AN NCS INTERVIEW: JONNY PETTERSSON (MASSACRE, WOMBBATH)

 Interviews  No Responses »
Nov 242021
 

 

(It seems that Swedish songwriter, musician, and vocalist Jonny Pettersson is always extremely busy. This year he participated in a new album by Massacre recently released by Nuclear Blast, a new album by Wombbath that’s coming out in late December via Transcending Obscurity, and a lot more. In this new interview NCS contributor Karina Noctum caught up with him to discuss these events.)

Massacre has always been one of my preferred bands when it comes to American DM, so when I heard that a new album was finally in the making, it was pretty awesome news. It became even more interesting upon learning that there were talented and experienced Swedish and Norwegian musicians participating in on the album. So I took the opportunity to talk with Jonny Pettersson, not only about Massacre’s Resurgence, but also about Wombbath’s upcoming release, Agma, which is definitely a must for fans of Swedish DM. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: CRYSTAL COFFIN

 Interviews  No Responses »
Nov 232021
 

 

(The music, the artwork, and the lyrics of Vancouver-based Crystal Coffin are fascinating in and of themselves, but reveal themselves to be even more fascinating and alluring with the additional info furnished by this excellent interview of the band conducted by Comrade Aleks.)

Oh modern black metal scene! A cabinet of curiosities! You can find everything here from old school die-hard true and evil devils to Cascadian naturalists, from true / untrue occult visionaries and charlatans to bands who are hard to categorize. And as many bands say, they don’t care about categories and genre definitions, it’s for labels, for listeners and for us “journalists”.

Crystal Coffin is another blackened riddle one could notice due to the premiere last month of their second album at NCS. This Vancouver-based trio performs (crazy or intellectual – choose for yourself) progressive and melodic black metal with truly authentic stories behind their albums.

Crystal Coffin is carried on the shoulders of Rob Poirier (drums), Aron Shute (vocals, bass), and Lenkyn Ostapovich (guitars, keyboards), and well, it seems we spoke with Lenkyn, but most of the time his voice did sound like the voice of Crystal Coffin’s collective mind, and that’s not bad as far as it works. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: ABYSSUS — “THE WITCH”

 Premieres  No Responses »
Nov 232021
 

 

We’ve been writing repeatedly about the superb Greek death metal band Abyssus since the fall of 2015, which saw the release of their debut album Into the Abyss following a series of shorter releases that began in 2012. Since then the band have participated in numerous splits and EPs, and at last are approaching the release of their second full-length. Entitled Death Revival, it will provide a bracing start to the new year, with a January 21 release date set by Transcending Obscurity Records.

For a long time the songcraft of Abyssus has been impressive, but they seem to just get better and better, both maintaining a firm connection to death metal and thrash from the glory days of the late ’80s and early ’90s but also embellishing their songs in ways that make them sound fresh and fiery, a kindling of new heat. We have a prime example of their well-honed talents in the track we’re premiering today, a song that seems to embody its title: “The Witch“. Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: TWO FACE SINNER — “SATANIC ALTAR”

 Premieres  No Responses »
Nov 232021
 

 

This year marks the 15th anniversary of the Perúvian black/death metal band Two Face Sinner. Across that span of years they have released an EP and three albums of satanic blasphemy, and have shared the stage with the likes of Rotting Christ, Nargaroth, God Dethroned, and Belphegor.

Two Face Sinner‘s most recent album, Spiritual Nemesis, was released in 2020 by Non Serviam Records (on CD and digitally), and as a reminder of its diabolical allure we are today premiering a lyric video for the record’s second track, “Satanic Altar“. Continue reading »

CONVERGE AND CHELSEA WOLFE: “BLOODMOON: I”

 Album Reviews  1 Response »
Nov 232021
 

(Bloodmoon: I, the new collaborative album created by Converge alongside Chelsea Wolfe, her bandmate/writing partner Ben Chisholm, and Cave In vocalist/guitarist Stephen Brodsky, is out now on CD and across all streaming platforms via Epitaph Records, with a vinyl edition coming next year. Wil Cifer provides the following review.)

When one of my favorite artists releases an album, you might assume I listen to it for the first time in a blissful state gushing how they can do no wrong. Perhaps this is what neuro-normative people do. I am not one of those. Instead, my expectations are so high that I go into it anxious that they are going to let me down and tarnish their pristine legacy. Why am I explaining this to you?

One, this is not merely one of my favorite artists but a collaboration between two of them. I have been listening to Converge since the ’90s so we have more history, but Chelsea Wolfe‘s career I have championed for over a decade now. One friend of mine sent me a link to their earliest collaboration at the Roadburn Festival where this collaboration first spawned from and said:

“Chelsea Wolfe jamming with Converge is one of the most Wil things ever”. Continue reading »

HORROR OF PESTILENCE: “ILLITERATE CONSTRUCTION // INAUDIBLE DETERIORATION”

 Album Reviews, SHORT BUT SWEET  No Responses »
Nov 222021
 

(Ryan Dyer, who made his NCS debut touting the insanity of one-man bands in China and followed that by trumpeting the destructiveness of Calgary’s Whorrify, now returns to the Chinese scene with this new review.)

