AN NCS PREMIERE: WHITE WARD — “FUTILITY REPORT”

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  3 Responses »
Apr 132017
 

 

At the end of March we premiered a song called “Stillborn Knowledge” by the Ukrainian band White Ward from their debut album Futility Report, a song I called “the most unusual piece of music I’ve heard this year, and one of the most striking”. If I hadn’t written that about “Stillborn Knowledge”, I probably would have written it about the next song from the album that we’re presenting today, which is the title track. I’ll have to come up with new words.

Futility Report will be released by Debemur Morti Productions on May 12th. What I know now, but didn’t know at the time of that earlier premiere, is that the whole album — start to finish — is an eye-opener. One song after another, I’ve caught myself thinking, “How in the world did they think of doing this? And how did they manage to pull it off so damned well???” Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: BRAIN DRILL — “INFINITE OBLIVION”

 Premieres  4 Responses »
Apr 122017
 

 

(Austin Weber introduces our premiere of a video by the electrifying Brain Drill from California.)

At this point, most people know Brain Drill and have long since formed an opinion either for or against the band and their frenetic and over-the-top style of technical brutal death metal. As such, I’m not here to preach at length to the unconverted, but I will say this: I think last year’s comeback album from the group, Boundless Obscenity, was by far their strongest effort to date.

In particular, I felt the band really stepped up their game, both rhythm-guitar-wise, with tastier, more complex riffs, and also in the songwriting department. Since it was the band’s first release as an independent band since parting ways with Metal Blade Records, it didn’t get as much press as it should have, though we certainly covered it here at NCS more than once! So we’re here today to premiere a new music video for their song “Infinite Oblivion” to give the band another boost and spread the word about music that deserves more attention. Continue reading »

THE BEST OF BRITISH, 2017 (PART 2): COLTSBLOOD / COLD FELL / THE CRAWLING

 Album Reviews  2 Responses »
Apr 122017
 


Coltsblood

 

(Andy Synn focuses once again on a trio of recent or forthcoming releases by UK bands, this time selecting material from Coltsblood, Cold Fell, and The Crawling.)

As I’m off on “tour” for four days tomorrow, meaning I’ll probably be a little bit off-the-radar (or off the reservation) where NCS is concerned, I thought I might as well leave you with something relatively substantial to tide you over while I’m gone.

And what better than another edition of “The Best of British”, highlighting three more artists hailing from these green and pleasant lands? Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): NAUDIZ — “WULFASA KUNJA”

 Album Reviews, Premieres  2 Responses »
Apr 122017
 

 

Black metal has morphed into so many different shapes and been subjected to so much cross-breeding with other genres that it has become refreshing to hear a band who hew to old ways, and do it as masterfully as Naudiz. But even that observation begs the question: what old ways? Because second-wave black metal itself expanded and twisted into different thorn-covered branchings.

While I’m usually reluctant to mention the names of other bands in describing a new release, for fear that I’ll either hear an influence no one else hears or imply a lack of originality in the release at hand, I’ll say that while Naudiz‘s new album Wulfasa Kunja pulls from different black well-springs, I thought most often of Darkthrone‘s stylistic shift on The Cult Is Alive, and the venomous, swaggering riffs of Taake.

But you’ll be able to judge for yourselves, because in advance of the album’s release this Friday (April 14th) by Iron Bonehead Productions, we’re presenting a full stream of the album today. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: MEATWOUND — “SÉANCE”

 Premieres  6 Responses »
Apr 122017
 

 

You can’t accuse Tampa’s Meatwound of picking a misleading name for themselves. But this song “Séance“? That title might be a bit of a misdirection… unless you contemplate a Lovecraftian seance, one that brings some nightmarish horror into the haunted house and you have to run for your life.

“Séance” is the name of the song we’re premiering. It comes from Meatwound‘s new album Largo, which Magic Bullet Records plans to release on May 12, I guess because they think you’d look better breathing heavy, with black eyes and fewer teeth. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: BELOW THE SUN — “IN MEMORIES”

 Exceptions to the Rule, Premieres  11 Responses »
Apr 122017
 

 

We began following Below the Sun in 2014, with the discovery of a video for a song from their then-forthcoming debut album Envoy, and were then fortunate to premiere the album the next year. Envoy took as its inspiration the journey of the Voyager I spacecraft into interstellar vacuum, farther than anything touched by human hand. As we wrote then, “Envoy is a deeply atmospheric, irresistibly immersive work, a cosmic version of funeral doom that’s icy and vast and immensely powerful in its hypnotic appeal”.

