KEYBOARD VIDEO WARRIORS: ROBERT PASBANI AND FRANK GODLA

 Interviews  8 Responses »
May 032012
 

(Rev. Will continues with his Keyboard Warriors interview series, and today’s victims subjects are the creators and operators of Metal Injection.)

Before the well-known MetalSucks, there was and still is Metal Injection, a behemoth of a metal website that offers a cornucopia of metal-related content in a variety of formats. It’s like a virtual Swiss Army Knife of fixes for one’s metal cravings!

Metal Injection is more a Web TV site than a blog even though they do have an active blog section, and the main perpetrators behind this multimedia website are none other than Robert Pasbani and Frank Godla. Robert is generally the Pikachu of the site while Frank is generally the dude behind the scenes (literally)  holding the camera filming Robert on-site covering insanely cool events such as the annual Revolver Golden Gods Awards show. But one most definitely wonders: how did they get to where they are today?

From across the cyber-void, Robert and Frank thought-spoke into the neural transcriptor and discussed the origins and workings of Metal Injection at the speed of a quark on steroids. By the time you see this, they are already light-years ahead in their busy schedules working on the next big thing for their little baby.

********

Rev. Will: Let’s start from the beginning. Was the name “Metal Injection” thought up like that to give off the feeling that metal music can be as addictive as drugs?

Robert Pasbani: That’s certainly part of it. I just tried to come up with a name that had the term “metal” in it and sounded cool, and including “Injection” evoked so much imagery that I thought it would be perfect.

Frank Godla: Well if you think about it, isn’t metal appreciation very much like a drug? Aren’t the metalheads you know absolutely hooked and passionate about it? Most people find metal through a gateway rock band, and before you know it,  you’ve moved on to way harder and faster stuff even your friends don’t understand. You don’t often meet metalheads who drop it like a bad habit either, it’s just something that sticks with you. I can tell you metal music is the most important thing in my life, and because it’s a 25-year-old habit that isn’t going away, I really don’t mind referring to myself as a metal junkie. Continue reading »

NE OBLIVISCARIS: “XENOFLUX”

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  15 Responses »
May 032012
 

Yesterday, we alerted you to the plans of Australia’s Ne Obliviscaris to debut a new song at midnight, Pacific Time, last night. And they did it. The new song, which will appear on their forthcoming debut album Portal of I, is called “Xenoflux”.

“Epic” is a tremendously overused word in metal circles, but I can’t help but use it here: “Xenoflux” is epic. At an even ten minutes in length, it will still leave you wanting more.

It begins with a a grand introduction — great hammering riffs, rolling drums, and a winding lead guitar paving the way to the song’s invigorating first segment. Jagged, blackened vocals conjure images of a wolf pack loping through dark woods on the hunt, while beautiful guitar work weaves melodies that are as entrancing as they are heavy. That opening five-minute segment is both head-smashing and emotionally powerful, but the achievement is more than matched by the three-minute middle segment which follows it.

All the instruments drop away, clearing the stage for a solitary guitar arpeggio. And from there, other instruments slowly join in, with a violin taking the lead, painting a meditative sonic picture that’s beautiful. In the song’s final segment, the music rises in power and intensity once again, the harsh vocals resume, and the band catapult the listener toward the finish — which comes too soon for these hungry ears.

“Xenoflux” is a beautifully imagined, beautifully constructed, superbly executed song that I think you’ll remember long after you’ve heard it even once. Stream it right after the jump. Portal of I will be out on May 7 and can be pre-ordered here. Continue reading »

THE DUAL DESTRUCTION TOUR: 7 HORNS 7 EYES AND STEALING AXION (AND A FREE TICKET GIVE-AWAY)

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  1 Response »
May 032012
 

When it comes to Washington State metal bands, my objectivity could be questioned, because I live in the Seattle area. But that’s only because you don’t know me well enough. Fact is, when it comes to the metal, I don’t think about the music of Seattle or Tacoma bands any differently than I do bands from California or New York or India or Europe or anywhere else. Yes, I have a chance to see them perform live more often than bands from elsewhere, but I won’t change my rule: I only want to write about bands I feel I can honestly recommend.

