AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: DELPHIAN — “SOMNAMBULANT FOREGOER”

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Nov 052021
 

The death metal band Delphian was formed by brothers Jason and Matthew Williams while attending Musicians Institute in Los Angeles, CA. In an effort to fully realize their envisioned amalgam of technical, progressive, and groove metal within the framework of death, they enlisted drummer Kevin Talley (Suffocation, Dying Fetus) on drums and bassist Martin Rygiel (Decapitated, Lux Occulta) for the recording of Delphian’s debut album, Somnambulant Foregoer.

The new album is set for release on November 12th, and to pave the way Delphian have been releasing lyric videos for some of the nine tracks that it encompasses. Today we have the pleasure of adding to that sequence through our premiere of the album’s explosive and electrifying title track. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: UKRONAKH — “WHERE SORROW EMBRACES ANGER”

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Nov 052021
 

On November 27th a consortium of labels led by the Ukrainian GrimmDistribution will release the debut album Stonewounds (Каменю рани) of Ukronakh, and they introduce it with these words:

“The Ukrainian project Ukronakh (У кронах) was founded in 2020 by Artyom ‘Voidger’. Ukronakh’s music combines genres such as atmospheric black metal and death metal, reflecting the personal inner experiences of the author, inspired by the atmosphere of the moss-covered forests of the Carpathians and the aesthetics of pre-Christian cultures of the northern peoples…. The album is saturated with the atmosphere of the damp Carpathian forest. The listener will have a story about the spirits of antiquity who wander the forest paths of the Carpathian mountains in oblivion and find no rest….”

We share those words because they are worth keeping in mind as you listen to the album track we’re premiering today, “Де журба обіймається зі злістю” (Where Sorrow Embraces Anger), although the name of the song itself provides a telling introduction to the thoroughly gripping music. Continue reading »

WHORRIFY: “WHORRIFY”

 Album Reviews, SHORT BUT SWEET  1 Response »
Nov 052021
 

(Ryan Dyer, who last appeared in our pages touting the insanity of one-man bands in China, now returns to trumpet the destructiveness of Calgary’s Whorrify.)

In the annals of Canadian metal history, according to Metal-Archives.com, there have been at least 5000 Canadian metal bands. In Calgary, specifically, there have been over 200. I often wonder what would happen if all of these band members were situated in one place, like a little island. Whorrify are the new settlers on this island arriving via surfboards, wearing Thrilla Krew threads and setting foot on this beach like they were grind messiahs. Continue reading »

THINGS YOU MAY HAVE MISSED (BUT SHOULDN’T)

 Album Reviews  2 Responses »
Nov 042021
 

(Andy Synn returns with another round-up of albums from last month which he feels didn’t get the attention they deserve)

Well… damn.

October was so busy that I’m probably going to end up doing a second “Things You May Have Missed” column next week, simply because there’s so many albums I wanted to write about (and hopefully introduce you to) that I didn’t get chance to.

And that’s not even taking into account the fact that in the last week of the month alone saw a bunch of “big name” bands – from Mastodon (bloated but brilliant) and Be’lakor (a gloomy grower) to Ghost Bath (still searching for an identity that hasn’t been done better by other bands) and Whitechapel (continuing their “evolution” into a mid-tier mid-2000s Metalcore act), and more – releasing their eagerly anticipated new albums.

So, with all that in mind, I probably shouldn’t waste any more time with this intro and would be better off just getting stuck right in to the nitty gritty of these four, highly recommend (by me, at least) records.

Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: SEA SLEEPER — “COFFIN SALESMAN”

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Nov 042021
 

 

Many of us have had the misfortune of dealing with funeral homes after the passing of a family member (I’ve had to do that more times than I want to remember). There must be exceptions, but in general it’s an unpleasant experience, partly because of the grief that clouds it but also because of the feeling that behind their solemn and sympathetic countenance the directors are preying upon that grief, to turn it into coffin sales, flowery bouquets, and ultimately profit for their businesses. The unspoken sub-text is that what you spend is a measure of your love for the departed.

That kind of experience forms the lyrical theme of Sea Sleeper‘s song “Coffin Salesman” — though the theme stands as a metaphor for larger and even more insidious aspects of our societies. The track appears on this Portland band’s eye-opening debut album Nostophobia, an album that was originally released on CD and digital formats this past February by Metal Assault Records and is now headed for a November 5 vinyl release by the same label.

“Coffin Salesman” is the subject a mind-boggling new video we’re presenting today, which is appropriate, because the song is mind-boggling too. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: NECROPHAGOUS — “WOLF MOTHER”

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Nov 042021
 

 

The Swedish death metal band Necrophagous boasts a line-up whose members have spent time in Visceral Bleeding and Entrails, and those pedigrees provide clues to the music encompassed by their debut album In Chaos Ascend, which is set for release by Transcending Obscurity Records on January 7, 2022. It has an old school flavor — flavors of Morbid Angel and Dying Fetus, of Deicide and Cannibal Corpse, of Suffocation and Revulsion. The music is undeniably vicious, but also packed with contagious riffs and compulsive grooves.

