QUICK TAKES: CONTAIGEON

 Album Reviews  7 Responses »
Jan 182011
 

New albums have been stacking up here at NCS at a rapid pace, and lots of gems have been sparkling in that pile. However, it’s become obvious that as much as we’d like to write full reviews of all those gems, there just ain’t enough fucking time. So, rather than just give up and say nothing, over the next four days we’re going to write briefly about four of the albums that have grabbed our attention in the last couple of weeks.

Don’t be misled by the brevity of our verbiage — these albums are worth your close attention, and there should be something in here to almost everyone’s liking, because the genres in play cover a goodly spectrum of extreme metal. For today, we have something for those of you asylum-dwellers who like your metal especially brutal, scalding, sometimes dirge-like, and gloriously, atmospherically evil from end to end.

CONTAIGEON

One of our readers highly recommended Contaigeon to us within the last 60 days. I usually make a note of where music tips come from so we can provide approprite acknowledgments, but I failed do it this time, and now I’ll be fucked if I can remember. Whoever you are out there, I owe you a big thank-you because this band is just crashingly brilliant.  (more after the jump . . .) Continue reading »

BURY YOUR FUCKING DEAD IS BACK!

 Metal News  13 Responses »
Jan 172011
 

Some of you old-time readers will remember that this site, and its name, were the direct spawn of our crushing disappointment/pissed-off-edness over the voluntary departure of Mat Bruso from Bury Your Dead, his replacement by vocalist Myke Terry, and BYD’s ensuing transition from a heavy-ass, metal-infused hardcore band to generic metalcore with lots of clean singing. And if you’re not an old-time reader, you can catch up by going here.

Fast forward to December 22, 2010, when none other than Mat Bruso posted a very nice comment on our Contact page, which ended with these words: “Keep your standards high and your vocals low.” And that led to a further e-mail exchange in which Mat made it clear that we should keep our ears open, because he intended to continue singing and we would be hearing from him in the future.

Now fast-forward to a bit earlier today, and the official announcement that Myke Terry was exiting Bury Your Dead — and that Mat Bruso has rejoined the band to provide vocals on the new BYD album now being recorded.  (more after the jump . . .) Continue reading »

THE SYNN REPORT, PART 2: THE GREAT DECEIVER

 Album Reviews, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC, THE SYNN REPORT  No Responses »
Jan 172011
 

Our UK contributor Andy Synn returns with another edition of The Synn Report.

Hello everyone. For those of you who enjoyed my last column, I’m back again with another band recommended and dissected – this time it’s the turn of THE GREAT DECEIVER.

The band have been active since the late 1990’s and feature in their ranks two particularly famous men from the Swedish metal scene. Whilst you may well recognise the name Tomas Lindberg (vocals) quite easily, you may not be aware that guitarist Kristian Wåhlin is also known by the name “Necrolord” and has famously produced cover art for many of metal’s elite, from Dissection, At The Gates and Emperor, to newer bands such as The Black Dahlia Murder and Becoming The Archetype.

With a musical foundation in both the Swedish hardcore and melodic death metal scenes, coupled with an intense fascination for the moody post-punk atmospheres of Joy Division (of whom vocalist Tomas Lindberg has claimed to be an avowed fan), the sound of The Great Deceiver is difficult to precisely pigeon-hole.

Whilst the guitars have a distinctly metal edge to them, the song structures and tempos lend themselves more towards the hardcore-leaning listener, albeit coupled with a distinctly odd use of twisted melody. The use of heavy tremolo-pedal distortion on the guitar leads and ringing chords is perhaps the most distinctive and consistent motif throughout the band’s work, on a par with the distinctive vocal delivery of Mr Tomas Lindberg himself. (more after the jump, including sample tracks from the band’s discography) Continue reading »

KEEP-LIVING

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  9 Responses »
Jan 162011
 

I had way too much fun last night. This morning, I feel like I’m being punished in a circle of Hell far worse than anything Dante imagined in The Inferno. But despite a hangover of galactic proportions, I’ve got something for you. Two somethings, actually. They served as a reminder that no matter how much I want to kill myself today, there are reasons to Keep . . . Living.