And I’m not bending the rule when it comes to 7 Horns 7 Eyes or Stealing Axion. They are extremely talented bands making music that ought to be heard far and wide. So, from my perspective, it’s extremely cool that these two bands have managed to arrange a tour together, sponsored by Guitar World. It’s called the DUAL DESTRUCTION TOUR, and I expect that’s what they’ll bring — destruction.

We’ve reviewed both of these bands’ most recent releases (7E7H here and Stealing Axion here), and in fact we got the privilege of streaming the new 7H7E album. But we have two more things to throw your way today, besides the tour schedule, which is still being expanded (see the current schedule after the jump).

First, we have one pair of tickets to give away, courtesy of Century Media, in a market of the winner’s choice. I’m going to make this contest really simple. Send me your name via e-mail to islander@nocleansinging.com. I will put each name on a slip of paper and put all the paper slips in a bowl. Rather than smoking all the slips, I will instead ask my non-metalhead wife to pick one of the slips from the bowl, and her pick will be the winner. I will then smoke all the rest of the slips. This contest will end at midnight, Pacific Time, on May 11, 2012

True story: this ticket offer came my way from Century Media minutes AFTER I wrote the balance of this post. If that’s not a freakishly felicitous coincidence, I don’t know what is.

Second, I have for you a play-through video by Stealing Axion drummer Blake Ferris. Watching and listening to this video brings to mind a question I have about skilled metal drummers every time I get a bird’s-eye view of their performances: How they do this? Continue reading »

FREE SHITH!

 Free Shit, Metal News  10 Responses »
May 022012
 

You know how sometimes advertisers intentionally misspell words on billboards and elsewhere because of its strange tendency to catch the eye?  I thought I’d try that.  The correct spelling, of course, is “Free Sith”, which refers to the movement to liberate the unjustly imprisoned Dark Lords in a galaxy far, far away.

Also, while checking my digital in-box this afternoon, I learned about a couple of free metal giveaways that I thought were worth passing on. First, Candlelight Records has today made available a free 8-song sampler of music by Candlelight artists, including previously unreleased material from Falloch, The Rotted, Wodensthrone, Sear Bliss, Woe, Winterfylleth, and Rumpelstiltskin Grinder — and it also includes the first single (“The Paranoid”) from Ihsahn’s new album Eremita.

I’m not familiar with Wodensthrone (yet), but the rest of those bands are all excellent, which makes this a very delectable deal. Unfortunately for many of you, the sampler is being offered exclusively through Amazon.com. For those who are able to get downloads from that site, GO HERE. After the jump, I’ve pasted more info from the press release about the music included on this sampler.

Oh, but that’s not all . . . Metal Blade has just made available a free sampler on the Amazon.de (Germany) site, and it includes 20 tracks, including songs by Amon Amarth, Six Feet Under (this is a new track from their forthcoming album), Cannibal Corpse, In Solitude, JFAC, Goatwhore, and Vomitory. The track list is after the jump. GO HERE to get that sampler, if you can. Continue reading »

TODAY’S ROUND-UP: NEW THINGS FROM AHAB, NACHTBLUT, STAM1NA, AND NE OBLIVISCARIS

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  12 Responses »
May 022012
 

Here is a typically random round-up of interesting items that cleverly captivated my eager eyes during my ludicrously limited last break from the jacked-up job that plentifully puts bread on my tilted table, unlike this NCS job, which only feeds my spirit. And the pleasurable purveyors of entertainment in this post are: Ahab (Germany), Nachtblut (Germany), Stam1na (Finland), and Ne Obliviscaris (Australia).

AHAB

NCS writer TheMadIsraeli turned me on to this German doom band at some point last winter. Doom is still a taste I am slowly acquiring, and I can’t say that I’m yet able to consume it in large quantities at a single sitting. However, at the right time and if properly prepared, I do find it tasty. And though I haven’t explored the discography of Ahab in depth, I’m interested in their new album, The Giant.

