NO CLEAN SINGING

THE DOOM, THE MELANCHOLY, AND PROLIFIC USAGE OF THE WORD “THE”: THE HOWLING VOID, THENIGHTTIMEPROJECT, AND EMBRACE THE DARKNESS

Mar 082016

(In this post DGR combines reviews of three recently released albums, by The Howling Void, thenighttimeproject, and Embrace the Darkness.)

As of this writing there’s a pretty hot chance that we’ve already run the little collection of grind groups that I’ve been blasting the last few months [yes, we did]. Truth be told, I’ve actually been working on these two collections side by side, but as the best plans are often wrecked at the last minute, this one began as one review, only to be expanded out to three as I kept finding new stuff that needed to be archived.

All three of the acts here are of the slower and melancholy sort, the type that we use as the amplifier of moods for the grey skies that may be outside, and in this case we’ll be committing absolute heresy because two of the three are pretty much entirely clean sung — hell, one is more depressive rock, but that’ll explain itself as soon as you read who is involved, with the third being a more traditional melodoom band who are getting their feet off the ground. The first clean-sung one, I actually didn’t expect to be that way because of the precedent set by the previous releases, and the other one I did, but as a fan of the musicians involved I felt it had to be shared out there.

Let’s begin with one that might have bred some familiarity amongst our readers, as we last touched bases with the project in December of 2013! Continue reading »

LORD MANTIS: “NICE TEETH WHORE”

Album Reviews 3 Responses »

Mar 082016

(Andy Synn reviews the new EP by Lord Mantis.)

Here at NCS we really try our best to stay out of all the inter- and intra- band drama that goes on within the metal scene, and that goes double when we’re friendly/familiar with some of the parties involved.

Still, I have to acknowledge that it’s practically impossible to talk about the new Lord Mantis EP without addressing the acrimonious, and very public, split that occurred in the band’s ranks not long after the release of 2014’s phenomenal Death Mask, with both Charlie Fell and Ken Sorceron decisively cutting ties with the group, even as drummer Bill Baumgardner and guitarist Andrew Markuszewski vowed to continue on without them.

As a result of this division, lines were drawn, sides were chosen, old alliances torn asunder… with fans on both sides of the divide pulled (willingly or otherwise) into one very un-civil war.

But, despite all this, the one question which matters more than any other is… how does the music on Nice Teeth Whore stack up to the band’s previous releases? Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE: ROTTEN SOUND — “ABUSE TO SUFFER”

Interviews, Premieres 5 Responses »

Mar 082016

The life expectancy of most metal bands is not much more than that of a child born in a gutter as the Black Plague was sweeping Europe. Those that have survived to see their 20s are often crippled, exhausted, and only going through the motions. And then there’s Rotten Sound.

Born in 1993, they’ve now marked the start of their third decade with a new album named Abuse To Suffer, which will be released by Season of Mist on March 25. If we could harness the energy on these 16 tracks, we could kiss fossil fuels good-by and power our cities and gas-guzzlers on nothing but… rotten sound. Countless grindcore bands (and combatants in other genres as well) have been influenced by this one’s combination of incendiary speed and skull-cleaving heaviness. Maybe it’s like being chased by your children (if they were cannibals wielding knives), because Rotten Sound just seem to run faster, harder, and angrier than ever.

What we have for you today is the debut of a full stream of Abuse To Suffer — but that’s not all. We’ve also got a track-by-track commentary below the stream from the members of the band: Keijo Niinimaa (vocals), Mika Aalto (guitar), Sami Latva (drums), and Kristian Toivainen (bass). Read that, so you can find out about the song with a rap influence, the one built on a riff received from Tommy Iommi in a dream, and what kind of music you make after two bottles of Czech Bozkov Tuzemsky Rum. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: KATATONIA, THE METAL ALLIANCE TOUR, HARAKIRI FROM THE SKY, MITHRAS, TELOCH, MIASMAL, HORRORS OF THE UNKNOWN, MISÞYRMING

Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC 8 Responses »

Mar 082016

If you recall yesterday’s “Seen and Heard” round-up, I explained that I had fallen so far behind that I had a list of 30 new tracks from over the last week that I thought were worth exploring. And sure enough, the list has only grown, because so many other good new things popped up in the last 24 hours. So I’m starting with the four newest items and concluding with four from last week.

KATATONIA

Yesterday brought details about the next Katatonia album, as well as a very brief teaser video. This will be their tenth studio full-length, with the title of The Fall of Hearts. It’s set for a May 20 release by Peaceville Records. Here’s the artwork (by Travis Smith, of course): Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): DIABOLUS AMATOR — “DESPOTIC CONJURING OF THE SOULLESS”

Album Reviews, Premieres 2 Responses »

Mar 072016

Despotic Conjuring of the Soulless is the second album by Diabolus Amator, a black metal project created by a multi-instrumental musician now based in Virginia who goes by the name Abyss, with vocals provided by Lörd Matzigkeitus of the Canadian band Idolatry. It consists of 11 original songs and an excellent cover of Inquisition’s wonderful “Desolate Funeral Chant”. For me, the album came out of left field, but it has proven to be a very welcome and highly prized surprise. I’m very glad we have the chance to share with you a stream of the whole album.

