SHORT, BUT SWEET: MARDUK’S “IRON DAWN”

 Album Reviews, SHORT BUT SWEET  1 Response »
May 132011
 

Since the end of last week we’ve accumulated some small collections of new music that we think are very sweet. In a way, they’re all teasers for longer and grander things to come from some very good bands. Consider us well and truly teased. But this isn’t like getting all hot and bothered with a chick in the backseat of your car and then being denied the payoff. No, this is a good kind of tease.

By the way, I’m so fucking old I don’t even know if dudes and chicks use the backseats of cars as a venue for getting hot and bothered any more. But the no-payoff part? I’m damned sure that’s still happening.

Where was I? Oh yeah, brief offerings of new music from some killer bands. Today, we’re featuring one of them — Sweden’s Marduk (Sweden) — and over the weekend we’ll have some more. If you’re looking for pretty music, I’m afraid you’ll have to keep looking. If you want music that’s dark, powerful, and . . . well . . . skull-fucking, then you’ve come to the right place. First up, Marduk.

One of the true behemoth’s of Scandinavian black metal, Marduk are releasing a new EP called Iron Dawn. Regain Records will release the EP on May 27 at The Maryland Deathfest, where Marduk will be making an appearance. The EP will also be available at six other North American shows that Marduk will be playing in May and June (the Seven Bowls of Wrath Tour) , and then there’ll be a worldwide release of the EP on May 30.

Marduk is also working on a full-length album projected for release sometime in early 2012, but according to the press notice we received, the EP “differs from the concept that is being created” for that album. This EP is anything but a tossed-off gap-filler between full releases. It’s riveting music from start to finish.  (more after the jump . . .) Continue reading »

THE BEST METAL VIDEO OF THE YEAR (AND SECOND PLACE IS SO FAR BACK YOU CAN’T SEE IT)

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  14 Responses »
May 132011
 

I had plans for today’s posts. Really, I did. And then a few things happened last night that just blew them right outta my head. This happens often, so I’m not beating myself up about it. It’s just part of the price you pay when you have an impulsively enthusiastic personality — planning just becomes a fucking waste of time.

So, one of the things that happened was catching a blurb about Red Fang‘s new video on Blabbermouth. I skim through lots of shit on Blabbermouth without ever pausing, but Red Fang is a name I’d heard enough that I decided this would be a good chance to hear their music, along with moving pictures. I like moving pictures. And oh, I’m SOOOO fuckin’ glad I checked this out! Really and truly.

See, Red Fang is from fuckin’ Portland, which is just spitting distance away from The Emerald City, where our metallic island is located. They came out with an album this year on Relapse called Murder the Mountains. I haven’t heard all of it. In fact, I’ve only heard just the one song in the video. It’s called “Wires”. It’s not as extreme as most of the music we play here at NCS, and it involves, y’know, clean singing. But it’s just a fuckin’ good-time song with some monstrous discordant riffage, some thunderous drumming, and a few massive hooks.

And the video for the song is the shit. It’s like a real-life documentary of what happens when you give a bunch of fun-loving stoner band dudes a $5,000 check (drawn on the “Maidoff Bank”, no less) to make a music video. Now, $5,000 sounds like a lot of money, but you’d be amazed how fast you can spend it when you decide to buy an old station wagon, weld some armor on the front, and start driving through barricades of random shit set up on an aircraft runway.

But it wasn’t the station wagon that put the dent in the video trust fund (that old beater only cost the dudes $685). It was the crash helmets, the stockpile of milk, the mannequins, the pickles, the watermelons, the china cabinets, the Wurlitzer organ, the 15 cases of PBR, the bank of TVs, and lots more. You’ll see. The money goes fast when you get creative about destruction. (the video is after the jump, along with another gut-busting video from RF) Continue reading »

UNEARTH: “EYES OF BLACK”

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  8 Responses »
May 122011
 

Doesn’t it seem like whenever you see the word “metalcore” in commentary about new music these days, the word “generic” isn’t far away? The metalcore genre has now been with us so long that, at least in the eyes of metal “elitists” (so-called by, uh, fans of metalcore), it has become stagnant, stuck in the template that was hammered out more than a decade ago, recycling its familiar tropes and only rarely venturing into the realm of originality.

To be honest, that “generic” label could be applied to bands and albums in every genre of metal. Is it really more often true of new metalcore releases than, say, new death metal albums? And do we really need a band to break new ground in a familiar genre in order to find the music worthwhile? Or is it sufficient that a band know what they’re doing and do it well, even if there are no surprises in store?

Before “metalcore” became a dirty word in many metal circles, before the genre became saturated with formulaic music, there was Unearth. In our opinion, their albums have stood out from the burgeoning crowd, thanks to their talent for creating memorable hooks and melodies (and breakdowns) while preserving all that hardcore grit and aggression. It doesn’t hurt that they put on a head-busting live show — one of those bands we turn out to see whenever they get close to The Emerald City.

