AN NCS PREMIERE: WOODTEMPLE — “FORGOTTEN PRIDE”

 Premieres  3 Responses »
Sep 172014
 

On September 30, Sacrilege Records will release the fifth album by Austria’s Woodtemple, Forgotten Pride, and in advance of the release we’re giving you the chance to hear the album’s title track.

The song is both melancholy and inspiring, both meditative and surging. It includes folk elements, such as acoustic strumming and the sound of hand drums; a mix of Aramath’s cracked, harsh rasp and the soaring beauty of clean choral voices; a shining keyboard melody that moves in drifting waves throughout the song and jagged riffs that give the music roots in the earth to accompany the almost ethereal quality of the keyboard refrain.

The music is an atmospheric approach to pagan metal that preserves a sense of ancient conflicts and bloodied swords, with the dead and dying illuminated in the flickering glow of bonfires at night, yet inspires spiritual visions as well. Continue reading »

LEPERKAHN WENT TO A FESTIVAL: A REPORT FROM THE INAUGURAL “FALL OF SUMMER OPEN AIR”

 Concert Reviews  22 Responses »
Sep 162014
 

 

(Chicago-based NCS supporter and occasional scribe Leperkahn found himself in Paris just in time to catch part of the first Fall of Summer Open Air festival and provided us this report.)

As previously stated, my arse was lucky enough to be in Paris at the time set for the inaugural Fall of Summer Open Air. This new festival took place in Torcy, which is only a few kilometers outside of Paris, and accessible by a short 15-20 minute train ride from one of the downtown stations. Though I can’t speak from experience, this strikes me as a somewhat unique feature among most European festivals, which often require you to go much further away from such a large metropolitan area as Paris (or London or Berlin, for example). This also made my detour to the festival a plausible idea once I learned that schedules matched up – a 2-3 hour train or drive wouldn’t have been feasible given my schedule with school.

Anyway, enough about my boring details. Long story short, getting from my dorm to the campsite and festival was surprisingly easy, and provided one entirely unexpected surprise.

After I arrived at the Torcy train station, I had to take a bus to get a little closer to the site. Also on the same bus over was none other than Attila Csihar, of legendary black metal band Mayhem. In a moment that should probably have revoked my metal cred eternally, I didn’t recognize him at all, and only learned who he was after someone asked how his band was doing (which I learned was Mayhem) and then again when yet another person positively identified him as Attila. Regardless, he was a pretty nice guy (and a fast walker – I probably made the trek to the other side of the lake twice as fast by trying to keep up with him). Continue reading »

SHORT BUT SWEET: VEGAS, HELLSTORM, NAPALM RAID

 Album Reviews, SHORT BUT SWEET  1 Response »
Sep 162014
 

Five years ago I didn’t own any 7″ vinyl records. I can’t even remember reading about any 7″ vinyl records five years ago, at least in the realm of metal (though I hasten to add that the darker, deeper corners of the underground were largely unknown to me back then). My how things have changed.

Though I’d venture a guess that most 7″ records today are being released by smaller underground labels, it seems like everyone is getting into that game. What’s more, some of the best songs you’re likely to hear this year are waiting to be discovered on these small vinyl releases rather than on full-length albums (and fortunately, many of them are also being made available for download, for the record-player-challenged in the audience).

Here are three examples of superb 7″ releases from 2014 that I’ve discovered quite recently (thanks to a Facebook post by Krieg’s Neill Jameson). You’ll understand why I’ve grouped these three together after you hear them.

VEGAS

VEGAS is an acronym, which stands for “V.ermouth E.quilibrium G.hanoush A.sphyxia S.onata“. The band’s members are scattered around the globe, but I couldn’t tell you their names because they don’t exactly publicize them. They trace their musical inspiration to such bands as Japan’s G.I.S.M. and hardcore heavyweights Integrity. I was unfamiliar with them (because I only dabble in hardcore and crust) until hearing their new four-song 7″, Sagevisule.

This is bleak, multi-faceted, throat-gripping music — an amalgamation of riveting melodies (including acoustic ones!), massive riffs that slam with the weight of sledgehammers, bone-smashing percussion, and a combo of bearlike vocal roaring and shrieking blood spray. The pacing varies from doom-stricken stomps to crust-punk rampages, with incinerating guitar solos and head-smashing breakdowns to add extra punch. And goddamn, this thing really punches hard. Continue reading »

ILENKUS: “THE CROSSING”

 Album Reviews  3 Responses »
Sep 162014
 

 

(Our friend Leperkahn wrote this review of the new album by Ireland’s Ilenkus.)

