MYSTICISM IN EXTREME METAL (AND MUSIC FROM ESPÍRITO ALDEBARAN, EZOV, AND AUTGER)

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  7 Responses »
Aug 012018
 


Denis Forkas – “Study For Victory”

 

The Font of All Human Knowledge defines “mysticism” as “the practice of religious ecstasies (religious experiences during alternate states of consciousness), together with whatever ideologies, ethics, rites, myths, legends, and magic may be related to them”. Another source defines it as “belief that union with or absorption into the Deity or the absolute, or the spiritual apprehension of knowledge inaccessible to the intellect, may be attained through contemplation and self-surrender.” Ironically (or perhaps more accurately to some), an earlier version of the same source provides a second definition after the one just quoted: “belief characterized by self-delusion or dreamy confusion of thought, especially when based on the assumption of occult qualities or mysterious agencies”.

Mysticism as a significant source of inspiration is of course not unknown in extreme metal music, but I would say it’s a rarity. The kind of metal spawned by mystical beliefs, and used by its creators either to channel the insights and transformations brought about by mystical study, practice, or feeling, or to become a vehicle itself for the transformation of the self, seems to be found mainly in small and relatively obscure corners of the underground. I don’t mean to suggest that this is any different from what one might find in any other genre of music; it might even be true that mysticism plays a larger role in extreme metal than, for example, in hip-hop or country music — but of course I wouldn’t know, because I have tunnel-vision when it comes to my listening choices. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD (PART 2): ÖRMAGNA, RODENT EPOCH, OCCELENSBRIGG, DISCRVST

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  7 Responses »
Jul 312018
 


 

Most of the bands in Part 1 of today’s round-up (here) have become well-known globally. Most of the ones in this Part are newcomers, and all are far deeper underground. And while most of the songs in Part 1 were hard-rocking, I think it’s fair to say that these are more vicious.

ÖRMAGNA

I haven’t yet tried to ferret out who is behind this new Icelandic band, though it’s probably fair odds that whoever’s behind it is also involved in other groups whose names would be familiar to those of us who follow Icelandic metal — because that seems usually to be the case in the small but incredibly fertile circles of extreme metal musicians in Reykjavík, and also because this first single doesn’t sound like anyone’s very first effort. Continue reading »

THE SYNN REPORT (PART 99): BOY HITS CAR

 Exceptions to the Rule, THE SYNN REPORT  1 Response »
Jul 312018
 

 

(In this edition of THE SYNN REPORT for July 2018, Andy reviews all the albums recorded to date by the California rock band Boy Hits Car.)

Recommended for fans of: Tool, Incubus, Leprous

I don’t know about you, but the changing of the seasons always has a notable effect on my listening habits.

Now, I’m not saying that I suddenly start jamming Peruvian pan-pipe music or Eastern European techno as soon as the flowers start to bloom, but there are definitely certain bands or certain styles of Metal which I find myself listening to more often in Summer, and some albums/artists who tend to get spun more often at the heart of Winter…

Case in point, the bouncing grooves and blissed-out melodies of Boy Hits Car always seem to make their way back into rotation whenever the sun begins to shine, as their upbeat energy and heartfelt, hippy-ish vibes just fit perfectly with the longer days and clearer skies of the Summer months.

Try not to be put off by the fact that the band’s music is generally described as “Nu-Metal” though, as the group are far sharper, and far smarter, than that label might suggest, and tend more towards the artsy, rather than the angsty, to the point where several tracks make liberal use of slightly more esoteric instruments like twelve-string acoustic guitar, flute, or tabla drums, as a way of expanding the Californian quartet’s creative and sonic palette. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD (PART 1): THE CROWN, MANTAR, CONAN, WINDFAERER

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  2 Responses »
Jul 312018
 

 

As you can see, I have enough new songs and videos I’d like to recommend that I’ve divided them into two parts. I thought the first three in Part 1 belonged together because they all rock, albeit in very different ways. The first two are explosive, the third one crushes, and although the fourth one blasts instead of rocks, it reconnects with the energy of the first two and rockets it into the clouds.

THE CROWN

Our reviewer proclaimed Cobra Speed Venom as the best album by The Crown since the pinnacle of their career (which he identified as Possessed 13), and perhaps their best album, period, with the band “displaying a reckless sense of abandon” while putting “a lot of emphasis on fist-pumping anthemic melody”.

I also loved the album, and the song that’s the subject of the band’s new video is probably might favorite of all the tremendous ones to be found within Cobra Speed Venom. Continue reading »

REDUCED: “MAJESTY FROM WITHIN”

 Album Reviews  3 Responses »
Jul 302018
 

 

(Vonlughlio is back, and this time he brings us a review of the new album by the Indonesian brutal death metal band Reduced.)

This time around for NCS, I have the opportunity to write about a release from New Standard Elite, a BDM label that first began operations back in 2012. In those early days, I began talking to label owner Daniel (also the drummer for Inherit Disease) about BDM in general, bands we liked, and what he had envisioned for his label.

