AN NCS EP PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): SACRILEGIOUS CROWN — “PLENILUNIUM CULT”

 Album Reviews, Premieres, SHORT BUT SWEET  7 Responses »
Mar 022021
 

 

Raw black metal is a tiny and obscure niche within the greater world of extreme metal, but one with fervently devoted adherents among both performers and listeners. But as small as the niche is, the music within it isn’t all the same thing, any more than it is in other micro and macro metal realms. Some creators, for example, create abrasive and unpleasant assaults on the eardrums, relishing the antagonisms unleashed by such mutilating lo-fi attacks. Others follow different paths, and one of those is the intensely atmospheric one followed by the Italian one-man band Sacrilegious Crown.

Active since 2015, with three demos and two full-lengths in the catalogue, Sacrilegious Crown is about to release a new EP named Plenilunium Cult via Xenoglossy Productions, and we have a full stream of its remarkably chilling sensations for you today in advance of that March 5th release. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: REVULSION

 Interviews  No Responses »
Mar 022021
 

 

(Not long ago we published Aleksha McLoughlin‘s review of the excellent self-titled debut album by the Finnish death metal band Revulsion, which was released on February 5th by Transcending Obscurity Records, and Aleksha has now followed that up with a live recorded interview of Revulsion members Atte Karppinen (drummer) and Tuomas Alatalo (bassist), a transcription of which you’ll find below.)

 

What was it like signing up to Transcending Obscurity Records? They have some great bands on their label, like Gaera and De Profundis.

It was exciting, of course; our first signing and immediately to an international label. We obviously had heard about them through Sepulchral Curse and Sadistik Forest, we know the guys from that band. So we already had friends who had signed up with them. It was quite a clear choice in that sense because we already had an idea of what they could do and what kind of connections to the industry they had, how we could get our music out there.

We were surprised how quickly Transcending Obscurity Records responded to our questions about the signing. Yeah, it didn’t take long for him to reply. He was like, “Let’s get this album out there, let’s get you guys some visibility”. Because it’s obvious today, in this kind of competitive environment, with a lot of bands, labels and everything like that, it’s hard to get your voice out there and get your band seen and stand out. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: UNFLESH — “HOLOCAUST OF STARS”

 Premieres  1 Response »
Mar 012021
 

 

Two years after releasing their debut album Savior, the New Hampshire extremists Unflesh are returning with a new album and a revised line-up. Entitled Inhumation, the new album, which is set for release on April 2nd, is the work of founding vocalist/guitarist Ryan Beevers (ex-Solium Fatalis) along with two new members: bassist Orion Hubbard (ex-Excrecor) and drummer Jeff Saltzman (Aversed, Allegaeon (live), Continuum (live), ex-Solium Fatalis).

In ways that match the album’s conceptual inspirations (more on that later), the music also reflects a more immersive and indeed atmospheric take on the band’s brand of death metal, which draws into play ingredients of black metal as well as eye-popping technicality.

To help introduce the album, what we have for you today is the premiere of one of the album’s most exhilarating tracks, “Holocaust of Stars“. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: ISCHEMIC — “SCABS”

 Premieres  No Responses »
Mar 012021
 

 

Gourmets of death metal who prefer to consume their musical flesh only after it has become rotten and infested with maggots will smack their lips and drool over the Ischemic song we’re premiering today. And for those who prefer to dine while surrounded by preternatural terrors, the experience will be even more galvanizing.

The song in question is “Scabs“, which suits these unhealed and unhealthy sounds, particularly because you’ll want to go back and continuing picking at them repeatedly. And the odds are that after you’ve heard it you’ll want to further investigate Ischemic’s self-titled new album from which this is the first advance track, which is set for release on April 2nd. Continue reading »

BLINDFOLDED AND LED TO THE WOODS: “NIGHTMARE WITHDRAWALS”

 Album Reviews  No Responses »
Mar 012021
 

 

(We present Todd Manning‘s review of the new third album by the New Zealand band Blindfolded and Led to the Woods, which is set for release on March 26th.)

At first glance, one might mistake a band named Blindfolded and Led to the Woods for a brutal, slam-inspired Death Metal group, but while this New Zealand-based quintet is certainly Death Metal, their take on the genre is much more nuanced and complex than their aforementioned brethren.

