RECOMMENDATIONS FROM A STRANGER REGARDING LIFE-ENHANCING ALBUMS OF THE PAST 365 DAYS

 LISTMANIA 2013  9 Responses »
Jan 042014
 

(Guest writer Alain Mower returns to the site with his wonderfully eclectic list of favorite releases from 2013.)

Recommendations from a stranger regarding life-enhancing albums of the past 365 days…

…but first, some reflections on this year. I tend to have a more ‘grab-bag’ taste in music, with a little bit of everything finding its way onto my list of best music, but man was this a great year for metal – and really, music in general.

One representative sign of this has been just how diverse the music lists have been this year, even among people with similar tastes in music. For me, any of my Top 15 could have been the number one album of the year, and any of them could have competed for that slot in past years – reflecting a depth of quality that I never could have previously conceived. The only thing that kept me from having an entirely metal list of top albums is my natural indifference toward most death and blackened death metal.

There will always be regrets – for example, I still haven’t yet bought a copy of Fen’s Dustwalker or Oranssi Pazuzu’s Valonielu — and that Austin Lunn of Panopticon didn’t share his list with us until recently – that Obsidian Tongue album right?! – but, without further ado, here are albums that have been populating my sonic sphere of existence without end and will continue to better my existence through their existence. Continue reading »

VONLUGHLIO’S TOP 40 METAL ALBUMS OF 2013

 LISTMANIA 2013  14 Responses »
Jan 042014
 

(In this post we welcome back our good friend from the Dominican Republic and stalwart NCS supporter, Vonlughlio, who provides the following list of his favorite 2013 releases.)

So the time as arrived again for the year-end year, and for the second time I have been privileged to be able to post mine here at No Clean Singing. I would like to take the opportunity to thank Islander for letting me share the albums I have grown to love in 2013. Thanks also to all the other guest writers for their year-end contributions, through which I have found some great music.

Last year, when I did my top 25, I knew what albums would be on the list from the get-go and did not have any second thoughts about it. This year, with all the great releases, I had a tough time to be honest. I had to make several drafts and still was not satisfied with the end result. So I decided to make a top 40, and after three attempts finally made a list that I feel comfortable with.  When I showed it to friends, some were shocked that certain well-known bands (whose albums I liked) did not make the final draft. In fact, some of the readers here will be puzzled as well.

Another thing I decided to do this year was to include some of my favorite EP’s.  To be honest, I’m more into full-lengths, but decided to pay more attention since there is some quality music in this type of release. With all that being said, here is my top 40. Hope you like my choices and if not, that is ok too. Continue reading »

THE UNSUNG HEROES OF 2013, PART 1

 Album Reviews  18 Responses »
Jan 032014
 

(In this post Andy Synn begins a series of short reviews of selected 2013 albums that we failed to review before the year ended.)

2013 was a fantastic year for metal, if I do say so myself. The sheer wealth of stellar material produced – from old favourites to new discoveries – was absolutely astounding. As a result there was always going to be a lot of stuff that simply fell below the radar, or which was missed out due to being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Obviously we try to cover as wide a spread of stuff as possible here at NCS, but even the combination of the five of us, plus our many guest contributors,  can’t give our full attention to absolutely everything that comes out during the year.

It’s an unavaoidable consequence of a year in which there was simpy too much to deal with all at once. An enviable position in many ways, but an unfortunate one in others.

As such, there’s a host of albums that I listened to – and loved – last year that I never got the chance to write about. So I’m going to dedicate the next week or two to briefly covering some of those records that I/we didn’t manage to write about last year, and try and give them their due. Continue reading »

BANDS YOU NEED TO HEAR: COGNIZANCE

 Album Reviews, SHORT BUT SWEET  11 Responses »
Jan 032014
 

(In this post TheMadIsraeli brings us another recent discovery — a brand new two-song demo by an English band named Cognizance.)

It would appear there is a quality death metal overflow from 2013 left over; first Warforged (featured here yesterday), now these dudes.  Cognizance play an extremely violent brand of tech death that calls to mind Cryptopsy, Aeon, a lot of Polish and Italian influences, and just overall kick assery.

