DGR’s… HELL I DON’T KNOW, HERE’S SOME MUSIC FROM 2023: 50-41

 LISTMANIA 2023  1 Response »
Jan 082024
 

(DGR is doing his own mini-takeover of the site this week, counting down his top 50 albums of 2023)

To put things exceptionally bluntly I didn’t know if I was going to do a year end roundup this time.

Things have been exceptionally tough at home in regards to personal family matters and it’s been difficult to try to build up the will to do much of anything.

It’s an ongoing process that will likely be that way for a long fucking time.

However, I think that my reason for doing these remains the same because it does allow me to send the year off in a funeral pyre – though it’s not the only one I’m lighting this time.

Continue reading »

AXEL STORMBREAKER’S TOP 15+1 DARK-HORSE NOMINEES OF 2023: MIND-FUNK EDITION

 LISTMANIA 2023  No Responses »
Jan 072024
 

(We’ve already presented a 2023 year-end list of “Dark Horse” records compiled by Axel Stormbreaker, but the ones he left out to make the list more digestible kept chewing on him to be observed, and so now we have this supplement.)

So, here’s what didn’t make the final cut of my 2023’s Dark-Horse list. As you may have guessed, any reasons vary in each and all circumstances. There’s some stuff I found out about after I compiled my final picks. And then there are some comps / EPs I had to exclude for the sake of homogeneity. And there’s also the issue about artists who either sound commercial, or end up too popular to be considered a current part of the underground.

Plus, shoving 30+1 albums from every possible genre down your sore throat in one go seems kinda unproductive. Being a labor worker who sleeps with Sharon Stone, while remaining clueless he’s an international spy whose not-so-Mexican girlfriend is waiting for him on Mars to overthrow an evil government makes more sense comparably… especially after watching the said movie. The latter is a brilliant work of exaggerated science fiction. The former, plain madness, simply put.

So, there you go. Another list of odd records that sound cooler than your band. This time I’ll have to adjust my style to the music described, or not. But since this article’s dedicated to Total Recall and its Mind-Bending Edition, you should expect to raise an eyebrow or two on more than one occasion. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: THEOSOPHY

 Interviews  No Responses »
Jan 052024
 

(What follows is Comrade Aleks’ interview with one of the founding members of the Siberian black metal band Theosophy, whose latest album in a 20-year career was released last October.)

Theosophy is the black metal band from Barnaul, Siberia. Started back in 2004 this band released their first full-length album …Out of Decades only in 2010 and since then hasn’t stopped in developing their sound and concept.

Despite being located in that remote region, Theosophy play their stuff live whenever they have a proper chance, and so they performed not only in Siberia but also in the western part of Russia and in Europe.

Bleeding Wounds of the First and the Last is their sixth album, it was released by Epictural Production on the 27th of October, and this time they prepared something new. I’ll try to dig out more about the band’s music with the band’s founder Phantom (bass, vocals).

The interview with Theosophy was published in the Spanish magazine This Is Metal, and we are able to share it with you here. Continue reading »

LISTMANIA: A 2023 END OF YEAR LIST FROM DANIEL BARKASI

 LISTMANIA 2023  12 Responses »
Jan 042024
 

(After a considerable absence, we welcome Daniel Barkasi back to NCS, with the following 2023 Top 20 list to start, and more to come.)

Well, well, well, it’s been a minute. Well, other than an interview that meant the world to me with Serge of Selfgod in 2022, it’s been seven years. Why so long? Well, as the cliche goes, life happens. Burnout, mental health, huge life changes, job stuff, and many other things can derail the time and drive to write about all things heavy. No, the earth’s gravitational pull is just fine (I hope), and yes, get used to dated references and bad puns. Get used to that, or don’t, and detest my Seinfeld-obsessed self. Your call! Continue reading »

AN NCS SPLIT PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): ABERRATION AND DIABOLIC OATH — “DIVINATIONS”

 Album Reviews, Premieres, SHORT BUT SWEET  1 Response »
Jan 042024
 

Last month we did doing something we almost never do — premiered brief excerpts from songs off a forthcoming release, just a teaser of the full thing to come. The release in question is a 7″ split called Divinations that will be released by Sentient Ruin Laboratories on January 5th.

The split includes one song each from the U.S. black/death metal bands Aberration and Diabolic Oath. It is a timely release, not only because it helps kick off 2024 in obliterating fashion but also because the spring of 2024 will bring us new full-length albums from both bands, Aberration’s Refracture and Diabolic Oath’s still secretive but completed second full-length, and so the split functions as a precursor and taste of horrific things to come.

If you heard the teaser, you’ll probably understand why we agreed to share it despite our usual reticence to premiere anything but complete songs or full releases. But if you caught that teaser premiere, you also know that we promised to stream this split in full when the time was right. And the time is right now. Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: KAABOOS — “WRATH OF GODS”

 Premieres  1 Response »
Jan 042024
 

Every day around the world vast numbers of people leave their home countries and migrate to another one, sometimes legally and sometimes illegally, sometimes easily and sometimes at the risk of their lives. There are thousands of reasons, but in every case emotional trauma undoubtedly accompanies such a fateful decision, with a sense of loss accompanying the desire to find something better.

