TEMPEL — “RISING FROM THE ABYSS”

 Premieres  4 Responses »
Dec 102013
 

“Tempel” is the new name of an Arizona band formerly known as Temple. Those of you who are already familiar with their music are probably already fans. For everyone else, remember the name, because their debut album On the Steps of the Temple is a gem. Prosthetic Records will be giving it a broad-scale release in January 2014, and today we’re delighted to offer you an exclusive taste of what’s coming by featuring one of the album’s many strong tracks, “Rising From the Abyss”.

On the Steps of the Temple is an instrumental album, and one that succeeds brilliantly despite the lack of vocals. While much instrumental metal leans toward the proggy, post-metal end of the musical spectrum, Tempel have woven their dark tapestry primarily with strands drawn from death metal, doom, sludge, and black metal.

A musical meditation on greed, self-delusion, and their perils, On the Steps of the Temple is ominous, densely layered, and utterly crushing. Even for a solely instrumental work that exceeds 50 minutes in length, it’s an intense listening experience that commands attention from beginning to end. Continue reading »

WATAIN / FUNERAL THRONE / COLTSBLOOD – LIVE AT THE INSTITUTE, BIRMINGHAM (Dec 7, 2013)

 Concert Reviews  2 Responses »
Dec 102013
 

(Our UK-based writer Andy Synn was present when Watain, Funeral Throne, and Coltsblood played Birmingham, England last weekend, and he delivers this report.)

Is there a better way to spend a Saturday evening than experiencing the metallic musical rituals of Satan’s own special cheer-squad, Watain? Maybe a few, but not many that don’t involve taking off your clothes…

As it stands, myself and my good friend Gary (both fully clothed) jaunted our way over to Birmingham early Saturday evening. Arriving a little earlier than we needed to (despite doors opening at 6:00), we dropped into a pub on the corner, and eventually found ourselves seated at a table right next to the headliners and their entourage.

Obviously we didn’t want to bother them – particularly since the group formed a tight knit and inviolable circle that exuded a certain “keep away from us” vibe – so we just decided to enjoy our beers and catch up. It was, however, interesting to see how far the band have co-opted the biker/gang mentality and look, everyone dutifully wearing their patches and “colours”. It works for them though. Watain (and their associates) have always been a “gang” – now it’s just more visually obvious. Continue reading »

CATCHING UP (PART 1): BEHEMOTH, ISKALD, SKÁLMÖLD

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  9 Responses »
Dec 102013
 

The pace of metal is molten, as in the pace of a pyroclastic flow. So much news and noteworthy new music erupts each day that I can barely keep up with it even when I’m paying attention. And over the last two weeks while on vacation, I wasn’t paying attention, or at least not much. Trying to catch up with everything that happened while I was away would be foolhardy — because while digging back through even two weeks’ worth of events I’d be missing a lot of what will happen over the next two weeks.

Having said that, I do want to make at least a partial stab at catching up, based in part on messages I received from my NCS co-writers and in part on a few random forays of my own while on vacation. There’s a high likelihood that many of you already know about what I’ve chosen to feature in this multi-part “Catching Up” series, but some may not, so I’m forging ahead. In this first part of the series I’m collecting release information plus new songs or videos by three excellent bands, in alphabetical order.

BEHEMOTH

These Polish titans have a new album entitled The Satanist that will be released by Nuclear Blast on February 3 in the UK, February 4 in North America and Poland, February 5 in Japan, and February 7 in the rest of Europe and the world; it’s now available for pre-order in Europe here. While I was gone, the talented artist Denis Forkas Kostromitin revealed the album’s cover art, which you can see above. It’s a piece entitled “Chalice of Severance” and is described as “acrylics, gilding and blood on linen” — the blood being that of Behemoth’s frontman Nergal. Continue reading »

A WORD OF THANKS — AND A PREVIEW OF THINGS TO COME

 Uncategorized  6 Responses »
Dec 102013
 


(photos in this post are by the uber-talented Tim Flach)

