BLUT AUS NORD: A REVIEW OF “DEUS SALUTIS MEÆ” AND THE PREMIERE OF “APOSTASIS”

 Album Reviews, Premieres  9 Responses »
Sep 272017
 

 

At the bottom of this post you’ll find the first public streaming of a song from Deus Salutis Meæ (“God of My Salvation”), the new album by Blut Aus Nord. It’s the album’s fifth track and its name is “Apostasis“. It’s a great song by a groundbreaking band, and I wouldn’t blame you in the least if you skipped down and began listening, whether you continue reading what follows or not.

But if you’re curious about why I chose this song, how it fits within the album, and what else the album holds in store — though not in that precise order — read on. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: INSURRECTION — “DATA EXTRACTED … END TRANSMISSION”

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Sep 262017
 

 

Prologue… Fracture… Prototype… the names of the first three albums by the death metal band Insurrection from Gatineau, Québec. And now comes Extraction, the band’s fourth full-length campaign against the human race. What more can they possibly do to us? You’re about to find out.

Today we present “Data Extracted … End Transmission“. Aided by guest vocalist Bruno Bernier (of Obliveon), Insurrection sing of a sensory overload growing out of control, of networks gearing up to invade and enslave. They command: “All report for mental breakdown, sort and file the data to extract….” Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: DAEMUSINEM — “GOLGOTHA”

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Sep 262017
 

 

According to The Font of All Human Knowledge, Fra Dolcino was a 13th-century Italian priest and the leader of a reform movement that opposed the prevailing feudal system as well as the hierarchy of the Catholic church and sought to return it to ideals of humility and poverty, espousing human liberation and equality. In response to attacks by Catholic troops, he and his followers also became fierce guerilla fighters. In 1307 Fra Dolcino was captured and, without trial, tortured and burned at the stake by the Inquisition as a heretic.

His story has become the basis for the new concept album by the Italian death metal band Daemusinem, the name of which is Thy Ungodly Defiance. What we have for you today is a ferocious track from the album called “Golgotha“. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: TYAKRAH — “GEFRORNE TRÄNEN”

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Sep 262017
 

 

“Fierce” and “frigid” are by-words of Nordic black metal, and in their debut album Wintergedanken the German black metal duo Tyakrah have embraced the cold and unforgiving white-outs of winter in forested and craggy northern climes. But their music is also solemn, and also glorious — achieving the kind of reverent and soaring spirit that justifies that well-worn term “epic”.

Wintergedanken will be co-released by the Russian label Satanath Records and the U.S. label Slaughterhouse Records on October 21. It consists of four songs interspersed with three instrumental pieces that begin, end, and divide the album in the middle. Today we present the first track that appears after the opening instrumental, a song called “Gefrorne Tränen“. Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK: URARV, DEVILGROTH, DYMNA LOTVA, WINGS OF DAHAK, IRONHAND, ANDAVALD, ADVENT SORROW

 SHADES OF BLACK  4 Responses »
Sep 262017
 

 

Alcohol poisoning prevented me from writing about everything I wanted to write about in my last SHADES OF BLACK post two days ago. With that demon temporarily in submission, I’m now able to write about seven more musical demons in a blackened vein (and if you’ve been paying attention, I’ve added a couple of bands to this continuation beyond those I forecast on Sunday).

Regrettably, I’ve had to resort to a tactic I’ve used before. There are four albums or EPs included in this group of seven, but because I don’t have the time to write full reviews I’ve only commented on one track from each of those, but provided streams of the complete releases so you can explore further if I you like the tracks I’ve highlighted.

URARV

Aldrahn (Björn Dencker Gjerde) is a name of historical significance in the annals of Norwegian black metal through his work during the ’90s in Dødheimsgard and Zyklon-B, as well as his contributions to Thorns and more recently The Deathtrip. Urarv (“Ancient Heritage”) is his most recent endeavor, originally conceived in 2003 during his stay in a mental institution and now finally flowering in thorns through a debut album named Aurum (released on September 17 by Svart Records), in which Aldrahn is joined by bassist Sturt and drummer Trish (whose work in Asagraum I’ve written about previously). Continue reading »

VATTNET: “VATTNET”

 Album Reviews, Exceptions to the Rule  6 Responses »
Sep 262017
 

 

(Andy Synn reviews the new self-titled album by the newly named Vattnet, an exception to the Rule in our blog’s title.)

