NO CLEAN SINGING

THE SYNN REPORT, PART 67: TURBID NORTH

Jan 122016

(In Part 67 of THE SYNN REPORT, Andy Synn reviews the discography of a band who began in North Pole, Alaska — Turbid North.)

Recommended for fans of: Crowbar, Misery Index, Mastodon

Ok, cards on the table – this edition of The Synn Report is basically just an excuse for me to finally wax lyrical about last year’s Eyes Alive, an album which only just missed out on consideration for my Critical Top 10, and which I’ve been jamming repeatedly ever since discovering the manifold pleasures contained within its nine tracks of gritty, blood-pumping Death-Prog stomp and swagger.

That’s not meaning to downplay either of the band’s two previous releases. Their debut, Under the Eight, is a solid (if somewhat familiar) enough slab of heavily Pantera-influenced Death-Thrash, while the follow-up Orogeny (the album which first brought them to wider attention) ups the ante considerably, showcasing the group beginning to truly find their feet and their own sound in a whirling cavalcade of rumbling Death Metal riffs, grinding sludge-soaked grooves, and dizzying prog/tech fretboard freak-outs.

But it’s definitely on the band’s most recent album where their star truly began to shine, culminating in nine tracks of blissful metallic perfection that sound like the members of Crowbar, Misery Index, and Mastodon having one last narcotic-fueled jam at the very end of the world.

Smoke ‘em if you got ‘em! Continue reading »

BENEATH THE NCS RADAR (PART 6)

Album Reviews, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC, SHORT BUT SWEET 2 Responses »

Jan 122016

(This is Part 6 of our Norwegian friend Gorger’s continuing feature on bands we seem to have overlooked at NCS. And be sure to check out Gorger’s Metal.)

Cheers anew, and a headbanging new year. The past has been revisited a bit lately on NSC, a site that typically holds a firm stare into the crystal ball. I have, after hours arguing with myself, decided not to spend days arranging a 2015-favorites list. Thus, at least I can spend some time presenting some infectious releases from the year that kicked the bucket on its own birthday. I hope you’ll find something you’ll pursue and enjoy. Continue reading »

PEDOPHILE PRIESTS: “DARK TRANSGRESSION OF THE SOUL”

Album Reviews 9 Responses »

Jan 112016

(TheMadIsraeli reviews the new album by Pedophile Priests from Dublin, Ireland.)

You see a name like Pedophile Priests and if you’re like me, your first instinct is to dismiss it on account of the name. It’s that kind of shlock, over-the-top band name that just hits you the wrong way. But on the merit of the cover art I decided to look further into their music. What I ended up with was an eccentric top-notch death metal record telling me to take my opinion of their name and shove it up my ass, as well as disembowel myself in a seppuku ritual for the shame of my error.

There is no comparing the sound of Pedophile Priests to, like, fucking anyone. Polish natives who migrated to Ireland for whatever reason decided to produce a brand of death metal full of cheesy lo-fi early ’90s black metal keyboards, ’80s production value aesthetic, technical trail-blazing riffage that borrows from every facet of the late ’80s to early ’90s evolution of death metal, all played with modern song structure conventions and severely over-the-top drumwork and one of the most demonically oppressive and original vocal attacks I’ve ever heard. Continue reading »

LYCUS: “CHASMS”

Album Reviews 8 Responses »

Jan 112016

(Allen Griffin reviews Chasms, the forthcoming second album by Lycus from California’s Bay Area.)

Oakland Doom quartet Lycus, are poised to kick 2016 off with the release of their second album Chasms on Relapse Records. The band have already established themselves with a highly regarded demo (Demo MMXI, released in 2011) and their debut album Tempest, which appeared in 2013 courtesy of 20 Buck Spin.

On this second album, it is now apparent the long shadow that Finnish funeral doom masters Thergothon cast over Lycus. It would be surprising if Lycus were unfamiliar with Thergothon’s sole full-length, Stream from the Heavens; the sorrowful, lumbering rhythms and walls of sustained guitars are here in great abundance. But this isn’t merely idol worship on the part of Lycus. They are certainly adept enough not only to modernize the sound but also to add elements in order to make it their own. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: FUATH — “BLOOD”

Premieres 11 Responses »

Jan 112016

If you know about the Scottish band Saor, then you know the name Andy Marshall. (And if you don’t know about Saor, self-administer some form of harsh penance and then go listen to Aura and Roots without further dawdling.) As he has already proven with Saor, Mr. Marshall is a very talented musician. Like many talented artists, his creativity isn’t fixed within rigid boundaries — as you’re about to discover.

On February 1, Neuropa Records will release the debut album of Fuath, a new black metal project that Andy Marshall created to express other musical interests. The album bears the simple title “I“. As Andy explains:

“I am a massive fan of hypnotic atmospheric black metal, especially early 90’s stuff like Burzum’s Hvis lyset tar oss, early Darkthrone, and also modern bands such as Paysage d’hiver and Vemod.

