CTTTOAFF WILL DESTROY YOU

 Album Reviews, Phro's Posts  30 Responses »
Oct 042011
 

(Phro was so obviously omega drunk on the blood of alpha when he reviewed Omega Drunk on the Blood of Alpha by Clinging To The Trees Of A Forest Fire that he seemed the obvious candidate to review the two more recent releases by the same band, which the band was kind enough to send our way. My only word of advice to CTTTOAFF is to be careful what you wish for.)

So, I “reviewed” (seriously, who decided to let me get away with calling anything I write a “review”?) Clinging To The Trees Of A Forest Fire’s Omega Drunk on the Blood of Alpha the other day. And, I tell you what, it is good aural baby-flesh pancakes.  Well, Islander set me up with review MP3s of their newest album Visceral (July 2011), as well as their just-released split with France’s Nesseria (I’ll only be “reviewing” the CTTTOAFF songs).  I’ve listened to them both about 10 times since then, trying to think of what to say.  I’ll tell you this right now: If you don’t get at least the split (which is free on bandcamp), CTTTOAFF will do horrible things to your mutilated corpse and e-mail photos of said doings to your family, your dog, and all your exes.  Only the exes will enjoy it.

“Have you ever heard the sound of giants stalking the skies, intermittently raping Gaia with cocks the size of horses?”

“What?”

“Not horses’ cocks…the giants’ cocks are as big as a fucking thoroughbred.”

“I’m….uhhhh…are you talking to me?” Continue reading »

WHITECHAPEL: “RECORRUPTED”

 Metal News  1 Response »
Oct 032011
 

Well, well, well.  What a coincidence. This morning I included a new Whitechapel song called “Section 8” in a somewhat random hodgepodge of music. At that point, it appeared the song was going to appear on a new EP. Now, we have confirmation of that, plus more details, plus a video for the song. So, for the sake of completeness . . . I give you this post.

The EP will indeed be called Recorrupted and it will indeed be released by Metal Blade on November 8. In addition to “Section 8“, the EP will include a cover of Pantera’s “Strength Beyond Strength”, an acoustic version of “End of Flesh”, a Big Chocolate remix of “Breeding Violence”, and a remix of “This Is Exile” by Ben Weinman from The Dillinger Escape Plan. “Section 8″ and “Strength Beyond Strength” are also the first recordings with new drummer Ben Harclerode. 

Recorrupted is a limited edition print run and will only be available through the Whitechapel Webstore, Metal Blade’s Webstore, iTunes, and at the band’s merch table.

The video features studio footage shot and edited by guitarist Alex Wade, with animations by Vince Edwards. You can see it after the jump. Continue reading »

SCRAMBLED BRAINS FO’ BREAKFAST: NEW MUSIC FROM KRISIUN, CENSURA, THE BROWNING, WHITECHAPEL, AND SUBROSA

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  75 Responses »
Oct 032011
 

I don’t have any scientific way of knowing the musical tastes of the people who visit this site, just rough guesses. My rough guess is that most of the music in this post will be on the outer edge of the comfort zone of most visitors, or maybe outside it altogether. But since I’m starting with Krisiun, maybe that will buy me some leeway from all our necrovorous readers on the final four entries in this round-up. And if it doesn’t, well, I’ve got teflon skin, so you can piss on me in the comments and it will roll right off, no harm done.

I admit that Krisiun is more down the middle of my own comfort zone, too, but for me, the outer edges of the zone are way out there, as the spectrum of this music proves. So, in addition to the new song from Krisiun, I found something to like about all the other new songs included in this post — from Censura (Ireland), The Browning (U.S.), Whitechapel (U.S.), and Subrosa (U.S.). Two of these new songs, by the way, are captured in well-made music videos, and so maybe you’ll be distracted by the moving pictures, though I hope you’ll get something out of the music, too.

KRISIUN

The three, mean-ass, Brazilian death-metal overlords in Krisiun have a new album on the way. Called The Great Executioner, it will be released by Century Media in Europe on October 31 and in the U.S. on November 1. About 10 days ago, Krisiun released a song from the album called “The Will To Potency”. Somehow, I missed it until this past weekend. It’s stupendous, titanic, mind-bending. It lashes together strikingly proficient technical musicianship, bursts of head-spinning melody, guitar solos so white-hot as to melt lead, and the voraciously unclean vocal roars we all know and love so well. And wait ’til you hear the song’s intro. Limber up your neck muscles and hear this (right after the jump): Continue reading »

SHORT BUT SWEET: MITHRAS, SETHERIAL & ENSLAVED

 Album Reviews, SHORT BUT SWEET  4 Responses »
Oct 032011
 

(Andy Synn reviews a trio of new EP releases by three NCS favorites – Mithras, Setherial, and Enslaved.)

