PRAETORIAN

 Album Reviews, SHORT BUT SWEET  4 Responses »
Jan 112011
 

Out here in the euphemistically named Emerald City (which is just shades of grey right now), we’re on the other side of the continent from Long Island, New York. But we can hear the explosion of metal loud and clear. First, one impressive metal band, then another, then another. Today’s review is about our latest Long Island discovery.

We first came across Praetorian while browsing new music for a MISCELLANY post we put up in early November (here). We liked the one song we heard from the band’s 2010 EP (To Dwell In Darkness) and vowed that we’d listen to the rest of the EP and write a proper review — and then got side-tracked, as often happens around here. Sometimes we get back on track. In this case, it only took two months.

To Dwell In Darkness is an ambitious work of symphonic death metal — especially ambitious for a debut release by a young band — but it’s an auspicious start. The six songs on To Dwell In Darkness are a manifestation of considerable talent, both in the intricate songcraft and in the synchronized execution. If you’re a fan of bands like Keep of Kalessin and Dissection, Praetorian are worth keeping your eyes on.  (more after the jump . . .) Continue reading »

OUR LIST OF 2010’S MOST INFECTIOUS EXTREME METAL SONGS: PART 15

 MOST INFECTIOUS SONGS-2010  11 Responses »
Jan 112011
 

Today we reach the end of the line — the last two songs on our MOST INFECTIOUS list. Our list this year was three times as long as our 2009 list, but even so there were lots of other worthy candidates we omitted — including many recommendations we got from lots of you. Truth be told, 2010 was filled with great metal releases. Picking the catchiest songs wasn’t easy, and undoubtedly we fucked it up by leaving off some winners. But hey — we fuck up a lot.

No fucking up today, though. Our last two songs are from two blazingly hot bands who produced smoking hot cauldrons of metal in 2010. We saved them for the finale on purpose because they’re two particular favorites of ours. Both bands are from Italy and when their 2010 releases were recorded, they shared a common member (though no longer). Let’s get to it.

FLESHGOD APOCALYPSE

We hope our list included at least a few surprises for you, but this isn’t likely to be one of them. Out of all the bands we could have fantasized about paying to be at our beck and call once we get the jillions of dollars that African philanthropists have promised us, this is the one we picked. (more after the jump, including the songs . . .) Continue reading »

THE FINNS ARE COMING (AGAIN)

 Metal News  14 Responses »
Jan 102011
 

No, we’re not re-starting our seemingly endless series on Finnish metal. This is just a heads-up that the second installment of THE FINNISH METAL TOUR is on the horizon. The first installment last year was one of the best shows we saw in 2010, and the next one is already causing near-sexual forms of arousal here at NCS.

Okay, maybe that was too much information. Let’s just say we’re looking forward to the new tour and leave it at that.

Here’s the arousing line-up: Finntroll, Ensiferum, Barren Earth, and Rotten Sound.

Up above is a video trailer for the tour hosted by keyboardist Kasper Mårtenson (ex-Amorphis) and guitarist Sami Yli-Sirniö (Kreator) of Barren Earth. And in case your eyes cross as you try to read the dates and places as they scroll across the bottom of the video, we’ve got the full schedule after the jump.

Be still my beating . . . heart. Continue reading »

BELPHEGOR: BLOOD MAGICK NECROMANCE

 Album Reviews  8 Responses »
Jan 102011
 

[EDITOR’S NOTE: NCS writer Andy Synn reviews Belphegor’s new album . . .]

Well, the 9th album by the real Austrian death-machine is finally here. Immediate impressions are favourable, I’ll grant you that, but really what does one expect from a band like Belphegor whose past releases have all shared the same blast-frenzy?

For one thing, I’d say the sound is more “blackened” in several ways than either of their previous two releases, the guitar tone a little sharper and less “thick” than previous album Walpurgis Rites, the cutting riffs acting more like a scalpel than a bludgeon this time around. There is also a much more refined use of melody, on almost all of the tracks, that adds a sense of atmosphere.

This approach clearly stems directly from Bondage Goat Zombie and Walpurgis Rites (which could be considered the start of a new chapter for the band), but the overall feeling of the new record is of a far more agile and dangerous beast.

