NO CLEAN SINGING

GONZO’S END-OF-SUMMER MEGA-ROUNDUP

Sep 012023

Radiant Knife

(NCS contributor Gonzo rejoins us with a selection of seven albums he’s been greatly enjoying over the summer that’s now drawing to a close.)

Summer has a habit of hitting me harder and faster than an Archspire blast beat, so with that in mind, I’ve developed a tradition of compiling my usual monthly columns into one bigger-than-usual compendium at the end of August.

There was plenty to sift through over the past three months – along with some other shit that was released before then that somehow flew under my radar. Let’s dig in.

AN NCS PREMIERE: LACRAU — “QUEDA”

Premieres No Responses »

Sep 012023

On September 22nd the Monumental Rex label will release an album named Axioma, which is the debut recording of the Portuguese band Lacrau, whose lineup includes members of Carma and Everto Signum.

The album is a conceptual work crafted from elements of Depressive, Black, and Doom Metal that grapples with the burdens of aging, and it was inspired by the legendary Scandinavian ritual of senicide. As the band explain: “It is told that the practice consisted in elderly people throwing themselves, or being thrown, from precipices after becoming unable to take care of themselves or perform everyday tasks”.

Written in Portuguese, the lyrical narrative of Axioma describes the ritual from different angles: “the realization of the burden, the journey to the cliff, the induced feelings and the acceptance of the fate.”

In July we premiered the song “DECLINIO“, and on this Bandcamp Friday we follow that with another track premiere from the album. This one is called “QUEDA“. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: VACUO — “TO THE PUTREFYING CHANTS”

Premieres No Responses »

Sep 012023

Florence is one of the many jewels of Italy, a Tuscan city renowned for its art, architecture, and rich cultural history. But like all of the world’s great cities it has also been the setting for terrible events.

In areas near the city, for example, a serial killer known as The Monster of Florence murdered 14 victims (mutilating many of them) over the course of a decade or more in the 1970s’ and ’80s, and we’re told that it is in the area of those infamous events where Vacuo was born.

This solo project draws inspiration not from the beauty of Florence but from abyssal and abismal visions, and creates frightening audio renderings of them from ingredients of lo-fi black metal, abraded dungeon synth, noise, and freakish electronics.

Vacuo‘s debut, the work of sole member A., takes the form of an experimental EP named To Languish and Despair, which will be released by the Italian label Xenoglossy Productions on September 29th, and today we’re introducing you to its chilling fascinations through our premiere of the EP’s opening track, “To the Putrefying Chants“. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): GRAVE PILGRIM — “THE BIGOTRY OF PURPOSE”

Album Reviews, Premieres 5 Responses »

Aug 312023

One good turn deserves another. Yesterday we premiered a fascinating new album by Forest Thrall being released tomorrow by Death Prayer Records, and today we’re premiering another fascinating Death Prayer release, also hitting the streets tomorrow.

This one is The Bigotry of Purpose, the second full-length from the Oregonian melodic black metal band Grave Pilgrim, which follows the band’s self-titled debut album in 2021, and a 2022 EP named Molten Hands Reach West. Continue reading »

THE SYNN REPORT (PART 162): HUMANITY’S LAST BREATH

THE SYNN REPORT No Responses »

Aug 312023

Recommended for fans of: Black Tongue, Fit For An Autopsy, Nightmarer

While the term “Deathcore” is still a dirty word to some of our readers – they might not always be able to define it, but they know they hate it when they hear it – I think we’ve managed to make a pretty good case over the years as to why the real cream of the crop is just as worthy of your attention and acclaim as in any other genre.

And when it comes to the creme-de-la-creme of the Deathcore scene, the bands who have not only played a part in defining what the genre has become over the last ten years or so, but also helped push the boundaries of what it can be, no conversation is complete without Humanity’s Last Breath.

Sure, the group’s sound on their eponymous 2013 album seems almost quaint now when compared to the absolute monster they’ve developed into – with their recently-released new album taking their more progressive, dynamic, and atmospheric approach to new heights (and even more crushing depths) – but to understand how the band (originally more of a solo project of mastermind Buster Odeholm, but recently expanded into an eight-legged musical murder machine including vocalist Filip Danielsson, drummer Klas Blomgren, and guitarist Tuomas Kurikka) got to where they are now we need to go back to where they came from.

