ACYL: “ALGEBRA”

 Album Reviews, Exceptions to the Rule  3 Responses »
Nov 162012
 

(New Zealand-based NCS patron Booker follows up his last guest review with another one.  The subject of this piece is the debut album by a Paris-based band named Acyl, who have a decidedly different approach to metal.)

 

So growing up in the 90’s (OMG! I’m like, so old!!), Sepultura were one of my favourite bands. Some say Arise was their best offering and despise all the ‘world-music/Brazilian’ influence on later releases, most notably Roots. Without wanting to revive the old chestnut of post-Max Sepultura (arguing about which never seems to die), whatever your opinion of Against-onward era Sepultura, or the direction of Soulfly, unarguably both have progressively moved away from the world-music influence into a more stripped-down sound.

Over the same course of time, the Western world has been exposed more and more to the Arab world, and let’s face it, not usually from the likes of Jim Al-Khalili expounding on how insightful those ancient Arab mathematicians and astronomers were, but more likely linked with post 9/11, the Taliban, Al Qaeda, radical Islam, and the like.

Well, who should come along and kill two birds with one stone (or album, more accurately – although really I don’t think the killing of birds was actually involved) but Acyl with their debut LP Algebra out this year – bringing a good ‘world music mixed with metal’ fix, and also some of the goodness the Arab world has to offer in terms of its language (one of the most ancient in the world, consider that for a while if you will) and old-school Arabian musical stylings. In doing so, these guys have achieved something incredibly difficult in this day and age – a debut album with a distinctive, unique sound. Continue reading »

THE SYNN REPORT, PART 30: ANTESTOR

 Album Reviews, THE SYNN REPORT  3 Responses »
Nov 162012
 

(In this milestone edition of The Synn Report, Andy Synn reviews the discography of Norway’s Antestor.)

Recommended for fans of: Cormorant, (early) Dimmu Borgir, Edge of Sanity

I really wanted to do something special to mark the 30th edition of The Synn Report. I searched through my list of worthy bands for a while, before finally settling on Antestor. It certainly helps that they have a new album out (their first in seven years) at the end of the month!

Formed in Jessheim, Norway, in 1990 under the name ‘Crush Evil’, changing to Antestor in 1991, the group have produced 3 full-length albums and one EP of what has been dubbed ‘Sorrow Metal’ – a blending of doomy, melancholic death metal with a depressive black metal undercurrent.

Starting out as they did, both in terms of the time and the place, it was inevitable that the rise of black metal would influence their growth over the years; certainly the speed and intensity of their caustic tremolo passages increased as the years progressed. That said, the group also incorporate some decidedly gothic moments into their sound and augment their classically influenced structures with some distinctly progressive tendencies. Continue reading »

THE ABCs OF THINGS I MISSED IN 2012

 Listmania, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  25 Responses »
Nov 162012
 

(Guest contributor Kaptain Carbon is getting a head start on year-end listmania with a most amusing review of albums he missed earlier in the year. Despite the fact that I laughed out loud on numerous occasions, I haven’t forgotten that the Kaptain owes me a Russian Nesting Doll. Some things you don’t forget.)

Well, I am now a guest in another person’s house. I should take my shoes off and pretend I eat with my pants on. No Clean Singing put out a call for entries and usually I would be hosting board game night in my basement over at Tape Wyrm but now I am here. What a lovely house you have. I really love your collection of Russian Nesting Dolls. Oh dear, I think this one may be broken. I’ll set it down right here.

2012 is almost done and we will soon all be judged before the great cosmic eye. Before our fate is weighed on the gilded scales at an altar of ivory and blood, we all have to go through our end of the year lists. Yes, before the inevitable reckoning, where December is consumed in an omnipresence hellfire, we have to make our top 10s of 2012. Now, we all know it will probably go to the new Marilyn Manson record, but there is also the matter of the stacks of records which now make a castle on your coffee table. Look at this mess. Look at all of this stuff you said you were going to listen to but never did. You are a horrible human. I found this Abigail Williams record in the vegetable crisper.

I recently went through my library and pulled out all of the 2012 records I meant to review but never got around to doing so because I am a terrible metal-hating human being who secretly loves everything which you hate. I just want to make sure I did not miss anything, so I am going to go through this pile of laundry and rifle through its contents before throwing it back on the ground. Sure, things will still be messy, but there was production involved.

It is time to revisit the forgotten, at least by me, and the never-heard of 2012. Sure, No Clean Singing is giving me a wonderful opportunity to share some of my work with you, but let’s be honest, I woke up late and I am doing my homework while running to class. Thank you No Clean Singing for this opportunity and fuck you, you motherfucking stupid cocksucking alarm WHERE ARE MY KEYS? Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: DEATH, BEYOND CREATION, WELICORUSS, AND BEASTWARS

 Album Reviews, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC, SHORT BUT SWEET  4 Responses »
Nov 152012
 

In this post are four new things I saw and heard today.  I saw and heard other things today, such as the sight of the Sun (which is worth reporting, given that it’s November in Seattle) and the explosive sound of my own voice when I put weight on my fucked-up ankle the wrong way. That was about as close as I’ve ever come to thinking I could do vocals for a black metal band.

