NO CLEAN SINGING

AN NCS PREMIERE: VULTURES — “ETERNAL SLEEP”

Jul 102024

As you gaze upon the nightmarish cover art for the Javanese band Vultures‘ debut EP, you can understand the title they chose for the record: Divine Retribution Unleashed. But then also consider what horrors might await if those hideous beings became your companions in dreams, crouched upon your chest during an… eternal sleep.

“Eternal Sleep” is indeed the name of the song we’re premiering today from Divine Retribution Unleashed in advance of the EP’s joint release in different formats on July 15th by the multi-national triumvirate of Death in Pieces, Onyx Stone Blood Records, and Oldskull Production.

It’s one of 6 songs on the EP, all of them connected to each other to form a single storyline, with lyrics and events drawn from the Qur’an to narrate subjects such as “Pharaoh and Moses, war, death, aftermath, and doomsday”. Or, to put it differently, the narrative represents (in the band’s words) “a reminder of the destruction that has occurred in the past, as well as the destruction that will occur in the future, which is just a matter of time”. Continue reading »

AN NCS DEMO PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): CLACTONIAN — “DEA MADRE”

Album Reviews, Premieres, SHORT BUT SWEET No Responses »

Jul 102024

We have written frequently over the last six years about the music of the Italian band Thecodontion, whose primeval and prehistoric thematic interests have been as interesting and erudite as their guitar-less but ever-evolving formulations of death metal. And so we were highly intrigued to learn that Thecodontion vocalist G.E.F. had started a new band named Clactonian, joined by Thecodontion drummer V.P. (also in SVNTH) and Finnish musicians who include Ashen Tomb on the resume.

Like Thecodontion, the thematic interests of Clactonian are rooted in prehistory, and particularly the Paleolithic Age. The name itself is a term given by archaeologists to an industry of European flint tools made by an extinct species of archaic humans who lived hundreds of thousands of years ago. (You can find more about here.)

Clactonian‘s debut demo, which we’re premiering today, is entitled Dea Madre (“Mother Goddess” in Italian). It too has prehistoric connotations, because that title refers to the famous Venus of Willendorf, a small figurine discovered in 1908 that’s estimated to have been made around 29,500 years ago. As this article discusses, researchers have speculated that the figure and others like it represented an early fertility deity, perhaps… a mother goddess. The figurine’s image features in the cover art of Dea Madre, with notable modifications in keeping with the music.

But what about the music on the demo? Although you might guess that it is linked to the musical interests of Thecodontion, it instead pursues a different path, a path of early bestial black/death metal that (as G.E.F. has told us) draws strong influence from Beherit but also should appeal to fans of Archgoat, early Bathory, and some bass-driven bands like Barathrum or early Necromantia for the slower sections. Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: THORIUM — “ECLIPSED”

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Jul 102024

Today we help spread the news that on September 20th of this year Emanzipation Productions will release a new album named The Bastard by the veteran Danish death metal band Thorium.

To help build anticipation for this new sixth full-length from Thorium, today we’re also premiering a video for “Eclipsed“, the first single from The Bastard, which will be released on July 11th paired with a B-side song named “Underground” that’s also on the new album.

But first we should tell you about the Thorium lineup as it currently exists…. Continue reading »

BEST OF BRITISH: AKLASH / PIJN / TURIN

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Jul 102024

(Andy Synn highlights three more examples of home-grown heaviness from the UK)

I was originally intending to finish and publish this particular article last week, but issues at work, combined with covering for Islander here while he was off attending Ascension Festival, meant things fell behind schedule.

I even thought I might be able to get it finished over the weekend, only to spend Friday afternoon/evening having fun axe-throwing (and then drinking) to celebrate my friend Chris’s birthday, followed by a night of beers and whiskey with (most of) the band on Saturday, and then a day spent having drinks (and doughnuts) with some of my fiancé’s friends on Sunday… so that didn’t happen either.

Still, better late than never, right? And I promise it won’t be as long until the next edition (for which I’ve already got 2 out of 3 bands confirmed).

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: THE PATH OF MEMORY — “NOT ALL MADNESSES MAY BE BAD”

Exceptions to the Rule, Premieres No Responses »

Jul 092024

Long-time visitors here (and of course many others elsewhere) will recognize the name Bornyhake, the nom de plume of the Swiss musician whose talents have featured in an extraordinarily broad range of bands and personal projects since the late ’90s, perhaps most prominently Borgne, Enoid, Pure, and Kawir.

Just looking at the Metal-Archives list of Bornyhake‘s current and past bands (32 o0f them at last count), and the fact that he also owns a recording studio and record labels, leads to the conclusion that music must be a necessity of life for him, perhaps second only to air (or a close third after the peskiness of food and water).

What’s also evident is that constant exploration and evolution must be an equal necessity, and that conclusion is reinforced by a Bornyhake solo project named The Path of Memory — a name you won’t find on that extensive M-A list, which is something of a broad clue about the nature of the music. Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: DUNE — “SIEVE”

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Jul 092024

We’re told that the Saudi band Dune first formed around 2004 but went on hiatus in 2007 before making a public release — “hiatus” being a word often used instead of “split up” when the passage of time leads to a subsequent resurrection.

