DUALITY

 Mosh Pit  8 Responses »
May 172013
 

(Occasional NCS contributor Mike Yost joins us again with this post. Mike is a U.S. Air Force vet, a writer, and a resident of Colorado. His own blog can be found here.)

“Why do you have to listen to it loudly?” my partner yelled, looking at me from the passenger seat, his face twisted into a tight knot.  I didn’t respond right away as the speakers in my truck pummeled out some random metal lunacy.  “I can’t hear myself think!” he pleaded.

“That’s the point!” I yelled back with a smile.  He didn’t return the grin.  I then had to choose between turning the music down or sleeping in my truck.  It’s a good thing I keep a pillow in the cab.

But that really is the point.   Sometimes I just want to shut my mind off, and drinking a bottle of whiskey every day isn’t really an option (though I sometimes wish it were).

It’s metal that keeps me (somewhat) sane.  It certainly keeps me from lighting the mall on fire, laughing maniacally while I pour kerosene on my head in front of a burning Abercrombie & Fitch store surrounded by screaming shoppers choking on smoke and the smell of burnt flesh.

And when I worked customer service to put myself through college, metal kept me from bringing an axe to work and lopping off the heads of all those condescending customers—laughing maniacally while I did it, of course. Continue reading »

MASTERS OF SHRED: ROBERT VIGNA

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  5 Responses »
May 172013
 

(In this post TheMadIsraeli begins what may become a continuing series on notable metal guitarists.)

I’ve outright stated and hinted at numerous other times that I’m a guitar player; even though my choice of instrument within the metal realm is pretty standard, that’s just the one that sucked me in.  I’ve always wanted to do a continuing feature on guitarists whose work I felt was extremely noteworthy, whether or not I was a fan of their work on a personal level.  It should be understandable, though, that I’m mostly gonna pick guitarists to write about who I’m into.  I figured that before reviewing Immolation’s new album, I’d start with someone who I believe has remained an anomaly in the death metal circuit: Robert Vigna of Immolation.

I’m pretty sure no one would disagree with me if I made the statement that as a riff writer, Vigna is just fucking weird.  Out of all of the fantastic guitar players of the 90’s death metal giants, Vigna is definitely the mad scientist of the bunch.  While other bands opted to be simply crushing, Immolation opted in the end to be very eerie, in a very earthy way.  Vigna’s guitar work is both a signature, and a vital component, of that sound.  I’ve heard the term “simple technicality” used to describe Gojira, but I would say that if any band best defined this term, it’s Immolation.

Vigna, of course, like so many musical geniuses, evolved from a place rather far removed from what he became known for.  Immolation’s first record was for the most part straight-up, fast-as-fuck, firebrand death metal, with only hints of the signature Immolation trudge-and-groove that would later become their hallmark.  As such, it didn’t leave a lot of room for what would later come to define Vigna’s playing, although Dawn of Possession definitely stood out nonetheless.  It wouldn’t be until the band’s sophomore album, Here in After, released a full FIVE YEARS LATER, that you’d be hearing a completely different band. Continue reading »

FREE SHIT: A CENTURY MEDIA SAMPLER

 Free Shit, Metal News  4 Responses »
May 162013
 

I’m pretty sure this news came out earlier this week, but I completely missed it. Maybe you did, too.

The news is this: Century Media has compiled a free digital sampler of songs from the label’s artists. There are 40 bands represented on the compilation, with songs that are mostly from the bands’ latest albums. It’s a helluva list of bands, too — this sampler focuses on the more extreme end of the Century spectrum, with almost all the songs coming from bands who play varying flavors of death metal or black metal.

Rather than try to pick out a few representative bands, I’ll just include a screen shot of the entire list after the jump. Be aware that in order to get the free download, you have to give up an e-mail address, which will be used by Century Media and its partners to send you not only download info but also marketing messages (at least until you unsubscribe).

If you’re interested, go HERE to begin the download process. Continue reading »

JUST BEFORE DAWN: “PRECIS INNAN GRYNINGEN”

 Album Reviews  7 Responses »
May 162013
 

According to Anders Biazzi, the guitarist for Blood Mortized, an early member of Amon Amarth, and the creator of the music in Just Before Dawn’s debut release Precis innan gryningen, the album’s concept is “WAR” — all caps. He calls the music “Swedish Steamroller Death Metal”. And believe me, that’s no lie.

This is one of the best old-school, Swedish-style death metal albums you’ll hear this year, and there are three ingredients that make it so. The first is the songwriting. Every song includes lethally infectious riffs and grim melodies that give it a distinctive and memorable personality. Pulling off that achievement while at the same time inflicting devastating sonic carnage is a neat trick.

