AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: SOLFERNUS — “NEOANTICHRIST”

 Premieres  No Responses »
Sep 172017
 

 

Moravia in the eastern part of the Czech Republic is home to the black metal band Solfernus, whose first recording dates back to 2003 EP Diabolic Phenomenon, followed by a debut album two years later (2005’s Hysteria In Coma). Plans were hatched for a second album, but delays were encountered. The band’s original drummer Coroner left to become a founder of Cult of Fire, and guitarist Igor continued on with his main band Root (and as you may know, we are great fans of both of those groups).

But now, a dozen years after the last album, Solfernus are returning with a new full-length named Neoantichrist, which was produced by the band’s new drummer Paul Dread (also a member of Root). The album will be co-released on October 13 by Satanath Records (Russia) and Murdher Records (Italy) — and today we present the premiere of the new album’s title track through a lyric video. Continue reading »

A DIRTY DOZEN

 Album Reviews  10 Responses »
Sep 162017
 

 

(Andy Synn is playing catch-up in a furious torrent, with brief reviews and streams of music from 12 striking 2017 albums.  Open wide… dine like queens and kings.)

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again (and again)… the vast array of music now available at the touch of a button is both a blessing and a curse, depending on how you look at it.

And while I generally celebrate the fact that I’m now able to search out and discover music from all around the world with an ease that’s quite mind-boggling when you think about it, the sheer plethora of albums clamouring for my attention means there’s simply not enough hours in the day to give them all the attention they deserve.

As a consequence of this, my “to do” list has swollen to a frankly rather distressing size over the last 4-5 months, so I’ve made an executive decision to clear my slate a little bit by pulling together twelve albums, which we’ve thus far failed to cover properly here at NCS, into one collective round-up.

So, without further ado, let’s get to it, shall we? Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): MERIDIUS — “SEALED IN BLOOD”

 Album Reviews, Exceptions to the Rule, Premieres  2 Responses »
Sep 152017
 

 

What a great piece of cover art that is! It catches the eye and holds it. And it turns out that the music behind the artwork catches the ears and holds them, too. And for that matter, it has its way with your entire autonomic nervous system… as I’ll explain momentarily.

That cover art (by Cesar Adrian at Soulasphyx Arts) adorns Sealed In Blood, the debut album by the Vancouver, BC band Meridius, which is being released today on a pay-what-you-want basis via Bandcamp. It includes 10 tracks and almost 50 minutes of music, and it’s one hell of an electrifying rush. Continue reading »

A DUAL PREMIERE: ONE MASTER (“STORMDIVISION”) AND NINSURHAG (“UVA URSA”)

 Premieres  4 Responses »
Sep 152017
 

 

September 22nd is the first day of the Red River Family Festival in Austin, Texas, a three-day event that features an amazing array of bands (which you can check out here) — one of which is One Master from the northeastern United States. Timed to coincide with the commencement of the festival, Eternal Death and Red River Family Records will jointly be releasing a new split (digitally and on cassette tape) by One Master and the mysterious Ninhursag, whose domicile is The Sacred Mountain. Today we bring you a dual premiere — one song from the split by each band.

Sometimes split releases represent alliances between like-minded and like-sounding bands. And sometimes the music of the participants is distinctly different from each other, with the connection to be found in less obvious affinities. This split is in the latter category. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: GOATBLOOD — “GASMASK TERROR DEVASTATION”

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Sep 152017
 

 

There is little risk that you will be deceived about the music we’re about to present. The band’s name is Goatblood. The demo is named Gasmask Devastation Terror. The artwork depicts a bullet-draped demonic form shrouded in eldritch energies and fire. Biohazard and radiation warning signs would probably have been superfluous.

As fears of nuclear devastation rise again after decades of dormancy, the release of Gasmask Devastation Terror is perhaps an example of being in the right place at the right time. On September 18th, thanks to Dunkelheit Produktionen, we can begin practicing for incineration. Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: B R I Q U E V I L L E – “AKTE VI”

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Sep 152017
 

 

In June I came across a song named “AKTE V“, which appears on the second album (titled II) by a doom/post-metal band from Temse, Belgium, named B R I Q U E V I L L E (or Briqueville, as I’m going to type it from here on), and the song floored me (as I explained here). It appears that the album was digitally released by the band in February, but it has since been picked up by Pelagic Records, who will be releasing it in LP and CD editions on September 29.

