AN NCS PREMIERE: ABYSSUS — “OPERATION RANCH HAND”

 Premieres  4 Responses »
Jan 312018
 

 

The superb Greek death metal band Abyssus was on a pretty regular once-a-year release schedule from their debut EP in 2012 to their most recent split in 2016, but last year came and went without a release, although the band continued to be active on stage. But now a new Abyssus EP named Unleash the Storm is headed our way via the Mexican label Death In Pieces Records. It will be released in March and will serve as a kind of precursor to a new Abyssus album, Death Revival, that’s expected within the next year. And we have the good fortune to bring you a song from the new EP today.

The EP includes two brand new songs (“Operation Ranch Hand” and “Unleash The Storm”) and three cover songs from Bathory (“The Rite of Darkness”), Venom (“Warhead”), and Manilla Road (“Open the Gates”). The track we’re premiering is one of those two new original songs, “Operation Ranch Hand“. It is not a country-western song. Continue reading »

OUR LIST OF 2017’S MOST INFECTIOUS EXTREME METAL SONGS (PART 19): GODFLESH, GHOLD, THE MONOLITH DEATHCULT, OCCVLT HAND, BALFOR

 MOST INFECTIOUS SONGS-2017  No Responses »
Jan 312018
 

 

We have come at last to the final day of this list, which I began rolling out on January 11th, and which I pledged to myself I would finish before February. Like yesterday, there will be two large installments today.

In this one the songs have certain stylistic connections, as I hear them (at least until you reach the final track) — which probably means nothing more than me thinking they make an interesting and powerful playlist.

GODFLESH

It seems that every year, at least in recent memory, brings reunions and revivals. The latest Godflesh album, Post Self, wasn’t exactly a reunion or a revival — A World Lit Only By Fire did come out only three years earlier — but it still seemed like a revival, or at least a resurgence, a vivid rekindling of memories without sounding like a cash grab. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: AN EXCERPT FROM CADABRA RECORDS’ AUDIO PLAY “CASTING THE RUNES”

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Jan 302018
 

 

Cadabra Records presents itself as a vinyl-only record label that “specializes in the Spoken Arts, scored with ambient, nightmarish sound” and catering “exclusively to the horror/ weird genre”. The label has already released a rich array of terrifying performances, and their most recent one is an especially fine example of the label’s zealous dedication to their vision.

The new release is a presentation of M. R. James’ Casting the Runes, a  full-cast audio play produced by Bleak December, adapted from James‘ 1911 short story by Anthony D. P. Mann, and featuring acclaimed actor David Warner, known for his roles in The Omen, Titanic, Tron, Star Trek, and many more films. The album also features striking commissioned cover art by an artist well-known to our readers (and many other metal lovers), Adam Burke.

And today we present the premiere of an excerpt from the recording. Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: DZSTRKRFT — “A BLAZE IN THE AEON SKY”

 Premieres  3 Responses »
Jan 302018
 

 

A long and winding road lies behind the song we’re about to premiere, the name of which is “A Blaze In the Aeon Sky“. It’s the first single from a forthcoming five-track EP entitled Apocalypse Horizon by DZSTRKRFT (pronounced “Disaster Craft”, for those willing to buy some vowels).

DZSTRKRFT is the solo project of Los Angeles-based musician roycifer, and he’s joined on this song by vocalist Jason Spawn. Both of them were at one time bandmates in the symphonic black metal band Sanctus, whose debut album Aeon Sky was released 18 years ago by Metal Blade. DZSTRKRFT was hatched much more recently — only four years ago — but its first releases didn’t conform to the original concept for the band. It was conceived as a black metal project, but until now the music has been electronic and experimental, more inspired by acts like Godflesh and Scorn, mixed with the influence of electronic artists such as Atari Teenage Riot and Daedelus. Continue reading »

OUR LIST OF 2017’S MOST INFECTIOUS EXTREME METAL SONGS (PART 18): WITCHERY, WODE, CRAFTEON, GRAVE CIRCLES, OBSCURE DEVOTION, TYAKRAH

 MOST INFECTIOUS SONGS-2017  3 Responses »
Jan 302018
 


Witchery

 

This is the second installment of the list today, with two more coming on the final day tomorrow. And once again, because time is running out, I’m loading up this post, with six songs from six great 2017 releases.

Anyone who has followed our putrid site over the 8+ years of our existence has no doubt noticed our continually increasing attraction to black metal, and so it should come as no surprise that in one of these final parts of this latest MOST INFECTIOUS SONG list I’ve decided to focus on shades of black, beginning with a name that surely every metalhead knows, and then moving into increasingly more obscure releases that are deserving of greater attention.

