NO CLEAN SINGING

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: DIMENTIANON — “BLACK ANGEL”

Mar 102023

A complete biography of the NY band Dimentianon would consume many chapters, and probably test the patience of most readers. The thumbnail sketch is that the band was born in 1995 under the name The Forgotten and then changed to Dimentianon seven years later after releasing a pair of demos, a debut album, and a split. In the ensuing years Dimentianon experienced numerous lineup changes, participated in many shows with numerous household names in the metalverse, and released four more albums, most recently the 2021 “comeback” album Dreaming Yuggoth, which emerged after an 11-year gap.

Fortunately, the lineup has remained stable since then, resulting in a new album set for co-release this year on April 14th by Symbol of Domination (Moldova), Paragon Records (US), and Pest Records (Romania). Entitled Chapter VI: Burning Rebirth, it’s an hour-long work that again features founding member and vocalist M, drummer and cellist Matt Hass, keyboardist and additional vocalist Don Zaros (Evoken), and guitarist/bassist Joe Fogarazzo (who also performs church organ on the record).

Once more, Dimentianon have interwoven ingredients from black, death, and doom metal, but the eclecticism of the stylistic alchemy doesn’t end there, as you’ll discover from the song “Black Angel” that we’re premiering today through a lyric video. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: AETHERIUS OBSCURITAS — “CLOAK OF WOLVES”

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Mar 092023

This year the Hungarian black metal band Aetherius Obscuritas celebrate their 21st year of existence by releasing their ninth album overall. Bearing the name A sors szürke pora (“The Grey Dust of Predestination”), it will hit the streets on April 15th through the cooperation of Ukraine-based GrimmDistribution and the U.S. label Paragon Records.

The last time we spoke of this veteran band was in 2020, when they released Mártír, the immediate predecessor to A sors szürke pora. We wrote then:

The Hungarian black metal band Aetherius Obscuritas are certainly capable of mounting musical assaults of cut-throat savagery and spine-tingling wildness, but what makes their new album Mártír stand out from the barbaric pack is, for want of a better word, their adventurousness. The compositions are elaborate and multi-faceted, and the results can seem like musical potions that produce enthralling as well as electrifying effects.

We’ve repeated that little summary because you’ll find some of those same adjectives in our following descriptions of two songs from the new album, one of which we’re happily premiering today — “Cloak of Wolves“. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: DERHEAD — “THIS CHAOS IS FOR YOU ONLY”

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Mar 092023

Undoubtedly, many of you visiting this page will already be familiar with the avant-garde Italian black metal project Derhead, thanks to the increasingly distinctive music captured on a pair of demos and a pair of EPs that have seen release since 2016 (though the project’s existence can be traced back to 2001). But for those who may be newcomers, we’ll disclose that Derhead is the solo work of multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Giorgio Barroccu from Genoa, who is also the founder and co-owner of Brucia Records.

At last, Derhead will be releasing a debut album this month. Entitled The Grey Zone Phobia, it’s a 37-minute opus set for release by the same Brucia Records on March 30th. When you hear it, you’ll discover that Derhead‘s interests have continued to evolve. The label’s preview reports that this time the music has been “contaminated by an incredibly heterogeneous range of sounds spacing from Doom / Gothic Metal to what Satyricon released during the Rebel Extravaganza era.” We’ll also share Derhead‘s summing up of the album’s thematic conceptions: Continue reading »

BLACKER THAN THE BLACKEST BLACK: HORDA / RÄUM / TRESPASSER

Album Reviews 2 Responses »

Mar 092023

(Andy Synn continues his busy week of reviews with three excellent examples of black musical magic)

With so many different styles and sub-genres of Metal out there (don’t ever let anyone tell you “it all sounds the same”) it’s perhaps understandable that I, like many of you I’m sure, go through different phases of listening to certain sounds more than others.

In that spirit then, allow me to introduce you to three albums which have, in recent weeks, played a major role in getting me back into a Black Metal mode.

