AN NCS INTERVIEW: FORLESEN

 Interviews  No Responses »
May 182020
 

 

(Comrade Aleks has brought us a new interview, and an especially interesting discussion it is, with Ascalaphus, one of the participants in Forlesen.)

Forlesen is the product of a spiritual and musical collaboration between Ascalaphus (vocals, guitars, synth, harmonium), Bezaelith (vocals, guitars, bass, synth) and Maleus (drums). I believe NCS readers know well Ascalaphus and Bezaelith due to their practices in Botanist and maybe Lotus Thief, and Maleus originally performed his duties in avant-garde outfits Kayo Dot, Vesper Moth, and Maudlin of the Well.

The interaction between these three artists turned into Forlesen’s first album Hierophant Violent, released by Hypnotic Dirge about a month ago. The band’s material is woven of psychedelic sonic filaments made from doom, ambient, and black metal – a blend which may surprise even Botanist’s followers. The album consists of just of two long tracks, but these tracks are worthy of listening, just as this exciting interview with Ascalaphus is worthy of reading. Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK: YSENGRIN, VALRAVNE, DUTHAIG, FETISHISM, RUNESPELL, FOREST MYSTICISM

 SHADES OF BLACK  5 Responses »
May 172020
 

 

Well, it’s already late in the day, so I’ll dispense with introductory blather and just get right to it.

YSENGRIN

“Potencée d’Or” first appeared on this French band’s debut demo T.R.I.A.D.E back in 2008. Along with three other tracks from that demo, it has been “re-imagined” and re-recorded for the band’s new album (and their last one) Initiatio. The album also includes a revised version of “Monumentum” from the Archivum MMV-MMX demo dating to 2010, plus four new compositions, including two ambient numbers recorded live with the help of Frater Stéphane (N.K.R.T., Rosa Crux). Continue reading »

THIS AND THAT: AMIENSUS, EZIO BOSSO, POSTVORTA, ASBJORN DAEMONIUM DE NOCTIS

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  No Responses »
May 172020
 

 

I spent some time yesterday and more time this morning trying to figure out what to include in this week’s SHADES OF BLACK column. It shouldn’t have been an anxious experience, but it has been, because there is so much I wish I could write about and recommend. Though I know no one will live or die based on the choices I have to make, it’s still painful to leave anything good behind.

At one point I took a break from mentally wrestling with myself over black metal and listened to other things. By pure chance I happened to listen to the first three songs in this collection right in a row, and thought they went together beautifully. I added the fourth one as a wake-up call, and as a transition to whatever I wind up including in SOB.

AMIENSUS

Minnesota’s Amiensus should need no introduction to faithful visitors to our site. We’ve been writing about their music, and occasionally hosting premieres of it, since 2013. Obviously, we are fans, and you should be too. If you happen to be newcomers, you’ll soon have a chance to get on board because Amiensus have a new album named Abreaction that will be released this summer by Transcending Records. Continue reading »

OVERFLOWING STREAMS FOR YOUR SATURDAY: TRIPTYKON, MYSTRAS, SERMENT, DISAVOWED, SEWER TRENCH, GRUZJA, THE MONOLITH DEATHCULT, LORD OF THE LOST, SCARY BUSEY, THREADBARE

 Exceptions to the Rule, Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  1 Response »
May 162020
 

 

I hope your weekend is treating you well. Because I didn’t over-do things during my usual Friday night virtual happy hours, I was able to spend some time catching up with new songs and videos this morning, and I picked these to share with you. It’s an eclectic mix, even by the standards that I usually apply to these round-ups in an effort to ensure variety (and to keep our visitors off-balance). Lots of videos in this particular collection, too.

TRIPTYKON (Switzerland)

To lead off, here’s a video of a live performance by Triptykon of “Rex Irae” from Celtic Frost’s Into the Pandemonium. The song is the first movement in the “Requiem” trilogy, which also includes “Grave” (performed for the first time at the same concert where this video was filmed) and “Winter” (which first appeared on Monotheist).

The performance of all three movements of “Requiem” took place at Roadburn 2019, and Triptykon was accompanied by the Metropole Orkest, by Hannes Grossmann on drums, and by vocalist Safa Heraghi. The orchestration was composed by Alkaloid and Dark Fortress frontman Florian “Morean” Maier, working with Tom G. Warrior. Continue reading »

SHORT BUT SWEET: ABORTED / AUROCH / BECOMES ASTRAL / DEVIL CITY CULT / GALACTIC MECHANICS / RIPPING FLESH

 Album Reviews, SHORT BUT SWEET  6 Responses »
May 152020
 


(Andy Synn has compiled reviews of six recently released EPs that will make your shut-in time more bearable)

In the unending onrush of new albums coming out every month it’s easy to lose track of some of the smaller, though no less stellar, examples of ravaging riff-craft being released at the same time.