When we rolled out our list of 2010’s most infectious extreme metal songs, Part 2 of the series paired up songs from two of our favorite bands, Keep of Kalessin and Living Sacrifice. By coincidence, yesterday I saw two brand new performance videos that feature both bands, and they’re both good.

KEEP OF KALESSIN

Last year, Keep of Kalessin made their debut in the Eurovision contest, riding the song “Dragontower” to a third-place finish in the Norwegian finals.  Even though “Dragontower” was the most accessible song on Reptilian, KoK’s third-place finish in the national contest was further proof that Norway and the U.S. are so different that they might not really be co-existing in the same universe.

But yesterday, there was more proof. KoK made a guest appearance on the nationally televised semifinal round of the 2011 Norwegian Eurovision song contest, performing another song from Reptilian — in a duet with Alexander Rybak. I tried to think of a U.S. parallel, and the first thing that popped into my head was Immolation showing up on American Idol to perform with Justin Bieber.  (more after the jump . . .) Continue reading »

HATE

 Album Reviews  5 Responses »
Jan 152011
 

It’s January, not December, so many months will pass before we turn again to compiling a list of the year’s most infectious extreme metal songs. But if we were to do it now, ten songs on the list would come from Hate‘s new album, Erebos. It’s death metal heroin, a charged syringe of addiction, a heatseeking missile headed for the hottest part of your brain.

Hexen can flat-out fly on the drums, creating an aura of chaos without losing control, rumbling and rocking, inflicting the blasts and the double-bass at just the right moments, jolting you hard as he marks the time signatures.

Adam the First Sinner and Destroyer are galvanizing guitarists — dextrous, fiery, capable of generating a variety of tones with a variety of techniques, applying hacksaws to your spine, triggering helpless convulsions, swarming, swirling, sawing, whining, but never veering far from a foundation of industrial-strength hammering.

Mortifer‘s playing is taut and icy, his bass running underneath in a rumbling thrum and then syncing up with the guitar rhythms to infect those quasi-industrial riffs that won’t let you stay still.  (more after the jump, including a track . . .) Continue reading »

SCRIBE

 Album Reviews, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC, SHORT BUT SWEET  10 Responses »
Jan 142011
 

EDITOR’S NOTE: We’ve been hearing the name Scribe repeatedly since we started exploring Indian metal last year, so we asked our contributor from India, Siddharth Darbha, if he would give us an introduction to the band and its discography — and he obliged, with the following post.

Scribe is a box full of fun-filled pink chocolate confetti hiding a venomous snake beneath its contents. Yeah, that’s what Scribe is.

One of the most original bands found in this era, Scribe is not just two guitars, a bass, a throat, a drum kit and five pseudo-humans. No, definitely not Scribe. A concoction of auditory mutilations, pseudo glitter-infected personae and temporal hallucinations; that’s more like what Scribe has meant to the Indian crowd since its debut offering Have Hard. Will Core., which came out in 2005. A super-group of sorts, they took the nation hostage, winning quite a few national competitions and audiences all around.

Sounding like a not-so-distant progeny of SikTh, The Dillinger Escape Plan, and other mind-enhancing drugs, they incorporate a wide variety of genres into their play. As their debut EP suggests, hardcore is one of them. Frequently setting up djent tones, they also use electronic music. Time signatures fly here and there, but that is not what Scribe is about. Like the music of SikTh, the songs often feel like they are a part of something larger.   (more after the jump, including music . . .) Continue reading »

WHAT DO EATING, FUCKING, AND LISTENING TO METAL HAVE IN COMMON?

 Metal News  13 Responses »
Jan 132011
 

We have a multiple choice quiz for you. We’re capable of many awesome things here at NCS, but reading your minds isn’t one of them (yet), so don’t worry — you won’t be graded. Here’s the question: What do eating, fucking, and listening to good metal have in common? Please select from the following answers:

(a) None of them is as much fun when your parents are in the room.

(b) All three are performed with your mouth open like a big-mouth bass (the fish, not the instrument)

(c) All three cause the release of dopamine in the brain

(d) I wouldn’t know because (so far) the only thing I’ve had sex with is my hand

(e) Stay out of my life, you fucking NCS perverts

Did you make your pick?

