AN NCS PREMIERE: APES OF GOD — “EMERGIDOS DEL ODIO Y RENCOR”

 Premieres  No Responses »
Mar 222021
 

The Salvadoran death/thrashers Apes of God made their first demo release in 2016 and followed that with an EP, a pair of splits, and then their debut full-length Misanthropy in 2018. Additional short releases followed, but the band was jarred by the murder of their vocalist César Canales in August 2019 during a festival performance. The band decided to remain active but never to play a show in El Salvador again.

With new vocalist Aldair Mejía in the line-up, Apes of God have recorded their second album, En el Recinto de la Tempestad, and it’s now set for release on April 28th by Death in Pieces Records, Deathrockersorrow Records, and Morbid Skull Records.

This is a 10-track album, and today, to help introduce it, we’re premiering the record’s closing track “Emergidos del Odio y Rencor”. It’s a savage scorcher of a song, and turns out to be a highly infectious one too. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: GREY SKIES FALLEN — “COLD DEAD LANDS”

 Exceptions to the Rule, Premieres  2 Responses »
Mar 222021
 

 

The New York band Grey Skies Fallen first took shape in 1996 under the name Eve of Mourning before adopting their current moniker the following year. In the quarter-century since then they’ve released a pair of EPs and five albums. The last of those full-lengths, Cold Dead Lands, first saw the light of day in January of last year, with an independent digital release and a CD release by Old Souls Collective. But the album is about to be jointly reissued by GrimmDistribution with Paragon Records and More Hate Productions, and we’re helping to spread the word about that by featuring the album’s title track today.

And so this is one of those situations that isn’t a true premiere, though it will undoubtedly be the first time some of you have heard the song, and thus hopefully will provide a good introduction to newcomers about the immense sonic and emotional power of the record in advance of the April 8th reissue. Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK: SLEEPWALKER, HANTERNOZ, KASSAD, ULVEHYRDE, THANATOMASS, BLACK CEREMONIAL KULT, STWORZ

 SHADES OF BLACK  2 Responses »
Mar 212021
 

 

I guess it’s usually true that I try to put a lot of variety into these Sunday columns, but today’s selections seem to be even more divergent than usual. As a result, I had a devil of a time figuring out how to arrange the tracks, and I don’t think I succeeded in creating any kind of rational flow, probably because all the songs resist that. However, I do think I succeeded in creating a whiplash effect at the end, so there’s that.

There’s only one full release to be found here. The rest are either singles or advance tracks from forthcoming records. Enjoy!

夢遊病者 (SLEEPWALKER) (Russia, Japan, U.S.)

I decided to begin with the most head-spinning track of everything you’ll find here. Although my head has been spun around before by the escapades of this multi-national avant-garde collective, they’ve really outdone themselves this time. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD ON A SATURDAY: INSOMNIUM, AMORPHIS, GATEWAY, SJUK AV ORO, THROAT

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  3 Responses »
Mar 202021
 


The last week didn’t work out as well as I’d hoped. The crunch at my day job eased up, but not as much as I wanted, and assorted other nuisances and diversions reared their ugly heads. So, some things I’d hope to accomplish at NCS besides the usual premieres fell by the wayside.

I also managed to fuck up my opportunity to catch up with new music today by (a) drinking heavily last night during a couple of Zoom get-togethers, and (b) sleeping for 10 hours. As a result of (a), (b) didn’t really leave me feeling rested — more like death warmed over instead. Maybe I’ll do more catching up later, but for now wanted to get a few things out there for your eyes and ears without further delay.

INSOMNIUM (Finland)

I confess that nostalgia led me to choose the first two songs and videos in this collection, both by Finnish bands that long ago played a role in leading me toward extreme metal, and along the way became very big names. But don’t worry, we’ll get into more underground sounds before we’re done today. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: ROTTING KINGDOM

 Interviews  2 Responses »
Mar 192021
 

 

(We present Comrade Aleks‘ interview of two members of the superb death-doom unit Rotting Kingdom from Lexington, Kentucky, whose debut album was released one year ago by Godz Ov War Productions.)

A year ago Godz ov War Productions released a debut full-length album A Deep Shade Of Sorrow by the Kentucky-based band Rotting Kingdom. The album got quite a lot of positive feedback, and it seems to have been the obvious reaction to clear and artistic old school doom-death (with a noticeable emphasis on the second). First-class growling, a truly grim sound with lots of weight and melody, and tangible macabre passion mark this material, making the album a remarkable journey into the absolute ruin of Rotting Kingdom.

