NEW YEAR’S GREETINGS FROM 14 BANDS: PART 2

 Interviews, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  1 Response »
Jan 072014
 

(Our Russian correspondent Comrade Aleks put 3 year-end questions to 14 bands, many of whom may be new names to NCS readers. In this 3-part post, he shares their answers and their music. Today, the featured bands are Halter, Montezuma’s Revenge, Psilocybe Larvae, Station Dysthymia, and Stoned Jesus. Find Part 1 here.)

This publication is the last thing I could do before I fell into drunken slumber after horrible celebration of the New Year then coming, and now here. Men from a few euphonious bands of Russia, Ukraine, and Georgia were asked three similar questions, and soon, answers were given. What did I ask them to share with our readers in these gloomy winter days? Oh, I guess here they are…

1. What is the band’s latest news? And what are your plans for 2014?

2. For what events do you remember 2013? Events from the world of music, political stuff, personal stuff, or even that bad weather – that damned winter without snow?

3. And the last one – what would you like to wish for our readers and your listeners?

Here we go again, to spread the Word of Doom, Death, and Damnation (as well as Goodness and Virtue). Happy New Year! Continue reading »

A DEFENSE OF BLACK SABBATH’S “13”

 Album Reviews  13 Responses »
Jan 072014
 

(Guest writer marious has delivered unto us this review and defense of an album with an unlucky title by a band named Black Sabbath. I know I’ve heard that name somewhere…)

Hey all, this post is something of a defense of Black Sabbath’s 13. So, batten down the hatches, because I’m going to rant about some clean singing old guy metal for a little bit. I personally think this album is pretty incredible and a lot of people seem to be refusing to give it a fair chance due to some really negative hype online and their own preconceptions. If you have given the album a full listen or two and still don’t like it, I doubt I will persuade you. I’m not going to appeal to a sense of nostalgia or what not to bring the faithful back to the fold. This is for those people who have yet to hear it, or have only listened to one or two tunes at a glance. So, here goes.

One of the most common complaints I hear is that Ozzy can’t really sing anymore and that the processing on his voice is simply a method of making his singing passable. Honestly, Ozzy was never that great of a singer. His vocal patterns were always relatively simple in Sabbath and his range is not all that wide, but he’ll always be the voice people associate the most with Black Sabbath. However, if you listen to his vocal patterns on 13, they are pretty different from the classic Ozzy-era Sabbath stuff. Generally, he would sing along directly with the rhythm, but he has broken into some more interesting patterns on 13. I’ve heard a bunch of the new tracks live via the interwebs, and while it does sound like his voice is getting a bit strained, it is pretty much the same as it’s always been to me. The vocal processing on 13 doesn’t sound bad or out of place to me, especially since Sabbath had been using effects on Ozzy’s voice well before he was “too old to sing”. Check out Planet Caravan from Paranoid for a bit of evidence. Continue reading »

AN UPDATE AND A ROUND-UP (WITH ORIGIN, DIOCLETIAN, HOWLS OF EBB, AND DRUID LORD)

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  4 Responses »
Jan 072014
 

Your humble editor is behind (or is A behind, depending on who you talk to). Behind on reviews, behind on news and new song premieres, behind on the vaunted list of 2013’s Most Infectious Extreme Metal Songs, and behind in posting things that our staff and guests have written for publication. There are many reasons for this tardiness, but I’d rather not dwell on them. Instead, let’s look ahead to the future.

As far as NCS is concerned, we do have a few late-breaking year-end lists to post. Honestly, I’m somewhat amazed that these lists continue to draw as much interest as they have, given how many we’ve posted during this year’s LISTMANIA extravaganza, but even our most recent ones have attracted strong interest. So, we’re not calling a halt to them just yet. And just as that series is finally winding down, another one will begin: Finally, I’m going to start rolling out the Most Infectious Songs list later today, with the first three picks.

I also expect to resume our usual features now that the holiday season is over, beginning with the following round-up of news and new music. And we begin with…

ORIGIN

Two and a half years have passed since Origin released Entity, and yesterday brought the welcome news that the band are about to begin recording their next album, which will be entitled Omnipresent. Continue reading »

ANNIVERSARY REVIEWS BY WILLIAM SMITH: THE CLASS OF 2004

 LISTMANIA 2013  2 Responses »
Jan 072014
 

EDITOR’S NOTE:  William Smith is the vocalist for a Long Island band named Artificial Brain who we’ve written about repeatedly — and who have been signed by Profound Lore for the release of their debut album Labyrinth Constellation on Feb 18 [details here]. He also writes a very entertaining blog named Vitos Squid Stop and Death Metal Museum. For the third year in a row, as part of our annual LISTMANIA series, he has given us a 2-part list of “anniversary” albums — five albums recorded 10 years and 20 years earlier, respectively. This is the second part, discussing death metal gems that appeared in 2004. You can find Part 1 (class of 1994) here.

