AN NCS INTERVIEW: IMPERATUS (PART 1)

 Interviews  No Responses »
May 072024
 

(Today we present Part 1 of an interview by our Hanoi-based contributor Vizzah Harri with Nattsvärd from the Vietnamese black metal band Imperatus. Part 2 will follow tomorrow.)

Imperatus is the latest black metal act hailing from Hanoi, Vietnam. Their debut album that we reviewed here can be described as nothing other than a piece of music that commanded my attention from the moment the first chords struck.

I had the privilege of meeting with Nguyễn Tấn Đạt, aka Nattsvärd, to discuss their album, At the Mercy of the Wind, and this first part of the interview lights upon their beginnings, influences and the technical aspects of the recording project. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): VÍGLJÓS — “TOME I: APIDÆ”

 Album Reviews, Premieres  2 Responses »
May 072024
 

“Not all black metal must be about Satan. There’s plenty of bands who can be obscure and straight-to-the-point with a peculiar image and, of course, very powerful music.”

That is how the Dusktone label announced the debut album from the Swiss black metal band Vígljós, and indeed, it is not about Satan. As signified by the album’s title itself — Tome I: apidæ — it’s about… bees.  But there aren’t many bands who could have made an album like this one. Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: ERNTE — “THE WITCH (WAS BORN IN FLAMES)”

 Premieres  No Responses »
May 072024
 

Today we renew our admiration for the Swiss duo Ernte, whose music we’ve previously described as “black metal that’s atmospheric and immersive, creating nightside experiences of mysticism and old magic”, but also simultaneously delivering “visceral punch and mind-scarring intensity”. Ernte’s music, we’ve written, “can be disorienting, depressive, unsettling, and even deranged, but it’s still very easy to fall prey to the music’s unearthly sorcery”.

What we’ve fallen prey to this time is a song named “The Witch (Was Born In Flames)” from Ernte‘s forthcoming third album Weltenzerstörer (“world destroyer”), which will be released by the esteemed Vendetta Records on June 7th.

Before providing the premiere of this song stream, we should put it in the context of the album as a whole, which Ernte describe as follows: Continue reading »

THINGS YOU MAY HAVE MISSED (BUT SHOULDN’T)

 Album Reviews  1 Response »
May 072024
 

(Andy Synn presents four albums from April which you may well have overlooked)

Depending on when you’re reading this there’s a pretty good chance I’ll be several thousand feet in the air, on my way to link up with the rest of the NCS crew for this year’s edition of Northwest Terror Fest.

As a result of this we’re probably going to have a quieter week than normal, posting-wise, but should still be able to get a few reviews, interviews, and assorted round-ups published to keep you all entertained (assuming you’re not also at the festival with us).

For my part, as well as a review of the new Tzompantli (which I’ll probably be working on during the flight) I’ve chosen four more artists/albums from last month – taken from a not-so-short-list that also included the likes of Antichrist Siege Machine, Carrion Vael, Exist, Full of Hell, Inter Arma, and Karst – for another edition of “Things You May Have Missed”.

And, hey, if you didn’t miss them… why not check out some of the other names I just mentioned instead?

Continue reading »

AN NCS EP PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): JUST ONE FIX — “SUBMIT OR DEATH”

 Album Reviews, Premieres, SHORT BUT SWEET  No Responses »
May 062024
 

The phraseology of “diving into” a record is intended to capture the idea of an auditory experience in which your mind is quickly surrounded by the music.

Sometimes you want to get out of the stream and towel off as quickly as possible, left cold or, worse yet, finding the waters skin-temperature and drab. Or you might get pulled deep by heavy undercurrents, making it difficult to get even your head to the surface.

Or you might experience the thrill of discovering that the waters are shark-infested, and a leg that was once attached to you has just been chewed off, leaving the waters red and frothing as the horde of other predators begin joining the feast.

That’s the kind of dive you should prepare for in Submit Or Death, the EP from New Zealand’s Just One Fix that we’re premiering today in advance of its May 10 release. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: HEMOTOXIN

 Interviews  No Responses »
May 062024
 

(What you’ll find below is Comrade Aleks‘ in-depth and wide-ranging interview of Michael Chavez, the mastermind behind the California death/thrash band Hemotoxin, whose new album When Time Becomes Loss is set for release on May 17th via Pulverised Records.)

Fresh and savage death metal from Hemotoxin is rooted in thrash and shaped in twisted progressive forms. The band itself was started in 2010 by Michael Chavez (vocals, guitars, bass), and after three full-length albums and global lineup changes it reaches its new top with the fourth album When Time Becomes Loss.