The album as a whole is also well-constructed, with the songs generally alternating between up-tempo marauders that chug and grind (such as the title track and “Under Wheels of Death”) and mid-paced or slow crushers with a morbid death-doom vibe (like “Pulverised” and “Raped Soil”, the latter being a fine example of the skill with which Biazzi infiltrates a kind of sorrowful beauty into the brute destructiveness of the song as a whole).

On the subject of songwriting, there’s also an effective synchronization of the lyrics and the music. The concept of the album is indeed WAR — in the air, on land, and in the sea — but the lyrics aren’t patriotic flag-wavers or celebrations of valor under fire. They’re vivid descriptions of devastation, bloodshed, and horror. The music captures those ideas just as vividly. Continue reading »

HAGGIS AND BONG: “REVELATION OF THE GODS”

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  2 Responses »
May 162013
 

What a damned fine way to help start the day: Haggis and Bong have released a new video.

I’ve been pimping this South African band since January 2010, when they were just two pipers and a drummer. They’ve filled out since then, adding electrified instruments, turning into a more recognizably metal band. But the Highland bagpipes are still what make Haggis and Bong special. That, and their name.

Their new video is for a track from their latest album, Of Myth and Legend, which can be downloaded from CDBaby (here). The song is called “Revelation of the Gods”. It includes a hard-driving rhythm and two kinds of shred: the skirl of the pipes, of course, and a very cool guitar solo. The video is also really well-done (kudos to director Ross John Warwick and cameraman Theo Crouse). It’s a swirling performance clip, enhanced by shots from Go-Pro-type cameras mounted on the instruments, cool lighting, and some nice visual effects.

Watch it after the jump. That’s an order. Continue reading »

GOOD WRITING: JOHN HYDUK AND RANDY BLYTHE

 Mosh Pit, Off Topic  11 Responses »
May 162013
 


John Hyduk (photo by Andrew Spear)

I love to read good writing. The subject matter doesn’t even matter much. When the writing is lively and evocative, when it has style and flair, the prose is its own reward.

Unfortunately, I don’t read as much as I used to back before I began messing with this blog. But yesterday I read two things that were really good; part of why they’re good is that both writers use short, punchy sentences and phrases. They have a cadence, like a drum beat. I try to remember this lesson in my own writing, but for some perverse reason I continually forget it. What made both essays even more striking is that the authors — John Hyduk and Randy Blythe — aren’t people whose main occupation is writing.

One of the pieces is hilarious. The other is powerfully moving. The first one has nothing to do with metal, the other is very much about metal. I’m putting both of the articles right in this post.

I think I’ll start with the funny piece first. A fellow sufferer in the decade-long woe of the Seattle Mariners baseball team sent me the link. You’ll probably understand why if you read it (misery loves company). The author is a man named John Hyduk. As you’ll see, he works the graveyard shift for a beverage distributor outside Cleveland, Ohio. In his words, he’s “a yard monkey, climbing around inside semitrailers in the dark with a flashlight, checking pallet tickets against the product loaded, matching invoices . . . making the world safe for carbonated refreshment.” He writes as a hobby, or maybe he actually collects some extra money in doing so, I don’t know. He’s good enough that one of his essays got him nominated for a 2012 National Magazine Award.

Continue reading »

EYE-CATCHERS: WATAIN, FATHER BEFOULED, NOTHNEGAL, AND I KILLED EVERYONE

 Eye-Catchers, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  7 Responses »
May 152013
 

I came across some news today involving three bands I like.  Unfortunately, the news involves releases that we can’t yet hear, but at least the news brings album art that’s pleasing to mine eyes. And then I came across one other piece of eye-catching new artwork that introduced me to a new band and a new song that I’m pretty sure fractured my skull . . . as if I needed any more skull fractures. Here’s what I found:

WATAIN

As we previously reported, this Swedish black metal band have a new album named The Wild Hunt coming on August 19 in Europe and August 20 in the US via Century Media Records. Today I learned that they will first be releasing a two-song single, both digitally and in a variety of physical formats, in late June. One song will be an original album track named “All That May Bleed”, and the B-side will be a cover of “Play With the Devil”, originally recorded by the Swedish black/heavy metal band Taiwaz in 1988; Gottfrid Åhman from In Solitude has contributed a guitar solo to that cover track.

Above, you can see the just-disclosed artwork for the single, which is quite cool and was created by the amazing Zbigniew Bielak II, whose work for Ghost we featured at length here. As for the original song, here’s what Watain had to say about “All That May Bleed”:

“‘All that May Bleed’ shows but one facet of a quite diverse album, but we chose this song as a first glimpse into ‘The Wild Hunt’ because of its bombastic lunacy and white-eyed malevolence which could be said to constitute a main foundation for the album. The lyric is an invitation to sacrificial blood letting, ecstatic zealotry and human sacrifice. The salt of Satan in the wounds of Christ!”