Blindfolded and Led to the Woods construct a sound based on the dissonance of Gorguts combined with the technical Death-Grind assault of Cephalic Carnage. While they may not be alone in drawing on such influences, what truly sets them apart is their focus on the details of their sound. Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK: MONTE PENUMBRA, YITH, KANONENFIEBER

 SHADES OF BLACK  7 Responses »
Feb 282021
 

 

I won’t repeat what I wrote yesterday (fucking day job… electrodynamic particle accelerator… last hurrah…). Suffice to say I don’t have much time for NCS at the moment, or for the next couple of weeks, so today’s SOB is briefer than usual. But still good, of course, like a delicious appetizer that a djinn materializes to drop off and then vanishes, leaving you to forage for the rest of the meal yourself.

MONTE PENUMBRA (Portugal/Iceland)

My oh my, how my eyes brightened last week when I saw that Monte Penumbra had returned. I confess I had forgotten to check for news about this project with the passage of time. After all, it has been roughly five years since their last release, a 2016 EP named The Black Realm Vigil, and even longer since their first album, Heirloom of Sullen Fall (2013). But the music isn’t easily forgotten, hence the gleam of brightness in my puffy bloodshot eyes. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD ON A SATURDAY: ABYSSLOOKER, MOANAA, DISCORDANT SYSTEM, THE SUN AND THE MIRROR, ANATOMIA, ORECUS, INTOLERANT

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  4 Responses »
Feb 272021
 

 

This past week we had fewer posts per day than usual, and it saddens me to say this will continue for the next two weeks. The reason is that I’m in the midst of a project for my fucking day job that’s crushing my NCS time. I mean, you can’t build an electrodynamic particle accelerator without some concentrated effort.

I’ve still made commitments to host song and album premieres on many days between now and the end of this project on the Ideas of March, but even that’s going to stop during the final days of the effort. Apart from writing the premieres and passing my hand over what other people write before posting their stuff, I’m really not going to have time for anything else. This weekend is therefore kind of a last hurrah for round-ups for a while.

For this collection I’ve ignored bigger names and stayed pretty deep underground, and you’ll see that the music connects with my current dark moods. I’ve deferred the black metal until tomorrow’s column.

ABYSSLOOKER (Russia)

I decided to begin with the most recent of the discoveries I’ve collected here, a single released just yesterday that was brought to my attention overnight by Rennie (starkweather). Continue reading »

AN NCS DOUBLE PREMIERE: WITCHTRIP — “PSYCHO KID” AND “REPTILE LORDS”

 Premieres  No Responses »
Feb 262021
 

 

It’s time for a return visit by a hard-to-define metal band from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, whom we’ve been writing about since 2018 when they released their first EP, Cosmic Cauldron. They followed that release with a second EP, A Burnt Offering, in 2020. Metal-Archives now classifies them as “Split-up”, but the accuracy of that is questionable, given that they’ve completed a third EP named Sledmetal which is set for release on March 9th.

This new EP is a five-track offering, and we accepted an invitation to premiere one of them. Problem was, the band left it up to us to pick the track. That turned out to be a maddeningly difficult choice because all the tracks are so damned good. So the band took pity on us and said, what about two tracks? We jumped at that chance (though it was still a tough call), and so now we’re presenting streams of two songs from Sledmetal — “Psycho Kid” and “Reptile Lords“. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: NORDICWINTER

 Interviews  No Responses »
Feb 262021
 

 

(We present Comrade Aleks‘ interview of Yves Allaire, the man behind the Quebec black metal band Nordicwinter, whose newest album Sorrow will be released by Hypnotic Dirge on March 26th.)

I’m the wrong person if you need to know something new about black metal, but from time to time some blackened promos hit my mailbox. This time it was Nordicwinter, a Canadian one-man band started by Yves Allaire about 15 years ago. I found its relatively new album Desolation among a few fresh releases from Hypnotic Dirge and was attracted by Nordicwinter’s bleak and atmospheric sound. Also Yves tends towards mid-paced themes with some cold, almost epic melodic lines, and I dig such depressive themes that avoid the faster side of black metal.

The winter is almost done, so let’s keep it here a bit longer with some Canadian black metal. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): WŸNTËR ÄRVŃ — “ABYSSES”

 Album Reviews, Premieres  No Responses »
Feb 252021
 

 

Loud, raucous, and ravishing sounds tend to be our daily fare around here. And perhaps because of that, the striking contrast created by Wÿntër Àrvń‘s new album Abysses is all the more stunning. Rather than ignite raging bonfires it instead places glowing embers beneath the imagination, and alters moods in a way that is, in a word, magical.

Abysses is almost entirely instrumental and the instruments are entirely acoustic, though their tones are varied and the combination of them is always captivating. The bounty of the music is enhanced by the joinder of a new member in this former solo project, and by guest appearances. And it’s our great pleasure to present a full stream of the record today, in advance of its release by the distinctive Antiq Records label on March 1st. Continue reading »

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