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 »

HAPPY HANGOVER DAY (Part 2): FEN, TROLL BENDS FIR, AND TRIBULATION

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  8 Responses »
Jan 012013
 

This post is the second part of a round-up in which I’ve collected items of interest I observed over the last few days. Part 1 is here.

FEN

Fen are a three-man UK band whose new album Dustwalker is set for release by the Code666 label on January 21, and today they debuted one of the new songs, “Consequence”. I’ll say up-front that apart from coming across an isolated song or two in the past, I’m largely unfamiliar with their previous works. But I’m mighty impressed with “Consequence”.

In this long song you’ll find a combination of sheer vocal ferocity and almost ethereal choral voices; jagged discordance and blasting coupled with majestic melodies and progressive instrumentals; gloom and doom paired with soaring atmospherics; a mix of the abrasive and the sublime. And there’s an awfully sweet bass line running through the song as well. Have a listen to this striking song right after the jump. Continue reading »

HAPPY HANGOVER DAY (Part 1): ETERNAL TEARS OF SORROW, AMON AMARTH, KATAKLYSM, AND MUMAKIL

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  3 Responses »
Jan 012013
 

Your humble editor has been so busy over the last four days with year-end lists, Most Infectious Song posts, and non-blogging life events that I haven’t compiled a news/new-music round-up since last week. However, I was watching out for developments, and now I’m finally collecting those which seemed worthy of notice. I have enough items to vomit forth into your laps that I’ve divided them into two posts, this being the first.

ETERNAL TEARS OF SORROW

It would be poor form to start the new year at NCS without some Finnish metal. As it happens, this first day of 2013 has delivered something new from Finland, and what it delivered also gives us a chance to start the new year by again confusing people. Sowing confusion makes life worth living.

The news is that Finland’s Eternal Tears of Sorrow have a new album entitled Saivon Lapsi that’s scheduled for release on February 22. It features album art (above) by Travis Smith. In addition to that news, the band also premiered today a music video for one of the new songs, “Swan Saivo”. The video is a beautifully made allegory with a visually arresting finish (and includes some great footage of the band headbanging). And I enjoyed the song, too . . . though its appearance at this site will indeed confuse some people. Continue reading »

DGR’S BIG ASS LIST

 Listmania, LISTMANIA 2012  14 Responses »
Jan 012013
 

(In this, the longest post we’ve yet had the temerity to publish, DGR provides many 2012 lists, several awards, and assorted musings about the year in metal.)

This list initially started as something of an archive of my time spent at NoCleanSinging this year, since I was over at another site when I began writing it. I wanted to archive all the stuff that I thought that you guys would be into, so it started as a list of all the great death metal and doom metal I listened to throughout the year – plus a list of disappointments, so I could say it was “DDD” and make a whole bunch of boob jokes throughout the whole thing in order to highlight the sheer level of class with which we conduct ourselves here.

Well, things change…and now I’ve sat my fat ass down here with a full list. That, and due to the fact that there’s so much music I want to talk about this year, I feel that by separating the albums into genres that I enjoyed and explored this year, I can at least show that there was a ton more great music than just the scant ten that we limit ourselves to throughout the year. Some of these may pop up again in the actual Top Ten list you’ll find at the end of this post, but know that a lot more of them would’ve been there had I not enjoyed myself so much throughout the year.

I’ve patterned this after the list I did last year where I not only provided the actual top albums that I enjoyed but categorized a bunch of others, because I am so goddamned wishy-washy that I can’t fathom trying to name just ten. 2012 was a weird year, too, because it seemed like it was going to be slow in the beginning, but then every album that was released seemed to be just killing it. New bands, established bands, pretty much everyone with the exception of the usual garbage and a couple of bands that “Disappointed” me (underwhelmed, more like) were absolutely killing it. Because of that, this list became something more of a 2012 year in review with a Top 10 albums for myself and a whoooooole lotta bullshit to fill the space between. Continue reading »

THEMADISRAELI’S TOP 20 OF 2012: PART 1

 Listmania, LISTMANIA 2012  4 Responses »
Jan 012013
 

(With this post TheMadIsraeli begins a multi-part rollout of his list of 2012’s best metal. Sample songs are at the end of the post.)

I needed a break from Kataklysm.  I’ve hit the point in the discography where listening hurts right now, so I figure it’s time for me to do that top albums of the year list thing.

Putting together this list has been easy and hard at the same time.  2012 in hindsight for me didn’t provide as consistently killer of a bounty as 2011 did. However, what was killer still results in a bunch of excellent bands fighting tooth and nail in my head to be on this list.  For me, this was a year for death metal and melodic death metal.  Most of what really caught my ear saw either of those two styles being done well, being done excellently with old school aesthetics, or being so well written and cohesive it obviously stood above the rest.

