SEEN AND HEARD: OUBLIETTE AND ZOM

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  4 Responses »
Jul 112014
 

I’ve been distracted over the last couple of days and haven’t kept up as well as I’d like with the appearance of new songs and videos. I have a long list, and with luck I’ll have a big Saturday catch-up post to share more of what I’ve found. For today, I want to throw you some recommended music from two bands who together have been dismantling my sanity quite effectively.

OUBLIETTE

Oubliette are a Tennessee-based melodic black metal band whose members include guitarist Mike Low of Inferi — whose latest album DGR reviewed here — and his wife Emily Low (vocals), plus bassist Vincent Jones (Æther Realm) and drummer Doug Mesich. Apart from the fact that I’m a fan of Inferi and Æther Realm, I was attracted to Oubliette after I had the chance to hear an unmastered version of a song named “Creatures of the Endless Slumber”. Yesterday the band released their debut album on Bandcamp, where the final version of that song and 7 others are now available for streaming and download.

I’m still really high on “Creatures of the Endless Slumber”, and although I’ve only started making my way through the rest of the album, it’s sounding really good, too. “Creatures” beautifully integrates sensations of the ethereal and the physically savage. The effectiveness of this combination is due in no small part to Emily Low’s remarkably versatile vocal talents, which range from ghostly clean song to bestial snarls, as well as to the juxtaposition of soft acoustic melodies with storming riff and blast assaults. Continue reading »

PANTHEON I: “FROM THE ABYSS THEY RISE”

 Album Reviews  5 Responses »
Jul 112014
 

(Andy Synn reviews the new fourth album by Norway’s Pantheon I.)

Now, strictly speaking, From The Abyss They Rise is a compilation album, comprising an EP’s worth of new tracks combined with a collection of rare tracks and early demos. For the purpose of this review I’m going to be focussing entirely on the EP itself, although that’s not to say that the rare/unreleased material is without merit – “Enter The Pantheon” (the band’s first ever demo) and their cover of Emperor classic “Thus Spake The Nightspirit” in particular are definitely worthy of your interest and attention.

These new tracks are the first Pantheon I have written/recorded with the involvement of new guitarist Aethyris (aka Shandy MacKay – Horizon Ablaze, ex-Absu, as well as live session work for both Melechesh and perennial NCS favourites Khonsu), and his impressive talent and pedigree certainly serve the band well on these five songs, adding a touch more proggy ingenuity and melody to the band’s acid-drenched Black Metal assault. Continue reading »

HANNES GROSSMANN AND CHRISTIAN MUENZNER HAVE LEFT OBSCURA (AND HAVE YOU HEARD OF ALKALOID?)

 Metal News  2 Responses »
Jul 112014
 

Germany’s Obscura announced a few hours ago that guitarist Christian Muenzner and drummer Hannes Grossmann have left the band, each for different reasons. As a result, Obscura have postponed the recording of their fourth album to the end of 2014 while they audition potential replacements for Muenzner and Grossmann.

Muenzner says, “There is no bad blood between me and any of the other members of the band”, but that “my heart is not fully into the music anymore” and that “I just want to devote the biggest part of the time I have to work on my own music and visions”.

At least as important, Muenzner explained that his decision to leave Obscura was also driven by the persisting neurologic condition in his fret hand known as Focal Dystonia, which almost robbed him of his ability to play guitar by late 2011/early 2012: Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: LANDPHIL (CANNABIS CORPSE, MUNICIPAL WASTE, IRON REAGAN)

 Interviews  3 Responses »
Jul 102014
 

(Our man BadWolf recently interviewed Landphil, who is a member of Cannabis Corpse, Municipal Waste, and Iron Reagan. Here’s what happened.)

In less than a month, Islander and myself will be waist-deep in filthy metal once again at this year’s Denver Black Sky Festival, and while that fest boasts more than a handful of great grind, crust, hardcore, and death metal acts, it’s a joke band that has me stoked.

