THE DEVIL: “THE DEVIL”

 Album Reviews  3 Responses »
Aug 302013
 

 (Booker comes through for us in our inebriated time of need with this guest review of the debut album by The Devil.)

Hello fellow readers. Well, with our dear leader and his brethren (or, according to some conspiracy theorists, just Islander and his multiple online personas) otherwise occupied indulging in copious liquid refreshments (or, worried about butt chastity, it’s not clear which…), I thought I’d make myself at home and spam you all about one of my favourite surprise finds this year – The Devil.

Sometimes the greatest finds are ones you know nothing of, where you just hit play and randomly stumble across some aural goodness, which is just the case for my experience of this little gem: officially a November 2012 release, I found this album through Candlelight Records’ Bandcamp page sometime early this year, and after the initial shock of realizing there was no band previously claiming the all-metal moniker of ‘The Devil’ (“hey, who’s that you’re listening to?”….. “I’m listening to the devil!! Muah-ha-haa”  \m/), I hit play and found myself strangely intrigued at what this band had to offer….

This is The Devil’s first album, in which they offer up a kind of instrumental doomish slab of riff. I say ‘kind of instrumental’ as there’s no vocals as such, but the vocal elements are instead replaced by audio samples to provide the thematic, lyrical, and conceptual content; and boy does the album cover some conceptual ground: from that favourite of metal topics – the prospect of nuclear war (see ‘Extinction Level Event’ video below) — to the military-industrial complex, alien invasion (“Universe”; video below), life after death, long-gone civilizations, 9/11, and more. Continue reading »

TOMBSTALKER: “TOMBSTALKER”

 Album Reviews, SHORT BUT SWEET  2 Responses »
Aug 302013
 

(NCS supporter Black Shuck answered our call for guest posts with the following review of the debut EP by Tombstalker from Lexington, Kentucky.)

Hello, boys and ghouls. You may or may not remember, but a year or so ago I wrote a little piece on bands from Kentucky. One of those bands was named Tombstalker, and I’ll be reviewing their self-titled EP for you today. So sit back, relax, and enjoy as I fling my poo at the keyboard, much like the noble chimpanzee, and call it writing.

I included a stream of the EP in last year’s write-up, so if you listened to that you’ll have some idea going in of what this band sounds like. If you didn’t listen, or if too many nights sitting at home drinking to forget have erased most of your long-term memory, this will be a somewhat more in-depth look at the record.

Tombstalker are a mix of extreme metal and hardcore punk, describing themselves as “hammer crushing death crust.” While Anton Escobar’s vocals run mid- to low-range, which could be indicative of death metal influence, the EP has much more of a black metal feel to me. I mentioned their “grimy” atmosphere in the earlier piece on them, and coming back to this record a year later, that is still a large part of what makes it for me. The production is suitably low-fi; while not quite as stripped down as, say, early Darkthrone, it still doesn’t really look like they bothered with any sort of sleekness or polish, which is absolutely a strength of the album. Continue reading »

THY LIGHT: “SUICI.DE.PRESSION” AND “NO MORROW SHALL DAWN”

 Album Reviews  2 Responses »
Aug 292013
 

(Guest writer BreadGod returns to NCS with a review of two releases by Brazilian band Thy Light.)

Thy Light is a depressive black metal band that formed back in 2005 and released their first demo, the rather awkwardly named Suici.De.pression, two years later. It became quite popular in the depressive black metal scene, and after listening to it, I can see why.

The album begins with the title track, which is a beautiful and wondrous piano piece. It sounds rather joyous, which stands in stark contrast with the black metal that is to follow. I am unable to adequately put into words just how amazing the piano piece is. You’ll just have to listen to it for yourself.

Not only is the piano superb, but so is the black metal. Since this was all recorded by one guy, I’m pretty sure he used a drum machine, but the drum machine is pretty well-programmed. They keep to a moderate-to-slow pace and their structures are simple. One thing I really like about them is how prominent the snare is. This helps make the drums sound so real. I also like the double-bass they play on occasion. It doesn’t sound mechanical like it does in so many other bands. The double-bass here gives the music much more impact. Continue reading »

DEATH COURIER: “PERIMORTEM”

 Album Reviews  3 Responses »
Aug 282013
 

(TheMadIsraeli has found time to whip up a few quick reviews while participating in the Seattle NCS Confab, and this one seemed like a good pick for today.)

