SHADES OF BLACK (PART 1): BLUT AUS NORD — “HALLUCINOGEN”

 Album Reviews, SHADES OF BLACK  5 Responses »
Oct 202019
 

 

For this week’s column I impulsively decided to write about two very different albums I’ve been looking forward to for a big part of the year. Why was the decision impulsive, you may ask?

Well, I’ve been sitting with the first one (by Blut Aus Nord) for months, and begin scribbling thoughts long ago, planning to time a review close to the release date — but some asshole leaked it and forced the label to release it prematurely. I then indefinitely deferred completing my review, knowing that fans of the band would already be well aware of its existence, and wondering what the point of a review would be if everyone could already freely listen to it and form their own impressions.

The second one (by Teitanblood) was hinted at back in the spring, officially announced on September 17th, and released late last week with no preview tracks. We received an advance copy of the album only a day or two before the release. Again, I wondered what the point would be in writing about it. Like the first band, the second one has a large and loyal following who would be well aware of the album’s existence and would be able to listen to it on their own.

And then I impulsively decided to stop over-thinking things. There are reasons to express opinions other than the goal of promoting music you enjoy, even if you don’t succeed in bringing even one new listener to the music. It seems that some people are interested in what we think even if they already have their own opinions. There is also pleasure (as well as agony) to be found in trying to explain why appealing music is appealing. And in the end, it also becomes payment of a debt of gratitude for experiences that make life richer. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD ON A SATURDAY: LORD MANTIS, ABIGAIL WILLIAMS, STRIGOI, PLOUGHSHARE

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  No Responses »
Oct 192019
 

 

It’s been another messed-up week for yours truly. My usual routines have been flipped upside-down by events in my personal life, and I’m not sure when they’ll be right-side-up again. As with the week before last, new-music round-ups were a casualty. I did manage to find enough free time this morning to compile this one.

LORD MANTIS

Five years after Death Mask, Lord Mantis has revived and recorded a new album named Universal Death Church. The line-up this time consisted of a reunion of vocalist/bassist Charlie Fell and guitarist/vocalist Andrew Markuszewski, joined again by guitarist Ken Sorceron of Abigail Williams, and by new drummer Bryce Butler in place of the late Bill Bumgardner. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: MARRAS — “SEA OF TREES”

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Oct 182019
 

 

Where Light Comes to Die is the debut album of the Finnish black metal band Marras, whose members have been involved in Vargrav, Förgjord, Nekrokrist SS, and Mimorium. It will be released on November 18 by Spread Evil Productions.

What we’re presenting today is a song from the album name “Sea of Trees“, and Marras have explained that its their oldest song, one which actually pre-dated the band’s formation, and which became the vision for the project as a whole, as members Valgrinder and Obscurus began to discuss it:

“We asked Vilthor from Mimorium to play drums and H from Nekrokrist SS to handle the main vocals. I [Valgrinder] did the bass and some of the synths, Obscurus handled the guitars, and V-khaoz from Vargrav did additional synth compositions. Although the vision was clear from the very beginning, Marras started to sound like a collaboration of its creators.” Continue reading »

FIT FOR AN AUTOPSY: “THE SEA OF TRAGIC BEASTS”

 Album Reviews, Premieres  1 Response »
Oct 182019
 

 

(We present Andy Synn‘s review of the new album by New Jersey’s Fit For An Autopsy, which will be released on October 25th by Nuclear Blast and features cover art by Adam Burke.)

There’s a hoary old cliché that says “good artists borrow, great artists steal”.

We all know it, of course, but have you ever thought about what it’s really trying to say?

The point it’s trying to make, at least the way I see it, is that while some artists may borrow an influence here or there from various sources, the really great ones take these influences and make them their own.

And that’s precisely what prominent “Gojira-core” pioneers Fit for an Autopsy have done on their latest, greatest, album, taking the very best elements of the Duplantier brothers’ pre-mainstream work – the powerful riffs and primal vocals, the turbulent, tidal rhythms and melancholy melodies, the ear-catching, attention grabbing pick-scrapes – and stamping them with their own indelible mark. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: SERPENS LUMINIS — “BRIGHT EUPHORIA”

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Oct 182019
 

 

Competent vocals in the most extreme of metal genres are commonplace. Whether it be the guttural growls and grunts of death metal or the shrieks and howls of black metal, it seems that vast hordes of people can execute them well enough to pass — maybe not in ways that really pop open a listener’s eyes, but at least capably enough that they don’t distract from or diminish the surrounding music. But being merely competent would seem to be a failure in bands who devote themselves to spiritual black metal.

When the paramount goal of the music is to be guided by esoteric mysticism, to become consumed by the black flame, to reveal dimensions that lie outside the mundane world, and to channel the fervency of intense devotion, the vocals need to be out of the ordinary. The voice should sound like the performer is seeing visions most of us can’t see, overcome by inner flames that most of us don’t feel, out on the bleeding edge where rational thought has been banished and the madness of ecstasy or pain (or both) rules the day. Achieving that might test the limits of what human vocal chords can produce without injury, but must at least convey genuine spirit.

