NO CLEAN SINGING

SHORT BUT SWEET: CULT OF LUNA – “VERTIKAL II”

Sep 192013

(Andy Synn reviews the new EP by Cult of Luna.)

One thing that I think a lot of people fail to acknowledge is that this massive genre we call “Metal” is far from a homogenous entity. Bands don’t all have the same goals and ambitions with their music, and you can’t judge all metal bands by the same criteria.

Though there’s an unhealthy fascination with the lurid early years of Black Metal, you can’t deny their youthful passion and (somewhat misplaced) conviction. But not all Black Metal shares a common bond with the genre’s progenitors. Similarly, there’s a vast gulf of ideological difference between the early Death Metal scenes that flourished in Florida and Stockholm, even though to a layman such differences might appear purely superficial.

Then there are those bands who – beyond even the confusing tangle of genres and styles – are unique and iconic enough that they can only ever be truly judged on their own merits.

Cult of Luna are one such band. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: ENDSTILLE, CREMATORIA, A SOLSTORM-KIM HOLM “DUET”, SINCARNATE, AND AN ASHENCULT/MEPHORASH UPDATE

RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC 3 Responses »

Sep 182013

Collected here are a large handful of items of interest that I came across today and yesterday while crawling through the underground. The last four items consist of pairings that work. You’ll see what I mean.

ENDSTILLE

German black metal band Endstille, they take no prisoners. They have a new album named Kapitulation 2013 that Season of Mist plans to release in NorthAm on November 12 (November 8 worldwide). I remembered their name somewhat fearfully from the last album, which is now on Bandcamp, so I was interested to hear the new song that debuted today — “The Refined Nation”.

I find it very difficult to be very refined in writing about music like this. In my case, the capacity for careful dissection and articulate analysis go up in a mushroom cloud of obliteration, and Endstille don’t strike me as a band who care terribly much about refined criticism anyway. The song is a black metal detonation that fills the air with shrapnel and the screams of the dismembered (or that may be Endstille’s vocalist, it’s hard to be sure). Continue reading »

WATCH KVELERTAK’S NEW VIDEO FOR “EVIG VANDRAR”

RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC 1 Response »

Sep 182013

About two weeks ago Norway’s Kvelertak uploaded a teaser for a new music video for the song “Evig Vandrar” (“Eternal Wanderer”) from their latest album, Meir. I usually don’t bother posting about snippets of anything because I usually find more than enough complete songs and videos to write about every day. But this one looked so cool that I made an exception.

A few minutes ago, the entire video premiered. And guess what? It’s really fuckin’ cool!

The sci-fi themed animation is a feast for the eyes, and a bit of a puzzler for the mind at first. And it goes without saying (so of course I’ll say it) that the song rucks hard. Watch and listen next. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: RIVERS OF NIHIL — “MECHANICAL TREES”

Premieres 7 Responses »

Sep 182013

On October 15 Metal Blade Records will release the debut album by Rivers of Nihil — The Conscious Seed of Light — and today we bring you the premiere of the album’s sixth track, “Mechanical Trees”.

We’ve been following this Reading, Pennsylvania band since January 2012, close on the heels of their second EP, Temporality Unbound. We didn’t know for sure what the future would hold in store for them, but the potential was undeniable. And, as things turned out, that potential blossomed into a contract with Metal Blade last December and then an intense recording session in St Petersburg, Florida, with Erik Rutan (Hate Eternal) at his Mana Recording Studio in March. And now we have the results.

The Conscious Seed of Light began with the idea that it would be the first of four albums, each one reflecting a particular season of the year. Vivaldi meets death metal? Bassist/vocalist Adam Biggs explains that this debut album “is intended to be representative of Spring and explores various themes concerning new beginnings, growth, and an attachment to the natural world in a post-human Earth.” That’s right — post-human. It is a death metal album after all, one graced by the cover art of Dan Seagrave, which isn’t exactly the typical imagery of spring. As guitarist Brody Uttley observes, “What we see on the cover is a landscape of a world that doesn’t need mankind, we are relics here, and the sun is the only true master.” Continue reading »

PUNISH: “SUBLUNAR CHAOS”

Album Reviews 4 Responses »

Sep 182013

(TheMadIsraeli reviews the fourth album by Swiss death metal band Punish, released last month.)

A few bands in the progressive/tech-death realm just never got their spotlight when they deserved it FAR more than others, bands who’ve stomped the shit out of their contemporaries and yet remained overlooked. These stories are sad, with bands like Anata or Outcast getting less than their due despite being absolute exemplars of their craft, way ahead of their time, or just being better than most at writing songs, riffs, and overall intelligent compositions. Punish are one of those bands.

Their new album Sublunar Chaos is my first exposure, but it intrigued me enough that I went back and listened to the rest of their catalogue (which spans three albums, a demo, and an EP) and I can’t fucking believe I had never heard of these guys before — except that a lot of others don’t seem to know of them either. It’s a shame, because Punish are up there with the likes of the bands I mentioned above.

Punish really have it all going for them. The right influences, the perfect push and pull between those influences, and plenty of technical skill and sensibility of hook to appease anyone. Some of them are ol’ reliable influences like Death and Pestilence, but they also seems to draw from places like Anata and Obscura. Continue reading »

INQUISITION AND YOB

Exceptions to the Rule, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC 8 Responses »

Sep 172013

It’s becoming increasingly difficult to make headway in listening to entire new EPs and albums when one is continually being distracted by the premiere of individual songs, especially when so many are so good. And that’s been the way the last several days have gone. So here’s one more round-up, though I’m limiting this one to two songs.

