REVENANT MARQUIS: AN INTERVIEW BY NEILL JAMESON AND THE PREMIERE OF “ALL THE PLEASURES OF HEAVEN”

 Album Reviews, Interviews, Premieres  1 Response »
Oct 052023
 

(On October 6th Death Prayer Records will release All the Pleasures of Heaven, the final album by the Welsh black metal band Revenant Marquis. Today we are privileged to present an interview by Neill Jameson (of Krieg) with S., the person behind Revenant Marquis, followed by a premiere stream of the new album.)

It becomes difficult, after being involved in a scene for so long, to overcome that jaded, nearly apathetic feeling and truly lose yourself in someone’s music fully. For the last few years I’ve felt this way about Revenant Marquis. Truly unique and disturbing black metal, created alongside an unnerving aesthetic, Revenant Marquis stands as one of the most authentic voices of horror in a cacophony of lesser acts vying for attention.

Manifesting his first recording in 2019, Revenant Marquis has cast a long shadow across twelve public releases, with his newest, All the Pleasures of Heaven being the final, and darkest, spell he has brought to life. Today we have the honor of presenting this record to you as well as the final words from the man himself. Continue reading »

GONZO’S HEAVY ROUNDUP, SEPTEMBER 2023

 Album Reviews  2 Responses »
Oct 052023
 

(Our Denver-based contributor Gonzo is back with another end-of-month column, recommending five albums released in September that he thoroughly enjoyed.)

I have to admit that I love fall, if for no other reason than the temperatures stop trying to boil me alive.

Music-wise, though, there was actually too much good shit that came out in September than I had time to write about, so I had to trim down some stuff that otherwise would’ve appeared here. But I loved what ended up making the cut – some of it was full of surprises, and some of it was stuff that lived up to the hype.

Let’s get weird. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: ONE OF NINE — “THE SILENCE OF HEAVEN”

 Premieres  2 Responses »
Oct 042023
 

“Listen. Here is One of Nine. An image Shrouded in Unlight.
A sound Enchanted by the Mother of Strangling Doom.
One of Nine. Unfaced, & unlit. They present here their efforts, a collection of tales. An offering to the perilous realm and the Great Tyrant of Utumno!”

That is how the Wolves of Hades label introduces an album named Eternal Sorcery by the mysterious black metal collective who call themselves One of Nine. They also characterize it as “a vortex of Black Medieval Sorrow”.

What this means is revealed in part through the album track we’re premiering today in advance of the record’s release on October 27th: “The Silence of Heaven“. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): CRYMYCH — “SONGS OF SISTRUM”

 Album Reviews, Premieres  No Responses »
Oct 042023
 

The mysterious Welsh band Crymych are one of a small handful of secretive bands called the Pembrokeshire Black Circle, so named because of their location in the county of Pembrokeshire in the southwest of Wales, bounded on three sides by the ocean. Apart from Crymych, the best known member of the Circle is Revenant Marquis (who will be the subject of an interview by Neill Jameson and an album premiere we will publish tomorrow).

Crymych made their second release last year with an album on Death Prayer Records fittingly named Endless Fucking Winter (available here) (their first album Du Bach came out the year before that). This writer tumbled to Endless Fucking Winter thanks to its appearance on Neill Jameson‘s year-end list at Invisible Oranges. He wrote this about it:

If Voivod were mostly an ambient band when they recorded but also rooted in black metal and also had Jouni Havukainen sit in and contribute then you’re close to how I would describe Endless Fucking Winter and I’d still be off the mark. Coming from the same circle as Revenant Marquis, this Welsh collective aesthetically fell in line with their compatriots but managed to craft an atmosphere unlike almost anything I’ve ever heard. Deranged, challenging and yet very memorable, Endless Fucking Winter seemed to fly under the radar for many this year, which is a shame as it’s pure excellence.

Having heard that album, we were quite excited to learn that Crymych had followed it up fairly quickly. And it will be in your hands and heads very quickly too, with a release date on October 6th via the same Death Prayer Records — preceded by a full premiere stream right now. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: WARCRAB — “SWORD OF MARS”

 Premieres  No Responses »
Oct 032023
 

I’ve previously written that when I listeneded to WarCrab‘s music I used to think of the kind of whumping sound that would be produced by a giant battering ram pounding against concrete pylons and ejecting the rebar out the other side. I also sometimes thought of Bolt Thrower and Crowbar, and not just because Transcending Obscurity Records refers to those bands in the context of describing WarCrab‘s forthcoming album The Howling Silence.

But this new album requires a reconsideration, or at least a partial reconsideration. Although WarCrab are still quite capable of punching holes through concrete, they’ve brought out other armaments and moods in The Howling Silence and created a shape-shifting amalgam of death metal and sludge that formidably expands their musical horizons.

That much was evident from the first three singles that emerged from the album, and the conclusion is reinforced by the fourth song that we’re premiering today. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: TETRAGRAMMACIDE — “SPECTRAL HYAENAS OF AMENTA HOWL, THE VULTURE OF MA’AT DESCENDS, AND TAHUTI WATCHES WITHOUT HIS APE”

 Premieres  11 Responses »
Oct 032023
 

We can confidently predict that the forthcoming second album by Kolkata-based Tetragrammacide will drop jaws, boggle minds, and pop eyes wide open among fans of black/death metallic extremity. That prediction won’t come as a complete surprise to people who’ve heard the band’s previous releases, but even for those people this album may strike like a revelation.

