AN NCS PREMIERE: ÆTHER REALM — “ONE CHOSEN BY THE GODS”

 Premieres  16 Responses »
Jan 032013
 

We’ve been following North Carolina’s Æther Realm quite closely since discovering their auspicious debut EP Odin Will Provide (2011). At last, the band have completed their first album — One Chosen By the Gods — which is scheduled for release on January 8. And today, we’re pleased to give you an advance listen to the entire album.

But don’t dither around, because this full-album stream will only be up for one day. And as for what we think of the music, it’s very, very good. For a detailed assessment, check out DGR’s review posted a bit earlier today.

To find out more about Æther Realm, visit them on Facebook via this link. To learn how to order the album, go HERE.

Now, do yourself a favor and check out our exclusive premiere of the music right after the jump. Continue reading »

ÆTHER REALM: “ONE CHOSEN BY THE GODS”

 Album Reviews  10 Responses »
Jan 032013
 

 

(In this post, NCS writer DGR reviews the debut album by Æther Realm, which is scheduled for release on January 8 and can be ordered here.)

Æther Realm are a four-piece melodic death metal band from Greenville, North Carolina. They’re a bunch of young upstarts who have found the recipe to make music that sounds so much like their influences that they have shot past the point of merely paying tribute and landed right next to them.

Their brand of melo-death falls heavily into the realms of bands such as Ensiferum, Kalmah, and Turisas. There’s enough of the pagan sound as promoted by the aforementioned bands, but with a hurdy-gurdy folk influence as well, to make a band located on the east coast of the United States sound like they hail from the colder sections of Europe. They’ve even jokingly had a note on their Facebook page which states,  ‘We Are Not From Finland’.

For much of the last year, Æther Realm have been building toward the release of their debut album, One Chosen By The Gods, and that is now set for January 8. One Chosen By The Gods is a nine-song affair, and if you’ve been following this band for a bit (I gave them a small shoutout in my 2011 year end roundup here at NCS, so maybe since then?) then you’re probably already familiar with three of the tracks (“Swampwitch”, “Ravensong”, “Odin Will Provide”). But of course the album delivers much more.

And if you haven’t previously been exposed to Æther Realm, then One Chosen By The Gods will come as one of the lead-off pleasant surprises of 2013.

Continue reading »

A TOP 6 LIST OF RECOMMENDATIONS FROM DECKARD CAIN

 Listmania, LISTMANIA 2012  20 Responses »
Jan 032013
 

(In this guest post, NCS reader deckard cain, who hails from India, provides a list of six overlooked albums from 2012 that he recommends.)

Ah yes another best of 2012 list eh? Well not exactly. On the contrary, this is something a tad different. I have a gripe with most other ‘best of 2012’ lists out there, and I am pretty sure that most of you here agree to it as well (NCS is the only site where it is different ). More times than not we have the same bands making their way onto different lists, and it definitely has been getting redundant. NCS has managed to have the best lists on any site by a mile, but for the most of part I tend to ignore most of the other lists out there, for a single quick sweep over everything listed makes you realize that it is more of the same. And trust me, I’ve been through almost every list out there. You can’t really blame the makers of the lists since a ‘best of’ list has its limitations.  Yet I would like to point out a few good releases that deserve to be heard. So let’s start with it already:

1.     Deserted Fear – My Empire

The German band Deserted Fear play old school death metal with a distinctively modern sound (courtesy of Dan Swanö), by which I mean the production is smooth as crystal and yet does not seem to compromise the trademarked organic sound that defines the genre.

Released by FDA Rekotz, their debut album My Empire is a galloping horse which shall trample over anything and everything in its path.  With melody brought in only at precisely the right moments, this album is an aural onslaught. Yes, the band is not groundbreaking by any means, in fact they don’t even go beyond the self-limiting OSDM mold, but they still pack in a good punch of tunes to keep the listener interested. Continue reading »

THE TOP 10 OF 2012: A LIST FROM FREDRIK HULDTGREN (CANOPY)

