The white-robed figures in the video move in unnerving spasms through mist lit by a midnight sun, observed and beckoned by a crowned king of death. The figures flail, spin, and wander aimlessly as the skull-faced lord placidly observes their derangement.
Meanwhile, the members of Majestic Downfall perform a crushing soundtrack steeped in hopelessness and misery, a doomed embroidery of skull-cleaving percussive blows, moaning melodies, and tormented growls. Continue reading »
(Vonlughlio returns with a strong recommendation for an under-the-radar album released in April by the Thai band Pathological Sadism via Amputated Vein. The label recommends it for fans of Heinous Killing, Goretrade, Devourment, Acranius, and Vulvectomy.)
Today I want to recommend Realms of The Abominable Putrefaction, the debut album of Pathological Sadism from Thailand, which was released by Amputated Vein Records on April 24th. For me it was a welcome surprise — I was not aware of this project and listened to it without any expectations.
I decided to look back into the project and learned that its inception was in 2011 and that they released their first EP in 2013, which turned out to be 16 minutes of pure BDM stravaganzza which captivated me once the first note dropped. After this, the band went quiet until 2017 when they released a two-song demo that continued the path from their previous effort. Continue reading »
Having caught up on a lot of lost sleep overnight, I’m getting a very late start today. Given the lateness of the hour, I’ve made today’s selections from among a short list of things I’ve listened to most recently instead of digging deeper into my ever-burgeoning list of black and blackish releases. A lot of promising new albums are missing from this group (including just-released records by Barghest (Louisiana), Urnscent (Iran), and Moribund Mantras (Germany), to name just a few, because I haven’t had time to completely make my way through them.
KHTHONIIK CERVIIKS
In early May (here) I tried to find the words to describe the first advance track from Æequiizoiikum, the new album by Khthoniik Cerviiks, and ultimately just threw up my hands and called it “a supernova-level musical spectacle, one that’s ingenious in its conception and eye-popping in its technical execution”. Now there’s a second track from the album out in the world, so it’s time to wrestle with words again. Continue reading »
If you’re a fan of Enslaved, Pallbearer, Kataklysm, Black Crown Initiate, Oceans of Slumber, surely you know about the new singles they released over the last few days from their next albums (most with videos), and if you didn’t know, now you do (just follow those hyperlinks to listen and watch). You probably also saw the announcement of a new Napalm Death album and Decibel’s “Get Behind the Mask” feature with photos of 140 masked-up artists.
But rather than provide commentary about those widely touted events I decided to turn my piggish snout toward the sniffing out of truffles your own snouts might not have detected yet, which is mainly how we use our olfactory organs at NCS.
REBEL WIZARD
Rebel Wizard‘s new album Magickal Mystical Indifference was just released yesterday by Prosthetic Records, and to celebrate the occasion they’ve also just released a colorful, metal AF new video (made by Exotic Corpse) for an album track named “raiseth up all those that be bowed down“. Continue reading »
(Andy Synn brings us another installment of his interview series on lyrics in metal, and for today’s fascinating commentary we thank Ian Gillings, lyricist/vocalist/guitarist of the British band Rannoch.)
One of our primary motivations here at NCS has always been to use our platform to highlight the underdogs and the underappreciated, the bands who don’t necessarily have the support of the labels, PR, or any of the other mechanisms which help the bigger names get all the coverage they want.
That doesn’t mean we’re totally ignorant of the “the usual suspects” by any means, but there’s a special kind of joy which comes from knowing that you’ve played a small part in introducing a relatively unknown band to a wider audience – especially when their music runs rings around many of their more famous (or infamous) contemporaries.
Such is the case with UK Prog-Death powerhouse Rannoch, as while we’re not the only site to have written about them by any means, we’ve covered all their releases so far (up to and including their phenomenal second album, Reflections Upon Darkness) with such gusto that we’ve definitely helped raise their profile both at home and abroad.
So, to continue throwing our weight behind the band I invited guitarist/vocalist and main songwriter Ian Gillings to tell us a little bit about his past, present, and future as a lyricist.
A word of warning though – much like the band’s latest album, it’s a long and in-depth piece, so get comfortable… it’s time for some deep, dark reflections… Continue reading »
Here’s another short round-up of songs and videos as a way of wrapping up our posts for this week. I have in mind another one for Saturday.
THEOTOXIN
This first video has it all — flashing images of swarming maggots, snakes, death in the insect kingdom, human and goat skulls, stone tombs, abundant torches and candles, skies ripped by lightning, and a masked and corpse-painted band ripping through their song in a cavern. It’s missing a human sacrifice, but we shouldn’t be greedy. Continue reading »
We’ve been following the impressive progress of the Swedish black metal band Ov Shadows since its formation in 2016 by former members of Waning, one of whom is also a member of Obitus (a band who’ve also received significant attention at our site over the years). Since that inception Ov Shadows have released a debut EP (Monologues) and a first album (The Darkness Between Stars), both of which demonstrated multi-faceted talents, with music capable of reaching heights of both incendiary violence and heart-swelling grandeur as well as descending into depths of endless suffering.
It has thus been welcome news to learn that Hypnotic Dirge Records will release a second album by these formidable Swedes. The name of the album is I Djävulens Avbild (In the Devil’s Image), with a release date of August 14th. It proves again the power of the band to mount punishing, near-overpowering assaults on the senses while also, true to their name, wrapping the listener in shrouds of darkening shadow. Continue reading »
The Obscure Sibyl is the debut EP of the Florentine band Oneiric Celephaïs. It begins with a conceptually linked triptych of songs inspired by the works of H.P. Lovecraft, and concludes with “Vǫluspá“, named for the first and best-known poem of the Poetic Edda and one of the most important primary sources for the study of Norse mythology. Of those opening three tracks, “The Aeon of Death” is the second. The band explain:
“‘The Aeon of Death‘ is inspired by Lovecraft‘s horror story “The Nameless City”. The descent of the narrator in the un-reverberate blackness of the abyss of the catacombs is an allegory for the katábasis of every Sibyl’s follower, a descent which leads to obscurity, depression and ultimately to death. ‘The Aeon of Death‘ represents the central part of the triptych of the EP: the sinking of man into the abyss gulfs served only to discover sights of woe and doleful shades”.
With a description like that one, you might be expecting an oppressive display of cavernous death/doom. Prepare to be surprised. Continue reading »
(Here’s Vonlughlio’s review of the long-awaited new by Disavowed, which will be released on July 31 through Brutal Mind, with artwork by Jorg de Vos.)
This time around I have the opportunity to write about Disavowed from the Netherlands and their upcoming album Revocation of the Fallen, to be released via Brutal Mind. This is something that fans of this project have been waiting on for 13 years.
At the inception of this band back in 1994 they were known as Nocturnal Silence until they changed to their current name in 2000 and released the Point of Few demo. They released their debut album Perceptive Deception the following year, and it’s considered a classic among BDM fans, one that is still consistently played across the planet. Continue reading »
(In this post Andy Synn reviews the debut album of the Argentinian band Ataudes, which was released on May 25th.)
Following on from yesterday’s trip to Chile today we’re hopping across the border to take a look (and a listen) at Argentinian duo Ataudes (Cristian Viegas and Jonatan Zarate), whose promising debut album delivers a mix of deathly intensity and blackened bite strongly reminiscent of early Extol. Continue reading »