OUR LIST OF 2014’S MOST INFECTIOUS EXTREME METAL SONGS: PART 25

 MOST INFECTIOUS SONGS-2014  7 Responses »
Jan 252015
 

We now come to Part 25 of our list of 2014′s Most Infectious Extreme Metal Songs. For more details about what this list is all about and how it was compiled, read the introductory post via this link. For the other songs we’ve previously named to the list, go here.

I could go on at length about both of the songs I’m adding to the list today, because to me the way in which each song is constructed and the musical ingredients the bands folded into them make the songs as interesting as they are catchy — and they are both very catchy. But I’ll hold my verbiage to a minimum and let the music speak for itself.

MACHINE HEAD

A lot of bands would have been quite happy to end “Now We Die” at about the three-and-a-half minute mark, and it would have been a fine, hard-rocking, heavy-grooved piece of business without anything more. But this is Machine Head and of course they weren’t about to stop. Continue reading »

OUR LIST OF 2014’S MOST INFECTIOUS EXTREME METAL SONGS: PART 24

 MOST INFECTIOUS SONGS-2014  9 Responses »
Jan 232015
 

For those of you (if any) who’ve been following this series like bloodhounds on a fox’s trail, you will have noticed that I missed adding entries for the last two days. I was more distracted than usual (usually I’m distracted by things like passing cars and the need to chase them), but let’s forget about the explanations and just forge ahead.

For more details about what this list is all about and how it was compiled, read the introductory post via this link. For the other songs we’ve previously named to the list, go here.

TRIPTYKON

The next song I’m adding to the list is “Aurorae” from Triptykon’s Melana Chasmata. I’m adding it not just because of the gripping drum beats or the gravelly riffs or the lead guitar chimes or the transfixing solo or the transfixing vocals or the vivid atmosphere of the song. In addition to all that, in addition to the music’s infectiousness, there’s this: Continue reading »

ANDY SYNN’S LIST OF THE TOP 10 SONGS OF 2014

 LISTMANIA 2014  6 Responses »
Jan 232015
 

(We have one more late addition to our LISTMANIA 2014 series — Andy Synn’s personal list of the Top 10 songs of 2014.)

So it turns out I’m not quite done making lists. Who’d have thought? (Answer: anyone who’s been paying the slightest bit of attention over the last couple of years… but I digress…)

This time around I’ve chosen my favourite single songs of last year, with little regard from the actual albums they come from, or the genre they represent. It’s just a selection of tracks which, for whatever reason, helped to define 2014 for me personally.

There’s an almost distressing lack of outright brutality on the list this time around as well… maybe it means I’m mellowing in my old age? Or that last year was a surprisingly un-brutal year? Or… and this is just a possibility… maybe it’s just a complete coincidence. Continue reading »

DEVOURING STAR: “THROUGH LUNG AND HEART”:

 Album Reviews  4 Responses »
Jan 232015
 

 

(In this post Austin Weber reviews the new release by Finland’s Devouring Star, which is available now from Daemon Worship.)

When I first wrote about Devouring Star here at NCS last year, they were a newly formed act who drew my attention with a incredibly dense and chilling demo of unnerving and chaotic black metal. After my first post about them, they hooked up with Daemon Worship Productions for the release of a new album entitled Through Lung And Heart. and we were fortunate to premiere the track “Decayed Son Of Earth” last November (here). Coincidentally, NCS writer Badwolf likewise premiered another track off it, “To Traverse The Black Flame”, over at Invisible Oranges where he is currently that site’s editor.

For those still unfamiliar with Devouring Star, they are a Finnish act that draw a sizable influence from the stylings and form of black metal that Deathspell Omega founded. However, I would venture to say the inspiration has more to do with informing the sonic ingredients that Devouring Star use in their compositions than sounding like a copycat act or watered-down hero worship. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: TOO DAMNED MANY NAMES TO LIST (AGAIN)

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  10 Responses »
Jan 232015
 

Well, the last time I did what I’m about to do, I had breaking news and new music concerning 18 bands that all became public in a single day. That was two days ago. And now I’ve got a collection of song streams and videos from 19 bands that I spotted since I wrote that last post, all of which I think are worth recommending.