 Listmania, LISTMANIA 2012  5 Responses »
Jan 032013
 
(Only the really long-term readers of this site will remember how crazy we went over a Swedish band named Canopy and their 2010 album Menhir. We’re still pretty fuckin’ crazy about them — and there’s reason to believe we will be getting new Canopy music in 2013. As I have for the last two years, I invited Canopy’s vocalist Fredrik Huldtgren to share with us his year-end list of favorite albums, and he again agreed.)
********
1.    MGLA – With Hearts Toward None

As Groza is one of my favorite black metal albums I had some very high expectations for Mgla’s latest album With Hearts Toward None. The album follows in Groza’s footsteps with some very infectious riffs and great vocal delivery. I find it hard to put into words what it is that Mgla do so right, which usually means that it is not only one thing, but the excellence of all parts and the composition thereof. Even though you might think that they have hardly broken new ground, I feel that the album excels where others have failed and I have a hard time believing that I will tire of them. The fact that they also get to grace the top of my 2012 list, above bands such as Deathspell Omega and Anaal Nathrakh should also speak volumes for this album. Continue reading »

OUR LIST OF 2012’S MOST INFECTIOUS EXTREME METAL SONGS: PART 6

 MOST INFECTIOUS SONGS-2012  1 Response »
Jan 022013
 

This is Part 6 of our list of the year’s most infectious extreme metal songs. Each day until the list is finished, I’m posting two songs that made the cut. For more details about what this list is all about and how it was compiled, read the introductory post via this link. To see the selections that preceded the two we’re announcing today, click here.

I was all set to write the introduction to this installment of our list, and then BadWolf did it for me over at Invisible Oranges: 2012 was the year in which often occult-themed classic rock stylings from the 60s and 70s made a big splash in the metal pool. I don’t mean to suggest that there weren’t bands playing that kind of music before 2012 — to the contrary. But it really seemed to take off last year.

I liked quite a bit of what I heard, but I was most partial to the bands who mixed some vocal ugliness into their hook-filled retro stew (I know, what a shocker). And that leads me to our next two additions to this list. Neither of them really quite fits the profile of the bands BadWolf mentions in his IO piece, but they’re related.

ARKHAMIN KIRJASTO

On their 2012 debut album Torches Ablaze (which I reviewed here), the Finnish duo known as Arkhamin Kirjasto pulled off a neat trick: combining throwback heavy metal and rock riffs, death metal vocals, atmospheric guitar touches, and Lovecraftian lyrics in a way that was as interesting as it was (and is) irresistible. Continue reading »

THEMADISRAELI’S TOP 20 OF 2012: Part 2 (THE BROOTZ)

 Listmania, LISTMANIA 2012  1 Response »
Jan 022013
 

(Here’s the second part of TheMadIsraeli’s multi-part rollout of his list of 2012′s best metal. Sample songs are at the end of the post. And you can find the first 5 albums on his list here. Despite the numbering, the albums are presented in no particular order.)

Alright, here is the tonnage of br00tz edition of my top 20 of 2012.  This might seem short compared to the previous part of this list, but really, death metal is either really fucking brutal, technical, and memorable all at the same time, hence making it good, or it’s not, am I not right?  Let’s get this underway eh?

6: Cryptopsy – S/T

Not only did Cryptopsy manage to prove that the Cryptopsy name still had life left in it, but Jon Lavessuer also came back and helped the band write one of their best since None So Vile.  It’s a mangled, twisted, bloody stump that beats your skull in mercilessly from second one onward.  Definitely an undeniable win. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: SORCERY, SKROG, AND HATE MEDITATION

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  3 Responses »
Jan 022013
 

Yesterday I posted two catch-up features in an effort to spread the word about new music and news I came across over the long holiday weekend. But two really wasn’t enough. So, here’s a third.

SORCERY

The revival of old school death metal marches on.  In this instance, the purveyors are not newcomers mimicking the style, but people who were doing this when the old school was young.

Sorcery are a Swedish band who originally came together in the late 80s. By 1991 they had recorded an assortment of demos and one full-length album (Bloodchilling Tales), and then dissolved. Their revival began in 2009 with the recording of a new demo (followed by a second in 2012), and now they’re on the verge of releasing a new album — Arrival At Six — on the Xtreem Music label (release date: Jan 15). Of course, it was recorded at Sunlight Studios, by Tomas Skogsberg. And as you can see, it features completely killer cover art by Daniel Devilish.

