MORE NEW SONGS: REVOCATION AND TOMBS

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  9 Responses »
May 092011
 

The next album from Boston’s Revocation has been on our get-without-fail list since about the beginning of the year. We now have a release date from Relapse Records — August 16 — and the pre-order packages are now up for sale.

We also now have the album title (Chaos of Forms) and the album cover, which is awesome. And last, but not least, only a few hours ago Revocation posted a track from the album (the first to see the light of day) called “Cradle Robber” on their Facebook band-page. It’s a helluva song. Once again, Revocation makes thrash come vibrantly alive — the music is not only fast and wild, but in both off-tempo and full-speed passages, David Davidson’s technical guitar pyrotechnics make your head spin. The drumming on this track is insane, too.

Now, flip your mind upside down for this next one.  New York’s Tombs also has a new album on the way, also on Relapse. Titled Path of Totality, it will land on June 7 in North America, and it’s another one we’ve been anticipating eagerly. Two songs from that album have already premiered — “Silent World”, which debuted on NPR, and “Vermillion”, which launched at BrooklynVegan.com. Today, a third one — “To Cross the Land” — premiered on Stereogum.com.  We’ve got more to say about those songs, plus the new Revocation track, after the jump. Continue reading »

ANOTHER ARCH ENEMY SONG

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  10 Responses »
May 092011
 

It’s safe (and easy) to say that everyone who has listened to Arch Enemy falls into one of three camps: (1) you like everything the band does; (2) you like nothing the band does; (3) you liked the earlier albums, but have been meh about the more recent ones. We will soon have a new Arch Enemy release from Century Media. Khaos Legions will debut on May 30 in Europe and June 7 in North America. So far, two songs have been made publicly available.

The first — “Yesterday Is Dead and Gone” — was released as a video and premiered by Guitar World.  We wrote about that one here. The second, “Blood-Stained Cross”, has been exclusively streaming at MetalSucks since last Friday. I finally listened to that track and felt it was worth a post, because although many of you are also MetalSucks readers, I know some of you aren’t.

MetalSucks introduced the song by proclaiming that Khaos Legions “may very well be the legendary melodeath outfit’s finest hour since 2001′s Wages of Sin.” I certainly can’t agree or disagree with that comment yet since I’ve only heard two songs, but I will say this: Although I thought “Yesterday Is Dead and Gone” was okay (and only okay), “Blood-Stained Cross” is wonderful, and if the rest of the album is in league with it, I’l be agreeing with that MetalSucks assessment.

The song has a dark, vicious edge that does indeed recall Wages of Sin, with a great melodic guitar lead — and Angela Gossow’s vocals on this song may be the best effort from her I think I’ve yet heard. Yes, it’s still a very melodic song, but it’s also morose and seething and musically varied. I’m liking it a lot. If you’re in Category (1) or (3), as described above, you should definitely go to MetalSucks today (using this link) and listen to “Blood-Stained Cross.”

METALITY – THE COMPILATION [VOL. 2]

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  26 Responses »
May 092011
 

NO CLEAN SINGING is proud to announce the release of METALITY’s second compilation of music from the Middle East. If you don’t already know, METALITY is a great metal blog that covers music from around the world, but with a unique emphasis on metal bands from the Middle East and North Africa. That blog has turned us on to lots of great music in the past. Through an effort so gargantuan as to make us exhausted just thinking about it, METALITY has now assembled a compilation of music from more than FIFTY bands — including bands we’ve previously written about here at NCS — and it’s now available for free download.

If you scrutinize that flyer up above, you’ll see our name as a co-sponsor of the release. In fact, we’re the sole North American co-sponsor of this comp. One perq of being a co-sponsor is that we got an advance listen to all the tracks on this compilation. What it doesn’t mean is that we’re sworn to rave about all the music regardless of what we honestly think about it. So, we’re going to give you our honest opinion about this comp: It’s amazing.

The download files (two of them) for this album are big — and not just because they include more than 50 songs. The download also includes a separate file of album art for each band plus a file of links to the web pages or social media sites for each of them. You could be forgiven if you needed something more than the word “free” to invest the hard-drive space on this beast. So, after the jump, we’re going to do three things:

We’re going to provide more detailed observations about the music on this compilation so you’ll have a better idea what you’re getting into; we’re going to feature five of our favorite tracks; and (courtesy of METALITY), we’ll give you an embedded music player that will allow you to stream each song or put the whole album on continuous play. And of course, we’ll give you the link for the download if you like what you hear.

There are some real gems on this comp — we think it’s worth your time to stay with us after the jump and investigate this further.  Continue reading »

NEW GOJIRA SONG!

