AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: NORDICWINTER — “SOMBER WINDS OF DESPAIR (PART I)”

 Premieres  5 Responses »
Feb 032021
 

 

In the summer of 2020 the solo atmospheric/depressive black metal band Nordicwinter from Quebec, Canada (which was originally founded by evillair in 2006) self-released in limited fashion a new album named Desolation. That album seized the attention of Hypnotic Dirge Records, who in mid-January of this year gave it a more expansive release in a 6-panel digipack CD edition. But it turns out that this re-issue was also a precursor to the label’s plans for a further Nordicwinter release.

That next release is a new Nordicwinter album entitled Sorrow. As Hypnotic Dirge faithfully explains: “Laden with haunting melodies and cryptic vocals, Nordicwinter creates music that is crafted to obliterate all remnants of light and hope leaving only despair and death”. As a sign of how true those words are, we are today premiering a lyric video for the record’s opening track, “Somber Winds of Despair (Part I)“, in advance of its March 26 release. Continue reading »

AN NCS EP PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): BLACK HOLE DEITY — “LAIR OF XENOLICH”

 Album Reviews, Premieres, SHORT BUT SWEET  2 Responses »
Feb 032021
 

 

Black Hole Deity is a new name in death metal, but it has a veteran line-up, whose instrumental and songwriting skills are on full display in the band’s absolutely electrifying debut EP Lair of Xenolich, which we’re premiering in full today in advance of its February 5th release by Everlasting Spew Records.

The band was first conceived by Cam Pinkerton and Chris White, co-founders of the death metal band Chaos Inception, and they then recruited Alec Cordero (from the death metal bands Cruelty Exalted and Calcemia) to handle lead guitar duties, and finally got none other than Mike Heller of Malignancy, Fear Factory, and Raven to handle the drumming.

Drawing upon supernatural and sci-fi themes, what this fearsome foursome have created is an explosive assault that’s a pure adrenaline rush, as well as one that inflicts megaton levels of stunning destructiveness. Listening to the EP, it’s very easy to imagine that you’ve been teleported straight into an alien war zone where advanced technologies are being deployed with both machine-like precision and breathtaking ferocity. Continue reading »

PORTRAYAL OF GUILT: “WE ARE ALWAYS ALONE”

 Album Reviews  4 Responses »
Feb 032021
 

 

(Here is Andy Synn‘s review of the new album by Portrayal of Guilt from Austin, Texas. The abum was just released by Closed Casket Activities.)

Raise your hands – who here remembers the halcyon days of abrasive, chaotic Hardcore?

You know what I’m talking about. Back when it seemed like half the bands were constantly on the cusp of imploding, and every song felt like a burning fuse about to explode?

Do you recall how it felt? The anger and the anguish. The tension and the terror. The overwhelming sense that anything could happen, at any moment, and everything might spontaneously combust without warning?

Well, my friends, you’re in luck, because those days are back… in PoG form! Continue reading »

GATECREEPER: “AN UNEXPECTED REALITY”

 Album Reviews  2 Responses »
Feb 022021
 

 

(Here’s Gonzo’s review of the unexpected new album by Arizona’s Gatecreeper, which was discharged by Closed Casket Activities on January 13th.)

From the endlessly bizarre timeline in which it’s being released to the sheer out-of-nowhere, smack-you-upside-the-head-and-run surprise of the release itself, I think it’s safe to say nobody saw this album coming.

And maybe that’s the point. After all, bands like Gatecreeper don’t really entertain much in the way of being subtle. Their bludgeoning songwriting, pounding rhythm section, and Chase Mason’s unearthly howl have solidified the band’s sound as instantly recognizable in the death metal underground.

And even though those elements are as present as ever on An Unexpected Reality, this sonic blowtorch falls a little short of the decimation it wants to inflict. Continue reading »

AN NCS EP PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): NATHR — “BEINAHRÚGA”

 Album Reviews, Premieres  No Responses »
Feb 022021
 

 

Manipulating and intertwining ingredients of black metal and funeral doom, the multinational band Nathr have pronounced themselves ready to open the graves of the old Viking capital of Nidaros and to make us imagine what will come forth. They proclaim their inspiration in these words: “We start to dig up the somber emptiness of our souls, to express the grievances of life.”

Nathr only began last year, and took shape as the union among Italian vocalist/lyricist Nathas (Funeral Harvest), the Dutch musician Northr (Funeral Harvest, and the dark ambient project Northr), who performs guitars, bass, and synths, and the Norwegian drummer Ond (Funeral Harvest, Keiser). Their first release is an expansive four-track EP named Beinahrúga, which seems to be an Old Norse word for a pile of bones, and it will be released through Signal Rex on February 12th.

