NO CLEAN SINGING

SEEN AND HEARD: ATRIARCH, VOIVOD, SYBREED, AND CYTOTOXIN

Oct 012012

I’ve been missing in action more than usual over the last 4 days, having been kidnapped by work-related travel and activities that were fun, but cut deeply into blog time. I’m now back home on this Sunday night and have been trying to find out what I missed in the world of metal. Of course, I missed a lot that interested me — too much to capture in a single post — so I’m going to pick out just a few of the items I thought were worth spreading around.

ATRIARCH

I first came across Portland’s Atriarch through their 20 Buck Spin split release with Oakland’s Alaric — and that whole split release is just chock full of win. If you haven’t heard it, check it out on Bandcamp here.

Atriarch is now on the Profound Lore label and their first PL release will be Ritual of Passing, scheduled to hit the streets on October 30. The cover art up there is by Stevie Floyd (Taurus). I saw that Pitchfork recently premiered the album’s third track “Altars”, and then I saw that PL had put the song up for streaming on SoundCloud as well. And I checked it out. Fuckin’ glad I did, too. Continue reading »

SHORT BUT SWEET: NECROWRETCH – “NOW YOU’RE IN HELL”

Album Reviews, SHORT BUT SWEET 3 Responses »

Sep 302012

I first became curious about Necrowretch (from Valence, France) in February 2012 when I saw that they had been signed by Century Media based solely on two demos (in 2009 and 2010) and a four-song EP in 2011 — Putrefactive Infestation. I tracked down and listened to that EP and reviewed it here.

At the time of that review, there were plans for the Belgian label Detest Records to release a 7″ NecroWretch EP titled Now You’re In Hell before the band turned to recording their debut album for Century Media. That release did happen last spring, though I overlooked it until recently.

The 7″ release includes two songs — an original Necrowretch number called “From A Hideous Summoning” and a cover of Death’s “Zombie Ritual” from Scream Bloody Gore (1987), which Necrowretch recorded on the 10th anniversary of Chuck Schuldiner’s death. Yesterday, Necrowretch uploaded the original track to YouTube, with the video providing a detailed survey of the beautifully beastly cover art provided by Montenegrin artist Milovan Novakovic. Continue reading »

RECOMMENDATIONS FROM SURGICALBRUTE: CHAPEL, THROWN, AND MORBID VOMIT

RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC 1 Response »

Sep 292012

Long-time NCS reader SurgicalBrute has been a reliable source of eviscerating musical recommendations for the site, sometimes through guest posts and sometimes via e-mail. Recently he sent me an e-mail with three new recommendations, all of which proved to be excellent. I’ve collected some info and music from each of the bands in this post. Here we go . . . .

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. Here’s what SurgicalBrute said about Chapel:

“Midnight . . . Speedwolf . . . forget them both . . . this band plays some ripping satanic blackened speed metal, and will definitely be on my year end list.”

Rooting around in the interhole, I found that CVLT Nation is streaming the album in full (here). I’ve been listening to it, and yeah, 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. Check out a few of the songs next. Continue reading »

NEW VIDEOS: HOODED MENACE, DOWN, AND RED ELEVEN

RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC 3 Responses »

Sep 282012

(Artwork by Sandro of Undead Creep.)

Not long after I posted that new Gojira video earlier today, I found three more new videos that I thought were worth sharing with our readers. The bands are: Hooded Menace (Finland), Down (US-NOLA), and Red Eleven (Finland).

HOODED MENACE

I’ve been writing a lot about this Finnish group’s new album, Effigies Of Evil, which is out now on Relapse. Of course, the one thing I haven’t yet written is a review, though I haven’t given up hope that I’ll find time to explain in more detail why I think this album is so titanic.

The latest from Hooded Menace is a music video premiered today by Metal Injection for “Crumbling Insanity”. The video was directed by Justin Oakley for Burial Offerings (Ulver). It intersperses footage of the band performing with images of such things as crucifixion, impalement, murder, and the collapse of churches. The song well-represents the talent of Hooded Menace for blending necrotic melodies, hard-charging death metal riffs, and the suffocating weight of funereal doom into a potent brew. Here’s the video: Continue reading »

GOJIRA: “EXPLOSIA” LIVE

RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC 1 Response »

Sep 282012

As I mentioned earlier this week, I’m in the middle of a work-related trip that isn’t leaving me much blog time, and things won’t get back to normal until I get back to Seattle on Sunday night. I do plan to catch up on what I’ve missed, as best I can, between now and Monday.

Here’s one thing I missed: Yesterday, Metal Sucks exclusively premiered a video of Gojira performing “Explosia” live in New York City last month. By the time I realized the video was out, the band had posted it on YouTube, so you can check it out here after the jump.

The video syncs the album track of “Explosia” to the performance footage (and accelerates some of the frames in a way that was fun to see). I go back and forth, but today I think “Explosia” is my favorite track on L’Enfant Sauvage, so any excuse to hear it again is welcome. Continue reading »

ANAAL NATHRAKH: “VANITAS”

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Sep 282012

(Andy Synn reviews the highly anticipated new album by the UK’s Anaal Nathrakh.)

“The more things change, the more they stay the same“ is usually used in a negative context. Not here. The consummate ease with which Anaal Nathrakh vomit up quality album after quality album, all without straying too far from their core sound, makes that statement one of unshakeable intent, reaffirming the band’s commitment to sheer sonic superiority.

