ABRAHAM

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  No Responses »
Sep 172012
 

Abraham are a band from Lausanne, Switzerland. Pelagic Records plans to release their second album, The Serpent, The Prophet, and The Whore, on September 28 in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, and on October 1 in the UK and the rest of Europe.

I found out about Abraham from record producer Sean Golyer (Oak Pantheon) over the weekend. He sent me a link to one song from the new album, and I found a music video for another one that the band debuted yesterday. Both songs really grabbed me. The music is difficult to pigeon-hole, genre-wise, but these two songs are intense, heavy, and very interesting — reminiscent of early Neurosis and Cult of Luna in their most pissed-off moments.

The long first segment of “Dawn” drones with a dark synth beat, acid vocals, and shrieks of guitar feedback, and then evolves as tumbling drums and a tremolo-guitar enter the fray. Heavy bass, post-metal guitar chiming, and a barrage of double-kicks and blast-beats kick the song into a building, high-intensity finish.

The new video is for a song named “Start With A Heartbeat”. Like “Dawn”, it isn’t built around a verse-chorus-verse structure, but instead sweeps the listener along in an increasingly turbulent flow. The pacing steadily increases in a really interesting way, with all the instrumentalists accelerating like a rushing river channeled through boulder-strewn rapids. A strobing effect in the video amplifies the sensation of something barreling forward, almost out of control. Continue reading »

THE SYNN REPORT, PART 29: AGRYPNIE

 THE SYNN REPORT  8 Responses »
Sep 172012
 

(In this latest edition of the Synn Report, Andy Synn reviews the discography of German black metal band Agrypnie.)

Recommended for fans of: Agalloch, Dark Tranquillity, Enslaved

Germany is currently producing some of my favourite, black metal based music. From the cosmic-infused technicality of Dark Fortress, to the shadowy arcana of Secrets Of The Moon, not to mention the snarling, infernal fire of less well-known acts like Infestus and Odem Arcarum.

To that list we can add Agrypnie, a band I only discovered when they were announced for Summer Breeze, but who I instantly fell head over heels in love with. With 3 albums and one EP to their name, and a fourth album prepped for release soon, the group have helped fill the void left in my life by the (forthcoming) dissolution of Abigail Williams. I needed something with that introverted rage and extroverted passion, a band who wrote long songs because they wanted to explore the limits of their sound and vision, and that’s exactly what Agrypnie offer.

Currently a five-piece (at least live, as their Facebook page lists a litany of contributing members) after their initial inception as a one-man project, the band occupy a unique place, balanced on the pinnacle of ferocious, yet melancholic black metal, machine-like death metal force, and majestic post-metal dynamics. Grand touches of Alcest-ian melody and Agalloch-ian majesty vie with hints of Insomnium’s focussed power and Dark Tranquillity’s harnessed aggression, all melded together to produce a sound that blurs the boundaries between melodic black metal and melodic death metal, with a progressive verve that manages to recall both Enslaved and even Anathema at their most expressive. Continue reading »

OKERA: “A BEAUTIFUL DYSTOPIA”

 Album Reviews  7 Responses »
Sep 162012
 

“When MaxR asked me to write a guest review for Metal Bandcamp, he said he wanted to give me something a little out of my usual comfort zone, and specifically, something connected to the realm of doom. When I agreed, the album he picked was A Beautiful Dystopia, released earlier this year by Okera from Melbourne, Australia. I’m afraid Max failed in his mission. Not only am I comfortable in the company of A Beautiful Dystopia, I’m ready to marry it and have kids.”

And that’s how my guest review of Okera’s new album at Metal Bandcamp begins. It ends this way: “By this point it will come as no surprise: I recommend this album strongly.” In between, there is an explanation for why I’m so enthusiastic about Okera’s successful melding of doom and melodic death metal.

I hope you’ll read the whole review and check out the music, too. You can do both at THIS PAGE on Metal Bandcamp.

 

SEEN AND HEARD: SYLOSIS, PIG DESTROYER, HAIDUK, AND KAWAK IJEN BY NIGHT

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  No Responses »
Sep 152012
 

Here are a few things I spotted last night and this morning that I thought were worth passing along.

SYLOSIS

October 9 is the North American release date for Monolith, the new album by Sylosis (Oct 5 in Europe). We’ve previously featured two of the songs from the album — “Dying Vine” and “Born Anew” — and “Born Anew” is being offered as a free download by Nuclear Blast at this site.

