NO CLEAN SINGING

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: CELESTIAL DEATH — “ANTI-PREACHER”

Dec 132024

(written by Islander)

In our daily discharge of premieres we often find ourselves spreading the word about new music from bands who’ve already established some kind of track record through previous releases, or debuting a second or third single from a record after people already have an idea what’s in store for them. That makes today’s premiere something of a novelty, because it’s the first song publicly released by a brand new band.

The band is Celestial Death, a black metal quartet from Atlanta headed up by Jay Crash, who’s also the owner of Terminus Hate City Records. He’s joined by other experienced performers from the Atlanta scene — guitarist Ryan Buck (perhaps best known for his bass playing, as a member of Coletta, and having toured with Hail the Sun); drummer Matthew Carmichael (who has recently filled in on drums for Tómarúm, has toured with Cyborg Octopus and Archeologist, and is also a member of the Atlanta tech-death band, Nihilect); and bassist Hellstorm.

The song we’re premiering through a video, on the day of the song’s release across streaming platforms, functions as a mission statement, not only in the formulation of black metal that Celestial Death has concocted but also of their philosophy. Here’s their statement about “Anti-Preacher“: Continue reading »

OBSCURITIES VOL. XII: THE SEASON OF THE LIST

Album Reviews 2 Responses »

Dec 132024

(Daniel Barkasi is back with us again, this time providing reviews of eight recommended albums of varying style that were released in November 2024.)

No, we’re not talking about Halloween III: Season of the Witch, and we certainly won’t be seeing any odd witch masks with a piece of Stonehenge in them. That movie is rough, but also strangely entertaining. It was better than almost all of the subsequent Halloween sequels that came after, though that isn’t saying much, is it? Now that infernal Silver Shamrock song is stuck in my head. Go ahead and click on that link. Now it’s in your head, too.

Halloween has long since passed, and now also Thanksgiving being in the rearview – and a huge thank you to our awesome KevinP for having the wife and myself over. Seeing him and his awesome family on Thanksgiving has become a tradition for us, and one we’re incredibly thankful for. Certainly hope there were some good times with good people, whether you celebrate the holiday or not.

The sheer volume of releases the last few years has been staggering, with 2024 being no exception. Sometimes it’s an overwhelming circumstance, however, as we don’t want to miss much, so there are plenty of long listening sessions. It’s impossible to not miss releases, and once we get into next year, there will always be some that we can hardly believe evaded our ears by perusing the many lists out there. Especially the many lists that’ll be present on this fine site – Andy Synn is on a roll, and he always unearths plenty of gems. Continue reading »

2024 – A YEAR IN REVIEW(S): THE PERSONAL TOP TEN

LISTMANIA 2024 13 Responses »

Dec 132024

(Andy Synn finishes off “List Week” with his personal favourites of the year)

Well, here we are, finally at the end of “List Week”… and, let me tell you, I am ready to take some time off and recharge/reset my mental machinery.

Oh, I’ll probably end up writing one or two more things, here and there, before the end of the month – there’s a handful of Black Metal albums I really want to write more about, for one thing, and I’ve got to do my end of the month Synn Report, of course – but for the most part I’ll be turning the site back over to Islander, DGR, and whatever guests posts we have, for the rest of December.

Before then, however, I’ve got one more list up my proverbial sleeve… and this one, thankfully, is a lot easier and more laid back, seeing as it’s basically just the ten albums which “clicked” with me and monopolised my listening the most this year.

It’s not the “best” albums of the year, by any means – though many of them appeared on my “Great” list – it’s just my favourite full-lengths from the last twelve months (and you can see what my favourite EPs were here), and should give you some idea of where my personal tastes lay these last many months.

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): HARKANE — “ARGO”

Album Reviews, Premieres No Responses »

Dec 122024

(written by Islander)

When I was a very young lad my mother gave me an illustrated book of Greek myths. One of the tales that especially captivated me was the legend of Jason and the Argoanuts’ quest for the Golden Fleece. Later, I was equally captivated by the classic film Jason and the Argonauts, which featured stop-motion animation visual effects by the great Ray Harryhausen.