It takes a masterful band to truly embrace their sound and continue to push it for all it is worth, without falling into a comfortable rut or succumbing to the lure of the ‘new’, but Anaal Nathrakh have always been anything but comfortable. Masters of the lethal musical arts, with each album their unholy fusion of blackened fury, grinding filth, and industrial-strength death metal power is re-tooled and reworked to further plumb the depths of humanity.

With Vanitas Anaal Nathrakh have produced their most melodic, yet also most blackened, record in years, with a heavier focus on intense, virulent remolo melodies and bleak, haunting moodscapes. Closest in character to Eschaton, the main touchstone for the music is the work and sound of Emperor; the soaring, almost arrogant, clean vocals recalling Ihsahn at his finest, while their juxtaposition against flaming torrents of scalding riffage and twisted, contorted song structures echoes a similar ability to effortlessly strike multiple targets at once – the melodic, the blistering, and the crushingly heavy – without weakness or hesitation. Continue reading »

SHORT BUT SWEET: FLOOD THE DESERT — “STOLEN PROPHETS”

Album Reviews, SHORT BUT SWEET 7 Responses »

Sep 282012

(Not long ago BadWolf reviewed a live show in Grand Rapids that included a band named Flood the Desert that made quite an impression. Now BadWolf reviews their debut release.)

When I last checked in with Flood the Desert, they were nearly done completing their first official release. Just a few months later I have the finished product sitting on my iPod. Stolen Prophets is the debut four-track EP by this Grand Rapids, Michigan power trio.

First and foremost, Flood the Desert know how to play their instruments. I hear their material and think “this is what it was like to see Dream Theater in 1988,” except Flood the Desert pull it off as a three-piece and without pompous vocals slathering everything. In fact, the band is so proud of their instrumentals that they offer instrumental versions of each track. Both versions are worth your time.

Stolen Prophets clocks in at just shy of a half hour, and runs a wide tonal gamut in that brief time. If you’re looking for music that can take you somewhere else when you close your eyes, Flood the Desert are that band. They keep things relatively low on extremity—no song here gets much heavier than any given track on Mastodon’s Crack the Skye—and opt instead for a cleaner sonic palate. Continue reading »

SHORT BUT SWEET: DEAD RIVER RUNS DRY — “WINTER”

Album Reviews, Free Shit, SHORT BUT SWEET 5 Responses »

Sep 272012

Well, despite my predictions earlier today, I managed to find time to write another post. To be more accurate, I came across a new discovery that compelled me to make time for another post.

Dead River Runs Dry is an Australian band who e-mailed me early this morning. In fact, the e-mail was the first thing I saw when I fired up my computer after dragging my sorry ass out of bed following a grand total of 3 hours sleep. In a fit of impulsiveness I decided to listen to their music before moving on to anything else because I liked their name. It didn’t hurt that they also linked to a laudatory feature about themselves, with an accompanying interview, that appeared at DECIBEL magazine’s web site (though I read that only after listening to the music).

They’ve self-released a four-song demo entitled Winter that they’re distributing for free, and that of course was another plus. And the final plus is that Winter kills.

With their music, Dead River Runs Dry paint a portrait of a torn and blasted wasteland — damned, desolate, and dangerous. Yet it’s a landscape with its own bleak beauty and vibrance. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: RED FANG, POSTHUM, DISSIPATE, REANIMA, AND NEUROGENIC

Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC 3 Responses »

Sep 272012

This may be the last, in addition to being the first, post of this Thursday. Long airplane trip ahead, followed by driving, followed by work. If there’s wi-fi on the airplane or I get a break tonight, you may hear from me again. Otherwise, happy trails until tomorrow.

In this post, I’ve once again collected some recent discoveries, and because this may be today’s only post, I’ve really loaded it up with new metal. Musically, the shit is all over the map.

ITEM ONE: RED FANG

I do love me some Red Fang, even when the music isn’t accompanied by one of this Portland’s band’s hilarious videos. Yesterday they released a new single — “Crows In Swine” — which is available on iTunes. I thought maybe the song was about a ground-breaking new recipe, and I probably would eat crow if it was wrapped in bacon.

It turned out not to be a recipe, but another heavy-riffing, skull-banging, full-throated, doom-shrouded piece of stoner goodness. My only problem with the song is that it ends too soon. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: DYING FETUS, GOD SEED, VILDHJARTA, PIG DESTROYER ON PIANO, AND A BAND OF ORCS

Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC 5 Responses »

Sep 262012

Yours truly is on the road again, and by “road” I mean in airports and on airplanes and therefore spending hours of tedium separated from the internet. As a result, the postings between now and Monday are going to be scattered and probably fewer than normal. I did have time last night and this morning to survey what’s been happening over the last 24 hours and found the following nuggets of interest.

ITEM ONE: DYING FETUS, ET AL – “THE BLOOD OF POWER TOUR”

I started posting about this tour when there was no official announcement and just a few dates had surfaced, because I was so fuckin’ excited about it. Yesterday it became official. I saw on Metal Sucks (which is co-sponsoring the tour) that Dying Fetus, Cattle Decapitation, and Cerebral Bore will indeed be touring the U.S. in November and December.

But this official announcement has revealed something I didn’t know: Malignancy will be taking the place of Cattle Decapitation during the last week of the tour. The two bands are very different, of course, but they’re both just excellent at what they do. If you want a taste of Malignancy’s forthcoming album (which is amazing), check out this post. Tour dates are right after the jump. Continue reading »

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