AN NCS PREMIERE: PROMETHEUS — “ASTROPHOBOS”

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Oct 092020
 

 

In May of this year the Greek black metal band Prometheus independently released a superb EP named Astrophobos, whose title track took its inspirations and its lyrics from a mystical, otherworldly poem by H.P. Lovecraft that (as one writer described it) “tells the tale of a misinterpreted golden star and its truly terrible reality”. Where once the narrator beheld with yearning a place in the night heavens that he imagined to be a utopia of happiness and virtue, he realizes, as the glorious light turns crimson, that instead demons gaze back from a realm of haunting horror.

Now Prometheus have expanded upon that EP, adding three more songs to create an album-length work that will be released by I, Voidhanger Records on October 23rd. Its title is Resonant Echoes From Cosmos Of Old. As the label explains, the music carries forward the heritage of both Hellenic and Scandinavian black metal (from early Septic Flesh and Rotting Christ to Emperor and Setherial), while also interweaving elements of the esoteric death metal of such bands as Morbid Angel and early Absu.

To help introduce the new album, we are today presenting that stunning song that grew from the seeds planted by Lovecraft’s frightening poetry. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: NECROPHOBIC, DEMONICAL, PROFANITY, GAEREA, APPARITION

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  2 Responses »
Oct 092020
 

 

This is pretty much a DGR round-up, since it was he who urged the first three new songs and videos in this collection. They’re all from bands who’ve been around for a long time, from 14 years to more than 30 years (but are still kicking ass). To justify my own existence, I picked two more, one from a more obscure band than those first three but whose name is rising fast, and a second from an even more obscure name that I suspect will soon become better-known.

I have approximately 53 other new songs I’d also like to share with you. Maybe later. There’s a fly that’s making the rounds on the morning news interviews, so I need to check that out.

NECROPHOBIC

“Devil’s Spawn Attack” is the closing track on Necrophobic’s new album, Dawn of the Damned. I smell a review simmering in the NCS mess hall that questions the wisdom of that choice — not a question about the quality of the song (which is damned good), but about its position in the running order. But I’ll let that writer speak for himself in due course; maybe he’ll change his mind. Meanwhile, I’ll speak my own mind. Continue reading »

UNSUNG HEROES OF 2020: HVRT / KRUELTY / KVLL

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Oct 082020
 

 

(Here’s a trio of enthusiastic reviews penned by Andy Synn, accompanied by a lot of crippling music)

Those of you who’ve been with us here at NCS for a while will, possibly, know that I usually do these “Unsung Heroes…” articles in January/February as a way of catching up with bands who I didn’t get around to reviewing the previous year.

You also may have noticed… it’s October 2020. Which means I’m kind of jumping the gun a little. But damn, I didn’t want to wait until January to get these three artists/albums written up because they deserve all the love and attention I/we can muster right now. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): KNEEL — “AILMENT”

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Oct 082020
 

 

Bewildering and distressing times we live in, where the unstopped global migration of a microscopic organism has exposed a multitude of fissures in human societies that have been accumulating for countless generations, and turned them into gaping fractures. The scale of these terrible consequences is vast, a devastation writ large, but in some ways a reflection of what happens in so many solitary lives, where the accretion of seemingly minor problems over time can lead, and often does lead, to tragic and unmanageable outcomes.

The persistent failure of both individuals and societies to deal with mounting flaws until it’s too late is a kind of seemingly incurable ailment in the human condition. And thus it’s fitting that Kneel‘s new album, which was inspired by such thoughts, is itself named Ailment.

As the solo project of Portuguese multi-instrumentalist and producer Pedro Mau (ex-Kneeldown, Wells Valley), Kneel released a debut album named Interstice seven years ago but at last is returning with this follow-up full-length, set for an October 16 release by Raging Planet and Planet K, with vocals and lyrics contributed by Mau’s Wells Valley bandmate and Concealment guitarist/vocalist Filipe Correia. What we have for you today is a full stream of Ailment, preceded by thoughts about what you will be hearing. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: ULFVEN

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Oct 082020
 

 

(Comrade Aleks returns again to NCS with a new interview, talking with Jonathan Hultqvist, vocalist and bassist of the promising Swedish band Ulfven, whose music you can also explore within the conversation.)

New blood pours into the Pagan Cult veins with the appearance of the Swedish band Ulfven. They practice a bit blackened and melodic death-doom metal with lyrics written mostly in their mother’s tongue and a grim folklore concept behind it.

Born from biting cold and hostile forest shadows, their music carries on a dark message through their new EP Bland Aska Och Sten. Taking into account that Ulfven’s full-length Folklore was released just a year ago, I suppose that the heathen gods sped them on. Let’s learn how Jonathan Hultqvist, the band’s vocalist and bassist, sees it. Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: WITHOUT MERCY — “DISINFECT THE SOUL”

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Oct 072020
 

 

We have for you today one of those uncommon music videos that both effectively interprets and amplifies the potential messages of the song and runs the risk of making it hard to concentrate on the music. This isn’t intended as a criticism. It’s just that the video is so explosively wild and so surprisingly unnerving that you probably need a second chance to really pay attention to what you’re hearing. Fortunately, that’s an easy thing to do because the song is such a ravager on multiple levels.