Unearth will be releasing their fifth album (Darkness In the Light) via Metal Blade on July 4, their first in two and a half years. Adam Dutkiewicz (Killswitch Engage) produced it, and KsE’s Justin Foley laid down the drum tracks. Last night, as a warm-up to the release, Unearth uploaded a song called “Eyes of Black” to YouTube. After the jump, we have the song and a few more words . . . Continue reading »

INFESTUS: E x | I s t

 Album Reviews  10 Responses »
May 122011
 

E x | I s t is the new album by Infestus. Infestus began life as a three-man project. After releasing a demo, a debut album, and a split, guitarist Harbarth split, leaving multi-instrumentalist Andras and vocalist Dagon to soldier on. In 2008, that duo created a concept album called Chroniken Des Ablebens, which was released by Debemur Morti Productions. Then, in the summer of 2010, Dagon went his own way, and Andras was left to soldier on, providing the vocals and all the instruments on E x | I s t.

Wait, wait, wait. Someone out there is muttering under his breath. You think I can’t hear you, but I can. You’re mumbling this:

Oh, fuck no, not another one-man black-metal band from Northern Europe. It probably sounds like a vat of sulphuric acid at the boiling point.

Well, stop your damned muttering and stay with me here.

Acidic? Not really. Boiling? Sometimes. Complex, sophisticated, brilliantly composed and performed, often beautiful but always powerful, a totally engrossing and immersive listening experience? Hell yes! One of the best black-metal albums I’ve heard this year? Abso-fuckin-lutely. Continue reading »

NEW SONG FROM THE FACELESS (GROAN)

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  27 Responses »
May 112011
 

This post is what we consider a “public service announcement”. In other words, we’re informing you of something that we know many of you will be interested in learning — but not because we’re recommending it to you.

Within approximately the last hour, The Faceless posted a “pre-production preview” of a new song called “The Eidolon Reality”, which will appear on the band’s next album, due sometime this fall. This is not the final mastered version of the track. I’m not sure why the band (or Sumerian) decided to release this instead of waiting until completion of mastering, but they did.

Fans of technical death metal have mixed opinions about The Faceless. We here at NCS are fans of technical death metal, and we liked Akeldema and, to a lesser extent, Planetary Duality. But to be honest, this new song made me cringe. Literally. Cringe.  I even have a hard time developing an opinion about the instrumental work and the growly vocals because the song includes some truly bad clean singing. There. I said it. Go past the jump and listen for yourselves.  Be forewarned, I think the YouTube clip is set to begin playing automatically. Continue reading »

DECAPITATED UPDATE

 Metal News  28 Responses »
May 112011
 

Decapitated have released the album artwork for their fifth studio album and Nuclear Blast debut, Carnival Is Forever.  The album will be released in Poland and  North America on July 12th and in the rest of Europe on July 15.

Now, here at NCS, we think Decapitated is the shit. This new album is on our most-anticipated list for 2011. But, to be brutally honest (which of course is the only kind of honest we know how to be), this album cover is lame. Really, what is this supposed to be? That mask looks like something out of a Disney movie. I’m sorry, this is not metal — and it is a huge fall-off from the awesome cover that Seth Siro Anton (Septic Flesh) did for the last album (which we’ll remind you about after the jump.)

These comments about the cover from guitarist and founding member Wacław “Vogg” Kiełtyka are revealing, and touchingly honest:

“Very intriguing and quite strange for a metal album but surely staying in memory.  A vital thing is that it’s a photo. We did not want any computer graphics this time or anything artificial or plastic.  The same regards the production of the album. We had actually been thinking about getting a painting for the cover but unfortunately we couldn’t do it. Maybe next time.”

The album title is a bit strange, too. More on what that’s supposed to mean, after the jump . . . Continue reading »

WHAT DO THESE NAMES HAVE IN COMMON: BLACK DAHLIA MURDER, JOB FOR A COWBOY, BEHEMOTH, BARN BURNER, SISTER, FALCONER, GENTLEMANS PISTOLS

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  11 Responses »
May 112011
 

Give up? The answer is: They’re all bands who are signed to Metal Blade, they all have new releases on the horizon, and they all have new songs that Metal Blade has packaged together in a digital stream emanating from SoundCloud.

Here’s the line-up of music:

Black Dahlia Murder: “Moonlight Equilibirum” (album: Ritual)
Job For A Cowboy: “Misery Reformatory” (album: Gloom)
Behemoth: “Slaves Shall Serve” (album: Abyssus Abyssum Invocat)
Barn Burner: “Keg Stand and Deliver” (album: Bangers II: Scum of the Earth)
Sister: “Hated” (album: Hated)
Faloner: “Svarta Ankan” (album: Armod)
Gentlemans Pistols: “I Wouldn’t Let You” (album: At Her Majesty’s Pleasure)

All of these albums are scheduled for release on June 7, except the first and last ones, which will be released June 21.