SEEN AND HEARD: DAUÐARÓ, STORTREGN, AZIMUT

Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC 2 Responses »

Aug 302023

The best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men gang aft a-gley, but they didn’t gang a-gley today: I succeeded in completing the second Part of today’s roundup of new songs and videos. If you missed Part 1, here’s a convenient link to that.

DAUÐARÓ (Iceland)

I couldn’t resist beginning with this first advance track from Dauðaró‘s new album Nýir Heimar because (a) the cover art is fantastic and I wanted it to be at the top of this page; and (b) the song is scary as shit and why should I be the only frightened person around here? Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): FOREST THRALL — “AMIDST PINES”

Album Reviews, Premieres 1 Response »

Aug 302023

Following up their 2022 debut album Apparitions of the Golden Horned, the New England-based black metal band Forest Thrall are set to release a second album entitled Amidst Pines on September 1st via Death Prayer Records, and we’re happily premiering it in full today.

Like a trip through previously un-visited ancient woods, the album follows a continually turning path that reveals unexpected sights, not all of them of earthly origin. There is a “backwoods” and “folkloric” quality to some of the music’s ingredients, but it also rakes the senses like rusted blades. Sometimes it sounds primitive and sometimes surprisingly elegant, sometimes diabolically deranged and sometimes spellbinding. The one thing the music isn’t is mundane or dull. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: JOB FOR A COWBOY, HINAYANA, MAZE OF TERROR

Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC 1 Response »

Aug 302023

Here we have another hump-day roundup of new songs and videos. This one is a little shorter than usual but that’s because I have ambitions to make this a two-part edition. Indeed, I’ve already picked the stuff for Part 2, but I didn’t have time to write up everything for a single post — I have to turn to an upcoming album premiere I haven’t quite finished.

However, I didn’t call this Part 1 because between now and when I can turn back to Part 2 some kind of shit could unexpectedly rain down on my plans. Time will tell….

JOB FOR A COWBOY (U.S.)

JFAC released their last album Sun Eater nine years ago. In his review, my colleague Andy opined that it saw them “taking some big leaps, and some big risks, with their sound, going proggier and more melodic overall, without pandering to notions of popularity and accessibility”. “That’s not to say it doesn’t absolutely crush when it wants to,” he wrote, “it’s just that it’s now more intricate, more layered, and more expansive in its vision, than ever before”.

Based on some of the surprised reactions to JFAC‘s new single, nine years later, you’d think Sun Eater had been forgotten. The band didn’t forget. They seem to have picked up almost right where they left off nearly a decade ago. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): WEALD AND WOE — “FOR THE GOOD OF THE REALM”

Album Reviews, Premieres 3 Responses »

Aug 292023

Weald and Woe, once a solo project but now a complete quartet, are based in Boise, Idaho, but in their music they have more than one foot planted in Britain and Europe as they existed 1000 years ago, give or take. Their current label, Fiadh Productions, puts it well in describing the band’s new album For the Good of the Realm:

“Weald and Woe combines the majesty of the medieval era with the ferocity of classic black metal inspired by Obsequiae, Véhémence, Darkenhöld, Immortal, Ensiferum and many others….

“The new full-length is both dreamy and intense, capturing bygone eras of courtly love and epic battles. The band’s music walks a fine line between triumphant and sophisticated choruses balanced with frigid, breakneck riffing that paints an often elegant but bleak soundscape as the listener is transported to a different time. Swords not optional!” Continue reading »

CRYPTOPSY – AS GOMORRAH BURNS

Album Reviews 1 Response »

Aug 292023

(Andy Synn rekindles his long-standing love affair with Canada’s Cryptopsy)

It’s an unfortunate truism that life often forces us to make difficult choices.

Paper or plastic? Ketchup or mustard? Which one of your children would you save in a house fire…

Ok, so that last one is (thankfully) much more rare, but my point is that some decisions often seem impossible.

Case in point, next week sees the release of new albums from two of Death Metal’s heaviest hitters and techiest titans, aka Dying Fetus and Cryptopsy.

But chances are I’m only going to get chance to write about one of them prior to their shared release date.

Of course, the more perceptive amongst you may have already worked out which record I chose to cover, but I want you to know, all the same, that the decision wasn’t easy…

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