KALMAH: “SEVENTH SWAMPHONY”

 Album Reviews  No Responses »
Jun 182013
 

(In this post TheMadIsraeli reviews the new album by Kalmah, which is being released today in North America by Spinefarm Records. There’s also a full-album stream after the review.)

Finnish melodic death metal today is a totally different beast than it was back in the day. Back in the 90’s and early 2000’s, music of the kind turned out by bands like Insomnium and Before the Dawn was in the extreme minority. Instead, what you had was a massive movement of bands who relied heavy on neo-classicism, cheesy synths, and a decadent excess of guitar harmonies that would span up to four guitars. Early Children of Bodom, Wintersun, and Kalmah were the defining bands of this particular style. While Children of Bodom in my opinion jumped the shark and went beyond the point of no return a long time ago, Wintersun have proved they still have it in them. However, the truly persistent warrior is Kalmah, who’ve been doing their thing, and doing it well, non-stop since they started.

Seventh Swamphony is another fine addition to Kalmah’s discography and a testament to their consistency. For a band to release their seventh album and still maintain the standard they originally set is a rare and commendable accomplishment. I really think their charm lies in their fun combo of black metal ferocity and vocal bent, folk and neoclassical melodic choices, and their particular (and quite frankly astounding) proficiency in using dual (or more) guitar lines to great effect in their compositions. Continue reading »

NEW REVOCATION: “THE HIVE”

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  2 Responses »
Jun 182013
 

Boston’s phenomenally good Revocation have a new, self-titled album scheduled for release by Relapse Records on August 6. (It’s available for pre-order here.) Within the last hour the first advance track from the album exploded on YouTube. The song’s name is “The Hive” and damned if it doesn’t sound like a hive full of thrashed-up hornets swarming in a syncopated dance, bursting with venom and slightly delirious. A couple of those hornets bust out a sweet guitar solo, too.

Damned fine song, which you can hear next: Continue reading »

WIZARDRY IN THE RIFFERY: A JEFF LOOMIS – KEITH MERROW – OLA ENGLUND JAM

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  2 Responses »
Jun 182013
 

Oh, they make it look so easy.

Jeff Loomis and Keith Merrow (Demisery) were trying out their new signature amp packs for Jamup Pro. And they decided, why not throw together a new jam? And they spontaneously wrote and recorded an instrumental track in a couple of hours. And then they decided, what the hell, let’s invite Ola Englund (Feared) to come bust out a solo for this thing. And voila! They produced de-li-ciousness.

And they videotaped it, too, so that all of us can bask in all the delicious riff wizardry.

Watch these three guitar dynamos tear it up right after the jump. You’ll be glad you did. Continue reading »

ROTTING CHRIST’S NEW VIDEO: “666”

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  4 Responses »
Jun 182013
 

Andy Synn’s review for this site of Rotting Christ’s new album, Kata Ton Daimona Eaytoy, described it as “a heavier and more aggressive album” than the band’s preceding two releases, and “one that wraps itself in a more black metal aesthetic than we have seen from the band in some time, recalling the bands Non Serviam years, but with added extremity and muscle.” But as Andy noted, although the album is built more on a foundation of black metal guitars and thunderous drums, it’s not without its more esoteric moments, with the ominous, gothic vibe of doom-laden closer “Χ ξ ς” (666) as a prime example.

Today the band premiered an official video for “666”. The beautifully executed black-and-white film by Jon Simvonis captures the dramatic, occult atmosphere of the music and, like the song itself, leaves no doubt that Rotting Christ have not severed the black roots of their past. Watch it next: Continue reading »

DAGOBA: “POST MORTEM NIHIL EST”

 Album Reviews  4 Responses »
Jun 182013
 

(DGR reviews the new, fifth album by Dagoba, which is being released in North America today via eOne Music.)

“Groove metal” is one of those phrases that frustrates because it feels like it doesn’t really mean anything. It seems like a catch-all for bands that we have difficulty defining and it has wound up a resting place for groups that are, in essence, really heavy but don’t rely on guitar leads and solos as more traditional bands tend to. It has also become the bastion and hiding place for modern day nu-metal groups. Thus, it’s unfortunate when a band winds up being pigeonholed into said genre, because even if they’re a really good group, the amount of baggage attached to the label tends to bring out an insane amount of vitriol from fans.

In some quarters, such has been the fate of Dagoba, a four-piece groove-oriented band who hail from France and who alternate from being crushingly heavy to straightforward metal with clean singing implemented, often within the same song. They’re a band who’ve caught some undeserved flack (and some deserved, the band sometimes doing themselves no favors with their chosen performing names). I would almost breathlessly recommend two of the group’s previous albums, Face The Colossus and Poseidon, as examples of well-done groove and in general as really good albums. That’s why the new disc, Post Mortem Nihil Est, was so interesting from the outset. The group — armed with a new guitarist in Yves Terzibachian and some fucking incredible artwork courtesy of Seth Siro Anton — had some serious work to stand up to: Poseidon was one of my favorite discs the year that it hit. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: AMON AMARTH, DARKANE, AND THRÄNENKIND

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  4 Responses »
Jun 182013
 

Here is a trio of songs that I discovered yesterday that are worth hearing. The first two are brand new and come from well-known Swedish melodic death metal bands. The third is from a German band who are a pleasant new discovery for me, and maybe for you, too.