Well, as painful as it is for me to say this, “enough about me”. Here are new videos from Beyond Creation (Canada), Welicoruss (Russia), and Beastwars (New Zealand). The Welicoruss and Beastwars songs are also brand new and will appear on forthcoming albums. But first . . . the debut of a remastered song from . . .

DEATH

As you may know, Relapse Records has been re-issuing remastered editions of albums by Death. The latest is the band’s 1990 record, Spiritual Healing. This is a two-disc release, with the first one featuring a complete remaster of the original album and the second one including 16 previously unreleased rehearsal recordings, outtakes, and studio instrumentals. If you spring for the limited edition digipack, you’ll also get a third CD of a never-before-released live set recorded in 1990. And if you download the album from iTunes, you’ll get 5 previously unreleased pre-Human rehearsal tracks that aren’t included on either of the CD versions.

Well, enough with the free advertising. The reason I’m writing about Death today is that today Guitar World premiered one of the remastered tracks from Spiritual Healing: “Altering the Future”. You can hear that after the jump, along with the remastered version of “Living Monstrosity”, which appeared earlier. Continue reading »

THRASHTASTIC: HELLBASTARD, TOXIC HOLOCAUST, AND ELDRITCH FLAMETHROWER

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  No Responses »
Nov 152012
 

There are few things sweeter than a great riff, the kind that grabs you by the spine and shakes you hard, your head bobbing like the top of a rag doll. Yet, perplexingly, I’m not a big fan of most thrash, a genre where the riff is king. The “classic” thrash vocal style has something to do with that. But that’s not to say that I’m averse to all thrash. I’ve found from experience that I like it just fine when it’s caked with filth, when it’s raw, punked-out, and covered in crust.

An aura of the infernal helps, too, which is probably why I’ve become a fan of black thrash, though that’s a subject for another day. What I’ve got for this day is new music and a new video from three bands whose servings of thrash are so so jammed with filth they will stop up your toilets for a week — and the riffs may leave you convulsing, too: Hellbastard (UK), Toxic Holocaust (U.S.), and Eldritch Flamethrower (U.S.)

HELLBASTARD

Hellbastard came into being somewhere in late ’84 or early ’85. Some say they were the band who created the “crust” wave of the 1980s. Some say they coined the genre name “crust” with their 1986 demo release Ripper Crust. But by 1992 the band had fallen apart. They re-formed in 2008, and now they have a new five-song EP on the way, which will be released on vinyl by Patac Records on November 15. I’ve only just begun listening to it, and it’s damned good — so good that I wanted to say a few words about it right away. Continue reading »

COLD NIGHT FOR ALLIGATORS: “SINGULAR PATTERNS”

 Album Reviews, Exceptions to the Rule, SHORT BUT SWEET  5 Responses »
Nov 152012
 

(Continuing our November series of guest posts, we’re joined today by writer Austin Weber with a review of the new EP from Cold Night For Alligators.)

In the past few years, djent has spread like a tidal wave across the scene, bringing to light many interesting acts. Like the deathcore trend behind it, djent ultimately has over-saturated the scene with bands only interested in playing it as a style, without bringing anything new to the table sonically or from a songwriting perspective.

That being said, releases this year by Periphery, Chimp Spanner, and others have shown it’s not a sinking ship just yet. Another name that should be included among the top tier bands in this sub-genre is Copenhagen, Denmark’s Cold Night For Alligators. They formed in 2008 and released a three song introduction in 2010, Ulterior Motives.

 


Continue reading »

UNDERGANG: “INDHENTET AF DØDEN”

 Album Reviews  12 Responses »
Nov 152012
 

(We’re pleased to deliver this guest post by our Danish friend and fellow metal blogger MaxR of Metal Bandcamp, who shares some gruesome background on the 2010 debut album by Denmark’s Undergang.)

Undergang’s debut full-length Indhentet Af Døden from 2010 is now available as a name your price download on their Bandcamp (so is its successor Til Døden Os Skiller). This is a putrid slab of old-school death metal. You know the death metal cliches: Rotten, filthy, disgusting, nasty; Undergang makes them all come true.

Described as “Obituary twisted by Demilich”, Indhentet Af Døden bludgeons you with brutal riffs performed with with an almost hardcore-like single-mindedness (that would be the Obituary part). But don’t confuse this with simple-mindedness; Undergang keep you on your toes by adding the odd weird riff and time-signature change (and that would be the Demilich twist).

