WRATH OF A DOUBLE-EDGED SWORD: HOW SOCIAL MEDIA HAS HELPED (AND HURT) METAL MUSIC

 Uncategorized  12 Responses »
Nov 072014
 

 

(We welcome guest writer Grant Skelton who delivers this opinion piece on the impact of social media on metal.)

When I was about 6 years old, I can distinctly remember seeing Pantera’s music video for “Cemetery Gates” late one night on MTV. At the time, it was unlike anything I had heard. It was beautiful balladry and at the same time auditory madness. And I had to hear it again. And again.

In the 80’s and 90’s, you knew a band had “made it” when you saw their music video on MTV. It was MTV or bust. There was no other option. Many a metalhead during this period would stay up into the wee hours of the morning, VHS tape primed and ready, to record their favorite band’s brand new video. If you didn’t, you might not see it again for another week… or maybe not at all.

You couldn’t pull your phone out of your pocket, swipe the screen, and open your YouTube app. You couldn’t Google it. You just had to sit and languish for seven more days while all of your friends at school gave accolades to the video that you were too lame to see. If you were lucky, one of your friends might lend you the VHS tape that they had recorded. Hopefully they remembered to put down their beer long enough use the tracking knob. Continue reading »

ABYSMAL DAWN’S “OBSOLESCENCE”: THE MAKING OF THE COVER ART

 Eye-Catchers  4 Responses »
Nov 072014
 

 

We probably devote more attention to album art than the average metal blog, and the Swedish artist Pär Olofsson has been one of our favorites for years. His cover for Obsolescence, the new album by Abysmal Dawn, is a striking example of his work — and the album is damned striking, too.

So it’s a genuine treat for us to bring you this feature, narrated by Pär Olofsson and Abysmal Dawn vocalist/guitarist Charles Elliott, about how the album art evolved, with step by step images of the artwork, as it eventually took shape in the exchange of ideas between the two.

If you haven’t yet listened to Obsolescence, which is out now on Relapse Records, do yourself a favor and dive into that (you can here it and buy it on Bandcamp). It’s superb. You can find out more about the band and the artist via these links — and at the end of this post, check out their new video for the song “Inanimate”: Continue reading »

IF FAMOUS (OR NOT) LITERATURE WERE CONVERTED INTO METAL ALBUMS: CODE ORANGE KIDS

 Mosh Pit  6 Responses »
Nov 072014
 

 

(We welcome guest writer Dylan Sanders with the first of what we hope will be a continuing series in which literature is paired with metal.)

The following pairings were made through similarities in musical and lyrical moods, themes, or other associations. I will include short summaries of the literary works included and also why I associated the chosen albums with them. Runner-ups will also be included.

Now you can probably look at this first one and say, “Gee I wonder how he made this association. I bet it had something to do with oranges or dark colors or generally fucked up covers”. To tell the truth though, I didn’t notice the “oranges” until after I chose the album to best represent Krilanovich’s nightmare. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: UR DRAUGR, REVEL IN FLESH, JUPITERIAN, ENDEMISE

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  14 Responses »
Nov 062014
 

 

I’ve had a busy day today — but for better or worse I haven’t been busy blogging. Truth be told, I’m on vacation — and doing some day-job work by long distance, which I guess is some kind of karmic retribution for vacationing on the job before I ever left.

Anyway, the upshot is that I don’t have many posts to contribute to the site today. One can only hope that I’ve made up for the lack of quantity with some metal quality — including these four new songs I happily discovered while roaming the interhole and the NCS email today.

UR DRAUGR

We start this round-up with a band named Ur Draugr from Perth in Western Australia whose ranks include past or present members of Impiety, Wardaemonic, DeathFuckingCunt, and Morphica. They’ve recorded a debut album entitled Augur Unboden that’s projected for release in December, and today they began streaming one of the new songs — “Unseen Golgotha”.

I was drawn to the song by the superb painted cover art of Jeff Christensen that you see above, and by two additional Christensen pieces for the album that come next: Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: TWO NEW SONGS FROM ABIGAIL WILLIAMS

 Premieres  20 Responses »
Nov 062014
 

 

It’s the time of year when people who make year-end lists start the tortuous mental process of sifting and ranking what they’ve heard. We’ll be doing that soon, but we’re also looking further down the road in anticipation of what 2015 will bring. And one record it will bring that’s already on our list of highly anticipated new releases is the next album by Abigail Williams.

Today we’re fortunate to bring you a couple of teasers for what the album holds in store, as well as some words from vocalist/guitarist Ken Sorceron about the new album.

