AN NCS EP PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): CRYPTIC HYMN — “THE VAST UNKNOWING”

 Album Reviews, Premieres, SHORT BUT SWEET  4 Responses »
Jul 092018
 

 

(Grant Skelton wrote the following review as an introduction to our premiere of the new two song EP by the blackened death metal band Cryptic Hymn from Louisville, Kentucky.)

Kentucky’s Cryptic Hymn have been known to lurk about the shadowed corridors of No Clean Singing. In 2015, I had the pleasure of reviewing their amazing debut EP Gateways. Now, we are pleased to present their latest bastardized offering, The Vast Unknowing.

Cryptic Hymn christen us first with “Wretched Stimulation,” a title which yields a truly revolting visual in my reprobate imagination. This song is a blistered and ashen frolic that should glut any devotee of death metal. While offering plenty of speed, the track shows that Cryptic Hymn are not the least bit afraid of tempo changes. I could say you’ll find the track stuck in your head, but more than likely it will find its way into your veins. Continue reading »

OBSCURA: “DILUVIUM”

 Album Reviews  No Responses »
Jul 092018
 

 

(This is Andy Synn’s review of the new album by the celebrated German band Obscura, which will be released on July 13th by Relapse Records.)

Where to start with this one?

Obviously the name Obscura should be familiar to the majority (if not all) of our readers, as the band – these days comprising creative (and somewhat controversial) linchpin Steffen Kummerer alongside guitarist Rafael Trujillo, drummer Sebastian Lanser, and resident uber-bassist Linus Klausenitzer – have long since established themselves as one of the big names of Progressive/Technical Death Metal.

What they, and you, may not be aware of, however, is that, despite all the line-up changes, intra-band friction, and media-managed drama of the last few years, Obscura have been actively engaged in crafting a ten-year long, four-album deep, conceptual cycle – beginning with 2009’s Cosmogenesis (origin), and then moving through further phases with 2011’s Omnivium (evolution), and 2016’s Akróasis (consciousness) – which is finally about to conclude with the release of Diluvium, representing not only the end of the cycle, but also the end of an era for Kummerer and co.

So, with that in mind, perhaps the real question you should be asking yourself right now is… can this record possibly live up to those lofty expectations, and truly deliver the ending which this saga deserves? Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: FINNR’S CANE — “ELEGY”

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  1 Response »
Jul 092018
 

 

Ten years on from their formation and five years after their second album, the persistently evolving Canadian band Finnr’s Cane are nearing the release of their third full-length, Elegy. The first two singles from the album that have appeared so far — “Strange Sun” and “Willow” — are sufficient by themselves to prove that the album is difficult to pin down in genre terms. the former a head-banging display of more traditional black metal, the latter a piece inspired by the quiet hours of the morning and the slow sway of willow branches under dim light, a time of solitude when sadness and joy can commingle. And today we have the premiere of the album’s title track, which reveals further dimensions of the album.

Largely unhindered by stiff genre confines, the band bring into play styles and sounds that suit the emotional intensity and atmosphere of the album’s themes, which include “urban desolation, loss and grieving, personal struggle, the rebirth of the natural world”, and, as noted, “the quiet hours of the early morning”. The presence of a cello instead of a bass guitar in the instrumentation well-suits these goals, as does the blending of clean and harsh vocals. Those ingredients play key roles in “Elegy” (the song), which proves to be both soulful and desolate, introspective and wrenching. Continue reading »

WHERE DOOM MEETS DEATH (PART 1): NEW MUSIC FROM XORESTH, UNTIL DEATH OVERTAKES ME, ATAVISMA, SEDATION THERAPY, AND THRONE

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  No Responses »
Jul 092018
 

 

Through a happy coincidence, I’m drowning in despair this morning. I have a collection of new tracks that I thought would be worthy of a Monday round-up, and most of it comes in varying flavors of doom.

Of course “doom” as a genre label doesn’t tell you very much because the genre has subdivided so many times over so many decades. As the title of this post suggests, you’ll find flavors of death/doom metal in this collection, but the title is meant to have a second meaning — a hint at the atmosphere to be found in the songs that are less closely connected to death metal. And as the title further suggests, I’ll have a Part 2 either later today or tomorrow.

XORESTH

When you watch the video for this first song you will see Xoresth’s music labeled as Funeral Doom. To be more precise, this is music for the funeral of all humankind, with no surviving soul left to mourn. As I hear it, it’s a vision of the future in which our planetary home has been burned to a cinder and then frozen in a heatless void. Not for naught, the name of the album is Vortex of Desolation. Continue reading »

REGIONAL JUSTICE CENTER: “WORLD OF INCONVENIENCE”

 Album Reviews  No Responses »
Jul 092018
 

 

(In this post Todd Manning reviews the new release by Seattle-based Regional Justice Center.)

The combination of Grindcore and Powerviolence has always walked a tightrope between Hardcore and Metal, attacking the listener with feral onslaughts both fast and slow, short bursts of frenzied killing punctuated by neanderthal moments of sludgy-goodness. While employing the brutality of Extreme Metal, these acts often have a certain looseness to their sound, giving them their own Punkish charm within the cacophony of violence.