I didn’t know then, and only learned recently thanks to the Italian band Harkane, that the principle source material for this legend was an epic Greek poem, The Argonautica, written in the third century BC by Apollonius Rhodius, who served as a scholar and librarian at the great Library of Alexandria.

I learned this because Harkane have made an ambitious concept album entitled Argo, soon to be released by the Dusktone label, that itself narrates this epic adventure, with express credit given to Appollonius. Continue reading »

2024 – A YEAR IN REVIEW(S): THE CRITICAL TOP TEN

LISTMANIA 2024 13 Responses »

Dec 122024

(Andy Synn does his best to remain objective while selecting his “Critical Top Ten” of 2024)

Out of everything I’ve written and published this week, this is the closest to a traditional “Best Of” list.

But, even so, it’s still a little different, as while it’s ostensibly a “Top Ten”, it’s purposefully not ranked… rather it’s meant to be a snapshot of the ten albums (drawn from yesterday’s “Great” list) which together form the best representation of the year in Metal, across all the different styles and sub-genres which make up our beloved scene.

I’ll grant you that ten albums isn’t enough to fully represent the sheer variety and vitality of the year – you’ll notice for example, that both Blood Incantation and Job For A Cowboy are notably absent – but I’ve still tried my best (while also trying to be as “objective” as possible, despite that being ultimately an exercise in futility, as there will always be some sort of subjective bias involved) to provide a hand-picked cross-section which hopefully illustrates the very best-of-the-best from the last twelve-ish months.

As always, in recognition that many of our readers may already be familiar with some of the albums selected for this year’s “Critical Top Ten”, I’ve also included a few “honourable mentions” – whose primary purpose is to highlight a few extra albums which, while they may not have made it into the Top Ten, still deserve more recognition and attention – so even if you think you know what to expect (and, hopefully, there’ll still be a few surprises) you might just discover a brand new favourite artist/album while you’re here!

AN NCS INTERVIEW: THE GREAT OLD ONES

Interviews No Responses »

Dec 122024

Photos by ©Daphnea Doto / Solweig Wood

(We proudly present Comrade Aleks‘ excellent interview with Benjamin Guerry from the French band The Great Old Ones, whose new album is set for release in January by Season of Mist.)

As you noticed, there were almost zero interviews with Lovecraft-influenced bands in the previous two months. Hard times for those who follow the Cult, indeed! But the patient ones will be rewarded, as Season of Mist proclaimed that the fifth release of French black metal heroes The Great Old Ones, Kadath, will be released on January 24th!

Fifteen years of boiling activity, four full-length albums behind, a damn lot of live rituals served – the band has solid luggage and this entire experience was reworked and channeled through a concept album based on Lovercaft’s most psychedelic and bizarre Dream Cycle.

Benjamin Guerry (guitars, vocals) is the only founding member who stood at the dawn of The Great Old Ones and who remains its mastermind; it was sheer luck that we’ve caught him and got the interview done in the most operative way. Continue reading »

LISTMANIA 2024: BANDCAMP DAILY’S “THE BEST METAL ALBUMS OF 2024”

LISTMANIA 2024 4 Responses »

Dec 112024

(written by Islander)

Reading year-end lists that someone other than you made tend to provoke mixed feelings of validation, perplexity (which sometimes verges into anger), and discovery. The opportunity for discovery is the main reason we here at NCS devote so much space to our annual LISTMANIA extravaganza, even though we know those other feelings will also be in the mix of reactions. The list we’re re-publishing from Bandcamp Daily will probably be no different in any of these respects.

Bandcamp, of course, has become a vital platform for the digital release of music of all stripes (and physical merchandise as well) since its founding in 2007. Bandcamp used to release an annual compilation of performance statistics, but I haven’t found a similar report since the one they released for 2017. However, the main Bandcamp page today reports that “Fans have paid artists $1.42 billion using Bandcamp, and $194 million in the last year.”