The thing is, sometimes what you want is more of a snack than a full meal, which is why it’s important that we make room in our schedule, now and then, to really appreciate some of the sweet metallic morsels like the six I’ve selected here today. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: INSTIGATE — “ATONEMENT”

 Premieres  1 Response »
May 152020
 

 

Three-and-a-half weeks ago we premiered a video teaser of music from a new Italian death metal band named Instigate. The band initially attracted our attention because of the people who are in the line-up. As that video explained, the idea for Instigate sprang from the mind of guitarist Stefano Rossi Ciucci, who is a member of the Italian death metal band Bloodtruth, whose music we have featured more than one at NCS, most recently in our December 2019 premiere of a video for a track off their ravaging 2018 album Martyrium, released by Unique Leader Records.

Rounding out the Instigate line-up are Bloodtruth bassist Riccardo Rogari, vocalist Stefano Borciani from Demiurgon, and drummer extraordinaire Kevin Talley, who has performed with the likes of Suffocation, Dying Fetus, Misery Index, and Chimaira.

The line-up is indeed impressive, and it happily turns out that Instigate’s music is just as impressive as you would expect, even though the current plague has forced the band members to record from their separate home studios, with the results being re-amped and mixed by the engineering maestro Stefano Morabito at his famed 16th Cellar Studio in Rome.

And now, to follow that earlier teaser, today we’re presenting a complete track from the band’s forthcoming demo EP, Echoes Of A Dying World, which will be released on May 29th. And, as you can see, we’re also unveiling the tremendous cover art by Vladimir “Smerdulak” Chebakov (Hideous Divinity, Katalepsy, and more). Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK: GAEREA, UPRISING, FELLWARDEN, DEARTH, IKU-TURSO

 SHADES OF BLACK  2 Responses »
May 142020
 

 

This morning I thought I would have time to pull together a round-up of new music to recommend. In sifting through tracks and videos that had hit my radar screen over the last 24 hours, it dawned on me that the songs I most wanted to feature were all variants of black or “blackened” metal. And so, without planning to do so, I have a week-day edition of SHADES OF BLACK for you.

GAEREA

It’s no secret that I’ve been a huge fan of this Portuguese band since their inception, and have really enjoyed watching their profile become more prominent and their fanbase expand so dramatically since the release of their debut EP in 2016. Their new sophomore album, Limbo, has been high on my most-anticipated list for 2020, and at last we have a track to share, along with the fantastic cover art by Eliran Kantor. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): MNEMOCIDE — “FEEDING THE VULTURES”

 Album Reviews, Premieres  1 Response »
May 142020
 

 

The first track on the album we’re about to premiere is entitled “Manifest“. In it, a woman delivers a depressing introductory statement, but one that’s difficult to deny. She observes that wars have raged throughout human history, spilling blood in vast rivers, followed by waves of despair and hate, but that somehow history always seems to leave us blind and ignorant. We are preceded by columns of shattered souls, and countless generations of shattered souls will follow us. And so, she says, “every generation will be blinded by mnemocide….”

As to the meaning of “mnemocide”, it seems to refer to the willful erasure of memory. It brings to mind a line in Greoge Orwell’s 1984: “Those who control the present, control the past and those who control the past control the future.”

That first spoken-word track on the debut album by this Swiss death metal band, who have themselves taken the name Mnemocide, could be understood as a manifesto for the album as a whole, both lyrically and in the dystopian and dismal atmosphere that the music itself generates while, at the same time, the humongous pounding grooves of the songs are ruining our necks. Continue reading »

UNMERCIFUL: “WRATH ENCOMPASSED”

 Album Reviews  2 Responses »
May 142020
 

 

(Our friend Vonlughlio returns with this review and recommendation of the new album by the death metal band Unmerciful from Topeka, Kansas. The album is out now via Willowtip Records.)

This time around I have the great opportunity to write about Unmerciful’s third album Wrath Encompassed, released via Willowtip Records on April 28th.  This band from Topeka are well known in the BDM scene due to their 2006 debut album Unmercifully Beaten, which is considered a timeless classic in the genre.

As with many projects, Unmerciful suffered a long time through the hazards of time and life with no new music and lineup changes, until their 2016 sophomore effort Ravenous Impulse saw the light of day.  When it was released I must be honest and say that I had mixed feelings about it. Musically it was good, and yet somewhat different from their debut. In particular, the vocals did not go well with me, not that they were bad, but just did not click with me.  The drums were handled by Origin’s John Longstreth (keep in mind that Origin was also formed in Topeka), through a relationship with some of the members from Unmerciful who used to play in the band in the early years. Continue reading »

PARADISE LOST: “OBSIDIAN”

 Album Reviews  4 Responses »
May 132020
 

 

(We present Andy Synn‘s review of the new album by Paradise Lost, which will be released on May 15th by Nuclear Blast Records.)

Every time a legendary, much-loved band releases a new album there seems to be a race as to who can be the first to declare it “their best album ever”.

Some of these people are, of course, the type of overly ardent fan who’ll take any opportunity to demonstrate their devotion to the band (and to anyone else who’s watching), but others, or so I like to think, are simply blinded by the glare of something shiny and new (which, as we all know, is always alluring).

Case in point, I’ve already seen umpteen write-ups of Obsidian declaring it to be a “masterpiece” – it’s not, though it is very good, which I think people will realise once the hype has died down a little and they’ve had time to reassess – largely, or so it seems, due to the fact that it leans further towards the band’s gothier side (think their Draconian Times/One Second period) than the pure Death/Doom of 2017’s Medusa. Continue reading »

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