AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: STHENO — “FIRE!”

 Premieres  1 Response »
Sep 132021
 

 

Clues to the worldview, and the music, of the Greek band Stheno can be gleaned from the titles of their releases, which began in 2014: Damnation Is Forever, Wolfkind, Liberty Crawls in Waste, Primitive, and now their forthcoming second full-length, Wardance (which is set for release on October 8th via 7 Degrees Records and Chaos & Hell Productions.

Such a hostile and nihilistic perspective demands equally aggressive and relentless measures in the music, and in discharging their fury Stheno haven’t confined themselves within any neat genre boundaries, instead blurring the lines between grindcore, black, death, and other forms of metallic extremity. Their war-themed new album is the product of some line-up changes and includes Christian Chaco, frontman of German death-grinders Keitzer, on vocals.

What we have for you today is a video presentation of the third track premiere from the new album…. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: MRTVI — “II RHYTHM OF EMOTION”

 Premieres  No Responses »
Sep 132021
 

 

On two nights, one in November 2015 and one in October 2016, the Serbian (but UK-based) experimental black metal project MRTVI made two improvisational groups of recordings — 11 songs on the first night and 14 more on the second. The work was completed in between MRTVI’s release of its second album (Negative Atonal Dissonance) and its third (Omniscient Hallucinatory Delusion). Rather than release the improvisational works then, MRTVI held them back in order to complete the trilogy of albums that had then been planned.

But now they will be released on October 1st of this year as the two parts of an album entitled Autology: The Shadow Work. Two of the combined 25 tracks have been disclosed so far, and today we present a third one, “II Rhythm of Emotion“. Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK: DIABLATION, DUSK CULT, EOS, HEGEMON, LANGENNEET, LIGHT OF THE MORNING STAR, NON SERVIAM, VELKA, WITHERING SOUL

 SHADES OF BLACK  No Responses »
Sep 122021
 


After completing the humongous two-part roundup of new songs and videos that I posted earlier today I nearly gave up on the idea of making this regular Sunday column. Just not much gas left in the tank, and the first Seahawks football game of the season is already under way. But I know some people come here on Sundays for this column, and I don’t want to completely disappoint.

So, I did here what I did with those previous roundups — skimping on the artwork and links, and abbreviating my own commentary, in the hope that mainly tossing out the music is better than nothing at all. And so, with apologies to the bands and to people who actually enjoy the usual format, here we go… presented alphabetically by band name.

DIABLATION (France)

This first song is a frightening yet entrancing one. It reveals eerie, preternatural keyboards that seem to ring from fracturing heavens, and combines those with viscerally powerful rhythms, terrorizing vocal battalions, and racing storms of searing riffage and rampantly hurtling bass and drums. The effect is nightmarish yet intoxicating, menacingly magisterial and marauding. Continue reading »

OVERFLOWING STREAMS (PART 2)

 Exceptions to the Rule, Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  1 Response »
Sep 122021
 

 

Due to me frittering away my time with lazy and inconsequential pursuits, Part 2 of this weekend roundup of new songs and videos is like Part 1 — generally bereft of artwork, the usual links, and my own descriptive commentary. Nonetheless, it does reflect the exercise of my own (possibly addled) judgment about what is worth your time, plus a desire to provide variety.

As explained in Part 1, I alphabetized 16 choices by band name before dividing them into two segments. Here we pick up with “M” and make it to “W”.

MASTODON (U.S.)

I’m getting memories of Crack the Skye from this new Mastodon song, which is a very good thing (at least it is to me). The well-made video is mysterious, and ultimately disturbing. The new album is Hushed and Grim, due for release on October 29th by Reprise Records. Continue reading »

OVERFLOWING STREAMS (PART 1)

 Exceptions to the Rule, Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  1 Response »
Sep 122021
 

 

Yesterday a combination of factors prevented me from posting the usual Saturday round-up of new songs and videos that appeared during the week. I did spend a big block of time surveying the field and making selections, but by the time I finished doing that it was mid-day and I decided to fuck off instead of beginning to write.

It has become clear to me that I can’t do the usual writing today either, if I’m to have any hope of preparing a SHADES OF BLACK post today. So I’m resorting to the format of just throwing all this stuff at you without artwork, or most of the usual links, or my usual commentary, just a few scattered notes.

But trust me, I did exercise some judgment about what I thought was worth sharing. It’s just that I thought A LOT was worth sharing — 16 songs and videos, to be precise. I alphabetized the collection by band name and then divided it into two parts.

ANOMALIE (Austria)

This is a very welcome return after a four-year hiatus between albums. The new full-length features Nornagest of Belgium’s Enthroned on harsh vocals. The new album, Tranceformation, is coming on November 5th from AOP Records. Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: CLOUDS — “DEEPEN THIS WOUND”

 Premieres  1 Response »
Sep 102021
 

 

The internationally composed doom-stricken band Clouds have amassed a large and devoted following among listeners on the strength of five albums released beginning in 2014, and their sixth one is now set for release on October 14th. Its title is Despărțire (the Romanian word for parting).

