SHORT BUT SWEET: HOODED MENACE AND ALGOMA — A SPLIT

 Album Reviews, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC, SHORT BUT SWEET  3 Responses »
Feb 162017
 

 

On New Year’s Day of this year I posted a large round-up of new music that included brief teasers of music from a vinyl split release by Finland’s Hooded Menace and the Canadian band AlgomA. At that point, release of the split by Doomentia Records had been delayed past its originally scheduled November 2016 release date, but it finally became available at the end of January (and the limited-edition splattered-color version of the vinyl is already sold out), and full streams of both songs are now up on Bandcamp.

The artwork for the split was painted by the Italian maestro Paolo Girardi. My own admiration for his work probably appears slavish to regular readers here, but man, what he did for this split really makes me drool. I’ve ordered the split on vinyl just to be able to hold it in my hands, though I didn’t find out about the vinyl release until too late to grab one of these: Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: REBEL WIZARD — “EAT THE WARLOCK”

 Premieres  3 Responses »
Feb 152017
 

 

I’m especially happy to present the premiere of a video for “Eat the Warlock“, which is one of the songs off Triumph of Gloom, the 2016 debut album by Australia’s Rebel Wizard, an album that will soon be reissued by Prosthetic Records on CD, eye-catching vinyl, and digitally. I’m especially happy not only because “Eat the Warlock” is a hell of a good song from an amazing album, but also because this is sort of like a a joyful reunion for me.

I first became acquainted with the music of Rebel Wizard back in the fall of 2015 when I discovered Negative Wizard Metal, the fourth of five EPs that Rebel Wizard released that year. I frothed at the mouth about it on our site, and then did more frothing later in the year when the fifth EP (Invocation of the Miserable Ones) reared its head.

Time passed, and last August Rebel Wizard released Triumph of Gloom. As much as I had enjoyed the previous EPs, this album really was, and is, something rare. It left me beginning my review in this way: Continue reading »

POWER TRIP: “NIGHTMARE LOGIC”

 Album Reviews  8 Responses »
Feb 152017
 

 

(TheMadIsraeli reviews the new album by Texas-based Power Trip.)

One of the worst offenders within the utter triteness that was the so called “re-thrash” movement was the rise of the whole crossover party thrash scene. I came to intensely dislike certain bands (who shall remain nameless) who seem to place all their emphasis on the energy and aesthetic of thrash but completely forsake all of the power, attitude, and uninhibited human rage that thrash encapsulates so well — while also having no good idea how to truly manipulate the hardcore aspects of their sound to give the music high-impact groove when needed.

Newer crossover thrash, however, has been seeing a YUGE renaissance. The newer Ringworm material, Iron Reagan (a band with Municipal Waste alumni), and the subject of this review — Power Trip — are producing music that is on a mission to recapture the genre and hit the turbo button, producing some of the most straight-up genuinely pissed metal on the planet. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: SHADE EMPIRE, SANGUE, BATHSHEBA, FLOODS, AUTISM, PYRIPHLEGETHON

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  4 Responses »
Feb 152017
 

 

Yeah, I know I did one of these round-ups yesterday, but I found myself with some extra time and some worthy new discoveries, so here we go again.

I’ve organized the following items in a back-and-forth, alternating sequence, between more melodic tracks and more savage ones. Hope you find a few things to like.

SHADE EMPIRE

Do you ever get talked into going to a tear-jerker movie knowing that your emotions are going to be cunningly manipulated, and being conscious of it as it happens, and getting weepy anyway? That’s kind of how I feel about Shade Empire’s new song and video that premiered at DECIBEL last Friday. Continue reading »

KING WOMAN: “CREATED IN THE IMAGE OF SUFFERING”

 Album Reviews, Exceptions to the Rule  No Responses »
Feb 152017
 

 

(In this post Wil Cifer reviews the new album by San Francisco’s King Woman.)

King Woman’s full-length debut has the kind of thick, dream-like haze cast over it that makes the mood much darker and heavier than what we got from their previous EP. Like many albums that I sing the praises of, this one tickles the sweet spot of my taste buds, and once again proves you don’t have to adhere to typical metal trappings in order to be heavy.

