NO! CLEAN SINGING?

 Mosh Pit  24 Responses »
Mar 172015
 


“Prince” by Andrzej Masianis

(Andy Synn has been thinking… and here’s what he’s been thinking about…)

Recently I was chatting with some friends after a show on the topic of clean singing in metal – its history, its use, its place, and its purpose… the how, the when, and the why of it…. and it got me thinking. Thinking hard enough to put together this little piece of persuasive ponderment anyway.

Of course clean singing has been a part of the metal landscape since the genre’s very inception, and despite this site’s (tongue-in-cheek) name we definitely understand and respect it for its importance and its contribution over the years. Heck, I can honestly say that I LOVE a lot of cleanly sung metal, from the majestic melancholy of Primordial and the devastating bombast of Nevermore, through the gritty gallows-humour of Sentenced and the shameless extravagance of Devin Townsend… and that’s not even counting the umpteen bands who intermingle clean/harsh vocals with aplomb!

But when we’re talking about the more extreme styles of metal that we tend to cover here at NCS, clean singing can often be a contentious issue. And I can understand why, as it’s possible to get it very, very wrong when it comes to clean singing. Continue reading »

STREAM ALKALOID’S NEW ALBUM: “THE MALKUTH GRIMOIRE”

 Metal News  6 Responses »
Mar 162015
 

 

If you’ve been paying attention to our persistent frothing at the mouth over the forthcoming album by “super-group” Alkaloid, or if you only happened to catch our premiere of the title track from The Malkuth Grimoire, then we have some very good news for you. And if the band’s name is still one you haven’t yet come across, look at the line-up, and then we’ll give you the news:

Morean (Dark Fortress, Noneuclid) – Vocals, Guitars
Christian Muenzner (Spawn of Possession, Ex-Obscura, Ex-Necrophagist) – Guitars
Danny Tunker (Aborted, Ex-God Dethroned) – Guitars
Linus Klausenitzer (Obscura, Noneuclid) – Bass
Hannes Grossmann (Blotted Science, Ex-Obscura, Ex-Necrophagist) – Drums

 And the news is that the entire album can be streamed in its entirety as of today. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: NARBELETH

 Interviews  3 Responses »
Mar 162015
 

 

(We welcome back Karina Noctum, who delivers an interview with Dakkar of the one-man Cuban black metal band Narbeleth.)

Narbeleth is black metal made in the most adverse conditions in Cuba. When I first heard about this band I was impressed because of their achievements, then I listened to the music and I really liked it. It’s a display of raw feeling and I really appreciate that in a band.

Not always can you learn something good from BM bands; it is almost the opposite. But when it comes to Narbeleth, they are living proof that passion for metal knows no boundaries, and that the impossible can become possible if you work hard enough and never give up. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: SCALAFREA — “PERCEPTIONS OF TIME”

 Premieres  5 Responses »
Mar 162015
 

 

(Austin Weber introduces our premiere of a new song by Scalafrea.)

Today we have an incredible new song to share with the fine readers here at NCS. The track in question, “Perceptions Of Time”, comes from a new EP, Opposites In Polarity, by Colorado-based technical death metal trio Scalafrea. I’ve been following this band for several years after stumbling onto them through Metal-Archives. While they might not be the household name they should be, these guys have previously released an EP and a full-length that are head and shoulders above most of their peers in their style of metal.

The reasons they are so good bring to mind parallels to what Cephalic Carnage have done so well: They have a hodge-podge style that draws from all over the musical map and they couple that style with a penchant for writing songs, as Cephalic Carnage used to do, that are rather non-linear and that generally avoid repeating parts. Continue reading »

DELIVERED AT THE SPEED OF PRINT: BLACK AND WHITE DISCOVERIES — SIBERIAN HELL SOUNDS, A BAND OF ORCS, AETHER REALM

 Album Reviews, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC, SHORT BUT SWEET  3 Responses »
Mar 162015
 

 

(DGR hath delivered the following round-up of two new EPs and one new single.)

It’s been a little while since I’ve had time to really trawl around the internet and pen up one of these humongous roundups — mostly because smaller descriptions have been mutating into full album reviews. Often, I’ve used this kind of feature to help folks catch up with stuff they might have missed (or that we missed) and discover things that may have happened weeks ago, but flew under our collective radars. This time we’re having a little fun and attempting to bring a theme with this one — the theme of desaturated artwork, because what is more METAL than black-and-white artwork?

The answer is “nothing”, for it is bereft of all color, like our hardened and blackened souls. So I present unto you the most recent collection of things I have found, which actually share not one, but two things connected to the printed format: They are in black-and-white, and I was really fucking slow in writing about them and getting them out to you. Continue reading »

ESSENTIAL ENTRIES: FEBRUARY 2015

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  4 Responses »
Mar 162015
 

 

(In this post Dan Barkasi continues his monthly series recommending music from the month just ended.)