If you remember the ancient days of roughly a year ago, you may remember a post by the name “Random Discoveries in Dublin”. Cringe-worthy title aside, I wrote of a chance encounter with two Irish bands, Gacys Threads and Ilenkus, at Fibber Magee’s in Dublin, while on a vacation to visit family. This was both my first post for any site, my misguided step into the world of metal journalism that I still pretend to be a part of, and my introduction to the mercurial post-metal of Ilenkus. Back then, they were playing shows on the strength of their first full-length, Rule By Thieves. A year past, they now return to the fray with a new full-length, The Crossing, a disc that further expands on the Dillinger Escape Plan-meets-The Ocean sound they had used to breath new life into post-metal.

First song “Devourer” does quiet a bit to continue injecting new life into post-metal. Unlike so many hordes of their colleagues, Ilenkus choose to open the album not with a soft, ethereal melody or intro, but with a damn-near grind-y explosion of sound, acting as a slap in the face to the tranquility you might be expecting. These first moments prove to be the first of many times the band defies the listener’s expectations on this album. Just as quickly as Ilenkus start with “Devourer”s firestarter of an intro, they move just as suddenly into a softer, foreboding sense of ominous calm, then escalate back to cacophony with the ferocious bellows of guitarist/vocalist Chris Brennan and the propulsive riffs of guitarist Sam Ellis (I’m taking a random guess here, it could be any of the three guitarist/vocalists in the band – Ellis, Brennan, or Josh Guyett), establishing an ebb and flow of catharsis and despondence that runs like a thread throughout all of The Crossing. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: BLOODBATH, MESHUGGAH, FUCK THE FACTS, KAUAN

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  10 Responses »
Sep 162014
 

I’ve arranged the following new video and song premieres in a way that spurs imaginings of you trapped on the upper floor of a building being demolished by jackhammers of an alien design, plummeting toward the ground while shrieking in terror, and then being buried in a drizzling rain. Well, I don’t mean you in particular, I mean listeners and viewers in general. You’ll see.

But first, Sweden’s Bloodbath have finally revealed the identity of their new vocalist — a subject about which I and many others have been speculating since much earlier this year.

BLOODBATH

Yes, that’s right — just a couple hours ago Metal Hammer officially revealed that Bloodbath’s new vocalist is none other than Nick Holmes, the vocalist of Paradise Lost. He was indeed born in 1971, which was the first clue that Bloodbath offered way back in February. He was not the person I guessed then (I guessed Jörgen Sandström). I didn’t even seriously contemplate Mr. Holmes, given his predominant vocal style — but Metal Hammer reports that the new album (Grand Morbid Funeral) “will see the return of the ravenous and cavernous growl that marked Paradise Lost’s debut album, Lost Paradise.”

Metal Hammer further reports that the album will include guest appearances by Chris Reifert and Eric Cutler of Autopsy.

Surely you have some thoughts about this revelation, so feel free to sound off in the Comments. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: PISS VORTEX — “OF BODILY WASTE AND DESIRE”

 Premieres  4 Responses »
Sep 152014
 

 

I had a strong intuition that I would like the song we’re about to premiere before I ever heard it. Because the band’s name is Piss Vortex. And if that weren’t enough temptation (which it definitely was), the song’s name is “Of Bodily Waste and Desire”. (I was tempted to use yellow font for this entire post instead of using it selectively, but I decided to just let the music piss all over you instead.)

Piss Vortex are a newish band from Copenhagen, Denmark, who have recorded a self-titled debut album — because with a band name like Piss Vortex, you really don’t need to spend time trying to think up a more eye-catching name for your album. The debut consists of 14 tracks lasting 23 minutes and includes such other memorable song titles as “Voice of the Worthless”, “Beaten Womb”, “Organic Shrapnel”, “Shit Life”, and “Filth”. But “Of Bodily Waste and Desire” remains my favorite title.

You may be getting the idea that Piss Vortex give no fucks, and in some ways they don’t — for example, they sure don’t seem too concerned about conforming to specific genre constraints. “Of Bodily Waste and Desire” is eerie, discordant, explosive, and hammering — and difficult to classify. Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK: ATRUM TEMPESTAS, CULTURA TRES, PHANTOM WINTER, KHALDERA

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC, SHADES OF BLACK  7 Responses »
Sep 152014
 

 

Usually when I label one of these round-ups “Shades of Black”, I’m focusing on newly discovered black metal songs — but not always. Today, for example, there’s only one song in the collection that’s black metal. But all four songs, in addition to be strikingly good, do share a very dark and dramatic aura.

