NO CLEAN SINGING

VITRIOL – SUFFER & BECOME

Jan 182024

(DGR sets out to discover what Vitriol have become on their second album, out next week)

It’s been four years and change since the release of Vitriol‘s stunning full length To Bathe From The Throat Of Cowardice and, save for an EP of re-done/re-approached earlier material from an embryonic form of the band released during the plague years, we haven’t really heard much from them since.

And while there have been other groups in the meantime that have attempted (and sometimes succeeded) to play at the same relentless firestorm level, what makes Vitriol in particular work is the perceived integrity and passion in their music.

You get a sense listening to them that they mean every word that they say and will only stop when whichever vocalist is on the mic runs out of a) space for words or b) breath to utter said words.

But constantly maintaining that level of intensity will, inevitably, burn anybody out… which brings us firmly back around to Vitriol‘s second full length release, because it’s not humanly feasible for a group to exist at that level of intensity all over again… is it?

SANTACREU – CANÇONS D’AMOR, DOL I ENYORANÇA

Album Reviews 1 Response »

Jan 172024

(Andy Synn has fallen in love with Santacreu‘s recently-released debut album, and hopes you will too)

While we’re still in a slightly odd place here at NCS, what with Islander still being held hostage (by his day job), I’d say that DGR and I have managed to keep the lights on and the content flowing pretty well so far.

And while he’s got his eyes and ears attuned to a few albums coming out next week, I’m looking the other way and highlighting a few albums we missed last week that I think deserve your attention.

Case in point, Cançons d’Amor, Dol i Enyorança is the debut album from cinematic Spanish Post-Metal collective Santacreu, and quite possibly (nay, probably) the first (or, at least, one of the first) albums we’ve ever reviewed sung (and I do mean sung) entirely in Catalan.

It’s a moving, multi-faceted and frequently mesmerising piece of work, from start to finish, and one which should find a lot of favour amongst the more atmospherically and/or melodically inclined of our readers.

LORD DYING: “CLANDESTINE TRANSCENDENCE”

Album Reviews 1 Response »

Jan 172024

(Didrik Mešiček reviews of the new album by Lord Dying ahead of its January 19 release)

The utter nonsense of “new year, new me” is surprisingly somewhat true for me this year as I’m delving into some sludge metal, a subgenre I’ve not really followed much before.

I wasn’t aware of Lord Dying before they had a show here, in Ljubljana, and I was told they were very impressive live and that I should check them out.

It turns out that was a good suggestion and I’m now not at all bitter about missing them. Absolutely not. Continue reading »

EXOCRINE – LEGEND

Album Reviews 1 Response »

Jan 162024

(DGR takes on the upcoming new album from Exocrine, out 26 January)

The idea that Exocrine are on their sixth full length release with Legend is one that is mildly eye-popping.

The French Tech Death group have done extremely well for themselves with a very specific formula – one whose sheer violence and velocity is akin to lighting a pallet of Piccolo Pete fireworks all at once and just letting it screech until the neighbors call the cops – that they’ve re-forged and refined time and time again, album after album, but which is still recognizably “them”.

Credit must be given as well to the band for the fact that even as the Tech Death arms race has gone nuclear (and beyond) they’ve always tried to be something more than just a bunch of relentless speed-merchants from the massive slab of headbanging groove which underpinned Molten Giant to their willingness to be completely insane on discs like Maelstrom and The Hybrid Suns, as and when the need arises.

Well, apparently those last two albums weren’t quite big enough to contain all of the band’s insane intensity, and so we have Legend.

ὉΠΛΊΤΗΣ – ΠΑΡΑΜΑΙΝΟΜΈΝΗ

Album Reviews 4 Responses »

Jan 152024

(Andy Synn reviews the recently-released new album from mysterious one-man army Ὁπλίτης)

It is, quite frankly, somewhat astonishing how productive Liu Zhenyang, aka Ὁπλίτης, has been since the release of their debut EP in the closing days of 2021.

What’s even more astonishing is that, despite its prolific nature, the quality of their output has never wavered over the course of the subsequent three albums (some might say they’ve only gotten better, in fact).

Each time a new record rears its head part of me expects to be disappointed – surely they can’t maintain this consistent a level of quality, at this rapid a pace, forever – and each time I’m happy to be proven wrong.

And now, barely a year on from the release of their very first full-length, Ὁπλίτης may have already locked down a place on my End of The Year list with their fourth album, Παραμαινομένη.

BIZARRE / DEMO-ESQUE BLACK METAL OF 2024: SO FAR, SO GOOD, SO WHAT?

Album Reviews 1 Response »

Jan 142024

(Axel Stormbreaker returns… with his list of top obscurities released so far in the current year)

2024 has been a fun year so far. So much so that I’m giving you a short list of random goodies I’ve been enjoying. Since most selections here have only been released digitally, better mark my words, dear tape labels, ‘cos untold riches lie before you. You’ll be earning so much cash you won’t ever know how to spend it.

