LORDS OF CHAOS (THE MOVIE)

 Movie Reviews  7 Responses »
Feb 282019
 

 

(By now, surely every metalhead knows about the Lords of Chaos movie directed by Jonas Åkerlund, and written by Åkerlund and Dennis Magnusson based on the 1998 book of the same name, focusing on the Norwegian black metal scene of the early ’90s. In the following post, Wil Cifer shares his reactions to the movie — and we welcome your own in the Comments if you’ve seen it.)

I know it’s a vulgar concept, but let’s pretend for a moment that movies are pure entertainment. There are some filmmakers like David Lynch and Lars Von Tier who transcend the fluff of your typical popcorn sellers, but they are the exception to the rule.

If you are looking mindless fun, draped in corpse paint, then your expectations of Lords of Chaos might be reasonable. If you are looking for the definitive history of Norwegian Black Metal, then you might be better off with the 2010 documentary Until the Light Takes Us. Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: MALPHAS — “FLOODS (AN ACT OF GOD)”

 Premieres  No Responses »
Feb 272019
 

A bit of demonological internet sleuthing reveals that Malphas is a Great Prince of Hell, a fallen angel second only to Satan, with forty legions of demons under his command. According to the lore, he was the 39th of the 72 Spirits imprisoned by King Solomon — but mistakenly freed by the Babylonians. He is a builder of great citadels, and deceives those who sacrifice to him in hopes of obtaining his intervention on their behalf. He is accompanied by crows and sometimes appears as a raven himself.

That information seems relevant in interpreting what you will see in the animated lyric video from the band Malphas that we’re presenting today, a video for the song “Floods (An Act of God)“, which is the third track on this Philadelphia band’s debut album The 39th Spirit, released last October by Via Nocturna. Continue reading »

TRIAGE: CARRION MOTHER / DEADSPACE / FERAL LIGHT

 Album Reviews  3 Responses »
Feb 272019
 


Carrion Mother

 

(Andy Synn chose three recent albums for this collection of reviews and complete music streams, stretching from Germany to Australia to the Upper Midwest of the U.S.)

The word “triage” is a medical term, most frequently deployed in cases of war or natural disaster, which describes the process of prioritising individual cases of illness or injury based upon the severity of their condition and the likelihood that treatment is going to be effective.

And, unfortunately, this often means that difficult choices need to be made about who lives, and who dies, for the greater good.

Now, thankfully, my current situation is nowhere near as serious or as severe as that, but I am increasingly finding myself in the position where I’m having to choose what bands do, and what bands don’t, get written about, due to the combined pressures of limited time and seemingly unlimited music to cover.

So, with that in mind, here are three selections from my ever-growing list of albums which I think deserve some extra effort and attention, with apologies to those many, many bands, who didn’t make the cut. Continue reading »

OUR LIST OF 2018’S MOST INFECTIOUS EXTREME METAL SONGS (PART 35): ABORTED, AFGRUND, WAKE

 MOST INFECTIOUS SONGS-2018  No Responses »
Feb 272019
 

 

I feel like I should subtitle this installment of the list “The DeathGrind Bloc”, or at least “The DGR Bloc”.

Heretofore, I haven’t included much grindcore, of the deathly variety or not, on this list. It’s not that I don’t enjoy grind. In fact, as a mechanism for achieving a cathartic release through the kind of violent fury that would land me in jail if I tried to act it out myself, it’s hard to beat. But for some reason I don’t often encounter grind songs that have the kind of catchiness and distinctive memorability that would make them “infectious”, as I conceive that classification.

In the case of the three songs below, I think they pass that test. Or maybe I’ve just fallen too far under the influence of my comrade DGR, who recommended each of these songs for the list, and reviewed two of the three albums that include them — hence that other subtitle.

ABORTED

I think it’s likely that during the more than 9 years NCS has been in existence, we’ve written about Aborted more than any other band (and by “we”, I mean every one of the longest-standing writers for our site). I count 36 articles, which include premieres of songs and full albums, interviews, show reviews, commentary about a host of advance tracks, and even a previous appearance on the 2014 edition of this Most Infectious Song list — not to mention appearances on year-end lists, which I didn’t attempt to count.

So yes, we have a soft spot in our hearts for Aborted, or at least a soft spot in our skulls, which becomes softer and more worn-down with each new Aborted release. Continue reading »

GORGON: “ELEGY”

 Album Reviews  No Responses »
Feb 272019
 

 

(This is DGR’s review of the new album by the French symphonic death metal band Gorgon, which was released by Dusktone on January 18, 2019.)

In the mental picture of our pretend NCS office that I keep in my head — when there isn’t somehow a gigantic fire in the corner that no one can explain — I often imagine the handful of us as having desks, as if we were respectable, upright citizens. So when I often say that a promo was “slid across my desk”, I’m projecting what I know of my fellow writers onto the surmised reasons why they may have sent a certain disc my way as they strolled by. This does happen, in the virtual world if not in a world of desks, as we are often determined to find music that we can share with each other, as well as all of you.