The new self-titled release from Regional Justice Center has all the hallmarks of these genres with short songs and hair-turn tempo changes, but there is no looseness to be found. Rather, everything here takes the form of a quick precision bombing, and while the record only clocks in at around twelve minutes, a single spin will leave the listener gasping for breath before hitting play again. Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK: CENOTAFIO, TEHOM, DEAD MOON TEMPLE, BATHYUM, FACELESS GOD, NIDSTANG

 SHADES OF BLACK  2 Responses »
Jul 082018
 

 

Sometimes I refer to these collections as playlists, despite the fact that I often include at least brief reviews of complete EPs or albums. But this week’s SHADES OF BLACK really is just a playlist. You’ll find links to full streams of six recent or recently discovered albums or EPs here, but all I’ve done is to pick out one song from each of them as “teasers”. I just don’t have time to do more, much as I wish I did.

And even if you don’t have time to explore everything in depth on your own, I do think it’s a good playlist, with interesting variations of style and mood. If I were on Spotify, I might be able to make an actual playlist of these tracks, but I’m not. Perhaps you’ll do it on your own — after reading all of my words, of course, because they’re so vital as an introduction. (Please stop snickering — it undermines my self-esteem.)

CENOTAFIO

We’re not easing into this playlist, but launching it in harrowing fashion with “Letargo a su posterior hipnosis“, the third track from La Fatídica Excrecencia De La Subtierra, the 2017 debut album by the Chilean band Cenotafio, which was re-released at the end of May 2018 by the Mexican label Throats Productions. Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: NEVERENDING WINTER — “NEW DAWN”

 Premieres  No Responses »
Jul 082018
 

 

With their 2017 album Хиус, the Siberian Russian band Neverending Winter displayed their wide-ranging talents in startling fashion. As their name suggests, long and frigid winters may have inspired their creations, but they found grace and beauty, as well as darkness and tumult, in their conditions. As I explained in a very wordy review, it was one of the most vibrant and dazzling albums I encountered last year, one with a wonderful, organic sense of flow that moved through differing shades of darkness and light, and ranged from loud, barbarically aggressive attacks to soft and completely mesmerizing interludes. And while the music often exploded with primal, surging energy, it was also often quite intricate, revealing a level of technical skill that was impressive.

Early this year, Neverending Winter followed Хиус with a new EP named Сеногной. It consists of three songs of increasing length, beginning with “Новый рассвет (New Dawn)“, a two-and-a-half minute track, continuing with the four-minute song “Frost leash“, and ending with “Сеногной (Senognoy)“, which nearly reaches eight minutes. Once again, the music flows and evolves; once again, Neverending Winter manage to successfully braid together differing strains of black metal (both savage and atmospheric) and crust punk in a way that makes the EP a riveting listen from start to finish. Continue reading »

WAXING LYRICAL: BEYOND GRACE

 WAXING LYRICAL  2 Responses »
Jul 072018
 

 

(In this episode of WAXING LYRICAL, Andy Synn interviews himself, in his capacity as lyricist/vocalist of the UK band Beyond Grace.)

Those of you who know me well – and even some of those who don’t know me that well – will probably be aware of my love of words. That’s partially the reason I write for NCS after all, to share and communicate my thoughts and ideas through writing. It’s also why I wanted to make this column a regular thing, because I know a lot of writers and lyricists feel the same way, and put a lot of thought and effort (and depth) into their work, which often goes unappreciated.

Today’s edition, which I’m shamelessly hijacking for my own purposes, is a bit of a special one, as it’s precisely one year since the release of our debut album, Seekers, and we’ve decided to commemorate this by unveiling a brand new (ish) version of “Demiurge”, featuring guest vocals by Adam Cook of A Hill To Die Upon, which can be downloaded for free from our Bandcamp page right now.

So if you’d like to check this out, and learn more about the way I write (for Beyond Grace at least) then please, click on! Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: ABORTED, OMNIUM GATHERUM, SKELETONWITCH, CAST THE STONE, DAKHMA

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  3 Responses »
Jul 062018
 

 

The last 24 hours brought a big slug of new music from a bunch of well-known bands, and the first four items in this end-of-the-week round-up are among those. I found quite a lot of good new music from lesser-known bands as well, and put one of those at the end of this collection.

ABORTED

To begin I present for your enjoyment the official video for “Squalor Opera“, a new song taken from the next album by perennial NCS favorites, Aborted. Entitled TerrorVision, it will be released through Century Media on September 21st, 2018. Continue reading »

AN NCS EP PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): SKULLCRUSH — “VISIONS OF THE FIRESTORM ECLIPSE”

 Album Reviews, Premieres, SHORT BUT SWEET  3 Responses »
Jul 062018
 

 

Skullcrush? Yes… that name works… but so would SpleenRupture, SpineSplinter, KidneyPunch, JawFracture, SkinFlense… and I’m sure I’m forgetting other body parts that their music mutilates (figuratively speaking of course — you’ll survive the experience intact, probably).

Yes, Skullcrush is a fine name for the kind of death metal this Arizona band dish out on their debut EP, and the Conan-themed cover art is also fitting. So is the EP’s title — Visions of the Firestorm Eclipse — as you’ll discover when you listen to our full stream on this Friday, the 6th of July, the day of its release by the Glasgow-based label Camo Pants Records.

But we hasten to add that the brutalizing qualities of the music shouldn’t be over-emphasized; there’s a lot more going on in this EP than skeletal demolition and furious evisceration. The name SoulSlaughter would have worked, too. Continue reading »

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