Or, as the official press-release states, “discordant in euphonious harmony yet ruminative in essence, riff-mogul Michael Chavez inflicts a gaping wound that perfectly intersects forward-thinking thrash and prog metal”.

So many people, so many opinions… However, let’s now devote our own time, as Hemotoxin’s mastermind Michael Chavez provided us the in-depth story of When Time Becomes Loss and far more. Continue reading »

WHEEL: “CHARISMATIC LEADERS”

 Album Reviews  No Responses »
May 062024
 

(We start a new week at our site with DGR‘s enthusiastic review of the new album by the Anglo-Finnish prog metal band Wheel, released late last week by InsideOut Music.)

Normally we try to keep the veil up when we cover a group, to keep the author’s personality out of the writing but in this case I feel that I have to place my neck on the chopping block in order to justify this one. If you’ll indulge more of my wanderings out of the metal world for a bit, let’s take a journey with the band Wheel.

Our history with this progressive rock/metal group is a long one. The Finnish/English combination have been hanging around the rafters of the NoCleanSinging halls for a bit now, largely due to my own fandom for their album Moving Backwards. Since then, I’ve tried to get a post or two up about them whenever they have something new to offer and in that time we’ve covered their album Resident Human – one of two albums to reference Heinlein’s writings that year – and their recent-ish EP Rumination, which was released upon them signing to major progressive rock label InsideOut.

The group’s combination of heavier metallic sounds, progressive rock, and yes, even some heftier guitar bending of the djent variety at times, is one that has allowed the band to create both short songs verging on radio rock with plenty of hooks and longer progressive numbers that have many times pulled back the curtain on shared similarities with the band Tool. Even with this in place there has always been room for Wheel to surprise, and that is still the case when it comes to the group’s newest album Charismatic Leaders. Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK: DØDSFERD, DARKEND, LIMINAL SHROUD

 Album Reviews, SHADES OF BLACK  9 Responses »
May 052024
 

I don’t have as many different things to share with you in this week’s edition of SHADES OF BLACK as I usually do, mainly because I’ve devoted most of my time to expressing detailed thoughts about a forthcoming record which I’ve found to be one of the most gripping black metal albums I’ve encountered so far this year.

After that, I’ve included a couple of recent singles that I also hope you’ll enjoy, both of which are fore-runners to eagerly anticipated albums that I haven’t yet heard in full.

DØDSFERD (Greece)

We’ll begin with the first two songs you can now hear from Wrath, the forthcoming 12th album by Dødsferd. The album’s title shares the name of the band’s founder and also describes the emotional energy that fuels much of the music. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD ON A SATURDAY: WORMED, 1349, WRACH, WOUND COLLECTOR, CEREMONY OF SILENCE

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  2 Responses »
May 042024
 


Wormed

I think I’ll begin by previewing some likely disruptions in our usual roll-out of posts during next week.

As you may know, our site is a principle sponsor of Seattle’s Northwest Terror Fest, which will have its latest incarnation on May 8-10. Andy Synn, DGR, and I (islander) will all be working the fest, beginning with a lot of heavy lifting on the day before it begins, culminating in a pre-fest show that night.

Speaking for myself, I haven’t agreed to any premieres from May 8-10 and it’s unlikely I’ll manage any of the usual weekend posts on May 11-12. Rumor has it that Andy and DGR may write some things in advance to keep us from going dark during those days, and maybe some of our other writers will send things in.

Though I expect to be bleary-eyed every morning, I also hope to at least publish more of Comrade Aleks‘ interviews, many of which I have in hand, as well as an interview from Vietnam by Vizzah Harri.

With that notification out of the way, I’ll turn to a few picks for this Saturday’s roundup of new songs and videos. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: MORGUE MEAT — “CONQUEROR’S WRATH”

 Premieres  No Responses »
May 032024
 

Eight years after the release of their debut album Mutilation in the Chapel, and seven years after their EP Realm of Eternal Suffering, the bestial Dallas death metal horde Morgue Meat are returning at last with their second full-length, Apocalyptic Visions, which is now set for co-release on May 23rd by Satanath Records (Georgia) and Pest Records (Romania), emblazoned with stunning cover art by Mark Cooper.

To help pave the way toward the new album’s release, today we’re premiering a thoroughly evil song from the record named “Conqueror’s Wrath“. Continue reading »

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