AN NCS PREMIERE: LAUXNOS — “CRUSHED BY WAVES”

 Premieres  3 Responses »
Jun 072019
 

 

Lauxnos, the Russian atmospheric post-metal band who took their name from an old Prussian word that refers to the stars, the moon, and the dawn, have built a conceptual story line over the course of three albums that tells of escape from the hardships of daily life and immersion in the mysteries of dark ocean waters where peace might be found, but where raging storms also threaten a different kind of oblivion.

The third of those albums, Crushed By Waves, will be jointly released on June 11th by Symbol of Domination (a sub-label of Satanath Records) and The Ritual Productions. Today we present the debut of the album’s title track, which, like Poseidon’s domain itself, is immersive and multi-faceted. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: LIFES — “TRAGIC PROCESSION”

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Jun 072019
 

 

Treading Water is the new album by the Milwaukee grindcore duo LIFES. It includes 18 tracks, which range from 17 seconds to a high of 3:27. Half of them will maul your mind in less than a minute. “Tragic Procession“, the song we’re premiering today, is one of those.

So let’s do this a bit differently from usual. Rather than read about the band, the album, and our impressions of this track first — which might take longer than the song itself — just listen: Continue reading »

AN NCS DEMO PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): HURTER — “IT WILL ALWAYS COME BACK”

 Premieres  No Responses »
Jun 062019
 

 

We present the vast majority of our numerous premieres in advance of the records’ release dates. To the extent there is any net benefit to premieres (a subject about which there is debate in the minds of some labels), the logic seems to be that they help create anticipation, and contribute to building “presence of mind” about the release among potential consumers as the days roll forward to the specified moment on the calendar. Yet there is something to be said for springing a premiere full-blown on a record’s release date: If you like what you hear, you can grab it for your very own without delay. And that’s what we’re doing now.

What you’re about to hear is the debut release of a Minneapolis trio named Hurter. Entitled It Will Always Come Back, it’s a 10-track, 18 1/2-minute assault on the senses that in the band’s own formulation crashes together ingredients from grind, black metal, noise rock, and hardcore. On the whole, it is an expression of harrowing emotional intensity, like tortured rioters taking hammers to the familiar storefront windows in your mind, bent on leaving them as ruined as they feel. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: INSANITY REIGNS SUPREME (TES RE OTH)

 Interviews  2 Responses »
Jun 062019
 

 

(In  this new interview our Russian friend Comrade Aleks talks with vocalist Tes Re Oth of the Belgian extreme metal band Insanity Reigns Supreme, exploring the band’s evolution in sound since the late ’80s and how their evolution will continue on the next album.)

Started in 1989, this Belgian band went a long way from good old doom-death metal to something more sinister and heavy. I would say “blackened death metal”, yet that’s not exactly that they do. Back then they had taken the band’s name from a song by the UK-based death-metal/grindcore/doom band Prophecy Of Doom, and slowly worked on their own identity. All of their four albums have their distinctive features: The first one, …And Darkness Drowned The Land Divine, tends to classic death-doom; Prophecy Of Doom represents a more rigid apocalyptic side of the same themes; and the third, Occultus Insanus Damnatus, shows the band’s interest in a more aggressive and infernal death metal sound, which was fully discovered on Unorthodox.

Insanity Reigns Supreme ideologist and vocalist Tes Re Oth will help us to learn more about their occult vibes. Continue reading »

CARNAL FORGE: “GUN TO MOUTH SALVATION”

 Album Reviews  1 Response »
Jun 062019
 

 

(Here’s DGR’s review of the new album by Swedish death-thrashers Carnal Forge, which was released in January of this year by ViciSolum Productions.)

There exists a strange compulsion when it comes to review-writing on this end that has often run counter to how the clear majority of reviews are conducted, which usually focus on the most recent collection of up-coming releases. That approach makes sense, as people are often looking for information on albums right around release time, and afterward the discussion moves on to the more fan-driven “what works for me and what doesn’t” style of discussion. However — and you might have noticed this referenced in the recent write-ups by Andy — late discoveries often wind up backlogged in a weird purgatory state of “maybe I’ll write about this”… in between various games of keeping up with the most recent stuff coming out.

Albums left behind can tend to claw at the back of the mind, though. We find ourselves wanting to talk about some discoveries, regardless of release date. Maybe it will give the band a boost back into the public consciousness, however briefly; maybe it’s just to ease that weird guilt of “I’ve been enjoying this since I was introduced to it, yet have said nothing”; and maybe it’s just that the passage of time helps with the congealing of thoughts. Being able to step away from something only to come back later and see what really stuck with you is a wonderful thing, as hindsight can serve as an excellent guide on how to write about a disc.

