AN NCS PREMIERE: GODS FORSAKEN — “THEY CRAWL”

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Apr 092019
 

 

Judging by the daily news headlines, most gods may have forsaken most of humanity, but the gods of Swedish death metal have not forsaken Gods Forsaken. To the contrary, they seem to have possessed this band and to live through them in riotous joy. Their new album, Smells of Death, already seems poised to take its place in the pantheon.

For those who don’t already know, Gods Forsaken began with a veteran lineup consisting of guitarist/bassist Anders Biazzi (Just Before Dawn), vocalist Jonny Pettersson (Wombbath, Henry Kane, Ashcloud, etc.), and drummer Brynjar Helgetun (Just Before Dawn, Crypticus, Johansson & Speckman, Megascavenger, etc., etc.). The first album included some notable guest appearances, including solos by Gustav Myrin (ex-Blood Mortized). On this new album Mr. Myrin is again on board, this time as lead guitarist, and Alwin Bassphyx (Asphyx) joins in as rhythm guitarist. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): SANGUE — “CULŚ”

 Album Reviews, Premieres  1 Response »
Apr 092019
 

 

I’m having trouble describing this album, Culś, because it has done something terrible to my mind, which didn’t work particularly well to begin with, but which is now quivering like a mouse in the corner of a small room occupied by a wolf from hell.

Sangue’s music is horrifying, cruel, hallucinogenic, remorselessly abrasive, and crushing. It is a summoning of bestial chaos and wretched catastrophe on a titanic scale. It raises the evil of perverse gods to a pinnacle. It scalds the senses and freezes the blood. It evokes a fight or flight response — but mainly flight. Continue reading »

CROWHURST: “III”

 Album Reviews  1 Response »
Apr 082019
 

 

(Wil Cifer wrote this review of the new album by Crowhurst, which was released on April 5th by Prophecy Productions.)

This project of Jay Gambit and friends has always been a favorite of mine when it comes to American black metal as they are willing to deviate from what everyone else is doing, which is typically adhering to a steady diet of blast-beats. Though the opening song, sticks closer to a more traditional form of black metal, blast beats are used more as an accent than as a rule of thumb.

Its on “ Self Portrait with Halo and Snake” that things get interesting. Their sound begins to take on a more post-punk feel. Low baritone vocals carry a haunting melody. The guitar has a more indie-rock angle to it. The song does swell into harsh vocals, but everything is very smooth. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: IRON FLESH — “MALIGNANT KINGDOM”

 Premieres  1 Response »
Apr 082019
 

 

(Andy Synn introduces our premiere of a track off the forthcoming new album by the French quartet Iron Flesh.)

This site’s relationship with French Death Metal fanatics Iron Flesh – originally the solo project of Julien Helwin (ex-Otargos), but soon expanded to a full-powered four-piece – goes back a couple of years now, beginning when we stumbled across their debut EP, Worship the Necrogod, and continuing through our coverage of the band’s follow-up, Scourge of Demonic Incantations, last year.

On a more personal level my own relationship (if you want to call it that) with Julien goes back to when he was filling in on drums for Mithras in 2016, which is when I first met him (and saw how good he was behind the kit), and I’ve been eagerly following his career ever since.

As a result it fell to me to pen a few words about “Malignant Kingdom”, the first track to be released from the band’s upcoming full-length debut, Forged Faith Bleeding, which we’re delighted to be able to premiere for you all today! Continue reading »

AN NCS EP PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): SKULLDRIVER — “L.D.C.”

 Album Reviews, Premieres, SHORT BUT SWEET  No Responses »
Apr 082019
 

 

Skulldriver picked a damned good name for themselves, given the kind of music they crank out on their new EP, L.D.C. It locks into the part of the brain responsible for reflexive skull movement and takes over, rudely throwing the conscious part into the back seat and jamming the gas pedal to the floor while your head pounds like a piston. And in addition to packing in more grooves than is strictly legal, Skulldriver’s music is hotter than hell, meaner than a junkyard dog, and with enough non-stop high-voltage energy to power industrial turbines.

“Redneck metal” is what they call it, and the fact that they’re from southern Finland (Liljendal) rather than the southern U.S. doesn’t hold them back in the slightest. They’ve nailed down a mix of groove-laden thrash, hardcore, and backwoods, swamp-infested, roadhouse brawling, and it’s got a ton of primal appeal.

L.D.C. will be released by Elitbolaget on April 12th, and we’ve got a stream of all four tracks for you today. Continue reading »

BRUTUS: “NEST”

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Apr 082019
 

 

(Andy Synn reviews the new album by the Belgian band Brutus, released on March 25th by Sargent House.)

Contrary to what you might believe, there is, on occasion at least, a certain methodological madness to the way we do things here at NCS.