Well then, if this is an invitation to sacrificial blood letting, ecstatic zealotry, and human sacrifice, I accept! Continue reading »

THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER PREMIERE ANOTHER GENTLE NEW SONG: “RAPED IN HATRED BY VINES OF THORN”

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  3 Responses »
May 152013
 

Revolver Magazine has just premiered another new song from The Black Dahlia Murder. It will appear on the band’s Everblack album, which is coming on June 11 from Metal Blade. The new song is titled “Raped in Hatred by Vines of Thorn” and was written as “an ode” to one of frontman Trevor Strnad’s favorite horror movies, Evil Dead.

Revolver included the lyrics to the song. As you reflect upon being raped in hatred by vine of thorn, and as you peruse the lyrics, begin trying to imagine the music. I was thinking something along the lines of a lullaby.

Dense dark forest dismal fog a spectral force perverts these woods flight prevails frantic escape the unearthly horrors at each turn they wait wandering roots they creak and move slithering toward what mortal life intrudes terrified eyes opened wide ensnare her flailing limbs to the earth they are tightly tied raped in hatred by vines of thorn by the evil dead to ribbons ripped and torn raped in hatred by vines of thorn pierced from within her child is skewered unborn raped in hatred by vines of thorn twisted in halves in this gruesome tug-of-war raped in hatred by vines of thorn flora possessed suckling the gore untamed kudzu green cocoon inside her flesh their food death prevails gnarled roots entwine syphon the marrows from her splintered spine animate trees shuffle their roots gathering around this late night rendezvous murderous orgy in full bloom her screams they cut the fog this night on sheer terror the seedlings thrive raped in hatred by vines of thorn behold the wrath of the necromicon raped in hatred by vines of thorn lancing her womb the child inside is gorged raped in hatred by vines of thorn broken in two entwined within the growth raped in hatred by vines of thorn necrotized demonic spores you brought this all unto yourselves should not have tampered with this hell opening the book your last mistake these haunted woods shall be thine grave raped in hatred by vines of thorn by the evil dead to ribbons ripped and torn raped in hatred by vines of thorn pierced from within her child is skewered unborn raped in hatred by vines of thorn twisted in halves in this gruesome tug-of-war raped in hatred by vines of thorn flora possessed suckling the gore

Okay, ready for the music? Go past the jump . . . Continue reading »

CHIMAIRA RELEASE A NEW SINGLE: “ALL THAT’S LEFT IS BLOOD”

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  4 Responses »
May 152013
 

Chimaira have had their ups and downs over the years, but at their strongest they’ve made some powerful, compelling music, and I’ve had the pleasure of witnessing a couple of their live shows that were an absolute blast. In recent weeks they’ve grabbed press attention with a successful indiegogo campaign to finance a special fan edition (a combined CD/DVD) of their next album, Crown of Phantoms, which will be released by eOne on July 30; they exceeded their $30,000 goal in less than two weeks. And now they’ve started streaming a new single and video.

The song is called “All That’s Left Is Blood” and it will appear on Crown of Phantoms. Like much of what Chimaira have done in the past, it’s a genre-bender. It incorporates elements of hardcore and melodic death metal, with hammering riffs, thundering breakdown moments, and a flashy guitar solo by new guitarist Emil Werstler (Daath, Levi/Werstler).

And speaking of new members, the band has basically been reinvented since their last album in 2011, with Mark Hunter recruiting an entirely new line-up. The current membership of Chimaira is: Mark Hunter (vocals), Emil Werstler (guitar), Austin D’Amond (drums), Matt Szlachta (guitar), Jeremy Creamer (bass), Sean Zatorsky (keyboards).

Check out the new song next . . . . Continue reading »

ABBEY OV THELEMA

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  1 Response »
May 152013
 

As occult band names go, Abbey ov Thelema is a good one. I didn’t immediately recognize the reference, but when I began to do a bit of research about this band, I quickly came across an article at The Font of All Human Knowledge which explained as follows:

The Abbey of Thelema refers to a small house which was used as a temple and spiritual centre founded by Aleister Crowley and Leah Hirsig in Cefalù, Sicily in 1920. The name was borrowed from François Rabelais’s satire Gargantua and Pantagruel, where an Abbaye de Thélème is described as a sort of “anti-monastery” where the lives of the inhabitants were “spent not in laws, statutes, or rules, but according to their own free will and pleasure.”

Based on what I’ve heard from the band so far, the name is appropriate as well as kvlt: the songs are eclectic musical manifestations of the mantra “Do what thou wilt”. In two words, it’s utterly wild.

In its current incarnation, the band itself is the brainchild of Delgrast, a Slovakian musician who handles vocals, synths, and programming. He and Polish guitarist Quadrun have recorded the most recent Abbey ov Thelema album, Liber DCLXVI, a conceptual work of almost 80 minutes concerning the Apocalypse of John, with lyrics entirely in Latin. It’s now planned for release via Wraith Productions, and two songs from the album have surfaced to date. Continue reading »

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