WOMANOWAR: THE ARGUMENT FOR BALANCE & EQUALITY — AN INTERVIEW WITH SUBROSA (KIM PACK, SARAH PENDLETON, & REBECCA VERNON)

 Interviews  20 Responses »
Dec 232013
 

photo by Brandon Garcia

(We welcome the return of guest writer Alain Mower and the second in his series of interviews of women in metal. In this edition, he talks with three of the members of Utah-based SubRosa — Kim Pack, Sarah Pendleton, and Rebecca Vernon — whose 2013 album More Constant Than the Gods has been appearing on many year-end lists around the world, including this recent one on our own site, and whose answers to Alain’s questions are both eloquent and inspiring.)

This series is dedicated to creating discussion and awareness by expressing the observations, thoughts, and opinions of current prolific metal musicians who, in their spare time, also happen to be women. This is in direct response to the few stragglers in the community who think that there is still a place for sexism in metal.

If this results in you punching some loud-mouth, drunk sexist at the next show you go to or calling someone out when they question the attendance, attire, or musical capabilities of a woman at a show, then that’s all I could ever ask, and then some. Continue reading »

BADWOLF’S TOP 25 METAL ALBUMS OF THE YEAR (AND HIS PERSONAL FAVORITE)

 LISTMANIA 2013  3 Responses »
Dec 232013
 

(In this post, NCS staff writer BadWolf delivers his list of the year’s best albums.)

Every year I make one of these lists, and every year it comes out different, probably because my feelings on year-end lists changes. Honestly, guys, we’ve had an absolute wealth of information on this site and others over the past month, and more album streams than anyone could possibly wade through (though, god help me, I’m trying to listen to everything Austin Lunn recommended). I know I’ve missed tons of underground shit. Honestly, If i’m going to recommend anything obscure, I’d rather do so by itself, in a full review, than buried in one of these lists. Ultimately, I didn’t want to give anything a meaningless rank. Rather, I wanted to highlight those albums that I feel are worth revisiting this year.

So, here they are, my top albums of the year, presented in alphabetical order, and at the end my personal favorite (which should come as no surprise). Bon appetit.

Altar of Plagues – Teethed Glory and Injury

I had disregarded this band before—the previous Altar records felt like retreads of sounds I preferred from other bands. But this thing! On their final record, Altar took an oblique, rhythmic left turn into some of the most upsetting-but-fascinating music in the past few years. I’m sad to see them go, but what a send-off.


Continue reading »

A YEAR-END LIST BY SURACHAI

 LISTMANIA 2013  2 Responses »
Dec 232013
 

(We invited Chicago’s Surachai to share with us some of his favorite music from 2013 because we suspected it would be an unusual list. We were not wrong. And if you happened to have missed Surachai’s 2013 album, Embraced, which BadWolf reviewed here, check it out on Bandcamp.)

 

Bernard Parmegiani – De Natura Sonorum (Recollection GRM)

Unfortunately, I found out about Bernard Parmagiani only recently, and only recently did he die. He left behind an immense catalog of some of the mind-bending compositions and sounds from last century. I’ve been collecting all the reissued GRM titles and most of them take you to school, then you realize some of these reissues are anywhere between 30-50 years old. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: MEDECOPHOBIC, PURTENANCE, AETHERIAN

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  7 Responses »
Dec 222013
 

Here’s a selection of metal I discovered yesterday from bands both new and old. It’s a diverse mix of sounds, from bone-mangling and decimating to beautifully melodic, and I found all of it excellent.

MEDECOPHOBIC

Medecophobic is a two-man operation from Munich, Germany. Almost exactly three years ago they self-released their debut album Pandemic of Existence (available on Bandcamp here), and recently they’ve signed with a label called Permeated Records, which will be releasing a new three-song demo in January. The new demo’s name is Escalation, and yesterday the band started streaming one of the new songs — “Cornered”.

Brutal, slamming death metal is intrinsically visceral music, and “Cornered” punches really hard, right in the gut. The darting, jabbing riffs come fast and furious, and the off-the-hook drum attack is merciless (damn, am I loving the snare-drum weaponry on this song!). The instrumental work displays a lot of technical flair, the grooves are abundant, and the vocals sound like the cross-bred yowling of a sabretooth and a bear. Tasty! Continue reading »

LITHOTOME: “LITHOTOME”

 Album Reviews  9 Responses »
Dec 222013
 

I first heard the name Lithotome last March via an e-mail from an Australian label named Fall of Nature, offering a promo of the band’s new self-titled debut album. I don’t remember why, but I didn’t follow up. Then I saw the name again on a year-end list by NCS reader 365chaosriddendays. And then I saw that Lithotome had made the album available on Bandcamp yesterday.

I listened to the first three songs, and then stopped and bought the album, because I already knew I would want to clutch it to myself like a misshapen offspring.

Lithotome began as a collaboration between Philadelphia musician Alex Poole (Chaos Moon, Esoterica, Krieg) and vocalist N. Imperial (Krieg, Twilight), and eventually came to include Jack and Steven Blackburn (Esoterica), and Dan Martin (Vrolok) as well The e-mail I received last March drew comparisons to Australia’s Portal and early 90s Finnish death metal, and having now heard the music, I can understand why. Continue reading »

A YEAR-END LIST FROM SEAN GOLYER (OAK PANTHEON)

 LISTMANIA 2013  9 Responses »
Dec 222013
 

(We again invited recording engineer and musician Sean Golyer (Oak Pantheon) to give us his year-end list of personal favorites, and he again agreed.)