There is good news and bad news here. The good news is that we can listen to these 7 songs right here, right now. The bad news is that these are the only songs from the albums that we’ll be able to hear, because the Rapture is coming on May 21.  (more after the jump . . . including breaking news about the end of the world) Continue reading »

THE INTERBEING

 Album Reviews  5 Responses »
May 112011
 

(We’re pleased to introduce our newest NCS contributor, Israel Flanders, formerly of THE METAL REGISTER. Israel’s metal interests generally align with our own, but we also expect he’ll be providing content on some metal genres (such as djent) that have gotten fairly short-shrift around here. And now, Israel’s first NCS post . . .)

Do you remember the days when Mnemic used to be good? When Michael Bøgballe used to be their vocalist and they knew how to throw down sick-ass polyrhythmic grooves? So do I, and I’d hoped I’d find a band who’d be able to re-channel that vibe again. We’re going to talk about a band today called The Interbeing, and their debut album Edge Of The Obscure, which was released May 2nd of this year.

As you’ll no doubt come to slowly find out, I am a huge fan of ANYTHING that Jacob Hansen has produced (vocalist of legendary Danish thrashers Invocator), and this is no exception. What we have here is slightly mathy groove-metal with harsh, biting vocals and hints of melody, as well as some cyber/industrial tinges and overhangs. If you ever wanted to hear a combination of Mnemic and Sybreed, this would certainly be the band for you.

The album opens up with the ambient, mood-setting instrumental “Elusive Atmosphere”, which slowly ushers you into a very simplistic techno loop. You can feel the buildup coming, and once it hits, you get your balls fucking rocked by the brutal opener, “Pulse Within The Paradox”, and you know instantly, once the slightly polyrhythmic groove starts, that you are in for a ride.  (more after the jump . . .) Continue reading »

BRUTALIZE ME! (NEW SLAMS FROM ABOMINABLE PUTRIDITY)

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  40 Responses »
May 102011
 

Fuck. We just made a u-turn on our musical road — right into the path of an 18-wheeler semi-truck going about 80 mph. Cruising along, listening again to that excellent From Exiles cover EP (see this post), and then we saw that Moscow’s Abominable Putridity put up two new tracks on YouTube yesterday. Paused the From Exile, punched “play” on the first AP track — and got flattened. Pancaked. Road kill. Now just a nasty smear of guts and mangled tissue on the pavement. Fuck.

Do you know Abominable Putridity? We first found out about them early last year when we did a feature on Cameron “Big Chocolate” Argon (Disfiguring the Goddess, etc.), who played some live shows with the band in Russia and recorded some vocals for them, too. Their debut album, In the End of Human Existence (2007), is a crushing behemoth of brutal death-metal loaded with Devourment-style slamming riffage. But, shit, that was roughly four years ago.

It appears the long wait for new Abominable Putridity is just about over. The band signed to the Brutal Bands label last year, and it appears recording and production work on the next album is done. It will be called The Anomalies of Artificial Origin. It will feature awesome album art by Par Olofsson (we did a screen-grab of one of those YouTube clips to feature at the top of this post and blew it up, but we really want to see a high-resolution image of this thing).

As for the vocals, we’ve been snooping around forums and message boards and found some comments from the band’s guitarist Sergey indicating that Matti Way (Cinerary, Liturgy, ex-Disgorge, ex-Pathology) has done the lead vocals for all the tracks, and that guest backing vocals have been provided on different songs by Angel Ochoa (Condemned, Cephalotripsy), Corey Athos (Deeds of Flesh, Flesh Consumed), and one other (so far unidentified).

As for the new songs, there are two of them, and they don’t mess around. Wantonly destructive fuckers, but with irresistible groove. Go past the jump and listen — that is, if you’re in the mood to be pummeled about the head and shoulders and left to bleed out. Continue reading »

FROM EXILE NAILS NINE INCH NAILS

 Album Reviews, SHORT BUT SWEET  16 Responses »
May 102011
 

Wasn’t so long ago that we had a pair of posts about cover songs (Andy’s special Synn Report on covers and my musings about the pros and cons of covers, prompted by Anachronaeon‘s cover of Iron Maiden). We followed that in short order with news of an awesome-looking cover album by Dying Fetus (here). Seems to be the season for covers, because late yesterday we got word about an EP by Atlanta’s From Exile that we’ve been waiting for, which is devoted to covers of four songs by Nine Inch Nails. It’s called Just Like You Imagined and it’s now available for free download in mp3 or FLAC. We wasted no time listening last night.

So, let’s first review what we discussed in those previous posts and in the accompanying comments about covers: (1) they fail more often than they succeed; (2) there’s no terribly good reason to listen to a cover if it’s just a re-tread of the original, except perhaps for a novelty factor when the normal musical styles of the original and the cover band are poles apart; and (3) the best covers turn the original songs into something new and different, re-sculpting them into new works that stand on their own through variation of the original — but without completely losing connection with the source.

All four of From Exile’s covers succeed, in spades. In both subtle and dramatic ways, depending on the song, they’ve creatively re-shaped the NIN songs, producing music that’s more guitar-driven and more metal. They’ve preserved the spirit of the originals, yet succeeded in adding something of their own, and the results are wonderfully appealing. After the jump, we’ll explore the changes in a bit more detail and juxtapose the originals and the covers for your listening pleasure. Continue reading »

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