SEEN AND HEARD: BLOOD OF KINGU, GIGAN-PYRRHON-ARTIFICIAL BRAIN, VUKARI

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  5 Responses »
Jul 262014
 

Happy goddamned Saturday to one and all. I’m in the middle of a mini-vacation with family and friends, which means I’ve spent more time over the last 24 hours making lists of new music to check out than actually listening or writing. But I hate to let a day go by without posting something at NCS (that’s happened on a grand total of 3 days since we started this site in November 2009), so here are a few quick things I’d like to recommend. With luck, I’ll have a few more to bring your way tomorrow.

BLOOD OF KINGU

As previously reported here, the Ukrainian black metal band Blood of Kingu (started by Roman Sayenko of Drudkh) will be releasing their third album via Season of Mist on September 2 in North America (and August 29 everywhere else). The title is Dark Star on the Right Horn of the Crescent Moon. Last month Terrorizer premiered the first advance track from the album — “Enshrined in the Nethermost Lairs Beneath the Oceans” — and a few days ago Metal Underground premiered a second track. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: DYSANGELIUM — “LEVIAXXIS”

 Premieres  3 Responses »
Jul 252014
 

The World Terror Committee (aka W.T.C. Productions) is such an aptly named label. They have a knack for unearthing bands whose music is indeed terroristic, and they have done it again with the impending release of a three-song demo by Germany’s Dysangelium. At the risk of causing the derangement of our readers, we are pleased to bring you the premiere of all three songs on Leviaxxis.

Dysangelium mount a vicious assault, armed with rapidly racing riffs shrouded in dissonance and distortion and an absolutely galvanizing rhythm section. The charging phalanx of swarming, scything guitars and pummeling drum-and-bass munitions is led by a tyrannical commander whose vocals are absolutely wild — a thoroughly impassioned assortment of unhinged roars, howls, and yells. Continue reading »

MARYLAND DEATHFEST ANNOUNCES THE SECOND ROUND OF BANDS FOR 2015

 Metal News  17 Responses »
Jul 252014
 

About a week ago the organizers of Maryland Deathfest XIII announced the first wave of more than 30 confirmed bands for the 2015 edition of this mighty festival (you can see that initial list here). And just a few minutes ago they revealed a second list of confirmed bands. This list isn’t as lengthy as the first one, but it’s still stunningly impressive (Demilich!!!):

Sodom (Germany) – Exclusive US appearance!
Demilich (Finland) – Exclusive US appearance!
Napalm Death (UK) – Headlining one of the nights at Soundstage.
Anaal Nathrakh (UK) – Exclusive US appearance!
Primordial (Ireland) – Most likely an exclusive US appearance. If not, MDF will be one of only a few US shows.
Martyrdöd (Sweden)
P.L.F.
Noxa (Indonesia)
Water Torture
Early Graves
Fulgora
Mother Brain
Pizzahifive Continue reading »

NECRONAUTICAL: “BLACK SEA MISANTHROPY”

 Album Reviews  4 Responses »
Jul 252014
 

(Andy Synn delivers the following review of the debut album by England’s Necronautical.)

Let’s keep this one simple, shall we?

Do you like Old Man’s Child?

How about Naglfar?

Or Hour of Penance?

Do you like your metal Deathly, Blackened, and antagonistically heavy, yet brimming with scything melodic hooks?

Then head on over to their Bandcamp page and check out the debut album by misanthropic metal mariners Necronautical right now.

For those of you who want a little more to chew on before making that move, however… read on. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: WOCCON — “IMPERMANENCE”

 Premieres  1 Response »
Jul 252014
 

 

We were really impressed by the 2013 debut EP (The Wither Fields) by Athens, Georgia’s Woccon and we’ve been anxiously awaiting the band’s debut album Solace In Decay, which is now scheduled for release on October 21, 2014, by Deathbound Records.  Earlier this year, Decibel premiered the album’s first single (“Giving Up the Ghost”), and today we’re bringing you a second one — “Impermanence”.

Tumbling drums and spiraling guitar notes announce the multifaceted song, which moves between passages that are shimmering and crystalline and moments of jolting, hammering power. Tyrannical, gravel-throated vocals deliver harsh proclamations as the band build an atmosphere steeped in melancholy, with melodies that are both beautiful and bereft. It’s another fine offering of melodic death/doom from an album that promises to be worth the wait. Continue reading »

FREE SHIT: A389 2014 DIGITAL MIXTAPE

 Free Shit, Metal News  6 Responses »
Jul 242014
 

The people at A389 Recordings may have temporarily lost their minds, but their lost sanity is our gain. First, at the A389 webstore all orders are 25 percent off this week with the following code: A3892014MIXTAPE. Second, all downloads at the label’s Bandcamp site are set to free/pay what you want for the week as well.

And third, A389 has released a free mixtape that includes more than 50 tracks by a host of excellent bands — and many of the tracks are brand new.

I don’t recognize the names of all 50+ bands, but I sure do recognize a lot of them, and it’s a great list — the kind of list that makes you eager to explore the names of the bands you don’t know. Continue reading »

KEYBOARD WARRIORS: TOM CAMPAGNA (aka SNAGON)

 Interviews  12 Responses »
Jul 242014
 

 

(In this post, Dane Prokofiev returns to NCS with a new installment in his Keyboard Warriors series, in which he poses unpredictable questions to metal writers of all kinds. Here, he interviews our friend Tom Campagna.)

