FAWN LIMBS: “SLEEPER VESSELS”

 Album Reviews  5 Responses »
Oct 052020
 

 

(In this review Andy Synn catches up with the new album by Fawn Limbs, which was released on September 18th in various formats by Roman Numeral Records, Wolves And Vibrancy Records, Dark Trail Records, and Sludgelord Records.)

While many sites, zines, and publications (especially print publications) have already transitioned into “End of Year” mode, we here at NCS are still out there, scouring the interweb for new bands and new albums to bring to your attention.

And it’s a good thing too, because while the release of Sleeper Vessels (the second album from the trans-Atlantic Tech-Grind trio Fawn Limbs) may have flown a little bit under the radar, its bastardised blend of squalling metallic noise, unsettling ambience, and distorted electronic effluent has the potential to throw a major wrench into the works when it comes to deciding what/who belongs on this year’s many “Best of…” lists.

As discordant, as demanding, and as defiantly difficult to categorise as this record is, there are certain points of reference – from the mind-bending technicality of Car Bomb and the pneumatic angularity of Ion Dissonance to the abrasive intensity of The Red Chord or the experimental extremity of Pig Destroyer – which, superficially at least, might make it a little bit easier to take in.

But the truth is that Sleeper Vessels is an album that positively thrives on sowing chaos and confusion at every possible moment, and there’s no real way to fully prepare yourself for this record’s catastrophic, kaleidoscopic assault upon the senses.

But I’ll do what I can. Forewarned is forearmed, after all. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: KRATZER — “DRECK”

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Oct 052020
 

 

I’ve never witnessed a live performance by Kratzer, though they’ve played over 100 shows in their native Germany, but it doesn’t take much imagination to envision the brawling mosh pits they must stir up from the stage. Just listening to their songs makes you want to kick over the furniture and ram your head into the walls. Maybe that’s just me, but I doubt it.

That primal, explosive power and riotous energy in their music leaves an immediate and lasting impression, but it’s not the only memorable aspect of their songs. They don’t waste time and they favor short, sharp shocks, but they have a talent for packing a lot of sensations into the generally short run-times of their tracks. We’ve got a good example of that talent in the song we’re premiering today from their debut album …Alles liegt in Scherben, and perhaps even better examples in the streams of previously released tracks that we’re also sharing. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: VOID PARADIGM — “ULTIME PULSATION”

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Oct 052020
 

 

Misperceptions are often based on insufficient investigation. This has always been true, but seems even more pervasive in the current era, when opinions are often formed based on superficial experience and then become immune to change. When did we become so unreceptive to reconsideration and so self-assured in our ignorance? (I don’t mean you in particular, of course, but rather humanity in general.)

In the grand scheme of things, in which we have daily reminders of ignorance leading to misery and death, black metal may be a relatively inconsequential example of this phenomenon, but it’s an example nonetheless. On a daily basis I come across sentiments to the effect that black metal is hide-bound and resistant to change, stuck in the past and plagued by monotony. But that’s just because too many people aren’t willing to investigate, and to challenge their own conceptions (or pre-conceptions).

Which brings us to Void Paradigm. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: UNDERGANG, NEXUL, KAAL AKUMA

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  2 Responses »
Oct 052020
 

 

For the second weekend in a row I made no NCS posts, and this time I didn’t even explain why. The reason was that I took a short vacation with my spouse and friends and spent the weekend in the beautiful wine country around Walla Walla, Washington. There was copious drinking, eating, and sleeping. The covid-related opportunity to average 80 mph (129 kph) driving the 260 miles there and back again was kind of thrilling all by itself. Everything we did was socially distanced (and with only one exception our eating and drinking was done outside), everyone there was masked up, and it felt safe. It was all great, but the weekend left no time for listening to music or writing.

I got back home in one piece late Sunday afternoon, and to extend the holiday my wife and I went out to dinner at a restaurant near where we live that had just re-opened for in-door service. We were the only customers in the entire restaurant, so that felt safe too, though I was sad for them.

With all that behind me, I felt compelled to start this new week at NCS with a selection of new music. Having spent no time this weekend digging deep into what has surfaced over the last week, I made some truly random choices based on some very scattered listening early this morning. But of course I really like what I found, especially because all the songs serendipitously fit together so well. Continue reading »

TOADEATER: “BIT TO EWIGEN DAOGEN”

 Album Reviews  12 Responses »
Oct 022020
 

 

(This is Andy Synn‘s review of the new album by Germany’s Toadeater, which is being released today.)

When it comes to the ongoing discussion about how/whether to separate the art from the artist I tend to err towards the idea that, ultimately, it really comes down to a matter of personal choice.

Sure, we can do our best to engage, discuss, and inform one another on the (not so rare) occasion it turns out that one of our favourite bands or artists turns out to have some… let’s say “questionable” views (or is just a reprehensible, irredeemable piece of shit), but ultimately it’s up to each of us, individually, where we draw the line.

Your circumstances will also affect how you act/react in response when an artist/band crosses that line – for myself there are bands I’ll still listen to but whom I choose not to use my platform here to promote, for example – but the one argument that doesn’t hold any water, not with me anyway, is that you can’t/won’t stop supporting a band “because there’s no-one else as good out there”.

