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 »

AN NCS PREMIERE: COSMIC PUTREFACTION — “ABYSMAL RESONANCE PROJECTION”

 Premieres  1 Response »
May 132020
 

 

In the spring of last year we had the pleasure of premiering At the Threshold of the Greatest Chasm, the debut album of the Italian death metal band Cosmic Putrefaction. Of that album we wrote:

“The songs are constantly veering, the rhythms and tempos in continual flux, the fretwork freakishly intricate and destabilizing. That overarching air of dementia ranges from crazed melees of rampant viciousness to brooding, muttering insanity — with moments of soaring magnificence.

“The album is not exactly loaded with catchy riffs, not made for frequent headbanging, not content to follow straight-forward, well-paved paths. Instead, it’s the kind of album that delivers a thrill-ride — a hellish sonic roller-coaster you experience blind-folded so you don’t see what’s coming. And while the atmosphere, at a high level, is one of derangement, it has other atmospheric qualities that lead the listener off into eerie pan-dimensional and cosmic realms”.

Wasting no time, Cosmic Putrefaction has prepared a second album, with the extensive title of The Horizons Towards Which Splendour Withers. It will be released by I, Voidhanger Records on May 22nd, and today we’re again privileged to make a premiere — the third and final advance track to be revealed before the album’s release. Its name is “Abysmal Resonance Projection“. Continue reading »

OVERFLOWING STREAMS: QUESTION, DECOHERENCE, SKELETON, UTZALU, DÖDSVARG, HOSTIA, HAUTAJAISYÖ, EXECUTIONER’S MASK, MONUMENTAL, BERSÆK, MELT, BAUME

 Album Reviews, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC, SHORT BUT SWEET  5 Responses »
May 132020
 

 

As you can see, it’s time for another gigantic round-up. I took extra time and included artwork for this installment. I’m also very happy with the variety of what I chose, which I’ll forewarn you includes a batch of songs at the end which include singing.

QUESTION (Mexico)

Two tracks off the new album by this death metal band from Santiago De Querétaro, Mexico, are now streaming. They provide vivid reminders of just how good Question are, providing ravaging vocals, unpredictable rhythmic shifts, and equally surprising fretwork that moves the music in eerie and freakish directions while also generating an atmosphere of unearthly menace and unhinged mania. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): HORN — “MOHNGANG”

 Album Reviews, Premieres  9 Responses »
May 122020
 

 

Over the extravagant span of eight albums, the most recent of which we’re streaming in full today, the German band Horn has marched forward on an increasingly distinctive path, diverging from where it began and now blazing a trail of its own through the tangled forests of black metal and entering a clearing in which Horn stands alone. That may sound like an overstatement, but the new album, Mohngang, is a stunning accomplishment that in all its variations and in the richness of its musical textures really is difficult to classify as standing shoulder-to-shoulder with many (or maybe any) other bands.

We’ll provide some further thoughts (and feeble attempts at descriptive verbiage), just to give you some clues as to whether Mohngang is going to strike a chord with you, but there will be no adequate substitute for simply listening to it now, just days before its release by Iron Bonehead Productions on May 15th. Continue reading »

MÉTAL NOIR QUÉBÉCOIS

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  5 Responses »
May 122020
 

 

(At the end of February we published a guest edition of our SHADES OF BLACK column [here] which began as an e-mailed group of recommendations by our valued supporter Speelie. It included music from the Québec black metal scene. Just a few days ago Speelie e-mailed additional recommendations that focused entirely on black metal from Québec, and with our encouragement he turned that into the following post.)

The Métal Noir Québécois guys sure like to keep busy. NCS has posted plenty of news and links about the Quebec scene, including some from me previously. But Quebec continues to take a leading place among the flood of 2020 Black Metal releases.

Forteresse were always the standard bearers for the Métal Noir Québécois movement, but I suspect the band is on hold for the moment. The guys are all involved in other projects right now, and these are starting to see the light. There seems to be an unwritten rule that the cooler the old, colonial-era painting that a Quebec band can find, the better the album it is used for. Guitarist Moribond has a new solo project called Serment, with this amazing cover art: Continue reading »

VØLUS: “FESTERING ANTI-COSMIC WOUND”

 Album Reviews  1 Response »
May 122020
 

 

(We present Vonlughlio’s review of the debut album by South Carolina’s Vølus, which is out now via Vargheist Records.)

This time around I have the opportunity to do a small review for a project called Vølus who recently released their debut album Festering Anti-Cosmic Wound. The mastermind behind this effort is Justin Vølus (Putrefying Cadaverment, Flesh Configuration, Maggot Crown, Morgue Walker), who is also owner of the underground label Vargheist Records from South Carolina, USA.

I have able to review some of the bands on his label here at NCS and have been following the label since I discovered them last year (late to the party, I guess).  One of the things that I admired from the get-go was his commitment to his vision/art and how it should be brought to reality. The original conversations were about BDM that went into other genres, mainly Death/Black genres. That is how he introduced us to the bands on the label. Continue reading »

BINARY CODE: “MEMENTO MORI”

 Album Reviews  2 Responses »
May 112020
 

 

(This is Andy Synn‘s review of the new album by Binary Code, which features a guitar solo by Jeff Loomis, artwork by Eliran Kantor, and an instrumental version of the entire record. It will be released on May 15th, with all proceeds donated to Suicide Prevention in honor of a loved one who inspired the new record.)

It’s fitting that my first review to be published the week after my (surprisingly well-received) rant about mediocrity, maturity, and mainstream exposure should be this one, seeing as how perpetual Prog-Metal underdogs (The) Binary Code are exactly the sort of band who could/should be a major, crossover success, and who wouldn’t need to sacrifice their identity, or their integrity, to do so.

This is even more obvious on their upcoming third album, Memento Mori, which is by far their most expressive, immersive, and emotive work yet. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: ESOCTRILIHUM — “ETERNITY OF SHAOG”

 Premieres  3 Responses »
May 112020
 

 

The mysterious French black metal entity Esoctrilihum, whose sole member goes by the name Asthâghul, has been prolific by common standards, releasing four albums from 2017 through 2019, and with a fifth one now due for arrival in this plague year of 2020. And yet listening to these albums reveals continual change. Rather than conscious exploration or experimentation, the albums seem more likely to be a reflection of the creator’s mental and emotional states as they existed at each moment, and the inspirations and impulses that then flowered. But regardless of the explanation, listening to the evolution across the course of these records has been fascinating.

The new album, Eternity of Shaog, is no less fascinating than its predecessors. It represents a distinct entity with its own atmosphere, and more pronounced melodic elements, presented through violins, piano, kantele, and synths. In its many accomplishments, it reaches a creative zenith in Esoctrilihum’s recordings — but only so far, because this project can’t help but foster increasing intrigue and increasingly elevated expectations, rather than any surmise that the next release will be “more of the same”.

With two pre-release tracks out in the world already, we are now in the fortunate position of adding to those insights about the music by presenting today the title track in advance of the album’s release by I, Voidhanger Records on May 22nd. Continue reading »

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