For today you’re getting a combined review of three new EPs from three brilliant – if extremely different – bands, in one post. With each only being a 2-track release (barring the live cuts which bolster the Mithras release), it seemed only fitting to group the three releases into one column.

MITHRAS – TIME NEVER LASTS

If you don’t know Mithras, then you have two options: 1) immediately after you finish reading, go forth and buy all their albums, or 2) wait a little while until the inevitable SYNN REPORT on them appears… THEN go forth and buy all their albums. The choice is yours.

Their complex, cosmic take on the death-metal template is wholly individualistic and utterly compelling, and this EP is no different, building from the focussed intensity and progged-out melody of their last album to give birth to two songs which, although quite different in style, express the multiple facets of the Mithras sound powerfully and eloquently. Continue reading »

GOJIRA UPDATE

 Metal News  3 Responses »
Oct 022011
 

If you’re like your friends here at NCS, you occasionally wonder, “what the fuck is going on with Gojira’s Sea Shepherd EP?” Well, we spotted the following note posted by Gojira on the band’s Facebook page earlier today. Now you will know what we know:

“A lot happened since our last message so we wanted to give you some news today and let you know we are still alive! We know you are all eagerly awaiting the Sea Sheperd EP release. We are sorry for the delay. Some of the material was on a hard drive that crashed but we are nearing the end of a long and difficult recovery process. Now the Good news: the new Album is ready! All the music and lyrics are waiting to be recorded. Joe is already in NY to check out the Studio and make sure everything is sorted so we can begin to record next month. A new website is being built and we are working on ways to improve the communication between the band and our fans. You guys fucking rule! Thanks!”

Uh, well, okay, we’re trying to remain calm, but having some difficulty doing that, because that little tossed-in bit of “good news” is pretty fucken cool, ain’t it? Sort of compensates for the lateness of Sea Shepherd.

VOLUMES: “VIA”

 Album Reviews  7 Responses »
Oct 022011
 

(I think this makes 7 days in a row when TheMadIsraeli has graced us with his presence. Sleep is obviously not one of his daily requirements. Today we have his review of the latest album from SoCal’s Volumes.)

Are you by any chance in the mood for grooves so infectious your head won’t stop bobbing, EVEN WHEN YOU’RE NOT LISTENING TO THE ALBUM?!  This is what Volumes’ Via does to you.  It’s a non-stop weighty groove machine of epic proportions, fucking shit up and furrowing fields with mass graves.

Who are Volumes?  Well, they deliver still more djeathcore, but this is honestly my favorite djeathcore band out there right now, mainly because these Californians don’t fuck around with anything but the core of their sound.  The minute that the staccato’d, djent-tinged groove of “Paid In Full” kicks in, it’s IMPOSSIBLE not to groove to this.  The band’s assault of low-end, 7-string, open-note grooving and djent chugging is a thing I should hate with all my heart and soul, BUT I LOVE IT HERE!  Volumes make it interesting and captivating in a way I have trouble describing, and I wish I could.

What REALLY stands out about Volumes is their ability to weave in and out of melodic and atonal parts in a seamless and often unpredictable manner.  The melodic bridge of the song “Wormholes” just appears out of FUCKING NOWHERE before transitioning into a pretty boss breakdown.  “Limitless” is another good example, with the band bringing in powerful, atonal deathcore chugs with eerie Meshuggah-esque leads, only to transition into a melodic hardcore section.  DO WHAT!?  Yeah, it’s pretty sweet. Continue reading »

WOLVES

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  30 Responses »
Oct 022011
 

“They say not to anthropomorphize — not to think of them as having feelings, not to think of them as being able to think — but late at night I like to imagine that they are killing; that another deer has gone down in a tangle of legs, tackled in deep snow; and that, once again, the wolves are feeding. That they have saved themselves, once again. That the deer or moose calf, or young dumb elk is still warm (steam rising from the belly, as that part which contains the entrails is opened first), is now dead, or dying.

“They eat everything, when they kill, even the snow that soaks up the blood.