AN NCS PREMIERE: BACCHUS — “II.III”

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Mar 082023

At the end of 2020 the French atmospheric/psychedelic black metal band Bacchus made their recording debut with a self-titled EP, and we had the pleasure of premiering it. As we explained then, the record was composed by Moïse Mestriaux, and he also performed synthesizers and selected samples used in the music. Aiding him were members of Abyssal Vacuum, Dysylumn, and Ominous Shrine — Sébastien B. (guitars, bass, vocals) and drummer Camille Olivier F.B. (who, who also mixed and mastered the EP.

Continuing to draw inspiration from the cult of the Roman god of wine, ecstasy, and madness, these three are now returning with a debut album that’s set for release by Debemur Morsi Productions on April 7th, and we again have the pleasure of doing a premiere, this time for the second song to be revealed so far from the new full-length, along with a brief interview of vocalist/guitarist Sébastien B. Continue reading »

AN NCS EP PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): BLOODJOB — “METASTASIS”

Album Reviews, Premieres, SHORT BUT SWEET 1 Response »

Mar 082023

Just two days from now, on March 10th, the Italian label Lethal Scissor Records will release a new EP named Metastasis by the German band Bloodjob. True to their name, Bloodjob give us a bloody piece of work, an explosive five-track onslaught that’s foul and ferocious, bringing to bear ingredients of both brutal death metal and technically electrifying death metal, as well as the kind of grindcore zealotry that spawns visions of mosh pits gone wild.

The EP features the talents of a new rhythm section that joined the fold after the band’s 2019 debut album Sick Concept Humanity. And so the new EP includes re-recordings by the new lineup of two cuts from the band’s 2012 demo Misogynic Obsessions, as well as three new songs inspired by the band’s “dystopian view on the degenerating civilization we live in” — and we’ve got all five of the songs for you to hear today. Continue reading »

WITCH RIPPER – THE FLIGHT AFTER THE FALL

Album Reviews 4 Responses »

Mar 072023

(Andy Synn has a few words to share about the outstanding new album from Seattle’s Witch Ripper)

I mentioned yesterday that writing about music is a joy unto itself (or, at least, it is if you do it right).

But it’s even more enjoyable when the music you’re writing about it this good.

Because, make no mistake about it, as much as I enjoyed the band’s debut album, the long-awaited follow-up is a whole new level of awesome.

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): GOD DISEASE — “APOCALYPTIC DOOM”

Album Reviews, Premieres No Responses »

Mar 072023

In the midst of daily reminders from around the globe that humans are in fact plagued by a god disease (masking won’t help and there’s no vaccine), the band God Disease are about to land a new album, with a title that makes clear what this Finnish group see in their crystal ball: Apocalyptic Doom.

That title is also a fine summing up of the music on this Helsinki band’s second full-length, and a sign of how much further they’ve moved in their evolution from death metal to the most soul-stricken and earth-quaking doom. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: THE GRIFTED — “THE MAGGOTS FEAST”

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Mar 072023

I fucking love the promotional photos of The Grifted. I admit I’m influenced by the fact that they look closer to my generation than most current death metal bands, but it’s more than that. It’s that they are making a statement.

Surely the suit jackets, the vest, the shorn heads, and the setting are no accident. The gaze at the watch suggests they’re about to be late to some kind of professional meeting (and not with a tour promoter). It seems a way of saying (with a sense of humor), we have other lives, we’re not pandering to expectations but are more interested in confounding them, we know who we are even if you might not guess… and we’re quite happy to let our music speak for itself.

Well, you might not guess who they are, but once you know their connected histories it will come as no surprise that The Grifted‘s debut album Doomsday & Salvation is so damned good. Continue reading »

GONZO’S HEAVY ROUNDUP, FEBRUARY 2023

Album Reviews 2 Responses »

Mar 072023

Nothingness

(Another month has closed its doors, and Gonzo takes another look through them, this time spotlighting five favored albums released during February 2023.)

I can’t be alone here in saying February is the most useless fucking month on the calendar. More often than not during that godforsaken stretch of time – in its cold, dreary misery – I’m finding myself constantly losing track of time, forgetting what day it is, and scrambling to fit four weeks’ worth of plans into what seems like two.

Priorities, I suppose – that’s what it all comes down to. I’ve managed to listen to an alarming amount of music already, and seeing that we’re only just over two months into 2023, that’s always time well-prioritized.

Here’s the new shit that’s been on my heavy rotation through the last 28 days.

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