BEER & LOUDNESS IN LAS VEGAS – THREE DAYS AT PSYCHO FEST 2021 (DAY 1)

 Concert Reviews  2 Responses »
Aug 302021
 

 

(Our pal Gonzo took in the 2021 edition of Psycho Fest in Las Vegas and returned to Denver fortunately symptom-free, other than what happened to his head over the three days of the fest, and he has provided a synopsis of the experiences, beginning with the following report on Day 1. We expect reports on the next two days as well)

DAY 1

There is no source of frustration quite like being forcibly stuck in an airport for any length of time longer than absolutely necessary.

I was reminded of this grim reality two Fridays ago when my arrival at Denver International Airport coincided with one of the airport’s underground trains catastrophically breaking down. Ensuing damage and delays had forced the airport to close all but one terminal. The scene was absolute chaos – security queues wrapped around entire terminals, people screaming at TSA agents, confusion, madness, panic… one woman ended up in handcuffs after going into a terrifying rage and sobbing. It was looking like the 10:15 a.m. landing at my final destination, Psycho Fest 2021 in Las Vegas, was slowly slipping out of my grasp.

By the grace of Thor, the one terminal that stayed open ended up being the one we were flying out of. The flight was delayed by an hour or two, but we were somehow able to board and land safely and without any further unexpected pandemonium. Vegas would have plenty of that in the days to come anyway. Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK: DEADSPACE, SVARTULVEN, ASCENDED DEAD, ATOMICIDE, TSALAL, GRAVATUS, RAZÖRSCHRIECK

 Album Reviews, SHADES OF BLACK  5 Responses »
Aug 292021
 

 

Time to blacken the christian Sabbath again, as is our want. I decided to be lazy yesterday rather than compile the usual Saturday round-up of new songs and videos, but I did devote some time to browsing blackened metal, including some music that’s been out in the world (but not in my head) for many months, and you’ll find the results below.

I would say there’s a more disturbing and depressive feel to these choices than might usually be the case. I’m not in therapy so I don’t know for sure if this is a reflection of changes in my usually sunny mood, though I wouldn’t be surprised if that were true. It might just be that the first song took me down that path, and everything else simply fell into place.

DEADSPACE (multinational)

We lamented the split-up of Deadspace when that was announced last year, but celebrated their final album, A Portrait of Sacrificial Scars, as the band’s best work of all. Happily, however, Deadspace have reunited, though I somehow overlooked that announcement, first disclosed in March, until yesterday. I also overlooked that in June the band released a video for a new song named “Moksha“. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: DAWN OF SOLACE, OUTER HEAVEN, PATHOLOGY, MORBID MESSIAH, BOURN ULTRA

 Album Reviews, Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC, SHORT BUT SWEET  2 Responses »
Aug 272021
 

 

As I hoped, I had time to compile a second round-up on this Friday… and I have ideas for a third one tomorrow, so do check back. There’s no sandwich this time, unlike the first compilation today, just a severe case of whiplash as you go from the first song into what comes next.

DAWN OF SOLACE (Finland)

It appears that the revival of Dawn of Solace by Tuomas Saukkonen will be a lasting one, because a new album named Flames of Perdition is now set for release on November 12th via the Noble Demon label, and the first item I chose for this collection is a video for its first advance track, “White Noise“.

The emotional power and intensity of the song absolutely floored me. The intensity builds steadily, from its soft and wistful beginning through grim, heavy chords, neck-cracking drums, darting riffs, and the soaring, spine-tingling voice of Mikko Heikkilä (of Kaunis Kuolematon). It reaches a zenith of dark and moving impact via a stunningly beautiful and deeply moving guitar solo by Jukka Salovaara. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: GORILLA WIZARD — “INFINITE WAVE”

 Premieres  No Responses »
Aug 272021
 

 

Today we again have an opportunity to revisit a band whose music we’ve premiered on a couple of previous occasions — Gorilla Wizard from Long Island, New York.

As we observed when we first encountered their music a couple of years ago, their outward trappings almost dare you not to take them seriously, perhaps most especially the white-bearded, wizard-capped gorilla costume in which guitarist Bertrum (the Gorilla Wizard himself) performs. But as we’ve also cautioned before, you shouldn’t be misled by all that, because although the music definitely is a raucous kick in the head, it’s no joke — and we’ve got further proof of that in the new song we’re premiering today off a forthcoming EP. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: KRISIUN, DOEDSVANGR, SERPENT COLUMN, NERVOCHAOS

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  No Responses »
Aug 272021
 

 

This round-up is a Brazilian death metal sandwich with some poisonous charred goods inside. I’m anticipating I’ll have time for a second round-up later today, which will be some other kind of tasty but toxic meal.

KRISIUN (Brazil)

Yesterday Century Media released a video for the title track from Krisiun‘s latest album, Scourge Of The Enthroned, which is has been out since September 2018.

