“THAT’S METAL!” – BUT IT’S NOT MUSIC (NO. 53)

 That's Metal -- But It's Not Music  12 Responses »
Apr 292012
 

A solid month has passed since I posted the last installment of this series, and I’ve accumulated lots of shit for this one. I couldn’t bring myself to cut it back too much, so this installment is chock full of images and videos that I thought were metal, even though they’re not music. Felicitously, some of these items make nice pairings with each other. And though this is long, what else are you going to do on a Sunday? Give your hedgehog a bath? Inscribe new sigils on your arms with razor blades? Loll around in your underoo’s wondering what to do next? Do this next . . .

ITEM ONE

It’s almost a requirement that these posts include non-human weirdness from the natural world, so I thought I’d go ahead and get that out of the way from the top. Above is a photo (by Alexander Semenov) of a sandworm — more specifically a King Ragworm. They live in mudflats. They often reach great lengths, sometimes exceeding four feet. All of those legs protruding from the body not only provide a means of locomotion, they are also external gills through which the creature breathes. The King Ragworm also bites, and has been known to bite people.

If I came across one, I’d be conflicted by the impulse to get the fuck out of there as fast as possible and the desire to gaze upon its beauty. So I’d probably stand and stare, and wet myself. (via TYWKIWDBI)

ITEM TWO

Sticking with strange imagery, the next two items aren’t gif’s, though they do seem to move. Instead, it’s your damned eyes that are moving, even when you think they’re not. Those movements are called microsaccades. Even when we’re staring at a still object, our eyes keep darting around. Those movements “help us compensate for a peculiar property of the eye: if we stare at an object for too long, the signals each photoreceptor sends to the brain become weaker. Microsaccades refresh the photoreceptors with a different input and breath new life into our perception.”

The following images take advantage of that phenomenon to create the illusion of movement. And I thought this happens only when I get wasted, when everything moves of its own accord. Continue reading »

UTMU’S VISIT TO MOJO 13

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  4 Responses »
Apr 292012
 

(Welcome NCS reader/commenter/suggester-of-great music, Utmu, with his first guest post at this site.)

Hello everyone, this is my first full-article contribution to NO CLEAN SINGING—that’s right, after submitting a good number of bands and news articles to Islander and posting comments for quite some time, I’ve decided to get off my ass and really contribute something substantial to the site. So, to get on with what this post is about . . .

I recently went to the Wilmington, Delaware date of the excellent Occupation Domination 2012 Tour at Mojo 13 headlined by the mighty Origin and supported by a killer lineup, including the likes of Cattle Decapitation, Decrepit Birth, Aborted, Rings of Saturn, Battlecross, and Face of Ruin. As much as I may like or love some of those bands, I don’t plan on talking about them in this article. Instead, I’m going to give you information on some relatively local and generally unknown bands who played before Face of Ruin and the other aforementioned groups. You can find all of the bands’ Facebook pages at the bottom of the article.

MARCH TO VICTORY

What we have here is a magnificent melodic death act from Lancaster, Pennsylvania. These guys have been tearing up the local and East Coast music scenes since 1998, releasing a handful of material, including one demo, two EP’s, and a full-length called Frostburg 666, the first metallic assault of theirs to be released by a label, Born of Chaos Records. I also plan on reviewing Frostburg for you all at some point.

March to Victory started out as a straight-up black metal band and progressed into what I would say has become a melodic death metal group based on the change of style from Frostburg 666 and previous songs to the new single “Your End”.  In fact, since they have a “new” vocalist, Ron Evens (who, by the way is a really cool dude), they’re now harnessing a growl instead of a rasp, so in my opinion they’ve taken a big step into Amon Amarth territory with this new song. You can stream “Your End” exclusively on Vampirefreaks.com, where you can also stream two other tracks that are on the EP’s as well as a fifth track called “Pure Fucking Hatred”, which is from a 1998 demo, and what seems to be an early version of a song off the full-length called “Funeral Blizzard Beast”. Continue reading »

SOUL CYCLE II

 Album Reviews, Free Shit  2 Responses »
Apr 292012
 

(groverXIII reviews the recently released second album by Soul Cycle, a two-man project consisting of Chris Catharsis and Mark Hawkins.)

Dawn Of The Shred. Evil Shred. The Quick And The Shred. Shred Poets Society. Better Off Shred. Shred Rising. Shred Man Walking. Shred Alive. The Shred Pool. Things To Do In Denver When You’re Shred. Shred Reckoning.

