AN NCS DEMO PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): VOËMMR — “SOMBR MOEBRD”

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Aug 102018
 

 

The Portuguese black metal underground is home to a connected group of musicians (who conceal their identities) known as the Aldebaran Circle. That circle includes such bands and projects as Ordem Satânica, Trono Além Morte (whose music we premiered here), a band named Occelensbrigg whose music I included in a round-up at the end of July (here), and a band named Espírito Aldebaran, whose 2017 demo I reviewed here.

But the member of the Aldebaran Circle I discovered first was Voëmmr. They (or he?) released a debut album, Nox Maledictvs, in the fall of 2017, and we presented its streaming premiere. Now we have the good fortune to announce and premiere a new Voëmmr demo named Sombr Moebrd in advance of its release on August 15th by Harvest of Death. Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: REBEL WIZARD — “DRUNK ON THE WIZDOM OF UNICORN SEMEN”

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Aug 102018
 

 

It seems everyone these days is wearing a black hood, pulled down low so you can’t see the faces. Well, maybe not you (though with a face like yours, you should think about it). No, I’m talking about metal bands who want to add a sense of menace and mystery to their personas, in keeping with the menace and mystery of their music, or perhaps as a way of underscoring the message that “it’s not about us, it’s about the music — and if you didn’t notice, we don’t use names either.”

The Australian rebel wizard NKSV who has adopted the name Rebel Wizard doesn’t wear a hood. He obscures his face with the kind of hat Gandalf wore, pulled down low, brandishing a guitar instead of a wand. He’s also drunk on the wizdom of unicorn semen. Continue reading »

BROOD OF HATRED: “IDENTITY DISORDER”

 Album Reviews  1 Response »
Aug 092018
 

 

(TheMadIsraeli returns to us after a hiatus with this review of the new album by Brood of Hatred, which was released on May 4th.)

I’ve returned from the abyss, and I’ve brought some artifacts from within.  Extreme metal with a melancholic slant has really been my jam this year. I loved the Barren Earth record, Horizon Ablaze delivered a titanic serving of despair and ferocity, and Obscura have released their best record to date, which incidentally in my mind also happened to be their most lamenting, melancholic release yet, while still being brutal, fast, and technical.  So, my first review returning is well… another offering on the morose melodic tilt. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: THOU, PIG DESTROYER, AUTHOR & PUNISHER, SEPTEKH, WAXEN, PARTHOLÓN

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  4 Responses »
Aug 092018
 

 

I mentioned late last week as I was headed off to New Mexico for the weekend that I’d be gone from Seattle all this week, too. And that has come to pass.

I’ve been in Atlanta since Tuesday for my fucking day job, cranking away from early to late, with little time to check out new music and even less time to write about it. To keep from falling abysmally far behind I threw together this round-up, but am too pressed by my job to write much about these new tracks and videos. You’ll like them anyway — at least I hope you will.

THOU

Yesterday Louisiana’s Thou released a video for a song called “The Changeling Prince” off their new album Magus (cover above), which will be released by Sacred Bones Records on August 31st. It was directed by Bryan Funck and Mitch Wells. Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK (MID-WEEK EDITION): ONE TAIL ONE HEAD, SLAVEHOUSE, LURING, SAINTE MARIE DES LOUPS

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Aug 082018
 

 

(Today we have a rare weekday edition of SHADES OF BLACK for you, and once again we’re turning the column over to NCS supporter HGD, who has selected some black gems for your listening pleasure.)

While there’s not necessarily any real stylistic theme to these releases (as they all cover different aspects of black metal), there is an thread of finality that runs through all of them.

ONE TAIL ONE HEAD

The first item in this list is a new song from Nidarosian black metallers One Tail One Head. They announced recently that they would be relasing a debut album, Worlds Open, Worlds Collide, through Terratur Possessions on October 5. More importantly, this will also be the only full-length released by the band, as they have decided to go their separate ways after their upcoming European tour, with a performance in their hometown of Trondheim in December being their last. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: P.H.O.B.O.S. — “SMOTHERED IN SCORIA”

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Aug 082018
 

 

The abstract cover art by Synckop for the new album by the French band P.H.O.B.O.S. is remarkably vibrant, yet enigmatic.  It could be seen as a pure abstraction, the colors and shapes evoking an emotional response that’s dependent at least in part on what the viewer brings to the experience. But when you listen to the music of P.H.O.B.O.S., you may see it in a different way. You may see in it the emergence of a terrible visage, an inhuman one streaked in blood.

