AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: ARTIFICIAL BRAIN — “ABSORBING BLACK IGNITION”

 Premieres  5 Responses »
Dec 162014
 

 

(We interrupt our seemingly endless series of year-end lists to bring you a video premiere by a band whose 2014 album is cropping up on many of them — with an introduction by Austin Weber.)

Let’s be honest, as far as metal releases go in 2014, few have been as praised and visible throughout numerous year-end lists as Artificial Brain’s Labyrinth Constellation. Thus, the remainder of this year shall be renamed The Year of the Brain. And for good reason! Getting to see them live this year was a mind-blowing experience for me.

While I don’t want to re-hash what I said in my review, I can sum it up as a highly creative album that keeps aggression and white-hot intensity at the forefront in spite of its progressive nature, keeping things oddly catchy while making sure each song has its own identity, effortlessly worming its way into your skull. A lot of metal critics pussy out on putting death metal releases on year-end lists, so imagine my pleasant surprise when I saw that Labyrinth Constellation has already appeared on so many. Not only that, but another big reason this is The Year of the Brain is because the band were featured in a clip on the CBS show Elementary; and hell, even Lucy Liu says the band’s name in the clip! Continue reading »

2014 – A YEAR IN REVIEW(S): THE GOOD ALBUMS

 LISTMANIA 2014  22 Responses »
Dec 162014
 

 

(Here’s Part Two of Andy Synn’s five-part series on his reflections about metal albums released in 2014. His list of the year’s “Great” albums appeared here yesterday.)

What separates the truly “Great” from the merely “Good”? A variety of things really. Sometimes it’s not much at all. Some of these albums actually come within a hair’s breadth of achieving true greatness, while others stumble a little more obviously along the way.

It could be that they’re too long, or too short… too ambitious, or not ambitious enough… or just in some way lacking that singular spark which defines true greatness.

That being said, each of these albums is, in their own way, a damn fine listen, visceral, intense, and a worthy addition to anyone’s collection – just because they’re not defined here as one of the truly “Great” albums of the year, doesn’t mean they’re not very, very, good.

And some of these albums are definitely very good. Continue reading »

LISTMANIA 2014: STEREOGUM’S “50 BEST METAL ALBUMS OF 2014”

 LISTMANIA 2014  18 Responses »
Dec 162014
 

 

Here we have yet another list of best metal albums of 2014 from yet another “big platform” web site, i.e., one with a large online audience that doesn’t cater mainly to metalheads. This time the list comes from Stereogum.

I’ve been waiting for this one, not because I thought it would be amusing in the way that lists from other such places are often amusing, but because there are some studs who put the Stereogum list together: The list was compiled by Michael Nelson, Ian Chainey, Aaron Lariviere, Wyatt Marshall, and Doug Moore.

To be clear, I don’t have any personal knowledge of their sexual exploits, but these are people whose opinions about metal I respect — their monthly Stereogum column, “The Black Market”, is one I always make time to read even when I don’t have time to read much of anything else in the sphere of metal writing.

As Michael Nelson explains in his entertaining and thought-provoking introduction to the list, it’s a result of compromise — the give-and-take among these five writers, not compromises dictated by editorial direction and pandering to readership demographics, which is the kind of smell I’ve gotten from a few other lists from other places that I’ve re-posted here. Continue reading »

ENSLAVED: NEW ALBUM AND TOUR NEWS — “IN TIMES”

 Metal News  5 Responses »
Dec 152014
 

Norway’s Enslaved have been teasing their new album for months, but today brought some especially enticing details — along with the announcement of a month-long North American tour next March, with support from YOB and Ecstatic Vision.

First, the album news: The title of this 13th studio full-length is In Times, it features painted artwork by Truls Espedal, and it will be released on March 6 in Europe and March 10 in North America. The artwork is wonderful, so let’s have a look at it next (click the image to view a larger version): Continue reading »

LISTMANIA 2014: SPIN MAGAZINE’S 20 BEST METAL ALBUMS OF 2014

 LISTMANIA 2014  11 Responses »
Dec 152014
 


As part of our continuing effort to re-publish “best metal” lists by certain magazines and “big platform” web sites, we’re now bringing you The 20 Best Metal Albums of 2014 as chosen by the staff of SPIN — which used to be a print magazine from 1985 – 2012 but now currently runs as a webzine.

I’m actually just guessing that SPIN qualifies as a “big platform” site, since I haven’t found any statistics about their on-line viewership. They used to have a substantial newsstand presence and they do currently have more than 525,000 likes on Facebook, so I guess that means something. Continue reading »

LISTMANIA 2014: VONLUGHLIO’S TOP 50 ALBUMS OF THE YEAR

 LISTMANIA 2014  19 Responses »
Dec 152014
 

 

(As he has in years past, long-time NCS supporter Vonlughlio from the Dominican Republic brings us his list of favorite albums released during the year that’s now ending.)