I’m pretty sure, now that I wrote this, that every band on my list gets filthy rich beyond their wildest imagination. Because everyone is hanging on my lips. I’m truly that amazing.

P.S.: Expect to read a lot of nonsense that may hopefully make a whole lot of sense. It’s the only serious thing about this prologue, anyway. Continue reading »

DGR’s… HELL I DON’T KNOW, HERE’S SOME MUSIC FROM 2023: 10-01

LISTMANIA 2023 7 Responses »

Jan 122024

(It’s the final countdown… of DGR‘s top ten records of 2023)

I feel like I’ve lit a fuse leading to a powder keg with this one because as of this writing I’ve finally sent in the other four chunks of this year end list, meaning I can no longer hide behind lethargy and malaise and actually have something of a deadline to answer to.

I am a fucking idiot.

The final block of albums is going to have a lot of familiar names from years past. As much as I picked on groups for playing it a little too close ot home earlier on in this tome, there were just as many familiar names that did manage to either add something new or excel in a style that they’d been honing for some time.

I don’t think there will be too many shocking choices here or ones out of left field. There’s a solid Grind block, a small chunk of Black Metal – both venom dripping, melodic, and hybridized into something meaner – a wall of Death Metal that you’re likely used to by now and one oddball that I think is basically right in line with my personal aesthetic.

So let’s kick this last bit downhill and see what sort of rubble it picks up along the way.

DGR’s… HELL I DON’T KNOW, HERE’S SOME MUSIC FROM 2023: 20-11

LISTMANIA 2023 2 Responses »

Jan 112024

(Here we are with DGR‘s penultimate post of the week)

Every year these take a lot out of me. I’ve always said that it gets easier as you get closer to the end but this year that hasn’t been the case.

I’ve been terrified to repeat myself and so I comb over this stuff again and again to make sure that you’re not seeing the same turn of phrase to often. I know I’m slowly turning into a sentient jar of mustard as I get older but at the very least I don’t want it super obvious that I don’t language no good more these days.

This block is where a lot of the heavy hitters lay, not in terms of critic-bait or the ones that are shared on a lot of people’s lists – though I’d hazard about half of the bunch here are popping up elsewhere since I am a simpleton – but because the music may be some of the punchier stuff I’ve included thus far.

We’ve also got the much vaunted “watch DGR describe a bunch of music that he lacks the vocabulary to do so!” bit, which is always fun as those have often felt like I’m attempting to ride downhill with a plastic trash can lid as a sled and the amount of control suggested therein.

The party – and the cheap shots at my fellow writers [someone’s forgotten that I have editorial control – Andy] – continues tomorrow and I’ll finally send this damned thing off with coins over its eyes to pay the ferryman.

I’ll see you then. Hopefully.

DGR’s… HELL I DON’T KNOW, HERE’S SOME MUSIC FROM 2023: 30-21

LISTMANIA 2023 No Responses »

Jan 102024

(We’re half-way through the week and half-way through DGR‘s round-up of his favourites from 2023)

Part three is where this list starts to journey up its own ass a little bit [Starts? – Andy].

In between my penchant for Death and Grind truly starting to show itself here, you’ll notice a lot of the critical favorites that’ve been going around maybe poking their heads up.

I don’t consider myself truly in touch with “the scene” as a whole – I’ve happily ensconced myself in a comfortably corner here – yet occasionally one or two do land on these far shores and get noticed.

This one has a couple of odd blocks to it – you’ll see them right about the time I call them out – there’s multiple forms of insanely dumb on here as well as insanely smart, and if you like some high peaks and some low, guttural valleys, I think I’ve got a pretty even spread on this part of the list.

Thirty or so is where things start to harden a little more when it comes to exact number placement so now you can start your arguing as if what’s written here is written in stone. Just remember that stone can be blown up too.

DGR’s… HELL I DON’T KNOW, HERE’S SOME MUSIC FROM 2023: 40-31

LISTMANIA 2023 5 Responses »

Jan 092024

(DGR continues his run-down of his favourite releases of 2023)

This segment is an intriguing one for me because you start to see a few of the EPs I enjoyed throughout the year popping up.

I’ll go deeper into why I didn’t split them out as I come across them but alongside all of that noise there’s a bunch of the weirder and more challenging works of my year.

There’s hooks and power-choruses to be found for sure but some these groups are going to make you work to get there.

This is also where a lot of my old favorites find themselves – its like how I have a fondness for Mountain Dew, I know what one tastes like and I know that I still whole heartedly enjoy a particularly good one – since they’re known factors and did very good versions of their sound.

They deserve to be highlighted and rewarded for that even as I explored elsewhere for much of 2023 as I think I did hit a bit of a breaking point when it came to having simply good additions to a group’s overall discography.

The next edition should be equally exciting if I ever get up to fighting my way through it as I think there’ll be a lot of interesting names there – though I assure you its none of your favorites, so stop asking.

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