To introduce the album to a wider audience, a video for that song “AKTE V” was premiered by DECIBEL in late August, and today we’re helping spread the word about a new video for another song off the album named “AKTE VI“. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: KARTIKEYA, IN-DEFILADE, DOM ZŁY, GASSED, NIHIL EYES, THREAT SIGNAL

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  5 Responses »
Sep 152017
 

 

It’s another Friday, and what are people feeling? No one answer, I’m sure. Some people are looking forward to a blow-out Friday night or just a soft weekend to clear the head. Others have jobs that will just keep on surging through the weekend, so no relief in sight (but maybe better-than-average tip hauls). And others, out of work, are just experiencing another day of hard-scrabbling and gloom.

For me, I’m looking ahead at a wedding of one of my wife’s nieces on our property, with the bride wearing a sword, and Samoan blessings before and after the ceremony, and great volumes of Mexican food and tequila, and people playing Magic after the vows have been exchanged. It’s going to be different, but I have a feeling it will be a blast.

Beyond that, I’m feeling like playing you some metal, just skimming the surface of what I’ve collected over the last 48 hours, and maybe continuing the round-up tomorrow if I get going before all the visiting family members crawl out of bed.

KARTIKEYA

On October 19th, 10 years to the day after the release of their debut album, the Russian band Kartikeya will deliver unto us a new album named Samudra via Apathia Records. We are told that the release date is also “27 Ashvina 5119 of Kali Yuga, the holy day of Diwali, on the day of the Victory of Good over Evil, by the fire of the divine light”. And we are further told that it signifies “the decimal foundation of the Hindu universe and the symbolism of Trimurti – the three highest creator-gods, the ternary power of creation, preservation and destruction”. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): ZUD — “A WILDERNESS LEFT UNTAMED”

 Album Reviews, Premieres  1 Response »
Sep 142017
 

 

ZUD’s A Wilderness Left Untamed is a big album, and not just in its nearly hour-long length. It’s brimming with ideas and bursting with energy. It’s fiendishly clever, but never comes off as calculating or manipulative. It’s ambitious, but not in the sense that, in the case of some other bands, could mean overreaching or even pretentious. It’s just hugely effective in tapping into primal urges in the untamed way that the best of the devil’s music always does, and it does that in very distinctive fashion.

The music is also damned catchy, damned adrenalizing, damned filthy, and… just plain damned. From minute to minute you can alternately rock out, careen about like a crazy person in a delirious frenzy, drift off into hallucinogenic reveries, engage in a lusting orgy, feed like a vampire, and let your freak flag fly like it’s 1969. And on top of all that, the band also rise up in moments of epic, luciferian majesty.

In a nutshell, with October fast approaching, you’ve just found the perfect accompaniment to Devil’s Night. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): HIGHRIDER — “ROLL FOR INITIATIVE”

 Album Reviews, Premieres  7 Responses »
Sep 142017
 

 

Highrider prove themselves to be sonic alchemists of a very high order on their debut album Roll For Initiative, creating an alloy of metal and rock ingredients that gleams like a rare jewel. The album will be released on September 15th (tomorrow!) by The Sign Records, and we have the great pleasure of sharing a full stream with you today.

The vibrant mix of styles in Highrider’s formula is fascinating. You can readily pick out the influences as you make your way through the album, but what you probably couldn’t have predicted is how creatively and seamlessly Highrider blend them together in every song. The music is thus both pleasingly familiar and marvelously unique — and it’s also massively infectious. Continue reading »

IMPETUOUS RITUAL: “BLIGHT UPON MARTYRED SENTIENCE”

 Album Reviews  4 Responses »
Sep 142017
 

 

(Norway-based writer Karina Noctum, who usually brings us interviews, brings us another enthusiastic review, this time focusing on the 2017 album by Australia’s Impetuous Ritual.)

Even though it is coming out a bit late (sorry for this), I decided to write this review anyway. But before I attempt to describe this beauty of an album, I would like to tell you that Impetuous Ritual have nothing to do with Portal. If you thought they did, they deny this, even though it seems that pretty much everyone says so. Their mystical Roman-numeraled personas are to remain unknown, and that’s fine. Now we have lots of musicians called I, II, III, IV, and so on in BM. Someone should start using binary codes just to make a difference.

Back to the music. I think this is absolutely one of the best albums this year. It is very Australian! I adore the sound. True madness, darkness, and old-school feeling. The band show their cumulative experience in a piece that may seem raw, but is technical and well-produced. The album shows that it is absolutely possible to combine those qualities. This is the kind of album that leaves others with no excuses. Bad production and poor musical skills are by no means what makes something raw. Continue reading »

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