Thanks to a tip from Utmu, yesterday I listened to the first single from the album, “Warbringer”.  Continue reading »

AFTER OBLIVION: “STAMINA”

 Album Reviews  4 Responses »
Jan 022013
 

(In this post TheMadIsraeli reviews the 2012 debut of a band from Bosnia and Herzegovina named After Oblivion.)

You know what’s overrated in metal?  Diversity.  Sometimes you just need a straight IV of PCP jolted into your neck to send you into a convulsive fit of headbanging fury.  What does this review have to do with diversity?, I know you are asking.

Well, After Oblivion’s debut Stamina is aptly named.  It’s a torrent of fierce technical thrash metal reminiscent of legends such as Coroner or Anacrusis with some nice scathing Schuldiner-worship vocals to taste.  Every song is in the same key, uses the same scales on the guitar front, and I think all are even at the same fucking tempo BUT I GIVE NO FUCKS.  This is a balls-to-the-wall assault of technical melodic riffage with paint-stripping screeches.  I’m reviewing this album late in the year, very late (oh wait! it’s the new year!), as it came out back in October, but I just wanted to get in a quick word about these guys.

The opener “Deliverance” will pretty much tell you everything you need to know about this band.  This is a precision strike so deadly and refined you’ll feel like you’re in the heyday of technical thrash and death metal in the 80’s.  This effect is especially helped by the album’s production, which is crisp, clean, yet still has an old school punch and ghetto quality to it.  I especially love the drum tone. Continue reading »

LISTMANIA CONTNUES: AUTOTHRALL’S TOP METAL ALBUMS OF 2012

 Listmania, LISTMANIA 2012  11 Responses »
Jan 022013
 

Our year-end Listmania series here at NCS can be divided into two categories. First, we post a handful of metal lists created by metal print publications (though this year we only reported DECIBEL’s list) and so-called “big platform” web sites, i.e., sites who cover genres of music well beyond metal but have very large audiences. Second, we post the year-end lists of our staff writers and numerous guest contributors.

The one thing we haven’t done up to now is re-publish year-end lists that have appeared at other metal blogs and sites, mainly because if I started down that road, I wouldn’t know where to stop. I’ve seen a lot of good lists at a lot of other sites compiled by people whose opinions I respect, but I really wouldn’t know how to pick just a few without falsely implying that I think better of those writers than of others.

But I am making one exception today, primarily out of a desire to further expand the range of recommended metal for those of you who are using our Listmania series as a menu of new music to explore. This list comes from a writer (with whom I’ve had no personal contact, just to be clear) who goes by the name autothrall — a name I suspect is already familiar to many of you. He’s responsible for about 99% of all the reviews that appear at a blog called From the Dust Returned. Continue reading »

OUR LIST OF 2012’S MOST INFECTIOUS EXTREME METAL SONGS: PART 5

 MOST INFECTIOUS SONGS-2012  7 Responses »
Jan 012013
 

This is Part 5 of our list of the year’s most infectious extreme metal songs. Each day until the list is finished, I’m posting two songs that made the cut. For more details about what this list is all about and how it was compiled, read the introductory post via this link. To see the selections that preceded the two we’re announcing today, click here.

My tastes have evolved and expanded dramatically since NO CLEAN SINGING was established more than three years ago. They’ve changed significantly even over the course of this past year. You’re about to find out just how much they’ve changed.

There was a time when the only metal songs I found infectious were ones with catchy hooks and memorable melodies. Now I’m finding that even music that’s utterly blistering or obliterating can also stick in my head. No matter how challenging that kind of music may be to some listeners, to omit it from this list would be hypocritical, because I’ve enjoyed so much of it this year. And so today I bring you Nekromantheon and Pseudogod.

NEKROMANTHEON

I first came across (and wrote about) this Norwegian band in December of 2011, when they released an advance track from their then-forthcoming 2012 release Rise, Vulcan Spectre. I subsequently listened to the entire album — it’s one of many 2012 releases I loved but never found time to review. The style of their music is a certain kind of thrash. But it’s not let’s-get-drunk-and-fuck thrash. It’s more like let’s-find-innocent-children-and-sacrifice-them-to-Cthulhu thrash. Continue reading »

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