AN NCS DUAL PREMIERE: COFFIN ROT AND MOLDER

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Oct 292018
 

 

On November 9th the new Maryland-based label Rotted Life Records will release a split by two death metal bands, both of whom are coming off of strong starts and hit it hard on this new joint release. Coffin Rot from Portland, Oregon, are returning after a self-titled demo released by the same label in April of this year, and Chicago-based Molder are following up on their Act of Revenge EP released this past February.

Both bands have recorded three tracks for the split, each of them performing two original songs and a cover. Here, we’re going to feature previously released original songs by each band AND we’re premiering each band’s cover track, with Coffin Rot putting their spin on “Hung, Drawn and Quartered” by Cancer, and Molder tearing through “Repulsive Death” by Morgue. Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK: EZKATON AND CANTIQUE LÉPREUX

 Album Reviews, SHADES OF BLACK, SHORT BUT SWEET  2 Responses »
Oct 282018
 

 

I’m in the midst of a 4-day vacation in Las Vegas with my spouse and her sister and sister’s husband. Blogging has not been on the menu of activities. Getting more than about 4 hours of sleep a night hasn’t been on the menu either.

I did manage to extricate myself from one outing this morning, but spent an hour on the phone with internet support trying to get good enough wi-fi in the hotel room to stream music. Long story short: my time alone is now about to run out, and so this edition of SHADES OF BLACK is going to be shorter than usual.

EZKATON

In April of this year I came across a spellbinder of a song from the debut album of this Ukrainian black metal band, and quickly showered it with praise. Later, I discovered that the album as a whole (Plague for the Empires: Time) was also really powerful. And now Ezkaton will soon be releasing a new EP. Continue reading »

DAMNATION FESTIVAL 2018: A PREVIEW

 Metal News  2 Responses »
Oct 272018
 

 

(Andy Synn provides the following preview of Damnation Fest 2018.)

Exactly one week from today I’ll be back traversing the hallowed halls of Leeds University Union, which is once again playing host to another edition of Damnation Festival.

It’s a little-known fact that Leeds was actually one of my preferred choices when applying to university, but probably more widely-known that Damnation is one of my favourite festival experiences of the year (alongside Inferno and MDF, which suggests that I’m much more of an indoor festival guy) and one which I would recommend to any fan of the heavier side of music, in all its glory and variety.

Once again this year’s festival features a wide array of hand-picked bands drawn from across the Extreme/Alternative spectrum, running the gamut from legendary artists to up-and-coming contenders, so I’d like to use this column to highlight a few of the ones I’m most anticipating. Continue reading »

THE SYNN REPORT (PART 102): COGNITIVE

 THE SYNN REPORT  3 Responses »
Oct 262018
 

 

(In this month’s edition of THE SYNN REPORT, Andy takes on the discography of New Jersey’s Cognitive, including their newest record, which is being released today by Unique Leader.)

Recommended for fans of: Suffocation, Cryptopsy, Cattle Decapitation

Despite being commonly tagged as “Technical Death Metal” in most reviews, features, and press releases, New Jersey crushers Cognitive have always leaned much harder towards the “Death Metal” side of the equation to my humble ears.

Don’t get me wrong, over the course of seven years and three full-length albums (the most recent of which is set to be released today via Unique Leader) the band’s roster has contained some seriously technically talented individuals, all of whom have been capable of unleashing some searing sonic shred on their respective instruments.

But, ultimately, the key feature which has united all the band’s members and albums is an unwavering commitment to blistering brutality, with nary a hint of compromise or restraint along the way, which makes them perfect candidates for this month’s Synn Report. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: VISCERA/// — “MARAUDERS”

 Premieres  2 Responses »
Oct 252018
 

 

The first time I heard Agalloch’s “Not Unlike the Waves”, a song that still lives in my head like a cherished companion, I was awe-struck. Even 12 years and countless listens later, it still evokes a powerful emotional response, the kind that simultaneously puts my heart in my throat and also makes me feel as if it’s about to burst from my chest.

As a nearly inviolable rule, I resist the impulse to compare one band’s music to that of another, even though it can be a useful descriptive shorthand, because I fear  it might be misinterpreted as a suggestion that the music in question lacks originality, when (usually) that’s not what I would mean to imply at all. But in introducing the song we’re premiering from the new album by Viscera///, I’m violating that rule through the reference to “Not Unlike the Waves”, for what I hope is a good reason.