As is customary for three years now (wow, really?), my list primarily consists of the albums that got the most spins, as well as a few blasphemous unmetal picks for those willing to explore a bit. This may leave out otherwise very choice albums from a year jam-packed with crazy good metal. Seriously, 2013 has been extraordinary, particularly for those of us with a penchant for the blackened side of things. Unfortunately, as of late I’m just too busy in my personal life to check them all out or give them more time. But these are the albums that stood out to me the most and kept my interest well beyond the first listen.

Caladan Brood – “Echoes of Battle”

What’s there left to say beyond what I’ve already said over at Metal Bandcamp? This album came out of nowhere early in the year and I’ve been listening to it pretty regularly ever since. All the coolest, heaviest parts of Summoning wrapped into a very well-produced and mixed package. One of those few examples that truly live up to the title of “epic”. Feathers might be ruffled, but I enjoyed this release far more than the actual Summoning album that came out this year. This is always how I’ve wanted them to sound, which is purely subjective and selfish on my part, but hey, we’ve all got our own tastes. Continue reading »

SHORT BUT SWEET: “OBLITERATIONS” BY OBLITERATIONS

 Album Reviews, SHORT BUT SWEET  4 Responses »
Dec 212013
 

With as diverse a group as Leperkahn, Phro, and Sean Golyer all uttering surprised exclamations about this EP on Facebook, it had “can’t miss” written all over it, right? And on top of that, there was the mention on Obliterations’ Bandcamp page of the members’ musical pedigrees (with time spent in the likes of Black Mountain, Saviours, Bluebird, Night Horse, and Pink Mountaintops) and their love of both Black Sabbath and Black Flag. Also, photos of nuclear detonations.

So, although I’m buried up to me neck in unheard promos and other recommendations that have been gathering dust, I ventured into this L.A. band’s self-titled debut release. With four songs flying by in 8 1/2 minutes, it’s over before you know it — but it leaves its mark. Or rather, it leaves marks, the kind that will scar when the scabs come off.

The music is a galvanizing blend of bolting punk rhythms and fat guitar and bass tone, with gut-pummeling drum beats, rambunctious bass work, and blinding solo bursts. The riffs are immediately catchy and compelling, Sam James Velde lets it all hang out in his enraged vocal shrieks, and the sound quality is damn-near perfect for the hybrid punk/metal animal these dudes have created. Continue reading »

FORK TONGUE’S TOP 10 SONGS OF 2013

 LISTMANIA 2013  7 Responses »
Dec 212013
 

(Guest writer Fork Tongue has already brought us his lists of the year’s best demo’s and EPs, and now we’ve got his list of top songs — with the music streams.)

Let’s put the bullshit aside. Lists are personal preference. Pushing heavy metal forward into a new direction is not in my criteria for any of my lists. Give me good riffs and and a pleasurable experience and I’m going to like your album no matter how many old bands you sound like. Give me songs like these though, songs that stick with me and keep me coming back again and again, and you might have something special on your hands.

 

10. Beyond – “Definite Decease (In the Chamber of Deathsalvation)”

What a debut. When you can put out your first full-length and have one of the best Death Metal albums of the year in a ridiculously strong year for Death Metal, you know you have a bright future. Continue reading »

YEAR-END INTERLUDE

 Free Shit, LISTMANIA 2013, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  10 Responses »
Dec 202013
 


ah yes . . . it’s that special time of year

As this week draws to a close, I thought I would let you know what we have planned for you in the 11 days left in 2013, and then toss some free music your way. And by the way, are you as weirded out as I am to realize that this year will be over in only 11 days?

2013 has been a fantastic year for metal. I had been thinking that even before we started our LISTMANIA series, but all the lists we’ve been posting have really driven the point home. With every list I’ve been finding fantastic albums that I failed to hear or never even knew existed, on top of all the great albums, EPs, splits, and demo’s that I did manage to check out. And we’re far from finished with LISTMANIA.

At the risk of overloading you with still more discoveries, at the moment I have 11 more year-end list articles in the publication queue and am expecting at least another half-dozen to arrive in the next week. They come from NCS readers, fellow bloggers (including a quasi-reunion of writers from The Number of the Blog), metal musicians, and of course the NCS staff writers. And they are as diverse as the list pieces we’ve already published. I think they’ll be well worth your time. Continue reading »

SHORT BUT SWEET: VILDHJARTA — “THOUSANDS OF EVILS”

 Album Reviews, SHORT BUT SWEET  1 Response »
Dec 202013
 


(Here’s TheMadIsraeli’s belated review of the latest release by Sweden’s Vildhjarta.)

THALL

 

Now that that’s out of the way…

It’s a shame I’m only just now reviewing this.  Vildhjarta are easily one of the most important bands in the whole djent/prog-groove scene.  Måsstaden was a masterpiece in the way it interwove djent, deathcore, and doom into a cohesive atomic sonic clusterfuck of sainthood.  This EP, Thousands of Evils, sees a band already known for strange sounds and strange ideas experimenting even more.   It’s cool, if for nothing else, that this is a band who are unafraid to put their mere fucking around out there and see how it’s received.  The results are, as one would expect from these guys, dimension-opening.

All of the elements that made the band are still here: The relentless dual vocal assault, the guitar tone that sounds like a nuclear fallout, and of course Daniel Bergstrom’s brand of “how in the fucking fuck did he make that noise with a guitar?” style of riffing.  What is impressive about Thousands of Evils is how balls to the wall it is, and how little of a fuck it gives for cohesion.  Instead, it aims to achieve simply the most extreme reaches of whatever parts of the spectrum they hit.  The heavy parts are gargantuan in stature, the clean ambient moments soul-cleansing. Continue reading »

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