AN NCS PREMIERE: OKTAS — “SILFRA”

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Aug 202019
 

 

An okta is a unit of measurement used to describe the amount of cloud cover at any given location. The term has become the basis for the name chosen by a group of Philadelphia musicians led by visual and musical artist Bob Stokes (Drones for Queens) and including friends of his from previous bands — drummer Rob Macauley and fellow bassist Carl Whitlock of Dirt Worshipper, and minimalist composer Jason Baron from Cloud Minder, who plays the cello with Oktas.

Under that name they’ve recorded a debut self-titled EP that embraces a range of influences, from ambient minimalism to atmospheric black metal and epic doom metal, woven together with a cinematic edge. Lyrically “based in the filth ridden streets of south Philadelphia”, as Bob Stokes tell us, the words transport us “to a world destroyed by mankind’s own hubris, pllagued with endless war, constant natural disasters and humanity desperate for redemption”.

The EP is set for digital release on September 20th, which will coincide with an art show by Bob Stokes at the Grindcore House Cafe in Philadelphia in conjunction with Dark Arts and Craft. And in advance of the release it’s our pleasure to premiere one of the EP’s three tracks — “Silfra“. Continue reading »

BEST OF BRITISH 2019: DĀMIM / KRYSTHLA / WARCRAB

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Aug 202019
 

 

(Here’s another installment of Andy Synn‘s occasional series devoted to reviews of new releases by UK bands.)

If there’s one thing I often find a little disappointing about the UK Metal scene it’s that many of our “bigger” underground acts seem content just playing it safe and being little more than a big fish in a relatively small pond.

The following three bands, however, are different, in that not only are they each more than capable of taking on the bigger names and more famous faces of the Metal world at their own game, but they also seem more than willing to risk doing so! Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: WELLS VALLEY, INDUS, HEKTIK, BURDEN LIMBS

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Aug 202019
 

 

It’s an eclectic mix of sounds that I’ve chosen for today’s round-up; an authoritative but not infallible source doesn’t consider any of them metal. As on other occasions, I’ve benefited from recommendations received from Rennie (starkweather), which are the first two bands in this selection. The first of those, Wells Valley, was already a known quantity to me, though I didn’t know they had a new album set for release. The second one (Indus) was a new discovery, as were the next two, which I learned about in other ways.

Hektik‘s new EP seemed to pair up very well with the recent Indus EP, which is why I’ve put them back-to-back in the middle. The music of Burden Limbs is a different breed of cat altogether, but I’ve found myself hooked on the song I’ve included here, and by the forthcoming EP from which it comes.

WELLS VALLEY

In June of this year Black Lion Records released a compilation CD (also available as a name-your-price Bandcamp download here) named Afterlife In Darkness I. It includes songs by 29 bands taken from past and future releases by Black Lion. I should have paid closer attention to it, because one of the five tracks from forthcoming albums on that comp is the new song (“Paragon“) by Wells Valley that I’ve picked to start today’s collection, which is also now streaming on a recently established Bandcamp page for their new album. Continue reading »

AN NCS EP PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): ABYSMALIST — “REFLECTIONS OF HORROR”

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Aug 192019
 

 

“18 minutes of eldritch lurch ‘n’ crunch“. Sometimes it’s hard to improve on a good publicist’s summing-up, and in few words that is indeed a very good description of the “crushing ruminations” (another stolen phrase) displayed across the four tracks of Abysmalist’s debut demo, Reflections of Horror. A solemn and shivering bow must also be aimed in the direction of Abysmalist for their selection of a title for the demo, because electrifying horrors live and breathe within its supernatural confines.

Formed by two veterans of the Bay Area crust and hardcore underground, Abysmalist indulge their affections for Bolt Thrower, Obituary, and other “pre-blastbeat death metal” from the early ’90s (one more stolen phrase), as well as an attraction to such authors as Clive Barker and Patrick Süskind, whose works provided lyrical inspiration. And like authors such as those, the eerie reverberations and ghastly vocals in their music send chills down the spine even as the band pound and eviscerate or drag us through dank crypts like rotten but still breathing corpses. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: ATOMIC WITCH — “VOID CURSE”

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Aug 192019
 

 

The long-time disciples of the Cleveland metal and hardcore scene who formed Atomic Witch picked a good band name for their new musical endeavors. Their debut EP Void Curse couples the wild radioactive energy of a runaway nuclear meltdown with the weird and witchy feeling of a supernatural orgy. Together, the EP’s four tracks are supercharged with furious, pulse-pounding energy, head-spinning instrumental changes, and unhinged vocal intensity. The genre-bending EP creates a maniacal atmosphere, whole-heartedly indulging in a musical blood-spraying riot from beginning to end.

You’ll get an electrifying example of Atomic Witch‘s crazed and caustic indulgences in the title track from the EP, which we’re premiering today in advance of its August 30 release by Seeing Red Records. Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK: NOCTURNAL DEPARTURE, NIFROST, EZKATON, THE KRYPTIK, BLACK BEAST, DRAAGYN

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Aug 182019
 

 

Having chosen to devote so much time to posts about new death metal this weekend I haven’t been able to focus as carefully as I’d like on this week’s SHADES OF BLACK column. If the writing seems more hurried than usual, that’s why. But I didn’t make the selections hurriedly. I’m quite convinced they’re worth your time. Whether you’ll be convinced, only time will tell.