Kristina Esfandiari allows some of her backing vocal tracks to move into more of a scream. And there is weight to the guitars, which often carry the dense distortion of doom. By the second song, it sounds to me that this album is going to take them to the next level of recognition. Continue reading »

WARNING’S SOUND AND FURY APPEARANCE: TICKETS ON SALE NOW

 Metal News  2 Responses »
Feb 142017
 


 

As previously announced, No Clean Singing is partnering with Invisible Oranges to co-present a series of events that many people thought would never happen: a visit to the U.S. by the UK doom legends Warning, performing their phenomenal 2006 comeback album Watching From A Distance in its entirety at a small number of exclusive locations. One of those performances will take place at the first annual Northwest Terror Fest in Seattle on June 17 (also co-sponsored by NCS), but the band’s first appearance on this trip will be at the 2017 edition of the Sound and Fury Fest.

This year Sound and Fury will take place at the Regent Theater in Los Angeles on June 9 and 10. A full line-up of confirmed bands can be found HERE, and the ticket pre-sale began earlier today. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: RESTOS HUMANOS — “AQUEL OJO”

 Premieres  No Responses »
Feb 142017
 

 

Restos Humanos are a multinational trio whose members are based in both Colombia and Italy — guitarist/vocalist Julian, bassist Sara, and drummer Matteo Barney. Since 2013 they’ve released a demo, a compilation, two splits, and a live album, and now their self-titled debut full-length has just been released through a consortium of labels in a variety of formats. To help spread the word about the album, we’re pleased to bring you the premiere of a track from the album called “Aquel Ojo“.

To get some sense of what you’re about to hear, consider that the music is recommended for fans of Machetazo, Necrony, Scurvy, Death Breath, and Zombies. And if that’s not enough, consider this: Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: LUCIFERA — “LOS DEMONIOS DE LOUDUN”

 Premieres  2 Responses »
Feb 142017
 

 

Lucifera come our way from Colombia, and they don’t come gently, even on Valentine’s Day. Their explosive advent here at our site is about as gentle as the ministrations of Sarcófago, Desaster, and Hellhammer, which are only three of the old-school exponents of satanic electrification that come to mind when listening to the song we’re about to premiere — “Los Demonios de Loudun“.

This track comes off the band’s debut album Preludio del Mar, which is set for a February 24 release by Morbid Skull Records. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: THE BEARER — “MARU SAYS HELLO”

 Premieres  No Responses »
Feb 142017
 

 

I suppose I’ll always have a soft spot for bands from Austin, Texas, as it’s the place where I was born, spent the first 18 years of life, and return to frequently. But hopefully I’m not soft in the head when it comes to evaluating music from Austin. In this case, you can be the judge of that.

What we have for you here is a song called “Maru Says Hello” from a new EP by Austin’s The Bearer. Entitled Fiction, it will be jointly released on March 10 (digital and vinyl) by CoinTossRecords and Blasphemour Records, and it’s available for pre-order as of today. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: ANTROPOFAGUS, HERESIARCH, THY DARKENED SHADE, VALGRIND, REBIRTH OF NEFAST, VARMIA, ALFAHANNE, VESICANT

 Eye-Catchers, Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  5 Responses »
Feb 142017
 

 

I was tempted to name this post “Eye-Catchers“, especially since I haven’t written a post in that series for years, but since I was already quite familiar with most of the bands whose new artwork caught my eye, they didn’t really fit the theme of that series. But the new artwork is damned appealing, and so is the promise of new music from these groups.

And that’s how this post begins — with eye-catching new artwork for four forthcoming albums. Following that, I want to recommend advance tracks from four other forthcoming releases, which themselves also include eye-catching cover art.

ANTROPOFAGUS

The first piece of attention-grabbing artwork I’ve collected here (above) was created by the Chilean artist Nekronikon for the new album by Italy’s Antropofagus. Entitled M.O.R.T.E. – Methods Of Resurrection Through Evisceration, it will be released May 12 on CD via Comatose Music and on vinyl via Everlasting Spew Records. Continue reading »

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