First, I thought we’d start with the more prog or melodic stuff on my list.  There will be proggy and melodic shit later on in this list, but it’ll be under a different category.  I mostly stuck to more recent bands or first time releases for this section.

So without further ado, here is the first part of my top 20.  These first five albums are presented in no particular order because I couldn’t even possibly begin that level of scrutiny amongst a collage of already stellar works. Continue reading »

OUR LIST OF 2012’S MOST INFECTIOUS EXTREME METAL SONGS: PART 4

 MOST INFECTIOUS SONGS-2012  7 Responses »
Dec 312012
 

This is Part 4 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.

The songs I’m rolling out today make for a tasty but nasty pairing. Unless I miss my guess, they’ll root their way under your skin in a heartbeat and proceed to swarm your system, take command of your brain stem, and compel head nodding and fist-pumping — and maybe a “Hail Satan!” or two.

CHAPEL

Chapel are based in Vancouver, Canada and they released their debut album — Satan’s Rock ‘n’ Roll — on August 1 via the Irish label Invictus Productions. I found out about them via a recommendation from NCS patron SurgicalBrute and proceeded to write about them here. To crib from my own words about the album:

“It fucken rips hell. It’s not hard to imagine that if hell were real, this would be the party music of choice. Matching rock and punk beats with filthy riffs, burned-raw vocals, and acetylene solos, Chapel have created a virally infectious debut release.” Continue reading »

HAPPY FUCKING NEW YEAR

 Off Topic  7 Responses »
Dec 312012
 

Here in the Great Pacific Northwest, we’re still 13 hours away from the turn of the old year into the new one, and the obligatory celebrations haven’t yet begun on our metallic island. But due to the mysteries of time zones and datelines, it appears that 2013 has arrived or is about to arrive elsewhere — and how the fuck does that work?

Anyway, with the dawn of a new, arbitrary calendar date fast approaching, we want to thank all of you for your support of NO CLEAN SINGING during 2012. It was a great year for metal and a great year for us as a site.

We’re looking forward to what 2013 will bring. We already know it’s going to bring even more outstanding music — we will soon be publishing a list of forthcoming albums that we’re eagerly anticipating, with an invitation for you to add to that list based on what you’ve seen and heard.

And we hope the New Year will bring you fortune, fame, lasting love, happiness, multiple orgasms, a job, a fast getaway, the utter destruction of your enemies, or whatever else your heart desires. Continue reading »

OMNIUM GATHERUM: “BEYOND” (Three Thumbs Up)

 Album Reviews  No Responses »
Dec 312012
 

(Our sadistic streak continues with the third early review of Omnium Gatherum’s new album.  This one comes from TheMadIsraeli.  The first two can be found here and here.)

It isn’t even 2013 yet and already we at NCS are getting pimp-slapped by the hand of Zeus himself in the form of Omnium Gatherum’s new album Beyond.  As Islander said in his review, melodic death metal of the darker sort had an absolutely fucking killer year in 2012, and to get hit with something of the same ilk already for 2013 gives me have very high hopes for the new year.

I will admit, this is one of those bands who I loved whenever I ran across them but never dove into out of sheer laziness or occupation with other things.  I can say, however, that I’ve dived into this album, drowned, been brought back to life, and have repeated this cycle over ten times in the last twenty-four hours.  Beyond is a dense, layered, passionate, and macabre work that could very well already seal my first favorite for 2013.

Like all melodic death metal that’s been killing it lately, Omnium prefer to immerse you in layers of interwoven melody lines as opposed to hard-hitting riffs, arming themselves with depressing yet infectious-as-plague melodies, ever-driven drum work, and a keyboard with a very Blade Runner-esque feel to it. Continue reading »

THE BEST OF 2012: A TOP 10 LIST FROM BREADGOD

 Listmania, LISTMANIA 2012  4 Responses »
Dec 312012
 

(We welcome back guest contributor BreadGod with his list of the year’s best albums. I’ve taken the liberty of adding links where bands on his list were previously mentioned at NCS.)

2012 came and went, the world didn’t end, and everyone felt like an idiot for believing in all of that apocalyptic bullshit. One thing’s for certain: this was one of the best years – if not the best year – in metal history. The number of awesome metal albums released during this year is unprecedented. It was really hard for me to make this list, but after much listening and pondering, I narrowed it down to ten albums I feel are the best of 2012. First, my honorable mentions:

Abominable Putridity – The Anomalies of Artificial Origin

Abyssal – Denouement

Axis of Light – By the Hands of the Consuming Fire

Aylwin – Soil And Cold

Barrowlands – Demo 2012

Bitwa – Glory To Swietowit

Buried – The Only Promise
Continue reading »

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