This is really turbulent stuff and completely brings the brutality in spades.  Looking forward to seeing what these guys pull out later this year.  Enjoy the two-song demo they just released, which is a “pay what you want” download at Bandcamp. Continue reading »

BANDS YOU NEED TO HEAR: WARFORGED

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  10 Responses »
Jan 022014
 

(In this post, TheMadIsraeli introduces us to a death metal band named Warforged, who have a new EP on the way.)

If Warforged release a full length this year, I predict it’ll be at the top of the heap.  I’ve been hearing things about these Chicagoans for a while, but nothing substantial had ever come out and what I could hear from their earliest efforts was severely underdeveloped and, now in hindsight, was totally unrepresentative of what they do.

Based on the sounds from their forthcoming debut EP, Essence of the Land,  Warforged play progressive tech-death with a heavy black metal influence.  The array of influences you can hear are many, emanating from sources such as Martyr, Spawn Of Possession, Gorguts — mostly from the alien, angular, tech-death circuit — while also channeling bands such as Emperor, Daylight Dies, In Mourning, and The Faceless.

I figured now was a good time to write about these guys because they have just released a video for not one, but three songs, suggesting that the EP, the album art for which you can see above, is an epic suite.  This video is ¾ of that suite, and it completely bewilders and amazes me.  I don’t think you’re ready for this. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: “INCENDIUM” BY BURIAL HORDES

 Premieres  12 Responses »
Jan 022014
 

I first happened upon Burial Hordes from Greece last January after discovering their split release with Enshadowed, which is excellent (reviewed here). They have a new album on the way, entitled Incendium, which will be released later this month by the Polish label Hellthrasher Productions. It features cover art by Mark Riddick, production by Devo Andersson (Marduk), and eight tracks of striking music divided into two “chapters” — “Decay” and “Fall”. Today we have the privilege of exclusively premiering the new album’s title song, “Incendium”.

It’s a gripping piece of music, shrouded in darkness and weighted by a choking atmosphere of doom and despair. Deep, ominous riffs accompany hoarse, heartless roars and hair-raising shrieks, while an off-the-chain drum performance infuses the music with powerful energy, and chiming guitar notes create an almost ethereal contrast. Continue reading »

THEMADISRAELI’S TOP 10 OF 2013

 LISTMANIA 2013  4 Responses »
Jan 022014
 

(In this post NCS writer TheMadIsraeli delivers his list of 2013’s Top 10 albums.)

I really wanted to do a top twenty this year.  I really did.  After a shit ton of scrutiny though, I decided I couldn’t come up with twenty.  A top ten has to do for this year, because ten specific albums overwhelmingly stomped everything else for me.  This year was an ABSOLUTELY MONSTROUS year for metal, particularly death metal and prog-tinged metal.  That’s funny to me, by the way, because a lot of that prog-tinged stuff was also death metal.  While my personal favorites didn’t always gravitate in that direction (although three very select choices are indeed on here), I’m overall very pleased with this year.

Now, as for this list:  I’ve never done a list before where my order “mattered” per se.  I don’t like ranking albums against each other, never have.  I figure they’ve done well enough if they get onto my list in the first place.  However, this time, some albums were so definitively good that there had to be a ranking.  This time the ordering of my list matters (at least to me), and I even have an album of the year.

I certainly hope the musicians I’ve had the pleasure of connecting with and getting to know over this year will understand if they didn’t make the cut.  The competition was simply too brutal.  There will be honorable mentions though, so this won’t be a hard-locked top-ten-, nothing-else-matters kind of list.

So here they are… my top ten albums of 2013. Continue reading »

LEGION OF THE DAMNED: “RAVENOUS PLAGUE”

 Album Reviews  6 Responses »
Jan 022014
 

(In this post TheMadIsraeli reviews the new album by Legion of the Damned from The Netherlands.)