What we have for you today is a stream of “Wolf Mother“, the third single released from the album so far. As you’ll soon discover, it’s an exercise in high-powered, high-speed hostility and flesh-stripping derangement, which ends with a devolution into grisly moods of degradation and decay. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: PAYDRETZ

 Interviews  1 Response »
Nov 042021
 

 

(In this fascinating new interview Comrade Aleks talks with Geoffroy “le Veuzou” from the distinctive French folk/black metal band Paydretz, whose debut album was released by Antiq Records in early October.)

I hope our constant readers are used to long interviews because for our luck there are a lot of both new and old bands who have something to tell and to open our eyes on the things previously unseen.

When I received a new promo pack from Antiq Records there was a new name on it – Paydretz — and again the cover art did its work, making me play their debut album Chroniques de l’Insurrection and try to search for the story behind it.

This French trio consists of Sven Avel Viz (guitars, bass, drums), Michel de Malvoisin (guitars, backing vocals), and Geoffroy “le Veuzou” (vocals, bagpipes, whistles and keyboards). Geoffroy explains the name of the band: “Paydretz” was the nickname given to the fighters of the Vendean general Charette, who came from the region of Retz, in French “Pays de Retz” which gives us “Paydretz”.

“Vendean” what? – you wonder as I did. Yes, this black / folk masterpiece tells the story of the Great Vendean Insurrection (1793-1796) from the point of view of the Vendean insurgents… And yes – this interview will reveal more about it, so lads and lasses take your copybooks and pencils and be ready. Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: THE AMENTA — “TWINED TOWERS”

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Nov 032021
 

Surely you’ve listened to Revelator by now. If you haven’t, there better be a damned good excuse, like a protracted coma or meningitis-induced deafness or living-under-a-rock ignorance. Possibly you just don’t like absolute musical crushers you can headbang to and/or maelstroms of noise capable of causing your brain to lock up and/or hallucinatory experiences that will disturb your sleep. But we’ll discount those latter explanations, because you’re here at this site, aren’t you? Of course you’re attracted to such things.

We of course are big fans of the genre-colliding Australian band who made Revelator, none more so than our slave DGR who devoted many (MANY) words to it in his review. But we’re not only inveterate fans of the music. We also always relish the videos that The Amenta and friends craft for their songs, because they’re just as wild and unsettling as the music.

And thus we’re thrilled to present one of their jaw-dropping, skull-exploding videos today, for a song that arguably could be considered the centerpiece of Revelator. And in addition to that we also have an extended interview of The Amenta‘s vocalist Cain Cressall, who answers some of the questions that will inevitably occur to you after watching — such as “How the fuck did they do that?”, “Are those maggots and spiders real?”, and “What the hell does this all mean?” Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): DEBER — “ASPIRE TO AFFLICTION”

 Album Reviews, Premieres  No Responses »
Nov 032021
 

The relatively new Swedish band Deber named one of the songs on their debut album for the title of the album itself (Aspire To Affliction) and another for themselves. By far, those are the two shortest tracks, positioned in a such a way that one of them begins the record and the other ends it. In between are three monumental songs — a trio of towering edifices, in terms of both minutes and the imposing visions they create.

We say that Deber are a relatively new band, but the members aren’t newcomers, even if they’re pursuing some new directions here. These two are DIE (in charge of strings and organ), who is a member of Anguish and Ondskapt, and HCF (who handles drums and vocals). What they’ve turned their attention to in Deber is funeral doom, drawing upon the influence of such masters as Evoken, Worship, Skepticism, and Colosseum.

As the album title suggests, they aspire to sounds of affliction, and they have achieved their aspirations, with staggering power. Continue reading »

OMNIUM GATHERUM – ORIGIN

 Album Reviews  No Responses »
Nov 032021
 

(There’s a new Omnium Gatherum album out this Friday, and Andy Synn has the low-down on what you need to know about it)

After you’ve written for any site/blog/zine for any decent amount of time you’ll find that certain habits, certain patterns of writing, set in.

Case in point, it turns out that I have written, in one way or another, about every single Omnium Gatherum album released over the course of the last decade, which should tell you two things:

One, I am getting old, and two, I am definitely a fan.

That being said, I’m not a fanboy, by any means, and have never hesitated to call out what I think (and hope) are valid criticisms, which is why the rather mediocre Grey Heavens ended up on my “Disappointing” list for that year, and why I didn’t hesitate to point out that, for all its good points, The Burning Cold was a little too long and uneven for its own good, and lacked the steely-eyed focus of the band’s very best work.

Of course, another thing you should know by now is that when I say something is good, really good, I mean it. And not only is Origin really good, it’s also easily the band’s best work since Beyond.

Continue reading »

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