AN NCS INTERVIEW: BELETH (NOCTEM)

 Interviews  2 Responses »
Jun 232014
 

photo credit: MUSIFOTO

(A couple months ago our man DGR gave a very positive review of Exilium, the new album by Spain’s Noctem, and today we bring you his e-mail interview of the band’s frontman, Beleth.)

 

Although most people reading this will already have some inkling of who you are, I figured I would get a quick introduction out of the way for people who may not do well with the rosters of most of the bands they listen to.  So let’s get a quick identification as to who you are, what role you play within the band, and how long you’ve been part of Noctem?

Beleth: Ok, I’m Beleth, vocalist of Noctem, founding member along with Exo and obviously I’ve been working in the band from the beginning in 2001. Although 2007 is what we call the real beginning of Noctem.

 

It seems like some bands will unintentionally release trilogies in terms of sound in their discographies, where they usually play with the same ideas for about three albums and then the fourth is a sudden shift or some crazy new idea for them. However, Noctem seem to have shifted toward a much more menacing, faster, and sleeker sound compared to the more bludgeoning works of something like Divinity — all over the span of three albums. Do you see this trend continuing?

Beleth: I think Noctem these past 6 years have followed an extreme line, that has served to find a more personal sound. Our style has not changed, but it is now more extreme and more mature than our beginnings with Divinity.

 

You guys have also pulled heavily from mythology for inspiration in your works. Much of Exilium has references to it, and Oblivion played with mythology and history from Guatemala. How does Noctem find its ideas?  Do you often find yourselves scouring the web for old texts to read and occasionally finding yourself going, “You know, there’s a concept for a disc here”?

Beleth: Actually yes, I spend hours and hours looking for the proper Thematic for each album, choosing topics and writing lyrics. It’s not easy, we never wanted to talk about well-worn topics such as anti-Christianism, Countess Bathory, etc, you know what I’m talking about. These are typical themes that many bands are always dealing with. Continue reading »

APOPHYS

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC, SHORT BUT SWEET  6 Responses »
Jun 232014
 

Good bands die, and sometimes other good ones rise up from their ashes like a Phoenix. A case in point: I’ve been in mourning over the death last year of God Dethroned, but that great band’s members are moving on to other things, including drummer Michiel van der Plicht (also ex-Prostitute Disfigurement, ex-Detonation) who is now a member of the new Dutch band Apophys. I also experienced pangs of grief a few days ago when I learned that Mondvollond had also disbanded — and lo and behold, Mondvolland’s Mickeal Schuurman turns out to be the bass player for Apophys. Apophys also includes talented guitarists Sanne van Dijk and Koen Romeijn (Detonation) and vocalist Kevin Quilligan (Toxocara, Erebus).

I’ve been investigating Apophys since discovering them for the first time this weekend, and I’ve included in this post a selection of what I found. Eventually I’ll come to their music, but I’m beginning with a medical procedure.

The subject of this procedure was Apophys vocalist Kevin Quilligan. He paid a visit to phoniatrician Enrico Di Lorenzo (who also happens to be the frontman of Rome’s Hideous Divinity) for a vocal assessment. I had never heard of phoniatrics before, and if its a new field for you as well, you can learn a small amount about it here. This consultation was videotaped, and fortunately it turns out to be more interesting than film of a colonoscopy, although both procedures involve the insertion of tubes with cameras into fleshy orifices. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: EMPEROR, PTAHIL, EXECRATION

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  6 Responses »
Jun 232014
 

As I mentioned yesterday, I’ve been fucking off in Texas since last Thursday. Finally got back to Seattle last night after a thoroughly enjoyable four days in Austin. I didn’t listen to much metal while I was away, but I did make lists of things I wanted to check out after I got home. And so I did, and so here are a few of those discoveries.

EMPEROR

The 2014 edition of HELLFEST in Clisson, France, ended last night, and most (if not all) of the performances are available for viewing at the French site Arte.tv (collected here). Yesterday I embedded streams of the sets by Sólstafir and Watain, and I thought I’d include one more this morning. This one is the full set by Norway’s Emperor, who have been celebrating the 20th anniversary of In the Nightside Eclipse with a series of festival performances (they will also be performing at Wacken Open Air in Germany and headlining the 2014 installment of Bloodstock Open Air in the UK).

A person could spend days watching the HELLFEST videos, which of course you won’t do because that would divert your attention from reading every word of every post at NCS. But you might at least make time for this one.

