AN NCS INTERVIEW: RYAN J. PARKS (CONTEMPLATING MURDER, CONQUEROR WORM, POETS OF THE PLAGUE)

 Interviews  No Responses »
Aug 202018
 

 

(Comrade Aleks rejoins us with this interview of Ryan J. Parks, vocalist/guitarist of Contemplating Murder and a former member of Conqueror Worm and Poets of the Plague.)

Contemplating Murder is an extreme band that mixes death, thrash, and doom metal with other minor elements in their music. It was created in 2014 by Ryan J. Parks (guitars, vocals), Alan Evans (bass), and Gregg Drummond (drums). With only one self-titled album in the discography, they have a longer history indeed, as Ryan started another band of this kind in 1996, Poets Of The Plague, and then after its disbanding spent a few years with Conqueror Worm.

We had a talk with Ryan, and here’s his story. A story of extreme metal, murder, metal, horror, death, and metal. Continue reading »

THE PERFECT IS THE ENEMY…

 Mosh Pit  2 Responses »
Aug 202018
 

 

(Here’s an opinion piece by Andy Synn.)

…of the good. Or so we’re so often told. And a chance encounter on Twitter this weekend only reaffirmed this particular factoid to me.

Allow me to set the scene a little. As part of my duties monitoring and managing the Beyond Grace twitter account, one of the bands I frequently interact with is Allfather (whose new album you can read about here), as I like their music, their ideology, and their general outlook on life (although I do sometimes question their taste in beer), and have enjoyed several productive discussions about music, politics, and other related topics, with them as a result.

Cut to yesterday, when I see that they’ve become involved in a thread about how anti-fascism is now becoming the “in” thing for a lot of bands, with the original poster asking for more recommendations of artists who are consciously and explicitly rejecting the current geo-political shift towards authoritarianism, while also asserting that, if we want this to be more than just a passing trend, we need to really get behind and support the movement.

So far, so good, right? Continue reading »

DEBRIDEMENT: “DROWNING IN A CESSPOOL OF MALFORM AND MALADY”

 Album Reviews  No Responses »
Aug 202018
 

 

(NCS contributor Vonlughlio reviews the new album by Debridement from Northern Ireland, which will be released on August 23rd by Rotten Roll Rex.)

The music of the band that’s the subject of this small write-up is just pure and filthy fun. Yes, you read that correctly, and why do I say that? ‘Cause it’s Slam/BDM done right, and that is intended to make you smile (even though you shouldn’t) and enjoy the music for just that: It’s fun and entertaining.

That band is a one-man project called Debridement, run by Mr. Brown (guitarist from the band Oncology) from Northern Ireland. I discovered this project back in 2016 with their EP Reduced to a Pile of Putrefying Slop and thought to myself, with a big smile, this is indeed filthy and disgusting, and sloppy (production-wise). It showcased the musical ability of Mr. Brown, who performed all the instruments, while envisioning how this style of goregrind should sound. It was 18 minutes of pure entertaining, horrible music, executed precisely and leaving the listener wanting more. Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK (PART 2): ULTHA, ERIPHION, MALEPESTE, DYSYLUMN, LOPUTON SUO

 Album Reviews, SHADES OF BLACK  4 Responses »
Aug 192018
 

 

This weekend I had the time to double the size of the usual Sunday SHADES OF BLACK column. And while I recognize the risks of recommending more music than you’ll have time to check out, I do hope you’ll explore the excellent selections I included in Part 1, as well as what I’ve picked for Part 2. As in the earlier installment, I’ve again included two full recent releases and advance samples of music from two others that are set for release this fall.

ULTHA

I somehow missed the original 2015 release of the debut album (Pain Cleanses Every Doubt) by this enormously talented German band, but rectified the oversight when the album was reissued by Translation Loss in April 2016, helping to spread the word through an interview of the band and a stream of one of the songs from that fine debut. And since then I’ve been following their activities closely, writing about their 2016 EP, Dismal Ruins; their 2016 split with Morast (a tribute to Bathory); their 2017 live recording, Woe Over Roadburn; their 2017 split with Paramnesia; and their 2018 EP Dismal Ruins Pt II. Meanwhile, Andy Synn reviewed their 2016 album Converging Sins.

In other words, as prolific as Ultha have been, we’ve devoted attention to everything they’ve done so far. Why stop now? Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: AKHENATEN — “AMULETS OF SMOKE AND FIRE”

 Premieres  7 Responses »
Aug 192018
 

 

In the run-up to the release of Akhenaten’s third album, Golden Serpent God, earlier this year, we had the pleasure of premiering a video for “Erishkigal: Kingdom of Death“, and now we get to bring you another video for another track off this excellent album: “Amulets of Smoke and Fire“.