Most of what’s in here is brand new; a few of songs are simply new to me. Once again, because this collection is so overstuffed, I’m presenting what I found with a minimum of commentary… in alphabetical order by band name. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: GRAVEYARD AFTER GRAVEYARD — “OUT TO FEED”

 Premieres  7 Responses »
Jan 232015
 

 

Graveyard After Graveyard combines the talents of Jocke Ringdahl (ex-Paganizer, Sinners Burn) on drums; the ubiquitous Rogga Johansson (Paganizer, Ribspreader, etc.) on guitar, bass, and vocals; and Mika Lagreen (ex-Facebreaker, Grave) on lead guitars and solos. They released a self-titled EP in 2014 and then a debut album last year as well — Bagged and Dragged To A Fullmoon Burial.

But Graveyard After Graveyard have written so many songs that another new release is already on the way. Soon, Chaos Records will be releasing another EP by the band entitled Hellhound On My Trail, from which we are delighted to premiere a track named “Out To Feed”.

There’s a lot of death metal pedigree in those names listed above, but “Out To Feed” goes off in a different direction, albeit one that’s no less nasty and extreme. Continue reading »

FREE SHIT: A DARK DESCENT NEW RELEASE SAMPLER

 Free Shit, Metal News  4 Responses »
Jan 222015
 

 

Today’s e-mails brought news of a just-released digital sampler of music by the reliable Dark Descent label that’s available on Bandcamp for “name your own price” — and it includes a killer line-up of bands on the Dark Descent roster and songs from brand new or forthcoming albums. So, when I label this post “free shit”, I certainly don’t mean to discourage financial contributions toward this label’s praise-worthy work.

After the jump you can stream the entire sampler and find a link to the Bandcamp page where you can acquire this gem for yourself. But first, here’s the line-up of bands, most of whom we’ve previously lauded here at NCS: Continue reading »

SHOW REVIEW: CRYPTODIRA, WINGS DENIED, DEAD BY DESIGN (JAN 15, 2014, NEW ALBANY, INDIANA)

 Concert Reviews  1 Response »
Jan 222015
 

(Austin Weber wrote this show review, and music streams are included.)

At the very beginning of 2014, January 14th to be exact, I was finally able to see upstart New York prog-metal wunderkinds Cryptodira for the first time live. It was a show that I covered for NCS with resident photographer Nik Vechery taking some killer pictures. I mention this because as we move into 2015, I got to see Cryptodira again, and eerily enough, just a day later in January than when I saw them last year. What another fitting start to the year.

Unfortunately, due to my boss not telling me he was able to get my shift covered until I showed up for work the night of the show, I was unable to have Nik accompany me and take pictures. Normally I would have borrowed someone’s camera, but I couldn’t make that happen on such short notice,  so most of the photos in this post were taken on my sub-par quality phone camera, with a few Cryptodira shots taken by the fill-in vocalist for Wings Denied, Jeff Klemm. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: BEYOND GRACE — “OMEGA POINT”

 Premieres  15 Responses »
Jan 222015
 

 

Today we bring you the North American premiere of a new single and lyric video from Beyond Grace, a UK-based band that features our own Andy Synn as vocalist/lyricist. The song’s name is “Omega Point”, it features cover art by Michael Cowell with video production by Kevin Desjardin, and it’s the first song to be revealed from the band’s new album Seekers. As of today, the band are also making the song available for download on Bandcamp.

“Omega Point” melds together jolting, heavy-grooved riffs and drum work, darting guitar flurries, and swirling melodies that are as fluid as the the rest of the music is spine-snapping. It’s the kind of song that successfully joins high-voltage, technically impressive instrumental assaults that punch really hard with beautiful melodic guitar soloing that seems to glide effortlessly. The result is a song that’s memorable, as well as immediately galvanizing. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE (AND A FREE DOWNLOAD): HELRUNAR — “DEVILS, DEVILS EVERYWHERE”

 Premieres  5 Responses »
Jan 222015
 

Lupus Lounge (a division of Prophecy Productions) has announced that on February 27 in Europe and March 3 in North America it will release the new album by Germany’s Helrunar — Niederkunfft. Today we bring you not only a premiere of one of the new songs — “Devils, Devils Everywhere” — but also a chance to download the song for free.

The new album marks a change for Helrunar, both in their lyrical focus and in their sound. Conceptually, the new album addresses historical subjects, described as the narrative of “European people on the threshold between the Middle Ages and modern times, surrounded by superstition and fear, torn between religion and the Enlightenment”.

Musically, the Helrunar duo have also branched out from their pagan black metal roots, and “Devils, Devils Everywhere” is a good introduction to the way in which they have incorporated new elements. Continue reading »

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