(thanks BadWolf) Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: SÓLSTAFIR, WATAIN, AN SBM COMPILATION, NACHTMYSTIUM

 Metal News  10 Responses »
Jun 222014
 


Photo © Metal Chris

You may have noticed that I haven’t written anything for our site for a few days.  I’ve been hanging out with family and friends in Austin, Texas, the hallowed place of my birth.  There has been much eating, drinking, and merriment, but almost no time for metal. I’m thinking I can get back to my normal routine after getting back to Seattle tonight. But although I haven’t been listening to much music, I do have a few things to spread around today.

SÓLSTAFIR

Today is the last day of HELLFEST in Clisson, France. The French site Arte.tv has been webcasting performances from the festival, and I thought I’d mention that Iceland’s Sólstafir will be performing today. As best I can figure, their set will start at 1:00 pm Pacific Time and 10:00 pm local time in Clisson.

I’ve seen Sólstafir perform live on a grand total of one occasion, but based on that experience I highly recommend you watch this.  I’ve embedded the stream player after the jump, but in case that doesn’t work for you, go HERE.

UPDATE:  Sólstafir’s set has obviously now been completed, but I’ve substituted the archived footage of the show after the jump. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: YOURI RAYMOND (UNHUMAN)

 Interviews  5 Responses »
Jun 222014
 

(In this post we have Austin Weber’s interview of Youri Raymond, guitarist/vocalist of Montréal’s Unhuman, whose debut album Austin reviewed here.)

Except for a group of hard-core devotees and super-geeks like me, last year’s independently released self-titled Unhuman record came out of absolutely nowhere, catching the majority of the technical death metal scene by surprise. Yet that record was actually a very long time coming, with the majority of the songs originally dating back to 1999 and 2001.

I wanted to get the story behind what caused the album’s delay and all other things Unhuman related. While French is his principal native tongue, Unhuman’s main composer, guitarist, and vocalist Youri Raymond did a fine job deciphering the garbled language I speak and answering back in English. After the interview you can find links to some of the bands Youri mentioned in the interview.

********

Continue reading »

OLD MAN WINDBREAKER REMEMBERS THE NORTHERN SOLSTICE

 Album Reviews  2 Responses »
Jun 212014
 

(Guest contributor Old Man Windbreaker returns to NCS after an extended absence with the following quirky commemoration of this seasonally significant day.)

Mellow greetings, fellow sapients. Old Man Windbreaker greets you, indeed. Old Man Windbreaker is also sleep-deprived and febrile. Old Man Windbreaker decided to write something for this year’s day of the Northern Solstice. And no, it is not an installment of the promised “A Tredecennium of Metal” series.

Anyway, let us get on with it — a review of Wagner, Wagner Reloaded, and Wagner Revolutions. In addition to finding out whether that is a real thing, you will find here enclosed in this non-existent envelope the non-existent answers to the big questions: “Where do we come from?” “What are we?” “Where are we going?” “Will it blend?” {Cue Immortal and their invisible oranges}

Firstly, there is no trilogy of feature films or musical works titled “Wagner”, “Wagner Reloaded”, and “Wagner Revolutions”. We shall be considering only the music recording titled Wagner Reloaded by Apocalyptica with the MDR Symphonic Orchestra, with the corresponding dance performance choreographed by Gregor Seyffert.

Secondly, One shall wish you to have a great time on this year’s day of the Northern Solstice, which also happens to be World Music Day. One shall not apologise for the irrelevance of the music review to the event of the Northern Solstice.

Finally, One shall make no further mention of the answers to the big questions, other than to say this: “Yes, it will blend.” Continue reading »

MESHUGGAH AND BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME: LIVE IN LOS ANGELES, June 6, 2014

 Concert Reviews  4 Responses »
Jun 202014
 

(Guest writer Ben Manzella wrote the following review of the June 6 performances by Meshuggah and Between the Buried and Me in L.A. and took the photos as well.  The delay in posting the review is due entirely to the ineptitude of our pathetic editor.)

A Friday night was upon the metal loyal and ignorant alike in Los Angeles, and to pretty much everyone’s approval Meshuggah was in the building. It was the first date of the 25 Years Of Musical Deviance North American tour, and it was sure to be a night to remember. I had seen Meshuggah on the Obzen tour with Cynic and The Faceless, but I knew this night would have a different “feel” to it.

