SEEN AND HEARD: VESANIA, SCAR SYMMETRY, DEATH WOLF, EXODUS

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  2 Responses »
Sep 262014
 

 

I failed to pull together a round-up of new music yesterday — as you may have noticed, we were pretty busy with a lot of other goings-on at the site. What that means is that I now have two days’ worth of new things to pore over in deciding what to throw your way.

And man, it has been one hell of a week for new songs and videos. I’m having trouble remembering another one so filled with worthy new debuts. Unfortunately, this means I won’t be able to cover everything that deserves to be covered. But we soldier on as best we can.

VESANIA

Yesterday brought a torrent of news from this excellent Polish supergroup whose music my comrade Andy Synn once described as “crushing blackened-death metal with a lunatic, symphonic twist”. Vesania’s discography, as it then existed, was the subject of one of Andy’s SYNN REPORTs in 2012, but that report is about to be rendered incomplete, because… Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE: BULLETBELT — “RISE OF THE BANSHEE”

 Premieres  3 Responses »
Sep 252014
 

 

(We thank New Zealand-based metal writer and broadcaster Craig Hayes for the following introduction to our premiere of a full stream of the new album by New Zealand’s awesome Bulletbelt.)

 

Bands like Diocletian, Vassafor, Ulcerate, and Beastwars have done a lot to spread various strains of New Zealand metal around the globe in recent years, and there’s no doubt that the nation’s heaviest music is infecting more fans than ever. Of course, those bands are just the tip of the iceberg, because the New Zealand metal scene is packed to the gunnels with a diverse range of virulent bands, all showing a diehard strength of will.

Case in point: Bulletbelt.

The Wellington-based five-piece features long-serving members from New Zealand’s metal community, and draws a riotous crossover crowd at home. Bulletbelt’s fiery full-length debut, 2012’s Down in the Cold of the Grave, was certainly framed by black metal, but thrash, traditional metal, and punk rock’s vicious bite were all given free reign, too. Continue reading »

ANDY SYNN PRESENTS: REVIEWS IN HAIKUS — FROM THE VASTLAND, NACHTMYSTIUM, ABAZAGORATH

 Album Reviews, Reviews In Haikus  2 Responses »
Sep 252014
 

 

(Andy Synn delivers another installment of his irregular series of album reviews in haiku. Two more reviews come after the jump. With music, of course.)

Time for some more of your favourite bastardised poetry, courtesy of another edition of the world-famous Reviews in Haikus!

This time around we’ve got three bands all dressed in various shades of Black (Metal) for you to enjoy…

 

FROM THE VASTLAND – TEMPLE OF DAEVAS

A huge step forward

Blistered vocals, blazing riffs

Burning black magic

https://www.facebook.com/fromthevastland
http://www.non-serviam-records.com Continue reading »

VIDEOGRAPHY: FOSCOR, WILL Z. AND FRANCESCA MARONGIU, JOHANNES MAIER AND HIS STUDENTS

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  No Responses »
Sep 252014
 

I was about to write that the videos collected in this post are off our usual beaten path, but upon reflection I concluded that we don’t really have a single beaten path. It’s more like a tangle of different paths from which the wanderer usually emerges beaten. Like an ant swarm, there may be a pattern in them, but when viewed from the air they would appear chaotic. Nevertheless, these videos in different respects are still probably off on tangents from the usual tangle at this site. Onward we go!

FOSCOR

The Spanish band Foscor trace their roots back to 1997. Since that time they’ve released three full-length albums, all of which have recently been made available on Bandcamp (here), along with the rest of their back catalogue. They’ve completed work on a fourth album, Those Horrors Wither, which is projected for release on November 25 (CD and vinyl). In advance of that, the band are releasing a 7″ single named Graceful Pandora, which includes the title track (it will appear on the album) and a second song, “Grand Believer” (which was recorded during the sessions for the new album).

Recently the band premiered a music video for “Graceful Pandora” that’s interesting to watch and interesting to hear. It’s perhaps even more impressive because the video was written and produced by the band and directed by Foscor guitarist Falke (with cinematography by Adrià Escanilla). Both the song and the video take as their subject the legend of Pandora and what she unwittingly set free upon the world by opening the famous box. As the band explain: Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: REXOR — “DEMIGORGON”

 Premieres  7 Responses »
Sep 252014
 

 

I suppose if I were a responsible person I would tell you to proceed with caution, like a traffic sign on a highway to hell that’s about to drop precipitously into a lake of blood. But instead, my advice is to take your seatbelt off and floor it — that’s the best way to experience the new song we’re premiering from Italy’s Rexor today, because that’s the way they drive, too.

Rexor’s debut album, Ain, appeared in 2008, and their most recent release was a 2012 EP named Nox Obscura Sortis. Their new album is entitled Ut Humanitatem Caedant, and its advent is nearly upon us. As a sign of what awaits within, we bring you “Demigorgon”. It begins with a prelude that’s heavy with an air of infernal majesty — and then it explodes. There’s really no other word for it.