“This all goes on usually at night. They catch their prey from behind, often, but also by the nose, the face, the neck — whatever they can dart in and grab without being kicked. When the prey pauses, or buckles, it’s over; the prey’s hindquarters, or neck, might be torn out, and in that manner, the prey flounders. The wolves swarm it, then. They don’t have thumbs. All they’ve got is teeth, long legs, and — I have to say this — great hearts. (more after the jump  . . .) Continue reading »

NEW VIDEOS: GOATWHORE, INSOMNIUM, GRENDEL, AND REVOCATION

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  10 Responses »
Oct 012011
 

I spent some time yesterday catching up on metal news over the last week and came across an assortment of videos I thought were worth sharing.

The first one is footage of the almighty Goatwhore playing a club in Fort Walton Beach, Florida on September 16. What makes this video worth sharing is that they’re playing a NEW SONG, called “Beyond the Spell of Discontent”, and it’s a smokin’ hot piece of black ‘n’ roll. The video quality isn’t great, but the sound is pretty good. I’ll have the vid of that song for you after the jump; video of the band’s entire set can be viewed here.

The second video is a clip of Insomnium playing “The Gale” and “The Mortal Share” at the 2010 Summer Breeze Festival. The band linked to this video on their FB page last night, which is how I found it. Again, the video quality isn’t pro-standard, but the sound is decent, and it’s fucking Insomnium, and I’m getting tremendously tumescent in anticipation of their new album, so yeah. (Okay, this video isn’t exactly new, but I’m going with it anyway.)

The third video is a recent official release by a Finnish band called Grendel for the song “Apocalyptic Rain”. I wasn’t familiar with Grendel before seeing the video, but I likey the song — it’s a headbanging blast of melodic death metal. The video, which is organized around a game of Russian Roulette, proves two things: (1) the guys in this band weren’t very lucky that night; and, as if we needed more proof, (2) dudes will do almost anything for a chick with big knockers.

Last, but not least, I have a recently posted MetalInjection video of Revocation performing “Conjuring the Cataclysm” live. I always have a shit-ton of fun at Revocation shows, and I really like this song, so there. Continue reading »

GUILTY PLEASURES NO. 1

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  27 Responses »
Oct 012011
 

(TheMadIsraeli confesses to a guilty pleasure.  The jury is deliberating his sentence.)

Ok… we all have guilty pleasures, right?  I’m not the only one, right?  Inside all of us is that total douche who listens to Circa Survive and masturbates to his poster of “The Rev” directly across from his bed TO SOME DEGREE OR ANOTHER.  Right?  You do that, don’t you?

So at the risk of losing all respect and reverence (begging the question how much I had to begin with), I present to you: Guilty pleasures.  So who is my band of choice for this first installment?

Death By Stereo.

So, who is Death By Stereo?  Well, the band started out as a hardcore punk outfit, but guitarist Dan Palmer joined them, and after 2 albums they apparently decided that the hardcore punk sound sucked on its own and decided they needed to re-vamp themselves.  After the band decided to take a small break and regroup, they unleashed their third album, Into The Valley Of Death.  Suddenly, they were taking the sounds of punk, thrash, hardcore, melodeath, metalcore, and pop and mixing them together into one cohesive sound.  I mean, just look at their list of primary influences. (after the jump . . .) Continue reading »

MORE 2011 SICKNESS (PART 10)

 Forthcoming Albums  40 Responses »
Oct 012011
 

September is behind us. Here in Seattle, it was such a beautiful month that it seemed like nature’s compensation for how late the summer started. Unfortunately, with September’s end, we’re on a short track to the onset of winter, which means about six months of short, cold, grey, ceaselessly wet days. Ain’t that just fuckin’ great?

Well, bitchin’ about the winter ahead won’t change one fucking thing. I prefer to think instead about the deluge of new metal that’s headed our way and try (momentarily) to forget about the deluge of rain on the horizon. Which brings us to the latest monthly edition of METAL IN THE FORGE.

You know the drill:  In these posts, we collect news blurbs and press releases we’ve seen over the last month about forthcoming new albums from bands we know and like (including occasional updates about releases we’ve included in previous installments of this series), or from bands that look interesting, even though we don’t know their music yet. In this series, we cut and paste those announcements and compile them in alphabetical order.

Remember — this isn’t a cumulative list. If we found out about a new album before August, we wrote about it in previous installments of this series. So, be sure to check the Category link called “Forthcoming Albums” on the right side of this page to see forecasted releases we reported earlier. This month’s list begins right after the jump. Look for your favorite bands, or get intrigued about some new ones. As usual, also feel free to tell us about how we fucked up by omitting releases that you’re stoked about. Continue reading »

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