SHADES OF BLACK: DEUS MORTEM, MISOTHEIST, FRIISK, SÜHNOPFER, UNGFELL, ABBATH

 SHADES OF BLACK  5 Responses »
Apr 142019
 

 

(Our Norwegian friend eiterorm takes over the SHADES OF BLACK column today while our usual columnist (me) is otherwise preoccupied.)

Islander is overwhelmed with work this weekend and won’t have time to compile the usual Shades of Black. But Shades of Black is the highlight of any casual Sunday, so this time yours truly is compiling the list instead.

DEUS MORTEM

The Polish black metal band Deus Mortem was last featured on No Clean Singing in 2016, with their excellent EP Demons of Matter and the Shells of the Dead. This year, they will be back with their second full-length release, titled Kosmocide. In fact, the release – which will be carried out by Terratur Possessions and Malignant Voices – is only two weeks away (April 28 marks the date), so prepare yourselves for imminent inflammation. Continue reading »

DARKENED NOCTURN SLAUGHTERCULT: “MARDOM”

 Album Reviews  8 Responses »
Apr 122019
 

 

(This is Andy Synn‘s review of the new album by the German black metal band Darkened Nocturn Slaughtercult.)

The name Darkened Nocturn Slaughtercult is one of those monikers that, once you’ve heard it, you’re unlikely to ever forget.

Unfortunately it’s been my experience that, even amongst the Black Metal faithful, the band’s name is somehow still more famous than their music.

Thankfully, with the release of their sixth album (which comes out today on War Anthem Records) I’m hopeful that this might just be about to change, as Mardom is not only a fantastic continuation of their already impressive legacy, and a near-perfect jumping-on point for new fans, it’s also one of the best Black Metal albums I’ve heard so far this year. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: SACRED SIN — “FIRE THRONE”

 Premieres  No Responses »
Apr 122019
 

 

The Portuguese band Sacred Sin released their first demo in 1991, qualifying them as one of the country’s earliest practitioners of metallic extremity. Their debut album Darkside, released in 1993, began a sequence of five albums in which the first letters of the titles spelled out the word “Death”. The last of those, Hekaton – The Return To Primordial Chaos, come out in 2003. And then a long hiatus followed before the band resurrected themselves and released 2017’s Grotesque Destructo Art — which is their most recent album to date.

It’s fair to say that the sound of Sacred Sin has varied over time, with death metal being the core but with changing integrations of elements from other sub-genres. The band’s third album, Anguish​.​.​. I Harvest, is especially difficult to pigeon-hole in genre terms — and it might be the band’s best and most distinctive album of all.

Originally released in 1999, Anguish​.​.​. I Harvest will be reissued on April 19th by two Ukrainian labels — GrimmDistribution and Envenomed Music — in a special remastered edition that also includes six bonus tracks from a 1997 rehearsal demo, and today we’re premiering one of the remastered tracks, a song named “Fire Throne“. Continue reading »

ALLEGAEON: “APOPTOSIS”

 Album Reviews  2 Responses »
Apr 122019
 

 

(This is TheMadIsraeli’s review of the new album by the Colorado melodic death metal band Allegaeon, set for release on April 19 by Metal Blade Records.)

Ever since I first wrote about them back in 2011, Allegaeon have proven themselves to be America’s best argument for the continent’s viability in the melodic death metal space since The Absence.  They have shown consistency, growth, and a level of sophistication that’s rare, even if that growth and willingness to expand their sound in multiple directions have resulted in a discography that doesn’t hit everybody the same way from album to album.

I’ve really enjoyed the more consistent sound this band have been dialing in, though, since Elements Of The Infinite (funnily enough, the last Allegaeon album I personally reviewed here), where they’re trying to hit this interesting note that sits somewhere between Soilwork, Nevermore, and Dream Theater while incorporating some other more bombastic straight-forward death metal elements into things.  Suffice it to say, I like all Allegaeon, but I’ve found myself liking this incarnation of the band the best by far. Continue reading »

HATH: “OF ROT AND RUIN”

 Album Reviews  5 Responses »
Apr 112019
 

 

(Here’s Andy Synn‘s review of the new album by New Jersey’s Hath, which will be released on April 12th by Willowtip Records.)

You know what I think? I think the whole Europe vs the USA “rivalry” (for want of a better word) in the Metal scene never really went away, we just all agreed, implicitly at least, to stop talking about it as much.

Of course I’m not suggesting that there’s some huge, unbridgeable divide between the two sides of the Atlantic, or that the scions of “European” and “American” Metal are some sort of monolith, but there’s still certain unconscious beliefs and biases at play, subtly encouraging you to “root for the home team”, even now.