The drumwork is off the hook, a frenzied, hyperspeed display of almost inhuman dexterity and vehemence. The riffs are like a hail of razors. The vocals are pure acid spray. But as this dynamic song progresses and begins to slow into a wounded stagger, the bass almost becomes the dominant instrument (at the very least it seized my attention). Harnessed together, all of these elements of the music deliver an experience that’s energizing, malignant, ominous, and draped in a melodic atmosphere of unavoidable doom. It’s black metal that’s ravaging and powerful. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: BLUT AUS NORD — “PAIEN”

 Premieres  3 Responses »
Sep 252014
 

Two years ago Blut Aus Nord produced their last full-length album, Cosmosophy, which brought to a resounding close the 777 trilogy. Every album in the trilogy drew praise from critics and fans alike, despite the fact that no one of them sounded quite like any of the others. Cosmosophy left wide open the intriguing question of where Vindsval would go next — though in fairness, with a band as inventive, idiosyncratic, and contrarian as this one, that’s always a question.

Where Blut Aus Nord have gone next is a new album named Memoria Vetusta III — Saturnian Poetry, which will be released by Debemur Morti Productions on October 10. Having completed the very personal 777 project, in which Vindsval chose to work alone, the new album features a new drummer, a human one named Thorns, as well as stellar cover art by none other than Kristian “Necrolord” Wahlin (with layout and illustrations by Dehn Sora). “But what about the music?”, you ask.

The reappearance of the Memoria Vetusta title will no doubt have fans thinking about the first two albums bearing that same name, despite the fact that Dialogue With the Stars followed Fathers of the Icy Age by roughly 13 years and Saturnian Poetry comes more than five years after the release of Dialogue. In short, this is no trilogy; unlike 777, these are not three parts of a single massive piece of music. But at the same time the resurrection of that title, which refers to memories of what is long past, was not done carelessly — as you will hear. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: ABYSMAL DAWN, CANNIBAL CORPSE, ENTOMBED A.D.

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  3 Responses »
Sep 242014
 

This has been a big day for song and video premieres. In fact, all we’ve done today is post about song and video premieres. And in this post you’ll find three more.

ABYSMAL DAWN

As previously reported (with glee), Abysmal Dawn have a new album named Obsolescence coming out October 24 (Ger/Benelux/Finland) and October 27 (US/UK/World). It will be released by Relapse Records on CD, LP, and digitally. About an hour ago the band dropped another new song from the album named “The Inevitable Return To Darkness”.

It’s one heavy-assed ripper that kicks open the door to a death metal blast furnace. It’s fully loaded with technically impressive (and inventive) instrumental performances and voracious vocal filth, and it includes some cool dual-guitar harmony. Also, I can pretty much guarantee you’re going to want to bang your head like a bobble-head on a roller-coaster. Continue reading »

BLOODBATH BEGINS STREAMING THE FIRST NEW SONG FROM “GRAND MORBID FUNERAL”

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  21 Responses »
Sep 242014
 

About a week ago it was revealed that Bloodbath’s new vocalist is none other than Nick Holmes, the vocalist of Paradise Lost. At that time, it was further reported that the new album (Grand Morbid Funeral) “will see the return of the ravenous and cavernous growl that marked Paradise Lost’s debut album, Lost Paradise.”

Well, now you get to test the accuracy of that forecast, because the band have today premiered the first advance track from the new album — “Unite In Pain”.

This is an exclusive song stream, which means I can’t embed it for you. And fuck, I can’t even tell you what it sounds like, because, thanks to my fucking day job, I’m in a place at the moment where I can’t listen. But don’t let that stop you — here’s the link where you can find the song, and then feel free to leave Comments and let us know what you think: Continue reading »

HIDEOUS DIVINITY: “THE ALONEST OF THE ALONE”

 Premieres  1 Response »
Sep 242014
 

 

Earlier this month we featured the first advance track from Cobra Verde, the new album by Italy’s Hideous Divinity, and today we have the pleasure of featuring a second one, in the form of a lyric video. This track is named “The Alonest Of The Alone” and it features Dallas Toler-Wade from Nile and Narcotic Wasteland).

Cobra Verde will be released by Unique Leader on October 28 in the U.S. and on October 27 in the UK and October 31 in the EU. As we previously reported, it’s a concept record inspired by the 1987 German film of the same name directed by Werner Herzog and starring Klaus Kinski in his final collaboration with Herzog before his death. The album also includes a cover of “Last and Only Son” by Ripping Corpse (from their 1992 EP Industry).

“The Alonest of the Alone” is yet further proof that Cobra Verde will be an unusually accomplished rendering of sonic savagery, combining a lot of highly accelerated technical whiz-bang with a talent for pummeling grooves and seductive melody. It abundantly earns the appellation of “brutality” without falling into the cesspool of mindless wankery or commonplace brutishness. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: HELLISH OUTCAST — “HERESIARCH” (AND A REVIEW OF “STAY OF EXECUTION”)

 Album Reviews, Premieres  3 Responses »
Sep 242014
 

 

(In this post we present Andy Synn’s review of the forthcoming second album by Norway’s Hellish Outcast and an exclusive premiere of the song “Heresiarch.)

It’s always nice to see a band you love progress and move forward. Whether it’s in terms of getting proggier and weirder, or just downright heavier and nastier, it’s always such a joy to watch them grow up.

Case in point: It’s been two and a half years since Hellish Outcast unleashed their debut album of fist-clenching riffage and throat-bursting agony on the world, but it’s clear that they’ve not been idle in the intervening time.

No, they’ve been sharpening their knives, honing their skills, and biding their time. And now they’re ready for war once again.

Faster, heavier… fundamentally darker and more malevolent than ever, Stay of Execution improves on the band’s debut in pretty much every way, drastically ramping up the kill-count with a merciless display of calculated lethality and an undercurrent of sinister, progressive melody. Continue reading »

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