OK, I think I’m about out of “movie titles using the word ‘shred’ in place of the word ‘dead'”. I couldn’t think of a better way to start my review of the new Soul Cycle album, Soul Cycle II, which is an instrumental album full of, you guessed it, shred. Soul Cycle is the brainchild of guitar wunderkinds Chris Catharsis and Mark Hawkins, the band’s sole members; Catharsis handles writing, production, bass, and drum programming in addition to guitars, while Hawkins provides mostly guitar leads. The first Soul Cycle album (the cleverly-titled Soul Cycle) was a great collection of instrumental guitar pyrotechnics with bits of groove and, yes, a little bit of djent mixed in, and they have not deviated from that particular mix on their sophomore release.

However, in order to up the ante a bit, they went out and assembled the largest group of guest soloists I have ever seen. Seriously, this is like a combination of the Avengers and the Justice League, except instead of super heroes, this group is comprised of some of the most talented guitarists (and a couple of keyboardists) you’ve never heard of (and a few you have). To put things in perspective, I’ve compiled a list of each guitarist, along with a link to some of their work, in order of appearance: Continue reading »

BERMUDA AND FRIENDS AT STUDIO SEVEN

 Concert Reviews  21 Responses »
Apr 282012
 

Last Tuesday night, April 24, a group of friends rendezvoused at Studio Seven in Seattle to get pummeled by some hard metal and watch our man Connor make his public debut as a growler, thanks to those most excellent dudes in Bermuda. The occasion for this outing was the Seattle stop of The Young Bloods Tour, co-headlined by Bermuda and Creations and featuring support from Float Face Down and Adaliah (and with local support at this show from Everett, Washington’s Prepare the Bride).

It’s been a while since I attempted to document a show with photos because I’m such a shitty, untrained photographer and it takes me so long to get the images in half-way decent shape for posting at NCS. But I gave it a try on this night and decided to go black and white for a change. The results were better than I expected, though one of these days I really need to get some actual learning about how to use my camera. Anyway, following a few words about the show, you’ll see a batch of pics for each band who took the stage.

The music began fairly early and ended fairly early, even for a weeknight at Studio Seven. Unfortunately, the show was sparsely attended, but fortunately that didn’t stop the bands from giving a bunch of high-energy performances. The music was mainly flavors of -core metal, ranging from straight-up deathcore to Bermuda’s increasingly progressive/Meshuggah-influenced brand of metalicized hardcore mixed with elements of death metal. This meant that I was the oldest dude on the scene, unless you include the security guys and the lone bartender, who didn’t exactly have a lot of customers upstairs in the age-restricted balcony bar where I perched for most of the night to get a good camera angle on the stage below.

Here are just a few scattered notes about the performances: Continue reading »

FRESH HELL ON EARTH: DIOCLETIAN AND PTAHIL

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  5 Responses »
Apr 282012
 

The reason why it’s so easy for human beings to imagine the horrors of a supernatural place called Hell is because we do such a bang-up job of creating it right here on Earth. When it comes to destroying minds and brutalizing bodies, our own species’ sordid history provides a textbook of how to do it up right. At least when metal bands paint pictures of Hell with their music, no people or animals are harmed in the process. Usually. Unless you count self-abuse.

Two of the bands I’ve gotten into lately do an especially effective job of creating musical Hell, and yesterday both of them released videos of themselves recording new releases. I looked closely, and I didn’t see any humans or animals being maimed or killed in the studios. But the music is sure as fuck killing me. I want these records yesterday.

DIOCLETIAN

Thanks to comments from NCS readers, I’ve been developing a lust for war metal. New Zealand’s Diocletian is one of the bands whose music I’ve been getting into (see our March 2012 feature about them here). Earlier this month, they dropped a Facebook post about their plans to release a compilation album to be titled Annihilation Rituals, which will include their first four rituals: an untitled 2005 demo, the Decimator EP (2007), their part of the Chaos Rising split (2008), and the Sect of Swords EP (2008). That should be worth grabbing. The release date hasn’t been announced.

We previously reported that Diocletian has also recorded music for a 7″ vinyl (European Anniilation) that will be distributed on their European tour this May. One of the two new tracks for that 7″ (“Antichrist Hammerfist”) is up on SoundCloud, and yesterday the band released a video of themselves recording the other one — “Deathstrike Overkill”. Continue reading »

GOJIRA: “L’ENFANT SAUVAGE” TITLE TRACK NOW STREAMING!!

 Metal News  14 Responses »
Apr 272012
 

You might want to consider stopping what you’re doing, unless you’re performing open heart surgery, and go listen to the title track from Gojira’s forthcoming Roadrunner release, L’Enfant Sauvage. It’s now streaming at Pitchfork, which you can access via this link.

I’m in the middle of a work thing that prevents me from listening. So come back and tell me what I’m missing.  Please!

Oh yeah, it looks like we now have the album art.