The arrival of France’s Gorgon and their latest album Elegy at the NCS office was one of those moments, where I felt as if I could sense the album slowly sliding my way, especially as more and more details of the group were revealed — as if it had become sentient itself and our meeting was an inevitability. Continue reading »

AN NCS EP PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): BLACK ANVIL — “MILES”

 Album Reviews, Premieres, SHORT BUT SWEET  No Responses »
Feb 262019
 

 

On March 4, 2014, Selim Lemouchi took his own life at the age of 33. As the founding member and guitarist of The Devil’s Blood, in which he was joined by his sister Farida, Lemouchi created emotionally powerful occult rock music that was beautifully evil and haunting, a combination of darkness and grandeur that reflected and channeled Lemouchi‘s Satanic spiritualism. The music made strong and lasting connections with many listeners, and led to friendships among fellow musicians, among them, members of New York City’s Black Anvil. Their new EP, Miles, was created as a tribute to him.

Initially, Miles consisted of just the title track and a cover of Mercyful Fate‘s “A Corpse Without Soul”. Work on it was put aside for a time while Black Anvil focused their efforts on their 2017 album, As Was. After returning to Miles, the band wrote and recorded one more original song, the opener “Iron Sharpens Iron”, and recorded a cover of The Devil’s Blood‘s “Everlasting Saturnalia” to round out the EP. Working with their friend Steve Macioci of STB Records, the band have readied Miles for release in March, in remembrance of, and dedication to, their lost friend Selim Lemouchi. We have a full stream of the EP for you today. Continue reading »

PROLIFERATION OF METAL ACROSS NATIONAL BOUNDARIES

 Mosh Pit  4 Responses »
Feb 262019
 

 

(The following article was written by Tør, a self-professed metalhead, data nerd, and ex-academic, who is also a contributing writer and photographer for a number of online metal publications. The article, and the accompanying interactive maps, are based on his work on a Ph.D. doctoral dissertation.)

Metal historians and researchers often explain the proliferation of metal music in terms of early tape-trading and local scene formation. The story is a familiar one: a small group of young metalheads get together and listen to a few tapes, trade tapes with other metalheads, and get inspired to make their own music. Indeed, the early spread of metal music and culture occurred in large part due to the human networks formed by individuals in local scenes. However, there is an emerging debate about the way in which metal has spread across the globe and what that process entails in the digital age. Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: ANOMALISM — “VICIOUS FICTION”

 Premieres  No Responses »
Feb 262019
 

 

The cover art created by Erskine Designs for the debut EP by the Canadian tech-death band Anomalism would seem tailor-made as the backdrop for a lyric video about a song devoted to horrifying nightmares, and that’s exactly what we have here today. The name of the song featured in the video we’re premiering is “Vicious Fiction“, a full-throttle yet creepy dose of viciousness off Anomalism‘s EP Parasitic Spawn, which was released on January 4th.

Anomalism is a fairly new band, having coalesced only last year in the frigid wasteland of Winnipeg, Canada, with the evident aim of combining mauling brutality, head-spinning instrumental dexterity, insidious melody, and a taste for otherworldly horror — qualities that are displayed quite effectively through “Vicious Fiction“. Continue reading »

OUR LIST OF 2018’S MOST INFECTIOUS EXTREME METAL SONGS (PART 34): CONSTRUCT OF LETHE, DEMONICAL, CIST

 MOST INFECTIOUS SONGS-2018  No Responses »
Feb 262019
 

 

All three songs in this installment of the list (which I assure you will be coming to an end this week) are flavors of death metal, but very different flavors, as you shall see.

CONSTRUCT OF LETHE

We had the good fortune of hosting not one, but two, song premieres leading up to the release of Construct of Lethe‘s powerful 2018 album, Exiler. The first of those was “Rot of Augury”, and the second was “Terraces of Purgation”. Both were really good songs from a granite-solid album — and I didn’t pick either one of them for this list. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: ILLIMITABLE DOLOR — “HORSES PALE AND FOUR”

 Premieres  No Responses »
Feb 252019
 

 

Illimitable:  without limits or an end

Dolor: a state of great sorrow or distress

In choosing the name Illimitable Dolor, this Australian quartet made their mission statement unmistakable, and their music lives up to the name, creating sensations of devastating loss in vast tides of sound that sweep toward horizons we’ll never reach. The title of their new album, Leaden Light, is almost equally evocative of what they’ve brought into being, a manifestation of funeral doom and death metal that’s crushingly heavy and ashen in its colors — not lightless by any means, but veiled by haunting vapors.

On the other hand, the album’s title is only partially evocative of the music’s moods, and perhaps a bit misleading, too — because there is nothing drab about it. To the contrary, its emotional power is immense, and it proves to be an immersive and completely enthralling experience. You’ll get a powerfully good sense of those qualities through the song we’re premiering today, in advance of the album’s March 20 release by Transcending Obscurity Records. Continue reading »

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