Long story short, this is a roundabout way of saying, “Hey, remember the end of January? Feels like an eternity ago doesn’t it? Well I’ve been enjoying a disc by the reactivated Carnal Forge that came out around that time and want to talk about it.” Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: TORTURE ASCENDANCY 1307 — “AMON MORGUE MATRIX”

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Jun 052019
 

 

Located in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, the black/death metal extremists Torture Ascendancy 1307 first came together in 2011, formed by vocalist Chrisom Infernium (also a member of Veilburner and Pyrrhic Salvation), drummer Isaiah (ex-Human Repugnance), bassist Jasin (ex-Tenth Circle), and guitarists Don and Tj. Although the quintet have made their mark in many live performances, sharing stages with such groups as Soulfly, Immortal Bird, Mortician, Vital Remains, and Krieg, they have only now reached the point of releasing their first recording. Entitled D.E.M.O.S., it’s a seven-track debut that will be released on July 17th. From this first demo, today we’re premiering the opening track, “Amon Morgue Matrix“.

As the title of the song may suggest, Chrisom Infernium has crafted lyrical themes for D.E.M.O.S. that derive from occult subjects such as Gnosticism and Jewish Kabbalah, and other topics relating to theosophy and philosophy, as well as tie-ins to the Veilburner universe. With respect to the song we’re presenting  today, both the lyrics and the music (the band tell us) are intended to “work on many levels and interpretations of mysticism, specifically ‘the four worlds’ to allow the listener to perceive the lyrics in a way that resonates to them”. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: HEX — “ALL THOSE LIES THAT DWELLS…”

 Premieres  1 Response »
Jun 052019
 

 

On July 5th Transcending Obscurity Records will release the second album by the Spanish death/doom band Hex, the defiant title of which is God Has No Name, and today we present the premiere of the album’s second advance track, “All Those Lies That Dwells…”

As you’ll discover from the song we’re bringing you today, as well as from the previously released opening song on the album (“Thy Kingdom Gone“), the musical approach of Hex is different from many bands who have been branded with the death/doom label. Rather than craggy, lumbering, and crushing, the music of Hex tends to be more animated, more exotic, and more surprising. This new song, for example, is downright ferocious, though the gloom of doom does rear its head, albeit in unexpected ways. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: VOMITORY

 Interviews  No Responses »
Jun 052019
 

 

(This is Karina Noctum‘s interview of Tobias Gustafsson, drummer of the long-running and recently reactivated Swedish death metal band Vomitory.)

 

Vomitory has been a major influence for the more brutal side of the swedish DM scene. What do you think is your most important contribution to the development of the Swedish DM
scene?

We never had a specific Stockholm sound or Gothenburg sound. Perhaps something in between. Anyway, we have always been more influenced by the US sound or more grind influences than the average Swedish Death Metal band. There is also the fact that we have always stayed true to our sound and been quite consistent throughout our career; that I think has been our most important contribution. Continue reading »

NIGHTRAGE: “WOLF TO MAN”

 Album Reviews  No Responses »
Jun 052019
 

 

(Here’s DGR’s review of the new album by Nightrage, which is out now on Despotz Records.)

Every Nightrage album that comes out reinforces the conviction that Nightrage are a band who exist by sheer force of will. Who would’ve guessed that so deep into the band’s career they would finally have a vocalist who would stick around for more than two albums? Yet Nightrage’s Wolf To Man sets that record. Who would’ve guessed that the band’s eighth album kept them to a relatively stable schedule, with a relatively stable lineup, and (as it turns out) a relatively stable formula for music? And on top of all this, that they would manage to finally have a song mentioning the name “Nightrage” within the title? Yet Wolf To Man accomplishes all this.

Nightrage’s career is one that has seen the band go through numerous lineup changes (and even here they wound up changing the rhythm section, with a new bassist and a new drummer, as previous drummer Lawrence Dinamarca found himself busy with a newly revitalized Carnal Forge since 2017’s The Venomous), yet somehow always remain something of a standard-bearer for the mid-2000s melodeath scene, and in some ways its sound. Continue reading »

GLORYHAMMER: “LEGENDS FROM BEYOND THE GALACTIC TERRORVORTEX”

 Album Reviews, Exceptions to the Rule  4 Responses »
Jun 052019
 

 

(Evan Clark reviews the new album by Gloryhammer, which was released by Napalm Records on May 31st.)

Hark! And hear the glorious call of power metal! Before you now stands the mighty Gloryhammer, the last bastion of true fantasy power metal for the modern age. Perk up your ears mere mortals, and journey with us on the third chapter from the Kingdom of Fife! Legends From Beyond the Galactic Terrorvortex finds our heroes returning back to their rightful time to combat the evil forces of blah blah blah…

Okay, for those who don’t know, Gloryhammer is the symphonic power metal project founded by Christopher Bowes of Alestorm fame. The band is known for their over-the-top, satirical approach to the genre. Take a seat, grab a goblet of ale, and try not to take things too seriously. Continue reading »

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