SHORT BUT SWEET: SAKTMÓÐIGUR – “DEMETRA ER DÁIN”

 Album Reviews, Exceptions to the Rule, Free Shit  7 Responses »
Jul 092013
 

Word of mouth is still a good way to find new music, especially when the word comes from Iceland’s Sólstafir. They wrote something in Icelandic on their Facebook wall a few days ago about a band named Saktmóðigur who are scheduled to perform at the Eistnaflug festival this summer, and provided a link to a song. Figuring that it would take less time to listen to the song than to grapple with Google Translate’s mutant efforts to render Icelandic into English, I listened.

The song turned out to be one of three on a free digital EP released by Saktmóðigur last month. The EP’s name is Demetra er dáin, which means “Demetra has died”. I got that from a posting by the band, not Google Translate. I also read that Saktmóðigur are based in Reykjavík and were formed in 1991 (!). Their first release was the tape cassette Legill in 1992, followed by two 10″ vinyl EPs in 1993 and 1996. They’ve also released three full-length CDs, Ég á mér líf (1995), Plata (1998), and most recently Guð hann myndi gráta (2011).

The EP grabbed me by the throat, but I have to tell you that it’s off the beaten path at this site. The music is more punk than metal, and the vocals aren’t the usual bestial growls or acidic shrieks that tend to rip through most of the music I write about. I also really wanted to sing along with these three tracks, if only I had a phonetic guide to the Icelandic lyrics. But none of that means the music is pretty or sweet. Continue reading »

PREMIERES: ELITE, OATHBREAKER, ASG, AND NEXILVA

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  4 Responses »
Jul 082013
 

This Monday has turned into a day of premieres (not even counting the one we did ourselves for Razormaze). I’ve collected in this post a handful that I enjoyed, from Elite (Norway), Oathbreaker (Belgium), ASG (US), and Nexilva (UK).

ELITE

I was originally turned on to Norway’s Elite more than two years ago via one of Andy Synn’s SYNN REPORTS about the band. Almost five years have passed since Elite’s last album, We Own the Mountains, but it appears the band are planning to release a new one before this year ends. Today they released a promo version of a new track called “This Is Where All Ends”. It reflects some changes from much of what has come before.

The song is mid-paced and majestic in its atmosphere, with a soaring chorus to match whispers of black metal darkness in its jagged verse. For most of the song’s duration, the vocals are near-clean, though ragged and anguished in their passion. The song has gotten stuck in my head, too. Check it out next. Continue reading »

RAZORMAZE: AN NCS PREMIERE AND AN INTERVIEW

 Interviews, Premieres  4 Responses »
Jul 082013
 

The “re-thrash” movement has been pronounced dead and gone by more than one observer, and it’s hard to argue with the proposition that the the vast majority of thrash revival bands who glutted the market over the last decade produced little more than formulaic music with some nostalgic appeal but no staying power. The bands who succeeded in capturing the imagination of fans, and who are still vibrantly with us, were the ones who bucked the trend by building something original and interesting on top of a thrash foundation — bands such as Vektor, Skeletonwitch, and Revocation. Now it’s time to add another name to that select list: Boston’s Razormaze.

With their forthcoming album Annihilatia, Razormaze have supercharged the thrash engine in ways that call to mind what their fellow Bostonians Revocation have accomplished — by extravagantly packing their songs with complex, head-spinning riffs and solos and interweaving elements of melodic death metal, groove, and even prog into the mix. The result is music that succeeds in being technically impressive and thoroughly interesting without sacrificing the blood-pumping speed and aggression of the thrash roots from which it grew.

Today we’re stoked to bring you our exclusive premiere of a new song from Annihilatia — “Something Like A War” — along with an interview of the band that we hope you’ll find as interesting as the music. Continue reading »

ONE MORE REASON WE MUST HAVE TELEPORTER TECHNOLOGY WITHOUT FURTHER DELAY: THE INCUBATE FESTIVAL

 Metal News  11 Responses »
Jul 082013
 

I don’t know why I continue reporting on European metal festivals. It’s like a form of self-torture. I know we have a lot of European readers, and I suppose I could justify writing posts like this one as a selfless act of regard for their interests. But as much as I love our European readers, I love myself more, so it still doesn’t quite make sense. I suppose masochism could be another explanation. I’ll have to think more about that possibility as soon as I finish adding the latest switchblade cuts to my arms.

