NO CLEAN SINGING

MISCELLANY NO. 61: BLACK FAST, INDIAN BLANKET, THE LION’S DAUGHTER

Oct 232013

A reminder about the rules of MISCELLANY: These are the only posts on this site that feature music which hasn’t been filtered in advance by me or any of the other writers. I randomly pick bands whose music I’ve never heard before, I listen to a recent song or two, I write down immediate impressions, and I stream the music that I heard. When I play this game, I try to focus on bands who are under the radar. It’s a good way to discover and spread the word about new music, but it’s a bit of a crap shoot.

Here’s how I picked the bands in this edition of MISCELLANY: I saw a Facebook post by my friend Prof. D. Grover the XIIIth urging me to pay attention to a St. Louis band named Black Fast and their recent album Starving Out the Light. That became my first pick for this expedition. After hearing a few songs, I liked them on Facebook, and not long after that I saw a status they posted recommending a song that premiered yesterday which was a collaboration between two more St. Louis bands — Indian Blanket and The Lion’s Daughter. I listened to that song, which became my second stop on this MISCELLANY tour. And then I discovered that The Lion’s Daughter have an album on Facebook named Shame On Us All — and that became my third and final pick for what turned into a St. Louis edition of MISCELLANY.

BLACK FAST

The Black Fast album was released via Bandcamp in August of this year and it follows a self-titled EP from 2011. The featured song on Bandcamp is the album’s fourth track, “Obelisk”, and I listened to that one and then checked out the album opener, “Levitations”. They’re both head-whipping riff machines with bounding bass lines, jaw-dropping guitar solos, and caustic vocals. “Blackened thrash” is a start at a genre description, but doesn’t do justice to the intricacy or the strong progressive leanings of the songwriting. It’s kind of like a mash-up of Vektor and Blotted Science. Continue reading »

NEW MUSIC FROM PESTILENCE: “NECRO MORPH”

RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC 5 Responses »

Oct 222013

We are way past the end of our usual posting day, but I just heard something that made me too anxious to wait until tomorrow morning. It’s a new lyric video for a new song by Pestilence named “Necro Morph”, the first music to be heard from the band’s next album Obsideo. I have a few immediate reactions.

First, it sounds HUGE. Second, it’s absolutely decimating — a high-speed flurry of pneumatic riffs and weaponized percussion, with a punishing, stomping mid-section and writhing, alien lead guitar machinations. Third, Patrick Mameli’s vocals sound filthy (in a good way). And fourth, all those Pestilence fans who were hugely disappointed by Doctrine (and I wasn’t one of them) will breathe sighs of relief. This is brutal.

Listen to it next, and feel free to share your thoughts in the Comments. If you happen to have any Kevlar body armor lying around, you might want to strap it on before listening to “Necro Morph”. Actually, never mind. That won’t be enough to stop what this fires at you. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: INQUISITION (FULL-ALBUM STREAM!), BACK DOOR TO ASYLUM, CORMORANT

RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC 3 Responses »

Oct 222013

I’m going to make this little round-up short. I’ve been trying to catch up on reviews today instead of the usual hours spent surfing my in-box and the interhole for new discoveries. But I did notice these items that you might have missed.

INQUISITION

Seems like we’ve been posting about every little thing that has emerged in the run-up to release of Inquisition’s new album, Obscure Verses For the Multiverse, because it is shaping up to be one of 2013’s true highlights. But today’s development is the biggest event yet: The entire album is now streaming on Bandcamp, where’s it’s also available for purchase in various formats (the official release is October 24). And because it’s on Bandcamp, we can put it . . . right . . . HERE: Continue reading »

THE BROWN BOOK — “III: AMERICA’S GUEST”

Album Reviews 2 Responses »

Oct 222013

A personal note: I have a soft spot in my heart for The Brown Book. I’ve been following them since March 2010 when this site was a whopping four months old. I’ve reviewed nearly everything they’ve released, beginning with Thirty-Nothing (2009), and then Pyramid Scheme, (2011), and then a track named “Queer Street” (2012), which turns out to be a precursor to the album I’m about to review — though I did miss their live version of Pyramid Scheme. They’re completely DIY and lo-tech in their approach to recording, they’re scattered around the country (Boston, Brooklyn, San Diego, Cookeville, TN), they’re hardly prolific, and they don’t seek or get much attention when they put out new music apart from friends and the small scattered cadre of people like me who get excited when word of a new release reaches their ears.