The whole night there was an atmosphere of coming together. Dino Cazares (Fear Factory) and Chris Broderick (Megadeth) were seated together at a table in the floor area of the Wiltern Theatre, chatting and enjoying a night out seeing some friends; metalheads of all ages wore the uniform sporting the more extreme side of metal, with Morbid Angel, Immortal, etc., emblazoned on their chests, and even some of the so-called”false” metal bands such as Five Finger Death Punch and Disturbed.

No matter your status, age, or even residence (in line for the wristband that allowed attendees to drink, I saw multiple IDs from out of state), we were all there for one purpose: to celebrate Meshuggah’s legacy as they possibly killed anyone with the slightest inkling of epilepsy in their DNA (the lighting for their set was insane!)

On to the music. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: HORNED ALMIGHTY, HYPERIAL, CONDUCTING FROM THE GRAVE

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  2 Responses »
Jun 202014
 

In this round-up I’ve collected a few new songs and videos I noticed over the last 24 hours from a variety of metal sub-genres. I really like all of ’em. Hope you will, too.

HORNED ALMIGHTY

This Danish black metal band have recorded their fifth album, and the first since 2010’s Necro Spirituals. The new one is named World of Tombs and it’s projected for release waaaay down the road on September 1, 2014, by the band’s new label, Scarlet Records. Yesterday brought a stream of one of the new tracks, “Diabolical Engines of Torment”, and it kills.

It kills in two ways — with electrifying thrash riffs and punk rhythms (which will grab you by the neck right from the first second), and with a down-paced pounding so irresistible that heads cannot help but bang. The vocalist alternately sprays acid and roars like a death metal beast, and the production makes the music sound especially powerful (and clear). Continue reading »

KEYBOARD WARRIORS: KEITH SPILLETT (THE TYRANNY OF TRADITION)

 Interviews  7 Responses »
Jun 192014
 

EDITOR’S NOTE

In this post, Dane Prokofiev returns to NCS with the first new installment in his Keyboard Warriors series in more than a year. But what a comeback it is. Here, he interviews Keith Spillett — history teacher, basketball coach, father, and the man behind The Tyranny of Tradition, the best satirical metal site on the web and one of the best satire sites you could find regardless of focus. Not surprisingly, his responses to Dane’s questions are more literate and twisted than the average interview we post at this sinkhole.

 

***

Interplanetary Manhunt for Devin Townsend Impersonator

Tyranny of Tradition founder Keith Spillett impersonates Earth’s operatic extreme metal musician Devin Townsend in an online acceptance speech.

 

By DANE PROKOFIEV

ZILTOIDIA 9 — For the first time ever, Earth’s FBI has issued an interplanetary manhunt for a keyboard warrior. Keith Spillett, founder of metal satire website The Tyranny of Tradition, is the intelligence agency’s target.

Spillett, 109, is wanted for impersonating operatic extreme metal vocalist extraordinaire Devin Townsend in an online acceptance speech after winning the Metal Hammer Golden Gods first-ever “King of the Internet” award.

FBI director Leonardo CiDaprio said, “Never before has a keyboard warrior been so bold. Whenever keyboard warriors impersonate metal musicians online, like whoever was posting as “Tim Lambesis” on MetalSucks.net, the FBI used to do a Nick Fury and let them off. But this is the first time one has actually dressed up as the one and only Devy, imitated Devy’s voice pitch-perfectly, and filmed himself giving an acceptance speech for some dumb award. It has taken cyber identity theft to a new level.”

Inhuman entities have also expressed anger at Spillett’s crime. Continue reading »

SHORT BUT SWEET: SPAWN FROM DECEIT – “NEW THRONES”

 Album Reviews, SHORT BUT SWEET  6 Responses »
Jun 192014
 

(DGR catches up with the latest offering of grind from Finland’s Spawn From Deceit.)

Sometimes, you want some music that you can not only scream along with but also scream at in a white-knuckle rage. I went through this a huge amount last year, and the feeling has been sticking around since then. It sent me on a massive grind kick (of the loud, banging, DIY Punk style, about as close to Nasum and Rotten Sound as I could get with every band) and wound up covering a variety of bands.

Finland’s Spawn From Deceit were probably the most punk of the grind bands that I covered when I launched that vast swath of reviews in the genre late last year. Since then though, I haven’t done my due diligence to see what the guys have been up to. Should’ve known better, because grind is a genre that lends itself to fairly prolific releases, and lo and behold, Spawn From Deceit have another six-song face-to-the-grinding-wheel release out called New Thrones — though I don’t think there is any way to get your hands on it at the moment. Continue reading »

 Older Entries  Newer Entries