And Dune did indeed revive (thankfully), releasing a single in 2022 (“Refuge“) and another in 2023 (“Reject“). And then in May of this year they released their first EP, entitled Years of Chains, which includes those two singles and two more songs. It thus marks the 20th anniversary of their original formation.

Dune have explained that they wrote the songs on the EP years ago, but never got a chance to record them properly. After picking out these four tracks from their originals following their revival, they of course finally have recorded them, and we’re happy to help spread the word through our video premiere of “Sieve“, the EP’s opener. Continue reading »

WORMED – OMEGON

Album Reviews 2 Responses »

Jul 092024

(DGR dives over the event horizon of the new album from Spanish cyber-slam destroyers Wormed)

There was a sort of mad cackle that emerged from me after the first few runs of Wormed‘s newest issuance from the supermassive black hole at the center of the galaxy.

It was maybe after the third spin of Omegon that I couldn’t help but laugh, a semi-rueful one somewhere between Ralph Wiggum’s “I’m in danger!” chuckle and one that was in awe of the band somehow managing to unleash yet another disc of mind bending tempo shifts and instrumental destruction.

Honestly, what it comes down to is the question facing every writer when they’re handed a Wormed released (Omegon being my second) which is… “how in the unholy hell am I even going to describe this thing?“.

AN NCS INTERVIEW: KRALLICE

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Jul 082024

(Andy Synn recently scored an interview with Colin and Lev from Krallice – whose new album, Inorganic Rites, is out now)

Somehow, as the years have gone by, I’ve ended up being our “go to” guy when it comes to Krallice.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m a big fan (though perhaps not a typical one, as my favourite albums are Ygg Huur, Prelapsarian, and Psychagogue – not necessarily in that order) but I’ve not exactly been shy about being critical about what I think does and doesn’t work when it comes to the band’s increasingly experimental output during my time here at NCS.

That’s the thing with making music of a more “experimental” bent though – it’s not necessarily all going to work, nor will it necessarily give you the results you were aiming for even when it does.

But, like any good bunch of sonic scientists, Krallice have clearly learned something from each and every experiment (especially over the last several releases, which have found them flirting with more and more synth, drone, and ambient elements), with the result being that the band’s new album, Inorganic Rites truly feels like the culmination of everything they’ve been working on for the last 4-5 years.

It is, perhaps, the most “cinematic” of all the group’s records to date, successfully achieving (despite what its title may suggest) an unexpectedly organic balance between the many different elements of the band’s signature blend of kaleidoscopic mathemetallic chaos, as well as an almost seamless fluidity which makes it possibly the band’s most accessible work – despite its inherent darkness – in a long, long time.

So when the band themselves reached out to us to ask if we’d like to talk to them about the record – and not, as I first assumed, to yell at me for what I wrote about Mass Cathexis – you know we jumped at the chance, with the results of my conversation with drummer Lev Weinstein and vocalist/guitarist/engineer Colin Marston now being made public for the first time.

PIAH MATER – UNDER THE SHADOW OF A FOREIGN SUN

Album Reviews 1 Response »

Jul 082024

(Andy Synn takes a look at the new album from Brazilian Prog-Death dynamos Piah Mater, out now)

We are, each of us, the sum total of many different things.

I am both my father and my mother, and through them their parents, grandparents, and so on, down through the years.

At the same time, I am also the totality of my choices, my experiences, and a variety of unpredictable epigenetic factors which combine to form my sense of “self”.

But we are also, all of us, more than these things.

As are Piah Mater.

AN NCS INTERVIEW: OCEANS OF SLUMBER

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Jul 052024

photo by Zach Johnson

(We present Ben Manzella‘s interview of Cammie and Dobber Beverly from the Houston-based band Oceans of Slumber, whose new album will be released in September by Season of Mist.)

In a time when complexity seems to be despised, I am thrilled by the upcoming LP from Oceans of Slumber. With nine new songs and an intriguing interpretation of “Wicked Game” by Chris Isaak to end the record, Oceans of Slumber start their time on Season of Mist by releasing a record that feels like an epic novel or adventure film perfectly fit for the overall uncertainty in life.

This isn’t grandiose music that plays to escapist tendencies. For me, as I’ve spent the last few weeks with these songs, this has become the soundtrack of a personal transition that I’m not ready to confront but feel somewhat forced to handle. Tomorrow is never a guarantee, and I welcome songs that match the daunting scale of my mental health as well as my physical limitations due to recent health challenges.

Without turning this into a journal entry, I’d rather share my conversation with Cammie and Dobber Beverly from Oceans of Slumber. I likely could’ve chatted with them longer, but my internet isn’t the most reliable and I wanted to keep things reasonable. Thanks, again, to Dobber and Cammie for their time, as well as to Will at Season of Mist for helping me arrange this conversation. Continue reading »

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