AMON AMARTH

I suppose there are people out there who are on the fence about Amon Amarth, or conceivably haven’t yet made their acquaintance. But I suspect most people who are reading this are either already fans or wrote the band off already. This message is addressed to the fans and to those who might not yet have given the band their time: The song that premiered yesterday is awesome.

Its name is “Father of the Wolf”, and it rocks very damned hard. It’s packed with irresistible riffs and megawatts of energy, and the wah-wah solos bring a different kind of guitar sound that gives the song a refreshing spin. With any luck we’ll soon have a review of the entire new album — Deceiver of the Gods — but in a nutshell I think it’s a standout for a dependably solid band. Here’s the new song: Continue reading »

FREE SHIT: DOOM NATION

 Free Shit, Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  2 Responses »
Jun 172013
 

I know a lot of NCS readers have got a taste for doom. I’ve developed quite a strong taste for it, too, and my mouth juices started filling up my gob when I saw this piece of news: Our blog brethren at CVLT Nation have compiled a free doom mixtape that’s loaded with killer bands who specialize in the slow and low.

There are 19 tracks on offer, including music by the likes of Dopethrone, Bongripper, Loss, Primitive Man, Graves At Sea, Batillus, Atriarch, and Seattle’s own Bell Witch. There’s a lot of strong, devastating music on this comp (2 1/2 hours of it to be precise), and it’s even sweeter because, as mentioned, it’s FREE!

Go HERE to download it, and if you’d first like to see the whole tracklist and listen to the tunage, move on past the jump. Continue reading »

TERATISM: “LA BAS”

 Album Reviews, SHORT BUT SWEET  No Responses »
Jun 172013
 

Mark Riddick’s cover art for Teratism’s new MLP La Bas tells you something of what you need to know about the music: It is, in many respects, far out on the frontier of bestial extremity, dwelling in a poisonous landscape where demonic entities howl for the manifestation of the Adversary. Yet there are depths in this musical inferno, and the more you listen, the more you discover of its otherworldly dimensions.

The vocals are the most challenging aspect of the music, yet they are also a vital ingredient in the occult atmospheres that La Bas generates. In a word, they’re horrifying. V. Wrath delivers a series of distorted incantations, condemnations, and satanic proclamations that range from roars to shrieks to cracked, whispered chants. Often, the vocals are layered, producing harmonies that invoke sensations of bedlam. Whether agonizing, despairing, or furious, the ferocity of his delivery is convincing evidence that Teratism have indeed opened a fearsome channel to hellish realms.

Much of the accompanying music is also ferocious, with distorted, swarming guitars and blasting drums generating a dense cloud of evil noise, perhaps most intense and overpowering in the EP’s relentless third track, “Thy Swill Be Dung”. But La Bas isn’t thrashing black metal; it is instead mainly devoted to the creation of bleak, damned atmospherics. “Shadows Flee the Burning Sons of Light” becomes dirge-like and doomed, a miasma of contagion, soaked in illness, and “Gospel of the Heliophobe” splices its whirlwind of cacophony with moments of crawling malevolence. Continue reading »

TOURISM: “BACK TO THE BLACK” COMES TO THE U.S. (VADER, VITAL REMAINS, SACRIFICIAL SLAUGHTER)

 Metal News  2 Responses »
Jun 172013
 

Poland’s magnificent Vader spent the first part of 2013 laying waste to Europe in a tour called Back To the Black. Over the weekend, news surfaced that Vader will now be bringing Back To the Black to the U.S. For support, they will be backed by U.S. death metal veterans Vital Remains, California death/thrashers Sacrificial Slaughter, a Colorado death/black band named Execration, and a bunch of brutal death Floridians named Extremely Rotten.

I’m not familiar with all of these bands, but based on the ones I know, this should be a thoroughly maiming, blood-spattered experience. And of course, any chance to see Vader is a chance that should be seized.

Only an initial slate of 11 dates has surfaced so far, and more will be coming. Check out the first installment after the jump. Continue reading »

UNLOCKING THE TRUTH

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  3 Responses »
Jun 172013
 

Back in April, a video of three 12-year-olds playing music on a Times Square street corner made the rounds on the interwebs. A combination of three things made a lot of people sit up and take notice: the kids were black, they were playing metal, and they were pretty damned good — especially for 12-year-olds. The name of their band: Unlocking the Truth.

I’d like to think that the video would have drawn attention even if these were white kids, but let’s face it, at least in the US you don’t see many black kids of any age playing underground metal. But as I said, that’s really only part of the reason why the video grabbed some attention. It happens that these dudes have got some really good chops for their age, especially the guitarist.

Many other videos of Unlocking the Truth playing in public have surfaced over the ensuing weeks, and this weekend several friends sent me a link to a short documentary about two of the band’s members — Malcolm Brickhouse and Jarad Dawkins — that went up last week, and it’s an awesome (and endearing) thing to watch. Yeah, these are young kids, but both of them seem really committed to what they’re doing, and they’ve got big ambitions. More power to them. Continue reading »

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