AN NCS INTERVIEW: EXCRUCIATION

 Interviews  1 Response »
Sep 062019
 

 

(Our Russian friend Comrade Aleks returns to NCS with this new interview of Eugenio Meccariello, vocalist of the long-running Swiss band Excruciation, whose latest release (via Auric Records) is a substantial compilation of rare songs that have been produced since their reunion in 2005.)

Originally formed in Zurich in 1984, Excruciation seems to be one of first death-doom bands. They did some successful experiments ’til the late ’80s and gained a reputation with a bunch of demos and the Last Judgement EP in 1987. They almost recorded a full-length album, but the band was split up in 1991. Who could expect that Excruciation would return in 2005 with new material, and with all original members in the lineup? However, their reunion EP Arise did lead them to a series of new releases including four full-length albums and nearly a dozen shorter recordings.

The band’s fresh compilation [e]met sums up Excruciation’s non-album legacy, and this 16-song collection will give you a pretty good impression about their way into this crude, heavy, and yet emotional doom-death metal. Excruciation’s vocalist Eugenio Meccariello sheds light on [e]met and the band’s current status. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: SACCAGE — “LA KERMESSE DU CHARNIER”

 Premieres  1 Response »
Sep 052019
 

 

Now well into their second decade of existence, the Québec City band Saccage will be releasing their third album, Khaos Mortem, on September 20 through a triumvirate of labels. The name of their first album — Death Crust Satanique — provides a succinct summing up of their sound, but although the new album continues to lash together death metal and crust, it leans harder into the elements of death metal, creating an experience that’s heavier, darker, more brutal, more crushing — and absolutely explosive.

The new album also unmistakably displays the collective experience of the band’s members. They’re sonic executioners to be sure, but the performances are sharp as well as lethal, and the songs prove to be dynamic and multi-faceted, without diminishing the fury that propels them. We have a prime example of those qualities in the track we’re presenting today — “La Kermesse Du Charnier“. Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: PHOBOPHILIC — “DIMINISHED TO UNBEING”

 Premieres  2 Responses »
Sep 052019
 

 

Like many (but not all) music writers, we prefer to concoct our own impressions and descriptive phrases for what we hear rather than lazily falling back on the PR verbiage that accompanies the music we receive, which isn’t exactly a disinterested assessment to begin with. On the other hand, sometimes the PR material nails it. A case in point: the press material for Undimensioned Identities, the impressive second demo by Phobophilic from Fargo, North Dakota. As recounted by Rotted Life Records and Blood Harvest Records, who will be releasing the demo in the U.S. and Europe, respectively:

“Undimensioned Identities is a tilted and deranged-enough variant of old-school death metal that it’s clear the four-piece are more focused on looking forward than backwards. Propelled by protean and corkscrewing riffs, the four tracks here are crafted with methodical precision, evoking majestic Lovecraftian horrors and creating cataclysmic maelstroms of madness and rot, while delivering a skillfully enunciated performance with a detailed production that never slips into the brackish sonic murk that’s typical of newer bands schooled on the seminal Incantation sound”.

Some nice turns of phrase in there, and better yet, it’s all true. Of course we have some words of our own, but better yet we have the premiere of a song from the demo named “Diminished To Unbeing“, presented through a video of the band’s performance of the song. Continue reading »

NEPTUNIAN SUN: “THE BLACK LIGHT THAT BLINDS US”

 Album Reviews  1 Response »
Sep 052019
 

 

(This is Andy Synn‘s review of the new album by the Spanish trio Neptunian Sun, which was released on June 13th of this year by South Coast Production.)

I don’t know about the rest of you, but this week so far has been one kick in the teeth after another.

Don’t get me wrong, lots of people have things worse than I do, but I’d be lying if I said the personal, professional, and musical setbacks of the last few day’s haven’t left me feeling bruised, bitter, and a little bit broken.

Different people, of course, respond to situations like this in different ways. Especially when it comes to their listening habits.

Some people like to listen to bright, uplifting music, stuff designed to help them rise above their circumstances and get them through the dark times.

But others prefer to embrace the darkness, to know it, to feel it, to experience and express it on an intimate level, in an explosion of visceral, cathartic release.

Which is why I’ve been listening to the latest album from Neptunian Sun a lot recently. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: RIPPER — “SENSORY STAGNATION”

 Premieres  1 Response »
Sep 052019
 

 

If you’re unaware that Unspeakable Axe will be releasing a new Ripper EP on September 30, that means you haven’t been checking in with us every day (shame on you!). We’ve written enthusiastically about the first single from that EP here, and we’ve also reviewed the EP as a whole. In a nutshell, it’s fantastic. That should come as no shock to anyone who’s familiar with this Chilean band’s previous work, but what might be surprising is how much further they’ve spread their prodigious (dragon) wings through these five new songs.

