AN NCS PREMIERE: NEPHREN-KA — “WATCH AND LEARN”

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Aug 252017
 

 

Nephren-Ka, a group of French brutalizers with a welcome thematic devotion to the universe of Frank Herbert’s Dune, made a very impressive full-length debut with 2013’s The Fall of Omnius. Four years later, they are returning with a new opus named La Grande Guerre de L’Epice, which will be released on October 13 by Dolorem Records. And although it’s predictable that people may wonder whether the band will fall prey to the dreaded sophomore slump, fans can rest easy. The early signs are that Nephren-Ka have moved from strength to further strength.

The new album, which includes French lyrics for the first time on some of the tracks, is a concept record consisting of nine chronological phases based on the Houses prequel stories written by Frank Herbert’s son and deals “with the attempt to create synthetic Spice and the ensuing imperial war”. We are very happy to present today one of the new album tracks, a slaughtering experience entitled “Watch and Learn“. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: ASAGRAUM — “CARRIED BY LUCIFER’S WINGS”

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Aug 252017
 

 

In January of this year I haphazardly encountered (and then wrote about) two tracks — “Black Triangle Temple” and “Transformation” — which appeared to be the lone finished recordings by Asagraum, a two-woman band composed of Dutch guitarist/vocalist Obscura and drummer T. Kolsvart, who is Canadian but lives in Norway. They founded Asagraum in 2015, though both women have performed with other groups (T. Kolsvart, for example, has been a live drummer with the likes of Craft and Isvind, and Obscura is also a member of Draugur). I reported at that time that they had ambitions to release a debut album this year — and soon those ambitions will be realized.

On September 29, the Finnish label KVLT will release Asagraum’s debut album, Potestas Magicum Diaboli, which features artwork by Depravarts and Khaos Diktator Design. The album includes those two excellent tracks that I discovered in January plus six more, for a total of running time of 44 minutes. In May, one of those remaining six (“Black Sun Prayer“) also appeared on YouTube, and today we present the premiere of another: “Carried By Lucifer’s Wings“. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: PRIMORDIAL (ALAN AVERILL)

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Aug 252017
 

 

 

(Greek writer John Sleepwalker of Avopolis.gr brings us another interview, and this time we have his e-mail discussion with Alan Averill (Nemtheanga), frontman of Primordial and Dread Sovereign and the once (and perhaps future) Blood Revolt. This interview was conducted in anticipation of Primordial’s headlining appearance at the Arcane Angels festival in Athens on September 16, 2017.)

 

It’s been 3 years already since Where Greater Men Have Fallen. A release considerably dark, compared to the ones that preeeded it. Do you believe Primordial lost a part of their darkness along the way, or maybe it has transormed in more subtle ways? 

Have we lost a part of it? I don’t know about that… the last album is definitely darker, for example, than the debut. Or in my opinion any of the first 4 albums. If we did lose our darkness, then how is the last album darker than the ones before? Strange question. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD (PART 2): OMEGA, ANTICHRIST SIEGE MACHINE, SEITA, SLOWLY BUILDING WEAPONS

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  3 Responses »
Aug 242017
 

 

Suppressing the nagging worry that we’re once again overwhelming you with too much new music, I present Part 2 of today’s two-part round-up. Part 1 included recordings by five bands, and this one has music from four more.

OMEGA

I begin with a song called “Sidera” off the debut album by a band ambitiously named Omega. Entitled Eve, it will be released by Dusktone on Oct0ber 1, and it’s apparently based on the 15th century Voynich manuscript, an illustrated volume written in a language that to this day has never been deciphered (read more here).

The participants in Omega are reportedly members of such other bands as Hanging Garden, Nostalgie, Deadly Carnage, Ashes of Chaos, and they’ve been working on the album for four years, with the aim (according to a description on Bandcamp) of creating “a subconscious experience, an atavistic expression that tends to destroy our deepest convictions, which are always limiting and promising”. Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: SKINNED — “WE ARE THE END”

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Aug 242017
 

 

Skinned apparently have jet fuel coursing through their veins and the temperament of serial murderers in the throes of a rampant blood lust. Or at least that’s the conclusion you may draw from the musical killing spree we’re about to premiere, which comes wrapped in an explosive music video filmed by Paul McGuire of Cerebral Bore and Obscenery Films. The song is “We Are the End“, and it’s an electrifying teaser for the band’s new album, Shadow Syndicate.