“Smothered In Scoria” is the name of the song we’re presenting today, the one that closes this eight-track album, the name of which is Phlogiston Catharsis. It has the capacity to pin the listener in place like a moth affixed to a display, still wriggling. Visions of immense and implacable terror rise up through the music; the peril is palpable, the impact of the sound riveting but unnerving. Continue reading »

INFURIATE: “INFURIATE”

 Album Reviews  1 Response »
Aug 072018
 

 

(Our friend Vonlughlio prepared this review of the debut album by Texas-based Infuriate, which will be released by Everlasting Spew Records on August 31.)

2018 has already been a great year for Death and Brutal Death, and one of the things I’ve enjoyed more is the discovery of bands I’ve never heard before, just to be blown away with their music. Galvanizer was one of those bands and now their label mates Infuriate (both on Everlasting Spew Records) have just left me speechless with their self-titled debut album, set for release on August 31st.

My friend, Mr. Vespasiani was the guilty party who introduced me to this band and I am glad he did, since this has to be on my favorite debut-album list of all time (yes, I keep a list of those). Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: SONS OF ALPHA CENTAURI — “SOLAR STORM”

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Aug 072018
 

 

It’s rare to find a video that suits a piece of music as well as Simon Risbridger‘s video for “Solar Storm” by the UK band Sons of Alpha Centauri. You listen to the song, and you can’t help but feel it’s telling a story, even without the narration of a vocalist. Your imagination will reflexively want to fill in the details in its own way, but the collaboration of the band with this director has produced a damned fine vision of their own, one that’s as much fun to see as the song is to hear.

As they say in the trade, it was a long wait for SOAC‘s new album, Continuum, which includes this song. It arrived on June 1st via H42 Records and Cobraside Records, a mere 10 1/2 years after the band’s self-titled debut album. There were a handful of splits in between, but nothing of the size and substance of this new record. Contrary to the proverb, good things don’t always come to those who wait, but they certainly did for us in this instance, and “Solar Storm” is a prime example of Continuum‘s rewards. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: PSYKOPATH — “PRIMAL INSTINCT”

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Aug 072018
 

 

Every genre of metal has its own distinctive hallmarks, the sounds you expect, the sensations you look for and maybe hunger for. Thrash is electrification. At its most exciting, at least for this writer, it’s even more than that — it’s thermonuclear incineration, the kind of full-throttle rush that not only lights up your bloodstream and triggers the reflex muscles in your neck but also sounds viciously unhinged. That kind of thrash doesn’t grow on trees, especially when it turns out to be addictive as well as ferocious. Psykopath have got that kind of stuff — the right stuff.

This young Norwegian band from Bergen have recorded a new three-track EP named Primal Instinct that’s explosive and contagious. In addition, it has impressive style and flair. The cover art by the great Kim Holm nails the feeling. We’re very happy to present the EP’s title track to whet your appetite in advance of its August 24 release by Loyal Blood Records. Continue reading »

AN NCS EP PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): ENDLESS DISEASE — “HAIL THE COMING END”

 Album Reviews, Premieres, SHORT BUT SWEET  No Responses »
Aug 062018
 

 

Destroy Your Fucking Life. Our Dawn Is the End. There Is No Hope. Supreme Misanthropic Darkness. And now Hail the Coming End.

Those are the titles of the releases so far by the Texas band Endless Disease, the last of which is out today. The titles alone, not to mention the band’s name, proclaim a world-view steeped in bleakness and boiling with disgust. If there is any hope here, it seems to be the hope that the pestilence of human existence will be extinguished sooner rather than later… and not one tear will be shed by this band when that day arrives. And therein lies a paradox about the music — because the music is electrifyingly alive, like a fight that will rage to the bitter end. Continue reading »

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