(via MetalSucks)

 

CATCHING UP (Part 3): NILE, MUTILATION RITES, PSYCHOPATHIC TERROR, KATAKLYSM, MEANS END, AND BLACKLODGE

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  22 Responses »
Apr 272012
 

As explained previously, I’ve been catching up on what I missed in the metal world over the last couple of weeks while being otherwise occupied. So much happens every day that I can’t include everything I’ve discovered, but I’ve been trying to feature a mix of news and stylistically divergent new music that might have escaped your attention as well as my own. This is the final installment.

Some of what’s in here is VERY recent. And yes, this is long . . . but just treat it like six posts in one. Just pretend that it dribbled out all day long, like posts on some other metal sites that don’t want to tax their readers’ attention spans. Or you could set your alarm to go off once an hour and come read another piece of this as if it had just appeared. Or I could just shut up and get on with it.

NILE

Actually, I suspect this didn’t escape many people’s attention, because it’s Nile, after all. Thanks to Metal Sucks and TheMadIsraeli, I found out yesterday that Nile has now released the cover art for their next album (above), At the Gate of Sethu, which Nuclear Blast plans to release in Europe on June 29 and in the U.S. on July 3. The artwork is by Seth Siro Anton of Septic Flesh.

The central figure looked familiar, and after a bit of  research at The Font of All Human Knowledge, I confirmed that it’s the Egyptian god Thoth, which The Font describes as a god who, in the later history of ancient Egypt, “became heavily associated with the arbitration of godly disputes,the arts of magic, the system of writing, the development of science, and the judgment of the dead.” Continue reading »

HOW ABOUT A FREE MESHUGGAH REMIX AND A DYING FETUS ALBUM PREVIEW? WELL, FUCK YES, DON’T MIND IF I DO

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  No Responses »
Apr 262012
 

I’m commuting home from my fucking day job on a floating bus called a ferry boat and what do my bloodshot eyes spy but two items that I thought my NCS brethren and sistren might enjoy.

The first is a remix of “I Am Colossus”, which as any heathen knows is a Meshuggah track off Koloss. Now, remixing Meshuggah could be (and probably will be) considered a form of blasphemy punishable by castration, but this remix turns out to be good. Not as good as the original mind you, but I think it’s still worth hearing. And if you like what you hear, you can get it for free at this location, courtesy of those inexplicably generous metalheads at Scion A/V.

The remix was created by Engine-Earz & Foreign Beggars. I have no idea who they are, but they’ve made the song sound . . . both more and less evil. If you ain’t into electro even a little bit, you won’t like it. If you dabble some, then this might be your thing. I thought it was cool. Check it out following the jump. Continue reading »

HEAD EXPLOSION: DECAPITATED PREMIERES OFFICIAL VIDEO FOR “HOMO SUM”

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  3 Responses »
Apr 262012
 

The band, playing against a black backdrop, filmed in black and white. The camera, cutting and moving like a hornet swarm. The song, both brutal and hypnotic.

In a nutshell, that’s the brand new video for “Homo Sum”, the fourth track off of Decapitated’s amazing 2011 album, Carnival Is Forever. The video was directed by Marcin Halerz of Redpig Productions.

On an album full of gems, “Homo Sum” has over time become my favorite track. It is the epitome of pummeling, but that guitar solo makes such a striking contrast. When that solo starts, my eyes begin to glaze over and a little drool starts to run down my chin (on both sides, because I am level-headed). And then the pummeling begins again, and I get whiplash. Doesn’t that happen to you, too?

Watch after the jump. Continue reading »

CATCHING UP (Part 2): MISERATION, WRECK AND REFERENCE, CATTLE DECAPITATION, FEAR FACTORY, AND VILDHJARTA

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  8 Responses »
Apr 262012
 

As explained yesterday, I’ve been kind of off my game here at NCS recently and I’m now trying (hurriedly) to make up for lost time. While investigating the many things I’ve missed in the world of metal over the last week or two, I’ve found a shitload of things I think are worth sharing — both news items and new music. I’m collecting some (but not all) of them in this “Catching Up” mini-series. Here’s Part 2, and there will be one more installment coming.

MISERATION

This is a news item, which is the most recent part of this post.  This morning, Sweden’s Miseration revealed the cover art (above) for their next album (on Lifeforce Records), Tragedy Has Spoken. The artwork is by the ubiquitous and dependably awesome Pär Olofsson. I thoroughly enjoyed this band’s ass-blasting last album, The Mirroring Shadow (2009), and have high hopes for the new one. Conceptually, it’s described as an exploration of the nature of tragedy, both man-made and the result of natural disasters.

The new album was also recorded with 8-string guitars and get this: According to Lifeforce, it also incorporates “folk instruments such as the Indian harp Esraj, the Persian hammered dulcimer Santur, sawblade, organ, mandolin and piano, as well as Mongolian throatsinging”!!! I think we have many “what the fuck?” moments in store for us. Continue reading »

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