Let’s get down to brass tacks right away, shall we? Just because a band changes their sound doesn’t make them sell-outs/traitors/false… but, by the same token, when a band you love does decide to change their sound, there’s no rule that says you have to like it.

I know that statement might seem painfully obvious to most of you, but I felt like it needed stressing again, as I’ve lost count of the amount of sweeping generalisations and wild accusations I’ve seen thrown around by the various factions of fans (and ex-fans) of this band in response to the release of their new, eponymously-titled, album.

It’s definitely a fact however that Vattnet (formerly Vattnet Viskar) have radically reinvented their sound here, in a way that I imagine a lot of their old fans might not appreciate… Continue reading »

FOREVER PLAYING CATCH-UP (PART 1): RETAIL MONKEY, INCREATE, ESCHER

 Album Reviews  No Responses »
Sep 262017
 

 

(Today Austin Weber begins a multi-part series focusing on 2017 releases that we haven’t previously reviewed. Parts 2 and 3 will follow tomorrow and Thursday, and further installments are expected next week.)

In spite of what the naysayers will tell you, I’m of the opinion that there’s an absolutely ridiculous amount of good metal releases coming out all the time, many of them coming from new groups or independent groups that we’re just now catching onto for the first time.

This lengthy round-up has been in the works for awhile, but I kept adding more and more to the list of what I wanted to cover, and that delayed it until now. The focus here is on releases that dropped in 2017 that haven’t been covered at NCS yet. We’ll run through a boatload of harsh and unorthodox black metal, mountains of mathcore, death metal of all stripes, a few technical grindcore acts, a ton of different prog-metal bands, some sick instrumental metal jams, and a whole lot more. Hopefully you will find something new you enjoy in each installment.

RETAIL MONKEY – ADD/NIHILISM

Once again, I have the fine folks at Mathcore Index to thank for showing me another band I felt compelled to cover, and this time it’s Retail Monkey. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: FIREBREATHER — “FIRE FORETOLD”

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Sep 252017
 

 

To be honest, I’d seize on just about any excuse to plaster Adam Burke’s stunning artwork for Firebreather’s self-titled debut album on our page again. It was his art that first drew me into the music of this Gothenburg trio, and their heavy-as-hell brand of sludge and doom kept me rooted in place as I listened to the album’s first single (“The Ice Lord“) early last month. Now I find myself in the fortunate position of bringing you the premiere of another track — “Fire Foretold” — in advance of the album’s October 13 release by Suicide Records.

You gotta love guitarist/vocalist Mattias Nööjd’s introduction of the song:

“‘Fire Foretold’ is straight-up a song about this warrior who grabs his big fucking sword and rides out into battle, slaying everything and anything in his path. The lyric, ‘The raging wolf’s head, hangs at my side / I took the red glow, I took the roar’? That’s how badass he is. This is the opening track and it’s setting the tone for the album, it’ll take you to dark and violent places.”

I ask you, who doesn’t love a song about a big fucking sword (and the sorcery of a raging wolf’s head)? I mean, other than the person on the receiving end of it? Continue reading »

AN NCS EP PREMIERE: GOLDEN BATS — “SUPERPLATEAU”

 Album Reviews, Premieres, SHORT BUT SWEET  No Responses »
Sep 252017
 

 

I’m a relative latecomer to the music of Golden Bats, a distinctive one-man mauling machine from the vicinity of Brisbane, Australia. The first release I heard was the Falling Sparrows EP that surfaced last spring. It made an impact, something like a grenade going off inside my skull. I’m now keeping a close watch on what Golden Bats is doing.

Today Golden Bats has revealed a new two-song EP named Superplateau, which I had the shivering pleasure of hearing in advance of the release, and I’m helping spread the word about it… because it’s very good. Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: ANNIHILATION — “UNIVERSAL DISMAL COLLAPSE”

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Sep 252017
 

 

Even if you’re not familiar with the previous releases of the Portuguese band Annihilation, you wouldn’t need to be clairvoyant to foresee that they are a death metal band and that their music is likely to be obliterating. Their name, after all, is Annihilation. And yes, ruthless brutality is indeed a key part of their sound. But that’s true of scores of death metal bands. What makes this one special?

I do think Annihilation stand out from the brutal death crowd with their new second album The Undivided Wholeness of All Things, and the qualities that make their music interesting as well as… annihilating… are powerfully demonstrated in the song we’re presenting through a lyric video in this post. Its name is “Universal Dismal Collapse“. Continue reading »

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