CONTEMPORARY CAVEMEN COVER CLASSICS

 Album Reviews, Metal News, SHORT BUT SWEET  No Responses »
Apr 162011
 

Norway’s Goat the Head have fully occupied a metal niche that was waiting to be filled since . . . uh . . . the Paleolithic era: contemporary primal caveman death metal. (And did you know there’s a Paleolithic weight-loss diet?) Here at NCS, we love this band. We’ve posted about them so many times in the past that we’re expecting royalty checks from the massive sales of Goat the Head music that our publicity has no doubt generated. What about it dudes? Royalty checks in the mail?

You may not want to wade through all of our posts, but for background info, here’s a link to one of them (our review of the band’s latest album).

The reason for this post is that Goat the Head has just released a four-song EP called Wicked Mimicry that includes three covers and one original tune. Despite the title of this post, not all the songs they cover are really “classics”, but we exercised a little license in order to get an alliterative post title (using the second definition of “alliteration” once again, Misha).

The covers are a punk song (“Decapitated”) by the immortal Broken Bones, a heavy metal song (“King of Rock and Roll”) by the immortal Dio, and a blues song (“Beer Drinkers and Hell Raisers”) by the immortal ZZ Top. The original tune is the title track, “Wicked Mimicry”. Put it all together, and it’s a fuckin’ party from start to finish.  After the jump, our impressions plus a chance for you to hear one of these tracks . . . Continue reading »

FIVE BANDS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT FOR SAN ANTONIO’S “RITES OF DARKNESS” FESTIVAL

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  5 Responses »
Apr 162011
 

(Thanks go out to NCS reader/commenter Surgical Brute for today’s guest post, which focuses on five bands that may be new to you; they were certainly new to me, but I’m damned glad I know about them now: Anatomia, War Master, Grave Ritual, Adorior, and Ilsa. I’m also happy to learn about the Rites of Darkness festival that, to date, has confirmed appearances by 41 bands, including the likes of Behexen, Demonical, Interment, Mitochondrian, Sargeist, Valkyrja, and Vasaeleth, in addition to the bands that are the focus of this post.)

Okay, as you know, Islander was looking for some articles to use as fill-ins so he didn’t lose any days on the NCS website. I stupidly said Id try to put something together for him, and…well… here we are.

I guess I should start with a little bit about me. My name’s Rob, but I usually use the tag SurgicalBrute (no there’s no story behind it . . . so don’t ask). Compared to a lot of you, I’ve only been into metal for a very short time, but after dabbling with metalcore a little bit I found Amon Amarth’s Twilight of the Thundergod. I couldn’t stop listening to the title track, and I’ve been devoted to the metal gods ever since. I listen to most of the different styles (grindcore being the exception), but I prefer either old school death metal or folk/viking metal.

Now, I’m not much of a reviewer; frankly, I suck at it. So I was trying to figure out what I should write about. Well, as some of you may know, I try to stay pretty tapped into metal’s underground.  So I figured I’d make a suggestion list of bands most of you may not have heard about. I’ll also include a brief description of theses bands

This isn’t just any list though. No . . . I’m going to tell about 5 lesser known bands you should check out at Rites of Darkness 3, which is happening in San Antonio, Texas, on December 9-10.  (continue reading after the jump . . .) Continue reading »

A REMINDER: TNOTB SAMPLER NOW READY FOR DOWNLOAD

 Metal News  1 Response »
Apr 152011
 

On Monday we tipped you to the fact that our friends at The Number of the Blog had assembled a compilation of music from 18 bands. In the comments, we even gave a really high-level sketch of the musical styles represented on the comp.

