(Andy Synn offered the following thoughts about his conception of our mission here, plus recommendations of three new albums.)
Why are we here? That’s the big question which has been playing on my mind for a while now.
Not in the philosophical or religious sense though, more the very concrete, very real question of why are WE, the people who make up NoCleanSinging, actually here? What is our purpose? What are we trying to achieve? Continue reading »
Once again, my plan for this week-long series has failed. Rather than catching up on new music from the last two weeks, I’ve instead been diverted by late-breaking releases. Moreover, rather than two new songs by only two bands, this collection includes music from three groups, beginning with a complete EP.
PALE
I discovered this EP yesterday thanks to a recommendation from occasional NCS contributor Conchobar, about a half hour before seeing a Bandcamp alert for the EP from Pest Productions in our e-mail. Conchobar characterized it as “very ‘post-black’ but in a very non-cliched way”. Continue reading »
What could be more heart-warming than an album devoted to dogs, made by a band named for dogs? After all, canines are man’s best and most devoted friends, aren’t they?
Well, you’d better fucking think again. The hounds summoned by these musical tales aren’t your loyal friends — they’re emblems of death. They range from Cerberus at the gates of Hades to the dog-headed Anubis, lord of the Egyptian underworld, from Conan Doyle’s Hound of the Baskervilles to the baying creature in one of Lovecraft’s first stories in the Cthulhu mythos. If there’s a warm heart in this music, it’s the one these tracks want to tear from your chest, still beating. Continue reading »
As promised earlier, I’m trying to make up for failing to post one of these Quick Hit features yesterday by posting two today. On the other hand, this second of today’s small round=ups isn’t really accomplishing the goal of catching up on music from the past couple of weeks that I wanted to recommend — because late-breaking developments have intervened.
FUNERAL MIST
In last Sunday’s SHADES OF BLACK column I trumpeted the news that Funeral Mist had sprung a surprise by announcing that a new album would be released on June 15th, more than nine years after the last one. I doubted that any music would become available for streaming until the album’s release, given the short time between the revelation of the news and the album’s release, and that proved to be true. But there was one further surprise: The album was released a day earlier than scheduled. In other words, it’s out now. Continue reading »
In the space of only three songs the Canadian quintet Tyrant provide a skull-cracking, blood-rushing, brain-twisting experience on their new EP, The Existential Reversal. Amalgamating aspects of melodic death metal, thrash, and groove, the band have created tracks that are physically arresting and exotic, both brutish and technically nimble, loaded with juicy riffs and solos, and fueled with furious energy. And to make the results even more impressive, the EP is a DIY production — and one that succeeds in delivering explosive sonic power.
The EP will be released tomorrow (June 15th), but we have a full stream of all three songs from the EP for you to enjoy today. Continue reading »
As explained previously, I’ve been trying to catch up on a lot of new songs that appeared over the last couple of weeks when I wasn’t able to write about due to an assortment of distractions from my NCS duties. In lieu of the usual longer SEEN AND HEARD round-ups, I’ve been posting shorter two-track collections, with the goal of doing them on a daily basis. Yesterday I missed the mark because I had three premieres to write. To make up for that, I’ll post two of these Quick Hits installments today.
DEVOURING STAR
On June 1, Bardo Methodology published an interview with the man behind Finland’s Devouring Star, which began as a solo project but now includes a drummer — who is an eye-popping talent in his own right, as you will hear.
Like almost every interview I’ve encountered through Bardo Methodology, this one is very interesting and informative on subjects that go well beyond the composition and performance of extreme music. Accompanying the interview was the exclusive premiere of a track from Devouring Star’s new album, The Arteries of Heresy, and as of yesterday the song has become available for direct streaming on Bandcamp, which reminded me that I hadn’t yet mentioned the song here. Continue reading »
We greeted this opportunity to reveal the artwork of Paolo Girardi with open arms, since we’re such slobbering fans of what he does, and the piece you’re now gazing at really is stunning. But when we learned that his creation was paired with music as good as the song you’re about to hear — and the performance of which you’ll see in a music video — it became an even more exciting occasion.
What we have for you today, in addition to that memorable painting, is a video for the title track to Shadow Dies In Morning Light, the forthcoming second album by the doom band RIPIS from Austin, Texas. The album will be independently released on June 22nd — and we’ll also reveal how you can get it on vinyl beginning today. Continue reading »
On July 6th Temple of Tortruous Records will provide a vinyl and digital release of the debut album by the one-man project With The End In Mind, from Olympia, Washington. The nearly hour-long album consists of five tracks, all but one of which (the title track) are of substantial length, the songs united by their creator’s reverence for the manifold forms of life around us and a torment born from the threat of humankind’s ever-escalating destructive tendencies.
“Anguish Symmetry” is the album’s second track, one that reaches nearly 14 minutes in length. Over its changing course it proves to be a dynamic and mood-changing experience, blending black metal and post-metal (as well as other ingredients) in ways that give the song vibrant emotional force and enthralling power. Agony and rapture are manifest in the sounds, as are sensations of sorrowing introspection and otherworldly grandeur. It has the ability to drive you inward and to take you out of yourself and into realms that don’t seem quite real. Continue reading »
Adam Burke’s glorious artwork for Fringe, the new third album by the Finnish atmospheric sludge/doom band Lurk, preceded the revelation of music from the record, peaking curiosity about what sounds might follow. The first track made available for listening — “Reclaim” — swings and stomps, exuding a dismal and grisly atmosphere while getting the hooked claws of its sinister riffs and twisted leads ever deeper into your head as it moves. One further track has appeared (“Ostrakismos”), and today we bring you a third one in advance of the album’s August 5 release by Transcending Obscurity Records.
“Elan” is both deeply disturbing and hypnotic, slowly drawing the listener into an increasingly nightmarish descent, helpless to break away. The spell-casting begins slowly and seductively, but by the time the incantation has been completed, its black-hearted intent stands fully revealed. Continue reading »
(This is Andy Synn’s review of the recently released new album by the Polish death metal band Deathstorm.)
Let’s be honest about something, shall we? For all that we might claim to love music which is progressive and challenging and which seeks to push the envelope, sometimes we just need to hear something which grabs us by the balls through the virtue of its sheer, unapologetic heaviness alone.
Sometimes, we need a Deathstorm. Continue reading »