AN NCS INTERVIEW: KINGNOMAD

 Exceptions to the Rule, Interviews  No Responses »
Apr 032017
 

 

(Comrade Aleks brings us this interview of one of the founders of the Swedish band Kingnomad, whose new album Mapping the Inner Void was released by Ripple Music earlier this year.)

 

Take Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats, add a cleaner and heavier sound to their vintage doom rock, then enforce it with Sabbathian tritone and Dead Meadow’s psychedelic vibe, and it’s not difficult to imagine how Swedish occultists Kingnomad sound on their new record Mapping the Inner Void.

They don’t reinvent the wheel, but they do their work heartily, masterfully, and with sinister passion. Ripple Music did the good job lending a hand to Kingnomad to help with the release of the album. The time for unholy doom rock in all its crimson glory has come!

This interview with Johnny is the result of science and a spiritualism alliance as he gave me his answers through the virtual séance in truly unimaginable ways. Continue reading »

ROYAL THUNDER: “WICK”

 Album Reviews, Exceptions to the Rule  5 Responses »
Apr 032017
 

 

(Wil Cifer reviews the new album by Royal Thunder.)

This Georgia band have never actually been metaI. They have toured with metal bands, some of their members have been in metal bands, and they certainly came pretty close on Crooked Doors. I really loved Crooked Doors. I wore it out. This means the bar is held pretty high here.

Going into the album there was uncertainty when hit with the slow droning riff that accompanies the more circular chant of the first song. They don’t come out swinging like they did on the previous album. I went back and gave this song another listen after hearing the entire album, and it made a little more sense, but didn’t really grab me. Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK: WORMWITCH, FIN, PURE, KOLLAPSE, MOTHER MOON, FUNERAL BAPTISM

 Album Reviews, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC, SHADES OF BLACK, SHORT BUT SWEET  1 Response »
Apr 022017
 

 

I didn’t damage myself too badly last night, only moderately, and so I was able to prepare this selection of music that I thought was worth recommending. I’m beginning with songs from forthcoming albums by four bands and concluding with two recent EPs.

Much of the music in this collection isn’t strictly black metal, but has enough kinship to the genre that I can justify including it. Hope you find some things to like.

WORMWITCH

In another one of these SHADES OF BLACK posts last month I reported that Prosthetic Records would be releasing the debut album Strike Mortal Soil by Vancouver, BC’s Wormwitch on May 12. At that point I didn’t have any music to share with you, but now I do. Continue reading »

DEATH RITUALS: UNAUSSPRECHLICHEN KULTEN, CASKET HUFFER, MARTHYRIUM

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  4 Responses »
Apr 012017
 

 

My day job, which usually takes me to places I’m not anxious to visit, took me to my old hometown in central Texas on Thursday, where I’ve had time to commune with family and old friends and inflict severe punishment on my liver. More communing and punishment are on tap for this afternoon and tonight. I’m unable to foresee whether I’ll be able to curate a SHADES OF BLACK collection tomorrow; I’m hopeful, but also realistic.

I could have included all three of the following new tracks in tomorrow’s collection, as all of them do display varying degrees of “blackening”, but the power of death (metal) is also manifested. And I’m so overwhelmed with enthusiasm for all of them that I decided not to delay, given that my mind may be a void on Sunday morning.

UNAUSSPRECHLICHEN KULTEN

Unaussprechlichen Kulten’s new album is one I’ve been eagerly awaiting, given the excellence of this Chilean band’s previous releases, and especially their last album Baphomet Pan Shub-Niggurath. Yesterday Iron Bonehead Productions announced details about the new full-length (including the creepy-as-shit cover art) and also launched the track stream that leads off this collection. Continue reading »

MEDICO PESTE — “HERZOGIAN DARKNESS”

 Album Reviews, Premieres, SHORT BUT SWEET  1 Response »
Mar 312017
 

 

Medico Peste are human beings (I presume, but cannot be sure) who have mastered the art of creating music that appears to be a gateway for the emergence of inhuman forces.