CLASS OF 2004 (10 year anniversary)

Fermento – (Spain) “Insignia” (Voliac Rock Productions)

A bombastic and unrelenting album whose production could be described as “clunky” and “overdriven”, this fairly obscure diehard brutolitarian entity could be the truth for those underground warriors who seek Death Metal salvation.  Sounding like the missing link between Obscura-era Gorguts, Incantation, and Internal Suffering, with a testosterone-charged war obsession, this is arguably the most intensely butch recording I own. Continue reading »

NEW YEAR’S GREETINGS FROM 14 BANDS: PART 1

 Interviews, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  4 Responses »
Jan 062014
 

(Our Russian correspondent Comrade Aleks put 3 year-end questions to 14 bands, many of whom may be new names to NCS readers. In this 3-part post, he shares their answers and their music. Today, the featured bands are A Young Man’s Funeral, Decay of Reality, Ennui, Ethereal Riffian, and Evoke Thy Lords.)

This publication is the last thing I could do before I fell into drunken slumber after horrible celebration of the New Year then coming and now here. Men from a few euphonious bands of Russia, Ukraine, and Georgia were asked three similar questions, and soon, answers were given. What did I ask them to share with our readers in these gloomy winter days? Oh, I guess here they are…

1. What is the band’s latest news? And what are your plans for 2014?

2. For what events do you remember 2013? Events from the world of music, political stuff, personal stuff, or even that bad weather – that damned winter without snow?

3. And the last one – what would you like to wish for our readers and your listeners?

Here we go, to spread the Word of Doom, Death, and Damnation (as well as Goodness and Virtue). Happy New Year! Continue reading »

NEUROSIS, BL’AST, YOB, and HELEN MONEY: LIVE AT THE OBSERVATORY, DEC 28, 2013

 Concert Reviews  8 Responses »
Jan 062014
 

(Guest writer Ben, who last appeared on our site here, now returns with a year-end concert review from Orange County, CA, plus his own photos of the show.)

As I walked into the Observatory in Santa Ana on Saturday night, December 28, I didn’t really know what to expect. What do you get when a band like Neurosis decides to play an end-of-the year gig with openers like reunited punk band Bl’ast, Oregon men of doom YOB, and Los Angeles-based cellist Helen Money? Well, one thing is for sure, you get a diverse crowd. I was almost as excited to see the audience’s response to the artists as I was to see some of the artists playing, just to find out what kind of “vibe” would be produced in the venue. Anyways, enough muttering, on to the music.

HELEN MONEY

If you haven’t heard of Helen Money, I truly recommend you take a listen. Alison Chesley, or Helen Money as she is known via her stage name, is a classically trained cellist, but don’t think she came out and played Beethoven for the crowd on Saturday evening (even though I wouldn’t have been upset if she had). Here are some press quotes found on her official website to give you an idea of the experience, since I’m still at a bit of a loss for words to describe what I encountered: Continue reading »

ANAGNORISIS, ESOTERIC BURIAL, ORDER OF LEVIATHAN, SOUNDS OF LAUGHTER: LIVE AT HAYMARKET WHISKEY BAR, JANUARY 2, 2014

 Concert Reviews  6 Responses »
Jan 062014
 


Anagnorisis – photo by Nik Vechery

(In this post we present a show review by NCS contributor Austin Weber, with typically excellent photos by Nik Vechery and embedded music streams, too.)

While most of the metal community is familiar with the Louisville, KY one-man act Panopticon, many have not heard of another highly talented black metal act from here called Anagnorisis — although Austin Lunn was a big part of Anagnorisis for years before moving on to Panopticon, and even in his absence, Anagnorisis have grown and evolved into quite a formidable act. Their latest full-length, Beyond All Light, surprisingly showed up on many a year-end list, including Stereogum’s coveted metal list. So when I heard they were having a vinyl release show for that record, and that the line-up as a whole was going to be a trifecta of quality pitch-black madness along with one newcomer, I knew I had to contact Nik Vechery and cover the show.