Where was I?  Oh yeah, another European metal festival. Actually, it’s not just metal. The INCUBATE FESTIVAL, which will take place September 16-22, 2013, in Tilburg (The Netherlands) will feature 200 artists performing in more than 20 venues. But the ones I care about are splashed across that flyer you see above — metal bands such as Immortal, Mayhem, Gehenna, Khold, Behexen, Woe, Brutal Truth, Dragged Into Sunlight, and Sonne Adam.

What a ridiculously good line-up. Except for Mayhem, I’ve never seen any of those bands I just listed in a live performance. I wish I could. But Tilburg is too far away and the tech geeks in Seattle still haven’t perfected teleporter technology, and oh pitiful me. If you can go, check out details here: Continue reading »

CHILDREN OF BODOM: “HALO OF BLOOD”

 Album Reviews  4 Responses »
Jul 082013
 

(DGR reviews the latest effort by Finland’s Children of Bodom.)

Almost every review dealing with Children of Bodom these days tends to open exactly the same way. Someone will start talking about how awesome they were years back, and inevitably the discussion becomes focused on how people think the band has stagnated…and why. I have no solutions or magical spells to chant that can make up for CoB’s past two somewhat uninspired efforts. However, let’s just get this bit out of the way: Yes, there was a time when Children of Bodom were one of the most important bands out there for me (and I assume the same for many others). The guitar work alone was enough to bring me over, and worshiping at the altar of Alexi Laiho felt so much better at the time than the alternative of drowning in a tide of interchangeable metalcore.

It may have been that as I heard more of their music, I burned out on this band. I definitely fell into the block of people for whom a lot of their music was beginning to feel like the same song over and over again. While you could make the argument that a lot of folks complain when a band changes their sound too much, and other folks complain when a band stays the same and sticks with what got them to where they are, I think there’s a way for a band to do both and still retain people’s attention.

With Children Of Bodom’s latest releases beginning with Blooddrunk, there were maybe three or four songs on each disc that you could probably combine into one hell of an EP (I actually liked a lot of Are You Dead Yet – though I don’t view it as integral as everything up to Hatecrew). Halo Of Blood on the other hand, feels a little different. If you were to view each disc as an incremental improvement on their sound after some unspecified dip in quality, then Halo Of Blood is once again a step in the right direction. There are glimpses of something here that were missing on Blooddrunk and Relentless; it’s small, but enough of a change that I found myself enjoying about half of the disc this time – as opposed to my rigid three-to-four-song grumpiness from before. Continue reading »

“THAT’S METAL!” — BUT IT’S NOT MUSIC (NO. 77)

 That's Metal -- But It's Not Music  7 Responses »
Jul 072013
 

Welcome to another edition of THAT’S METAL!, in which we collect images, videos, and occasionally news items that we think are metal, even though they’re not music. Today, we have seven items for your entertainment and edification.

ITEM ONE

This is really going to be more than one item, but all with a common source. The creators are two artists, Thyra Hilden from Denmark and Pio Diaz (originally from Argentina) who have collaborated on a variety of unusual works. The first is shown in the photo above. It’s a light sculpture called Forms In Nature. When the brightness of the light source inside the sculpture is intensified, it casts shadows on ceilings and walls that resemble a riotous forest and its root system — embodying “the notion of a real world versus an underworld.”

The sculpture itself is beautiful, but the effects it creates are equally dazzling. Hilden and Diaz are actually creating more of these light sculptures for sale. Would be very cool to have one in a room in your abode, don’t you think? Right after the jump there’s one more still photo plus a video demonstrating the effect. But this is just the first of the Hilden-Diaz works I’m going to show you. Continue reading »

GRINDING FOR A CURE: VOLUME 2

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  4 Responses »
Jul 062013
 

I’m going to repeat some of the back story about “Grinding for a Cure” that I described (here) back in February, for those of you who have forgotten and for new readers. It’s a project that started small and has truly exploded. The organizers set up shop and started spreading the word about their mission only in mid-January of this year — and their mission was to raise money to fund research into a cure for Alzheimer’s disease by selling a grindcore compilation. In a surprisingly short amount of time, they assembled a genuinely impressive line-up of bands and released a 100-track Volume I comp, which is still available here. The compilation was assembled by Dorian Rainwater of Noisear, Christine Coz, and Chris Messina of Swamp Gas.

