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 »

SEEN AND HEARD: CALIFORNIA DEATHFEST, ALKALOID, THULCANDRA, MANILLA ROAD, WERESQUATCH, AND A VIKING CHANT

 Exceptions to the Rule, Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  5 Responses »
Dec 132014
 

 

Happy hangover day, aka Saturday. I myself do not have a hangover, though not for lack of trying to sew the seeds for one last night. I can’t really explain the good fortune, but I’ll take it. Having a relatively clear head this morning, I did a bit of catching up on metal news and song premieres and randomly selected the following items for your entertainment and edification. Most of these items include eye-catching artwork, too.

CALIFORNIA DEATHFEST

This first piece of news sure caught me by surprise yesterday. It appears that the organizers of the Maryland Deathfest have decided to franchise their operation. They’ve announced a three-day event named California Deathfest that will take place from October 9-11, 2015, at the Oakland Metro Operahouse in Oakland, California. The show on Friday, October 9, will feature grind, punk, and hardcore bands, and the shows on October 10 and 11 will feature death, black, and doom metal bands.

Unlike MDF, there will only be one stage, in a club setting, though if this first California Deathfest proves to be a success I’m guessing it will grow — and given the stellar line-up for this debut event, it will surely succeed. Continue reading »

SPIRES: “THE WHISPERER”

 Reviews  7 Responses »
Dec 122014
 

 

(Andy Synn reviews the new second album by Spires from Manchester, England, out now on the Eulogy Media label.)

Well, it’s looking increasingly likely that this is going to be one of my last reviews of 2014, as next week it’s time for the unveiling of my annual list-extravaganza, after which I’ll mainly be playing catch-up wherever I can with albums we’ve unfortunately missed out on so far, as well as preparing for the onslaught of new material that invariably comes at the beginning of each new year.

Still, there was no way I was going to miss out on the opportunity of reviewing this album.

Now, full disclosure – I’ve been a big fan of these guys for quite a while now, having reviewed their debut album Spiral of Ascension back in 2010, and their EP Lucid Abstractions in 2012, and Beyond Grace have played several shows with them in the past (and will hopefully play several more with them in the future).

However, I like to think that I’m capable of being fair and critical enough to review this album objectively, and so I hope you can trust me when I say, without reservation, that this album is an absolutely phenomenal piece of work. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: ET MORIEMUR

 Interviews  No Responses »
Dec 122014
 

 

(Our Russian contributor Comrade Aleks brings us this interview with Zdenek Nevělík, vocalist of Et Moriemur, whose second album Ex Nihilo In Nihilum was released last month by Solitude Productions.)

As Solitude Productions released the second full-length of Czech death doom band Et Moriemur, I remembered my old promise to get in get in contact with Zdenek Nevělík, the band’s voiceman. Ex Nihilo In Nihilum sounds stronger and more mature, considering the band’s debut record Cupio Dissolvi, so why wouldn’t we take a glance into the Czech underground?

********

Hail Zdenek! How are you man? Et Moriemur has a fresh record Ex Nihilo In Nihilum, are you happy with that fact?

You can bet on it Aleks! Some songs on Ex Nihilo were written already before the completion of our first full-length album Cupio Dissolvi so it’s a circle that comes to a close. The new CD is similar in some ways to its predecessors but in others inevitably different. We tried to write a compact album with a definite sound and theme. Of course there are many variations but I think as a whole Ex Nihilo is more cohesive than Cupio. In any case we are very very proud of it and hope that doom fans will like it as well. Continue reading »

VIDEOGRAPHY: DEVIN TOWNSEND — “MARCH OF THE POOZERS”

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  8 Responses »
Dec 122014
 

 

I’m getting kind of a slow start on today’s blog posts. I had a long, glorious night at the Mortals/Sólstafir/Pallbearer show in Seattle (about which I’ll have some garbled words and blurry photos to share later on), followed by four hours of sleep, to be followed by a grind at the old fuckin’ day job, so yeah — I’m moving pretty slowly.

But rather than have nothing new at the top of the page for the next couple of hours I thought I’d post the first piece of music I saw upon switching on the computer and scanning my e-mails. It’s a lyric video for “March of the Poozers” from Devin Townsend’s Z2 album (which can be acquired here). The press release also included a statement by DT that I’ll reproduce after the video.

And now, Bow To Your Alien Ambassadors! Continue reading »

LISTMANIA 2014: ROLLING STONE’S LIST OF THE 20 BEST METAL ALBUMS OF 2014

 LISTMANIA 2014  39 Responses »
Dec 112014
 

 

Once again, as part of our year-end LISTMANIA series, we bring you a list of the year’s best metal from a platform other than our own, and one that gets orders of magnitude more eyeballs. As in the case of other “big platform” lists we republish, we do this as a way of peaking at what the wider world sees, since our world is very narrow and subterranean.

And just in case that goofball who saw us re-post Rolling Stone’s list last year decides to get shit-faced and come visit us again, let me just repeat what’s already in the goddamned post title:  THIS IS NOT OUR LIST. THIS IS A LIST OF THE 20 BEST METAL ALBUMS COMPILED BY ROLLING STONE MAGAZINE.

The article appears here, with accompanying explanations for the choices. My only comment about this list is: It’s not as bad as I thought it would be. Here you go: Continue reading »

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