“THAT’S METAL!” — BUT IT’S NOT MUSIC (NO. 90)

 That's Metal -- But It's Not Music  8 Responses »
Sep 142014
 

 

Here we have the landmark 90th edition of THAT’S METAL!  I wish I could say that two months have passed since the 89th edition because I was assiduously preparing for this special occasion, but instead I’ve just been dragging ass. I wish I could say I will be less drag-ass in posting future installments of this series, but I doubt that would fool anyone. Anyway, after two months I’ve collected an enormous number of candidates for this installment and from that list I’ve sifted the following 10 items (some with subparts).

For any newcomers out there, this series is devoted to images, videos, and occasional news items that I think are metal even though they don’t consist of metal music.

ITEM ONE

I’m going to start with some volcanic activity. Item One is a video with the somewhat misleading title of “Diving Into An Active Volcano”. Despite the fact that no one literally dives into magma in this thing, George Kourounis does get awfully damned close. I’m guessing that even with the protective suit he was wearing, it got pretty toasty. And even the beautifully filmed footage of the lead-up to his walk along the brink of hell had my stomach doing flip-flops.

The location for the video is the Marum volcano on Ambrym Island in the South Pacific republic of Vanuatu. The camera work was done by Kourounis and Sam Cossman, and the dramatic score for the film is a piece called “I Still Have A Soul” by Gabriel Shadid and Tobias Marberger. Kourounis and Cossman were guided to the magma lake by Geoff Mackley, who originally pioneered this stunt and is responsible for other earlier videos filmed at the same location (see this).

I don’t think I have to explain why this is metal. I’m including a second video that shows different scenes from the same excursion. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: ELIRAN KANTOR AND SATAN, INTER ARMA, SIDIOUS, ACHERON

 Eye-Catchers, Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  3 Responses »
Sep 132014
 

 

I find myself once again with a long list of new items I think are worth sharing but not enough time to write about all of it. I’m beginning to think this is a perpetual state of existence: TOO MUCH METAL. But rather than be stymied by this predicament, I’ll just have to pick a random assortment of new things — something is better than nothing, right? The first three items in this collection first caught my eye because of the visual art — in each case you can see larger versions of them by clicking the images.

ELIRAN KANTOR AND SATAN

There may be a metal artist whose work I’ve featured on this site more than Eliran Kantor, but I doubt it. And yesterday I spotted his latest work, the cover of a forthcoming live album by the long-running British heavy metal band Satan. The new album is named Trail of Fire: Live In North America, and it will be released by Listenable Records. Kantor created the cover for the band’s previous album Life Sentence, and he explained the concept behind this new one as follows:

“As fire sets the tone of the last album cover, I wanted to focus this one on what you usually get afterwards – ashes left behind. Hence the burnt coal frame. The band came up with the title ‘Trail of Fire’ probably referring to being on the road, and it’s symbolized by the judge’s wig morphing into a trail of burning wooden logs, and the trail of fire actually leads to a trial by fire. I wanted the story told on the band’s covers to move forward too – ‘Court in the Act’ was a trial scene, ‘Life Sentence’ showed the incarceration stage, and now we’re witnessing the execution.”

Continue reading »

SPEED KILLS

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  1 Response »
Sep 122014
 

 

If you’ve been hanging around the site today you can probably figure out what kind of mood I’m in. And I just decided, fuck it, I’m gonna stay in this mood all day.

Basically, the music I’ve featured so far today (including our two song premieres) has been fast-paced and furious. But I’ve decided to turn it up a notch, to punch the accelerator further to the floor, and to amp the filthiness quotient, too. And I’m not limiting myself to new music — but I am limiting myself to music that’s new to me. These are all songs I’ve discovered recently. The first three come from South American bands and then we move to Finland, Spain, and Greece.

This is really just a thrashing sulfurous speed metal play-list –I’m not going to write anything about the individual songs. I’ll just let them do their adrenalized dirty work by themselves. In alphabetical order:

BLASFEMADOR

Band location: Brazil
Song: “Speed Metal Ataque”
Album: A Meia Noite Levarei Tua Alma (2010)
https://www.facebook.com/BlasfemadorSpeed Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: MADROST — “SUBTERRANEAN NIGHTMARE”

 Premieres  1 Response »
Sep 122014
 

 

The artwork by Alejandro Leon for the new second album by SoCal’s Madrost is pleasing to the eye — colorful, alien, and gruesome. It’s an attractive kind of tease for the music, engendering curiosity in part because it doesn’t provide many clues about what the music will sound like. I mean, other than it’s not likely to be a Katy Perry clone.