What we have for you today is a full stream of Beinahrúga, preceded by some thoughts about the disturbing experience of it. Continue reading »

WEREWOLVES: “WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE”

 Album Reviews  2 Responses »
Feb 022021
 

 

(We’re wolves and so are you and so are Werewolves, whose mission in life is to make you wolves with a serious IQ deficit. Nathan Ferreira wrote this completely fitting review of this band’s second album, which is out now on Prosthetic Records.)

Hey there, NCS readers! Do you want to get stupid?

Of course you do, you’re on a website that exclusively covers harsh, heavy music. Well, I’ve got just the band for you: Werewolves. Continue reading »

OUR LIST OF 2020’S MOST INFECTIOUS EXTREME METAL SONGS (PART 15): …AND OCEANS, GAEREA

 MOST INFECTIOUS SONGS-2020  No Responses »
Feb 012021
 

 

This is the day on which I originally planned to end the rollout of this 2020 list, but I’ve revised my plans, mainly because I wasn’t able to make a new installment on a daily basis during January. The days I missed have left me with too many songs that I still want to include.

The 2019 edition of this list included 60 songs, which was a lower number than in the preceding three years. If you’ve been counting, you know that this year I’ve only made it to 42 so far (including today’s two tracks), so I really feel compelled to keep going. When will I stop? I haven’t quite figured that out yet, but I’ll let you know when I do.

…AND OCEANS

…And Oceans‘ 2020 record Cosmic World Mother was a comeback album, the group’s first full-length release since 2002. As my friend DGR wrote in his review, it was also one of the more blistering releases to come out last year, a symphonic black metal assault that was “absolute hellfire in song form”. But that didn’t mean it wasn’t contagious. Continue reading »

LEGBA: “THE DEMON INSIDE”

 Album Reviews  2 Responses »
Feb 012021
 

 

(We present Aleksha McLoughlin‘s review of the new album by the South Carolina doom band Legba, which is set for release on March 5th, along with a stream of all the music.)

In times of pandemic and civil unrest, exactly what price are we willing to pay to escape back to a time long since passed? Legba’s newest release proves that such sentiment cannot come without a price.

Legba are no strangers to inserting social commentary within their music, most noticeably on their prior album Hell, and yet the samplings of news reports telling of COVID-19 as it grips America might be their most haunting inclusion yet. Further still is the shocking fact that that report might actually be the cheeriest thing on this album, and that’s saying something. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: ISGHERURD MORTH — “LUCIR STORMALAH”

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  2 Responses »
Feb 012021
 

 

In 2016 Stench Price burst upon the scene with a self-titled debut that included a constellation of guest appearances (among them, Dan Lilker, Rogga Johansson, Karina Utomo, Max Phelps, Dave Ingram, and Shawn Knight) and a highly adventurous approach to grindcore, one that united high levels of technical proficiency and pronounced avant-garde musical inclinations (for example, who would have thought that bossa/lounge music would have a place in grind?).

While all the luminary guests played a role in drawing people into the unconventional and constantly surprising music, the band’s three members deserved the lion’s share of the credit: French drummer Romain Goulon (ex-Necrophagist, Benighted) and Siberian musicians Peter Shallmin (Kamlath, Escapethecult) and Max Konstantinov (Kamlath, Heavenwithus). Now this same trio have formed a new project named Isgherurd Morth, in which they apply their taste for the unorthodox to black metal.

The debut album of Isgherurd Morth is named Hellrduk, and it’s set for release on March 12th by Repose Records, with pre-orders beginning today. To help spread the word, we’re now premiering an album track called “Lucir Stormalah“. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: AZARATH

 Interviews  No Responses »
Feb 012021
 

 

(Here is Karina Noctum‘s interview with vocalist Skullripper of Poland’s Azarath, whose latest (and seventh) album was released on November 27, 2020, by Agonia Records.)

I remember that as a teenager I started listening to Behemoth and I liked Inferno’s drumming so much that I wanted to see what else he had made. I was pretty happy when I found Azarath. with all its rawness, brutality, and intensity. I like it more than Behemoth, actually, and I love the fact they have their own distinct sound. The band became one of my favorites from Poland together with Trauma, Hate, old Decapitated, Lost Soul, and Vader, of course.

The Polish scene has such quality, especially when it comes to Death Metal, that it is one of my favorite musical realms. My first interview with Azarath was distributed in print at Hole in the Sky and that was a long time ago. I’m pretty thankful they still keep playing and releasing albums and that I get to interview them again. This time around I asked about their new album Saint Desecration, in which the band play a technical, aggressive, and pretty fast Death Metal. I really hope to catch a live show in the future as they are absolutely crushing and the sound is super-powerful live. Continue reading »

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