A YEAR DUMBER PLAYLIST: DIRTY BLACK SUMMER

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  2 Responses »
May 172021
 

 

(Here we are, a solid year into the pandemic and maybe you see some signs of hope on the roadside, but if you’re still as confused, haunted, and angry as ever, this playlist compiled and written by Neill Jameson may improve your dark moods, or further darken them. Either way, we’re delighted to present it.)

I was planning on putting together something to mark the year anniversary of the few-part playlist series I did last year that began when everyone was stuck inside, a piece of fabric on your face wasn’t yet considered to be the master’s whip, and taking a shit in the halls of Congress wasn’t a patriotic act, just something the older members of Congress did naturally, but then I had a child and the best-laid plans etc etc.

My initial impetus for it was the same as the listicles (gross word) I did on this very same site starting in 2016(?) where I went genre by genre and that’s because I enjoy shedding light on music I enjoy and I’m an attention-seeking asshole and by reading these you are indulging me. Anyway, here’s some things that have been keeping my interest the last few months: Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: VORVAŇ — “SUPERSCUM”

 Premieres  2 Responses »
May 172021
 

 

If you’re in need of a high-powered jolt of energy, we’ve got just the thing for you in our premiere of a song off Awakened, the new album by the Russian blackened hardcore punk and metal band Vorvaň. “Superscum” fires on all cylinders, and it happens to be as highly addictive as it is ferociously supercharged.

Lyrically, the song is a condemnation, reflecting the self-entitled and dismissive attitude of a person for whom everything she wishes “works out just fine”. Musically, the song is all about the pulse — its own and yours. Continue reading »

FELLED: OUR PREMIERE OF “SPHAGNUM IN THE HINTERLANDS” AND REVIEW OF “THE INTIMATE EARTH”

 Album Reviews, Premieres  No Responses »
May 172021
 

 

(In this article Nathan Ferreira reviews The Intimate Earth, the new album by Oregon-based Felled, and introduces our premiere of a song from the album.)

As any self-respecting metalhead should, I keep regular tabs on Transcending Obscurity Records. Their versatility and ear for quality sets the pace for other small-to-medium-sized labels, and I particularly appreciate their willingness to wiggle a little bit outside of their comfort zone in terms of style/genre. You never quite know what you’re going to get from the folks at T.O., you just know it’s gonna be good.

I am also one of those tree-hugging types that is infatuated with Cascadian black metal. Combine these two factors and it becomes easy to see why, when the label announced they were releasing the debut album of Felled, an Oregon-based band that cited some of my all-time favorite artists as influences (early Ulver, Agalloch, Drudkh, Saor), I was already reserving a spot in my AOTY list for it. Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK: MUR, GRAVEOLENCE, GOMGOMA

 SHADES OF BLACK  1 Response »
May 162021
 

 

Obviously, I didn’t make the usual Saturday round-up of new songs and videos yesterday. I was victimized by a combination of too much partying the night before and too much work for my fucking day job. This Shades of Black column is also a bit out of the ordinary. I tend to focus on brand new releases and advance tracks from forthcoming records, but today I’m playing catch-up, calling attention to three albums I’ve been enjoying which came out in March or April. And none of these releases is unadulterated black metal — in fact, the “blackening” is often minimal — though the other ingredients in these amalgams differ from band to band.

(I’ll also mentioned that Panopticon’s new album is out now in digital form, and you should go listen to it here; I already spewed a bunch of words about it in mid-April.)

MUR

This French band’s new record, Truth, is classified as an EP, but it’s more than 30 minutes long, and it’s a great way to spend a half-hour, as long as your’re not a rigid genre purist. Continue reading »

AN NCS SPLIT PREMIERE: BLOOD SPORE, COAGULATE, SOUL DEVOURMENT, GUTVOID (4 DIMENSIONS OF AUDITORY TERROR)

 Premieres  4 Responses »
May 142021
 

 

Over the last couple of weeks our friends at CVLT NATION have been premiering, one by one, the four ravaging tracks that make up 4 Dimensions of Auditory Terror, a four-way split that’s being released today in a variety of formats by a consortium of labels — Sewer Rot Records, Rotted Life, Blood Harvest, and Black Hole Productions. The participants in this terrorizing 32-minute assault are Blood Spore, Coagulate, Soul Devourment, and Gutvoid.

To celebrate this ghastly event we’re presenting all four tracks from the split in one place, along with new commentary from the bands and our own impressions of each song. Collectively, they make for a listening experience that’s as electrifying as it is mind-mauling, and a showcase for the talents of four up-and-coming death metal bands who deserve a lot more attention. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): EPIPHANIC TRUTH — “DARK TRIAD: BITTER PSALMS TO A SORDID SPECIES”

 Album Reviews, Premieres  1 Response »
May 142021
 

 

We don’t know the identity of the masked members of Epiphanic Truth. We’re only told by the band’s label Church Road Records that they come from “a number of former and established acts” — a claim that’s easily accepted based on what they’ve created on their debut album, because it’s so mind-blowing on so many levels.