I also have a soft spot in my head for The Brown Book. It’s that place where, over the years, their music has hammered away until the skull has been shattered with micro-fractures and you can feel the sponginess underneath. Their latest cranial demolition job is this year’s III: America’s Guest, and it’s their best work yet.

The new album is one long song, weighing in at 20:26. Unlike their previous releases, this one includes vocals — despite the fact that in my previous reviews I wrote that adding vocals would be a mistake. I’ll come back to that later, after I’ve mustered enough grit to admit I was wrong. Continue reading »

REFLECTIONS: “EXI(S)T”

Album Reviews, Exceptions to the Rule 2 Responses »

Oct 222013

(NCS contributor Austin Weber reviews the new album by Reflections from Minnesota.)

For me the best way to find good djent in a sea of boredom is to apply a four-fold set of criteria. Most important is to find the bands who are interesting songwriters, then look for the most unique grooves/groove patterns, followed by interesting and creative lead guitar-work, and lastly search for the bands who bring in outside influences and plenty of tempo changes to break up the mid-paced chugging. The new album Exi(s)t by Reflections satisfies all four of those criteria, and then some.

“Exit” starts off the album and lulls you into believing it’s merely an opening instrumental, until a terrifying wall of dissonant heaviness emerges in a way that’s reminiscent of The Tony Danza Tapdance Extravaganza. In fact, a liberal dose of squeals, taps, and noisiness that reflect a strong Danza influence pop up and flavor many parts of Exi(s)t. By incorporating such touches, Reflections have found a sub-niche within djent to explore, and the effect is to grace their music with a palpable ferocity that often escalates into sheer hateful peaks. Continue reading »

UNDERGROUND METAL FOR THE TRVE CURMUDGEON (HALLOWEEN EDITION)

RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC 16 Responses »

Oct 222013

(Long-time NCS supporter and guest writer SurgicalBrute brings us this collection of metal to enhance your Halloween experience. The bands are Ctulu (Germany), Malichor (Australia), Orloff (US), Attic (Germany), and Demon Lung (US).)

Its been far too long since I’ve written an actual guest post for No Clean Singing. Part of that has to do with a combination of work, friends, and my own personal laziness, but the bigger reason has been I just haven’t felt like the site has really needed any input on band recommendations… and that’s awesome. It really says a lot about how great this site is, with its ability to cover such a wide variety of metal styles, that even a self-proclaimed curmudgeon like myself is satisified.

So what’s got me writing a post today? Well hell, that’s easy… it’s October and my favorite holliday is just a few weeks away. I love Halloween. Whether it’s the gothic imagery, the cheesy horror movies, or the child-like glee of picking a pumpkin, I cannot get enough of this time of year and everything that goes with it. Now, when it comes to Halloween the music is always important, and for metalheads there’s plenty to choose from…bands like King Diamond, Mercyful Fate, Deceased, and Electric Wizard probably all spring to mind. But for those of you looking to add a few more albums to your Halloween rotation, give these bands a try. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: DOWN AMONG THE DEAD MEN, EXIVIOUS, HANGING GARDEN

Metal News 5 Responses »

Oct 212013

From my morning listening to randomly selected cuts from new and forthcoming albums, I’ve collected this very diverse assortment that I think will be well worth your time. If you disagree, please tell me that you love them anyway in order to protect my tender psyche from emotional bruising.