Undergang are a Danish band. And unlike most others bands from non-English-speaking countries, Undergang perform entirely in their native tongue – not that you can really understand a word of the guttural growls of David Torturdød. Their name actually means “downfall”. Indhentet Af Døden is “overtaken by death” (and Til Døden Os Skiller “till death do us part”). And Torturdød is literally “torturedeath”. You can find an interesting reference to a piece of morbid Danish history buried in the lyrics to “Englemagersken”, which roughly translated goes like this: Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: ROTTING CHRIST, NECROWRETCH, SCAR SYMMETRY, MACHINE HEAD, KUOLEMANLAAKSO, TAAKE, AND A SQUIRREL RIDING A SNAKE

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  1 Response »
Nov 142012
 

Sakis Tolis, laying down a soothing lullaby. 

Once again, your intrepid editor has sifted through the ever flowing stream of metal news and new music to find those gleaming nuggets that will enrich your daily lives.  Actually, I don’t know if you’ll give a shit about any of this, but I do, and that’s what really matters, isn’t it?  No need to answer, that was a rhetorical question.

ALBUMS ON THE HORIZON: ROTTING CHRIST AND NECROWRETCH

We’ve already reported that Rotting Christ are at work on their 11th studio album, but today I saw a few more tidbits of news: The album will be entitled Do What Thou Wilt, and it will hit the stores on March 1, 2013. We usually don’t write about such happenings unless we have a bit more juice to go along with it, such as album art or a song premiere. But these Greek maestros are the kind of band whose every move interests me. And I’m particularly interested to see if the new album will be a further step down the path of strongly folk/ethnic-influenced metal exhibited on Aealo.

I also saw today that the French band Necrowretch have finished the recording and mastering of their debut album for Century Media. It was recorded in late August at Blackout Multimedia studios in Brussels by Phorgath of Enthroned and its title will be Putrid Death Sorcery. The cover art is being prepared by Milovan Novakovic from Montenegro, who also created the beastly cover for the band’s last EP, Now You’re In Hell (reviewed here). And if you’re wondering why this news matters, check out some Necrowretch music right after the jump. Continue reading »

BANDS YOU NEED TO HEAR: INFANT ANNIHILATOR

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  No Responses »
Nov 142012
 

(We’ve written quite a lot already about the international trio known as Infant Annihilator, but a new album trailer gives us an excuse to do it again, via this post by TheMadIsraeli.)

Infant Annihilator is the fucking shit.  As hyperbolic and complimentary yet non-descriptive as that may be of me to say, I really don’t give two shits because this band know how to bring the br00tz in maximum force.  You can’t front on these dudes, you can’t tell me these guys don’t write some of the most technically accomplished yet well composed yet all over the place of the br00tality-spectrum tunes you’ve ever heard. UK-based  Eddie Pickard and Aaron Kitcher are truly accomplished practitioners of their craft and know exactly what extreme metal fans crave: utter fucking devastation.

Infant Annihilator label themselves a technical deathcore act, although this isn’t entirely accurate.  Take every form of extreme metal, whether it be death metal, deathcore, grindcore, black metal, or slam and mash it all together until you have some kind of fucked-up stillborn deformity of filth, and there you have Infant Annihilator.

We’ve already covered this band repeatedly since the unveiling of their genius video for “Decapitation Fornication”, but I’m really into them and really feeling what they’re bringing to the table.  Eddie (guitar), Aaron (drums), and beast-mode vocalizer Dan Watson (from Indiana) are set to unleash their sonic tome of chaos, The Palpable Leprosy Of Pollution.  Continue reading »

EARACHE AND OSMOSE CONTINUE TO KILL IT ON BANDCAMP: BOLT THROWER AND IMMORTAL ARE NOW UP

 Metal News  6 Responses »
Nov 142012
 

It was all of two days ago that we splashed the news across our site that two of metal’s genuine landmark labels — Earache Records and Osmose Productions — had established beachheads on Bandcamp for the first time. As of two days ago, Earache had uploaded high-quality digital files for albums from their catalogue by At the Gates, Napalm Death, Evile, and Rival Sons, while Osmose had delivered three classic albums by Norway’s Enslaved. But what they’ve each done since then has been equally mind-blowing.

We had gotten word that Earache was interested in suggestions about what albums they should prioritize for upload to Bandcamp, and I included my own short list in that previous post — a list that included Bolt Thrower’s legendary 1991 album War Master. And guess what! As of today, Earache has put War Master on Bandcamp HERE. Allow me to figuratively bow down in humble thanks. Actually, I think I’ll literally bow down, too. So stoked to see what they upload next . . . .

Not to be outdone, wait ’til you hear what Osmose has done: In just the last two days since we published that earlier post, Osmose has added to Bandcamp nine more albums — including the first six albums by the immortal Immortal — Diabolical Fullmoon Mysticism (1992), Pure Holocaust (1993), Battles In the North (1995), Blizzard Beasts (1997), At the Heart of Winter (1999), and Damned In Black (2003).

In addition, Osmose has added three more Enslaved albums: Blodhemn (1998), Mardraum-Beyond the Within (2000), and Below the Lights (2003). Continue reading »

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