Brandon Glancy (drums) and Chuck McIntyre (bass) guide us to the Kingdom’s heart. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: APOGEAN — “CHRONO”

 Premieres  5 Responses »
Mar 192021
 

 

The Toronto-based technical death metal band Apogean will be introducing themselves to metal-loving peoples world-wide through a new EP named Into Madness. It’s based on a conceptual narrative that is intensely disturbing on a planetary scale — in the band’s description, a story “of the fall from the heights of sanity, to the very depths of madness and all that can be experienced on this journey,” with the music carrying the listener on “this path of knowledge, loss, and resurgence”.

Apogean will be releasing the EP as a series of singles, and today we present a lyric video for the first of them, a track called “Chrono“. It is the second track on the EP, and the second chapter” in the story arc. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: BECERUS — “GROTESQUE PARSIFAL SUCURANDUS”

 Premieres  1 Response »
Mar 192021
 

 

We’re going to assume for the moment that you caught our premiere of a track off the debut album by Becerus about one month ago. If you did check out that song (““Primeval Ignorantia”), then you already know that the music of Becerus is surprising in more ways than one. It’s surprising, first, because this Sicilian group sound a lot more seasoned than their newcomer status would suggest (perhaps less of a shock when you learn that the band includes members of Assumption and Balatonizer). But it’s also surprising because there’s more going on in their songs than brutish caveman bludgeoning, which is what the outward trappings of the band might lead you to guess.

And if you didn’t catch that previous premiere, then you’ll get to experience these surprises for the first time, because today we’re presenting yet another song off the new album, Homo Homini Brutus, which is set for release on April 30th by Everlasting Spew Records. Continue reading »

HATALOM – OCCHIOLISM

 Album Reviews  2 Responses »
Mar 182021
 

(Andy Synn returns to the fray after a hectic week with a review of the upcoming new album from Hatalom)

With so many albums, EPs, and other releases coming out, in an almost unending flood of new music (not that I’m complaining, mind you) it can be easy to lose track of what’s going on. And with so many bands forming, reforming, going on hiatus, and making a comeback, it’s also hard to know everyone’s status and when (if ever) to expect new material.

Thankfully, as a part-time, semi-professional writer/reviewer/critic (delete as appropriate) I’m generally able to keep one eye open, and one ear to the ground (though not necessarily at the same time) for news and updates about artists we’ve covered here before, which is why I’ve been carefully tracking the writing, recording, and release schedule of Occhiolism, the debut full-length from Canadian Tech-Death crew Hatalom, ever since its nascent existence was first made public.

And with the album set to hit the streets (and the net) tomorrow, now is probably a good time to check out my review of their first EP, Of Sorrow and Human Dust, from 2018, as not only does it provide a useful primer as to what, in general terms, to expect from the band, but it also provides some key context for all the ways in which the band have developed since… something which I’ll say more about after the jump.

Continue reading »

WRECHE: OUR PREMIERE OF “SCHERZO” AND A REVIEW OF “ALL MY DREAMS CAME TRUE”

 Premieres  4 Responses »
Mar 182021
 

 

Almost four years ago we had the pleasure of premiering the self-titled debut album of Wreche, a now-Oakland-based project with a distinctive approach to black metal, in which John Steven Morgan‘s kaleidoscopic piano performances took the place of guitars. It was an inspirational album that twisted and expanded the genre’s musical antecedents in eye-popping ways, creating music that was adrenaline-triggering, mind-bending, and utterly fascinating.

And thus it was an exciting development to learn that Wreche had completed work on a second full-length, and equally exciting to be invited to premiere its first excerpt, which we’re now about to do. The name of the album is All my dreams came true, and it will be released on May 14th by Handsmade Records. The name of the song we’re presenting today is “Scherzo“. Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: OMINOUS SCRIPTURES — “THE CORPSES OF ARCHANGELS IN BONFIRE”

 Premieres  No Responses »
Mar 182021
 

 

In 2015 the Belarusian brutal death metal band Ominous Scriptures independently released their debut album Incarnation of the Unheavenly, which was followed the next year by a CD release through Permeated Records. The band went on to release their sophomore album The Fall of the Celestial Throne last year through Willowtip Records, which we reviewed here.

But now an Italian label named Lethal Scissor Records (founded by members of Bloodtruth, Instigate, and Vomit the Soul) have returned to Incarnation of the Unheavenly and will be reissuing the album on March 30th in two CD editions as well as digitally. To help pave the way for that release, a lyric video has been produced for a track from the album named “The Corpses of Archangels in Bonfire“, and we’re premiering it today. Prepare to be gutted and pulverised. Continue reading »

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