I’ve returned from my vacation, which was better than I deserved, and I will soon be doing my part to contribute to the site on a more regular basis again. Given the quality and diversity of the guest posts while I was gone, this will undoubtedly come as a let-down to many readers. And that brings me to the first subject of this post…

A WORD OF THANKS

That’s a figure of speech, because I have more than one word: I want to send out a huge thank-you to all of the people who sent in guest posts in response to my request for help before leaving on vacation. I have posted every single one that I received — 25 in all, so far — with the final one coming later today. I thoroughly enjoyed reading all of them, and based on the traffic stats for the site, it’s apparent that our readers did, too.

Honestly, I could get used to having other people do my work for me. If any of you guest writers who submitted posts feel like doing more, don’t wait for another invitation. You know how to reach me. And for those of you who may have mused about doing it, but didn’t — muse harder. And then start writing. Check the “Contact” page if you’ve lost my e-mail address. Continue reading »

HIGHER CRITICISM: PESTILENCE — “RESURRECTION MACABRE” AND “DOCTRINE”

 Album Reviews  5 Responses »
Dec 092013
 

(TheMadIsraeli continues his retrospective assessment of the discography produced by the seminal death metal band Pestilence, whose new album Obsideo was released recently. The first part of this series can be found here, the second part here, and the third part here.)

Spheres, released in 1993, would be Pestilence’s last record for quite a while. I don’t know exactly what prompted that delay, although I know Spheres was not at all well-received. Maybe it was a record too ahead of its time, who knows. As far as it appeared, Pestilence were done. Mameli would go on to try and make a band called C-187 (who were widely regarded as absolutely terrible) his new haven, but it didn’t work out.

So, with so many years of silence and the only peep from the band’s founding member being something that never got off the ground, I think people must’ve been shocked when a Pestilence reunion was announced. I remember the great deal of hesitancy on the part of Pestilence fans at that time, principally those who felt Spheres was garbage and those who remembered C-187.

It sucked, the skepticism that Mameli was under. As I stated in the last piece, I think Spheres is a great record. I will say, though, that C-187 was not exactly the best musical move. The man was under a lot of pressure, and every Pestilence record post-reunion has suffered from what I felt was shallow and baseless criticism. People were and still are hung up on Consuming Impulse. I can’t say I get it. Continue reading »

ALBUMS TO SURVIVE A LONG COLD WINTER TO

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  12 Responses »
Dec 092013
 

(Guest writer Alain Mower is back with recommended releases appropriate for the season.)

As prophesied in ice and fire, winter has come and – as pointed out in Ben’s guest article ”At the Heart of Winter” – with the change of seasons into the most dark and frostbitten of them all, in conjunction with the beginning of hunting list season, we need a little extra something to help offset the fact that we can’t just hibernate this season of stillness and death behind us.

Also, while undeniably a necessary part of any tried and trve vinter, I’m going to try and leave off the classics in favor of featuring some (relatively) modern releases that are more recently bidding for the throne of winter. It’s not that Immortal, Windir, and Ulver haven’t put out the most quintessential albums of the season, it’s just that some young wolves are just getting their first real taste of fresh blood, and they deserve some mentions too.

Also, not all the releases listed here are metal, but I will argue to the death that all of them are Winter. So, without further longwinded gusto, here are ten albums guaranteed to help you meet the heart of winter head on. Continue reading »

AND VIDEOS FOR ALL…

 Mosh Pit, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  11 Responses »
Dec 092013
 

(In this guest post, our friend Booker both features some of the metal videos he has enjoyed most during 2013 and offers opinions about the evolution of music videos generally and about their proper use — and misuse.)

