NO CLEAN SINGING

SHORT BUT SWEET: TWILIGHT’S EMBRACE – “TRACES”

Apr 172012

Twilight’s Embrace are based in Nottingham, England, and on April 6 they released their second EP, titled Traces. Although the EP only includes three songs, the total run-time is more than 20 minutes, and as the band themselves correctly state, it covers a lot of ground.

In its style, the music reminds me of Finland’s Before the Dawn. I get a little shame-faced when I compare one band to another, like I’m undermining the first band’s individuality or implying that the music doesn’t have the spark of something original. But that’s not my intention. I just know you’re asking yourselves right now, should I bother finishing this review or let my itchy fingers fly across the keys and take me someplace else? So, I’m giving you a shorthand idea about what the music is like, so you can hang in, or twitch yourselves away.

Traces had an impact on me. Last week, I was feeling pretty low, so low that I didn’t even want to listen to music, which tells you how low I felt. This EP was recommended to me, and I thought I’d listen to just one song out of curiosity, before returning to the dark place in my head where I was wallowing. The one song led to the next one, and the next, and over two days this EP was all I listened to, off and on. It both suited my dark mood and also made me feel better. Continue reading »

BACK AND FORTH: AVATAR AND THE WRETCHED END

RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC 2 Responses »

Apr 162012

Sweden’s Avatar are batting 1,000 in the video game. First, there was the video released last December for the title track to their current album, Black Waltz, which included all sorts of grisly tricks performed by circus sideshow freaks Hellzapoppin (check that here). Then there was the live performance video for “Let It Burn”, which we featured in March. And now we have another winner in the band’s new video for the song “Torn Apart”.

Let me see if I can describe this without spoiling it for you: It involves a bar fight, which involves Mexican wrestling masks, pro-wrestling body slams, the gimp from Pulp Fiction, and assorted other strange characters, and the whole thing runs in reverse!

Oh shit. I guess I should have said “Spoiler Alert!!” Well, anyway, if you’ve never seen headbanging and windmilling and loogie-hawking in reverse, now’s your chance. It’s pretty fuckin’ cool. Also, you get to see how Avatar’s face-painted frontman Johannes Eckerström prepares his vocal chords for a shrieking session on stage. Also, “Torn Apart” is a hot song.

Also, the highly anticipated new album by Norway’s The Wretched End started streaming in full today. Details about that after the jump. Continue reading »

HIGH ON FIRE: “DE VERMIS MYSTERIIS”

Album Reviews 15 Responses »

Apr 162012

(Our guest groverXIII (ex-TNOTB) reviews the new album by High On Fire, which is out now on eOne Music.)

I’ve been trying to figure out a good way to review High On Fire’s De Vermis Mysteriis for a couple of weeks now, ever since Islander asked me to take a crack at it. I’m not really sure why it’s taken me so long. I mean, I loved Snakes For The Divine, this album’s predecessor, and really, High On Fire are probably the biggest name in stoner metal nowadays. And yet, something about De Vermis Mysteriis just failed to grab me the way that Snakes For The Divine did.

It’s fair to say that this album will be a bit of a divisive one for High On Fire’s fanbase, perhaps even more so than the previous one. Let me backtrack a bit. High On Fire was formed out of the ashes of stoner/doom legends Sleep by guitarist Matt Pike, while Sleep’s bassist Al Cisneros and drummer Chris Hakius went on to form Om. High On Fire developed a pretty solid following with its first four albums: The Art Of Self Defense, Surrounded By Thieves, Blessed Black Wings, and Death Is This Communion.

2010’s Snakes For The Divine, however, brought a change in labels (from Relapse to E1) and in sound, courtesy of much-maligned producer Greg Fidelman, best known for his clip-tastic contributions to Metallica’s Death Magnetic. Fidelman brought a new clarity to High On Fire’s sound, clearing away some (but not all) of the fuzz and dividing the fanbase between those who disliked the new sound and those who liked it. Snakes was certainly the album that took High On Fire’s profile to new heights, bringing in a large number of new fans, all of whom had to be heavily anticipating its follow-up.