At last, this enigmatic band from Krasnoyarsk in Siberian Russia are returning with a new album that bears the name Alien World. It will be released by Temple of Torturous Records on May 26. And on this 12th day of April — which is The International Day of Human Space Flight — we bring you the premiere of a video for one of the new songs: “In Memories“. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: TRIUMVIR FOUL, INVOCATION SPELLS, CONTAMINATED, PANPHAGE, SUFFOCATION

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  2 Responses »
Apr 112017
 

 

Well, as you can see, I actually did find time to follow up yesterday’s round-up with a second one within 24 hours, even though I was loathe to make any predictions about that. As usual, there is metallic variety within this post, but it’s also fair to say that none of it is for the faint of heart.

TRIUMVIR FOUL

Spiritual Bloodshed is the vile new second album by Triumvir Foul from Portland, Oregon, who have now condensed their form back to the band’s original two-person line-up (both members have also been participants in such other projects as Ash Borer and Urzeit). The album will be released by Invictus Productions on June 9. It embellishes a discography that previously consisted of the band’s 2014 demo, An Oath of Blood and Fire, and their self-titled debut album from 2015. Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: SEER — “THEY USED DARK FORCES”

 Premieres  No Responses »
Apr 112017
 

 

In 2015, Seer from Vancouver, British Columbia, made their first mark on the musical landscape with an EP entitled Vol. 1 and followed that in 2016 with a second EP, Vol. 2. That same year, Art of Propaganda released a compilation (Vol. 1 & 2) that combined both EPs. And now Art of Propaganda is preparing to release Seer‘s first full-length album, a 45-minute monolith called Vol. III & IV: Cult of the Void. Today we have for you one of the void-faring offerings from the new album in the form of a surreal music video — “They Used Dark Forces“.

Seer‘s choice of titles for their releases reflects the evolving narrative concept that runs through the lyrics of their material, just as the band’s name meshes with the mystical nature of their music; it calls the mind to venture beyond the bounds of what we can see and touch around us, just as its narrative arc crosses limitless primordial landscapes and moves into celestial realms, while the sanity of its protagonists is tested to the breaking point. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: UNGRAVED APPARITION — “ГНИЛОСТНЫЕ БАКТЕРИИ” (THE PUTREFACTIVE BACTERIA)

 Premieres  No Responses »
Apr 112017
 

 

Ungraved Apparition come to us from the Russian city of Ekaterinburg on the border of Europe and Asia. With their new concept album PULSE_0, they explore “the inner world of a person and his desperate struggle for every minute of life”, while merging two worlds: “the world of depression and despair from incurable diseases, the sadism of bloody surgery experiments; and the afterlife, inhabited by the suffering souls of the dead people, the chilling horror of which is squeezed by convulsive cries in the throat”.

PULSE_0 will be released by GrimmDistribution (Belarus) on April 23rd. Two songs from the album have appeared so far, and we bring you the premiere of a third one, “Гнилостные бактерии“, which translates to English as “Putrefactive Bacteria”. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: WITCHAPTER, SARKOM, FÖRGIFTAD, MANIC SCUM, DYING FETUS

 Album Reviews, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC, SHORT BUT SWEET  2 Responses »
Apr 102017
 

 

No sooner had I finished last week’s 4-part new-music round-up on Saturday than I began exploring other things, and of course found other things I’d like to recommend. But I’ll be smart this week and not forecast further installments. I’ll do this one, and we’ll see how the rest of the week plays out.

I chose the following music (and a new video) in an effort to cross through a few different metal territories, stylistically speaking. Someone said variety is the spice of life, and so it is.

WITCHAPTER

I found this new EP through a link on Facebook by Black Bow Records. Spellcaster is the debut release of a crushing UK sludge/doom trio named Witchapter. It’s available digitally now, and it seems that a physical release via Black Bow will happen on July 4th. Continue reading »

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