Here we go for round two of Essential Entries. You guessed it – we’re covering February this time. Yeah, yeah, suspense isn’t this guy’s strong point.

January gave us genius like Desolate Shrine and Agos, which is just what was needed to start things off right. How does February measure up? To quote one of the greatest movie trilogies of all time, “Great Scott!” If you don’t get that, I bestow upon you great shame. But yeah, February did bring the noise (no Public Enemy included). Here’s the proof, in no particular order.

A Forest of Stars – Beware the Sword You Cannot See

Self-described as a secret society from Victorian-era 1895, A Forest of Stars compose music that’s as intricate and unique as their theming. Black metal with a lot of psychedelic elements is the most basic description, but really, their music is so much more. It’s a continuing story, and their latest chapter is awe-inspiring. Invest the time, as there’s a lot of layers, with the payoff being oh so worth it. Continue reading »

TOURISM: CRYPTOPSY, ALLEGAEON, MELVINS, MAID MYRIAD, THE FINE CONSTANT, FULL TERROR ASSAULT, AGALLOCH

 Metal News  3 Responses »
Mar 152015
 

 

(In this post Austin Weber updates us with news of forthcoming metal tours.)

Metal Injections Presents: Cryptopsy/Soreption/Erimha US Tour

It’s been several years since Cryptopsy have toured the United States, but now they’re coming back, and they’re bringing along some sick support acts to sweeten the deal. Soreption is definitely a favorite around here at NCS. Their sleek combination of mechanical grooves and technical death metal is incredible, and last year’s Engineering The Void was an amazing effort by the band. US Death metal act Disgorge and Montreal-based black/death group Erimha round out the tour bill. Continue reading »

RAPID ROUND-UP: MACABRE OMEN, TENGGER CAVALRY, MOONSORROW, AKHLYS

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  1 Response »
Mar 152015
 

 

(Our Norwegian friend eiterorm has stepped up to assist with a round-up of recommended new music.)

While Islander is away on duties, I promised to do a quick round-up of some of the news I find. Due to my music-to-words converter running at low capacity at the moment, I’ll leave it to you to find descriptive words for the music. So if you find that adjectives and metaphors are lacking, feel free to add your own in the comment field below. Despite the scarcity of words in this post, however, all the music below is highly recommended. Don’t just take my word for it; stream it all and hear for yourself.

Macabre Omen

Macabre Omen was founded in 1994 on the island of Rhodes in Greece. For the next decade, they recorded a variety of demos and splits until their debut album, entitled The Ancient Returns, was released in 2005. Now, another decade later, the Hellenes have unleashed their sophomore album upon us. The new opus, entitled Gods of War – At War, is an hour-long collection of epic hymns to Hellenic warfare, in the musical vein of Bathory. The entire album can be streamed below for your auditory pleasure. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: IN LIEU OF ISLANDER… AGAIN (PT. II)

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  5 Responses »
Mar 142015
 

 

(Having heard of my job-related inability to assemble round-ups of new music for the last week (and the one that’s coming), Austin Weber has once again graciously stepped up to fill the void. This is Part 2 of a round-up of new music, which began here.)

Dawn Of Dementia

Both Islander and I have written about Lafayette, Indiana-based technical death metal act Dawn Of Dementia before. The band traffic in a highly melodic form of technical death metal, and their newly dropped track, “A Subterranean Exposure”, shows them executing at an even higher level than on their previously released (and amazing) EP, Residuum.

I had the honor of getting to see Dawn Of Dementia play live in my hometown of Louisville, Kentucky, last fall, and these guys are the real deal. Their forthcoming album, Immolation Of  Avernis, is shaping up to be quite an impressive debut. Continue reading »

CHECKING IN (WITH MUSIC BY GEOFFREY CASTLE)

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  9 Responses »
Mar 142015
 

artwork by Kirill

I hope all of you are having, have had, or will have a good Saturday. For those who missed my “Blog Slowdown” post last weekend, I’m mired in an out-of-town project for my fucking day job,  a 7-day-a-week, 18-hour-per-day grind that’s now about halfway complete, with about 10 days left.

I’ve had very little time to do much at NCS but write about some premieres and get the writing of other people posted on the site. That will be true for the next 10 days as well, though I think I’ll have a little extra free time this weekend, and I hope to do something with that for a post tomorrow.

Meanwhile, other people have been stepping up and helping to provide content for the site, both our regular writers and guests. Here’s what’s coming: Continue reading »

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