AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): KATARI — “AVE, REX IVDAEORVM!”

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May 032018
 

 

This album is going to hit most of you like a lightning strike out of the clear blue sky, and just like the shock and surprise of such a electrifying event, it will leave most listeners with a megawatt jolt down the spine and eyes popping out of a smoking head.

It’s a fair guess that only a fortunate few have previously encountered Katari. They’re a duo (Dany I. and Assassin) based in Huánuco, Peru, who first joined forces in early 2006 and went on to release a handful of demos in very limited quantities, as well as a 2011 split and a 2013 EP (At Peace). With any luck, their music is about to reach a bigger audience, thanks to the release of their debut album, Ave, Rex Ivdaeorvm!, on May 4 by From Deepest Records. And maybe our premiere of the music will be of some help, too. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: HOTH — “THE GATHERING OF THE ACCURSED ARTIFACTS”

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May 032018
 

 

I discovered the Seattle duo Hoth (David Dees and Eric Peters) through their second album, Oathbreaker, released in 2014. After impetuously listening to just the first track and the last one, I wrote: “Multifaceted, meticulously executed, epic in its ambitions and its achievements, this is really impressive.” I became even more impressed after hearing the whole album, and ultimately chose one track (“Serpentine Whispers”) for our list of 2014’s Most Infectious Extreme Metal Songs.

Four years later, Hoth are bringing us a new album named Astral Necromancy, which will be released on June 15. They describe it as follows:

“This is a concept album – but one of a somewhat different sort. Oathbreaker was a concept album that lead the listener down a darker and darker path; it was a linear journey. On the other hand, Astral Necromancy already exists in the crushing, unforgiving darkness. There are no paths. There is no light and no hope — just an exploration of cosmic mysteries and black magic – a journey in infinite directions.

“It is a concept album in the sense that there is a common thread through each of the songs that bind them together as each individually explores an aspect of this darkness. The eleven tracks on the album explore themes ranging from corruption of the self to what lies at the end of all time; from journeys through frostbitten wastelands to the acquisition of forbidden knowledge, and more.

“We hesitate to be any more specific than that because the meaning of the album is best expressed through listening to it. The experience itself brings its own meaning to each listener”. Continue reading »

ALKALOID: OUR PREMIERE OF “AS DECREED BY LAWS UNWRITTEN” AND OUR REVIEW OF “LIQUID ANATOMY”

 Album Reviews, Premieres  9 Responses »
May 032018
 

 

(On May 18th Season of Mist will release the hotly anticipated (and thoroughly remarkable) second album by Alkaloid (which is now available for pre-order HERE), and today we are delighted to present the premiere of a track from the album as well as Andy Synn’s extensive review of the record, all of which he introduces with a bevy of comments from members of the band.)

So I originally wrote this review last month, and expected it to be published… well… then.

However, just prior to publication, we were offered an exclusive track premiere, and I was asked if I minded holding off on publishing for a little while so that things would line up better. And, of course, I said fine, because I’m nice like that.

Now the song in question, “As Decreed By Laws Unwritten”, is one of the heaviest, and most purely Death Metal tracks, on the entire album, and one of the few which fits with our site name, in that it features… no clean singing.

It’s also one of the songs written entirely by guitarist Danny Tunker, as he explains here:

“This was the second song I wrote for Liquid Anatomy. When we first started sending demos and talking about songs, we felt we needed some heavier songs. We had the title track, which is a ballad, and “Kernel Panic”, which didn’t have a heavy section yet, and another song I wrote, which was a mellotron-driven prog-ballad at that point and turned into “In Turmoil’s Swirling Reaches” later. As a result, Florian wrote “Azagthoth” and I wrote “As Decreed By Laws Unwritten”. Continue reading »

DEATH. VOID. TERROR.: “TO THE GREAT MONOLITH I”

 Album Reviews  3 Responses »
May 032018
 

 

(In this post Grant Skelton reviews the debut album by the mysterious band Death. Void. Terror. And we will soon follow this review with his interview of the band [now posted here].)

I’m finding that my avarice for the bizarre is increasing. This year, I’ve been getting lost in clandestine spaces of the interweb. Browsing through many an arcane reliquary, my nocturnal work schedule has been bolstered by drone, dark ambient, neofolk, and even harsh noise. These kinds of soundscapes fit in with my waking hours. And despite (or perhaps because of) the fact that many artists in such genres make music that is, simply put, unpleasant to hear, I am enthralled and even soothed by it.

One such eccentric release is the debut album from Death. Void. Terror. When Iron Bonehead Productions released a sample of To The Great Monolith I, I was instantly interested. The band’s PR release indicated that the 2 tracks were not songs, yea not even compositions. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: LAGO, MAJESTIC DOWNFALL, ANICON, DARK DIVINITY, RASGO

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  No Responses »
May 032018
 


Lago

You know the drill: From the frothing torrents of new music that continuously rush through the stinking catacombs of the metal underground I sift out a handful of nuggets that appeal to me, and present them in these posts in the hope that they will appeal to you as well.

