SEASONS IN DARKNESS: NOISE AND RUIN FROM VRASUBATLAT

 Album Reviews  1 Response »
Aug 182017
 

 

(We are very happy to welcome Kaptain Carbon back to NCS with this feature on a series of forthcoming 2017 releases by a label known as Vrasubatlat. Kaptain Carbon operates Tape Wyrm, a blog dedicated to current and lesser-known heavy metal. He also writes Dungeon Synth reviews over at Hollywood Metal as well as moderating Reddit’s r/metal community.)

This is not the first time I have written about Vrasubatlat, nor do I believe it will be the last. Over the course of these past years, I have become enamored with the output from this Pacific Northwest label. Aesthetic is important in heavy metal, and the bands that revolve around the universe of Vrasubatlat all seem to be circling the same themes. While each of the bands represented on the label has its own personality, the general tone of spiritual violence, existential ruin, and transcendental obliteration seem to make a solid foundation.

I have decided to wait until now to discuss the recent and future releases from Vrasubatlat. Perhaps I can only experience this type of music in segments, as too much would leave me inverted and eviscerated. Through this showcase and review, I will most certainly be using flowery and colorful descriptions. Part of this is just a writing style, but the other is to express the immersion into unsettling waters. Vrasubatlat is certainly not the end of harsh and dissonant sounds but they are certainly a label with an energetic spirit for it and a lack of caring for others.

Below are a list of releases and new demos from new projects from 2017. I feel fortunate to hear these demos before their release date like some sort of chosen prophet who sees imminent doom in the stars. What I can tell you is that this label, while already ornery and antisocial, has found new ways to describe disgust. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: PURTENANCE — “VICIOUS SEEDS OF MORTALITY”

 Premieres  6 Responses »
Aug 172017
 

 

In the last half-dozen years we’ve witnessed the rebirth of numerous death metal bands who got their start in the early ’90s, far more than you could count on the fingers of both hands. This has been a mixed blessing — participating in the birth of a movement is no guarantee that you’ll still be able to light a fire under people more than two decades later, and some bands honestly would have been better off if they’d been content to leave their fans with good memories rather than new music that doesn’t live up to their reputations. On the other hand, some of these resurgent bands seem to have become even more powerful with age, and Purtenance is one of those.

This Finnish band, who released their first demo under the name Purtenance Avulsion in 1990, recorded two enduring works in their 1991 EP Crown Waits the Immortal and their 1992 debut album Member of Immortal Damnation. And then the band became inactive for a long stretch of years before their revival in 2011.

Since then they’ve released two powerhouse albums in 2013’s Awaken From Slumber and 2015’s …to Spread the Flame of Ancients. Now, Dave Rotten’s Xtreem Music label is set to release the newest Purtenance work — an EP entitled Paradox of Existence — and we have the premiere of one of its four tracks for you today in advance of the EP’s September 12 release. This one is called “Vicious Seeds of Mortality“. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): NECROLYTIC GOAT CONVERTER — “ISOLATED EVOLUTION”

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Aug 172017
 

 

New York musician (and music writer) Chris Voss took some chances when he embraced Necrolytic Goat Converter as the name for his solo metal project. On the one hand, it’s such an off-the-wall moniker that once you see it, you won’t forget it. On the other hand, it’s so ridiculous that there’s a chance people will leap to the conclusion that the music is a joke, or maybe dismiss it as an offensive skewering of sacred black metal cows.

I’m here to tell you that either reaction would be a grievous mistake, because this debut album, Isolated Evolution, is really, really good. I’ll explain why I think that, and why the album has quickly become a personal favorite in a year already filled to overflowing with outstanding new albums, but you’ll also get the chance to decide for yourselves — because we’re premiering a full stream of the album in advance of its August 18 release. Continue reading »

AN NCS EP PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): NABAATH — “FIRESTORM BRINGER”

 Premieres  1 Response »
Aug 172017
 

 

The name chosen by the Ukraine-based black metal band Nabaath for their new EP could easily be an alternate name for the band: Firestorm Bringer. It’s as close to a sonic hurricane of hellfire as one could hope for — utterly ferocious, completely electrifying, and immediately addictive.

Firestorm Bringer is also an archetype of how the EP format can be used to supreme effectiveness. There are only two songs here, both of which are themselves compact, plus an outro track that both contrasts with and complements the flamethrowing ferocity of those two songs. The three tracks don’t feel like a scattering of stand-alone pieces thrown together for want of a better place to put them; instead, they make for a cohesive representation of a particular kind of power, and if the EP had been longer it might well have lost some of its impact. It’s over almost before you know it, but it may still leave you wide-eyed and slack-jawed (as it did me). Continue reading »

NIGHTRAGE (“THE VENOMOUS”) AND CARACH ANGREN (“DANCE AND LAUGH AMONGST THE ROTTEN”)

 Album Reviews  2 Responses »
Aug 172017
 

 

(In this long post we have not one but two extended reviews by DGR, one focusing on the 2017 album by the Greek band Nightrage and the second dwelling upon the 2017 album by the Dutch storytellers in Carach Angren.)

If there is one thing I’m a big fan of doing throughout the year, it’s the inevitable dive backwards into the earlier part of the year in order to play the increasingly desperate catch-up game, to write about releases I’ve been listening to, but never took the time out to say anything about. I’ve got a handful of those, and now that I have a little bit more free time from the day-job (which will be brief, let me tell you, the holiday season approaches) I can finally talk about two pretty constant spins from 2017 that NCS hasn’t had the chance to cover yet, completely glossing over the fact that I’m the guy at the site who will usually wave the flag for both bands.