That sense of loss probably accompanied the Iranian musician who calls himself Atash (a name that translates to “Fire“) when he left his homeland for Norway several years ago at age 16, but rage and rebellion were also in the emotional mix.

In his case, he sought a place where he could express himself musically in ways that were severely constricted by the oppressive religious totalitarianism imposed by the current regime in Iran. Where he found his own musical fires was black metal, and his solo project Kaaboos (کابوس), which stands for “Nightmare” in Farsi/Persian, has become the vehicle for that expression.

On Friday the 13th of October last year Atash performed black metal in front of the Iranian embassy in Oslo, as a public form of protest. One film of his performance, a cover of Taake‘s song “Nordbundet“, has already surfaced, and today we present another video from that protest performance — an electrifying original Kaaboos song called “Wrath of Gods“. Continue reading »

ENGULF – THE DYING PLANET WEEPS

 Album Reviews  No Responses »
Jan 042024
 

(Andy Synn turns his attention to the highly-anticipated debut album from Engulf, out 12 January)

There are two well-known truisms which spring to mind when listening to The Dying Planet Weeps.

The first is that “good artists borrow, great artists steal” – which states that while good artists borrow ideas from their influences, while still owing them a debt, the great ones simply take what they need and make it their own.

The other is that “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts” (or, more accurately, “the whole is something besides the parts”, in its more accurate translation) – which is to suggest that defining the essence of something is about more than just describing the individual elements it’s made of.

And, make no mistake about it, while Engulf (aka New Jersey native Hal Microutsicos) assuredly steal from some of the very best here – you’ll find bits and pieces purloined from the likes of Morbid Angel, Immolation, Pestilence and Gorguts, and more besides, woven throughout The Dying Planet Weeps – the final product is certainly more than just the sum of these iconic inspirations.

Continue reading »

AN NCS EP PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): MORGUE TERROR — “MORGUE TERROR”

 Album Reviews, Premieres, SHORT BUT SWEET  1 Response »
Jan 032024
 

Today we welcome to our site (and to the rest of the world) a horror-themed death metal band from Buffalo, New York named Morgue Terror. It’s the work of two death metal fanatics — Dave (guitars) and Steve (bass and vocals) — who found their thematic inspiration in the Terrifier franchise of slasher films and their main antagonist, Art the Clown.

The movies left such a deep and gory mark that the band’s name is derived from a pivotal scene at the end of the first movie when Art the Clown emerges from a body bag, delivering a fatal blow to the coroner.

And beyond that, the five songs on Morgue Terror‘s self-titled debut EP, which we’re premiering in full today in advance of its January 5 release, delve into the murders and characters portrayed in both Terrifier movies.

As for the music itself, it’s an amalgam of varying death metal tropes, with each song deploying them in slightly different ways to create a dynamic — and demented — listening experience. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: NACHTS — “DU EWIGER HUND”

 Premieres  No Responses »
Jan 032024
 

The German musician Wiedergaenger (a member of Total Negation, Vargnatt, Absolutum, and other bands) has used his solo project NACHTS as a vehicle for moving through ever-changing sonic and lyrical terrains.

Beginning in 2009, he has released five demos and EPs under the NACHTS name, traversing lyrical themes that have included encounters in nocturnal in-between worlds, abysmal stories, and ruminations on death. Black metal has provided the musical framework, but through each release NACHTS has demonstrated an impatience with convention and an eagerness to explore different recording techniques and sound aesthetics.

At last, NACHTS will be releasing a debut album in late March of this new year. Entitled Privileg, it will come our way via the cooperation of two labels, Crawling Chaos and House of Inkantation, and today we’re presenting its first single, “Du Ewiger Hund“. Continue reading »

LISTMANIA: AXEL STORMBREAKER’S TOP 15 DARK-HORSE RECORDS OF 2023 NO ONE GIVES A CRAP ABOUT

 LISTMANIA 2023  6 Responses »
Jan 032024
 

(Axel Stormbreaker returns… with a vengeance? This year’s Dark-Horse list pays tribute to Bruce Willis and to the original Die-Hard Trilogy.)

Hey there, your favorite hero’s back, Edgelord Superfvvcker. You know, just once, I’d like a regular, normal Christmas with eggnog, a fuckin’ Christmas tree, and a little turkey. But, nooo, no love for mr. Stormbreaker. All I gotta do is crawl around in this filthy tin can till its rust seeps into my overly exhausted patience.

That being said, I’ve been feeling very sad and a bit dry, hence why you haven’t been reading about any of my absurd recommendations. But it’s the end of the year, I do love lists (Yippee Ki-Yay), so maybe I should put in some effort for all you weird-looking freaks out there. What I give you is my ultimate Top-15 Dark-Horse List of 2023’s Records No One Gives a Crap About. Or what bands I’ve been digging lately, ones hopefully truly worthy of your support.

And yes, of course I watch the original Die Hard trilogy every Christmas. What kind of question is that? Big fan of Moonlighting too. I’m an old fuck. Continue reading »

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