The first time I heard the album, I thought I had it figured out by the end of the first three songs — which is the point at which there comes a break in the action, provided by the ominous, groaning ambient track “Invocation of the Abyssic Dragon”. But I was wrong. Not only does the album display different facets of sound and style the deeper you go into it, the best tracks may lie in the second half — though the first half is damned good, too. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: NORTH — “PRIMAL BLOOM”

Premieres 2 Responses »

Mar 072016

The band North from Tucson, Arizona, have had their share of ups and downs since forming in 2005, with line-up changes that periodically disrupted their path forward. But the core members — Evan Leek (bass), Zack Hansen (drums), and Matt Mutterperl (guitar) — have remained together since the beginning, and starting with their 2014 EP Metanoia they have settled into a comfort zone as a trio, with bassist Evan Leek also taking on the vocals. Last year they released their first music on Prosthetic Records, a two-song EP named Through Raven’s Eyes, and on March 18 Prosthetic will release North’s fourth full-length, Light the Way. A couple of songs from the album have already debuted, and now we bring you a third, a powerful track named “Primal Bloom“.

Combining thick, writhing riffs and pile-driving drumwork, North give the song a sludgy, bulldozing, low-end weight, while adding spark and light to the music with a variety of lead guitar motifs that alternately swirl, shimmer, and swarm. It’s a heavy, high-intensity track, made all the more urgent and wrenching by Leek’s raw yells. Continue reading »

CHILEAN DEATH METAL: SADISM, DEATH VOMIT, UGGAE COMMAND, EXTERMINIO

Album Reviews, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC 3 Responses »

Mar 072016

(In this post our guest Kunal Choksi, owner/editor of the Transcending Obscurity webzine and record label, recommends releases by four death metal bands from Chile.)

Sadism – Alliance (Toxic Records/Mechanix Records)

Long-running and probably the most overlooked Chilean band of all time, Sadism have interestingly released a new album late last year, which is a must for fans of the band in general and those who’re into the Floridian style of death metal propagated by bands like Monstrosity, Diabolic, Eulogy, and Malevolent Creation – perhaps only darker.

There’s something that comes with the soil that makes the music sound all the more evil and menacing in comparison to the American counterparts, and it definitely helps that the band members are technically proficient, as was evident with the release of gems like Summon and A Dwelling of Gods a decade or so back. It’s worth revisiting the band’s past catalogue. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: TURBID NORTH

Interviews 2 Responses »

Mar 072016

(Here’s Andy Synn’s interview with the members of Turbid North, a band originally from Alaska and now based in Texas, whose albums were the subject of a SYNN REPORT in January [here] and whose 2015 full-length Eyes Alive received special praise.)

Hello gentlemen, for the benefit of those unfamiliar with the band, would you care to introduce yourselves to our audience at home?

Nick Forkel – Guitar, Vocals
Chris O’ Toole – Bass, Vocals
Jono Garrett – Drums Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: WOLVSERPENT, WITHERED, WODE

Album Reviews, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC, SHORT BUT SWEET 13 Responses »

Mar 072016

Wolvserpent

You may have noticed that over the weekend I only posted one article on our site, despite the fact that for more than 6 years I’ve been obsessed with posting something every day of every year, weekends and holidays included. I think Saturday was only the 7th or 8th day when I’ve completely fallen down on the job since I started the site, and I had wanted to do more than one post on Sunday. As sometimes happens (but rarely), I just got too overwhelmed by personal obligations and the demands of my fucking day job to focus on NCS.

I’ve actually been kind of overwhelmed since the middle of last week. One of the things I’ve been unable to do is post round-ups of new music that I like. I did attempt to fly through the interhole and the NCS in-box from time to time and make a list of songs I wanted to check out as time permitted. When I looked at the list yesterday, it had new songs from 30 bands on it — all of which appeared just within the last week!!! Continue reading »

“THAT’S MUSIC! — BUT IT’S NOT METAL” (EXCEPT IT SORT OF IS): GAELYNN LEA

Exceptions to the Rule, Off Topic, That's Music -- But It's Not Metal 10 Responses »

Mar 062016

Gaelynn Lea is a musician in Duluth, Minnesota. According to the biography on her web site:

“She has been playing violin for over twenty years. First classically trained, she began learning traditional Celtic and American fiddle tunes at the age of 18. During her college years Gaelynn started sitting in with various folk/rock musicians and developed an improvisational style all her own. Eventually she also began singing and dabbling in songwriting.”

“Dabbling” is a humble word for it. Gaelynn was one of more than six thousand un-signed musicians or bands who submitted music videos in NPR’s Tiny Desk Contest. Under the rules of that contest, the song had to be an original work created solely for the purpose of entering the contest, and it had to be performed “at a desk (any desk!)”. All those thousands of submissions were reviewed by a panel of six judges, and they picked Gaelynn Lea’s submission as the winner.

I read the judge’s comments about the song and the video before I heard it. The judges were Robin Hilton, Bob Boilen, Dan Auerbach (of The Black Keys and The Arcs), Son Little, and Jess Wolfe and Holly Laessig of the band Lucius. You can read their comments about the song here. In a nutshell, they were all profoundly moved. They explained that they heard other songs that displayed better musical craft and skill, but what Gaelynn did was to create something unusual and memorable.

I can’t separate the song from what I watched in the video and what I knew immediately about Gaelynn Lea from seeing it. It makes the song more poignant and powerful — but I believe (though I’ll never know for sure) that I would have found it tremendously poignant and powerful anyway. Continue reading »

Older Entries Newer Entries