So the time has arrived to post my favorite albums of 2014 and I would like to thank Mr. Islander for sharing my list for the third year in a row. Back in 2012 my list was just 25, and last year it was 40. This year makes it 50, but rest assured it will stay that way for the future.

All the days spent creating my list and the several drafts were all a clusterfuck of sorts, because I enjoyed so many releases that I just kept on looking and listening to the albums I got this year. Now I understand why some people (like Islander) don’t make a list — it’s damn hard. On the other hand, there were albums that I always knew would be on my list. Anyways, I would like to take the opportunity to thank all the contributors here at NCS — really amazing job on this site. Continue reading »

HONE YOUR SENSE: “ABSOLUTE SENSES”

 Album Reviews  1 Response »
Dec 152014
 

 

(TheMadIsrael reviews the debut album of Hone Your Sense from Japan.)

The Japanese produce some fucking titanic metalcore and deathcore.  It’s one of their exports that has stuck out to me consistently.  Hone Your Sense is a metalcore/deathcore hybrid that doesn’t fuck around in the slightest.  They have riffs, attitude, intensity, and they beat you to death without the slightest inch of mercy but with an overwhelming amount of class.

Absolute Senses is the debut full-length of these dudes, following a rather killer EP, Tri-Jolt.  They take their influences from the more technical, bruisier, and ballsier side of their metalcore sound in particular.  You’ll think Unearth, Bleeding Through, and Himsa while listening, and the result is a debut free from fluff, bullshit, or meandering.  Their sound is that same fusion of hardcore brawn, thrash speed and technicality, and death metal bludgeoning the previously mentioned bands were known for to one degree or another.  I’m pretty in love with this record, have been since I discovered it a few months ago. Continue reading »

2014 — A YEAR IN REVIEWS: THE GREAT ALBUMS

 LISTMANIA 2014  27 Responses »
Dec 152014
 

 

(Today Andy Synn begins his perennial retrospective on the metal of 2014.)

That’s right, every day this week I’ll be publishing a new list covering as much of the past year in Metal as possible. For those of you unfamiliar with the way I do things (and for those of you who’ve understandably blocked last year from your mind), here’s how it’s going to go…

Today I’ll be posting an extensive list of the The Great albums of 2014, those I think really went above and beyond and which embody the absolute best that the year has to offer. There’s a whole host of different genres represented, and a plethora of different bands, young and old, from around the world and across the metal spectrum.

Tomorrow I’ll be posting about The Good albums of the year, another rather extensive list that runs the gamut from solid examples of the genre, to those albums teetering on the edge of greatness, without quite reaching the highest of heights.

Then, on Wednesday, you’ll be seeing the (potentially) contentious list of The Disappointing albums from 2014 – not necessarily “bad” albums, per se (though one or two of them definitely are!), but more a collection of albums that fully failed to live up to what they could have been.

Then, finally, Thursday and Friday, will see the publication of my “Critical Top 10” and “Personal Top 10” lists… about which I’ll say more closer to the time.

So, with all that preamble out of the way, let’s get into the real meat of things, shall we? Continue reading »

“THAT’S METAL!” — BUT IT’S NOT MUSIC (NO. 92)

 That's Metal -- But It's Not Music  9 Responses »
Dec 142014
 

 

It’s been six weeks since I compiled one of these posts. I was going to let another week go by because laziness is my master but then I got some messages from Phro demanding entertainment which somehow he did not find in my Hetroertzen review from earlier today so I relented and sacrificed some time at the gym and wrote this thing making sure to begin it with a long run-on sentence because running is supposed to be exercise and since I’m not going to the gym I need some kind of substitute.

And since Phro caused me to lose my desperately needed gym time, I’m going to embarrass him and stream this version of “Jingle Bells” that he recorded using a koto that he allegedly played with his own hands, accompanied by some computer-generated orchestration.

 

 

Okay, now that I’ve embarrassed Phro (and believe me, that’s a Herculean task), let’s get to the business at hand — a new collection of videos, images, and news items that I think are metal even though they’re not metal music. I have eight items for you today. Continue reading »

HETROERTZEN: “AIN SOPH AUR”

 Album Reviews  1 Response »
Dec 142014
 

 

Here and there, Ain Soph Sur is adorned with the trappings of ecclesiastical music — angelic choirs and near-operatic male vocals, monastic chants and Latin verses, an overarching aura of mysticism and stately grandeur. In these moments, you can almost smell the aroma of incense wafting from a swinging thurible, and I half-expected to hear the chords of a cathedral organ (actually, I think I do hear them on one song).

But if the album sometimes brings to mind the musical accompaniment to a mass, it is a Luciferian hymnal, a celebration of the coming of the light-bringer. In Qabbalistic philosophy, “Ain Soph Aur” is an aspect of the Absolute —  the limitless or eternal light; in this album, it burns like a conquering fire. Continue reading »

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