in that way anymore.

Why am I saying all this? It’s because South Carolina Black/Death dilettantes Enthean sound, in places at least, almost exactly how I’d imagine an Emperor reunion would… both for better and for worse. Continue reading »

DEATH BENEFITS: CENTINEX, SORCERY, GHOULGOTHA, GOD ENSLAVEMENT, GRAVE DESECRATOR, AIRLINES OF TERROR, DEATHCROWN

RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC 5 Responses »

May 112016

I’m still significantly distracted from the mission of NCS these days for personal reasons that I’ve described in previous posts, and that will likely continue to be the case for at least the next week or two. But although the round-ups haven’t been coming as frequently as usual, I did manage to pull this one together over the last few days. All the songs (and one video) are fairly recent and all provide some very tasty flavors of death metal (lots of cool cover art in this post as well). For better or worse, I need to keep my own verbiage short and let the music speak for itself.

CENTINEX

That’s a hell of an album cover up there (created by Bahrull Marta of Abomination Imagery) for a hell of a band — Sweden’s Centinex. Their new album Doomsday Rituals is set for release by Agonia Records on July 8.

The band’s current line-up, which is different from the one that released eight albums prior to the disbanding of Centinex in 2005, is truly impressive: Martin Schulman (Demonical) on bass, Sverker Widgren (Demonical, Diabolical) on guitars, Alexander Högbom (October Tide, Spasmodic) on vocals, and Kennet Englund (Interment, Centinex 1999-2003). And so is the new song that premiered yesterday. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: ENLIGHTEN — “ILLVMANTITHESIS”

Premieres 1 Response »

May 112016

The Portuguese band Enlighten weave a special kind of magic on their new EP Illvmantithesis. The music is a species of black/death metal that’s more anguished and aching than poisonous and destructive, yet the music also conveys a sensation of chaos and creeping derangement. It’s a deft balancing act, a blending of enthralling, atmospheric melody and abrasive tumult. It’s the kind of dynamic and multifaceted creation that helps Enlighten stand out strongly from many of their peers.

The new EP consists of two songs, both of which we’re streaming for you below. It follows last year’s Phösphorvs Paramovnt EP and the band’s 2014 debut single, Svlphvr Bread, and will become available in June. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: ABNORMALITY (MALIKA SUNDARAMURTHY)

Interviews 6 Responses »

May 112016

(Our friend Vonlughlio interviews vocalist Mallika Sundaramurthy of the Massachusetts death metal band Abnormality.)

This time around I have been given the opportunity of doing an interview with Mallika Sundaramurthy (vocalist of Abnormality) and to talk about metal and the band, amongst other things.

First of all, the band formed back in 2005, in Massachusetts, and since then have released a demo in 2007, the EP The Collective Calm in Mortal Oblivion in 2010, and their debut album Contaminating The Hive Mind in 2012. Last month on the 29th they released their sophomore effort entitled Mechanisms of Omniscience via Metal Blade Records.

I discovered the band in 2012 but don’t remember who sent me a YouTube link with one of their songs. I do recall that person saying that the band had a great BDM/Technical balance in their song structure and delivery and a woman as their vocalist. I must confess that I was skeptical at first, since up to that point I wasn’t familiar with women performing at the front of a band in this type of genre. Yes, shame on me, and once I heard the song I was blown away by the pure talent that all the musicians displayed. Long story short, their debut album ended up in my top 25 of that year: Continue reading »

YOUTH CODE: “COMMITMENT TO COMPLICATIONS”

Album Reviews 3 Responses »

May 112016

(Wil Cifer reviews the new album by Youth Code from L.A.)

After the Alaric review, you might have guessed I am more drawn to heavy in all of its forms than being limited only to ingesting it as metal. You might be familiar with my work at Cvlt Nation; if so, my weird taste will make perfect sense.

This album has a great deal of metal influence lurking beneath the electronic beats. Youth Code is aggressive in a way that industrial music has not been in some time. Industrial music has lost a great deal of its menace over the years. It became enmeshed in EDM, with even the legends of the genre such as Skinny Puppy succumbing to coating their songs in a plastic sheen after The Greater Wrong of the Right. Youth Code has come to put the teeth back into industrial.

These kids are not just hipsters playing dress-up. They are the real deal. This aggression doesn’t require sampling riffs from ’90s thrash metal either; it is fueled into the buzz of their synths. Continue reading »

Older Entries Newer Entries