Which brings us to Bright Euphoria, the new album by Serpens Luminis. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: CADAVER (ANDERS ODDEN)

 Interviews  1 Response »
Oct 182019
 

 

Editor’s Note:  Our Norway-based contributor Karina Noctum had the opportunity last month to talk with Anders Odden, co-founder of the Norwegian death metal band Cadaver (and also founder of the black metal band Order and the industrial rock band Magenta, and a live member of Satyricon). After the submission of this interview, the following announcement appeared on the Facebook page of Order:

“Anders Odden has been hit by illness, which require active treatment. For the time being, he will therefore not be able to perform on stage. Cadaver and Order regret to have to cancel upcoming concerts and thank everyone for the understanding.”

We wish Anders a speedy and complete recovery.

 

Karina Noctum: I had the chance to see Cadaver in September. They are a Norwegian Death Metal band who have been around since the late ’80s. It was a pretty special show at Hellbotn Festival in the suburbs outside Oslo where Fenriz from Darkthrone lives. I hope the American audience will also have a chance to experience this pretty special comeback at both Decibel Fest near L.A. in December and at Maryland Deathfest next year.

I was lucky enough to get to talk to Anders Odden, who founded the band. This interview covers pretty much everything you need to know about Cadaver and their place in metal history, and includes some information about the new release to come. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): SHRINE OF INSANABILIS — “VAST VORTEX LITANIES”

 Album Reviews, Premieres  1 Response »
Oct 172019
 

 

Today W.T.C. Productions is releasing Vast Vortex Litanies, the highly anticipated second album by the German black metal band Shrine of Insanabilis. It has been highly anticipated because the band’s first album, 2015’s Disciples of the Void, was so damned good (and the follow-on EP, 2016’s Tombs Opened by Fervent Tongues… Earth’s Final Necropolis, proved that the debut was no fluke). But Vast Vortex Litanies is nonetheless better than everything that has preceded it — as you’ll discover through the full album stream we’re sharing today.

While the band’s song-writing reveals improved dynamism and the enhanced infiltration of sorcerous melodies, it is the heights of glorious yet frightening frenzy that stand out, and that make the album such a continuously exhilarating experience. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: WEIGHT OF EMPTINESS

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Oct 172019
 

 

(We give thanks to Russian interviewer Comrade Aleks for this extensive new conversation with guitarist Juan Acevedo, a member of the Chilean band Weight of Emptiness, whose new album was released not long ago via Australis Records.)

Raised from the ashes of Twilight Mist, this Santiago-based outfit has performed tight, energetic, and quite aggressive melodic death-doom metal since 2015. They built a basement for their debut album Anfractuous Moments For Redemption (2017) with their 2016 EP Anfractuous,  and they firmed up the band’s position with a new full-length, Conquering The Deep Cycle, released on August 31st by Australis Records. This passionate and vivid material demonstrates all of Weight Of Emptiness‘ strong sides and passion towards extreme heavy music.

A new album is always good reason to talk with a band, so we’ve organized this interview with Juan Acevedo (guitars). Continue reading »

BEST OF BRITISH 2019: GEIST / GÉVAUDAN / GODEATER

 Album Reviews, Exceptions to the Rule  No Responses »
Oct 172019
 


Geist

 

(In this edition of Andy Synn‘s series on recommended releases by UK bands (presented by the letter “G”), the focus is on Geist, Gévaudan, and Godeater.)

Being a British writer for what is, primarily, a US-based (though not necessarily US-focussed) publication like NCS occasionally puts me in some odd, awkward positions.

For one thing, the level of autonomy afforded to me here is far greater than anywhere else I’ve written for, and, due to our location/reputation, there’s never any pressure on me to blindly “support the scene”, something which often forces other, UK-based, sites/zines to grit their teeth and find ways to be gratingly polite/positive even when they don’t really want to.

On occasion this “outsider” status has come back to bite me, for instance when a band (or their fans) decide I’ve not been nice enough about them, or when I’ve simply refused to cover a band because I didn’t think they were all that good, but, for the most part, it’s a very freeing position to be in, and not one I take for granted.

Hopefully it also absolves me of any accusations of bias or favouritism – I’m not covering these bands because I’m trying to ingratiate myself with them, or “the scene” in general, I’m doing it because I think our readers will want to hear them! Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: HAUSTIÐ — “BASKING IN REFLECTED GLORY”

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Oct 162019
 

 

I learned about Haustið just before Thanksgiving last year, thanks to a recommendation from Rennie of starkweather, who vividly compared Haustið’s then-latest demo to “a cross of Emanation and Wolok on a suicide mission”. When I wrote about that demo, Howling, the Sol Above, Nothing Below, I described “a surreal quality to the music as it flows along its twisting course, with outbursts of dark, dissonant, thorny permutations interwoven with soulful, gliding, and sinuous instrumental passages, both moody and mystical, that sometimes partake of traditions other than extreme metal”.

The next Haustið recording, released this past spring and also discussed here, was a two-track EP named Long Lost Ruins Cried their Black Soot. It was also a marvelously multifaceted experience, with both a “physically” powerful impact and a bitter and chilly atmosphere, delivering one changing experience after another.

Now we find ourselves in the midst of autumn, and Haustið (which is itself Icelandic for autumn, though it is the solo project of a Brazilian man who uses the name Draug), has prepared a new EP named Basking In Reflected Glory, and it’s our good fortune to premiere its tremendous title track today. Continue reading »

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