Those are staggering totals, and some part of those enormous sums has been the result of Bandcamp’s laudable decision to continue the monthly tradition of “Bandcamp Fridays” that they began during the height of the pandemic. The last of those for 2024 occurred last week. We won’t know for a while whether it will be continued in 2025. It better be, or else! Continue reading »

LISTMANIA 2024: STEREOGUM’S 10 BEST METAL ALBUMS OF 2024

LISTMANIA 2024 3 Responses »

Dec 112024

(written by Islander)

This is a tough list to share, not because it’s a bad list but because it’s the swan song of the Black Market column, which has been running at Stereogum on a monthly basis since February 2013. As the kids used to say, I has the sads about this news. Well, but let’s back up a bit, for those who might be unfamiliar with that now-defunct institution.

Stereogum easily qualifies as one of the “big platform” web sites whose year-end lists of metal we perennially include in our LISTMANIA series. Of course, the site appeals to an audience of music fans much larger than devoted metalheads, but its staff has included a talented and tasteful (though gradually dwindling) group of metal writers who have been responsible for the site’s monthly The Black Market column.

I’ve always looked forward to Stereogum‘s annual metal list prepared by the Black Market writers. The one for 2024 came out on Monday of this week. As usual it consists of only 10 entries, with accompanying reviews of the choices by Ian Chainey, Michael Nelson, Doug Moore, Wyatt Marshall.

The list feature also includes a retrospective about the column by Ian Chainey, and an entertaining but also poignant interview of all those old-timer writers listed above.

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: DRUON ANTIGON – “OFFER”

Premieres No Responses »

Dec 112024

On November 29th of this year Consouling Sounds released Het Donkere Volmaakte Al, the compelling second album by the Belgian solo project Druon Antigon, a musical outlet for Lennart Janssen (who has also been one of the creative forces in Thermohaline). Here is the label’s evocative description of the album (or it might be Janssen‘s):

The new full-length Het Donkere Volmaakte Al (translating to both ‘The Dark Perfect Universe’ and ‘The Dark Perfected All’) aims to reflect that which lies beyond our own bubble of breathable air. Vast, majestic and beautiful. Uncaring, dark and inhospitable. A perfect and unchangeable system in which humanity is but an accidental stowaway. A clockwork of which the workings and origins are still largely a matter of speculation. Hic sunt dracones.

To help spread the word about the album, today we’re premiering a gripping video for a stunning song off the album named “Offer“. Continue reading »

2024 – A YEAR IN REVIEW(S): THE GREAT

LISTMANIA 2024 15 Responses »

Dec 112024

(Andy Synn continues his ongoing round-up of the year with his selections for the top tier albums)

We’re halfway through the week now and it’s time to take a look at the albums I thought represented the creme-de-la-creme of the year.

Before we get into it, however, it’s worth stating that if you don’t see an album listed here, or on yesterday’s “Good” list, then the most likely explanation for its absence is… that I simply didn’t get around to hearing it (or, alternatively, I didn’t have time to listen to it enough to form a proper opinion).

Case in point, I bounced off the new Inter Arma pretty hard when it was released, and never found time to go back to it, so you won’t be seeing that here (some people seem to love it, while others hate it, which is pretty par for the course with the band, actually), and I still haven’t heard a single note of the new Fleshgod Apocalypse (so I’m going to be relying on DGR to let me know more about that in his list).

Similarly, while I’m still enjoying immersing myself in the Hardcore scene all over again (musically, at least) I have to say that – while I don’t begrudge the band their ongoing success – for some reason everything by Knocked Loose just goes in one ear and out the other with me, and never seems to stick around long enough to keep my attention, and when it comes to Nails… well, they’ve just never really done it for me (and get more than enough press elsewhere anyway, so I doubt they’ll be harmed by their omission).

I am, however, particularly mad at myself that I never found (or made) the time to properly dive into the new one from Thy Catafalque, and I just realised that The Foreshadowing have a new one out as well… and I’ve completely overlooked it.

When it comes to what did make the final cut, however, I think you’ll find a lot to love here, from phenomenal first albums from brand new bands to riveting new releases from a variety of exceptional artists from across the Death/Black/Doom spectrum… and beyond (with members of the 20 Buck Spin and Transcending Obscurity rosters putting in a particularly good showing, both here and in the “Good” list, this year).

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