Whilst the “chunkiness” of the previous two records may be mostly absent, the song-writing incorporates far more subtlety and nuance (well, as far as a Blackened-Death metal band with an obsession with Satan and Sado-masochism can be considered subtle and nuanced) and uses many of their own familiar tropes in new and interesting ways. The differences in production and tones also allow a wider emotional palette to be invoked and the whole record feels arguably fresher and more supple.  (continued after the jump . . .) Continue reading »

OUR LIST OF 2010’S MOST INFECTIOUS EXTREME METAL SONGS: PART 14

 MOST INFECTIOUS SONGS-2010  9 Responses »
Jan 102011
 

We’re down to the next-to-last installment in our list of last year’s most infectious metal songs. (Read this for our definition of “most infectious” and click the Category link called MOST INFECTIOUS SONGS-2010 to see the other listed songs to date). Two more songs today and two more tomorrow, and we’re done.

MISERY INDEX

Heirs To Thievery is another one of 2010’s best albums that we never got around to reviewing, though it appeared on several of our guest contributors’ lists of last year’s noteworthy releases. Johan Huldtgren gave it the No. 6 spot on his list and wrote: “More polished (good), less grindy (bad) than before this, it is still an amazing album.” Andy Synn included it on his list of the year’s “good” albums, explaining: “[A]t times [it] comes across as a good, but slightly less balanced, cousin to the career defining Traitors. Heirs To Thievery is not as strongly tied together as Traitors and lacks some of the gusto that was such a shock to many ears, perhaps exactly because we’d all been effectively spoiled by the superior goods offered up by Traitors.”

Although we agreed with Johan that the album is less grindy and more thrashy death than some of the band’s earlier works, it’s still a mauling dose of aggression with blazing, intricate riffage and over-the-top drum-pummeling. At the same time, despite the turbo-charged rage that screams through every song, the music triggers the need to move (as well as the desire to punch the shit out of something). The best song on the album — “You Lose” — is also one of the most infectious extreme metal songs we heard last year.  (more after the jump, including the music . . .) Continue reading »

OUR LIST OF 2010’S MOST INFECTIOUS EXTREME METAL SONGS: PART 13

 MOST INFECTIOUS SONGS-2010  7 Responses »
Jan 092011
 

We’re not superstitious. The fact that this is the 13th installment of our Most Infectious song list means nothing to us. Hotels skip the 13th floor, but only the weak-minded would skip from Part 12 to Part 14 on a list of songs. In fact, just to show how un-superstitious we are, we’re doubling down by including The Cube in this 13th part.

We did make sure our wills were in order before publishing this post. That’s not superstition. That’s just being prudent. Because The Cube is not superstition. Its existence is a documented fact. So is the uncontrollable destruction it causes. But more about that later.

Now, let’s get on with the first song we’re adding to our list — and if you’re new to this series and want to understand what we’re doing, read this and check out the other songs on the list by visiting the Category link on the right of this page called MOST INFECTIOUS SONGS-2010.

NOCTIFERIA

Noctiferia is a long-running band from The Republic of Slovenia whose 2010 album, Death Culture, we reviewed in July, summing up our reaction with these words: “Noctiferia takes a rock-solid foundation of syncopated death metal, adorns it with everything from industrial to ethnic stylings, and then sets the whole thing on fire in a spirited romp. Noctiferia blazes with speed and fury, but prays at the altar of groove.”  (more after the jump . . .) Continue reading »

“THAT’S METAL!” – BUT IT’S NOT MUSIC (No. 26)

 That's Metal -- But It's Not Music  5 Responses »
Jan 082011
 

Marshawn Lynch.

67 yards from the line of scrimmage for the winning score in the first NFL playoff round.  Six broken tackles. One massive stiff-arm.

Seattle Seahawks:     41
New Orleans Saints:  36

There will be crow. And it will be eaten.

That is all.