So, here we have a band who have been inactive since fucking 1992. They have been reformed by the bassist/vocalist (who seems to be the songwriter) with two new guys (being a three-piece seems to be the Death Courier “thing”). The original guitarist is dead, and I don’t know why the drummer didn’t come back.

I don’t pay much attention to Greek death metal — I usually find it underwhelming — but Death Courier’s brand of deathgrind is a fucking beastly affair, and Perimortem is both savage and catchy as shit. Short songs (the album is only 19 minutes long), chainsaw guitars tuned down to B, old-school vomity death vocals, grinds, slow drags out the ass, classic Swedish style riffing that brings forth memories of bands such as Bloodbath and Hypocrisy, and devastating Suffocation-style breakdowns: it’s a pretty satisfying meal for its insanely short duration. Continue reading »

INQUISITION, IHSAHN, AND MAN MUST DIE

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  8 Responses »
Aug 282013
 

I haven’t been keeping my eyes peeled for metal news since last week because I’ve been too busy hob-nobbing with my fellow NCS scribes in Seattle. I did take a few quick minutes this morning to glance around and found the following three items that I thought were interesting.

INQUISITION

At the end of July we reported the welcome news that black metal powerhouse Inquisition had revealed the name of their next album (Obscure Verses for the Multiverse) and announced its release dates via Season of Mist — October 29 in North America and October 25 elsewhere. Today brought more information about the album, beginning with the cover art above, which is quite fetching.

We have also been treated to a teaser of music from the album. The video clip that I’ve included beyond the jump includes short snippets from 9 tracks. Except for the snippet of the last track, which features a harsh roar, you’ll learn that Dagon has not changed his vocal style, which continues to sound like a bullfrog being strangled with barbed wire. Continue reading »

RANDOM DISCOVERIES FROM DUBLIN

 Concert Reviews  7 Responses »
Aug 282013
 

(We welcome first-time guest writer Leperkahn, who introduces us to a couple of discoveries from Dublin — Ilenkus and Gacys Threads.)

Hello fellow NCSers. This is my first guest post for you all, hopefully the first of many, depending on whether I can get enough inspiration to get off my lazy ass and actually write things. As a bit of background, I live in San Diego, where weather does not exist, and promoters expect us to drive to feckin’ Los Angeles for 80% of our live metal, with the other 20% being at venues young’uns like me can’t get into.

That said, this post has nothing to do with San Diego. It has to do with unexpected metallic discoveries I found in Dublin, where I have been visiting family for the past couple of weeks. My aunt decided to show me a metal bar called Fibber Magee’s, where she had apparently been a regular years before. We happened on a little event called the Unleashed Festival, which was to go on all weekend.

Among the recognizable bands at the festival were Irish thrashers Gama Bomb, who headlined the first night. I, however, caught two of the bands performing on the second of three nights. Both kicked my ass and reduced my brain to corned beef, but each did so in somewhat different ways. Continue reading »

SWIMMING IN AN OCEAN OF BEER (Part 3)

 Mosh Pit  13 Responses »
Aug 282013
 

The NCS Staff Confab continues, with yesterday’s convocation ending in the wee hours of this morning on the outdoor deck of Captain Black’s in Seattle, the view from which is shown above in a photo snapped by Andy Synn and whose motto is “Eat. Drink. Pillage.” There was no eating there, for reasons I will come to. There may have been pillaging, though your humble editor cannot say with certainty because he left to go home at a reasonable hour because his fucking day job is forcing him to leave Seattle on an early flight this morning. However, because I am now seeing Facebook posts by my cohorts that went up between 2:45 a.m. and 3:45 a.m., pillaging may have ensued. There was definitely drinking.

Before I left the comfy confines of Captain Black’s, I did witness one of the trip’s high points, as we were introduced to a dude named Gerald who just happened to be on the premises enjoying a few brews. He is not only an NCS reader, but also someone for whom NCS is his primary online portal to metal. Damned cool.