The two this time around are melodeath stalwarts Nightrage and their seventh (!) album, The Venomous, and the latest batch of supernatural symphonic shenanigans from Carach Angren and their album Dance And Laugh Amongst The Rotten.

Nightrage – The Venomous

Without descending too much into an image of me in a room with newspaper articles and photos all connected with string in so many ways that I can barely move around inside of it, disheveled with a half-drunk cup of coffee that has somehow managed to turn semi-solid, screaming that “there has to be some sort of connection here!”, I’m starting to think that the melodeath crew of Nightrage have developed a pattern. It’s one I hoped that with the March release of their album The Venomous, the band would manage to break. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: OLD IRON — “VALERIAN”

 Premieres  7 Responses »
Aug 162017
 

 

There’s a movie out in theaters now that includes the name “Valerian” in its title, and it seems that more than half the people who’ve seen it think it’s terrible. Because the name isn’t one you see every day, some people reading the title of this post might make an association, but let’s be clear: This song has nothing to do with that movie.

This “Valerian” is a stunningly good song by Seattle’s Old Iron, and it comes from their second album, Lupus Metallorum. Emblazoned with unforgettable cover art by the band’s own guitarist/vocalist Jesse Roberts, it will be released by Good to Die Records on August 18, just days from now. Continue reading »

VACIVUS: “TEMPLE OF THE ABYSS”

 Album Reviews  4 Responses »
Aug 162017
 

 

(We present Andy Synn’s review of the debut album by the UK death metal band Vacivus, set for release by Profound Lore on September 22nd.)

Here’s a seemingly simple, but actually incredibly complex, question – why are some bands good and other bands… less so?

Or, to be more specific, what makes some bands capable of spinning fresh gold out of a well-worn sound, while others are doomed to wallow in their own mediocrity?

This is something I’ve been wondering about quite a bit recently, after I came across a pair of Death Metal bands from the UK, both of whom have been receiving a fair bit of hype and attention online, whose albums couldn’t have more clearly represented the opposite ends of this spectrum.

You see, whereas one of these albums (whose name has been withheld out of respect to the victims) turned out to be one of the most painfully unoriginal and uninspired records I’ve heard all year, the other captured a certain freshness, a viciousness, a certain sense of drive and urgency, which made it an absolute joy to listen to.

So whatever this particular attribute, this special x-factor is, it’s clear that Vacivus definitely have it. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: DESTROYER OF LIGHT

 Interviews  No Responses »
Aug 162017
 

 

(Comrade Aleks is back, and brings with him this interview of Steve Colca, guitarist/vocalist of Austin-based Destroyer of Light.)

Horror movies, bloody sacrifices, and a bit of smoke – these topics work better when you play slow and low stuff. Just like Destroyer of Light do. That Austin-based band crawls out of their dungeon with seven new tracks entitled Chamber of Horrors.

It’s their second full-length, and the men naturally reached another level in their musicianship, keeping the same grim and hard sound. The feature of this record is a wider range of influences (including a heavier, sludgy sound), yet all of these imprints fit Destroyer of Light’s image well.

Need some darker vibe? Here it comes! “There’s a murder at the altar, So his spirit will arrive!” Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: IN TWILIGHT’S EMBRACE, THE HOWLING VOID, WAR POSSESSION

 Exceptions to the Rule, Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  1 Response »
Aug 152017
 

 

Non-blog life is rapidly encroaching on me, so I’m forced to make this round-up short. But it’s sweet. It’s short but sweet. I just made that up… pretty good expression, don’t you think?

IN TWILIGHT’S EMBRACE

For me and many others, The Grim Muse by Poland’s In Twilight’s Embrace was one of 2015’s highlights — a multifaceted and uniformly strong melodic death metal album loaded with fantastic riffs, memorable lead-guitar melodies and solos, powerful performances by the rhythm section, and absolutely ferocious vocals. We had the privilege of premiering the full album stream, and then last year we also debuted a full stream of their next release, an EP named Trembling that also consisted of tracks from the recording session for The Grim Muse.

Today I was excited to learn through an announcement at DECIBEL that the band’s fourth album, Vanitas, will be released on September 22 (through their longstanding label partner Arachnophobia Records). At the same time, DECIBEL premiered a track from the album named “The Hell of Mediocrity“. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): LIFETIME SHITLIST — “SLOW MARCH”

 Album Reviews, Premieres  No Responses »
Aug 152017
 

 

With a name like Lifetime Shitlist and song titles on their new EP such as “Beach of Death”, “Infestation”, and “Death Rattle”, you don’t expect this band to make music that feels like a warm hug and a shoulder to cry on. And sure enough, Slow March will punch you in the kidneys and treat your head like a piece of sheetrock ready for the nail gun. But man, it’s a ton of battering fun — the kind of fun that leaves you with loose teeth the next morning and the kind of bruising that goes beyond black and blue and into that shade of yellow that makes you queasy to look at it.

Slow March manifests some changes from this Baltimore band’s last album, Pneumaticon, including a new vocalist (Ned Westrick), a new second guitarist (Corey Fleming), and an evolution in their sound. For the new EP they also tracked the drums, the bass, and the rhythm guitars live in the studio of Grimoire Records on a single April Saturday, with the vocals added the next day. The gods of the mosh pit must have been smiling on that weekend. Continue reading »

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