AN NCS PREMIERE: CALYX — “LA SIMA”

 Premieres  12 Responses »
Apr 172019
 

 

2019 is shaping up to be a banner year for medieval black metal. For those who are paying attention, it’s also proving the diversity of that particular sub-genre of music as different bands interweave strains of ancient melody from different parts of Europe into their compositions in different ways, and using different instruments, some very old and some modern.

The Spanish band Calyx will certainly be among the front rank of what 2019 has to offer to fans of medieval black metal — or fans of black metal of any stripe, for that matter — through their debut album Vientos Arcaicos, which will be released by Iron Bonehead Productions on May 17th. Their inspirations are described as “firmly entrenched in the Middle Ages, sweeping across the native legends of the Iberian Peninsula as well as castles, ruins, Aragonese Pyrenees, and decrepitude”, but they have channeled those inspirations in melodically memorable black metal of tremendous power and emotional intensity — as you shall discover through our premiere of a track from the new album called “La Sima“. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: KNEEL — “AMEND”

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Apr 172019
 

 

Kneel is the solo project of multi-instrumentalist Pedro Mau from Ponte de Sor in central Portugal, a former member of Kneeldown and Wells Valley. In 2013, with the aid of guest vocalist/lyricist Filipe Correia (Wells Valley, Concealment), Kneel released an album named Interstice, on which Mau was composer, guitarist, bassist, and drummer — and he produced and mixed the record as well.

On May 22nd, the Portuguese label Pulmonary Records will release an updated version of Interstice, which features new mixing and mastering of the music as well as ghostly new cover artwork drawn by Hernan Marin. Today it’s our pleasure to premiere a track from this revamped version of Interstice, a song called “Amend“. It’s a prime example of the visceral, bone-breaking, thoroughly electrifying impact of the music on Interstice. Continue reading »

MEPHORASH: “SHEM HA MEPHORASH”

 Album Reviews  5 Responses »
Apr 172019
 

 

(This is Andy Synn‘s review of the new album by the Swedish band Mephorash, which will be released by Shadow Records on April 18th.)

Black Metal, as we all know, contains multitudes. And within these multitudes it also contains (and practically revels in) a multitude of contradictions.

For instance, despite the genre’s seemingly endless (and not entirely unjustified) fixation on issues of authenticity and artistic purity, it’s also one of the most image-obsessed styles of Metal in existence.

That’s not necessarily a bad thing though. In fact I have a lot of respect for those bands who go to the extra effort of ensuring that their visual aesthetic – from their album art, to their promo shots, to their stage get-up – both reflects and complements their musical identity.

Oh, I’ve definitely seen it go very wrong in the past… just throwing on some cheap robes you bought off Amazon doesn’t suddenly make you more “occult”, and no amount of corpse-paint is ever going to make someone like Carach Angren look or sound any less embarrassing… but those bands who really go the extra mile, bands like Mephorash, who match their appearance to their art in every possible aspect, truly offer something a cut above the standard Black Metal experience. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): COSMIC PUTREFACTION — “AT THE THRESHOLD OF THE GREATEST CHASM”

 Album Reviews, Premieres  No Responses »
Apr 162019
 

 

Those of you who are already familiar with Gabriele Gramaglia‘s work in his progressive black metal project The Clearing Path, or his progressive-sludge-post-metal endeavors under the name Summit, know that he is technically accomplished, compositionally inventive, and continually evolving. In his new project, Cosmic Putrefaction, he has turned all those talents in the direction of death metal — and the results are predictably unpredictable.

With the aid of some talented guests, he has recorded a debut album entitled At the Threshold of the Greatest Chasm, which will be released by the always-distinctive I, Voidhanger Records on April 19th, and today it’s our fiendish pleasure to present a full stream of this savagely head-spinning record. Continue reading »

FRACTAL UNIVERSE: “RHIZOMES OF INSANITY”

 Album Reviews  1 Response »
Apr 162019
 

 

(This is TheMadIsraeli’s review of the new album by the French progressive death metal quartet Fractal Universe, scheduled for release by Metal Blade on April 19th.)

I am a HUGE fan of Fractal Universe and what they do.  I find myself, as a result, actually pretty perplexed (from within my small window view) at the extremely mixed opinions on this band across the scene.

It’s progressive death metal with the sort of oddball cross-genre hybridization that I feel we need more of.  The biggest complaint I’ve always heard about this band is that these guys don’t quite have an identity, or that they sound confused in terms of what they want to be. I strongly disagree with this assessment, and honestly wonder if people just don’t “get” it.  I don’t mean that in a pretentious way. I simply mean that I think people don’t get where this band is coming from, or make comparisons that are, in my mind, plainly wrong. Continue reading »

GLOSON: “MARA”

 Album Reviews, SHORT BUT SWEET  No Responses »
Apr 162019
 

 

(This is DGR’s review of the new EP by Sweden’s Gloson, which was released on April 5th by Black Lion Records.)

