SEEN AND HEARD: VARATHRON, JUCIFER, HATESPHERE, DECEASE

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  2 Responses »
Sep 092014
 

Here are a few random metal items I spotted yesterday and this morning that I thought were worth sharing.

VARATHON

It’s been a fine year for Greek black metal, and it’s about to get finer with the release of Untrodden Corridors of Hades by Varathron.

Varathron have been a force in the Greek underground scene (and in black metal generally) since the late 80s, but their last album came out in 2009 (Stygian Forces of Scorn), and that was at a point when yours truly hadn’t waded deep enough into black metal waters to become aware of them. I do know of them now, and based on what I’ve heard, this is an album that goes on the “highly anticipated” list.

Also, the album’s cover art is a very fine piece of work by the almighty Mark Riddick — and unlike his usual pen-and-ink work, this one is an acrylic painting. This isn’t the first piece of art Riddick has created for Varathron — but the last one was in 1994! Continue reading »

SHORT BUT SWEET: ILL BREED — “BLACK PANE / BLISTERED”

 Album Reviews, SHORT BUT SWEET  3 Responses »
Sep 092014
 

You’re really not going to find anything better today that costs you nothing — including even the air you’re sucking in — than this two-song single released yesterday by a band from Arizona named Ill Breed. I found it sitting in my e-mail in-box after a long, frustrating day at my fucking day job, and man alive, was it refreshing.

I was in the mood for something crushingly heavy and cathartic and spine-tingling, and when I listened to these two songs, I got all that, and I got more besides.

What’s extra cool about this music is that it’s not all one thing. It’s freaked-out howling feedback and weird noise. It’s skull-clobbering hardcore. It’s tribal drumming and headbanging riff rhythms. It’s strutting, stomping, testerone-fueled chest-baring, topped by venom-spewing, bile-vomiting vocal mayhem. It’s groaning doom chords and hard-jabbing thuggery. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: FISTULA, REVENGE, SHEVILS

 Album Reviews, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  4 Responses »
Sep 082014
 

I thought I’d pass along a few more recently discovered items before calling it quits for the day. Obviously, I think everything in here is worth your time.

FISTULA

I’m about as peace-loving a soul as you could ever meet, yet much of the music I enjoy is violent. Maybe listening to violent music helps me keep cool most of the rest of the time. But I really don’t listen to violent music for therapeutic purposes — I listen to it because I get off on the power and the energy.

Violence in metal takes many forms. Fistula’s new album Vermin Prolificus (released by To Live A Lie Records) is the kind that just wants to beat you senseless with grotesque sludgy riffs and tear your throat out with raw, shrieking vocal extremity. Continue reading »

WHAT I’M LISTENING TO THIS YEAR — PART 3

 Listmania, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  4 Responses »
Sep 082014
 

 

(NCS contributor KevinP shares his latest quarterly round-up of albums that he commends to your ears.) 

We’re getting toward the end of the year and the amount of quality releases hasn’t slowed down one bit.  And there are even more to come as well (Wolfheart, At the Gates, Bloodbath to name a few just off the top of my head).  Here’s 5 more albums you should defintely check out.

Majestic Downfall/The Slow Death split

http://chaos-records.bandcamp.com/album/split

Once this is officially released on September 15th, you should be able to hear all 6 songs (3 by each band), but one listen to the Majestic Downfall track, “The Dark Lullaby”, should give you all you need to know.  The Slow Death is no slouch on this by any means.  Very good and competent funeral-esque doom.  So I don’t blather too much, start listening and see my review here [Editor’s intrusion: I don’t know why I’m letting Kevin link to his own review. I’m going to review this split and it’s the only one you’ll need to read.] Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: ANIL CARRIER (TOWERS OF FLESH)

 Interviews  No Responses »
Sep 082014
 

 

(NCS contributor KevinP interviews the ubiquitous Anil Carrier, pictured above right in the line-up of Britain’s Towers of Flesh. He is also a member of Binah, Exsequor, Necrotize, Purify the Horror, The Solemn Curse, and Theoktony — though we don’t claim that’s a complete list.)

 

K:  I always joke how you are in like 532 bands, so I find it more than ironic we are talking TOWERS OF FLESH today while you are recording the new THEOKTONY.  How do you find the time for all these projects?

A:  Generally it’s very difficult and time consuming. You have to sacrifice a lot to do this on the level that I do.  But as time goes on it definitely becomes worthwhile.

My role in each band differs.  I may play all instruments and compose everything on a record or I might just jump in for the drums and leave the rest to others.

 

K:  Do you ever feel burnt out or the need to just get away from it all with so many projects?

A:  It can sometimes be very tiresome. But I have always been driven to build a body of work and although I wouldn’t say that it’s a selfish need it’s definitely something that drives me to carry on.  I have periods where I don’t write music and other times when I can’t stop, so I wouldn’t say I ever get burnt out. Continue reading »

UNEARTH / SHADOWS FALL / THE ACACIA STRAIN / WAR OF AGES: LIVE AT THE HAIRY DOG, DERBY (Sept 3, 2014)

 Concert Reviews  2 Responses »
Sep 082014
 

 

(In this post Andy Synn reviews a live performance from September 3 in Derby, England.)