This is such a good song — jagged and jolting, weird and wailing, menacing and mad. Moving mainly at turbocharged speed, it gives your skull a hard slugging and your guts a good gouging, blaring and boiling with maniacal ferocity but also packing a pulse-pounding punch and infiltrating bits of eerie melody. The soloing screams, the vocals are savage, and the drumming is lights-out. And it’s a blast to watch these veteran barbarians perform the song. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: GOAT TORMENT, MORTIFERUM, ANOMALY, TACOMA NARROWS BRIDGE DISASTER

 Album Reviews, Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  4 Responses »
Aug 262021
 

 

As you can see, I found time to stitch together another round-up of new music today. As usual, it barely scratches the surface of new songs and videos I’ve spotted this week, but I thought the choices would collectively give our visitors whiplash, and it pleased me to think so.

The music I’ve chosen for today comes from three pre-established personal favorites and one newcomer that’s already made a very positive first impression.

GOAT TORMENT (Belgium)

We begin with a supercharged adrenaline rush, a track that delivers storming, Marduk-like sonic warfare which marries bullet-spitting and bomb-throwing drums, wild, incendiary riffing, dominating vocal savagery, and an exotic wailing solo with an Arabian flare. Continue reading »

NIGHTMARER – MONOLITH OF CORROSION

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  No Responses »
Aug 262021
 

(Andy Synn takes some time out of his busy schedule to lavish praise on the new EP from Nightmarer, out tomorrow via Total Dissonance Worship)

I must admit, I was late to the party with Nightmarer.

I totally missed their first EP, Chasm, and didn’t get a chance to check out their first album, Cacophony of Terror, until well after practically everyone else in the world had long-since done so (and moved on).

So I told myself that, given the chance, I wasn’t going to make the same mistake again… and although I almost ran out of time (this EP actually comes out tomorrow, so we’re down to the wire here) I’m glad that I kept my promise, even if only by the skin of my teeth, as Monolith of Corrosion is easily the band’s best work yet.

Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE: DEVOID OF THOUGHT — “OUTER WORLD GRAVES”

 Premieres  1 Response »
Aug 262021
 

 

With the kind of genius planning and execution that built the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, the “Iron Dam” in Zhumadian, China, and the tower in Pisa that subsequently leaned, we published our review of Devoid of Thought‘s new album yesterday, 24 hours before premiering a complete album stream today.

But truth be told, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. A multiplicity of writings, even so closely juxtaposed, may catch more eyes and ears — and this album definitely deserves more eyes and ears. As yesterday’s reviewer Mr. Synn proclaimed:

“Outer World Graves is definitely a big step up from the band’s previous material, dealing in a blend of slithering muscle and otherworldly menace reminiscent of bands like Blood Incantation, Mithras, and Zealotry… a sort of ‘post-Demilich, post-Deeds of Flesh‘ approach that marries punchy, predatory riffs, gruesome, gut-churning grooves, and tormented technicality to an eerie, unsettling atmosphere of proto-cosmic dread”. Continue reading »

MISCELANY NO. 79: ASTHENIC SYN, CABINET, SCALD

 MISCELLANY  No Responses »
Aug 252021
 

 

In the early days of NCS I began a recurring series called MISCELLANY, which got up to 78 installments before it died away from neglect. The self-imposed rule for that series was that I would pick bands I’d never heard before and listen to one song (or maybe two) from something new they’d released, record my immediate impressions, and then leave it to readers to decide whether to explore further. That strategy allowed me to sample from albums and EPs that I didn’t have time to listen to completely or review in full, without knowing in advance how the music would strike me (or you).

As you can now see, I’ve decided to revisit this format today, as a way of highlighting some new discoveries I’ve made. In each case here, except for one, I didn’t have any idea how the music would strike me, but dipping my toes in these waters proved to be a good idea (I bought all three of these). So, start wriggling your own toes, and let’s begin.

ASTHENIC SYN (Russia)

This first album is the one out of today’s three that wasn’t a complete shot in the dark. It was recommended to me by Rennie (from starkweather), and I can’t think of any instance where he’s steered me wrong. As a further inducement to check out Asthenic Syn (from Stavropol, Russia), he mentioned that the music made him think of Kriegsmaschine, a reference which drew me like flies to honey. The fact that the individual behind this solo project has taken the name illwisher sealed the deal Continue reading »

FILTH IS ETERNAL: “LOVE IS A LIE, FILTH IS ETERNAL”

 Album Reviews  No Responses »
Aug 252021
 

 

(Our old friend Justin C returns to NCS with the following review of the new album by the re-named Seattle band Filth Is Eternal, which will be released on August 27th by Quiet Panic.)

We’ve all been there. Grandma wants to hear some of the rock ‘n roll music the crazy kids are making these days, and Fucked and Bound is an obvious choice. Grandma needs a shot of adrenaline, not some droning doom, after all! But will the name be too off-putting? Especially after church?

Well, the band has made your life a little easier now with a new name, Filth Is Eternal. No, they haven’t changed the name in a craven attempt at Top 40 success, or probably even for Grandma. It just turns out that getting the word out about all your hard work during a pandemic, with no live shows plus social media platforms flagging you left and right for potentially being naughty content, your choice might come down to a name change or complete obscurity, as the band explained to Decibel last month. Continue reading »

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