Now, someone has posted a teaser reel on YouTube that includes minute-long samples from each of the album’s 11 tracks. I can’t tell if this was an authorized compilation and upload or not. I guess we’ll find out. But for as long as it lasts, it provides a pretty good tasting of an album that a couple of us here at NCS have been spinning and enjoying quite a bit. You can find that teaser reel right after the jump.

As you may know, Sylosis are also opening for Lamb of God, In Flames, and Hatebreed on their North American tour beginning in October. I’ve put the tour schedule after the jump, too. Continue reading »

BLUE STAHLI AND ERUPTED

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  6 Responses »
Sep 152012
 

I’ll have what he’s having.

Happy Saturday, and for those of you who are in the throes of a post-Friday night hangover, Happy Fucking Saturday and where did you lose your underwear?

I nearly made this into a THAT’S METAL! post because most of it isn’t metal in the musical sense, except I didn’t really cast the wide net that I usually do for those posts. Instead, everything in here, except for the last item, I found by following Facebook links posted by Blue Stahli (pictured above). Also, I decided to fuck shit up with the last item, which is from Erupted and is most definitely metal music.

I discovered Blue Stahli through the NCS writings of DGR, and most specifically through this interview of the man. Since then, I’ve been following Blue Stahli’s activities from afar. Recently, he posted a collection of links to a variety of artistic creations that I thought were cool. Those items make up the bulk of this post; none of them are actually musical creations of Blue Stahli.

ITEM ONE

The first item is a video named “Experimental Light Sculpture” by Karim Mansour. It appears this was created as a student project at BTK Hochschule für Gestaltung, which is a private college of design in Berlin. BTK-FH Berlin. The music is a 16-bit remix of a song called “Surge” by the Brazilian electronic musician Amon Tobin. The visuals are projections onto a wall of jagged surfaces synced to the music, and the visuals are what grabbed me about this video. It’s next. Continue reading »

TOURISM: NEW TOURS HEADLINED BY NACHTMYSTIUM, REVOCATION, AND DYING FETUS

 Metal News  7 Responses »
Sep 142012
 

One last post for this Friday, with a focus on recently announced U.S./Canada tours.

First, it was announced today that Nachtmystium will be headlining the Dawn Over the Ruins of America tour, which also includes Jarboe (featuring Baleyyg) and Canada’s Weapon. All of the dates have not yet been released, but the ones that have are after the jump. Also, although I know Jarboe used to be in Swans, that’s about the extent of my knowledge about her work, and I know zip about Baleyyg. So if anyone has any insights, leave a comment. Nachtmystium and Weapon, of course, are must-see bands for yours truly. (Thanks to Utmu and Vonlughlio for the tip about this one.)

Second, Boston’s mighty Revocation will be headlining a tour, and A Life Once Lost and KEN Mode will be along for that ride. I’ve almost lost count of how many times I’ve seen Revocation, because they tour like there’s no tomorrow, and every damned show has been killer. And if you saw tomorrow’s earlier post about ALOL, well, you know how I feel about them. KEN Mode is another band I am very interested in seeing. Those dates are also after the jump.

Third, Lambgoat is reporting that Dying Fetus will be touring late this year with Cattle Decapitation and Cerebral Bore in tow. There’s been no official announcement, but Lambgoat has ferreted out three venues where this line-up has been announced so far. I’ll just sum up my thoughts about this tour as follows: HELLS FUCKING YEAH! Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: PATHOLOGY, DORDEDUH, ODYSSEY

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  2 Responses »
Sep 142012
 

Here’s Part 2 of the morning round-up of things I saw and heard over the last 24 hours that I thought were worth passing on. The first part is HERE.

PATHOLOGY

I saw that Pathology have released their first digital single, “Tyrannical Decay”, from their forthcoming album The Time Of Great Purification, scheduled for release on September 25 by Victory Records. It’s available on iTunes and Amazon mp3. There’s a music video for the song that’s supposed to see daylight on September 17. You get two guesses about who did the artwork for the single.

As for “Tyrannical Decay”, it’s a brutalizing, pummelizing, meat-tenderizing, bludgeonizing, gutturalizing, demolitionizing slab of merciless death metal. If you’re into brutal death, check this out:

Pathology – “Tyrannical Decay”

[audio:https://www.nocleansinging.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/01-Tyrannical-Decay.mp3|titles=Pathology – Tyrannical Decay]

FREE SHIT: SOCIOPATHIC SOUND’S MASSIVE NEW MIXTAPE

 Free Shit  4 Responses »
Sep 142012
 

Sociopathic Sound is a project that apparently has been 10 years in the making, with the objective of launching a metal-focused web site. The launch hasn’t happened yet, though the under-construction site can be viewed here. As part of their effort to build an audience base for the planned web site, the folks behind Sociopathic Sound have been compiling metal mixtapes for free distribution. I just discovered the project this morning, after seeing news about the release of a brand new mixtape — which turns out to be the third of these things.