DOWN AMONG THE DEAD MEN

The immediate attraction of this new band is its veteran line-up: Dave Ingram, former vocalist for Bolt Thrower, Benediction, and Downlord; guitarist Rogga Johansson (Paganizer, Ribspreader, Putrevore, and many more), and bassist Dennis Blomberg (also in Paganizer and Ribspreader), along with session drummer Erik Bevenrud. They’ve recorded a self-titled debut album scheduled for a November 22 release by the German label Cyclone Empire. I’ve been making my way through the album in bits and pieces — which isn’t the ideal way to do it — but I’m very high on what these guys have accomplished. And now one of the songs has been made available for streaming.

“Draconian Rage” is a bulldozing blaze of punk-infused death metal with a curiously infectious little melody that rears its head through the buzzing guitars, punchy percussion, and bestial vocals just long enough to get its hooks in your head. Listen next. Continue reading »

OVERFLOWING STREAMS: PROTEST THE HERO, EYE OF SOLITUDE, OLD SKIN, REFLECTIONS

RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC 4 Responses »

Oct 212013

I thought I’d make you aware, if you aren’t already, of a handful of full-album streams that became available in recent days. I’ve heard bits and pieces of most of these albums, enough to believe they’re all worth hearing straight-through. So here goes (and if you know of other recent streams that we should be noticing, leave a link in the Comments):

PROTEST THE HERO

I’m not nearly as zealous a fan of this band as other people I know, but I’m finding the tracks previously released from their next album — Volition — interesting enough that I think the album as a whole will be worth the time. It comes out on October 29th via Razor & Tie and can be pre-ordered here. Here’s your full stream of the album (via Metal Sucks):

SHORT BUT SWEET: SEELENMORD — “…AND WE WILL FIND ONLY SOLITUDE, PART 1”

Album Reviews, Free Shit, SHORT BUT SWEET 1 Response »

Oct 212013

(Andy Synn reviews the debut EP by Seelenmord, which is now available for free download on Bandcamp.)

It’s important to start off your week right. Most of us are heading back to work, and the Monday morning blues can easily get you down. So what better than a slice of darkly melodic, spirit-crushing black metal from Argentina, whose name roughly translates to “Soul Murder”?

And it’s free too!

The five tracks that make up this EP pick and mix a variety of influences from the black metal spectrum, melding the earthen grandeur of primordial Ulver with the relentless dominance of Anaal Nathrakh and the raw ferocity of early Gorgoroth, taking the listener on a wild journey of penitence and paranoia.

Though all the more overt trappings of the genre are present and correct – blitzing tremolo guitars, sacrilegious snare blasts, a raging undercurrent of bile and scorn – it’s the more subtle and artful touches which really make this EP stand out. Continue reading »

CULT OF FIRE: मृत्यु का तापसी अनुध्यान (“ASCETIC MEDITATION OF DEATH”)

Album Reviews 3 Responses »

Oct 212013

Consider the idea of a Czech black metal band creating an album in homage to the Goddess Kali, the Aghoris, and Hindu funeral rites. With the album and song titles in Hindi. And they perform in embroidered robes and a striking array of strange hoods. Who wouldn’t be at least a little curious about the music? I certainly was.

मृत्यु का तापसी अनुध्यान (“Ascetic Meditation of Death”) is Cult of Fire’s second album, and is due for release on November 30 on the German label Iron Bonehead Productions. From the opening moments of the first track, it’s apparent that the band set their sights on creating something more complex and more artistically ambitious than a straightforward black metal blitzkrieg.

The music is in constant motion, transitioning between moods of light and dark, alternating the pace between hard-driving rhythms and stately progressions, crossing boundaries between incendiary assaults and gorgeous panoramas that more closely resemble post-rock than black metal. The melodies range from the bleak and heart-broken to the shimmering and soaring, but the overall atmosphere is one of epic grandeur, dramatic and impassioned. Continue reading »

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