BASIC NEEDS (A COMPILATION)

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  1 Response »
Jan 142015
 

 

This morning’s arrivals at the NCS e-mail in-box included news from a label named Divergent Series, which appears to be located in Boston. The e-mail alerted me to the fact that Divergent Series had recently released a black/death/doom/grind compilation entitled Basic Needs. I clicked on the Bandcamp link in the e-mail just to take a quick look at what’s included in the comp, and sat bolt-upright when I saw the list.

The comp includes 14 tracks from 12 New England bands, about half of which we’ve written about and recommended at this site — including Human Bodies, Sexcrement, Ramlord, Grue, Fórn, and Morne.

It doesn’t seem to matter how much new metal is being unleashed on a daily basis — lovers of metal (or at least people who frequent our site) are always hungry for new discoveries. Just based on the names in this comp that I know, this seems like a good vehicle for exploration. Continue reading »

PROFANITY: “HATRED HELL WITHIN”

 Album Reviews  2 Responses »
Jan 142015
 

 

(DGR has found an EP released in December by a resurgent German band that he really seems to be enjoying, as he explains in this typically extended and typically entertaining review.)

Death metal groups reanimating from the dead after a decade-plus-long hiatus seems to be happening more in the underground scene these days. Given that some of these groups never had a huge reach to begin with, it seems slightly easier today for them to appear at different points in time after years of silence, but I also think that the internet has started to have a much bigger effect on the decision of groups to come back.

The net has become something of a great equalizer, where at least on the right sites, small bands with a handful of fans can appear on the same front page as a group in a bigger spotlight. This phenomenon has helped make it possible for people to re-discover bands who have been dormant for years, bands who may have struck out PR-wise or just never been lucky in breaking out of their region, and groups who were clearly onto something and the stars just didn’t align for them at the time.

Now, people have platforms upon which to preach about such groups, converting fans and at times encouraging people to reunite. Added to this is also the relative ease with which bands can reappear now, with sites like Bandcamp making it a breeze to set up shop and get themselves out there, so long as their recordings aren’t hot garbage. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: NEOLITH — “OF THE ANGEL AND HIS ORISON”

 Premieres  4 Responses »
Jan 132015
 

About one week ago we included in one of our “round-ups” of new music a teaser video for a new album coming from Non Serviam Records by a Polish blackened death metal band named Neolith. At that time we noted the label’s announcement that a full song would be online soon. And sure enough, the full song is now here — and we’re bringing it to you!

The name of this new song is “Of Angel and His Orison” and it’s drawn from Neolith’s fourth studio album, Izi.Im.Kurnu-Ki.

The phrase “blackened death metal” isn’t terribly precise as a genre label; it covers a multitude of different sounds. What you will here in this song is completely electrifying. That’s not terribly precise either, so allow me to elaborate. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: VIVUS HUMARE — “DER SCHMERZ WECKT”

 Premieres  2 Responses »
Jan 132015
 

 

The German black metal band Vivus Humare came together in 2007 and released their first demo, Prolog, in 2008. Now, the Eisenwald label is on the brink of releasing the band’s debut album, a five-track work entitled Einkehr. Today we bring you the premiere of the album’s opening song, “Der Schmerz weckt”.

Einkehr is an album that is best heard in a single sitting, from start to finish, uninterrupted. It’s a dynamic and atmospheric work that works the listener’s moods like clay in the hands of a craftsman, and its achievements aren’t fully realized until the entire process has run its course and reached its final, finished form.

Having said that, “Der Schmerz Weckt” is also a very strong stand-alone track that in itself reflects the dynamism and atmospheric power of the album as a whole. Continue reading »

MARDUK: “FRONTSCHWEIN”

 Album Reviews  8 Responses »
Jan 132015
 

 

(Andy Synn wrote this review of the new album by the almighty Marduk.)

I think few people would argue that Marduk have long since established themselves as Black Metal legends. With a career lasting 25 years (and counting) and incorporating thirteen full-length studio albums as well as numerous EPs, live albums, and compilations, the Swedish war-dogs have proven themselves time and time again as a force to be reckoned with.

Moreover, there’s a good argument to be made that albums like Opus Nocturne, Heaven Shall Burn…, and Nightwing (and, I would argue, Rom 5:12) are – like them or not — practically legendary themselves, and often cited as key influences and cornerstones of the genre by both bands and fans alike.

So, with such a grand, macabre discography under their collective (bullet) belt, you might wonder where exactly does a new record fit, in the grand scheme of things? Continue reading »

AN NCS FULL-ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): ARCHGOAT — “THE APOCALYPTIC TRIUMPHATOR”

 Album Reviews, Premieres  4 Responses »
Jan 132015
 

 

(We bring you the premiere of a full-album stream of the new work by the primordial Finnish horde Archgoat, preceded by Will Cifer’s introductory review.)

This album is another argument in favor of the dominance of European black metal. This Finnish band have been spreading the unholy word since the church-burning second wave of black metal in the early nineties. They have left a trail of splits and EPs in their wake, but this is only the band’s third full-length… so it’s kind of a big deal.