Primarily this manifests itself in the way that certain posts and reviews are timed to coincide with album releases or song premieres or some other such item of note, but there are also other, much subtler, forces at work here and there.

Case in point, while I could have held this review back for later in the week, I felt that bright and early on a Monday, at a time when many of our readers will likely be looking for (and most open to) something a little different to energise and invigorate them for the trials ahead, might well be the best time to introduce people to the crisp, captivating catharsis of Brutus. Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK: ROTTING CHRIST, BETHLEHEM, DECOHERENCE, KAPALA, NIMBIFER, FALSE, FALLS OF RAUROS, YELLOW EYES

 SHADES OF BLACK  4 Responses »
Apr 072019
 

 

This edition of SHADES OF BLACK is different from most, in two respects. First, my paying job (i.e., not NCS) has been crushing me lately, including this weekend, and I don’t have time to accompany what I’ve chosen with my usual impressions and links. Second, there’s not as much music in this post as you might guess from the title of the post. I’ve made the rare decision to include three album announcements at the end of the column even though there’s no music available for streaming yet. I did that because I’m so excited about those announcements.

ROTTING CHRIST

The first item I’ve chosen is Rotting Christ‘s new video for “In the Name of God“, one of the tracks on their latest album, The Heretics, which was released in mid-February and reviewed here by DGR. As he wrote, The Heretics follows what the band have established as their “blueprint” — a “sort of larger-than-life, titanic paradigm of martial prowess turned black metal.” It doesn’t push the genre or the band’s music forward as much as it represents a summing-up of their career so far, playing to their most familiar strengths. “In the Name of God” is but one example of that. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): NOX DESPERATIO — “INCINERATIO ARCANA NOCTE”

 Album Reviews, Premieres  1 Response »
Apr 052019
 

One one level, on the surface, the new album by the Venezuelan black metal band Nox Desperatio screams “Fire!” The album title — Incineratio Arcana Nocte — and many of the song titles (all of which are in Spanish or Latin) make references to flames and to burning. But other superficial clues seem to point in a different direction. The band’s own name, the evocative cover art (by Bryan Maita), and other aspects of the album and song titles, bring to mind obscurity, despair, and haunting darkness. Perhaps, then, it’s to be expected that the music on the new album combines these two manifestations. What might be surprising is how the band do do it, and how emotionally powerful the results prove to be.

You’ll have a chance to discover that for yourselves, because today we present a full stream of the album on the day of its release by Unpleasant Records (an enterprise of one of the creators behind the fantastic Venezuelan band Selbst), preceded by a few more thoughts about the music. Continue reading »

BLOOD SPORE: “FUNGAL WARFARE UPON ALL LIFE”

 Album Reviews, SHORT BUT SWEET  1 Response »
Apr 052019
 

 

The title of the debut EP by Philadelphia’s Blood Spore — Fungal Warfare Upon All Life — manifests some of the dominant sensations of the music: It is as poisonous and uncontainable as an outbreak of black mold; it is as savage and slaughtering as a mechanized assault of heavy-caliber armament; and it is as cruel and nihilistic as a portrayal of world-ending calamity. But these aren’t the only sensations to be found within the three tracks on the EP, and the music’s rampant dynamism is a big part of what makes this such a striking debut.

Fungal Warfare Upon All Life is being released digitally today, with a CD release coming in short order, and to coincide with the release we’re presenting a full stream along with a review. Continue reading »

SINMARA AND SUFFERING HOUR: NEW MUSIC AND A U.S. EAST COAST TOUR

 Album Reviews, Metal News, SHORT BUT SWEET  No Responses »
Apr 052019
 

 

NCS isn’t really a “metal news” site, unlike some places that dutifully copy-paste press releases every day, with announcements of new tours, forthcoming releases, line-up changes, etc. About as close as we come are the SEEN AND HEARD posts, but those are devoted almost entirely to streams of new songs and videos, and commentary about them. If the recommended tracks happen to come from records that are on the horizon, we’ll include that info. In other words, the music is the main thing. Trying to keep up with every day’s newsy announcements is just too daunting a task, given the limited time that the NCS slaves have to devote to their slavery.

But here we have both an announcement and new music, which are connected. Normally I would have included both in a SEEN AND HEARD post, but my fucking day job has been slamming me hard this week, and I haven’t had time for one of those round-ups. But I do have just enough time for this before turning to today’s premieres. It concerns both a new EP by the U.S. black/death band Suffering Hour and a U.S. East Coast tour that begins tomorrow, which combines the talents of Suffering Hour and the Icelandic black metal band Sinmara. As you probably know if you’re a regular NCS visitor, both bands are favorites of our putrid site. Continue reading »

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