The band have used their music to explore dark literature with a nautical theme. The Call of the Wretched Sea (2006) was devoted to Melville’s novel Moby Dick, and The Divinity of Oceans (2009) was a soundtrack to the 1820 sinking of the whaling vessel The Essex, an event that partly inspired Moby Dick and was also the subject of a great more recent book, In the Heart of the Sea by Nathaniel Philbrick. It appears The Giant will follow at least a somewhat similar nautical path. Continue reading »

SHOCKWAVE FESTIVAL LOOKS FESTIVE

 Metal News  5 Responses »
May 022012
 

Fear Factory
Voivod
Cattle Decapitation
Misery Index
Revocation
Havok
Dirge Within
Last Chance to Reason
Vildhjarta
The Browning
Forged in Flame

That’s the line-up for a new North American touring festival that I discovered this morning via MetalSucks. I’m especially pleased to report that the tour starts in Seattle. I’m probably most excited about the prospect of seeing Cattle Decapitation, because their new album is shaping up to be one of the year’s best, but I’m interested in seeing most of the bands on this line-up. Of those I’ve seen before, Misery Index and Revocation never disappoint, and Havok might be my favorite among the current generation of re-thrash bands.

This will also be Vildhjarta’s first appearance in NorthAm. All I have to say about that is . . . THALL. And The Browning is one of my guilty pleasures. I have no doubt they will make me want to JUMP. So yeah, I’m going. As for whether you can go, the schedule of appearances is after the jump. Continue reading »

OPETH-MASTODON-GHOST IN SEATTLE 4-30-12

 Concert Reviews  10 Responses »
May 022012
 

On Monday night, April 30, 2012, a group of friends and I eagerly made our way into Showbox SoDo in Seattle to watch and hear Opeth, Mastodon, and Ghost. By the end of the night, we all agreed that it had been an excellent show from start to finish. The acoustics and sound quality in this venue were superb, and each band was firing on all cylinders.

I brought my Samsung TL500 camera with me, which in my clumsy, untrained hands is still more of a mystery than a comfortable tool. Nevertheless, I took pictures of each band — though not for long, because I wanted to immerse myself in the sights and sounds rather than fuck around with the camera. But the damned thing is nearly idiot-proof, and I got some decent pics, considering who took them. The best ones decorate this post.  You can imagine how bad the others look.  But first, a few notes about the performances.

GHOST

I saw this Swedish band a few months ago in a smaller venue, and this performance was virtually a carbon copy of the previous one — except this time I didn’t get to hear them play their cover of “Here Comes the Sun”. After that earlier show, half-drunk and fully delirious, I posted a status on our FB page that to this day has received more “likes” than any of our notices about NCS content: “Any band who can make ‘Here Comes the Sun’ sound evil deserves a blowjob.”

That’s really Ghost’s trick in a nutshell: They write and perform these really catchy, quasi-psychedelic pop-rock songs that would have been right at home when Flower Power was king (except with a heavier low end), yet make them sound infernal. Their costumes and stage presence and the lighting really underscore that satanic aura in a live setting. The visual display is just a kick in the ass to watch. But make no mistake — whoever these dudes are, they are talented musicians, and the Pope has a killer set of pipes.

I don’t know how many people in this packed audience knew what Ghost was about before this show, but I heard lots of grinning metalheads talking about them throughout the night. Continue reading »

THE SYNN REPORT, PART 22: VESANIA

 THE SYNN REPORT  3 Responses »
May 022012
 

(In this latest edition of THE SYNN REPORT, Andy Synn reviews the discography of Polish supergroup Vesania, with musical accompaniment, of course.)

Recommended for fans of: Emperor, Zyklon, Behemoth

Supergroups are an odd thing. Mostly you’ll find them being trumpeted about in the mainstream press when an aging rock/pop star collaborates with a younger group in a desperate attempt to retain their relevance, or when ‘a’ from indie band ‘b’ forms a new group with ‘x’, ‘y’, and ‘z’, the questionable quality of their output inevitably outweighed by the extravagant hype played out in the media.