Discordance and delirium reign on their new EP, Herzogian Darkness. The music seethes with arcane energies, creating an experience that is terrifying and hallucinatory — and so intricate, so different, so highly accomplished, and so unnerving that it rooted this listener in place as if turned to stone.

To help you gauge its on effect on yourself, I’m including a full stream of the EP at the end of this review; it was released just yesterday by W.TC. Productions. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): BURIAL OATH — “BEYOND THE VALE OF SHADOWLANDS”

 Premieres  7 Responses »
Mar 312017
 

 

About 10 days ago we included two advance songs by the Cleveland melodic black metal band Burial Oath in one of our SHADES OF BLACK collections, and now it’s our pleasure to bring you a full stream of the debut album that houses those two, and six others. The album is Beyond the Vale of Shadowlands, and it will be released on April 7.

By way of introduction, I’m going to repeat what I wrote about those two advance tracks, and then add a few thoughts about the balance of this very multifaceted album. Continue reading »

THE BEST OF BRITISH, 2017 (PART 1): THE DARKHORSE, MOUNTAINS CRAVE, ANCIENT ASCENDANT

 Album Reviews  No Responses »
Mar 312017
 

 

(Andy Synn brings us a trio of reviews of new releases by The Darkhorse, Mountains Crave, and Ancient Ascendant.)

Ah yes, it’s finally time for the first in what I hope will be several pieces collecting the best Metal which these fair isles have to offer in 2017.

As always, the three bands I’ve selected each offer a very different take on the metallic fundamentals, from the swaggering stomp of The Darkhorse, or the sweeping blackened grandeur of Mountains Crave, to the rifftastic rampage of Ancient Ascendant, meaning there should be something here for everyone (or, at least, for most people) to really sink their teeth into! Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: ERUPTION — “SANITY ASCEND”

 Exceptions to the Rule, Premieres  3 Responses »
Mar 312017
 

 

Like many of you, I’m often drawn to explore music based solely on the cover artwork, and that’s exactly what happened in the case of Eruption’s new album, Cloaks of Oblivion. Isn’t that cover art by Alex Boca fantastic? And in this case, the music proved to be a match for the enticing quality of the visual art.

Eruption come our way from Ljubljana, Slovenia, and Cloaks of Oblivion is their third album. It will be released by Xtreem Music on May 2.

The words that leap to mind immediately in thinking about “Sanity Ascend“, which is the song from the new album that we’re premiering, are “explosive” and “electrifying”. Prepare to have the spigot on your adrenal glands cranked wide open. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: HELLRIPPER — “DEMDIKE (IN LEAGUE WITH THE DEVIL)”

 Premieres  7 Responses »
Mar 312017
 

 

Coagulating Darkness is the new album by Hellripper, a one-man band from Aberdeen, Scotland, created by James McBain. The album will be released on April 14 through the German label Barbarian Wrath and the Scottish label Granite Factory Records, and we have for you the premiere of a song from the album called “Demdike (In League with the Devil)”.

This is Hellripper’s first full-length. It follows a debut EP in 2015 (The Manifestation of Evil), a trio of splits, and a compilation released last year (Complete and Total Fucking Mayhem). As you’re about to find out, Hellripper is a name that suits the music very well — because this is black thrash and speed metal that rips hell. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: DRAUGSÓL

 Interviews  No Responses »
Mar 302017
 

 

(We welcome back to NCS Argentinian writer Matías Gallardo, who brings us the following interview of guitarist M.K. and vocalist A.J. of the Icelandic band Draugsól, whose debut album Volaða Land was released in January by Signal Rex and can be streamed in full after the interview.)

 

It seems ‘Icelandic’ and ‘black metal’ are two terms that work extremely well together. If you have doubts, just listen to Volaða Land, the debut album by Reykjavík-based trio Draugsól. In less than 40 minutes, these newcomers display a unique approach to the vicious sounds we’ve heard coming from the land of eternal ice.

In fact, the mixture between classic Scandinavian black metal riffing, ambient-like passages, and epic melodies sounds extremely personal for such a new band. Now, read what guitarist M.K. and vocalist A.J. has to say about the album that might turn Draugsól into one of the year’s most pleasant surprises. Continue reading »

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