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  20 Responses »
May 082011
 

We have been anticipating The Devin Townsend Project’s new album Deconstruction for quite some time, but have been positively slobbering over the prospect since we found out the identities of the guests who will appear on the album (see the line-up, matched with the track list, here). Among those guests are Joe Duplantier, the vocalist and rhythm guitarist for the almighty Gojira, and Paul Masvidal, the vocalist and guitarist for Cynic. Both of them join DT and his bandmates on a song called “Sumeria”.

The modern musical world being what it is, Deconstruction has already leaked, which is a shame. And from leakage of the album to download sites, of course it will be a short step before the songs start to appear on YouTube for streaming. One already has. Guess which one.

Initially, “Sumeria” appeared as a track recorded off a broadcast by a Finnish radio station, with subpar sound quality and sounds of the DJ talking at the end. But now, some asshole has put the actual album track up for streaming, with album-quality sound (well, at least mp3 quality). So, of course, we completely ignored that, in protest of the leakage of what is likely to be an album-of-the-year candidate from one of the most creative metal artists working. That protest lasted about 60 seconds.

Having registered our protest by waiting 60 seconds, we listened to the song, and it’s stunning — a massive, complex, heavy, beautiful, many-layered creation that will take many listens before the contributions of all the parts become clear. But there is no mistaking Joe Duplantier’s contribution — there are passages in the song when those lumbering, instantly recognizable Gojira riffs begin to stomp and Duplantier’s instantly recognizable voice begins to proclaim the verses. Not that Devin Townsend stands in anyone’s shadow, but if you’ve been pining for a new Gojira song, there’s one lurking inside “Sumeria”.  And even though we really do think it’s a shame that this album has leaked, as responsible journalists reporting the news as it happens, we’re embedding that YouTube clip of “Sumeria” right after the jump. Continue reading »

INGESTED

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  18 Responses »
May 082011
 

We fucking loved Surpassing the Boundaries of Human Suffering, the 2009 debut from Manchester, England’s Ingested. We raved about it here. That was a long time ago. Time passes, and one of two things usually happens. You read the depressing news that a band you liked has split up, or eventually you read that, lo and behold, there’s a new album on the way.

In the case of Ingested, the news we just saw is of the latter, happy variety: There is indeed a new album — entitled The Surreption — scheduled for release on June 6 by Siege of Amida. Within the last few days, the band has displayed the eye-catching cover art you see above — created by Colin Marks, who has created similarly arresting artwork for Whitechapel, Suicide Silence, All Shall Perish, and many others, in addition to Ingested’s first album. It’s not exactly an uplifting image, but neither is Ingested’s music.

In addition to the album art, we have more details about the album. For example, it was recorded at Studio 6 Swindon with Stu Mckay and Cherrywood Studios Bristol with Rob Purnell, Jonny Burgen and Dave Purnell (Trigger the Bloodshed), and it was mixed in L.A. by Mick Kenney (Anaal Nathrakh, Bleeding Through). Yeah, so far so good. Also, the album will feature guest appearances by Alex Erian (Despised Icon) and Mathew Jones (Martyr Defiled).

On top of all that, Ingested has recently released the first song from The Surreption. It’s called “Castigation and Rebirth”.  (stay with us after the jump to hear that song . . .) Continue reading »

“THAT’S METAL!” – BUT IT’S NOT MUSIC (NO. 35)

 That's Metal -- But It's Not Music  14 Responses »
May 082011
 

All sorts of things are metal, even though they don’t involve music. That’s what this series is about. Things can be metal for many different reasons. In general, people, places, things, and occurrences are metal because they’re awe-inspiring. But not everything that’s awe-inspiring is metal. Natural wonders, architectural marvels, and great works of art can be awe-inspiring in their beauty, but you wouldn’t call all of them “metal”, or at least I wouldn’t. An element of brutality will help something qualify for the term, as will an element of “otherness” — something that’s unconventional, something that’s rare and maybe even weird and unexpected, or something that appeals to the anarchic impulse in most metalheads.

Having said that, I also find myself applying the term “metal” to things that are just off-the-hook ridiculous or bizarre. Maybe that’s just me. To be clear, I don’t think everything that’s ridiculous is metal. Donald Trump is ridiculous, and bizarre. So is Dancing With the Stars. But they are definitely not metal.

I think it helps if ridiculous behavior is self-destructive. Like what happened to the dude’s hand pictured over to the right, which we featured in a previous installment of this series. I thought this was pretty fucking metal. I thought the same thing about the dog who chewed off his master’s gangrenous toe while the guy was passed out in an alcoholic stupor (here).