INQUISITION

As previously reported, Season of Mist will be releasing the next album by Inquisition — Obscure Verses for the Multiverse — on October 29 in North America and October 25 elsewhere. In our last post about these developments, we included a collection of excerpts from all the songs on the album, but today brought the premiere of one complete track — “Darkness Flows Towards Unseen Horizons”.

There are good reasons why this duo are so highly regarded by lovers of extreme music, and this song proves the case again. It unleashes a flood of mounting intensity, yet couples the storm front of razored riffing and attacking percussion with ringing melodic chords and twisted soloing that provide the magnet for repeat listens. I still prefer the vocal roars to the cracked croaking, both of which are in evidence on this song, but this really is a thoroughly compelling song. Listen via the lyric video that comes next. Continue reading »

A NEW SKELETONWITCH SONG AND VIDEO: “I AM OF DEATH (HELL HAS ARRIVED)”

RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC 5 Responses »

Sep 172013

Skeletonwitch has just premiered a new song and video, and if you like what you hear, you can get the song immediately.

If you hadn’t heard yet, Skeletonwitch have a new album on the way. Entitled Serpents Unleashed, it was recorded earlier this year at GodCity Studio with Kurt Ballou (Converge, Trap Them, High on Fire) and it’s due for release in North America on October 29 (October 28 EU/UK, October 25 Germany). It features delicious cover artwork by John Baizley (Baroness, Kylesa, Kvelertak), who last created album art for the Witch on 2007’s Beyond The Permafrost.

We previously featured the first advance track from the album, “Burned From Bone”, and the new one is called “I Am Of Death (Hell Has Arrived)”. Black thrashing mayhem anyone? With a sing-along chorus? And a little open heart surgery in the forest? You got it. Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK: DIABOLICAL, VALKYRJA, SARKOM, THE BODY

RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC, SHADES OF BLACK 7 Responses »

Sep 172013

Continuing a round-up that I began yesterday, here are new songs, new videos, and an enticing piece of news that caught my eyes and ears since the last weekend began. They share a certain . . . darkness . . . at their core.

DIABOLICAL

I’ve been waiting with bated breath for Diabolical’s new album Neogenesis since hearing a collection of pre-production excerpts released during the summer of 2012 (featured here). I say that without knowing precisely what bated breath means, but I presume it smells better than baited breath. In any event, Neogenesis is finally on the verge of release (the official date is September 27), and to build anticipation Diabolical have released a music video for a track named “Metamorphosis”.

The song is a wave front of blasting, blackened, death metal. In its most powerfully storming moments, it reminds me of those Polish masters Behemoth and Hate. It has an infernally imperial aura, and the production underscores its crushing might. The video is also very well done, though be aware that it includes nudity (not presented salaciously, I might add). I’m really looking forward to hearing all of Neogenesis. Continue reading »

MAN MUST DIE: “PEACE WAS NEVER AN OPTION” (AND THE PREMIERE OF A NEW SONG)

Album Reviews 3 Responses »

Sep 172013

(In this post TheMadIsraeli brings us the first of two reviews we’ll be publishing of the comeback album by Scotland’s Man Must Die, and at the end we’ll stream a new song from the album — “On the Verge of Collapse” — which debuted today.)

Man Must Die have been out of the game for a good bit. The last we heard from these Scots was the precision-guided slaughterhouse known as No Tolerance for Imperfection, an album that demonstrated their melodeathgrind sound at its all-time high. I honestly haven’t listened to this band in a really long while, you know how it is. Some bands appear to drop off and you just don’t see the point in listening anymore. I was, however, intrigued when we got the promo for this, especially because I wondered what five years between releases would do to their sound. Thankfully Man Must Die didn’t let the passage of time change them, it merely make them better at what they do. In fact, they’ve crafted one of 2013’s undeniably best albums.

Man Must Die’s odd mix of technical death metal, grindcore, and melodic death metal has served them well, and it’s never been better than on Peace Was Never an Option. There are albums that make you feel pumped, albums that make you feel alive, and albums that make you feel like someone shoved a needle of adrenaline straight into your heart. This album is the third kind. Not many albums are this razor sharp, this organ-piercingly fatal, or this burly. Man Must Die know how to do three things: beat your face in, fatally wound you with knife stabs, and break your bones until nothing remains but an indescribable shell of useless waste. Continue reading »

REFLECTIONS IN THE VOID: THE PAPER

Mosh Pit 48 Responses »

Sep 172013

(A long-time NCS supporter who calls himself Utmu has written a paper for a college course about metal. We’re already somewhat involved, having published three previous pieces by Utmu that were sort of groundwork for the paper (here, here, and here). So we’ve decided to post the pay-off, especially because it’s likely to be controversial. Please do give us and Utmu your reactions in the comments.)

I’ve been excited about this for some time now, as my Facebook friends can attest (just ask them, I wouldn’t shut up about it for a week or two). I realize that this paper tends to go against what NCS is about in that it is somewhat bleak, but I think this needs to be said, and discussion is always important.

I’m not sure how much context I put in this paper, but if any of you have any questions about anything in this I’ll do my best at answering them. I also realize that this is a pretty divisive topic insofar that I’m on one side and virtually everyone else is on the other. But it’ll be interesting hearing your comments and concerns.

It should be noted that this is my informed opinion, and although I believe that there could be some objectivity to art, I’m skeptical of objectivity in relation to some of the topics discussed in my paper.

I will ask one thing of you all, I’d like to try an uncommon form of argumentation (if any of you feel like debating this). Try to use argumentation in the form of proofs. For more information on this form of argumentation, please listen to Daniel “Awesomebeard” Cohen at 2:32: Continue reading »

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