Well, not exactly a joke band. Cannabis Corpse is no laughing stock—the group’s grasp on old-school death metal fundamentals is strong. But the band’s sense of weed-pun-based humor is proudly dispalyed on every album cover and in every song title. I’d expect nothing less from another project featuring Landphil, the powerhouse Virginian who also does time in Municipal Waste and Iron Reagan.

In anticipation of the fest, and Cannabis Corpse’s new album, From Wisdom to Baked, we chatted a bit about what it takes to be a funny man in metal, as well as the loss of GWAR’s David Brockie. Oh, and a bit about weed. But that should go without saying. Continue reading »

DOOM QUIZ PART 2: DOOMED, ETHEREAL RIFFIAN, FRAILTY, MOURNFUL GUST, MY SHAMEFUL

 Interviews, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  1 Response »
Jul 102014
 


Doomed

(Today our Russian contributor Comrade Aleks brings us Part 2 of a six-part series in which he puts the same five questions to doom bands from around the world, and introduces us to their music at the same time.)

Sometimes I use this unpopular “quiz” format because there are too many interesting bands that I would like to bring to light, and in my opinion it’s a good way to spread some news and to get new points of view on a few issues (including even some political questions). The list of questions I put to the bands is below:

1. What is the band’s latest news and what are your plans for the near future?

2. What do we get (in the broadest sense) from the release of your last album?

3. What is the best response that your band has ever received?

4. What role does the church (or any other religious organization) play in your life or (let’s take it wider) in the life of the heavy scene? Is there any spiritual, religious, or antireligious component in your songs?

5. What does the Media in your country tell about the situation in Ukraine? And how do you see that situation? Some people from other countries have asked me strange questions about Russia’s policy, and let me say that I have a few friends in Ukraine and my colleagues have relatives there, and believe me, there’s no media in ANY country that is showing the problem as it really is. We can watch as the Cold War turns into real warfare.

Today, we bring the answers to these questions from Doomed (Germany), Ethereal Riffian (Ukraine), Frailty (Latvia),  Mournful Gust (Ukraine), and My Shameful (Finland). Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: PRINCIPALITY OF HELL — “CODEX INFERNO”

 Premieres  2 Responses »
Jul 102014
 

Greece has long been a spawning ground of powerhouse metal in the underground scene, but 2014 is shaping up to be a banner year. It has already delivered excellent (and quite diverse) releases by the likes of Aetherian, Burial Hordes, Dead Congregation, Dodsferd, Hail Spirit Noir, Septicflesh, Spectral Lore, and Suicidal Angels. Now we must add to that list Fire and Brimstone by Principality of Hell — and we’re giving you a chance to discover its vicious pleasures by premiering a song from the album named “Codex Inferno”.

Principality of Hell may be a new name, but it’s composed of veteran musicians, including three members of Thou Art Lord: The Magus (also Necromantia), El (also Nergal, Soulskinner), and J. Maelstrom (also Dephosphorus, Dodsferd, Ravencult). In this new project, however, the trio have turned their obsidian energies to the creation of black thrashing hellfire. Continue reading »

SHORT BUT SWEET: BÖLZER — “SOMA”

 Album Reviews, SHORT BUT SWEET  8 Responses »
Jul 102014
 

A deep rumbling noise could be heard rising up from the bowels of the interhole yesterday as the name BÖLZER! was simultaneously growled by reviewers who had just received their advance copies of the band’s new EP Soma. The degree of excitement that had been building in anticipation of the EP was phenomenal, given that before Soma this Swiss band had only released a grand total of six songs — three of them on 2012’s Roman Acupuncture and three on 2013’s Aura. I can’t think of many extreme underground bands who’ve made such a big splash in so little time on the strength of so few tracks. But on the other hand, this Swiss duo really don’t sound like anyone else, and that’s a rare achievement in this day and age.

