UNDERDOGS IN THE UNDERGROUND: THE DOGS . . . WHO LET THEM OUT?

 Album Reviews  2 Responses »
Apr 042013
 

(NCS contributor Austin Weber returns with another two-part feature on underground bands. Today he reviews the latest releases from Atlantis Chronicles (France) and Mycelia (Switzerland).) 

It was me, I let the dogs out.

Here are a few reviews and music for several new groups, one slightly older but awesome group, and (in Part Two) also a review of the new Okular album, Sexforce. Okular aren’t new to this site, as Islander reviewed their debut Probiotic way back in the olden days of 2011. Part Two will come tomorrow.

Atlantis Chronicles– Ten Miles UnderWater

For many of us death metal fans,  the introduction of metalcore, deathcore, or djent into the music of modern bands is an irritation that often times is the weakest link in the music, instead of being used sparingly to build the songs. Atlantis Chronicles are here to wash away the tripe of others in a dizzying showcase of melodic core-influenced metal that uses those ideas to build up the music, but never overpower it. Continue reading »

SOILWORK — “THE LIVING INFINITE”: A SPLIT-PERSONALITY REVIEW

 Album Reviews  6 Responses »
Apr 042013
 

(We’ve previously published DGR’s review of Soilwork’s new album, but now Andy Synn and TheMadIsraeli are getting into the act, collaborating on the following review, as Andy explains in his introduction below.)

So… here’s the thing… with The Living Infinite being announced as a double-album, it seemed only right that the NCS review of the album be split between two people – mainly myself and TheMadIsraeli. But then life got in the way. Israel suffered a serious computer crash and lost a load of material, and I’ve been in the process of moving house… so we fell behind, and made slow progress… and then goddamn DGR ambushed us with his review!!!

So yes… we’re pissed… and yes, there will be a reckoning… but in the meantime we thought, why let all our hard work go to waste? TLI is a pretty big album, a pretty ambitious statement, so it’s only fair that you get a couple of different points of view.

So with that said, let me turn you over to my esteemed colleague for his take on Disc One: Continue reading »

NEW VIDEO FROM MESHUGGAH: “I AM COLOSSUS”

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  1 Response »
Apr 042013
 

Meshuggah now have an official video for the song “I Am Colossus” from Koloss that adds layers of the alien and the grotesque to the song’s atmospherics. Or perhaps the video merely brings out elements of the alien and the grotesque that were present in the song all along.

The video is an animation created by Magnus Jonsson, who is to be congratulated for a really amazing job.

That’s really all I have to say . . . now be good to yourselves and watch “I Am Colossus” after the jump. Continue reading »

INFERNO FESTIVAL – DAY TWO

 Concert Reviews  9 Responses »
Apr 042013
 

(NCS writer Andy Synn has returned from Oslo’s Inferno Festival, held on March 27-30, 2013, and brings us a multi-part report of what he saw and heard, along with photos. Check out the previous installments here and here.)

Day 2 of the festival had fewer bands I was particularly dying to see, so I decided to check out some different acts I’d never seen before, so as to make better use of my time and to fulfil my journalistic pretensions a bit more.

We decided to have a later start to the day, arriving in time to see Aeternus hit the stage and introduce the crowd (if any introduction was needed) to their twisted take on the darker side of the black/death metal aesthetic. Drawing liberally from all the various spheres of the metallic spectrum, the group performed like a well-drilled musical machine, though their focus on slippery shifts between styles meant that their live stage presence was a little more unassuming than most.

Though the band last played here 11 years ago, there was very little rust to be found on them, as they bled their instruments dry of every hypnotic riff and spiralling, dissonant lead they could wring out of them. Continue reading »

DISCUSSION

 Off Topic  8 Responses »
Apr 042013
 

I have some really cool things to post today, including Andy Synn’s report on Day Two at Inferno Festival, a special tag-team review of Soilwork’s new album, and part one of a two-part post by guest contributor Austin Weber putting the spotlight on some underground bands we haven’t covered here before.

HOWEVER, as I write this it is approximately 2 a.m. and your humble editor has just returned to his humble abode after being humbled by Soilwork and Jeff Loomis at El Corazon in Seattle, and I must now fall into bed before I fall on my face. I will get those other posts ready to go just as soon as I wake up, which should be sometime in 2014.

In the meantime, I would like to get an important discussion under way so I’ll have something fun to read when I wake up. Please watch the video after the jump and leave a comment with your explanation of why those fucking dogs are doing what they’re doing. Continue reading »

SHORT BUT SWEET: CLERIC – “GRATUM INFERNO”

 Album Reviews, SHORT BUT SWEET  5 Responses »
Apr 032013
 

On most days at this site I try to pull together a round-up of new music, album art, and/or news that most interested me over the preceding 24 hours. It’s usually in the range of 3-5 items, packaged together in one long post. Today, just for the hell of it, I’m spreading what interested me over the course of the whole day, one item at a time.

Yesterday I discovered Cleric. I discovered them because my eyes were drawn to the stupendous cover art by Jason Barnett that you see above, which accompanies their debut album, Gratum Inferno.