And that brings me back to De Vermis Mysteriis. Continue reading »

BE’LAKOR: “REMNANTS”

Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC 15 Responses »

Apr 162012

I’m going to say this up-front, so it gets maximum attention: “For fans of Amon Amarth and Insomnium!” Those are names to conjure with, and they are the names that first popped into my head when I listened to a brand new song called “Remnants” by a Melbourne, Australia band named Be’lakor.

The song comes from this band’s third album, Of Breath and Bone, which will be released in June. It was the first song by Be’lakor that I had ever heard, but it was the kind of song that got me as excited as a hypoglycemic kid in a candy store. I hoped that the rest of the album would live up to this first taste.

The introductory instrumental has an almost folk-metal air, with the lead guitar tuned so that it sounds like bagpipes, but then the big Amon Amarth-like riffs come down like thunder and you get your first taste of George Kosmas’ truly cavernous roars — they’re right in the middle of Johan Hegg/Niilo Sevänen territory, and that’s a territory laced with gold.

And onward from there, the song delivers a succession of riveting riffs, goth/doom melodies, and beautifully constructed guitar leads and solo’s. It gallops, it chugs, it vibrates with arcane power, it rumbles like avalanche, it pulses with urgency, and it soars with virulently infectious melodies. It’s a dynamic song, continually shifting in tone and speed, and it has well and truly hooked me. Continue reading »

TITANIC

RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC 1 Response »

Apr 162012

It’s late where I am, but not too late to commemorate the sinking of the Titanic. April 15, 1912, that great ship and 1,514 passengers and crew went to their graves in the frigid waters of the North Atlantic. I’ll get to who reminded me of this, at the end of the post.

It seems to be true that as the Titanic sunk, the ship’s eight-member band valiantly played on, until the black water claimed them. Maybe not quite as insane as the bagpipers who led British troops across No Man’s Land in World War I, but still a vivid example of British reserve and fortitude in the face of imminent obliteration.

But I like to think it’s an example of something else, too — people dedicated to their music, realizing they’re fucked no matter what, on a ship with only enough lifeboats to hold half the people on board, deciding to spend their last hours playing, probably for themselves as much as for anyone else.

And on that cheery note, here are a batch of recent music videos that don’t have anything to do with the Titanic but are just as fuckin’ metal as that ship’s band, courtesy of the following performers: Agalloch, The Devastated, Threat Signal, and Alestorm. Continue reading »

REPLENISH: ALDA and SKY BURIAL

RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC 7 Responses »

Apr 152012

Replenish Records is a label based in Washington, D.C., that I discovered only yesterday. What caught my attention in their e-mail to me was their impending release on double-vinyl — and as a free digital download — of an album previously pressed only on cassette: Tahoma, by the band Alda. I saw Alda open for Agalloch in Seattle last year, and they floored me. So the chance to get this album as a legit download was hot news.

In the same e-mail, Replenish reported their release on vinyl (and as another free download) of the debut full-length by a Tennessee band called Sky Burial. That was a new name to me, but I decided to check that out, too, especially because I found the minimalist album art strangely appealing. So, here are a few more words about each band and then a chance to hear their music. At the end of the post, you’ll also find a link to the Replenish Bandcamp page, where more releases can be explored.

ALDA

Alda are from Tacoma, Washington, just down I-5 from the NCS stomping grounds in Seattle. They are a black metal band cut from the same Cascadian cloth as Agalloch, so if you are a fan of the latter (as I am, in spades), there’s a good chance you’ll get off on Alda, too. They have a similar nature-centric take on the music and a similar ritualistic approach to their live performances. Their songs are long and often hypnotic, with tribal percussion, and memorable, sweeping melodies. But they also know how to slash and burn. Continue reading »

THE END TIMES ARE UPON US

RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC 9 Responses »

Apr 152012

I’m still trying to get my head fully back into metal, but this isn’t exactly the re-introduction I was anticipating. My friend Ian sent me a link to this video. The performance is by a band called Children Medieval Band, whose members are Stefan (10) – vocal, guitar, violin; Olga (8) – keyboard; and Cornelia (5) – drum, harp. They were trained using EarPower software. They have put their 21st Century training to use by covering . . . Rammstein.