Okay, this was sort of a trick question, because the only definitely wrong answer is (e). Three of the other answers — (a), (b), and (d) — could be winners, but that all depends on you. The only definitely right answer, according to a recent scientific study from Canada, is (c).  After the jump, we’ll look at a story about that study — and of course we’ll add our typically tasteless commentary. Continue reading »

DECIBEL’S TOP 25 MOST ANTICIPATED RECORDS OF 2011

 Listmania, Metal News  41 Responses »
Jan 122011
 

I got home from my fucking day job last night and what do you think was waiting in my mailbox — other than more fucking bills?  No, it wasn’t cash from Hong Kong — not yet (see the post below this one). It was the February issue of DECIBEL magazine (the only metal mag worth reading any more).  And what do you think was inside the magazine? Well, lots of stuff, of course, but what immediately caught my eye was the magazine’s list of the Top 25 Most Anticipated Albums of 2011.

We try to keep up with news about forthcoming releases. In fact, we run a monthly list that collects news items about albums headed our way. But the DECIBEL list still included some albums we hadn’t yet heard about. Fuck, we hadn’t even heard of some of these bands. Beyond that, of course, is the question whether the albums on the list belong on the list, and whether other deserving releases were omitted. We’re curious what you think about those issues, so leave us some comments please.

Here’s the DECIBEL list:

TRAP THEM, Darker Handcraft
COFFINS, Fleshland
DIM MAK, TBA
PIG DESTROYER, TBA
KRALLICE, TBA
BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME, TBA
PRIMATE, Draw Back A Stump (EP)
AMON, Liar In Wait
SKELETONWITCH, TBA
DECAPITATED, TBA

(the rest of the list follows the jump, plus some names DECIBEL left off their list. . .)

Continue reading »

RICHES FROM HONG KONG AWAIT!

 IQ Subtraction  8 Responses »
Jan 122011
 

Just when I’d given up on the idea that British bureaucrats, orphans, cancer survivors, car crash victims, and apparently long-lost relatives were going to end all money worries by showering me with pre-funded ATM cards, stacks of bundled cash, gold dust, and eye-popping wire transfers, it turns out all I really needed to give up on was a continent. As sources of unearned wealth go, Africa seems to be a fuckin’ zero. (If you’re new here, click the Category link on the right side of this page called IQ SUBTRACTION for previous chapters in this series.)

But Asia! Now, that’s another story — and it’s one that begins today, because I got a new offer. Yes, the dream is alive! I can dust off those moldering plans for the NCS compound — the Lorisarium, the Grolsch vortex fountain, the Cube pool, the robot-operated beer factory, the Fleshgod Apocalypse wing of the NCS palapa — because just a few days ago I got a new lead on money for nothing. I’ve got high hopes for Hong Kong!  I can already see it happening . . . first I’m gonna stack my flow, then I’m gonna stack some mo’, close shop then I do my count . . .

But first things first. Here’s the come-on, followed by my enthusiastic reply:

From: “Mr.Peter Lee”<peterjplee@fastwebmail.it>
Date: January 7, 2011 5:40:47 PM PST
Subject: Response to this letter will be appreciated…
Reply-To: <peterjplee@yahoo.cn>

Good Day To You My Friend.

It is understandable that you might be a little bit apprehensive because you do not know me but I have a lucrative business proposal of mutual interest to share with you. I got your reference in my search for someone who suits my proposed business relationship.  (more after the jump . . .)

Continue reading »

ULCERATE: THE DESTROYERS OF ALL

 Metal News  No Responses »
Jan 112011
 

The forthcoming album from New Zealand’s Ulcerate (their third) has been high on our list of anticipated 2011 releases. It will be called The Destroyers of All, it will be released on January 25 by Willowtip Records, and it’s now available for pre-order here.

The reason for this post is to make you aware (the one or two of you who don’t regularly read MetalSucks) that MS is now featuring an exclusive full-album stream of  The Destroyers of All at this location. I haven’t yet listened to the full stream (chalk it up to something I fondly call “my fucking day job”), but from what I’ve heard so far, it’s a worthy successor to the band’s stunning 2009 album, Everything Is Fire.

One more tidbit on the subject of the new Ulcerate album: The band has made one track from the album — “Dead Oceans” — available for download via its web site. To use a journalistic term of art, it’s good shit.

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