Today I’m beginning with a couple of bands in whom I have perhaps a more personal interest than most because the front-men are such good dudes… though I’ll quickly add that I was a big fan of their music before I got to know them.

LAGO

I go back a ways with the music of the Arizona death metal band Lago, back to the discovery of their very impressive Tyranny demo in January 2013. They released an even more impressive debut album of the same name in 2014, from which we had the pleasure of premiering the first advance track. They followed that at the end of 2016 with a tremendously good split release with Poland’s Calm Hatchery, from which we also premiered a secret bonus track by Lago.

Since then Lago have completed work on a new album named Sea of Duress and signed with Unique Leader Records for its release, which will happen on June 8. And yesterday Metal Sucks premiered a video for one of the new album tracks, “Soiled Is the Crown“, which was directed by Matti Way (From the North Films). Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: ZATOKREV (FREDERYK ROTTER)

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May 032018
 

 

(In this new interview Comrade Aleks poses questions to Frederyk Rotter, founding vocalist/guitarist of the Swiss band Zatokrev.)

Fourteen years ago Basel-based power-trio Zatokrev recorded their debut self-titled album. Frederyk Rotter (vocals, guitars), Marco Grementieri (bass), and Silvio Spadino (drums) brought forth a tensive, savage, and energetic blend of extreme doom and sludge. Over the years the band went through a series of metamorphoses, developing with each new record and enriching the sound with post- and some avant-garde influences.

Since April 13, a vinyl reissue of Zatokrev has been available for shipment via Plastic Head. It’s a good reason to talk with Frederyk about Zatokrev’s milestones, as he’s the only member left of the original lineup. Continue reading »

AN NCS EP PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): EKPYROSIS — “PRIMORDIAL CHAOS RESTORED”

 Album Reviews, Premieres, SHORT BUT SWEET  No Responses »
May 022018
 

 

Many bands have followed the trail of blood and death blazed by such heralded bands as Incantation and Immolation in the early-to-mid ’90s, and there is no sign that the path is about to run into a wall or lead over a cliff’s edge. But of course it must be said that some bands who think they’re hot on that trail have in fact wandered off into a dull and featureless place, the music a lifeless pantomime of the real thing.

On the other hand, the Italian band Ekpyrosis haven’t lost their way. More precisely, they’re in the vanguard of the movement’s newer adherents. They proved they belong with their excellent debut album Asphyxiating Devotion last year, a record that was tremendously satisfying in its own right but also a promise of perhaps greater things ahead. On their new EP, Primordial Chaos Restored, Ekpyrosis have moved from strength to strength, and it’s our great pleasure to bring you a full stream of it today in advance of its May 7 release by Terror From Hell Records. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMERE: GRIMORIUM VERUM — “THE BORN SON OF THE DEVIL”

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May 022018
 

 

It seems that for many years I’ve been mis-using the words “bombastic” and “grandiose” in my scribblings about music. As an acquaintance more literate than I recently pointed out to myself and others, the dictionary defines “bombastic” as “high-sounding but with little meaning”, “inflated”, and “given exaggerated importance by artificial or empty means”, while it specifies that “grandiose” refers to an “affectation of grandeur or splendor” or something characterized by “absurd exaggeration”.

What I’ve often intended by those words, though clearly failing to express the intention accurately, is music that’s dazzling in its power, perhaps ornate in its trappings, resplendent in its atmosphere of vaulting majesty — music that’s grand instead of grandiose. Those are among the impressions I had when first listening to the music from Grimorium Verum’s new album, Revenant, including the album’s opening song which we’re presenting today — “The Born Son of the Devil“. Continue reading »

IHSAHN: “ÁMR”

 Album Reviews  3 Responses »
May 022018
 

 

(Here’s Andy Synn’s review of the new solo album by Ihsahn, which will be released on May 4 by Candlelight/Spinefarm.)

My, my, my… for the second week running I find myself writing about one of the “big” new releases about to hit the Metalsphere, rather than something more unknown and underground.

Clearly this means that I/we have finally “sold out”, and I expect that riches and rewards will come cascading through my letterbox any time now.

But while I’m sat here waiting for my cheque to appear… do you have a few minutes to talk about our Lord and Saviour Ihsahn? Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: THOUGHT EATER — “COVENANT”

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May 012018
 

 

Prepare yourselves for a thoroughly engrossing, mind-altering, well-off-the-beaten path experience.

The long beguiling track we have for you is named “Covenant“, and it comes from Bones In the Fire, the debut album by the Baltimore-based instrumental trio Thought Eater. This is the group’s second release overall, following a 2016 split with Iron Jawed Guru, and it will be released by Grimoire Records on May 18th.

And before you scoff at the idea of falling into the grip of a purely instrumental track that’s nine-and-a-half minutes long (we know some of you need a steady diet of un-clean vocals), give me a minute to convince you that this is worth all of those minutes and seconds. Continue reading »

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