Well, the comp is now ready for download, at no charge (unless you feel like throwing a few dollars in the direction of TNOTB). Here is the link for the Bandcamp page where you can do the download.  And here again is the track list:

1 – Cormorant – ‘Scavengers Feast’
2 – Returning We Hear The Larks – ‘Uprising’
3 – Enditol – ‘Monoculture’
4 – Tre Watson – ‘Spack Jarrow’ (previously unreleased)
5 – Iron Thrones – ‘Against The Grain’
6 – Robots Pulling Levers – ‘Sumati II’ (previously unreleased) (featuring George Richman of Hypnorock)
7 – A Walk With The Wicked – ‘Architects Of Sadism’
8 – Cloudkicker – ‘We’re Goin’ In. We’re Going Down.’
9 – Shades Of Devastation – ‘Art Of Agony’ (previously unreleased)
10 – Amogh Symphony – ‘Osiris 1′
11 – Giant Of The Mountain – ‘Awakening’ (previously unreleased)
12 – Keith Merrow – ‘Heart Of The Sea Nymph’ (featuring Jeff Loomis of Nevermore)
13 – Shaidar Logoth – ‘Mashiara Shai’tan’
14 – I’ll Eat Your Face – ‘Dr. Pancake’s Luxurious Ratskin Housecoat’
15 – Soul Cycle – ‘Rising Defiant’
16 – Cut Your Teeth – ‘T.W.H.W.Y.T.B.’
17 – Assimilated Mind Phase – ‘Breeding Insanity 2.0′ (previously unreleased remix)
18 – Brent A. Petrie – ‘Collapse/Conquer’ (previously unreleased)

A PETER STEELE TRIBUTE ALBUM YOU DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT

 Metal News  9 Responses »
Apr 152011
 

This is a public service announcement.

Yesterday was the first anniversary of the death of Peter Steele, the frontman for Type O Negative. I am not feeling especially sad about the death of Mr. Steele. I am not happy about it either. I’m just indifferent, because (a) I did not know him personally; (b) I have never spent the time necessary to explore and learn to love the music of Type O Negative. I bought the band’s final studio album, Dead Again, when it came out in 2007, and it simply didn’t vibrate my tuning fork to the right frequency, so there I stopped.

HOWEVER, I am aware that many people genuflect before framed photographs of Peter Steele and remain heart-broken over his passing. Therefore, I am sharing this news because I try not to allow my own personal interests in music to dictate EVERY LAST FUCKING THING WE DO ON THIS SITE — merely 99% of what we do on this site.

The news is that MetalUnderground has organized a compilation of Type O Negative songs performed by other bands, as a tribute to Peter Steele, and made it available for purchase beginning yesterday, the anniversary of his death. Lest you think this was just a rank effort to make a buck off of the helpless teariness of Peter Steele fans, MetalUnderground states that the $3 it’s charging for this 12-track comp “covers the costs of the mechanical license and the transaction fees” and that “Metalunderground.com will be donating any leftover profits to charity.”

You can’t argue with that. So, I bought the comp, because I was curious. So far, I’ve listened to one song because I like the band who played it — A Band of Orcs. It was worth the $3, and I’ve got 11 tracks to go. Check out the track list and hear the Orcs after the jump . . . Continue reading »

ARCHSPIRE UPDATE

 Metal News  7 Responses »
Apr 152011
 

In December, for one of our MISCELLANY posts, we wrote about a then-unsigned technical death metal band from Vancouver called Archspire that had really impressed the hell out of us. The band featured two guitarists who blazed away on 7- and 8-string guitars, a bassist who worked wonders on a 6-string fretless bass, and a drummer and vocalist who matched them stride-for-stride.

By sheer chance, the following month we interviewed  Virgil Palazzolo, the head of a French record label called Trendkill Recordings, and within days of that learned that Trendkill had just signed Archspire to a recording contract — a coincidence that made us quite happy.

Last week, Archspire’s Trendkill debut, All Shall Align, became available digitally on iTunes and it was released as a limited digipack CD in Europe yesterday; the CD will be released in the U.S. and Canada on April 21. That limited digipack CD and a very limited CD/T-Shirt bundle, which features eye-catching artwork by Toshihiro Egawa (Dying Fetus, Suicide Silence, Devourment, and more) are still available at Trendkill’s webshop (here).