Anyway, most of today’s offerings fall into the “ridiculous” category of non-musical metal. I’ll just leave it at that. See for yourself after the jump. Continue reading »

“DELIVER US” FROM IN FLAMES

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  23 Responses »
May 072011
 

Okay, that could be interpreted as kind of a sarcastic post title. But I didn’t really mean it the way you think. You’ll see — it’s a play on words.

I actually am faithful to In Flames. They were my gateway to extreme metal, years ago. Here at NCS, we weren’t terribly thrilled with their last album, but that hasn’t stopped us from getting up for the new one, Sounds of A Playground Fading, which will be released between June 17 and June 24, depending on where you live.

Yesterday, Century Media released the first single from the album in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Norway, Australia, New Zealand, and it will be available for purchase on iTunes and elsewhere in North America on May 10. It’s called “Deliver Us”, and of course the thing is already up on YouTube — which means it’s now on our site (after the jump).

The days of Whoracle and Clayman are of course long gone — “Deliver Us” doesn’t constitute a revival of that style. But I do like the track. Quite melodic, of course, with pulsing keyboards in the mix and a catchy main riff. Clean singing in the chorus, of course, but the chorus is staying in our heads. I’m finding this a step up from the last album. What do you think? (Hear the song after the jump.) Continue reading »

SLAUGHTER SURVIVORS TOUR

 Metal News  13 Responses »
May 072011
 

If you live in the U.S., you may remember that the promoters of this year’s SUMMER SLAUGHTER tour conceived a creative piece of marketing by allowing fans to vote from among a list of 11 bands for the last act to fill up the touring line-up. Within the Ruins won that vote and will be joining The Black Dahlia Murder, Whitechapel, Darkest Hour, Six Feet Under, Dying Fetus, As Blood Runs Black, Oceano, and the almighty Fleshgod Apocalypse on SUMMER SLAUGHTER.

Rumors have been circulating that the promoters would organize a second tour featuring bands from the voting list that didn’t get selected via the Facebook ballot-stuffing . . . uh, voting. Well, now that’s been confirmed by the tour promoters. There will indeed be a SLAUGHTER SURVIVORS tour, and this will be the line-up:

CONDUCTING FROM THE GRAVE
THE CONTORTIONIST
SCALE THE SUMMIT
RINGS OF SATURN
VOLUMES
STRUCTURES

The tour will run from late July to late August. The cities and venues haven’t been announced yet, but we’ll get you that info as soon as we have it.

Note that Scale the Summit have been included, even though they weren’t on the voting list. That’s a cool development. Unfortunately, some of the best bands on that voting list who didn’t get selected aren’t included on this SURVIVORS tour, ie, Revocation, Neuraxis, Augury, 7 Horns 7 Eyes, Dawn of Ashes.

FILLER: AJATTARA, DEGRADEAD, AND CHROME DIVISION

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  No Responses »
May 072011
 

We’re all set to go with a milestone post for today, but we’re coordinating it with another metal blog, and we need to wait for them to give us the green light — which hasn’t arrived quite yet.

So, rather than leave you wondering whether we’re alive or dead while we wait, we’ve quickly compiled a few things to amuse you until the post we actually planned for today can be unleashed.

Most of the music we’re including comes from bands who we’ve planned to write about in more depth (and with luck, we’ll still do that): Ajattara and Degradead. Plus, we’ll throw in a brand new video from Chrome Division, a Norwegian band featuring Dimmu Borgir frontman Shagrath on guitar. It’s more of a hard rock song than the kind of metal we cover at NCS, but the video is a blazingly creative work of art, featuring imagery thats never been used in hard rock or metal videos before.

Okay, that last sentence isn’t accurate. Actually, we were totally bullshitting you. The video is full of voluptuous chicks flashing voluptuous amounts of tits and ass. But hey, who doesn’t like tits and ass?  (more after the jump . . .) Continue reading »

A HISTORY LESSON FROM DYING FETUS

 Metal News  3 Responses »
May 062011
 

It pays to check your e-mail, especially when you get e-mails like the press release I just saw. Here’s the news: Dying Fetus will release a limited edition “mini-LP” this summer to mark the band’s 20th anniversary. Entitled History Repeats…, it will include cover tracks from bands who have influenced Dying Fetus, including Napalm Death, Bolt Thrower, Cannibal Corpse, and Pestilence, plus a new Dying Fetus track exclusive to this release.

The mini-LP will be limited to 5,000 copies worldwide and it’s scheduled for a July 19 North American release through FYE stores and Relapse Mailorder exclusively. Additional information and pre-orders are available here.

Now this is my kind of history lesson. Maybe school-boards nationwide can be convinced to put this on high school curriculums so the youth of our nation can be educated properly. It would sure beat the hell out of lots of crap courses I had to sit through. Stay with us past the jump to see the awesome track-list for this baby. Continue reading »

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