MOROKH – INSOMNIA

 Album Reviews  1 Response »
Sep 112023
 

(Andy Synn continues his ongoing love-affair with Morokh, whose new album was released just last week)

Having written about Morokh several times before, I probably don’t need to spend much time introducing them (if you’re looking for a primer then check out what I wrote about their two most recent releases here and here).

And the fact that I’m not wasting any time with some sort of long-winded intro is even more appropriate when you consider how quickly the band themselves cut to the chase on their new album, Insomnia.

Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK: NIGHT CROWNED, ASET, ANTANIA, CIRKELN, FASTER THAN THE DEVIL 2, HEADSTONE BRIGADE

 SHADES OF BLACK  3 Responses »
Sep 102023
 

I hope this Sunday finds all of you well, and ready to have your heads bounced around like tennis balls in a spinning dryer. Which is a way of saying that the music I picked for today’s collection careens around, not staying in one musical place for very long and ending with a curveball that swerves outside the black(ish) metal strike zone.

NIGHT CROWNED (Sweden)

We latched on pretty hard to the music of Night Crowned, beginning with our premiere of a song from their 2018 debut EP, Humanity Will Echo Out, continuing through our premiere of a song from their 2019 debut album Impius Viam, and moving on from there with a lot of enthusiastic commentary about their second album Hädanfärd in 2021.

And so we’re already relishing the release of their third album Tales, now set for release by the Noble Demon label on November 10th. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD ON A SATURDAY: CELESTE, FUMING MOUTH, URANIUM, TUMANDUUMBAND, MECHINA

 Exceptions to the Rule, Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  No Responses »
Sep 092023
 


Celeste

A lot of new music came out over the last week. All I can do today is lightly scratch the surface, like a friendly cat who touches their human companion’s skin with claws that let you know they’re there but without drawing blood — though some of the music here might feel like blood is being shed.

I got a very late start this morning, and so depended on late-breaking alerts from some of my NCS compatriots and a couple of other acquaintances rather than methodically clawing through my immense list of links and letting my own impulses determine the choices.I’ll probably be more self-directed in assembling tomorrow’s blackish column. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: OVERTHROW — “CAUSTIC VENGEANCE (BLINDLY DRIVEN)”

 Premieres  No Responses »
Sep 082023
 

Over the course of a demo, an EP, and a 2021 debut album (Strike Down the Saviour), it’s fair to say that the music of the blasphemous UK extremists Overthrow has evolved since their formation in 2011, moving from gritty thrash into an amalgam that has brought in elements of blackened death metal, with savagely ruinous but captivating effects.

Where that evolution has led them as of now is brazenly displayed on a new EP named Ascension of the Entombed that’s set for release by Redefining Darkness Records on Friday the 13th of October. The EP consist of four songs, and today we’re bringing you the closing track “Caustic Vengeance (Blindly Driven)“, along with an eye-grabbing visualizer video. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: SUFFER YOURSELF — “AXIS INSANITY”

 Premieres  1 Response »
Sep 082023
 

In June 2021 we premiered a complete stream of Rip Tide, the stunning third album by the multi-national funeral doom collective Suffer Yourself. We concluded a lengthy and laudatory introduction this way: “Rip Tide isn’t conventional funeral doom. It’s a multi-faceted experience that exerts a powerful, ice-cold, grip that pulls you out, far from shore, and has the power to haunt a listener long after it ends.”

This year Suffer Yourself are returning with their fourth album, Axis of Tortures, which will be released on September 22nd by Aesthetic Death. Once again we’re happy to help spread the word, this time with the premiere of the second song to be revealed from the album (and the last one you’ll hear before the album’s release).

The song we bring you today is “Axis Insanity“, the first complete track following the album’s intro piece, “Enter the Axis“. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: EUCLID C FINDER — “CORPSE PARTY”

 Premieres  No Responses »
Sep 082023
 

(Below, Christopher Luedtke introduces our premiere of a song from a new album by the Baltimore-based math/grind group Euclid C Finder.)