Captain Black’s is how the day ended. It began with a trip to Beth’s Cafe, ranked #3 on the Travel Channel’s list of World’s Best Places To Pig Out, #2 on the Food Channel’s list of Top 5 Big Breakfasts, and featured in the Man vs. Food TV series (in which the man lost). There, our own Andy Synn locked himself in mortal combat with the 12-Egg Triple By-Pass Omelet, which was approximately the size of a wedding cake, stuffed with bacon, sausage, and double layers of Swiss and cheddar, laid out on a bed of hash browns deep enough to drown in, and weighing approximately as much as a newborn elephant. Continue reading »

WINTERSUN / FLESHGOD APOCALYPSE / ARSIS: LIVE AT STUDIO SEVEN, SEATTLE, AUG 23, 2013

 Concert Reviews  2 Responses »
Aug 272013
 

(All of the regular NCS staffers have been together in Seattle since last week and collectively took in the performances by Wintersun, Fleshgod Apocalypse, and Arsis at Studio Seven on August 23. In this post Andy Synn reviews the show and shares with us some video clips that he filmed that night.)

So… we may have missed Starkill. Apologies all. We were busy having drinks across town at The Oak (very cool place by the way) and ended up staying a bit later than we’d anticipated.

No worries though, because we made it to the venue just in time for Arsis who were, for me, at least, the most anticipated band of the night.

ARSIS

I’ve never seen James Malone and his melodeath marauders before, but I’ve been a fan of the band ever since they released A Celebration of Guilt, so this was a big moment for me, and the band did not disappoint at all.

Malone himself is both a fantastic guitarist and a vicious vocalist, shredding and riffing away flawlessly while barking his venomous, diseased lyrics. Continue reading »

PSYCHOTIC PULSE: “PSYCHOTIC PULSE”

 Album Reviews  2 Responses »
Aug 272013
 

(DGR provides this review of the debut album by Toronto’s Psychotic Pulse.)

At some point, I would love to see someone try to take on a collection of discs that they feel absolutely nail the opening minutes, especially from bands where it was some of their first output. There is nothing to be denied about the strength of a strong intro track working, and when it is some of the first music anyone has heard by a band, that strength amplifies exponentially.

Personally, I’ve encountered countless examples where the best song by a band has been within the opening minutes (right after an obligatory intro track), and that ‘best song’ usually holds on to that title for an excessively long time. Case in point: Soilwork knew exactly what the hell they were doing by putting “Spectrum Of Eternity” as the second song on The Living Infinite — because that song locks you in. It’s so strong that you’re even willing to forgive a couple of the less individualistic mid-pace stompers that lie in wait about halfway through disc two.

All this rambling is prompted by the song “Asylum” off of Toronto, Canada-based group Psychotic Pulse’s 2013 self-titled release. They’ve previously done one small release called Handcrafting The Apocalypse that hit in 2010, but my first experience with the band lay in this year’s collection of music, and one of the songs that really locked me into their industrial death and groove brand was the song “Asylum”, which comes right after the intro guitar bit of “Diagnosis”. It was enough to sink its teeth into my brain and sit me down for what would be a hammering, heavy, almost piston-like percussion-filled disc of high screams, fast grooves, and enough adrenaline-rushing tempo to make one yearn nostalgically for the days of everything extreme being spelled sans letter ‘e’ and capital X. Continue reading »

SWIMMING IN AN OCEAN OF BEER (Part 2)

 Mosh Pit  12 Responses »
Aug 272013
 

It doesn’t feel like 24 hours have passed since the last “Swimming” post. Time seems to stand still when your brain is floating in a beer marinade that’s constantly being refreshed.

Yesterday, all but one of your dedicated NCS servants spent several hours at Seattle’s Zion’s Gate Records, poring laboriously over a quadrillion metal CDs and LPs, while having our minds pulled apart by pincers in the form of an endless loop of sanity-threatening, void-like electronica playing in the store.

Half a day later, I still have the urge to kill myself or someone else as a result of that music. However, I have not actually killed anyone because the experience was such that, after dropping wads of cash at Zion’s Gate, I and my fellow NCS scribes, along with assorted other friends, self-medicated for the rest of the day and evening with additional oceans of beer, which dulled the homicidal/suicidal impulses.

Undoubtedly, while medicating, we uttered many observations about albums and bands that would have revolutionized music criticism had anyone recorded the conversation for posterity. As I write this, however, my brain is so pickled with Boundary Bay Blonde that the recording apparatus contained therein has irreparably malfunctioned. All I can manage is to put up another NCS staff photo. Continue reading »

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