The name of the new EP is Sensory Stagnation, which is an interesting title, because the music is instead the antidote to sensory stagnation. It’s hard to comprehend how anyone could be bored with the state of metal these days, though some über-elitists profess to be. But for any benighted souls who do think metal is stagnating, Ripper’s newest offering will wake you up just as effectively as taking a seat in Old Sparky and riding the lightning. As proof of that, we’re following up the EP’s first advance track with a premiere of the title song today. Continue reading »

EXHORDER: “MOURN THE SOUTHERN SKIES”

 Album Reviews  4 Responses »
Sep 052019
 

 

(In this post TheMadIsraeli reviews the first album in 27 years by NOLA’s Exhorder, which is due out September 20th via Nuclear Blast Records.)

I think if you’re Exhorder, you’re aware there’s an immense weight of expectation upon you in making a comeback.  Many classic or genre-defining bands have tried comebacks, especially in this last decade. Carcass did it and released what was IMO a pretty mediocre album that grasped at the straws of their former glory. At The Gates came back and have released two albums that were so good and consistent it was as if they had never left. A lot of us I know were pretty eager and interested to know how Exhorder would choose to go about a comeback of their own.

Exhorder may be aware of expectations, but as I hear it, Mourn The Southern Skies is a mission statement of a band who simply doesn’t give a fuck about what people expect from them. Continue reading »

SLEEPING ANCIENT: “THERE IS NO TRUTH BUT DEATH”

 Album Reviews  No Responses »
Sep 042019
 

 

(Here’s Andy Synn‘s review of the debut album by Houston-based Sleeping Ancient, which will be released digitally on September 6th, and on vinyl by via Viridian Flame Records.)

Personally, professionally, and musically, it’s been a very busy year for me so far, and I haven’t been able to listen to (or write about) half the artists and albums I wanted to.

Nor does it look like the rest of the year has any intention of slowing down in this respect, as my list of upcoming albums (and, I need to stress, these are only the ones I know about for certain, there’s certainly going to be many more surprise releases and new discoveries along the way) is already longer than I can possibly handle.

And, chances are that some of you are in exactly the same boat.

But, rather than try to help, I’m instead going to make things even worse by suggesting you check out yet another album which has real potential to end up on a few End of Year lists come December.

Interested? I knew you would be. You just can’t help yourselves. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: KONKHRA, GATECREEPER, THE HOLEUM, TYRANT GOATGALDRAKONA, ATAVISTIK DEATH POSE

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  No Responses »
Sep 042019
 

 

Sometimes there’s a through-line or organizing principle of some kind in the selections I make for these round-ups. Sometimes it’s just what the category tag says, the one I chose almost 10 years ago for posts like this one — Random Fucking Music — just a random scattering of things I’ve happened upon and enjoy.  Today, I do think there’s a through-line: Almost all of the following tracks are neck-wreckers, though I’ve put one track in the middle of the run that’s less brutishly head-moving and more progressively dynamic (though I think you’ll want to move your head to that one as well).

KONKHRA

Formed in 1989, the Danish death metal band Konkhra had quite a run, releasing six studio albums, a live album, and a handful of other shorter releases from 1990 through 2009 — and then the machine ground to a halt. However, now ten years later, Konkhra have revived, and if Metal-Archives is to be believed, the current line-up dates back to the recordings of the early and mid-90s. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: THE GREAT OLD ONES

 Interviews  1 Response »
Sep 042019
 

 

(Our Norway-based contributor Karina Noctum brings us this new interview of Benjamin Guerry of the French Lovecraft-inspired post/black metal band The Great Old Ones, whose new album Cosmicism is set for release on October 22nd through Season of Mist.)

I’ve been a fan of The Great Old Ones ever since they released their very first album, Al Azif, in 2012. I really like their elegant (the French way) atmospheric Black Doom Metal. Their latest album, Cosmicism, is pretty sinister and able to take you right to the Cthulian mood of despair and misery in a long journey. I have listened to TGOO while journeying through desolate, barren, and frozen landscapes, so I have had time to reflect about the mood and the Lovecraftian theme, but even if one can’t really experience the music in such an environment, one can certainly imagine it.

Cosmicism is a fine example of what Lovecraftian-inspired metal should be like in terms of how to convey the right mood. It is pretty much a showcase of the band’s talent and of the experience gained throughout the years in weaving atmospheres and experimenting with mixing genres and varied tempos. It was thus a pleasure to exchange questions and answers with the band’s vocalist/guitarist Benjamin Guerry: Continue reading »

BEYOND THE GATES FESTIVAL 2019

 Concert Reviews  4 Responses »
Sep 032019
 

 

(Our Atlanta-based contributor Tør was fortunate to attend the 2019 edition of the Beyond the Gates festival in Bergen, Norway (headlined by Watain, Mayhem, Emperor, and Abbath), which took place on August 21-24, and he provides the following thoughts about the experience, and a treasure-trove of his own wonderful photos.)

Beyond The Gates VIII has just wrapped up and I am back in my Airbnb room — the cool Bergen breeze is coming in through the open window. It has been one hell of a festival with all three days providing quality entertainment for all who were lucky to witness it. I have lots of things to say about the festival itself, the city of Bergen, the country of Norway, and the friends I met along the way: things about why Norway is one of the happiest countries in the world, how Bergen is one of the liveliest cities I have visited, and why metal has become such an international phenomenon. However, those are heavy subjects for my tired soul and best left for another time. For now, a brief overview of the last three days will suffice. Continue reading »

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