Allow me to explain. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: LETHERIA — “PESTCHRIST”

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Oct 252018
 

 

Over the 10 years from 1999 through 2009 the Finnish death metal band Letheria released seven demos, and then followed those with a trio of EPs from 2010 through 2014. At last, they’re bringing forth a debut album on November 23rd of this year through the insidious graces of Saturnal Records. Its title is Death – Principle.

Hatred and disgust seem to be the chief emotions that have inspired their creations, which you could easily infer from such titles on the new album as “Swinelord of Devouring and Fucking”, “With Tears of Urine You Will Cry His Name”, “Rotting God”, and the song we’re about to present — “Pestchrist“. Arrogance, scorn, and malignance live in the music as well, yet in this song you’re about to hear you’ll find a kind of terrible magnificence as well. Continue reading »

DEATH RITUALS: SULPHUR AEON, HOUSE OF ATREUS, UNDERGANG, EVULSE, RESUMED, BLOOD OF THE WOLF

 Album Reviews, Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  14 Responses »
Oct 252018
 

 

“It’s death metal” doesn’t really tell you very much, which is why fans of extreme music long ago began inventing an ever-expanding, increasingly-hyphenated roster of sub-genres. I suppose one of those is “ritualistic death metal”, a kind of phrase that’s difficult to define but you sort of know it when you hear it… sort of. However, my use of the label “Death Rituals” for occasional posts like this one isn’t really intended to describe the style of music, it’s just a short-hand preview of the fact that I’ve decided to devote a round-up of new music to different styles of death metal, and that’s what you’ll find below.

SULPHUR AEON

I’ll go out on a limb and assert that Sulphur Aeon’s Swallowed By the Ocean’s Tide was one of the most explosive death metal debuts of the last 10 years. It didn’t hurt that the cover art by Ola Larsson was equally attention-grabbing. Together, the art and the music vaulted this German band onto the radar screens of fans and critics across the metal-listening parts of the globe in strikingly impressive fashion, and they cemented their reputation with 2015’s Gateway to the Antisphere. Now Sulphur Aeon and Ola Larsson have joined forces again for the band’s third album, The Scythe of Cosmic Chaos. Continue reading »

CRYPTOPSY – “THE BOOK OF SUFFERING: TOME II”

 Album Reviews, SHORT BUT SWEET  No Responses »
Oct 242018
 

 

(Andy Synn reviews the new EP by Cryptopsy, which is set to drop this Friday, October 26th.)

So I didn’t intend for this week to be some sort of “Seven Days of Tech Death”-style celebration, but considering that on Saturday I published an interview with James Malone from Arsis, on Monday my reviews of the new Beyond Creation and Gorod albums went up, and I already have a suitably tech-tastic edition of The Synn Report lined up for Friday… well, it looks like things have ended up that way regardless.

So, I thought to myself, why not stick with this trend and pen a few thoughts about the soon-to-be-released new EP from those stalwart sons of Canadian darkness, Cryptopsy? Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: SPEARHEAD — “WOLVES OF THE KRYPTEIA, WE”

 Premieres  3 Responses »
Oct 242018
 

 

Pacifismi est Ignavia! So proclaims the title of Spearhead’s savage new album, Pacifism Is Cowardice, their first since 2011’s Theomachia and their fourth since 2005. The title is almost redundant; the music is unmistakably militant, undeniably vicious, relentlessly enraged and unforgiving.

The first track from the album which debuted last month, “Of Sun and Steel“, was a great reminder of how rabid, electrifying, and addictive this UK band’s black/death war-charges can be. They show no mercy on the song we’re bringing you today either — “Wolves of The Krypteia, We“. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: RIGOR SARDONICOUS

 Interviews  7 Responses »
Oct 242018
 


Photo by Melissa Mason

 

(Comrade Aleks interviews Joseph Fogarazzo, guitarist/vocalist of the long-running NY band Rigor Sardonicous, whose new EP will be released on November 11th.)

Rigor Sardonicous was born in 1988 somewhere in Long Island, but despite that long history this death-doom band remains one of those deep-rooted in the underground outfits with almost nothing you can read about. Actually, it’s hard to find lots of followers when the band fights for a bloody low, almost primitive, sound…

However, Joseph Fogarazzo (guitars, vocals) and Glenn Hampton (bass) have kept it untouched for more than two decades. So if you’re ready to learn a few more things about this obscure and death-soaked outfit, let’s try. Joseph found some time to answer my questions. Continue reading »

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