The truth is there’s never been more great music out there. Sure, there’s a lot of dross. But there’s more opportunities now than ever to discover someone/something new when one of your old bands betrays you.

So if you’ve been struggling for a new Black Metal fix to replace your old one, Toadeater have you covered. Continue reading »

AN NCS EP PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): VENTR — “NUMINOUS NEGATIVITY”

 Album Reviews, Premieres, SHORT BUT SWEET  No Responses »
Oct 022020
 

 

The title of Ventr’s debut EP — Numinous Negativity — is nearly perfect for the music. Numinous, Luminous Negativity might be slightly better. But the title has meaning beyond the sensations of the music and the visions they spawn in the mind. We’ll come to that momentarily.

The EP may be a debut recording, but it certainly doesn’t sound like a first effort. The band are Portuguese, and the EP will be released by Signal Rex (on October 9th), but the music doesn’t fit neatly into the kind of raw black metal aesthetic that you might expect from those facts.

As for the conceptual underpinning, we’re told that the title refers to “a spiritual and/or religious form of negative perception – the mysteries in the works within the omnipresence of the Devil.” Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): YOVEL — “FORTHCOMING HUMANITY”

 Album Reviews, Premieres  6 Responses »
Oct 012020
 

 

In the midst of a time when it is all too easy to feel desperate and demoralized by forces both human and viral that seem bent on crushing both life and hope, it is worth remembering that humanity has been here before. Remembering such times, and the efforts of valiant people who survived and transcended them, can itself furnish hope. And maybe we can learn something about how this is to be done, as well.

In their new album Forthcoming Humanity, the Greek black metal band Yovel have devoted themselves to such remembrances, and others. A concept album, it is based upon the poems of Tasos Leivaditis, a brilliant poet and a revolutionary, who himself lived through harrowing times, including the second World War. Born in 1922, he died in 1988. Yovel themselves explain:

“Tasos Leivaditis lived and wrote for the hopes, struggles and losses of the Greek people and Greek left movement. We found in his writing mourning; but also radiant hope, rooted in our own history but also in touch with the history of the peoples of this world and their struggles up to date. Hιs work stands as a tribute to that history, but also as a statement for our present and our future.” They quote these words of Leivaditis himself (from Confession, The Manuscripts of Autumn):

“One day I want them to write on my grave: He lived on the border of an indefinite age and died for things far away that he once saw in an un-certain dream.” Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: HELL:ON — “THE ARCHITECT’S TEMPLE”

 Premieres  1 Response »
Oct 012020
 

 

As you can see, the cover art for Hell:On‘s new album, Scythian Stamm, is spectacular. And apart from seizing the attention of the eyes (and of the viewer’s imagination), it also very well suits many aspects of the music crafted for the album by this Ukrainian death metal band. Like the artwork, the music itself generates visions of otherworldly menace and power, of monstrosity and hideous glory.

Now fifteen years into their career, Hell:On have had plenty of time to focus and hone their sound, and this new sixth album makes that clear through superior songcraft and a combination of shuddering force and mesmerizing sorcery. This much is evident even from the single song we’re premiering today in advance of the album’s release on November 1st by Hell Serpent Music. Its name is “The Architect’s Temple“. Continue reading »

ONCOLOGY: “OMNIVERSAL ANTIGENESIS”

 Album Reviews  No Responses »
Oct 012020
 

 

(In this review Vonlughlio provides a strong recommendation for the new second album from the UK brutal death metal band Oncology.)

Today’s subject is an amazing band from the UK named Oncology, who on July 17th released their sophomore album Omniversal Antigenesis via Rising Nemesis Records.

This is a project that started in 2014 and released a single called “Prelude to Oblivion”. The following year they released their demo The Metastasis consisting ofthree songs.  But I discovered them in 2016 with their first album Infinite Regress and right away became a fan. Really enjoyed the riffs in each of the songs, very quality writing, and vocals that fit the music perfectly.  The drums on this release were programmed, but well done I might add. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: HUMANITY IS CANCER — “HARLOT” (AND A REVIEW OF THE SELF-TITLED EP)

 Album Reviews, Premieres, SHORT BUT SWEET  1 Response »
Sep 302020
 

 

This is an example of “better late than never”, to put it mildly. Humanity Is Cancer wrote the songs on their forthcoming self-titled debut EP back in 2014/2015, as guitarist Thomas Haywood was just about to launch his two labels, Redefining Darkness Records and Seeing Red Records, whose releases have received considerable acclaim in the ensuing years. As a result of the effort devoted to the labels, the EP was put on hold — but it will now finally see the horrid light of a November day in a truly terrible year that has abundantly proven the truth of the band’s name.

And it is definitely better late than never. The four songs on the EP are all terrific, delivering with considerable mastery a style of death metal that draws upon the influence of Aeon, post-Barnes Cannibal Corpse, Morbid Angel, early Decapitated, and Bloodbath. The music’s immediately addictive rhythms are pulverizing, its morbid, preternatural melodies are memorable and haunting, and it achieves heights of ferocity that are spine-tingling. Continue reading »

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