Guangzhou, China’s Horror of Pestilence are a group of metallic conductors who specialize in creating tech-deathcore savagery blended with symphonic elements, taking the genre beyond its preconceived limitations. Their new EP Illiterate Construction // Inaudible Deterioration marks a pivot for the band, as a new guitarist from Hong Kong-based Massacre of Mothman has recently joined up for further collaborations on their next full-length LP.

Still, there are some Dune-sized ear worms found on this EP such as Middle Eastern elements leading into the snarling “Exiled Revenant.” A tasty saxophone solo also shows up, bringing to mind the brass attack used by Japanese black metal masters Sigh. “God Given. Hell Risen” features some ear-catching dual vocal melodies – another surprise from the plague ragers. Continue reading »

AN NCS EP PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): GOURMAND — “TO BRING TO NOTHING”

 Album Reviews, Premieres, SHORT BUT SWEET  No Responses »
Nov 222021
 

 

Gourmand‘s new EP To Bring To Nothing is the kind of thing that demands to be heard repeatedly, in part because the experience is so electrifying and frequently head-hooking, but also because there’s so much to unpack. Every one of the three songs is so intricate and so surprising in its rapidly mutating configurations that it’s almost too much for the normal human mind to assimilate in just one run-through. And it’s such a kaleidoscopic rush that even after repeated listens it still sounds new — because the odds are you’ll detect something (or many things) for the first time that you missed before.

“Progressive death metal” might the closest genre label for what this collective from Kansas City, Missouri have created here, though the technical exuberance of the execution and the labyrinthine compositional approach suggests a more multi-hyphened hybrid. As their name implies, they are connoisseurs of many tastes. The music is certifiably savage, but also remarkably elaborate (and pleasingly groovesome just when you think you’ve become thoroughly discombobulated). Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: VAHRZAW — “VULTURES”

 Premieres  No Responses »
Nov 222021
 

In a career that dates back to the mid-’90s, Australia’s Vahrzaw have released a couple handfuls of short works and three full-lengths, with a fourth album now headed our way, courtesy of Transcending Obscurity Records. At a high level, their music could be branded as an amalgam of black and death metal, but they’ve brought so many other ingredients into play that “blackened death metal” doesn’t do an adequate job of summing up their stylistic achievements.

The song we’re premiering today from the new album is vivid proof of that point. In “Vultures“, Vahrzaw discharge devil-thrash — a turbocharged, adrenaline-fueled romp, scorching in its intensity, head-spinning in its elaborate instrumental acrobatics, and vicious enough to conjure images of rabid slavering beasts on the hunt. Continue reading »

THÅRN – COLLISIONS

 Album Reviews  1 Response »
Nov 222021
 

(As a member of the UK Metal scene himself, our man Andy Synn likes to think he has his finger on the pulse – or at least, the prostate – of what artists and albums he needs to be looking out for, but the recently released debut album by THÅRN almost slipped under his radar)

Despite all the setbacks and difficulties of the last couple of years – or maybe, in a sense, because of them – the last twelve months have been an extremely strong and fertile time for the UK Metal scene.

From long absent legends making a killer comeback, to established fan-favourites stepping up their game, to new names and new faces making a serious impact, there’s been no shortage of blackened, deathly, proggy, sludgy, and atmospheric delights for fans the world over to enjoy.

And joining this still-growing list, right at the eleventh hour (or, at least, during the eleventh month) is the debut album from London-based duo Luke Booth and Jérôme Barré – aka THÅRN – whose prodigiously powerful take on the classic Post-Metal formula could easily go toe-to-toe with some of the genre’s biggest and best names.

Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK (VERTIGINOUS EDITION): KAECK AND GOATCRAFT

 Album Reviews, SHADES OF BLACK  1 Response »
Nov 212021
 

 

This morning I read an article concerning some recent books about H.G. Wells, and the article used the word “vertiginous”. It’s a word that refers to something that causes vertigo — the sensation that you or the environment around you is moving or spinning. Another word for vertiginous might be “dizzying”.

I searched all of our posts at this site and was surprised to find that I had used the word a few times before, but not in a long time. Because I think it’s a great word, and it was in my head, it pulled me in the direction of briefly reviewing and streaming music from the following two albums, which are both vertiginous, albeit in very different ways.

KAECK (Netherlands)

Kaeck’s new album, Het Zwarte Dictaat (released near the end of October by Folter Records), is war music — not because its lyrical themes are devoted to historical conflict but because the music is so often violently tumultuous. The low-end is thunderous and granite-heavy, and when the music mounts a mid-paced charge it sounds like the assault of a tank battalion. At higher speed, the drums pump like heavy-caliber weaponry and the bass vibrates in the marrow. Continue reading »

 Older Entries  Newer Entries