Archgoat combine the more classic metal sounds of early black metal with elements of a more grime-coated flavor of death metal than an entity like Mortuary Drape does, even though the two bands circle a similar sonic landscape. Archgoat’s strength is in mid-paced and even crawling tempos, and the mood of the music is often shrouded in a heavy cloak of doom. Continue reading »

OUR LIST OF 2014’S MOST INFECTIOUS EXTREME METAL SONGS: PART 17

 MOST INFECTIOUS SONGS-2014  4 Responses »
Jan 122015
 

Today we come to the 17th Part in the continuing rollout of our list of 2014′s Most Infectious Extreme Metal Songs. For more details about what this list is all about and how it was compiled, read the introductory post via this link. For the other songs we’ve previously named to the list, go here.

As you may have noticed by now, I have fun not only picking the songs for this list but also deciding which songs to combine in each installment. There’s usually some kind of thematic connection, whether in the style of the music or otherwise. But today there really is no connection — other than infectiousness, of course, and a similar hair-raising power in the vocals.

DOMAINS

For reasons I don’t understand, the 2014 debut album by the Spanish band Domains didn’t appear on many year-end lists. I assume this was solely a result of being too far under the radar, because Sinister Ceremonies really was one of the year’s best and most interesting death metal albums. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: MAGNUS OLSFELT (THE CROWN)

 Interviews  4 Responses »
Jan 122015
 


The Crown – photo by Patrik Skoglöw

(Karina Noctum rejoins us with the following e-mail interview of Magnus Olsfelt of Sweden’s The Crown, whose new album Death Is Not Dead was reviewed by our Andy Synn here and will be released on January 13 (tomorrow!) in the U.S. by Century Media.)

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1. Ok, I would like to start with a little update about The Crown…

Ok we have the new album to be released next week and we will have a release party gig here in Gothenburg this saturday. Live drummer Henrik Axelsson will join us, but unfortunately he was rushed to the hospital yesterday with bad fever so let’s hope he can recover by Saturday!

 

2. What can the fans expect from the new album? Would you say that the fact that you guys were actually writing a The Crown album this time influenced the sound?

People can expect us doing a new album that we  have done our best and put a lot of effort into. We think it should be listened to as a whole experience, from beginning to end, to have the full ride, with ups and downs and everything. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: JARMO NUUTRE (ODOTA)

 Interviews  4 Responses »
Jan 122015
 

Odota — photo by Berit Lamp

 (Comrade Aleks brings us this interview with Jarmo Nuutre (Blood Pavilion, Hjem, Skull Trading, ex-Talbot) whose new solo project is named Odota.)

 

Odota is a new experimental black metal project of Jarmo Nuutre, who took part in the massive Estonian duet Talbot till 2013. Jarmo has decided to concentrate on his solo career, so he plays all instruments on Odota’s first release Fever Marshal. Subjectively, as a person who is not the biggest fan of black art, I got this stuff, and if you need a reason to pay attention to this record, then here’s an interview with Jarmo.

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Hail Jarmo! I’m glad that we have a chance to talk, but let me start our interview with the predictable question about leaving Talbot. Let us clarify it at once – is it time to speak about the reasons and is there any chance that you will return?

Hi there, Aleksey!

Well, the main reason for leaving Talbot was that I wanted to focus on my solo stuff once again. Odota, Blood Pavilion, Skull Trading, etc., Hjem too, although I’m not alone there — there’s a singer as well.

Over the years I’ve actually left different bands for the sake of my own projects, so I guess I’m not really good “band-material”. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW AND A PREMIERE: VON — “BLACK LOTUS (BASS DEMO)” AND “EXTINCTION”

 Interviews, Premieres  3 Responses »
Jan 122015
 

 

As those who dwell in the underground already know, the seminal U.S. black metal band VON has embarked on an unusual audiovisual project: They are releasing their third album Dark Gods: Birth of the Architects  (which is itself Part II of a trilogy that began with 2013’s Dark Gods: Seven Billion Slaves) in 12 CD installments, with each of the 12 tracks accompanied by part of a comic book named Dark Gods written and illustrated by VON’s founder VENIEN!!! Each CD includes not only a version of a track from the album — which will be released in its entirety in March — but also a bonus track exclusive to the comic book.

Today we bring you a special two-part feature: the premiere of a demo teaser for the album’s 7th track “Black Lotus” along with an instrumental B-side from the CD called “Extinction”, plus an exclusive interview with VON’s drummer “Dirty FvKn! Pistols” and the band’s guitarist “HangMan”. The interview, conducted by e-mail, comes first… the images you will see are preview pages from the comic.

THE INTERVIEW

“Dark Gods: Birth of the Architect” is an unusual project – 12 songs released on a weekly basis, with each song accompanied by an installment of a 12-part “Dark Gods” comic book, with a variety of variant covers. For people who are just learning about this, could you explain the concept behind the story and the music?

Dirty Fvkn! Pistols:
The idea was to take the story each song told individually and release them as though someone was giving you a novel, one chapter at a time. Conceptually we already intended to intertwine them so it just made sense to us. We wanted a record that was more than just a bunch of songs, but rather its own entity within itself. It was important that each piece be the correct fit to make one cohesive unit in the end. Continue reading »

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