Okay, so I’ll warn you up front, I don’t know where I’m going with this post. Also, it contains some NSFW imagery. Blind leading the blind through the land of boobies? Or probably more likely: a rambling fool preaching to the much more knowledgeable choir? Sound good? Okay, let’s go…

This all started with a few videos I’ve seen that stuck with me recently, which set off that dangerous process called “thinking”; particularly hazardous in the hands of the uninitiated. First up, there’s somewhat of a process of déjà vu here, in that Andy Synn has previously posted a foray into the art of the music video about 2 years back which is still just as relevant today:

https://www.nocleansinging.com/2011/11/07/f-videos-how-do-they-work/

Let’s get into some of the video goodies that perked my interest – some of these have featured on NCS before. Continue reading »

THE LION’S DAUGHTER AND INDIAN BLANKET: “A BLACK SEA”

 Album Reviews  4 Responses »
Dec 092013
 

(BadWolf reviews the remarkable collaborative effort by two St. Louis bands: The Lion’s Daughter and Indian Blanket.)

I’ve had to re-write this review around three times to really sum up my feelings about A Black Sea, the collaborative album from St. Louis sludge metal band The Lion’s Daughter and Indian Blanket, a folk outfit from the same city. Although I haven’t had much time to listen to the album, I feel quite strongly that it is one of the finest extreme metal albums released in 2013.

I first heard of this project right here, when Islander posted a stream of “Wolves,” the first cut from this album. That song’s mix of metal and folk brought up more than a few touchstone sounds—Agalloch and Neurosis, most obviously, and Opeth and Cobalt to a lesser degree. It made a good enough first impression to put A Black Sea near the top of my priority list.

Consider expectations met. A Black Sea is the sort of album that one can listen to from front-to-back and then re-start. Both Indian Blanket and The Lion’s Daughter carry a versatile array of styles, and employ every one of them on this album. As a result, even though the overriding mood stays bleak, the album winds from churning sludge to delicate acoustic passages—it feels every bit like a journey across the titular sea, or into the foreboding, prehistoric forest depicted on the cover. Continue reading »

BANDCAMP FOR THE BROKE: A ROUND-UP OF FREE MUSIC

 Free Shit, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  15 Responses »
Dec 082013
 

(You can’t say we don’t take care of our broke-ass readers. DGR brings you word of some free Bandcamp releases that are worth your time.)

We’re broke, we’re all broke. We were broke before the holiday season and we’ll be broke after it. One of the huge unifying things among musicians and fans these days, especially the most fervent ones, is that it seems like we’re always fucking broke. That’s why when a band releases something for “name your own price”, which is usually code for “free”, and it is really good, I try to get it out there. While it is always suggested that you donate generously to these groups, it’s nice to get these experiences, and truly enjoy some artwork with serious passion behind it, for little up-front.

So, I found myself slowly (very slowly) collecting free projects over the past few months that had just come out that I found enjoyable and wanted to spread out to the world. This time, the collection includes a bedroom guitar virtuoso project — ever the staple of the name your own price scheme –, a grind band hailing from the Pacific Northwest, and a melodeath project hailing from lovely Corona, California, home of many things and places that are within the city limits of Corona, California. Continue reading »

OBSCURE BRUTALITY NO. 9: MY CROSS TO BARE

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  1 Response »
Dec 082013
 

(Our supporter xBenx has compiled a series of guest posts, this being the ninth installment. Each one focuses on a different band that he fears may have been overlooked by the masses, and today the spotlight is on the now-defunct UK band My Cross To Bare.)

There’s nothing worse than wasted potential, especially in music. The number of bands I pine over for having released only one album, or worse, one demo, is endless, though it’s not as if my grief will subconsciously force them to release anything more. My Cross to Bare falls into this category. They should have gone on to become one of the UK’s best (extreme) bands. They were even on Siege of Amida at one point (at a time when that label was on a signing frenzy) for their second album, and this made me beyond excited.

Regrettably, it wasn’t meant to be. Apparently, that second album was recorded but never unleashed, with no explanation as to why or how. All that’s left was their monolith of a debut, which combined death, grind, and a dash of hard/noisecore so emphatically that it was startling. A fitting epitaph it seems: Continue reading »

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