By the way, though I doubt very many people actually noticed, last week I promised a second installment of the column, in a format that I haven’t used very often — and then wasn’t able to follow through. I thought about following through today, with the same bands I’d chosen to use in the un-realized second installment of last week’s column, but haven’t done that after all. Maybe later this week. Only one of the releases I’d chosen last week has made it into this post — and it’s the first one:

NOCTURNAL DEPARTURE

Cathartic Black Rituals, released by Les Fleurs du Mal Productions on August 7th, is the debut album by a trio from Winnipeg, Manitoba, who’ve taken the name Nocturnal Departure. The album stream premiered at CVLT Nation, accompanied by a brief but enthusiastic introduction. My own introduction will also be (regrettably) brief, and enthusiastic. Continue reading »

DEATH RITUALS (PART 2): DIOCLETIAN, MORTIFERUM, ECTOPLASMA, RIPPER

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Aug 182019
 

 

Although Part 1 of this death-centric round-up (here) included a mountain of new music, the mountain is about to grow to greater heights as a result of continued vulcanism in the underground. What I’ve chosen for Part 2 are a new album released on Friday, and recent advance tracks from three forthcoming full-lengths.

DIOCLETIAN

In 2015, after the release of the uber-powerful Gesundrian, Diocletian split up, but the dissolution wasn’t permanent. Guitarist Atrociter re-formed this New Zealand war-metal strike-force with a new line-up that also includes Rigel Walshe (Dawn of Azazel) at bass and vocals, guitarist M.H. (ex-Heresiarch), E. M. at drums, and Impurath from Black Witchery as lead vocalist. That group has recorded a “comeback” Diocletian album entitled Amongst The Flames Of A Burning God that was released two days ago by Profound Lore. Continue reading »

DEATH RITUALS (PART 1): PUTRESCINE, VOID OMNIA, INSANITY CULT, PHOBOCOSM, DAWN OF DISEASE

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Aug 172019
 

 

It would have been better if I had managed to get a round-up done for yesterday, because fewer people visit NCS on Saturdays than on any other day of the week. Which makes it even more puzzling that I’m planning to present a two-part collection of new music on this Saturday, on top of Andy’s latest Waxing Lyrical interview. It’s not a rational plan, but I can’t help myself.

It happened that most of the music I wanted to recommend today lined up under the giant banner of death metal (though black metal is also in the mix), hence the title of this post rather than the usual “Seen and Heard” moniker. Part 2 (which might have to wait until tomorrow) will include a new album which surfaced yesterday in full, and caught me by surprise, as well as a few other recent selections. There are some surprises in Part 1 too.

PUTRESCINE

Former NCS scribe Joseph Schafer pointed me enthusiastically to the first item in this collection, the just-released debut EP of Putrescine, who claim their inspirations from “the great works of Carcass, Morbid Angel, and the modern hellworld that is the political landscape”. Countless bands have been influenced by Carcass (early Carcass in this case) and Morbid Angel, but this San Diego trio immediately stand out from the pack. Continue reading »

WAXING LYRICAL: VENOM PRISON

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Aug 172019
 

 

(In this new edition of Waxing Lyrical Andy Synn was able to get answers to the usual questions from Larissa Stupar, vocalist of the UK death metal band Venom Prison, whose latest album was released by Prosthetic Records in March of this year.)

You’d have to have been living under a rock for the last several years not to have noticed the somewhat meteoric rise of UK Death Metal quintet Venom Prison, who’ve only gone from strength to strength ever since they first burst onto the scene in late 2015, before quickly being signed to Prosthetic Records for the release of their debut album, Animus, and this year’s blood-soaked and belligerent follow-up Samsara.

And, despite being busy finishing up the last leg of their summer festival dates (concluding tonight at Upsurge Fest in London), as well as preparing for their highly-anticipated US headlining tour next month, I managed to catch up with vocalist Larissa Stupar and (somehow) convince her to participate in Waxing Lyrical so we could all learn a little more about the meaning behind the music. Continue reading »

DEADSPACE: “THE GRAND DISILLUSIONMENT”

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Aug 162019
 

 

(Here’s Andy Synn‘s review of the new album by the Australian black metal band Deadspace, which was just released today.)

It’s been both a pleasure and a privilege to observe the musical progression of Australian DSBM collective Deadspace since I first stumbled across their Gravity EP in 2016, watching with ever-increasing interest as the band shifted, slowly but surely, away from the goth-inflected anguish of their early days towards a much more aggressive, much more “pure”, Black Metal approach in recent years.

However, it seems like the group’s steady transition away from their gothic/depressive roots has caused some consternation in their fanbase, to the point where they took the unexpected step of releasing a lengthy statement alongside their new album explicitly stating that they’d outgrown or moved beyond the “DSBM” label of their youth, and that The Grand Disillusionment shouldn’t be considered or judged as such.

Which is a little ironic when you realise that there are moments on TGD where the group hearken back towards the DSBM side of things more than they have done in quite some time… Continue reading »

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