WITCHERY

“North” is a direction that figures prominently in the trajectory of black metal, perhaps most famously in Darkthrone’s magnificent A Blaze In the Northern Sky. Sweden’s Witchery aligned their own compass to “True North” in the first song I’ve chosen for this post. It comes from their eighth album, I Am Legion. Continue reading »

OUR LIST OF 2017’S MOST INFECTIOUS EXTREME METAL SONGS (PART 17) (CLEAN SINGING EDITION): ULVER, ENSLAVED, FLESHKILLER, AMENRA, SPIRIT ADRIFT, FVNERAL FVKK

 MOST INFECTIOUS SONGS-2017  6 Responses »
Jan 302018
 

 

We’re coming down to the wire, and I’m in a frantic state of mind. I’ve now firmly decided to end this list on January 31, but I realized this morning that January 31 IS TOMORROW!!!

I spent hours yesterday afternoon and last night listening to many of the remaining candidates for the list, and reached the conclusion that I have to double-down on these posts. In other words, there will be two installments of this list today and two more tomorrow, and each one is going to include a lot of songs.

This one, as forecast by the title of the post, is devoted to Exceptions to Our Rule (the one in the site’s title). I’ve done this before in previous years, and have already named a few songs to the list this year that include clean vocals. There are some beautiful voices in this post, and a lot of highly addictive music as well (of course). Continue reading »

OUR LIST OF 2017’S MOST INFECTIOUS EXTREME METAL SONGS (PART 16): EVOKE THY LORDS, PÁRODOS, CHRCH, PLANET EATER, PALMER

 MOST INFECTIOUS SONGS-2017  6 Responses »
Jan 292018
 

 

I’m continuing to stack these installments of the list pretty deep, in an effort to prevent the onset of depression when I have to stop it. However, I’m confident I’ll be depressed and frustrated anyway, because I’ll still be forced to leave a lot of great 2017 songs on the cutting-room floor when I do stop.

Today you’ll again notice some stylistic connections among the songs I’ve packaged together, and because of that I again think I’ve compiled a grouping that makes for a nice, stand-alone playlist.

EVOKE THY LORDS

The first song in this collection is another rare example of a long-form track that I think is immensely infectious despite its significant length. It hooked me the first time I heard it, and I’m still hooked. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD (BY DGR): ROTTING CHRIST, HARAKIRI FOR THE SKY, PSYCHOTIC PULSE

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  1 Response »
Jan 292018
 

 

(DGR presents the following round-up of new music.)

 

My last appearance with a news roundup was, admittedly, a little ridiculous. I will say, however, that I was not initially aware it had gotten so huge as I just kept adding things that I had noticed we had missed in my vain effort to cover everything I thought the NCS crowd might be interested in.

The nice thing about that method, though, is that the act of doing so with such a large dragnet, combined with the massive three-part Shades Of Black post that went up shortly after, means that we’re able to keep this roundup small, covering just three groups that barely missed the bus when those posts went up. One in particular was released right after the post that was perfect for it went up.

So, we return once again to do a little globe-trotting, skirting around the edges of heavy metal and talking about three more newly released songs that have popped up over the past week and a half. Continue reading »

ION: “A PATH UNKNOWN”

 Album Reviews  8 Responses »
Jan 292018
 

 

(This is Andy Synn’s review of the new album by the California band Ion, which is now available on Bandcamp.)

 

To say that I have been anticipating the release of this particular album would be a rather glaring understatement. The band’s self-titled debut was so good that I declared it to be my number one album of 2014, and while things have been relatively quiet for the Californian triptych since then (barring a series of irregular live appearances), its manifold metallic delights have remained in steady rotation ever since.

You can therefore possibly imagine my shock to find that their sophomore album, A Path Unknown, was released suddenly and without fanfare on Bandcamp yesterday. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): ULVEGR — “VARGKULT”

 Premieres  2 Responses »
Jan 292018
 

 

Today we present the full streaming premiere of Vargkult, the fifth album by the Ukrainian band Ulvegr, in advance of its January 30 release by Ashen Dominion. It follows quickly on the heels of 2017’s Titahion: Kaos Manifest, which we also premiered last April. But this album is a different beast from the last one, a relentless, incinerating assault that never pauses to take prisoners.

For those who may be newcomers to Ulvegr, the band’s two steadfast members are Helg (songwriting, vocals, guitar, bass) and Odalv (drums). Both of them are members of Kzohh, Ygg, and Runes of Dianceht, and Helg is also a member of Khors, while Odalv has also contributed his talents to Twilightfall and Elderblood. Continue reading »

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