Even as that comp was being released, the organizers had a bunch of other songs already in hand for a follow-up, and more have been coming in since then. Yesterday, they released Volume II for download on Bandcamp. Although they still have 10 more submissions coming their way, Volume II as it now stands includes 90 songs from 90 bands from all over the world. And the music isn’t limited to grind, though that’s the dominant style of music that’s represented. I’m just going to mention the names of some of the bands we’ve written about at NCS (from memory), and even this abbreviated list will give you an indication about the range and quality of the music on offer:

Psudoku, Drug Honkey, Horsebastard, Flourishing, Impetigo, Human Cull, Noisear, Dephosphorus, Phobia, and Sarcolytic. Continue reading »

THE NORTHERN DARKNESS FESTIVAL: AN UPDATE (AND A PLUG)

 Metal News  8 Responses »
Jul 062013
 

In mid-April I discovered (and wrote about) the announcement of an independent UK metal extravaganza called THE NORTHERN DARKNESS FESTIVAL scheduled to occur on December 8, 2013, in the town of Newcastle on Tyne in England. Back then, 10 bands had been scheduled to perform — and it was a truly eye-catching line-up. But the line-up has grown and become even more eye-popping. Check this out (click it to make it bigger):

What did I tell you? Awesome, huh?

Now, here’s the plug part of this post: The festival organizers have reserved one spot in the line-up for an unsigned band, and they’ve been running a contest to determine which band will fill that slot. They invited bands to submit music, and once a week for the last 7 weeks they’ve matched groups of them up against each other for fan voting. Seven semi-finalists have been selected so far, and the Group 8 voting has now begun — and NCS writer Andy Synn’s band Bloodguard is in that group. Continue reading »

TEASERS: KALL, BLACK CAP MINER, BLACKOUT, AND FETO IN FETUS

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  3 Responses »
Jul 062013
 

In this post I’m pulling together new music from four bands that I heard yesterday which made quite an impression. All of them are tracks from forthcoming releases, and all of them succeed in building interest for what’s coming. None of them sounds remotely like the others.

KALL

Over the space of four albums released from 2006 to 2011, Sweden’s Lifelover built a large and intense following, and many people have credited them with being an important influence in the development of depressive black metal as a recognizable sub-genre. However, 2011’s Sjukdom proved to be the band’s last album. In September 2011, Lifelover’s principal songwriter Jonas “B” Bergqvist died of what was reported to be an overdose of prescription medication, and the remaining members decided to end the band.

However, about a year later, word surfaced that three of Lifelover’s former members — vocalist/guitarist “( )” (Kim Carlsson), guitarist “H” (Henrik Huldtgren), and bassplayer Fix — had decided to start a new band. The band’s name is Kall (Swedish for “cold”), and yesterday I discovered that Kall has released a song from a forthcoming EP. The song’s name is “Då, nu – Jag och Du”, which according to Google Translate means “Then, Now — Me and You”. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: GORGUTS, KARTIKEYA

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  5 Responses »
Jul 052013
 

Happy 5th of July to one and all!  Though often overshadowed by yesterday’s holiday, July 5 is the anniversary of the date in 1775 when the Continental Congress adopted the so-called Olive Branch Petition attempting to convince King George III of the colonies’ affection and loyalty (while appealing for relief from various grievances). King George, of course, rejected the petition and declared the colonies to be in a “state of open and avowed rebellion”. I bet he later wished for a do-over on that decision.

Anyway, while indulging in solemn remembrance of the Olive Branch Petition this morning, as well as the 76th anniversary of the introduction of Spam to the market by Hormel Foods Corporation and the 67th anniversary of the first public sale of the bikini, I found time to observe a couple items of metal interest, which are discussed below.

GORGUTS

Little more than two weeks ago, we finally learned the album title (Colored Sands), track list, and release dates for the first studio album by Gorguts in 12 years — as well as hearing the album’s first single, “Forgotten Arrows”. I think it’s fair to say that the song was greeted by a boisterously enthusiastic reception. Gorguts’ Luc Lemay took notice, and yesterday he recorded a video thank-you to the band’s fans. Continue reading »

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