I’ve admitted before that my attraction to Bölzer has bordered on the unhealthy. I listened to Aura so much that I began to fear an alien entity had taken up residence in my skull. I included “Entranced By the Wolfshook” on my list of 2013’s Most Infectious Extreme Metal Songs. After seeing the band at Maryland Deathfest, I waited in line so long to buy a shirt that I missed the next band’s entire set (but seriously, how could you not struggle for the chance to get apparel emblazoned with “THUNDER TONGUE BOLT FIST” on the back?). So yes, I was growling the name yesterday, too.

Well, I have good news and bad news about Soma. The bad news is that it only includes two songs — “Steppes” and “Labyrinthian Graves”. And that’s it for the bad news. Continue reading »

DEAFHEAVEN AND WRECK AND REFERENCE: LIVE IN SAN FRANCISCO, JULY 2, 2013

 Concert Reviews  4 Responses »
Jul 092014
 

(Guest writer Ben Manzella wrote the following review of the July 2 performances by Deafheaven and Wreck and Reference in San Francisco on July 2, 2014, and took the accompanying photos as well.)

A summer night in San Francisco typically means you can wear a jacket. As someone who grew up in the sunnier part of California (the Los Angeles/San Pedro area), I enjoy this fact. As the line began to form outside The Great American Music Hall, I started to assess the crowd from my point of view. It’s always interesting to see what kind of crowd is attracted to any show, but what do you get when the show consists of a pairing of noise/metal/experimental music (Wreck and Reference) and what is often described as the hipster darling of Black Metal (Deafheaven)?

Now before I go any further, don’t misunderstand me; I’ve been a fan of Deafheaven since their album Roads to Judah was released and I’m thrilled they’ve found a rare amount of success, especially in the times we live in. I won’t deny, though, that it’s not exactly your typical “uber-kvltist” that you’ll see at a Deafheaven show. But I digress — I have nothing but respect for the guys in both bands. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: INFESTUM — “ORDO INFESTUM”

 Interviews  1 Response »
Jul 092014
 

Lacerated Enemy Records has described the music of Infestum from Belarus by referring to the sounds of Behemoth, Emperor, and Aborym, and when you hear the Infestum song we’re premiering today from their new album you’ll understand why.

“Ordo Infestum” begins with a deep thrumming sound that resembles the notes of a bass violin, and then the song explodes in a fury of deep, doom-cloaked riffs, gut-rumbling percussion, and venomous serrated vocals. The sound is massively skull-flattening, and the music’s atmosphere is bleak, occult, and threatening.

Yet the music is not all one thing. In the course of this warlike assault you will hear a piano melody and otherworldly keyboard ambience drifting eerily through the avalanche of riffs, along with the voices of a choir, aching clean vocals, and even an industrial-tinged beat near the song’s finish. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: DECAPITATED, GORMATHON, SINMARA

 Eye-Catchers, Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  7 Responses »
Jul 092014
 

For your entertainment and edification I bring you a small group of news items and new music that I enjoyed over the last 24 hours. All of them involve especially enticing pieces of album art that you may view as larger images by clicking on them.

DECAPITATED

Thanks to a tip from my friend Vonlughlio, I just saw the news that the sixth album by Poland’s Decapitated will be released by Nuclear Blast and Mystic Production (Poland) on September 26, 2014. It was recorded, as usual, at Hertz Studio in Białystok, Poland, by the Wiesławski brothers. The album cover was created by Polish artist Lukasz Jaszak, who also made the cover of the band’s last album, Carnival Is Forever.

This announcement was accompanied by a statement from Vogg (Waclaw Kieltyka) that the new music is “totally crushing and huge” and that Blood Mantra is “the most heavy and mature album” the band have ever recorded.

Such statements must always be taken with a grain of salt, but even if the album is only “about the same level of crushing and huge” as what Decapitated have delivered in the past, sign me the fuck up.

https://www.facebook.com/decapitated Continue reading »

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