EYE-CATCHERS

 Eye-Catchers  13 Responses »
Jan 012012
 

It’s the first day of the New Year, and a Sunday on top of that, and except for the poor motherfuckers who have to work on Jan 1, I’m guessing most people are having a lazy, drag-ass kind of day — or they’re still in bed with eyes closed and drool coming out their moufs. But not us. No sir, we actually have a crapload of posts scheduled for today, starting with groverXIII’s wake-up call with some Cut Your Teeth loudness and the latest round of Trollfiend’s deathmatch with Amorphis.

I’m following that raucous video and the Amorphis bowel-perforation with the eye-catching album cover up there. It’s for the next full-length release (the 8th) by California’s Deeds of Flesh, Portals To Canaan. It reminds me a lot of Par Olofsson’s work, but the artist in this case is Raymond Swanland. It’s the first time I’ve come across his name — he seems to do a lot of his work for games such as Magic the Gathering and World of Warcraft. After the jump, I’ve got more of his striking artwork, plus a “pre-production teaser” for the new Deeds of Flesh album. Continue reading »

AMORPHIS DEATHMATCH Round 3: “ELEGY”

 Album Reviews  6 Responses »
Jan 012012
 

(Here’s Round Three of Trollfiend’s head-to-head, no-holes-barred cage fight with Amorphis. Trollfiend gets a whiff of perforated bowel at the end — but whose? To catch up on what’s going on here, read this post.)

The first two rounds of this gladiator combat were pretty much write-offs for yours Trolly…I knew the opponents I would be facing, was intimately familiar with all their savagery and skill…I knew I was no match for either.  I still faced them in the ring, because I knew the sight of my blood would arouse you, and I am here for no lesser reason than to have you all cheer over my broken corpse.

However, my next opponent, 1996’s Elegy, is a relative unknown.  I have a vague recollection of facing it once before, many years ago, and as I recall I defeated it readily by exposing the weak spot in its armour, the clean vocals of Pasi Koskinen.  However, I am an old man now, and not as swift with the killing blows as I once was.  Elegy has had time to practice, train, and learn MY weaknesses.  I don’t know how this fight will turn out, but I know for sure that it will be bloody.

The opening attack, ‘Better Unborn’, is a clever manoeuver, taking my love of Middle Eastern rhythms into account, but I parry it easily.  This is worrisome, however…an album released in 1996 has LEARNED MY WEAKNESSES.  As I fret over this development, my heart grows cold, because ‘Better Unborn’ was a feint, and it worked.  While I was worrying, ‘Against Widows’ came in and smashed off the side of my skull with the dual hammerblow of harsh and clean actually working together in a song. Continue reading »

CUT YOUR TEETH: “IF IT’S LOUD”

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  9 Responses »
Jan 012012
 

This post comes your way from our friend groverXIII (The Number of the Blog).

Over at TNOTB, I talked about Cut Your Teeth with fair regularity. They originally approached us with a video to a song from their self-titled EP, and I became infatuated with their energetic blend of thrash metal and old-school hardcore. Then, this past year they released their first full-length, CYTII, and that infatuation turned into totally heterosexual, not-at-all gay love. (Okay, maybe a little gay.) CYTII made my end-of-year list (forthcoming in the next few days), and their ‘Stallion’ video is one of my favorites of the year, capturing the raw power of these New Yorkers perfectly.

And then, a few days ago, Cut Your Teeth released a new song and video called ‘If It’s Loud’, and it’s fast, angry, thrashy, and, well, loud. It’s not a long song by any means, clocking in at just a hair under two and a half minutes, but it just plain fucking rips, and that’s what it’s all about. With the thrash revival, there are a lot of bands out there playing thrash metal, but with many of them you kind of wonder if they’re just going through the motions. Cut Your Teeth may not be the most talented band in the world, but their intensity and sheer energy cannot be questioned.

Seriously, metal needs more bands like these guys, toiling away in obscurity but still giving it their all. I’d rather have one band like Cut Your Teeth than five bands like Disturbed, Godsmack, All That Remains, or whatever else passes for radio metal these days. There’s no pretension here, no posturing, just good old-fashioned, kick you in the nuts punk/metal. And isn’t that what it’s all about?

‘If It’s Loud’, like all of their material, can be found at their Bandcamp page, and like all of their material, it’s free. Do yourself a favor and check them out. (video after the jump . . .) Continue reading »

HAPPY NEW YEAR MOTHERFUCKERS

 Off Topic  17 Responses »
Dec 312011
 

I was going to wait ’til after midnight here in Cascadia to post this, but what the fuck. It’s already after midnight everywhere in the world except the Americas. So, on behalf of all your embarrassing friends at NCS, I want to wish everyone out there a Happy New Year. May 2012 be better for you than the year just ended. Take care of yourself, look after your friends, and don’t let the bastards get you down.