“I wanted to create a cold, hypnotic and melancholic black metal album which tried to capture the feelings I felt listening to these bands. I always come back to these types of bands when winter comes along and I feel their sounds are perfect for this time of year, almost kind of spiritual in a way.”

R.I.P. DAVID BOWIE

Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC 12 Responses »

Jan 112016

How very depressing. Two of rock’s biggest and most singular icons have now left this world within two weeks of each other.

When I posted about Lemmy’s passing, one of my friends made a half-joking jab (at least I think it was only half-joking) about jumping on the death bandwagon. I guess that might have been true for some people who were lamenting Lemmy’s passing, as it will be about Bowie’s. But not in my case. Continue reading »

THE 2015 DGR PYRITE DEITY AWARDS PRESENTED BY MONSTER ENERGY DRINK SPONSORED BY TAMPAX

LISTMANIA 2015 18 Responses »

Jan 112016

Editor’s Note: Grant Skelton began his own NCS year-end list here by writing, “Since I’m likely the most verbose writer on this site….” Haha. Nope. Not even close. That distinction goes to DGR. His year-end list is not the longest we’ve posted in terms of the number of releases he honors. But in terms of words, it’s like The Great Wall of China, going on and on and on until it becomes one with the horizon… but every album gets its own corporate-sponsored award! Who said there was no money in metal?

******

Listmania has once again taken No Clean Singing into her grubby little paws, devouring anything else that the site may put out into its gaping maw and allowing no information outside of album title upon album title – with pretty picture and album streams included – to escape.

This is the time of year where opinions are validated, egos stroked, outrage fomented, and more often than not the usual album-reviewing duty shirked when the author realizes that he’s a fucking idiot who thought it would be funny to write a novel-length album review and then turn around and create a giant year-ender list where he once again pretty much reviews every album on it. Continue reading »

SUNDAY SEEN AND HEARD (AEGAEON, ALUK TODOLO, CONSTRUCT OF LETHE, INI, SUPPRESSIVE FIRE, VINTERBLOT, VOIDNAGA, WAKE)

RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC 8 Responses »

Jan 102016

For the second day in a row, I’m afraid I’m going to have to throw some new music your way without the enormous benefit of me telling you what it sounds like. I really do like all of these new songs and I wish I had time to explain why, but it’s an NFL playoff weekend and the Seattle oceanic raptors are playing today and I’ll be biting my nails in front of the TV instead of blogging.

Anyway, here’s a big collection of recently released songs from different genres of metal that I heard over the last 24 hours that I hope you’ll like, presented in alphabetical order. (Go Hawks.)

AEGAEON

It’s been two and a half years since we last wrote about this Indiana band, but they finally have some new music. It’s a single called “The Integral Path”, available on Bandcamp. (Thanks to Booker for the tip on this one.) Continue reading »

THE REARVIEW MIRROR (ABSU)

THE REARVIEW MIRROR 6 Responses »

Jan 102016

Eventually, I’m sure Absu would have popped into my head as a subject for one of these Sunday look-backs at metal from years past. But it happened sooner than later because of the announcement a few days ago that Absu would be embarking on their first full American tour since 2013, with stops in 42 cities — preceding the expected release later this year of their new album Apsu. If you want to check the schedule, scroll to the end of this post.

Apsu will be this North Texas band’s eighth studio album in a career that goes back to 1991, and their first one in six years. It completes a trilogy that began with Absu and Abzu. It will be interesting to hear what the band have concocted for this album. It will also be interesting to see the artwork of the very talented Polish artist Zbigniew Bielak, who we’re told has created separate covers for the CD and LP formats, as well as eight individual art pieces based on the album’s lyrical components.

But the point of this post isn’t to speculate about the next album, it’s to scatter a few tracks from the past. Continue reading »

OUR LIST OF 2015’S MOST INFECTIOUS EXTREME METAL SONGS (PART 12)

MOST INFECTIOUS SONGS-2015 10 Responses »

Jan 092016

Welcome to Part 12 of our continuing list of last year’s Most Infectious Extreme Metal Songs. To see the other songs I’ve named to the list so far, click this link.

The albums that were the source of today’s two additions were death metal favorites among readers of our site, and I’m a fan of both of them as well. I decided to group them together because one or both of them seemed to appear just about everywhere I looked in perusing year-end lists at other sites and print zines, and because both bands come from the UK and have names that end in TUM.

SARPANITUM

I wondered whether Sarpanitum’s new album Blessed Be My Brothers would be remembered on year-end lists, given that the album was released way back in February. As noted above, that proved to be a needless concern: the album seems to have appeared everywhere, even on the YE lists of those “big platform” sites whose lists I half-jokingly include in our LISTMANIA series. In this case, all the accolades have been well-deserved — it’s a fantastic album. Continue reading »

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