AN NCS INTERVIEW: DEATHCODE SOCIETY

 Interviews  No Responses »
Dec 282023
 

(In the interview we present here, Comrade Aleks spoke with Arnhwald R., vocalist/guitarist in the French band Deathcode Society, whose latest album Unlightenment was released on November 24th of this year by Osmose Productions, and is well worth your time.)

How many bands do you know that use deep-sea fishes on their artwork? Diceratiidae especially… And as Diceratiidae, or any other anglerfishes, lure small fishes with their bioluminescence, so the French black metal band Deathcode Society lures listeners with the image of a hellish Diceratiidae on their new album Unightenment.

It’s the band’s second album, and as Nicolas S. (bass), Grégoire G. (drums), David C. (guitars), Arnhwald R. (vocals, guitars), and Mike Barber (guitars) are busy with other bands and projects, it took some time before they finished this one.

Honestly, I’m suspicious of metal subgenres that are tagged as “symphonic”, but Deathcode Society’s Unightenment is balanced regarding the presence of orchestrations. The fish, the name of the opening song “Scolopendra”, the video they shot for it – everything points to the band’s creativity and artistic approach to their craft. Why not discuss this? Continue reading »

LISTMANIA: GONZO’S TOP 20 ALBUMS of 2023, PART II

 LISTMANIA 2023  6 Responses »
Dec 272023
 

(To help bring life to the dead week between Christmas and New Year’s Day we continue presenting year-end lists by our writers. Today we have Part II of a two-part list by our Denver-based contributor Gonzo. You can find Part I here.)

It’s only when you start to write your year-end list that you realize how much shit you didn’t listen to each year. I’m not even sure how that happened, given that I’m borderline psychopathic about keeping track of what I listen to every week, but the result here – the top 10 in my yearly two-parter – is something I feel represents the best of what I heard throughout 2023.

I could make up for that with a list of “honorable mentions” that didn’t quite make the cut, but in all transparency, the day job and life have culminated into a real bitch of a time-suck this month. So, this will be briefer than I’d prefer, but here it is no less. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: BOUNDLESS CHAOS — “RIP OUT THE ROOTS”

 Premieres  No Responses »
Dec 272023
 

We find ourselves on the bridge between the old year and the new, still reflecting on the ruins and glories of the past 12 months but also looking ahead to whatever degradations and marvels 2024 might bring.

One of those marvels is already blooming, like a viciously thorned black rose. Well, that’s one way of thinking about Sinister Upheaval, the debut album from Germany’s death/thrashing Boundless Chaos that’s set for release in January by Dying Victims Productions.

A better way is to envision a pitch-black red-eyed steed racing at you across the bridge from the gates of hell, confronting you with a choice: Vault onto it for a breathtaking, blood-pumping ride or get trampled.

You’ll see what we mean when you hear the new album track we’re premiering today: “Rip Out the Roots“. Continue reading »

LISTMANIA: GONZO’S TOP 20 ALBUMS OF 2023, PART I

 LISTMANIA 2023  5 Responses »
Dec 262023
 

(To help bring life to the dead week between Christmas and New Year’s Day we continue presenting year-end lists by our writers. Today we have Part I of a two-part list by our Denver-based contributor Gonzo, with Part II to follow tomorrow.)

While it’s one thing to have your Spotify Wrapped viciously critiqued by an army of your peers, only the truly dedicated (or most antisocial) among us will go so far as to lock themselves in a room for several days to list out – in lavish detail – what they feel are the best albums to be released over the past year.

And just like my ability to craft an absurdly long sentence to begin the exercise of assembling such a list, this year’s top picks spared no expense in grandeur. From post-metal gems to forward-thinking, avant-garde atmosphere that we all might look back on in 10 years and think, “good god, this is underrated,” 2023 had a little something for everyone in the world of metal.

I’ll get right to it, then – this is the first half of my top 20 albums of the year. For those of us keeping track at home, that means you’ll find #11-20 below and #1-10 will follow soon. (Provided my day job doesn’t try to kill me in the process.) Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: THE MAGUS

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Dec 262023
 

(Comrade Aleks has brought us another great interview as the old year draws its last breaths, and this one is his discussion with one of the founding progenitors of Hellenic Black Metal, Magus Wampyr Daoloth of Necromantia and now The Magus.)

The name of The Magus may sound new for us, but it’s the band of Magus Wampyr Daoloth that started after disbanding of the Hellenic black metal legend Necromantia in 2021. The Magus himself (bass, vocals) and two of his bandmates from another well-known act Thou Art Lord – Maelstrom (drums) and El (guitars) – continue to explore the territories inside and outside black metal borders and follow the path of Darkness or Light (depending on the perspective).