That album, Dark Triad: Bitter Psalms To A Sordid Species, is an exceptionally ambitious, strikingly adventurous, remarkably multi-faceted, and utterly captivating experience, and so accomplished in its conception and execution that it would come as no surprise to see it appearing on numerous year-end lists — if only word of its existence spreads far enough.

We’re damned well going to do our part to help spread the word, through a great torrent of our own words, but mainly through our premiere today of a full album stream in advance of the May 21 album release by Church Road. Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: MEDITATOR — “DUST”

 Premieres  2 Responses »
May 132021
 

 

Nashville-based Meditator began almost four years ago as a concept in the mind of front-man James Downs, a kind of musical meditation on the human condition, after the dissolution of his previous band. That led to an album named A Darkness Unknown, and its positive reception motivated Downs to assemble a full band, which included guitarist Nick Elder. While beginning to play live shows, Meditator also began work on another album, which took shape around the title World Watcher.

Of course, the global pandemic had other plans, and interfered with Meditator’s expectations for release of the new full-length. They decided to postpone the release, but to begin revealing singles from the record, beginning with “Star Gazer” in October 2020, and continuing not long ago with “Dust“. It’s that second song that’s the subject of the music video we’re premiering today, which shows the band performing the track in a plastic-wrapped room. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: ADARRAK — “WITHERING”

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  1 Response »
May 132021
 

 

Adarrak is a new progressive death metal band founded by Singaporean guitarist extraordinaire Emmanuel George Bi and fleshed out by the talents of vocalist Gustavo “Kike” Valderrama (Sol De Sangre, Headcrusher) and bassist Zigor Munoz. Guest performers on their debut album, Ex Oriente Lux, include drummer Robin Stone (ex-The Amenta) and guitar soloists Nicholas Chang, Edmund “Quekstein” Quek, and the great Marty Friedman.

Moreover, the album was mixed and mastered by none other than Dan Swanö at Unisound Studios, who has commented: “Adarrak is truly progressive since they are not afraid to implement all kinds of metal into the mix, anything from epic leads to insane blast parts.”

And if all that information didn’t build some heated intrigue within your brain, the song we’re presenting today from Ex Oriente Lux surely will — though it might also send your mind into the sky and explode it like fireworks. The name of the song is “Withering“. Continue reading »

BLEETH: “HARBINGER”

 Album Reviews, SHORT BUT SWEET  No Responses »
May 132021
 

 

(Here’s Nathan Ferreira‘s review of the new record by Miami-based Bleeth, set for release by Seeing Red Records on May 28th.)

I’m stepping outside of my comfort zone here. I don’t usually look for sludgy post-metal when I’m bored and unsure of what to listen to. In fact, if it weren’t for the magnificence of The Ocean and my nostalgic appreciation for early Mastodon as a gateway band, I’d probably never listen to this stuff unprovoked.

This makes it even more perplexing that I find myself coming back to Harbinger, the second full-length of Miami-based Bleeth. It is very much entrenched in the modern metal ethos and presentation – if you aren’t into this stuff already, I doubt this will be the album that converts you, because it checks every single box this sub-style is supposed to check. Lots of thick, hazy chords that are memorable more for their simplicity than the actual melody being played, a “less is more” approach to driving rock riffs, big bassy tone, aggressive feminine vocals that straddle the line between signing and atonal yelling (with some more raggedy harsh vocals spliced in as well). Their band name sounds like a nonsensical utterance a baby makes when it’s got a mouthful of food – because this is “artistic” or something? In essence, what I’m saying is if artificial intelligence could generate a post-sludge band, Bleeth is exactly what would come out. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: DRAWN AND QUARTERED, ERDVE, EUTHANIZED, USHANGVAGUSH

 Metal News, Premieres  No Responses »
May 122021
 

 

To my surprise, I found time to compile this mid-week round-up. It’s not quite as long as these things usually are, consisting of only four advance tracks from forthcoming releases, but it will make the next one I do that much less bloated. The music I chose is stylistically diverse, but all of it brings an electrifying intensity. Might be something on here you’ll want to add to your wish list.

DRAWN AND QUARTERED (U.S.)

Seattle’s beloved Drawn and Quartered are returning with their eighth album, Congregation Pestilence, preceded by the just-released single, “Rotting Abomination (The Cleansing)“. It’s indeed rotting and abominable, and also a mouth-watering feast for death metal ghouls. Continue reading »

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