I kind of knew already this was going to be a good night, even before setting foot out the door.  For one thing I have never, ever, seen a bad Unearth show — the Massachusetts maulers always bring it hard and hit that sweet spot between metal and core every time. Plus The Hairy Dog is a great venue, both sound and layout wise (and the fact that I wasn’t driving, so could enjoy a few beers, definitely helped too!).

But what would really make the evening special, and a tad bittersweet, was the fact that this would be potentially my last chance to see Shadows Fall live, as the band have announced they are going on an extended hiatus from touring. And, you see, Shadows Fall have been one of my favourite bands ever since I caught them supporting Kittie in Manchester back in February 2002, long before the release of The Art of Balance brought them to the attention of the metal-loving public at large, so this show really would mark, in many ways, the end of an era for me. Continue reading »

VIDEOGRAPHY: DECEPTIC, THE ORDER OF ISRAFEL, EMPTINESS, AND FREE SHIT FROM NAPALM RECORDS

 Exceptions to the Rule, Free Shit, Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  10 Responses »
Sep 082014
 

In this round-up to begin our new week here at NCS, I’ve brought you a trio of recommended videos I spied yesterday plus news of a free music sampler from Napalm Records that’s worth checking out.

DECEPTIC

I discovered this first video via a link sent by our friend “deckard cain“. It’s for a song named “Ocean”, which appears on the debut album (The Artifact) by a band from Gothenburg, Sweden, named Deceptic. deckard wrote that the music reminded him of Textures, Scar Symmetry, and Soilwork, and after I heard the jolting song I thought that was a good summing up of stylistic references.

But the video as a whole is really what landed it at the top of this post. It was made by Igor Omodei, and it is truly a feast for the eyes, with both excellent camera work and editing of the band footage and superb animation and visual effects. I had a smile on my face all the way through, and then my eyes really popped wide in the final 30 seconds. Kudos to Mr. Omodei. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: ATRIARCH, CENTINEX, HEIRESS, GHOST BRIGADE

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  5 Responses »
Sep 072014
 


 

I spent a chunk of yesterday catching up on new music premieres and teasers from last week. I’ve collected four of the best in this post, representing a range of metal styles.

ATRIARCH

Portland’s genre-bending Atriarch are preparing for the release of their third album, An Unending Pathway, via Relapse Records on October 27. It’s available for pre-order here. Last week one of the new album tracks had its premiere. The title is “Collapse”.

This new song is well-named — it sounds like both a physical and an emotional collapse, the kind from which there won’t be a rebuilding. The rumbling drums and sour guitar melody dominate the song, with the vocal mix of horrific growls and psychedelic wails giving it the air of a ritualistic chant. Before it ends, all hell breaks loose; the drums become spine-shattering, the vocals turn to ghastly shrieks, the bass and guitars become an explosive wall of sound. Doom on… Continue reading »

SHORT BUT SWEET: MAZE OF TERROR — “SKULLCRUSHER”

 Album Reviews, SHORT BUT SWEET  9 Responses »
Sep 062014
 

For the music reviewed in this post, we need to turn back the clock. In the first place, the music was released more than two years ago, in June 2012. In the second place, the unholy spirit that surges through the songs is older still — much older — but it’s no less ferocious and its appetite for destruction is still insatiable.

The band’s name is Maze of Terror and they’re based in Lima, Peru. Their sole output to date consists of a five-song EP entitled Skullcrusher, and points must be awarded for truth in advertising: This EP is one hell of a skull crusher.

I could tell you this music is the kind of throat-throttling, honestly deviant, impeccably executed thrash that would have been right at home on mix-tapes from 30 years ago that people are still talking about today. Or I could tell you this: Continue reading »

SHORT BUT SWEET: PHOBIA — “GRIND CORE”

 Album Reviews, SHORT BUT SWEET  1 Response »
Sep 052014
 

(In this post Leperkahn reviews the new EP by Orange County’s Phobia.)

Phobia may have just won the prize for the most hilariously literal release title in existence.

They are releasing a new 7” via Deep Six Records. It’s called Grind Core. If you’ve heard of Phobia before, that’s truly all you need to know to understand this thing slays.

In the hands of most bands, naming your release after the well-established sub genre in which you traffic might be seen as a bit ill-advised. We all might release a collective groan if Morbid Angel named their next album Death Metal, especially after the out-of-touch fiasco that was Ilud Divinum Insanus. A hypothetical new Mayhem album entitled Black Metal would probably warrant a plagiarism lawsuit. But in the hands of Phobia, such a title really does tell you all you need to know before even setting down the needle. It assures you that Phobia haven’t pulled a highly-unlikely genre-180 to explore complextro — and that the band are still churning out grind as potent as ever and aren’t bashful about saying so. Continue reading »

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