What better way to ring in the new year than to absorb potent heaps of aural filth. Upon getting to the show way too early, the thought occurred to me that the bitter near-freezing cold was a perfect grim fit for the long night of black metal ahead. Through talking with fellow fans, Nik and I figured out we had competition, as Rhys Williams from Invisible Oranges and his photographer were covering the show as well. This is what it’s like when metal blogs collide — cue Powerman 5000! Consider as proof that Anagnorisis are a band worth following, that others besides me and my questionable taste wanted to cover the show as well. Continue reading »

ANNIVERSARY REVIEWS BY WILLIAM SMITH: THE CLASS OF 1994

 LISTMANIA 2013  2 Responses »
Jan 062014
 

EDITOR’S NOTE:  William Smith is the vocalist for a Long Island band named Artificial Brain who we’ve written about repeatedly — and who have been signed by Profound Lore for the release of their debut album Labyrinth Constellation on Feb 18 [details here]. He also writes a very entertaining blog named Vitos Squid Stop and Death Metal Museum. For the third year in a row, as part of our annual LISTMANIA series, he has given us a 2-part list of “anniversary” albums — five albums recorded 10 years and 20 years earlier, respectively. This is the first part, discussing death metal gems that appeared in 1994. Part 2 will appear tomorrow.

The past year and the promises of 2014 have proved very fortuitous for forward-thinking underground Death Metal diehards.  I have witnessed a younger generation carry the traditions and soul of the basement underground scene of the 90s into the uncertain future of today with unblinking nerve and progressive attitudes. Beyond that, old school veterans such as Malignancy, Mortal Decay, Gorguts, and Demilich have proven active and relevant in contemporary Death Metal culture and in doing so have acquired a powerfully potent respect and credibility with both newcomers and archgoats alike. All that being said, the departure of the holiday season has inspired a wistful tear for nostalgia in my eye and, as always, I am grateful to share with you my favorite gems that turn 10 and 20 years old this year.

“Immersed in reflection, memories linger and cling like dirt.” – Intronaut, “Nostalgic Echo” Continue reading »

THE BEST OF 2013: YEAR-END LISTS FROM AUSTIN WEBER

 LISTMANIA 2013  10 Responses »
Jan 052014
 

(NCS contributor Austin Weber shares with us his year-end lists of 2013 metal (and not-metal), focusing on releases that may have evaded attention.)

I’ve had a lot of fun sharing my terrible, obnoxious, and idiotic music tastes with you the sexy readers of NCS. Time is always against us, but my goal is to develop further as a writer in a manner that continues to become less grating and grammatically inaccurate while at the same time giving off a demeanor of pure irrelevancy.

Most of the bands mentioned heavily on 2013 best of metal lists will not appear here, nor will most albums that got good coverage during the year, even if they haven’t appeared on many lists. I’m trying to give you, the reader, more music to check out from 2013 that may have been overlooked and underappreciated.

To save myself from writing something new to explain why each one of these is great, I’m going to paraphrase from album reviews that I wrote here at NCS. For albums I already reviewed through my gig with LEO Weekly (a local Louisville, KY print publication with additional online content), I will paste in my reviews instead of writing a short synopsis. For a few I will say only a sentence or two because I’m running out of time to work on this behemoth. What follows isn’t anywhere near everything I loved in 2013, but I hope it will bring something new for everyone. Continue reading »

LEPERKAHN MADE A LIST

 LISTMANIA 2013  26 Responses »
Jan 052014
 

(NCS contributor Leperkahn returns to our site with his list of 2013’s best albums.)

Hello all. I want to start by apologizing for how late this list is. I’ve been planning to write this list out for at least a month now, but college applications essays (do I sound like a broken record now? I feel like I’m blaming all of my shortcomings on them) have once again hijacked my days, nights, and weekends. I honestly haven’t left my house for this entire first week of my school’s winter break, except to get the mail. But things are looking up now. I’m finally done with apps, and as I type this I’m on my way to Mammoth Lakes (a.k.a. Valdur-land) to go snowboard and impersonate a giant three-toed sloth.

Anyway, enough of my pouting. Let’s get on with this list of the objectively best music of 2013, as chosen completely subjectively by my tastes and what I had time to listen to. Though before I start, I would like to apologize to djneibarger in advance: I’m afraid I didn’t get to listen to Vexovoid enough to put it on this list. I’ve already administered 20 lashings to myself for this mistake. The same goes for the new Hail of Bullets, Man Must Die, Abyssal, Ruins of Beverast, and a couple other gems (I’m just now getting to the new Tyr and Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats albums as I type).

Also, before you start reading the actual list, drop everything that you’re doing and go listen to these two songs immediately: Continue reading »

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