The sinister atmospherics that run throughout Gloson’s newest EP Mara — coming in two years after their excellent full-length Grimen — are entirely by design and not a happy accident. If any band has shown a keen mastery of the frightening undertone to their music in recent years, Gloson would be included in the discussion. Our premiere of Mara’s first song “Usurper” touched on the song’s sense of presence early in the writeup, drawing contrast to our compatriot Andy’s review of Grimmen and then highlighting the continued intensity that “Usurper” picks up and carries forward on their newest release.

Gloson describe the concept behind the EP on their Bandcamp page for Mara as such:

The concept of our new EP Mara is about our subconsciousness while being asleep; being stuck between the realm of dreams and reality. Portraying personal demons has usually been the agenda of Gloson, and the most graphic and terrifying ones occur during such states.

So if there was any thought that the almost sixteen minutes of crawling sludge and doom across two songs was going to play nice, then Gloson seek to wipe that away fast. Continue reading »

SKALD IN VEUM: “STRIDSLYSTEN”

 Album Reviews  2 Responses »
Apr 152019
 

 

(In this post Andy Synn reviews the new album by the Swedish black metal band Skald In Veum, which was released on April 12th.)

Although I’m not at all religious myself, and have probably broken several key commandments in my time (I’ve definitely coveted my neighbour’s ass on a few occasions), I have to admit I’m still endlessly fascinated by those bands who manage to bring some proper Old Testament fire and brimstone to Black Metal.

After all, while these days it’s become more of a mainstream-friendly corporate conglomerate, the roots of Christianity are awash in just as much blood and dirt, and home to just as many devils and demons and strange superstitions, as any other major (or minor) religion, and the various artefacts and apocrypha left over from this period have provided fertile inspiration for both believers and unbelievers alike over the years.

All of which brings us nicely to Stridslysten, the debut album from Swedish celebrants Skald In Veum, whose particular approach is less “turn the other cheek” and more “rain of fire, pillars of salt”.

So hold onto your hats, ladies and gentlemen, it’s about to get biblical… Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: SUSPIRAL — “CROWN OF CHAOS”

 Premieres  4 Responses »
Apr 152019
 

 

Two main impulses drive the music of Suspiral, and as you read what they are, they might seem incompatible.

On the one hand, they embrace chaos, unleashing terrific storms of gale-force intensity, with waves of blackened death metal slaughtering geared toward mind-rending impact. On the other, they draw influence from Kraut and drone bands such as Ash Ra Temple and Faust in a manner designed to induce trance-like immersion and the gradual accretion of aberrant psychoactive effects, reshaping the mind rather than obliterating it.

These strategies might seem incompatible, but Suspiral manage to unify them, and the experience is perhaps most stunning when they accomplish both things at the same time — as they do on the song we’re premiering today.

The track you’ll be able to stream below is “Crown of Chaos“, which opens their new album Chasm — set for release on May 10th by Sentient Ruin Laboratories in the U.S. and by Clavis Secretorvm in Europe. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): MARTELO NEGRO — “PARTHENOGENESIS”

 Album Reviews, Premieres  1 Response »
Apr 152019
 

 

On their impending third album, the Portuguese band Martelo Negro (“black hammer”) have whipped up an intoxicating but thoroughly evil musical concoction. With ingredients that range from black metal to thrash, from death metal to d-beat punk, the music is brutish and bruising, bombastic and barbaric, demented and demolishing, occult and orgiastic. By turns it’s a demolition job, a chaotic romp, a dismal plague, and a ghoulish vision of ultimate horror. It’s also catchy as hell.

That’s a lot of diverse qualities for any one band to pull together in an organic way, and Martelo Negro do it in every song, which makes the album a relentless thrill ride (and a really nasty one too). You’ll get the chance to experience it yourself right now, because we’ve got a full album stream to share. And if you’re as high on it as we are, you won’t have to wait long to pick it up, because Helldprod Records is releasing it on April 17th. Continue reading »

CULTHE FEST 2019

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  No Responses »
Apr 152019
 

 

In just five days Culthe Fest 2019 will begin in Münster, Germany, and for the second year No Clean Singing is delighted to partner with Unaussprechliche Culthe in helping to spread the word.

This is a two-day event, with performances on April 20 and April 21, and it features a remarkable line-up of bands from the realms of black metal, death metal, post-metal, and dark folk, plus an art exhibition (with works by Jeff Grimal, Irrwisch, and Carmen Alba), a panel discussion with Ernie of Krachmucker TV, and nightly after-shows.

The headlining bands are tremendous: Panopticon (performing in Germany for the first time), Sulphur Aeon, and Dornenreich (performing mostly songs from Hexenwind and Her von welken Nächten). But the rest of the line-up is also enormously appealing. Continue reading »

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