Except for the new Hawks theme song:

Autopsy: My Corpse Shall Rise Again

UPDATE: Okay, this is fucking ridiculous: The crowd uproar at Qwest Field that erupted when Lynch made this run was recorded as a seismic tremor — seriously.  Details after the jump. Continue reading »

MOTHERFUCKER

 Concert Reviews  10 Responses »
Jan 082011
 

One thing I like about writing this blog is I can use the word “motherfucker” whenever I want.  I can’t use that word in the writing I do for my day job, much as I’d like to, but I know none of you will take offense. After all, metalheads get called “motherfuckers” all the time — most often by bands they’re paying good money to see at shows.

Pause and reflect for a moment on that phenomenon: There really aren’t many forms of entertainment where the performers routinely call paying members of the audience “motherfuckers”. Maybe that happens at rap concerts, though I wouldn’t know. I do know it happens routinely at metal shows. If I had $100 for every time a frontman for a metal band has called me a motherfucker, I could fucking retire.

I’ll grant you, motherfucker is a great word. Sometimes, no other word will do, like when some motherfucker unexpectedly swerves his car into my lane in heavy traffic. But still, isn’t it a little bit odd to hear a band’s vocalist call all his adoring fans motherfuckers at the top of his lungs?

Last time I got called a motherfucker was at a show I saw in Seattle on the night of December 30. Neurosis was at the top of the bill, with support from Wolves in the Throne Room and a Seattle band called Black Breath. I’d heard a lot about Black Breath but hadn’t yet checked out their 2010 Southern Lord debut, Heavy Breathing, much less seen them in the flesh. They put on a loud, raucous, energetic set of heavily thrash-influenced death metal, including a sweet cover of Sepultura’s “Desperate Cry”, which you can see right after the jump (along with more impressions of that concert). Continue reading »

OUR LIST OF 2010’S MOST INFECTIOUS EXTREME METAL SONGS: PART 12

 MOST INFECTIOUS SONGS-2010  No Responses »
Jan 082011
 

Today we have two more additions to our list of most infectious songs.  Just in case you’re visiting NCS for the first time today, read this if you want to know our definition of “most infectious” and visit the Category link on the right of this page called MOST INFECTIOUS SONGS – 2010 to see and hear the other 22 songs we’ve named to the list so far. And to cut the suspense and get to the point, today’s songs are from Enslaved and God Dethroned.

ENSLAVED

Sometimes we don’t review albums because we know they’re going to be swamped with critical attention from all quarters, including net sites and magazines with massively larger audiences than we have here. Those albums don’t need our help, and so usually (though not always) we tend to focus more on bands that might slip under the radar of those other media outlets. And so it was with the 2010 release from Enslaved.

The absence of an NCS review didn’t mean we were meh about Axioma Ethica Odini. Far from it. In our opinion, the album was one of last year’s highlights. We weren’t alone in thinking that.  Several of our guest contributors who provided Best of 2010 lists for us — including Fredrik Huldtgren and Andy Synn — also raved about the album.  (more after the jump, including those tracks we like so much . . .) Continue reading »

THE SYNN REPORT, PART 1: ASTARTE – AN INTRODUCTION AND RETROSPECTIVE

 THE SYNN REPORT  12 Responses »
Jan 072011
 

Ladies and gentlemen, this is the debut of a new column which Islander has kindly allowed me to write and display here at NoCleanSinging.

Each week (ok, whenever I get round to it, they may not be weekly – or they may be more frequent, we’ll see) I’m going to be providing an introduction, a retrospective, or simply a re-consideration of  a band which I feel merits the treatment. Certain bands will be more well known than others, and primarily these bands will be part of THE SYNN REPORT simply because I feel that with all the bullshit media hype in the world, the band in question has been perhaps judged unfairly due to the influence of matters non-musical. Certain bands, however, you may not have heard of before at all, as although I do not consider myself a paragon of underground taste, there is only so much time each of us can devote to finding new music and really exploring it. Hopefully this column will help a little!

Each column will deal with a single musical entity, considering their works and progression in turn. Certain columns will be dedicated perhaps simply to eras in a band’s career and progression, considering and evaluating changes in style and direction with the benefit of hindsight and (hopefully) critical objectivity. Although that probably won’t last very long!

Anyway, for my first column I would like to introduce you to the Greek band ASTARTE.  (more after the jump, including sample songs from the band’s discography . . .) Continue reading »

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