And yeah, I know what that photo looks like. We do like our massive ejaculations here in Seattle. If you’d prefer a less ejaculatory photo, I like the one after the jump, too. It has pretty colors. There are also three  songs after the jump, including a brand new version of the New Year’s traditional featuring lead guitars by Jeff Loomis. Rock on. Continue reading »

OUR LIST OF 2011’S MOST INFECTIOUS EXTREME METAL SONGS: PART 6

 MOST INFECTIOUS SONGS-2011  9 Responses »
Dec 312011
 

This is Part 6 of our list of the most infectious extreme metal songs released this year. 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 Introduction via this link. To see the selections that preceded this one, click the Category link on the right side of the page called MOST INFECTIOUS SONGS-2011.

Yesterday’s installment in this list was all Finland. Today, it’s all made in the U.S.A. (in fact, it’s all made in Ohio). I also decided to feature the songs from these two bands today because it’s New Year’s Eve. Even if you’re not planning to get obliterated tonight, the end of the year still deserves something suitably apocalyptic for your ears — something evil, something blasphemous, something that sounds like the skies are burning, but something that also makes you want to party hard, even if you’re just partying with yourself in your mind. So, here we go:

SKELETONWITCH

Forever Abomination made a slew of the year-end Best Album lists we’ve published at NCS so far. For example:  DECIBEL magazine wrote that “the band cranks up the black metal and coherently manages to amalgamate all their various influences as they rampage through one concise, blistering track after another.” Andy Synn called it “a game-changing creation of abominable power”, “as flawless a thrash record as we have seen this year”, and “as vehement a black metal album as any released by the traditional set” (and you can read Andy’s full NCS review from September here). Rev. Will called it “my black thrash metal album of 2011”.

No doubt, Forever Abomination will be remembered as the album when Skeletonwitch got their shit completely together, producing a razor-edged riff machine that’s distinctive, dangerous, and memorable. But as good as the album is, from start to finish, one song stood out as the most infectious — and we think it’s one of the most infectious extreme metal songs of the year. Continue reading »

WHAT PHRO IS WATCHING ON NEW YEAR’S EVE

 IQ Subtraction, Phro's Posts  47 Responses »
Dec 312011
 


It’s nearly 11 p.m. on New Year’s Eve in Japan.

Phro has started drinking.  I can’t tell whether he’s already passed his limit or whether he needs to drink a shitload more.  He sent me these two videos.

You remember Babymetal, don’t you?  How could you forget.  I’ve been trying, but my psychotherapist says I need to work harder at it.  The new video is the same goddamn “Doki Doki Morning” song, but this time the Babymetal teeny boppers are dancing and throwing the goat.

The other video is from the same chick who did that PonPonPon video.  I’m ashamed I even know that. This is all Phro’s fault.

It’s not even 6 a.m. here in Seattle.  I now need to get fucked up fast, but 6 a.m. seems just a tad on the early side.  I’m screwed.

Believe me, there WILL be a palette cleanser soon . . . Continue reading »

GRIND TIME

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  8 Responses »
Dec 312011
 

I know that most of you will be like me tonight. You’ll curl up with a romance novel and a box of chocolates and have a quiet, dreamy evening that may or may not last long enough to watch New Year’s Eve fireworks on television before you drift into a restful slumber, awakening cheerful and refreshed on New Year’s Day. For those very few of you who plan to get wrecked, piss yourselves, and wake up bleeding in a pool of your own vomit with a thermonuclear hangover and missing teeth — this post’s for you, motherfuckers!!!!  It’s time to griiiiiiiiiinnnnnndd!!!!!

Today, we’re featuring brand new and recent releases from (respectively) Fuck the Facts and Brutal Truth, but first, what better way to start this special day/night than with a band called

TOTAL VOMIT EXPERIENCE

This band is from — where else? — Finland. I first heard their name (and once you’ve heard it, how could you forget?) when doing a little research about the excellent new death metal band Magenta Harvest for this post last May. Magenta Harvest includes a guitarist named Timo Hanhikangas, who was then a member of Total Vomit Experience, too, and that’s how I heard the name. Eventually, I checked out their online sites and found this list of “artists we also like” on TVE’s facebook page:

Carcass, Napalm Death, Rotten Sound, Repulsion, Entombed, Pink Floyd, Frank Zappa, Celtic Frost, Hellhammer, Throbbing Gristle, Fields of the Nephilim, Current 93, Discharge, Extreme Noise Terror, Master, Anticimex, Godflesh, Swans

Now, of course, having good taste in metal doesn’t mean you can make metal that tastes good, even if you have an awe-inspiring band name like Total Vomit Experience. But it turns out that TVE definitely can make the tasty metal. Continue reading »

OUR LIST OF 2011’S MOST INFECTIOUS EXTREME METAL SONGS: PART 5

 MOST INFECTIOUS SONGS-2011  15 Responses »
Dec 302011
 

This is Part 5 of our list of the most infectious extreme metal songs released this year. 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 Introduction via this link. To see the selections that preceded this one, click the Category link on the right side of the page called MOST INFECTIOUS SONGS-2011.