What you’re about to hear are two early versions of songs that will appear on the band’s fourth album coming next year via Candlelight Records, the successor to 2012’s excellent Becoming: “Forever Kingdom of Dirt” and “Will, Wish and Desire”. The very talented line-up for these recordings is as follows — with one special guest: Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: NAPALM DEATH AND VOIVOID ON TOUR, DECIBEL NAMES THE TOP 100 DOOM ALBUMS, AND NEW MUSIC FROM ARCHGOAT

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  2 Responses »
Nov 052014
 

In today’s posts we’ve thrown quite a lot of new music your way, but we’re still not quite done. There are a couple more songs I want to recommend that I discovered over the last 24 hours, plus some news items that perked my interest. We’ll start with those and then move to the songs.

THROUGH SPACE AND GRIND TOUR 2015

Through Space and Grind is the name of a 2015 North American tour whose roster is full of eye-catching names: Napalm Death, Voivod, Exhumed, Iron Reagan, and Black Crown Initiate. The tour begins on January 27 in Miami and runs through February 28 in Houston.

The following bands will also join the tour on selected dates:  Ringworm, Dayglo Abortions, Theories, and Phobia. Here’s the full schedule: Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK: ISRATHOUM, CHALICE OF BLOOD, NEFANDUS, NIGHTBRINGER, VERBUM VERUS, WEDERGANGER

 Album Reviews, Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC, SHADES OF BLACK, SHORT BUT SWEET  No Responses »
Nov 052014
 

 

In my daily searches for news and new music that I think would be worth your time, sometimes I come across so many exciting new discoveries that it feels like the flood gates have been opened, or that I’ve opened Pandora’s box thinking that it was my underwear drawer, or that a pack of wolves have materialized in my skull and started devouring its meager contents.

That happened over the last 24 hours. I found so many new things worth recommending that I’ve split this round-up into two posts. By chance, many of them all involve the same label — Daemon Worship Productions — so I’m collecting those in this first post.  More info about all the releases discussed below and related merch can be found here.

ISRATHOUM / CHALICE OF BLOOD

Our last mention of Israthoum on the site occurred almost two years ago when Andy Synn reviewed the band’s second album, Black Poison and Shared Wounds. That is now being followed by a new Israthoum split with the Swedish black metal band Chalice of Blood, which was originally announced at the beginning of this year. Like that preceding album, the split is adorned with spectacular artwork by Held (Ubertragic Art).  (Click the image to view a larger version.) Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: DEMON PROJECT — “AFTERGLOW”

 Premieres  4 Responses »
Nov 052014
 

 

Demon Project have risen from the spawning grounds of Novosibirsk in Siberian Russia, with two albums and two shorter releases to their credit since 2007, and now they have a new album entitled Revival that’s coming our way in December on the Italian label Revalve Records. Today we’re giving you a taste of the new music through our premiere of “Afterglow” — which qualifies as an exception to our customary Rule.

From my own limited exposure to music from Eastern Russia, I tend to think of doom before anything else, but “Afterglow” is a blazing burst of galloping melodic death metal, with hard-punching rhythms, flickering electronic enhancements, and an eye-opening guitar solo. But that’s not all. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: BARING TEETH — “DRIPPING SUN”

 Album Reviews, Premieres  2 Responses »
Nov 052014
 

 

(Austin Weber wrote the following introduction to our premiere of a song from the forthcoming second album by Baring Teeth.)

While Willowtip continues to churn out releases by forward-thinking bands like it’s no big deal, Baring Teeth still stand out as a singular creative force on their roster. Their exponential growth and talent for exploration displayed on their soon to be released sophomore album, Ghost Chorus Among Old Ruins, prove that their path is a rich and multifaceted one, albeit one that’s highly unsettling in the best way possible.

Their last album, 2011’s Atrophy, cemented the band as pioneers in the art of stretching boundaries and seeking out different methods and manners of interpreting death metal, creating new and inspired forms of the genre, giving it a new canvas on which to rot, and painting with a more sophisticated palette than mere straightforward aggression and simple headbangable riffs. They infuse their output with an alien presence that wanders amidst chaotic rhythms and moody peaks and valleys. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: DIRE OMEN — “FORETOLD UNTETHERING FROM EXISTENCE”

 Premieres  1 Response »
Nov 052014
 

The forthcoming debut album of Dire Omen from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, has proven to be a revelation — a stupendously powerful release that fulfills the promise that was evident in the band’s previous shorter releases. Not long ago BraveWords delivered the first advance track from Wresting the Revelation of Futlity, and today we bring you another: “Foretold Untethering From Existence”.

The music is at once destructively chaotic and fascinating in its intricacy. The grinding riffs, blasting snare beats, and echoing vocal horrors create an aura of heartless savagery, yet the somersaulting bass lines, frenzied guitar explosions, and rapidly changing rhythms prove to be thoroughly engrossing. On top of that, the morbid, otherworldly melodies have staying power. Continue reading »

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