The band’s first full-length album Βυσσοδομώντας is just released. Its title translates as “building in the depths” or “conspiring in the darkness”, a proper name for this collection of occult practices and epiphanies.

We had a pretty good interview with The Magus done for the Spanish magazine This Is Metal, and I’m glad to share its full version here. Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK: ENSLAVED, NOCTEM, OBSIDIAN TONGUE, BORKNAGAR, HAUNTOLOGIST, MAUDISSEZ

 Album Reviews, Exceptions to the Rule, SHADES OF BLACK  2 Responses »
Dec 242023
 

For reasons explained yesterday, this is likely to be the last Shades of Black column until we reach Sunday, January 21st, when I hope I can then resume.

I barely have time for this one before the iron hand of commerce rudely forces my nose down to the grindstone again, even though the nose is already ground down to a nub. So let’s get right to it.

P.S. If you don’t see something here you wish I had included, see yesterday’s explanation and then feel free to mention the release in a comment and share a stream link. Continue reading »

THE WEEKS AHEAD (AND SOME MUSIC NOW)

 Album Reviews, Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  9 Responses »
Dec 232023
 

I didn’t name this column “Seen And Heard On A Saturday” because it’s not the usual assortment of recommended new songs and videos, though I do have a few of those in here at the end. Mainly I wanted to let people know what’s going on at NCS and what the next few weeks will look like.

We’re still in the midst of our annual Listmania orgy, though nearing the end of its main phases. Our Readers’ Lists (in the comments on this post) are still growing, and the only way that stops growing is when people lose interest in 2023 and wholly give themselves over to 2024. We’ve completed rolling out the lists we traditionally share from bigger platforms than our own. And we’re well along in the rollout of lists from our writers and usual guests.

At this point I have three more of those latter lists to present, in addition to the final two Parts of Neill Jameson‘s 5-part list. I’ll get all of those posted in the coming week after Christmas Day. Another list or two might arrive after I write this, and might spill over into the week after next.

Next week I’ve also got three premieres on the schedule, and then five more for the first week of 2024. But beginning that week, things are going to have to change around here. Continue reading »

NEILL JAMESON CAN’T SHUT THE FUCK UP: A 2023 LIST III

 LISTMANIA 2023  1 Response »
Dec 222023
 


photo by Hillarie Jason

(One of the perennial highlights of our year-end LISTMANIA series are the articles Neill Jameson has contributed, and we’re very happy that he’s doing so again this year. This one is the third of five Parts we’ll be publishing. To be clear, Neill wrote the title of this feature himself. And hey, you should check out Krieg‘s new album Ruiner too.)

Five. There’s five of these things in total. This is the third one.

These are getting more and more difficult to write because I’ve always taken a minute or two to refresh my memory on what I’m writing about but this year I’ve found myself just drifting off and listening to more and more of each release, which causes a slowdown in my progress. 

This is all fascinating to you, I’m sure. I’ve let my tea grow cold, let’s dive into it before I write more about my old womanly habits. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: VARATHRON

 Interviews  No Responses »
Dec 222023
 


photo by Kostis Emmanouilidis

(On December 1st Agonia Records released a great new album by the renowned Hellenic Black Metal band Varathron, and in the time leading up to that release Comrade Aleks had an excellent discussion with Varathron‘s drummer Haris, which we are pleased to publish today.)

Varathron (translated from Greek as “extremely deep gorge”) is one of the three pillars of the Greek black metal scene along with Necromantia and Rotting Christ. Now, 35 years after the band’s foundation, only one member remains from the original lineup – Stefan Necroabyssious (vocals), but his colleagues Achilleas K. (guitar), Haris (drums), and Sotiris (guitars) joined Varathron almost two decades ago; and Stratos Kountouras (bass) has been in the group since 2012.

This is a strong, well-coordinated team of musicians, each of whom not only puts his soul into the black craft of Varathron, but also performs with other bands, giving free rein to different creative ideas. Their discography is replete with smaller releases, so the new full-length work The Crimson Temple is only their seventh in this line.

This album is a good example of infernal creativity and devilish devotion to the ideals of black metal, both in music and in lyrics, and our interview with Haris confirms this. Continue reading »

LISTMANIA 2023: A YEAR-END LIST FROM SEB PAINCHAUD (TUMBLEWEED DEALER)

 LISTMANIA 2023  No Responses »
Dec 222023
 

(Seb Painchaud, the main man behind the Montréal band Tumbleweed Dealer, has very expansive and eclectic musical tastes, which is one reason why for eight years in a row we’ve asked him to share a year-end list with us. This one, as usual, goes in all sorts of different directions.)

2023 was a year that had music. Here is some of it.

“Why waste time say lot word when few word do trick?” – Ashton Kutcher (Or at least some guy that looks like him) Continue reading »

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