The uploader of the video explains: “Rammstein has some amazing compositions, likeable to younger kids.” I’ve thought the same thing! Just wait ’til these kiddies run Rammstein’s “Pussy” through that EarPower software. They’ll be humming the refrain for days and days.

But maybe their parents should wait until the kids are older before exposing them to the wonders of the uncensored “Pussy” video. Y’know, until Cornelia gets to be 9 or 10 years old.

In case the video of the kids getting medieval with Rammstein’s “Sonne” has whetted your appetite for the original, it’s after the jump. Continue reading »

THE SWEATPANTS MOSH UPDATE (NO. 2)

RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC 3 Responses »

Apr 152012

(Time to slam. We’re pleased to welcome back guest columnist JJ “Shiv” Polachek, with another installment of the Sweatpants Mosh Update. For the uninitiated, Shiv is the vocalist for both 7 Horns 7 Eyes, whose debut full-length Throes of Absolution will be released on April 24 by Century Media, and Ovid’s Withering, whose debut EP we recently reviewed here.)

Welcome back to the Sweatpants Mosh Update! Today I’d like to pay tribute to the fallen warriors of the Sweatpants Mosh — the rising stars of slam who had made their mark and showed their promise and potential, only to fall at the hands of breaking up for whatever reason. Many of these prolific visionaries would have been leaders of our current slam generation if they simply hadn’t succumbed to the final deathblow of disbanding. I’m hoping this is enough text for the intro paragraph to look legit so I can just start talking about the actual music. Here’s a picture of a baby goat just to make sure there’s something cool before the jump.

HELP BLOODBEAST GET TO WACKEN

Metal News 10 Responses »

Apr 142012

There are a lot of deserving bands out in the wide world who would love to play Wacken Open Air. But Bloodbeast is one I’d like pimp today. They’re from South Africa, the band is composed of dudes who have been active in metal for a long time, and their debut album Bloodlust kicks massive amounts of ass. To find out just how much ass it kicks, you could check out our review here, and stream the music at this location.

Now, it happens that Wacken is running a competition called Metal Masters, and the winner will get a live performance slot at the festival. The way it works is that bands upload videos to Wackentube where fans can rate them — and the band with the best-rated video gets the slot. The voting began on March 5 and ends just before midnight on April 29.

Bloodbeast is in the hunt. They’ve uploaded a live performance video for a song from Bloodlust called “Fuck Or Die”. Your immediate reaction to that title might be, “Hell yes! Words to live by!” But this is a song with a conscience — it’s about rape, and there are some awful statistics about its prevalence in South Africa superimposed on the video. It’s a helluva song, and the video is worth seeing.

To drum up support for the video, Bloodbeast is offering a free download of their album (in lossless quality) to the first 50 fans who give it a 5-star rating on Wackentube (and prove it by sending the band a screen shot). Details are after the jump. Continue reading »

DISTRACTIONS

Off Topic, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC 32 Responses »

Apr 142012

For reasons I explained yesterday, I haven’t been my usual upbeat self lately, and I’m still pretty down. NCS readers have been really understanding and sympathetic. Some of you have even sent me e-mails with links to videos and music, in hopes that they would prove to be distractions from my grief . . . and they have been.

I’ve collected some of them in this post, in case you might need some distractions, too. I’ve arranged them in order of increasing weirdness and depravity, with the finale being a NSFW video by a band of Finnish deviants named Turmion Kätilöt (pictured above). Nothing takes your mind off grief like depravity.

ITEM ONE

This item, and the next two, came my way from Ben C. (Church of the Riff). I liked his introductions so much I’m just going to steal them. Here’s his preface to Item One: “Meet Buck. He’s a deer, who’s dating a hunter’s daughter. It sounds tame, but this is seriously some Pixar quality shit.” And so it is.

You can probably guess where this one is headed, just from Ben’s description. The high points for me were the near-kiss in the tunnel, the hunter’s stoic bloodhound, and the final few seconds. There’s a metaphor in here. I think it’s a message about tolerance for interspecies love. What do you think? Continue reading »

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