For those of you who haven’t already discovered the record, the Colorado brothers Wyatt and Jerred Houseman who stand behind Akhenaten drew inspiration from the mythology and mysticism of ancient Mesopotamia, interweaving exotic melodies into a framework of powerful blackened death metal, accenting the album’s 11 formidable tracks with such instruments as Turkish Saz, Oud, Persian Santoor, Duduk, Kalimba, Handpans, and Sitar. Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK (PART 1): VOLKOLUN, PESTE UMBRARUM, ADVERSO

 Album Reviews, SHADES OF BLACK, SHORT BUT SWEET  1 Response »
Aug 192018
 

 

You nay have noticed that we had no WAXING LYRICAL post yesterday, given that Mr. Synn was otherwise occupied. Rather than attempt to cobble together a Saturday post myself, I decided instead to get a head start on what will become a two-part SHADES OF BLACK for today, with new music from four bands in this part and four more in Part 2. In this one, I’ve picked two recent full releases and advance tracks from two other albums.

VOLKOLUN

Path Through The Mist is a new EP by Volkolun (Волколунь) from Belgorod, Russia, who released a debut album (Only Trees Remember Centuries) five years ago. Though I haven’t heard the album, and therefore had no inkling what might be coming, the EP knocked me over from the first time I heard it. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: BLOODBATH, OPETH, BARÚS, WARBRINGER, DÖDSRIT, CONCRETE AGE

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  5 Responses »
Aug 172018
 


photo by Steve Brown

 

Despite the fact that we had a two-part round-up of new music yesterday, metal stops for no one, and so there’s a bunch more stuff, most of which surfaced over the last 24 hours, that has prompted yet another round-up today. And of course, what you’ll find below isn’t nearly everything I’d like to foist upon you, but it will have to do for now.

P.S. I’m in a hurry, and so I’m afraid I’ll have to dispense with my usual impressions of the music I’ve included here. Even more unusually, the first item in this collection includes no music at all, but it seemed sufficiently newsworthy that I’m including it anyway.

BLOODBATH

Today’s torrent of e-mails in the NCS in-box included an announcement by Peaceville Records that a new Bloodbath album has been set for release on October 26th, the name of which is:  The Arrow Of Satan Is Drawn. Which is a very promising title, as are these excerpts from the press release: Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: PULVERIZED — “DEVOCIÓN”

 Premieres  4 Responses »
Aug 172018
 

 

Having laid their foundations through two demos released in 2010 and 2014, the Chilean death metal band Pulverized are now poised (like a demon leopard about to leap) to release their debut album, Monuments of Misanthropy. It will be brought forth by Krucyator Productions on October 13th, and (with an evil grin on our faces) we’re bringing you a stream of the album’s opening track, “Devoción“.

When you eventually have a chance to listen to the album, you’ll detect the strong influence of metal from the early ’90s by such U.S. bands as Morbid Angel, Deicide, Obituary, and Suffocation, as well as the rabid extremity of such South American forces as Krisiun and Abhorrence. Based on just this one track we’re delivering today, it’s also obvious that Pulverized have not only embraced these sinister and sadistic spirits, but also have the songwriting and performance skill to channel with vibrancy and power so much of what makes this kind of death metal deathless. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD (PART 2): RUIN, WEAK ASIDE, RETORTION TERROR, OSSUARY ANEX, ANCESTORS

 Exceptions to the Rule, Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  15 Responses »
Aug 162018
 

 

Here’s the second Part of our Thursday round-up, which digs a little more deeply into the underground than Part 1, and which is more heavy on very heavy death metal (as well as some Grade A grindcore), with a big change of style at the end.

RUIN

To begin, I’ve chosen Track #5 from the upcoming Human Annihilation album, which is the forthcoming second full-length by the California death metal band Ruin. Their debut album Drown In Blood from last year was a ravaging implement of sonic torture, and it sounds like this one will be quite good as well. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: BOETHIAH — “DRIFTING INTO THE VOID”

 Premieres  5 Responses »
Aug 162018
 

 

Those of you who encountered the spine-shivering wonders of Boethiah‘s debut album, Invocation of the Xenolith, when it was released in the first month of this year may not be expecting new music from this two-man California band so soon, but new music is indeed what they’re now bringing us. On September 21st, a new six-track Boethiah EP named Celestial Gateway will be released on tape by Camo Pants Records and on CD by Rotted Life. We have one of those tracks to share with you today.

“Drifting Into the Void” is a prime example of Boethiah‘s unusual ability to integrate the revered HM-2-powered tone of Swedish death metal with alien musical ingredients that send the listener’s imagination out into the chilling vastness of the interstellar void. It’s not for naught that their music has been characterized as “an insidious integration of the past and the future”. Continue reading »

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