As before, Tetragrammacide‘s new music is one violent audio vortex after another, creating an overarching experience of explosive sensory overload. Yet it truly is also head-spinning, not merely ruthlessly assaulting but also remarkably intricate and technically lights-out, which are dazzling qualities that become vividly apparent thanks to the album’s professional production.

As fan have also come to expect, the band’s fondness for song titles of extravagant length and esoteric meaning is also jaw-dropping. You can see that in the name of the song we’re premiering today — “Spectral Hyaenas Of Amenta Howl, The Vulture Of Ma’at Descends, And Tahuti Watches Without His Ape” — and in the album’s title: Typho-Tantric Aphorisms From The Arachneophidian Qur’an. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: CIRITH UNGOL

 Interviews  No Responses »
Oct 032023
 


photos by Peter Beste

(Cirith Ungol continue a strong resurgence with a new album set for release on October 20th by Metal Blade Records, and to help pave the way we present Comrade Aleks‘ interview of the band’s drummer and co-founder Robert Garven.)

Since being formed in 1971, Cirith Ungol has remained one of most long-running heavy metal bands on Earth. They fought for their place under the sun and recorded four full-length albums during their first two decades, but disappeared almost unnoticed in 1992.

The band’s comeback in 2015 was a blast, but they didn’t just gather to play just a few reunion shows, and the new album Forever Black appeared in 2020. They didn’t waste time during the pandemic, and the EP Half Past Human (2021) came out first.

Now Metal Blade Records will be releasing the band’s new work, Dark Parade.  After all those years the band includes two original members who stood at its foundation in 1971 — Greg Lindstrom (guitars, keyboards) and Robert Garven (drums). Tim Baker (vocals) joined them in 1976, and Jim Barraza (guitars) came to Legions of Chaos in 1988. Jarvis Leatherby (bass) is the youngest member of the band, but he played a significant role in Cirith Ungol’s resurrection in 2015.

The flame of good old and a bit doomy heavy metal shall burn! And Robert Garven himself found some time to speak about Dark Parade and the stories behind him. Continue reading »

BLOG BREAK

 Off Topic  6 Responses »
Sep 292023
 

Today the three oldest of old-timers around here (Andy Synn, DGR, and myself) will be making our way toward the California coast to attend a wedding on Sunday of some dear friends, one of whom used to write for NCS. As a consequence, we have nothing planned for the site today, and it’s unlikely I will write the usual weekend columns either.

In a certain demographic at the wedding, including the bride and groom, there will be a lot of metalheads. In the other demographic groups, probably not so much. The entrance and exit music at the ceremony probably won’t include Slayer or Metallica. Probably little or no metal at the wedding reception either, even if someone could find metal that people could dance to. Mosh pits or a wall of death would be fun to see but that probably ain’t happening.

I did look for live music in the area on Saturday night, which we will have to ourselves. I found a karaoke night at an American Legion hall. But hell, it will be better to shoot the shit with friends anyway, lubricated by a few adult beverages. Continue reading »

CONCERT REVIEW: VOLA, BENT KNEE, AND WHEEL – Denver CO, Sept. 15, 2023

 Concert Reviews  9 Responses »
Sep 282023
 


VOLA – photo by Heli Andrea

(Denver-based NCS writer Gonzo had himself a hell of a good time at a show about two weeks ago, and made time to show his appreciation in the following review.)

Denmark’s VOLA has always been a fascinating band to me. On one hand, their sound is an angular, merciless assortment of riffs that pay homage to the likes of Meshuggah, while on the other hand, one could be forgiven for comparing their vocals to that of Radiohead.

It sounds like a confusing juxtaposition on paper. But the way these Danes (and one Swede) in VOLA have cultivated their sound into its final form is no less remarkable. Their 2022 album Witness was a favorite of mine from that year and continues to get much of my attention now.

When they announced their biggest North American run yet, I circled the date on my calendar and let the excitement build. My hopes were already high, but the addition of Finland’s Wheel and Boston’s Bent Knee as supporting acts only bolstered the anticipation levels.

The result, as it turned out, would be a night I would not soon forget. Continue reading »

AN NCS EP PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): SINNERY — “BELOW THE SUMMIT”

 Album Reviews, Premieres, SHORT BUT SWEET  No Responses »
Sep 282023
 

Last year we opened the floodgates on a great volume of words when we premiered and reviewed a new album named Black Bile by the Israeli band Sinnery. We were delivering a full stream of the album, so what was the point of all those words?

The point was to try to wake people up and get them to look past the simple genre descriptions of “thrash” or “death/thrash” that seemed to follow the band around like lost dogs. The point was that Sinnery‘s music is much more multi-faceted and thus much more interesting than the labels might suggest — and also even more riotously exhilarating.

Black Bile was so damned good that we’re very damned fortunate Sinnery have quickly followed it up, releasing three singles this year and now a new EP named Below the Summit that includes those, plus two more tracks. Once again, we’ve got a full stream for you, and once again a torrent of words. Continue reading »

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