Heck, I can think of several examples off the top of my head where some of my US colleagues have been full of praise for a specific band or album, when all I can think is “but this just sounds like early Emperor” or “these are just a bunch of leftover At The Gates riffs”… and I’m sure the exact same sort of thing has occurred the other way around when I’ve been pushing a band from this side of the pond which they simply don’t see as being a particularly big deal.

All this is, I suppose, a long-winded way of saying that if you’ve been looking for the American version of Slugdge… well, Of Rot and Ruin has got you covered, bro. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): SACRILEGIA — “THE TRICLAVIAN ADVENT”

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Apr 112019
 

 

It seems like only yesterday (because it was only yesterday) that I was praising a thrash band (Inculter) who stand well out from a larger pack of modern thrash practitioners whose music tends to be quickly forgettable and easily interchangeable, and now I’m about to do that again — though Sacrilegia stand out in a different way.

While Inculter are an example of a group who had already blazed a path across the skies and are soaring higher with their new second album, Sacrilegia are making their first appearance, and what an explosive appearance it is: Their debut release, The Triclavian Advent, goes off like a Bouncing Betty landmine you’ve just unwittingly triggered, ejected into the air and then detonating with lethal results. Continue reading »

THEORIES: “VESSEL”

 Album Reviews  No Responses »
Apr 112019
 

 

(DGR reviews, in great depth, the new album by Seattle’s Theories, which will be released by Corpse Flower Records tomorrow — April 12th.)

It’s always a surprise when an album’s art manages to perfectly encapsulate the music within. We’re big fans of awesome album artwork around here, but the times when the art manages to leap past just being an awesome picture and adds to the listening experience are truly special.

I raise this observation in part because the album artwork for Seattle deathgrind group Theories‘ sophomore album Vessel manages to do just that, capturing both the spirit of the album and the production and atmosphere surrounding it.

After a spin of Vessel it’s not hard to imagine that this album was recorded in the same miserable underground dwellings that the album art portrays as the residence of that unfortunate victim. It could also very well be the chaotic soundtrack to what is going on in that individual’s head, as Vessel is a dark and brooding follow-up to its predecessor, 2015’s Regression, and one that finds the band deciding not to go with a straightforward successor in style, but creating an entirely different beast in its own right. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): INCULTER — “FATAL VISIONS”

 Album Reviews, Premieres  4 Responses »
Apr 102019
 

 

It’s fair to say, looking back, that the Norwegian thrash band Inculter have had a meteoric career so far. To mix the metaphors, they took off like a rocket that had an explosive lift-off but have then gathered speed and altitude as they’ve soared ever higher. It’s also fair to say that they’ve reached the stratosphere with their new album Fatal Visions.

I say this as someone who finds most thrash albums by modern bands quickly forgettable, and easily interchangeable. Fatal Visions (which will be released by Edged Circle Productions on April 12th) is neither forgettable nor floating in a sea of mediocrity with all the other nearly identical fish. Even for a fairly jaded thrash listener such as myself, it makes an explosive and thoroughly eye-popping impact. Continue reading »

FESTIVAL NEWS: SANGRE Y FUEGO PARA MICTLĀNTĒCUTLI II

 Metal News  2 Responses »
Apr 102019
 

 

We don’t make an effort to comprehensively post about every metal festival scheduled to occur around the world, which would be something close to a full-time job all by itself. But every now and then one catches my eye that seems worth highlighting, because of the risk that it might not receive the attention it deserves, and this is one of those times.

Formerly called “Penetrations of Darkness“, this event was originally scheduled for July 19th, but has since been rescheduled and expanded into something even more ambitious. The concert is now called “Sangre y Fuego para Mictlāntēcutli II” and is a two-day festival, which features 10 bands from all over the globe. The event will be hosted by HDX Circus Bar in Mexico City on Friday, November 1st and Saturday, November 2nd, which coincides with the end of the Día de Muertos celebration, also known as “Day of the Dead.” Continue reading »

DESECRAVITY: “ANATHEMA”

 Album Reviews  2 Responses »
Apr 102019
 

 

(We have already published one review of the Japanese band Desecravity’s new album, by Vonlughlio, but our contributor Karina Noctum has written one as well, which provides different perspectives on the music, and so we’re presenting it here.)

I remember when I first listened to Desecravity’s Morphic Signs and was in awe back in 2014. They play a perfect blend of tech and brutal Death Metal. Morphic Signs is a continuous blasting without breathing. If you appreciate the heavy-metal-inspired solos added for maximizing the climax effect after a series of ear-pummeling riffs a la Vital Remains (because more is more…), then Morphic Signs is the perfect album for you. If you like it, then you will love Anathema, their latest album, which is is a display of neoclassical virtuosity all made fast as hell. They have successfully taken the sound to a new level. Continue reading »

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