This is a good way to start the New Year.  I’ve been a fan of Legion of the Damned’s (or LOTD from here on out) brand of blackened death thrash attack since they formed.  They’ve managed to put out nothing but consistently good to great albums since they started.  What’s kind of surprising to me is that even though these guys have a six-album discography, a lot of people don’t know who they are.  Because of that, I’m going to write this review from a kind of introductory perspective, rather than assuming that our readers already knows of these guys.

The way to really view LOTD’s music is old school as fuck.  In thinking about all of their influences, all the bands they obviously look to, focus on the early end of those catalogues.  We’re talking Hell Awaits Slayer, Pleasure to Kill Kreator, Scream Bloody Gore-era Death.  The black metal influences are more difficult to pinpoint; they are more just an extra element mainly added into the guitar performances.  The name of the game is gritty, fast as hell, riff-driven thrash metal with death metal and black metal fringes.

The name of LOTD’s latest offering is Ravenous Plague.  It’s a fitting name, because everything about this album is like a fast-moving, civilization-slaughtering disease at work.  This album is a bit on the filthier side as compared to their previous work, which always maintained a more mechanically precise attack.  This is, to my recollection, the most that the band’s thrash roots have dominated their sound, and the result is pretty fucking killer.  Ravenous Plague is nothing but ravenous feral sonic evisceration. Continue reading »

A YEAR-END LIST FROM FREDRIK HULDTGREN (CANOPY, KAOS VORTEX)

 LISTMANIA 2013  4 Responses »
Jan 022014
 

(As we have in the past, we asked our friend Fredrik Huldtgren, vocalist for both Sweden’s Canopy and Germany’s Kaos Vortex and the man behind the exciting Elemental Nightmares vinyl project, to share with us his favorite albums of 2013, and here’s his list.)

I always have trouble coming up with these lists, mainly because I can never remember what was released when, and usually once I find something I truly enjoy, I tend to get stuck on it and miss out on a lot of the other albums that came out. So, after going through what I had bought this year, here is a list of the 10 albums I enjoyed the most.

10. The Ruins of Beverast – Blood Vaults – The Blazing Gospel of Heinrich Kramer

To follow up an album such as Foulest Semen of a Sheltered Elite is no easy task, and while Blood Vaults … does not quite live up to its predecessor, it is one hell of an album. Brooding, dark, and filled with some great riffs. Continue reading »

A YEAR-END LIST FOR YOUSE FROM GRONK! (A BAND OF ORCS)

 LISTMANIA 2013  6 Responses »
Jan 012014
 

photo by Ray Cottle

(Wretched humies that we are, and wishing to be spared when the domination of the great dragon comes, we humbly asked A Band of Orcs if they would share with us their favorite releases of 2013, and received this response from Gronk!, verse weaver and wielder of the shamanic bass. HAIL GZOROTH!)

Us allies at No Clean Singing have ask usses for review our favorite metal tales of 2013. As Shaman of the Gore-Stained Axe Tribe, Me, Gronk!, preserve kin’s history in song, invent tales of novel exploits of tribe, and convey to all Will of Great Gzoroth, Dragon of Chaos and Fire. Hail Gzoroth! 

In short, me tell stories.  Me also study Earthrealm metal tribes’ lyrical lore, for more understand our enemies, our allies, and the realm usses find usses in.  Earthrealm Metal Tribe’s Chronicle of despair, struggle, oppression, and (sometimes) rebellion of humies’ doomed kind against the ‘oppressors’ has kept running strong this year as in years before.  Whether view of vikings (Amon Amarth), aliens (Gwar), humies fearing aliens (Voivod), America-realm patriots (Havok) or just mortal humies (Iron Reagan), the tales make clear: Domination is coming! (Or is already here?)

Great has it been a year for doom-saying apocalyptic end-of-the-world fear and longing. A Swirling, hidden terror grips humies’ hearts. Every ungreen feels so, but naming “It” a bit like try to grasp eel — more tighter youse squeeze, more quickly “It” slips through youse clawed fingers. Or youse get shocked! But still, metal minstrels try and here is Gronk!’s favorite of what thems say this year. Continue reading »

 Older Entries  Newer Entries