Although guessing games are fun, we’re going to remove the guesswork by providing a glimpse Into the Aquatic Sector through our premiere of the new album’s sixth track, “Subterranean Nightmare”. And before you listen, you’d best buckle your seatbelt and strap on your crash helmet, because you’re in for a careening and destructive ride down the highway to hell.

Madrost fuel their engines with a full tank of high-octane thrash riffs and then jam the pedal to the floor. The drummer more than keeps pace, with a frenzied but controlled performance, and at the end of this barreling ride you’ll be treated to a very cool harmonized guitar solo (and the band are generous enough to let the bass share the spotlight, too). The song begins and ends with a hair-raising shriek, and in between, their howling frontman keeps the mayhem at full throttle with words you can actually understand.

In a nutshell, this is heavy-grooved, high-energy death/thrash that will get its hooks in you pretty damned quick. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: ANTROPOMORPHIA, BULLETBELT, COILGUNS, OBLITERATIONS, WRAITHS

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  4 Responses »
Sep 122014
 

My ears have feasted upon a big smorgasbord of new and newish metal over the last 24 hours, a big spread of many different styles of delectables. However, in deciding what to assemble for this round-up I was influenced by the Obscure Burials EP I reviewed for today’s first post. Which is to say I was in the mood for more jet-fueled mayhem. Sometimes you just want to have your head torn off, you know what I mean?

Because there’s so much stuff in this post, including two new videos, I’m going to dispense with complete sentences and keep my blather short and sweet. Presenting this alpha music in alphabetical order:

ANTROPOMORPHIA

Location: The Netherlands
Song: “Carved To Pieces”
Album: Rites Ov Perversion
Release date: Sept 12 (Europe) and Sept 16 (NorthAm)
Label: Metal Blade
https://www.facebook.com/AntropomorphiA

Ravenous, ripping, spine-smashing, skull-cleaving, roof-collapsing, gruesome, atmospheric, sing-along music. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: OBSCURE BURIAL — “NIGHT QUEEN”

 Album Reviews, Premieres, SHORT BUT SWEET  No Responses »
Sep 122014
 

When I used to think of current Finnish death metal (not the melodic kind), I tended to think of crushing death/doom, or perhaps a few famous death/grind deviants. Mine eyes have now been opened wider.

Obscure Burial are a relatively young band from Turku, Finland, whose first demo was released in 2012 by Ireland’s Invictus Productions. Invictus, which has dependably refined tastes in filthy extreme music, is about to follow up that first abomination with a second one. The new demo is named Epiphany, and it’s due for release on September 15.

Anyone who shies away from raw, flesh-rending, berserker blackened death metal with a heavy emphasis on speed can stop reading right here, because that’s what you’ll get in spades from Epiphany — and from the song we’re about to premiere: “Night Queen”.

On the other hand, if you get a flooding adrenaline rush from ripping riffs, weapons-grade drumwork, and vocals that sound like a demon pantheon, you’re about to get a satisfying fix for that addiction. In fact, you may not need another fix for days or weeks, because this is potent, uncut, and borderline toxic stuff. Continue reading »

CONTEMPLATING COOL

 Concert Reviews, Exceptions to the Rule, Off Topic  5 Responses »
Sep 112014
 

 

(In this post our man in the UK, Andy Synn, reviews a live September 4 performance in Islington by the collaboration between Devin Townsend and Ché Aimee Dorval known as Casualties of Cool.)

Last Thursday I was lucky enough to see Casualties of Cool, the world’s finest proponents of Ambient Canadian Space-Country, perform a gorgeous, mesmerising set at The Union Chapel in Islington. And it’s taken me a while (I have been somewhat busy/ill in the intervening time) but I’ve finally got round to penning some thoughts about the experience.