Shadow Syndicate is this Colorado death metal band’s fifth album in a slaughtering career that dates back to the mid-’90s. It was recorded at Flatline Audio by Dave Otero (known for his work with the likes of Cattle Decapitation, Allegaeon, Khemmis, and Cephalic Carnage), and this premiere comes on the eve of a tour by Skinned across the central United States with the Texas band Prophecy.

We have some details about that tour, but first… some cautionary thoughts about “We Are the End“. Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: BIESY — “CZERŃ NAS PROSI”

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Aug 242017
 

 

So far, two songs have premiered from the debut album by the Polish project Biesy, one of which we’re bringing you in this very post — and both of them demonstrate the emergence of a precocious new talent. The composer, lyricist, and principal instrumental performer in the band goes by the initials PR, and this album — Noc Lekkich Obyczajów — represents his first recorded work, though you wouldn’t guess that from the music. In this endeavor he was capably supported by two session members, vocalist Stawrogin (Odraza, Massemord) and drummer MP (Outre).

This new album will be released by Third Eye Temple on September 9, and the song we bring you today, accompanied by a haunting video, is named “Czerń Nas Prosi“. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD (PART 1): REX DEMONUS, ONIRISM, IMPLORE, KRIEG, ROTTING KINGDOM

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  No Responses »
Aug 242017
 

 

I know I posted a round-up of new music just yesterday, but there are far more discoveries I’d like to share, and these go a bit deeper into the obscure realms of the underground than the ones I picked yesterday.

Lots of interesting stuff here, so much that I’ve divided this post into two parts. You may need to skip a meal and a bathroom break to get through both parts, but you’ll be glad you did, even if you begin gnawing your fingers and wetting yourselves. That ain’t fake news.

REX DEMONUS

The first band here is Rex Venomous, they are a multinational group, and the debut two-song EP you’re about to hear is Tenetur et Relicta. I looked up those two Latin words, and they translate as “bound and abandoned”. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: BELL WITCH, THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER, CLOAK, UNFATHOMABLE RUINATION, WOLVES IN THE THRONE ROOM

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  2 Responses »
Aug 232017
 

 

The unwelcome intrusion of non-blog life has forced me to truncate my usual verbose reactions to the music I’ve selected in this mid-week round-up (cue the weeping and the gnashing of teeth), but I wanted to be prompt in spreading the word about the following items, all of which appeared either yesterday or this morning.

I picked these five new songs in part because they provide a quite varied array of what metal in the modern era has to offer.

BELL WITCH

The new Bell Witch album, Mirror Reaper, will be released by Profound Lore on October 20, with an album cover by Mariusz Lewandowski that we won’t soon forget. The album consists of one continuous 83-minute piece that unfolds as a single track. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: BLOODHUNTER — “EYES WIDE OPEN”

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Aug 232017
 

 

Bloodhunter are a melodic death metal band born in the Galician region of Spain in 2008. After a well-received demo in 2013 (The First Insurrection) and a profile-raising first album in 2014 (Bloodhunter), the band signed with the Spanish label Xtreem Music for the release of their second album, The End of Faith, which will arrive in October of this year.

In addition to founding guitarist Fenris, vocalist Diva Satánica, and bassist Éadrom, the new album features the talents of session drummer Marcelo Aires (Colosso, The Ominous Circle).  Today it’s our pleasure to bring you the premiere of a track from the new album named “Eyes Wide Open” — and it is indeed a big eye-opener. Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK (PART 2): KADAVERDISCIPLIN, KAPALA, KATLA, MIDNIGHT, ZEIT

 Exceptions to the Rule, SHADES OF BLACK  2 Responses »
Aug 232017
 

 

Here’s the second part of a column delayed from Sunday. I began it yesterday with a news item and then new music from four bands, and continue it today with new music and a new video from five more. From yesterday through today, these items are organized in alphabetical order by band name.

KADAVERDISCIPLIN

Kadaverdisciplin is a newish band of Swedish black metal slaughterers whose line-up includes a core trio of musicians from Västervik, Sweden (who include members of Zombified and Blodsrit) plus drummer extraordinaire Fredrik Widigs (Marduk, The Ugly). After a couple of digital singles, they have finished a debut album appropriately named Death Supremacy that will be released by Hammerheart Records on October 20. Continue reading »

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