A few days ago we learned that the album is now streaming at a French site called Deezer (here). If you’re a fan of bands like Origin, Decrepit Birth, or Spawn of Possession, we think you’ll fall hard for Archspire, and now’s a good time to listen to the album while that stream lasts. If you happen to live in Canada, you’ll soon have the chance to see Archspire live — because they begin a 3-week tour of the country today. Dates and places follow the jump . . . Can you tell that we think this band fuckin’ rocks? Continue reading »

ULVER: WARS OF THE ROSES

 Album Reviews  6 Responses »
Apr 152011
 

(Our UK contributor Andy Synn provides this review of the new album by Norway’s Ulver, which will be released by the Kscope label on April 25 in the UK and on May 3 in the U.S.)

At their recent London show, Ulver, in traditionally uncompromising fashion, elected to play the entirety of their as-yet unheard new album, start to finish, as the majority of their set without reference to the classics or fan favourites. Thus my first exposure to the music was as part of a brilliant, shining experience of crystalline dynamics, stark, psychedelic sounds and captivating visuals. Thankfully, the record stands up to this live experience, confirming and expanding upon my initial impressions.

Essentially Wars Of The Roses stands as a companion piece to Shadows Of The Sun. Where Shadows… was warm and subtle, the new album is colder and more starkly portrayed. Much as the artwork of Shadows… reflects the warm shades of melancholy contained within, so does the beautiful, minimalist black and white art of Wars… reflect the clarity and extremity of emotion contained within.

Yet for all the cold and stark presentation of dichotomous musical elements on this album, there is a deep seam of emotion to be discovered beneath the surface. Whereas Shadows… was earthy and masculine, Wars… is ethereal and feminine, a female moon to a male sun, brilliant whiteness and deep shadows containing grand sweeping vistas of divergent emotions.  (more after the jump . . .) Continue reading »

UNCOVERING HIDDEN GEMS

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  7 Responses »
Apr 152011
 

(Today we’re happy to feature another guest post. This one came to us from NCS reader Rob K., and includes thoughts about some of his recent discoveries among bands both new and not-so-new — plus music, of course.)

When it comes to hobbies, people look for fulfillment. Something that centers you, relieves stress, provides mental clarity and peace of mind. A place you can escape to where no one else can bother you.

Everyone has their niche, be it wine connoisseurs, beer enthusiasts, foodies, stamp and/or coin collectors, Star Wars collectors, what have you. Don’t get me wrong, I love all the aforementioned things (save for maybe the Star Wars memorabilia and stamp collecting). For me, it’s music. More specifically metal.

“But Rob,” you say, “how does metal bring about peace of mind and mental clarity when it’s all over the place?” Well friend, it’s all in your perception. It’s controlled chaos. It’s not for everyone, no doubt, but there’s a level of challenge to this music that appeals to people like us. Metal culture is also notorious for it’s trolling and general flaming, mano a mano, directed against bands whose genre ends in “-core”, for example. But I digress. It’s also a HUGE, pulsing underground community where you’ll see a strong bond of brotherhood, sharing, and the occasional grab-assing and bad hair cuts.

Star Wars pr0n anyone?

From the lyrics to the thundering double bass and faster-than-light guitar solos, there’s an art in metal. It’s about anti-culture, facing the world head-on, against the grain. Metal rarely gets enough limelight to be considered mainstream. Yet it thrives in the underground. Negate all the stupid scene kids and retarded fashions, and dig deep to the hardcore fans of EVERYTHING metal. disregarding the suffixes of “core” or whatever the fuck “shoegaze” is.

One of my favorite things to do is to scour the interwebs for new/old, exciting, unheard of (even in the relatively small community of metalheads) bands. By searching, I stumble across some really obscure and occasionally EXTREMELY talented bands that I may not have otherwise heard, plus some not-so-obscure bands who are new to me. Check them out after the bump (that is, if you’re still reading this).