That song, “Disinfect the Soul“, is a vicious and arresting track off an album named Seismic that’s set for release on November 20th by the band Without Mercy from British Columbia, who draw their inspirations from such groups as Cattle Decapitation, Meshuggah, Whitechapel, Pantera, and Decapitated. In addition to the talents of these four Canadians, the album also features guest appearances by Jeff Loomis (Arch Enemy, ex-Nevermore) and Chris Broderick (Act of Defiance, ex-Megadeth, ex-Jag Panzer), and “Disinfect the Soul” happens to be a song that features Broderick‘s eye-popping talents. Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: REVOLTING — “CARNAGE WILL COME”

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Oct 072020
 

 

Somewhere, someday, an enterprising metal-head will devote a massive doctoral thesis to analyzing in meticulous detail the music of Rogga Johansson‘s numerous bands, attempting to compare and contrast them as they’ve popped in and out of existence over the last quarter century. Perhaps the work has already begun. Perhaps it will provide a nuanced roadmap to why this music went here and that music went there. Or maybe it will end in confusion and a re-thinking of careers, with the aspiring academic turning toward the relative simplicity of something like brain surgery.

Either way, a central subject in the analysis would have to be the band Revolting, a Johansson group whose releases have been exceeded in number only by the hallowed Paganizer. As a vehicle for the inspirations of the Bard of Gamleby, Revolting has clearly been a favored one, given that beginning in 2009 Revolting was on pace to release an album a year, until taking a three-year break between 2012’s Hymns of Ghastly Horror and 2015’s Visages of the Unspeakable. Another three-year break led to 2018’s Monolith of Madness, but we’ve only had to wait about two-and-three-quarter years for the next full-length, The Shadow At the World’s End, which will be discharged by Transcending Obscurity Records on November 27th. Continue reading »

PUTRESCENT SEEPAGE: “DEAD AND DEMENTED”

 Album Reviews  1 Response »
Oct 072020
 

 

(In this post Vonlughlio reviews and recommends the debut album from the Australian brutal death metaal band Putrescent Seepage, out now on New Standard Elite.)

The BDM band Putrescent Seepage from Adelaide, South Australia, was born in 2012.  From the beginning the guys behind this project were Cameron Smith (Drums/Vocals) and Brett Stoeckel (Guitars/Vocals) (recently joined by vocalist Simon Naulty). The following year they released a demo that was very limited and that I of course missed (shame on me).  After three years, a two-song demo saw the light and yours truly made it his mission to get one from the band, which came with an original sketch from their drummer (who also happens to be a painter, with amazing work).

That second demo just hit the BDM scene with a vengeance. I was living in the Dominican Republic then, and it was great to see all the fans around the globe just going nuts over this effort. It showcased the talent these musicians have and how as a team they were able to create one of those demos that should be or have been considered classic. Continue reading »

SHORT BUT SWEET: ALTERI / MINUALA / MOROKH

 Album Reviews, SHORT BUT SWEET  1 Response »
Oct 062020
 


Minuala

 

(Here’s a triptych of EP reviews by Andy Synn.)

One of the (many) great things about writing for this site is that, free from the concerns of having to sell ad space or keep to print deadlines, we’re basically free to write about what we want, when we want to.

So, for example, if I want to dedicate an article to reviewing three releases all situated somewhere along the Blackened Crust/Hardcore spectrum… then I can do!

And if those three releases all happen to be EPs, and not albums… it’s all good!

And then if one of them was, in fact, originally released back in February, even though I’m only just getting to writing about it now… well, that’s not a problem either! Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: WOMBRIPPER — “CHURCH OF REPULSION”

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Oct 062020
 

 

Quite by coincidence, one of my colleagues earlier today ventured the opinion here that a lot of music stands on the shoulders of giants. Really, it has always been that way. In the case of the Russian band Wombripper, the giants on whose shoulders they proudly stand include the likes of Grave, Entombed, and Dismember. From Russia they may come, but it’s iconic death metal from Sweden that fuels them. And what they’ve done with that inspirational fuel makes them sound like giants.

They’ve already made a fine name for themselves through a series of releases that began in 2014 and extended through their 2018 debut album From the Depths of Flesh. Now operating as a trio, they’re approaching the release of their second full-length, Macabre Melodies, which will happen on October 26th through the good graces of Memento Mori, a label with a refined taste in vintage death metal.

The new album reflects the increasing mastery that has come to Wombripper with time and devotion to their craft. It displays spine-shaking power, ravenous ferocity, dynamic songwriting, and a knack for conceiving melodic hooks that are just sharp enough to get stuck under the skin without detracting from the sensations of savagery and the supernatural that they’ve become so adept at creating. It’s hard to imagine any true fan of this style of death metal who won’t fall hard for Macabre Melodies (I sure have), and the song we’re premiering today is a great example of why that is. Continue reading »

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