Sociopathic Mixtape Vol. III is kind of mind-blowing. First, it includes songs from 81 bands (actually, there are 9 more “hidden” tracks that are included in the file for those who download the entire mixtape — which brings the total to 90!!!).  It adds up to more than four hours of music.

Second, I recognize a lot of the bands on the 81-song track list, and the ones whose names I recognize are killer; we’ve featured many of them at NO CLEAN SINGING. Here are just a few: Hypno5e, Gaza, Ad Patres, Analdiktion, Vimana, Severed Crotch, haarp, Maruta, Plague Widow, Trepalium, Withered, Hivesmasher, Tiger Flowers, Co-Exist.

As even this very small listing of names indicates, the music on the mixtape spans a really diverse array of metal.

And to repeat: It’s FREE.

To stream the music and get the download if you so choose, use this link:

http://sociopathicsound.bandcamp.com/

 

THE DREADED E-WORD

 Album Reviews, Revisiting the Classics  29 Responses »
Sep 142012
 

(NCS guest contributor Mike Yost provides this look back at an album that defeats all resistance to use of a dreaded e-word.  These musings also appear on Mike’s own blog, Remnants of Words.)

As many of you already know, the word epic is used far too often. And not just in metal reviews. Some examples you might hear are as follows:

TV Commercial: “If you’re thirsty, try (insert shitty sugary sports drink here) to quench that epic thirst!”

Movie Review: “Bruce Willis stood in front of the White House in a torn, bloody t-shirt while firing machine guns and bazookas in slow motion with explosions raining down all around him as terrorists were being blown away by the dozens. It was fucking epic!”

A Friend: “So then, we go to (his or her) place and start having sex on the kitchen counter, and (he or she) pulls out this epic glass dildo from the cupboard!”

As Islander has lamented in previous posts, the word epic has proliferated in metal blogs to the point that its overuse has the opposite effect. Epic now equals insipid. Superficial. Commonplace. I become very skeptical about an album when I see it in a review. I can’t help but think it’s being used to compensate for music that’s just plain bad. Or maybe the author of the review was just too tired after a long day at work and passed out at the desk looking for a thesaurus. (I’ve been there.)

This is unfortunate. Because there are a few bands out there who are epic. There are a few albums that are epic. Even a few songs. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: A LIFE ONCE LOST, SEDATIVE, TSAR BOMB, THROW THE GOAT

 Free Shit, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  2 Responses »
Sep 142012
 

Because I was too busy yesterday doing things I actually get paid to do and writing about vaginas, I didn’t get around to hunting the web for new shit to recommend until last night, by which point some of what I found had already spread around metal blogville like herpes at a swingers’ convention. But some people only seem to read this humble blog for their metal injections, so I’m including that stuff anyway. Also, because of my delay, I found way too many nuggets to cram into a single post, so there will be two this morning, this being the first. Here we go:

A LIFE ONCE LOST

This is one of the items that spread rapidly around blogville. And here’s a back story about our connection to Philly’s ALOL:

Back in the day, I was massively hooked by their debut, A Great Artist. The intricate polyrhythmic interplay between the drums and the bass, the mid-range moaning of the guitar leads and assorted other guitar noise, and the high-end howling vocals made for a sweet combination.

I liked the next album, Hunter, even better — more deeply-carved Meshuggah-esque grooves, and even more incurably infectious riffs. I probably listened to that album as many times as I’ve listened to anything. The last album, 2007′s Iron Gag, was good, too, though I’d gotten so hooked on the band’s style that the musical course changes on it were personally disappointing — less Meshuggah and more Pantera, and a throatier vocal style from Bob Meadows.

Then, it appeared the band had broken up, and that was a huge bummer. But I discovered at the end of 2009 that ALOL wasn’t really history after all. At the end of that year, I read that the band was reviving and planned a new album in 2010 — and on the strength of that news, I put them on our January 1, 2010, list of the 21 albums I most wanted to hear in 2010.

Well, it took a bit longer than that. Continue reading »

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