Continue reading »

A TETRAHEDRON FOR THURSDAY

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  6 Responses »
Apr 142011
 

As expected, I haven’t had the time lately to do anything in-depth for NCS (and thanks again to all our guest post-ers for bailing me out) but I still do have time to put together quick items every now and then, just to keep the new metal flowing along its molten path from our ears to yours.

My original title for this post was “A Trio For Thursday”, because I’d heard new songs from three bands over the last 24 hours that got me excited. But then, as I was finishing this up, I came across a brand new fourth one that I just had to include. Not wanting to abandon my affinity for alliteration, I tried to think of a word beginning with “T” that means four of something.Voilà! In geometry, a tetrahedron is a shape composed of four triangular faces, three of which meet at each vertex — like a pyramid.

So, here we go — four songs, and I can guarantee you’ll like at least one of them, or your money back. The first is yet another new track from the UK’s Xerath from their forthcoming album II. The second is another track from Malfeitor, a Swedish death metal band whose new music we’ve already featured more than once recently. The third is a song by a group of Norwegian death-thrashers called Exeloume. And last, but not least, we’ve got a new song from a UK band called Detrimentum who we’ve been pumped about for a while.

Feast your ears on the tunes after the jump. Or, more accurately, allow the music to feast on your ears. Continue reading »

FILTH, VITRIOL, AND FREE MUSIC!

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  3 Responses »
Apr 142011
 

(In yet another of this week’s guest posts, The Artist Formerly Known As Dan joins us again at NCS with a special piece on hardcore music — which is a genre we don’t often cover at this site.)

I sometimes get the vibe that hardcore is misunderstood, especially by self-proclaimed metalheads – not that I’m an expert, but just that a lot of good music is filtered out because of the label. In fact, that statement is true for many genres, but is a debate for another day. I know I personally used to avoid anything labeled “hardcore” like the plague, because I assumed it was going to be some tough-guy bullshit fest that was basically punk with drop-tunings. How ignorant I was. Anyway, the point of today’s post is not to highlight the differences or start debates, but to introduce you to bands you may have slept on that I believe can be classified as hardcore or have hardcore roots (again, subjective, but Islander gave me the podium).

Swamp Thing

For fans of: Maylene and the Sons of Disaster, thrash

These guys fucking rule. If you like your music raw, straight-ahead, and visceral, Swamp Thing is for you. Just filthy hooks and catchy rhythms all over the place. Hailing from Richmond, VA, you can hear just the slightest hint of southernness to the music. It’s great, I tell you. Disclaimer – MetalSucks premiered their EP last month, and that’s where I first heard about them – gotta give credit where credit is due. (more after the jump, including tracks to stream . . .) Continue reading »

DEPTH

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  2 Responses »
Apr 132011
 

From the beginning of this site, we’ve tried to shine our dim, flickering, low-wattage spotlight on bands from all over the world, in addition to the metal that’s being created in the U.S. and Canada. The Middle East is one of the regions to which we’ve paid attention. With very few exceptions, bands from that region don’t get nearly the notice they deserve here in the U.S.

One of our guides to Middle Eastern metal is a first-rate blog called Metality, which is the brain-child of a dude from Egypt who goes by the name iRoar. Metality is on the verge of releasing a new compilation of music (their second) that will include songs from at least 50 different bands. Yes, that wasn’t a typo — 50 bands, including several we’ve featured at NCS in the past. We’re proud to be a co-sponsor of that comp — and you’ll see more details about it in the near future.

One of the bands whose music will be included on the comp is a melodic death metal band from Kuwait called Depth. A couple days ago, Metality featured a song by the band called “Necropolis” that’s really impressive, and I wanted to share it with you. Even better, it turns out that Depth is making its full-length, self-titled album plus its recent EP, Memento Mori, available for free download. After the jump, you can check out the song and get info on the downloads. Continue reading »

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