It’s no secret that we have a special aFINNity for Finnish metal at NCS, and the two songs that are the subject of today’s feature are from Finnish bands who’ve made their own distinctive marks in the genre of melodic death metal. Both Insomnium and Omnium Gatherum released wonderful albums this year, both of which were loaded with powerful, memorable songs. The hard part was not deciding whether to include these two bands on this list. The hard part was deciding which of many appealing songs on those albums should be included.

Insomnium’s album One For Sorrow made many of the “Best of 2011” lists we’ve published over the last few weeks, and Andy Synn hit the nail on the head when he summed up the album this way in his NCS review: “A poignant reminder of love and loss, and the pain of those left behind. An emblem of grief that cannot, yet somehow must, be borne, and of the strength we find within ourselves to carry on. Through all the tears shed in silence, for all the rage and sadness, One For Sorrow is at its heart an album of meditative melancholy and strength not yet subdued. Grace under pressure. Happiness and heartache in equal measure. One for sorrow, two for joy.”

Insomnium have a gift for writing songs that intricately combine power, immersive atmospherics, and irresistibly infectious melodies. Particularly because of Niilo Sevänen’s incredible harsh roars (among the best in the business), Insomnium continue to create that pairing of beauty and the beast that make their melancholy take on melodic death metal so enticing. Continue reading »

THE GREAT VOMITORIUM IN THE SKY

 Phro's Posts  12 Responses »
Dec 302011
 

(Phro remembers a few metal greats who left this world in 2011. He assures me that he in no way means disrespect to the departed or their bereaved families — this is just his Phro-like way of saying “Thanks for the rocking!”)

Last night, after forcing a pony to snort enough coke to kill an elephant and then drinking the O.D.ed pony’s blood, I passed out in a pond of vomited up pony blood and enchiladas.  (Nothing helps pony blood go down like Mexican food!)  And, like Paul fallen off his horse on the road to Damascus, I was visited by a savior: Seth Putnam.

“What the Virgin Mary’s bloody tampon??  Seth Putnam??  I though you were fucking dead!  Are you here to rape my dirty nose?”

He laughed like an angel (an angel who’d just woken up after doing a speedball out of a hooker’s torn anus, but an angel none the less.)

“Well, my child, that is true…I am dead.”

“Son of a…I knew that last pint was too fucking much.  Motherfucker.  So, I’m dead too and you’re here to take  me to hell?”

He laughed again.  This time it was more like the mirth of a child watching his or her first Tijuana donkey show.

“No, not at all!  I’m here to reveal my gospel to you to share with all the world!”

I punched myself in the dick to see if I was dreaming.  (A little pinch is nothing when you’re on pony blood—you need to inflict real pain.)  I screamed like a little kid seeing Sandusky’s face on TV.  At least I knew I wasn’t dreaming.  After panting in agony for a while, I regained composure and wheezed out a question.

“What’s…urg…your…gaaaa…gospel…uhhhrrrr…?” Continue reading »

LISTMANIA CONTINUES: A 2011 LIST FROM THE DEMONSTEALER (DEMONIC RESURRECTION)

 Listmania  7 Responses »
Dec 302011
 

(The Indian metal scene is vibrant, multi-faceted, and loaded with talented bands waiting to be discovered on the international stage.  In the vanguard of the movement are Demonic Resurrection and their frontman The Demonstealer.  As a songwriter, a musician, the manager of Demonstealer Records, the host of a heavy metal cooking show, and much else besides, he’s a busy dude, but he made time to answer our request for a list of his favorite albums from 2011.)

Considering I haven’t heard much music this year it was very hard putting this list together. Had I heard a lot of the other albums released this year I might have had a different list. Either way, given a choice, this list would be in no particular order, but since we do this thing, here is my list in order.

1. Fleshgod Apocalypse – Agony – Oh my god this was my surprise discovery for 2011. I found it thanks to SickDrummer.com where there was a drum cam video of Francesco Paoli playing the song ‘The Violation”, after which I saw the music video and had my nuts blown off!! I immediately got the album and it’s been in my player ever since. Continue reading »

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