As time passed , the label signed amazing bands like Gorgasm, Cerebral Effusion, Disentomb, Seminal Embalmment, Chalera, Vulnus, Abnormal Inhumane, Hymenotomy, Nithing, Excoriation, and Abhorrent Castigation, to name only a few, and gained recognition around BDM as one of the best, and a favorite among fans around the globe. Of course, like anything in life, there are moments of difficulty, and the label was no exception to the rule. Continue reading »

AN NCS DEMO PREMIERE: WITCHGÖAT — “UMBRA REGIT”

 Premieres  No Responses »
Jul 302018
 

 

We’re about to present the streaming premiere of a three-track demo that’s a rush of hellish electrification — with a surprising twist at the end.

Umbra Regit is the debut recording of the Salvadorian black/thrash band Witchgöat, and it will be released on July 31st by Morbid Skull Records. It combines the talents of veteran guitarist P. Scyther, drummer E. Driller, vocalist M. Miasma, and bassist C. Fog. Continue reading »

ANOTHER AMBIENT MUSIC LIST (FROM NEILL JAMESON)

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  No Responses »
Jul 302018
 

 

(Neill Jameson (Krieg, Poison Blood) returns to our site with another list of music that’s off our usual beaten paths.)

I don’t know why I’ve taken such a sour turn on new guitar-based releases this year; maybe it’s because so much of the shit I’m seeing pushed everywhere is incredibly derivative and unnecessary, maybe it’s because I’m not looking in the right places or that 2017’s glut of greatness spoiled me for 2018. Or maybe it’s because I’m old. Regardless of the answer, I’ve spent a lot of time this year either clicking around to check out a lot of ambient (using the term as a general umbrella) material that’s being released by a growing number of eccentric labels or digging into the boxes of CDs I have crammed in various storage spaces in my apartment, much to the obvious joy of my partner.

My last self-indulgent excursion into this field was centered on dungeon synth but as I am a man of many hats I figured I’d diversify this list to include some more spacey or tripped-out pieces. Also I don’t wear hats, my head is too big and I look fucking ridiculous. So now that we’ve established that I’m a liar here’s some things to check out if you’re so inclined. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: RUNEMAGICK

 Interviews  2 Responses »
Jul 302018
 

 

(Comrade Aleks brings us this new interview with Nicklas Rudolfsson, founder of the Swedish band Runemagick, whose first album in more than a decade was released not long ago by Aftermath Music.)

Runemagick was started as a death metal project named Desiderius in 1990. They chose their current name a few years later, and alongside that developed a more doomy, low-tuned sound. Nicklas Rudolfsson took his time to gather a full lineup, and one by one, the first three albums — The Supreme Force Of Eternity, Enter The Realm Of Death, and ‘Resurrection In Blood — appeared in the 1998, 1999, and 2000, respectively.

Despite a ten-year-long hiatus and other issues, Runemagick is still alive and their eleventh album Evoked From Abysmal Sleep was released by Aftermath Music on the 20th of July. More death, doom, and damnation! I feel it’s the right time to clarify few facts from Runemagick’s history, so here’s Nicklas himself. Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: ARCHGOAT — “THE OBSIDIAN FLAME (FROM MY DEPTHS)”

 Premieres  6 Responses »
Jul 302018
 

 

The unparalleled Finnish black metal band Archgoat are returning with their first album since 2015’s The Apocalyptic Triumphator, and their fourth full-length overall since the band’s formation in 1989. The name of the new one is The Luciferian Crown, and it will be released by Debemur Morti Productions on September 14th. In late June we premiered one track from the new album (“Messiah of Pigs”), and now we present another one through a lyric video: “The Obsidian Flame (From My Depths)“.

Bands such as this one are rarities — bands who have lived for nearly three decades but made no compromises despite the clamor and clawing of thousands of other bands trying to find their own hand-holds on the ever-shifting edifice of heavy music, dislodged by changes in trends or simply weakened by the passage of time. We watch the decline of dedication in other groups, or the burning out of their creativity as age seems to choke the oxygen from once-bright fires. But Archgoat seems immune to the ravages of time. Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK (OVERFLOWING STREAMS EDITION): COMMUNION, FEVER, HIMELVARUWE, KOMMANDANT, SANGUINARY TRANCE, SKELETAL SERPENT, THE SPIRIT OF IUVENIUM, TAUR-IM-DUINATH, TETH-NAHASH

 SHADES OF BLACK  3 Responses »
Jul 292018
 

 

I have a lot of black (and “blackened”) metal I’d like to recommend this Sunday. But because of a two-day picnic that Ms. Islander and I are hosting this weekend at the NCS compound for co-workers and other friends, I don’t have time to write much about each song or album that I’ve chosen. So I’m resorting to a thing I’ve done in the context of the SEEN AND HEARD posts during the work week when I’ve been in a similar metal-flooded, time-short situation, which I’ve called OVERFLOWING STREAMS, for obvious reasons.

Here’s a big torrent of music, with fewer words of review than usual, and I hope it’s not so much metal that you’re deterred from investigating for yourselves. I’ve arranged the music in alphabetical order by band name,

COMMUNION

In December of last year I posted about a stream of a song called “Witching Thrust” by the Chilean black/death band Communion. It came from their second album, The Communion, which was then set for release by Hells Headbangers on January 26th. The whole album popped up in a Bandcamp alert I received late last week, which might mean that it only recently became available as a digital download. Or maybe it was just a reminder. Either way, I got all fired up again listening to the song “Witching Thrust”. Continue reading »

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