ATRUM TEMPESTAS

Atrum Tempestas are a Finnish band whose debut album Nêant will be released by Nordavind Records on October 13.  It consists of two long songs and one in the six-minute range, for a total of almost 32 minutes of music. Yesterday Nordavind began streaming one of the two long tracks on Bandcamp — “Quitter ceux qui étaient déjà partis” — and I’m really liking it.

The song is a work of dramatic atmospheric black metal and will probably draw comparisons to the more hard-edged works of Deafheaven as well as possibly Ash Borer and Agalloch. It’s a mix of storming guitar distortion, reverberating clean notes, and shimmering atmospheric melody accompanied by wretched howls. It’s a gripping though melancholy song, and one marked by an effective rhythm section that becomes a source of engagement all its own, especially during the wall-of-sound guitar parts. Check it out below; the album can be pre-ordered at the following Bandcamp link: Continue reading »

A NEW CARCASS RELEASE IS COMING: “SURGICAL REMISSION / SURPLUS STEEL”

 Metal News  2 Responses »
Sep 152014
 

 

About an hour ago, and almost exactly one year after the release of Surgical Steel, Carcass posted the image you see above on their Facebook page, with no further explanation other than the words “Sshhhhhh! Mum’s the word!” (as if). But it appears to be an announcement of a forthcoming vinyl EP to be released by Nuclear Blast on November 11, 2014, entitled Surgical Remission/Surplus Steel.

If I’m interpreting the flyer correctly, the release will include five tracks. “A Wraith In the Apparatus” appeared as a bonus track on the Japanese edition of Surgical Steel; “Intensive Battery Brooding” was the B-side on a 7″ vinyl single for “Captive Bolt Pistol” and also appeared as a Japanese bonus track on Surgical Steel; “Zochrot” was a single recorded during the Surgical Steel sessions that appeared as a Flexi-disc in the October 2013 issue of Decibel magazine; I’m pretty sure “Livestock Marketplace” was another song recorded during the Surgical Steel sessions but so far as I know it hasn’t been previously released; and “1985 (Reprise)” may be some sort of re-working of Surgical Steel’s first track.

That’s what I know or have discovered from my researches. Continue reading »

A CZECH GRINDCORE SPECIAL

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  2 Responses »
Sep 152014
 

 

(In this post our guest Kunal Choksi, editor of the Transcending Obscurity webzine, recommends releases by four bands from The Czech Republic.)

The Czech Republic is considered to be one of the most important countries for grindcore. However, it must be noted that the country’s music, especially in this style, came to the fore only in the last decade. Bands like Lykathea Aflame, Alienation Mental, Cerebral Turbulency, Malignant Tumour, and Ingrowing were very important and led the way. Most of them broke up and many of them veered toward the style where they imbibed “gore” influences. But whether grindcore or goregrind, it’s still grind and even to this date, the country is kicking ass like no other in doling out excellent top-notch grind. While some lost their way, like !T.O.O.H! and Alienation Mental, bands like Fleshless turned completely death metal and left a mark, and others changed names and started new bands like Opitz, Rubufaso Mukufo, Eardelete, Duobetic Homunkulus, and more.

Currently the scene is still vibrant, with most bands employing the groovy/slammy style that’s become popular of late, but these are the bands who are leading the way and remaining outstanding.

EARDELETE (sci-fi robo-grind/gore/death metal)

Eardelete rose from the ashes of Negligent Collateral Collapse (N.C.C.), who were a sensational band back in the day. N.C.C. were virtually incomparable, with the music sounding like an amalgam of grindcore, goregrind, and of course death metal. It had this futuristic vibe to it, seemingly influenced by early Squash Bowels and Dead Infection, which has been carried on quite well by Eardelete, having retained most of the members. Continue reading »

TREPALIUM DOING THAT “MOONSHINE LIMBO”

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  6 Responses »
Sep 142014
 

 

We had a big collection of things that are metal but not music earlier today, so I thought we ought to follow that with some actual metal music — sort of.

We knew as long ago as November 2013 that the French band Trepalium were working on something that was going to swing. Back then we came across (and wrote about here) a short video clip of Trepalium guitarist Harun Demiraslan practicing a new song that seemed to be taking the band’s signature “boogie death metal” sound even more directly into swing jazz territory. Oh man, little did we know how far they would go…

Today Trepalium released a music video for a new single named “Moonshine Limbo” that put a ginormous smile on my face. It comes from a new six-track EP named Voodoo Moonshine that will be released October 6 by Klonosphere. Not only have the band dived head first into swing, they’ve backed it to the hilt with a brass section, which gives the song a big-band sound. It’s got one foot in the 30s and one foot in 2014, and a couple more feet straddling the line between swing and groovy metal, with harsh vox on top of the whole hybridized, multi-legged thing. Continue reading »

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