Supergroups in metal largely don’t get the excessive, fawning praise others do, for more reasons than just their lesser exposure. Generally, unless at least one of the members is of almost Portnoyan levels of media exposure, this interest in the quirks of celebrity and name value will quickly dwindle to an actual interest in whether the music is any good.

Another contributing factor is that the very nature of bands as a conglomeration of individuals, all with their own baggage, means many of them are a ‘supergroup’ in their own right. Look at the current Chimaira/Daath crossover, or the stellar line-up of modern day Borknagar. Or even The Gathering-era Testament, which existed essentially as a supergroup under the already established name.

Even supergroup side-projects often take on a fully-fledged life of their own. Mikael Akerfeldt recently announced his departure from death metal legends Bloodbath due to their intent to step up their touring and recording schedule, while the terror-thrash superpower Witchery have recently snagged yet another well-known figure and have been raising their profile ever since. Continue reading »

RICHES FROM MR. ARCE AWAIT!

 IQ Subtraction  13 Responses »
May 022012
 

I’m sure some of you out there suspect that I make up the e-mails I post from people who are trying to give me money from faraway lands. But I swear on both of my testicles, which are near and dear to me, that these are actual e-mails that I actually receive in my actual e-mail in-box.  I change nothing about them. The replies I publish are also actual replies that I send these people, actually.

You see, although I’ve been repeatedly disappointed, I still have a small amount of faith that if I continue to answer these inquiries in the patient, cooperative, and forthcoming way I always do, then one of these days I will get my just rewards — untold riches that will enable me to blog full-time and turn NO CLEAN SINGING into a world-conquering behemoth of metallic bloggerism before which people will bow down and weep with awe and loathing.  I mean, awe and loving.  Probably they’ll just bow down and show us their ass.

Anyway, here’s an e-mail I got yesterday, plus my reply. And remember, I did not make up a single word of this thing.

From: “MR. CHARLIE KINGS ARCE” <wilbertoarce@gmail.com>
Date: May 1, 2012 9:02:47 AM PDT
To: undisclosed-recipients:;
Bcc: islander@nocleansinging.com
Subject: URGENT ASSISTANCE NEEDED
Reply-To: trustchambers10@gmail.com

GREETINGS, FROM MR. CHARLIE KINGS!!

Greetings, I am Mr. Charlie Kings Arce, an account operator to late (Mr. Herman Lewis) 70 yrs old, a nationality of your country who unfortunately died on a car accident dated 7th August 2005 along (Ibadan Express high way). Continue reading »

NACHTMYSTIUM: “AS MADE”

 Metal News  3 Responses »
May 012012
 

Near the end of each year, we pick a list of the year’s “most infectious” extreme metal songs — the ones that get stuck in our headss and won’t go away, the ones where you hear the first few notes months later and you know the song immediately. I just added a song to our list of candidates. It’s a track by Chicago’s Nachtmystium called “As Made”. It appears on a 7″ record by the same name that will become available for shipment on May 15 in black vinyl (limited to 500 copies).

Put out of your heads whatever you may think about Nachtmystium’s most recent album (or two), because this song is a rolling romp of black metal with Blake Judd vocals that sound like an acid bath. It gets in a groove from the start and stays there right through to the howling, feedback-laced ending. A little hook of a pulsing guitar lead and a metronomic drum beat insinuate themselves into your head, and damned if they aren’t still ringing in there long after the song is over. Or at least that’s my guess, because I haven’t stopped listening to the song since I first discovered it.

And along the way, there are some sweet blasts of double bass and fuzzed out guitar slams.  Prime, Fuckin’ A, rockin’ out material.

I really hope this song becomes available to people who don’t have turntables. For now, at least, it’s available for streaming at Invisible Oranges via THIS LINK. More info about the release is after the jump. Continue reading »

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