Cleric are based in Dallas, Texas, and are composed of members of Kill the Client, Baring Teeth, and Tyrannosorceress. But if you know the music of those other bands, prepare yourselves for something different.

I haven’t heard the entire album — only three songs are now streaming on Bandcamp — but what I’ve heard is truly impressive. Continue reading »

GRIFT: “DÖDENS DÅD”

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  8 Responses »
Apr 032013
 

On most days at this site I try to pull together a round-up of new music, album art, and/or news that most interested me over the preceding 24 hours. It’s usually in the range of 3-5 items, packaged together in one long post. Today, just for the hell of it, I’m spreading what interested me over the course of the whole day, one item at a time.

Grift are a two-man Swedish band formed in 2011 (consisting of Perditor on vocals and strings and J. Hallbäck on drums) whose music I just discovered yesterday. They’ve recorded a four-song debut EP, Fyra elegier, that’s scheduled for release on April 15 by the Nordvis label. And what I heard yesterday is a song from the EP named “Dödens dåd”.

The song begins with a mournful, folk-inspired violin solo set against the sound of falling rain . . . or maybe the hiss and crackle of an old platter of vinyl on the turntable . . . and then it rapidly transitions to a different kind of bleak atmosphere, one that unfolds to the muffled rumble of drums, the winding chords of tremolo guitar, and the anguished, scarring cries of Grift’s vocalist. Both stately and intense, the song reminds me of mid-stage Burzum, and its melancholy sounds have infected my head.

The EP can be pre-ordered here. Listen below. Continue reading »

SHORT BUT SWEET: ARTIFICIAL BRAIN — “BUTCHERING COSMIC GIANTS”

 Album Reviews, Free Shit, SHORT BUT SWEET  2 Responses »
Apr 032013
 

On most days at this site I try to pull together a round-up of new music, album art, and/or news that most interested me over the preceding 24 hours. It’s usually in the range of 3-5 items, packaged together in one long post. Today, just for the hell of it, I’m spreading what interested me over the course of the whole day, one item at a time.

You remember Artificial Brain don’t you? I don’t mean my artificial brain, I mean that unhinged space-death-metal band from Long Island (more or less) that I wrote about in September 2011, which includes Revocation guitarist Dan Gargiulo, vocalist Will Smith (Buckshot Facelift, ex-Biolich), and some other bastards who wish to remain nameless.

Okay, that was a long time ago and you may have forgotten. So it’s time for a reminder, and to remind you, Artificial Brain have released a new two-song offering named Butchering Cosmic Giants, recorded with Eliot Bayless, which is available for free download on Bandcamp (here). A little bird told me that Artificial Brain are also recording a full-length album with Colin Marston that will include additional manifestations of sonic dementia.

What the new music sounds like: imagine an alien stew consisting of cutting/blasting black metal, pummeling death metal, cosmic guitar digressions, rubbery bass-lines, roaring grisly bears, and shrieking ice giants. Also, gang vocals and a bit of Gorguts-like tech frenzy. And unstable tempos. Continue reading »

KALMAH: “WINDLAKE TALE”

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  3 Responses »
Apr 032013
 

On most days at this site I try to pull together a round-up of new music, album art, and/or news that most interested me over the preceding 24 hours. It’s usually in the range of 3-5 items, packaged together in one long post. Today, just for the hell of it, I’m  spreading what interested me over the course of the whole day, one item at a time.

And so the morning begins Finnish style. I started with Finntroll’s new video and now move on to a new track from Kalmah called “Windlake Tale”. And not just a new track — I’m also happy to share the news that Spinefarm will release a new Kalmah album on June 17 and that its name is Seventh Swamphony.

And no, that isn’t a typo. What else would you call a symphony by a bunch of metal swamp lords?

Man, is this new song hitting me in the sweet spot . . . you know the one I mean . . . the spot that gets engorged when listening to racing, rollicking, Finnish-style melodic death metal with flashing guitar solos, folk-influenced melodies and rhythms, caustic vokills, and a big injection of catchy-as-fuck-ness. You should hear it. You can hear it . . . next: Continue reading »

INFERNO FESTIVAL – DAY ONE

 Concert Reviews  6 Responses »
Apr 032013
 

(NCS writer Andy Synn has returned from Oslo’s Inferno Festival, held on March 27-30, 2013, and brings us a multi-part report of what he saw and heard, along with photos. Check out his Opening Day report here.)

Kicking off the festival-proper at the early time of 17:30 Horned Almighty were like a veritable boot to the face of the assembled audience. Nasty, brutal, and brimming with feral punk aggression, the group come across as a bad-boy version of the Misfits, raised on black metal nihilism and death metal misanthropy, and kick up a hell of a racket, with a truly demolition-strength guitar tone. Material from across their four albums bulked out the set, with the strongest focus being on Contaminating The Divine and Necro Spirituals.

Frontman S. didn’t let the fact that the band were opening the festival proper intimidate him, spitting necrosadistic venom at the crowd with his spiteful, belligerent snarl, while the aptly-named Carnage on bass was a stalking, twisting revelation of spindly fingers and malevolent contortions. Give these guys a longer set and a bigger stage someone! Continue reading »

 Older Entries  Newer Entries