Pokémon and metal. You never thought these two words would appear in the same sentence, eh? The two objects seem like polar opposites, sharing a relationship resembling the one shared between light and darkness, hot and cold, truth and Tyranny of Tradition, God and Satan, etc.

But metal writer Tom Campagna (ex-The Number of the Blog, ex-Metal Injection), who is an ardent fan of the Pokémon role-playing videogames, thinks the two share similarities. As one of those dudes pining to be “the very best like no one ever was,” you really wonder how he still finds the time to teach high school mathematics, write for About.com Heavy Metal, and occasionally contribute articles to some other metal websites.

 

Why do you like metal?

I love metal because of the excellent release of emotions that one has while listening to it. The history of the genre is also something that really strikes me as important, too. For a kid who was constantly quizzed by my father about “who is this band” and “what song is this,” I kind of developed that into my own world of music.The small size of the scene is also nice because you can certainly talk to members of your favorite band and sense the sheer level of appreciation from these individuals. People who scoff at heavy metal have never given the genre a chance; but if everybody loved heavy metal like I do, the scene would be enormous, and we wouldn’t want that would we? Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: ALBEZ DUZ, MORTALS, THRÄNENKIND, KHTHONIIK CERVIIKS, HIDEOUS DIVINITY

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  7 Responses »
Jul 242014
 

 

Yesterday’s round-up was a big one. So is this one — and it’s still not big enough to cover everything worth mentioning that I saw and heard yesterday. But it will have to do. Here we go…

ALBEZ DUZ

Albez Duz are a two-man German band whose name apparently consists of two words in a Germanic language used 800 years ago, with “Albez” meaning “swan” and “Duz” meaning “noisiness”, or “rush”. It is the side project of Impurus (aka Eugen H.), the drummer of the long-running German band Dies Ater.

At the time of their 2009 self-titled debut album, which drew comparisons to the early work of Paradise Lost, Tiamat, and My Dying Bride, the band’s vocalist was Lars Kaeding. Kaeding died in 2011, and was replaced early this year by Alfonso Brito Lopez (aka “Grifonso“). With this new line-up, Albez Duz have recorded a new album, The Coming of Mictlan, which will be released by Germany’s Iron Bonehead label later this year. Its fascinating cover is above.

Yesterday Iron Bonehead began streaming a song from the new album named “Mictlan”, and it’s very impressive. Continue reading »

THE ALGORITHM (“OCTOPUS4”) AND THE LUNA SEQUENCE (“FEARFUL SHEPHERDS HUNT THEIR SHEEP”)

 Album Reviews  5 Responses »
Jul 232014
 

(We’re veering off our usual beaten paths in this post, as DGR reviews the latest releases from The Algorithm and The Luna Sequence.)

We don’t generally cover techno/electronica/dj acts here at No Clean Singing, and I know that my presence has largely been the reason we might have in the past. You’ll likely never see the more straightforward of such acts here, but I will wholly admit to being drawn to the hybrid monsters — the ones that have combined their music with heavy metal and over time have morphed into some strange creatures. Those have been a huge draw for me, and when it comes to artists who I think are doing it particularly well, then you’ll see that I’ll make some continuing attempts to cover them. However, I understand that taking up the front page when there is so much more traditional metal news out there might irk some folks, so I’ve combined two of the more recent works into one huge mega-review article.

Both of these names, The Algorithm and The Luna Sequence, should be familiar to a bunch of you more regular readers, as I have made efforts in the past to share their work, which I’ve quite enjoyed over the years. It just so happens that both artists managed to have new albums, Octopus4 and Fearful Shepherds Hunt Their Sheep respectively, hit around the same time. And thus we find ourselves in a huge review where you can witness me talk out of my ass about electronica music — of which I know between fuck-all and absolute zero — and heavy metal, about which I’ve made writing a huge hobby. Below, you can watch me thrash about between the two moods while I try my best to articulate why exactly I’ve found myself enjoying the hell out of both The Algorithm and The Luna Sequence releases in recent months. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: NIGHTBRINGER, BEYOND CREATION, INHUMAN REMNANTS, MORDBRAND, MARTYRDÖD, AND ERLING BRONSBERG

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  2 Responses »
Jul 232014
 

Here’s a typically random and diverse collection of recommended new music and metal news that I came across over the last 24 hours. It ranges from highly anticipated black metal to a metal banjo cover, with all sorts of different musical trajectories in between.

NIGHTBRINGER

The fourth album by Colorado’s Nightbringer is entitled Ego Dominus Tuus (I Am Your Lord), and it’s due for release by Season of Mist on September 20 in NorthAm (September 26 elsewhere). Yesterday, SoM revealed the cover art by David Herrerias (above), which is wonderful. At the same time, the first advance track from the album began streaming at various sites around the globe. Its name is “Et Nox Illuminatio Mea In Deliciis Meis”, which refers to a line from Psalm 139. According to the band:

“The lyrics draw heavily upon this psalm, which we feel, via a perhaps more heretical approach, elucidates symbols relevant to the ‘midnight sun’ and the ‘night of light’. Furthermore we touch upon the Greek melancholia and the sovereignty of Saturn over those of us who are born with his mark and our relation to the former concepts as well as the significance of the ‘black light’ of our Lord. It speaks much of the ecstatic furor one may enter in which wisdom is imparted both from above, below and within, via a state of ‘divine madness’. “

Should you be interested in reading the 139th Psalm, you can do so here (the song’s title refers to the phrase “and night shall be my light in my pleasures”). Whether you do or don’t peruse the psalm, I strongly recommend listening to the song (it’s streaming at Stereogum here). Continue reading »

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