To start with, for those of you who don’t know, the venue itself is pretty magical, a beautifully apportioned and enclosed chapel with rows of pews on ground level before the stage (and pulpit) and several more on balconies up above. The stained glass windows and hanging wrought-iron chandeliers add a touch of weight and worth to the surroundings, while the candles flickering in alcoves in each overhang only enhance the warmth and beauty of the place.

When it came to the show itself… well, there’s a reason this was sold under the title Casualties of Cool, and not under Devin’s own name. Because for once this really wasn’t a Devin Townsend show. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: AS LIGHT DIES — “NEMESIS”

 Premieres  1 Response »
Sep 112014
 

Not very long ago I mused about the benefits and risks of albums that incorporate a wide variety of musical styles. When successful, such albums can surprise and stand out from the sea of records whose creators choose to focus on basically the same kind of sound (save for the occasional instrumental intro or interlude). When a band’s reach exceeds their grasp, however, the result can be a jumble that lacks cohesiveness and becomes jarring instead of fascinating.

As Light Dies from Spain are an example of a band whose diverse musical interests and ambitions have pushed them into the realms of the avant garde — which to be honest is a nebulous phrase that often gets thrown around when we can’t think of a better description, one that encompasses both creatively exuberant, genre-jumping successes and the kind of jarring jumbles referred to above. The latest album by As Light Dies (their third) signals right in its title that normal metal conventions will not apply to what lies within its nine tracks and 35 minutes: The Love Album – Volume I.

And if that’s not plain enough, consider that the list of musical influences they identify ranges from Wim Mertens to David Bowie to Phillip Glass to Dead Can Dance, Borknagar, Ved Buens Ende, Mordbid Angel, and Gorguts.

While you try to wrap your mind around that, let me say a few words about “Nemesis”,  the song we’re about to premiere from TLA – Vol. I. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: NIGHTBRINGER — “THE OTHERNESS OF BEING” (AND A REVIEW OF “EGO DOMINUS TUUS”)

 Premieres  7 Responses »
Sep 112014
 

 

Today we bring you the premiere of a song by Nightbringer from their fourth album Ego Dominus Tuus (I am your Lord).

The song can be understood and appreciated on many levels. Standing alone, as you will hear, it’s tremendously powerful. Yet it’s also the final track (and the longest) on a 10-track album that’s more than 70 minutes in length, the culmination of an intense listening experience that’s not merely powerful but overpowering. It brings to a dramatic close a work whose spiritual intent would be manifest even if you knew nothing of the lyrics: It is prayer, it is worship, it is exaltation. It’s a declaration of belief, a proclamation of fealty, a passionate expression of yearning, and an offering to Lucifer on a pyre of flames.

Ego Dominus Tuus sounds like a majestic black metal opera. It’s grandiose and bombastic, with an orchestral quality created not only by the soul-stirring riffs but also by the effective use of keyboards, and there is a narrative quality in the movement of the songs that bespeaks a story being told (even though the lyrics don’t form a continuous narrative). The enormously expressive vocals sometimes sound like exchanges between different characters, each of them driven by fervent and usually fierce emotions — sometimes to the point of madness — as they are buffeted by the tumult of life-shaking occurrences. The music storms and subsides, as if turning points have been reached as the story moves toward its inevitable climax.

As you listen you can imagine the unfolding of transformative events, from the stately processional of an infernal coronation, to the agonies of torture, to the conflagration of war. At the end, you feel drained and breathless. Continue reading »

BLOODBATH’S “GRAND MORBID FUNERAL” IS COMING

 Metal News  4 Responses »
Sep 112014
 

 

We have three song premieres coming your way on the site today, and I’m busy getting them ready to roll out, but I decided I needed to take a break for this one piece of news (published by Metal Hammer) to which my comrade Andy Synn just alerted me. Because it relates to the new album by Bloodbath.

First, they haven’t yet announced who will be the new vocalist in place of Mikael Åkerfeldt, so don’t bother asking. However, they have announced that the name will be revealed on September 16 via Metal Hammer. I already made my guess back in February (here).

Second, the name of the new album was disclosed today — Grand Morbid Funeral. It sounds like a grand name.

Third, the cover art was revealed — you can glimpse it above.

Fourth, it will be released by Peaceville Records on November 17.

Fifth, the press statement released today includes these titillating comments by guitarist Anders Nystrom: Continue reading »

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