The album was created by a slightly revised line-up, and it includes guest vocal performances by both Aaron Stainthorpe of My Dying Bride and Mick Moss of Antimatter. Further details will be disclosed in the near future, but what we have for you today is the premiere of a stunning album track named “Deepen This Wound“, accompanied by a video for which a warning has been provided. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: HURONIAN — “EVER BURNING”

 Premieres  No Responses »
Sep 102021
 

 

As we all painfully know, the pandemic has been an immense black cloud oppressively hanging over the globe with no dissipation in sight. Yet it has had silver linings, including the formation of new bands during lockdowns as creative impulses have still found ways to breathe.

The Italian trio Huronian is one such raging pandemic child. It first took shape through the will of DL and UMP in early 2020, with the inspiration of following in the path of classic melodic death metal and death/black metal manifested by such groups as Dissection, At the Gates, and Sacramentum. Eventually joined by drummer MM, they worked together remotely and recorded a demo that was digitally released last year, and now they’ve readied a debut album named As Cold As A Stranger Sunset that’s set for release on October 29th by the French label Dolorem Records.

This 8-track release is going to be an eye-opener, and you’ll understand why we think that when you listen to the album track we’re premiering today, which has the completely fitting title “Ever Burning“. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: VOIDHRA — “SORROW GUIDES US ALL”

 Premieres  No Responses »
Sep 102021
 

 

In May of this year the one-person black metal band Voidhra from southern Germany self-released its debut EP, Sorrow Guides Us All. No doubt some people discovered what a fantastic release that was, but it also undoubtedly passed under the radars of lots of listeners (sadly including us). But it’s about to make a much wider and deeper impression through a new release set for October 29th by the Crawling Chaos label.

To help spread the word we’re today premiering the title song from this four-track, 30-minute EP. It has become the basis for our own discovery of Voidhra, and what an astonishing discovery it has been. The song we’re premiering today channels tremendous visceral power, with an intense emotional impact, and its bleak yet incendiary melodies prove to be very memorable. Continue reading »

NORTHWEST TERROR FEST 2022 (A LUDICRA REUNION AND A LOT MORE) — TICKET SALES BEGIN TODAY

 Metal News  2 Responses »
Sep 102021
 

 

No Clean Singing is again proud to be the principal sponsor for Northwest Terror Fest. The pandemic prevented NWTF from holding the fest in 2020 and 2021, but the fourth edition of the Seattle-based festival has now been announced for June 30 – July 2, 2022.

Early-bird festival passes go on sale today (September 10) at 10AM Pacific Time, 1PM Eastern Time, and to help push those sales NWTF is announcing that the fest will feature an exclusive reunion performance by US black metal legends Ludicra. The band, who disbanded in 2011, made this statement about their performance:

“We are pleased to announce that Ludicra will be returning to the stage at NWTF 2022. All five of us are looking forward to sharing the stage again and we hope to see you there!”

That’s tremendous news, but it’s not the only festival announcement that NWTF has released this week. A few days ago we also announced the first round of confirmed bands for the event next year:

REPULSION, SUFFOCATION, WINDHAND, OBSEQUIAE, MIZMOR, RINGWORM, CLOAK, GRAYCEON, HAUNTER, XIBALBA, VILE CREATURE, EXULANSIS, RACETRAITOR, SQUALUS, CARTILAGE, ORYX, SUCCUMB, FUNERAL CHIC, WORMWITCH, and DISEASE. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: OBSCURA QALMA — “AWAKEN A SHRINE TO OBLIVION”

 Premieres  No Responses »
Sep 092021
 

 

On November 14th, Rising Nemesis Records will release Apotheosis, the debut album of the Venetian extreme metal band Obscura Qalma, a record that provides the follow-up to their 2019 EP, Sheol to the Apeiron. Creating what the band describe as “blackened heavily orchestrated death metal”, they have drawn influence from the likes of Behemoth and Septicflesh, Death and Dissection, Hypocrisy and classical music, and film-score composers such as Alexandre Desplat.

But the band’s influences and inspirations are not limited to musical ones. They have created elaborate hybrids of sound in service of philosophical investigations that are equally elaborate. As the band explain: “”Inspired by Friedrich Nietzsche and Sigmund Freud, as well as by contemporary figures such as Massimo Recalcati and James Owen Weatherall, Apotheosis (from the Greek meaning, “To Deify”) explores human existence in an epistemological solipsistic view. Elevated to divine status, from a higher point we can look at the external world as an unresolvable question rather than actually false.”

One single from the album has surfaced so far, and today we present a second one — “Awaken A Shrine To Oblivion” — which happens to be the track that closes Apotheosis. It manages to be both elaborately theatrical and chillingly unearthly, both futuristic and primeval, and it strikes with immense power. Continue reading »

 Older Entries  Newer Entries