The resurgence of the mathcore scene in the last half decade-plus has been a refreshing one to witness. Seeing those unwilling to put to bed frenzied, jarring meter changes, the skittering of panic chords, alongside the fusing of math rock, noise rock, hardcore, punk, grind, and noise, gives the genre more mobility than most—it has a very diverse palate. Euclid C Finder is here to add to that pool with their latest track “Corpse Party.”

Originally, Euclid C Finder started out as a one-person band by vocalist Mike Mehl, but the unit has since evolved into a three-piece. Originating in 2017 in Baltimore, MD, Mehl wrote the majority of the upcoming The Mirror, My Weapon, I Love You LP between 2018 and 2022, as well as the band’s previous two releases. Bandmates Adam Smith and Seth McFarland have since joined and rounded out the roster. Continue reading »

FINSTERFORST: “JENSEITS”

 Album Reviews  2 Responses »
Sep 082023
 

(Having made his NCS debut yesterday, guest contributor Didrik Mešiček comes right back with the following review of a new album-length EP by Finsterforst, which is out today on AOP Records.)

Finsterforst first appeared on my radar with their previous release, Zerfall, which turned out to be one of the best (blackened) folk metal releases of 2019. The Germans insist on their rather complex musical style, which can seem daunting at first, but it’s very worth investing some time into their music as it does reward you with every listen.

This time the band are back with a new EP (although at 40 minutes, is it really an EP?) called Jenseits, which is really one song, divided into four parts. It will be released on September 8th on AOP Records. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: KING OV WYRMS — “TO MARCH FROM DARKNESS”

 Premieres  No Responses »
Sep 072023
 

We had some very positive things to say here about Lord Ov Thornes, the 2020 debut album by King Ov Wyrms, and we weren’t the only reviewers or listeners to greet the album enthusiastically.

It was then the solo project of Michael Oneirous Sanchez from Tuscon, Arizona, and represented a way of delving more deeply into more extreme forms of sonic aggression than his previous bands, drawing influence from classic death and black metal acts of the late ’80s and early ’90s, including such venerated names as Morbid Angel, Bloodbath, Enthroned, Vader, and Dark Funeral.

Now we are approaching the October 6 release date of a new King Ov Wyrms album named The Womb Ov Borealis, and it reflects changes, not only in the band’s lineup but also in the songwriting. All the changes take the band on a forward march, an advance that makes the new album even more impressive than the debut. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: BAXAXAXA

 Interviews  No Responses »
Sep 072023
 

(On September 1st The Sinister Flame released the second album by the German black metal band Baxaxaxa, and its impending release prompted Comrade Aleks to reach out to the band’s drummer Condemptor for an interview, which we now present today.)

German black metal act Baxaxaxa was formed in Niederwerrn, Bavaria in 1992. The demon after which the band was named didn’t help them much from the start, and Baxaxaxa was disbanded in the very same year after recording the Hellfire demo. And more than strange – Baxaxaxa was resurrected in 2017 by its original drummer Condemptor.

He gathered around himself a few more musicians (partly his colleagues from another black metal outfit, Ungod) and slowly new songs started to appear. The band’s new satanic exercises entitled De Vermis Mysteriis was released on September 1st.

Moreover, Baxaxaxa is going to hit the road and bring some black metal enlightenment to law-abiding citizens of Seattle, Los Angeles, Austin, Ridgewood, and Lombard on the second decade of September. Continue reading »

UADA: “CREPUSCULE NATURA”

 Album Reviews  2 Responses »
Sep 072023
 

(We welcome guest contributor Didrik Mešiček, who makes his first NCS appearance with the following review of a new album by Portland-based Uada which is set for release by Eisenwald on September 8th.)

I didn’t know I liked Uada up until this spring. Sure, it was vaguely alluring, with a sense of a woodland ritual and thus I had respect for the band, but their music never truly grabbed me. However, I got to see them live in March and while the sound was actually really bad, it was still very enjoyable.

In the following weeks, having listened to the setlist a few more times, I realised I absolutely adore their melodic and ritualistic black metal sound, and that means this album could not be released at a better time for me. Crepuscule Natura will be released on the 8th of September on the Eisenwald label, almost exactly three years after their previous album, Djinn. Continue reading »

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