NO CLEAN SINGING

SEEN AND HEARD ON A SUNDAY: LOSS, KAMPFAR, KING APATHY, WEEPING SORES, SKELETHAL, MICO, UMBRAL, GRIND OF THE DEAD, HARVESTMAN

Mar 262017

The weekends at NCS are usually all mine. No one else’s compositions to ready for posting, no premieres to write, no day job to fuck around with my own desires (usually), and this weekend my spouse has also been away having fun without me (or at least I hope she is). With all the cats away, this mouse has plenty of time to play (metal).

And so, in addition to all of the reviews and streams I tossed your way yesterday, I have a torrent of more metal to share on this Sunday, beginning with this collection of singles, advance tracks, and one full release selected from a massive list of things I heard over the past week. I’m not including streams and new videos from better-known bands, such as the ones that appeared from Solstafir and Heaven Shall Burn, but you can view them through those links.

LOSS

As previously reported, Nashville’s Loss have a new album named Horizonless, which is due for release by Profound Lore on May 19. We finally got a taste of the new music last week through the premiere of a track named “All Grows on Tears“. Continue reading »

SHORT BUT SWEET (PART 2): CAGE OF CREATION, TORCH THE SKY, DEAD SOUL ALLIANCE

Album Reviews, SHORT BUT SWEET 2 Responses »

Mar 252017

This is the second part of a collection of short reviews that I began earlier today (here). The idea was to focus on new EP-length releases I had recently discovered and enjoyed, though the ones addressed below are substantial — all of them in the 24-to-26-minute range.

CAGE OF CREATION

The first release in this collection (III) is the final part of a trilogy of EPs by the Russian trio Cage of Creation. It was released on March 4th. I became enamored of it almost immediately, from the first ringing, scratchy notes, the burly bass line, and the dark chant in the opening track, “Act IX”. Continue reading »

SHORT BUT SWEET (PART 1): PUTERAEON, ENSEPULCHER, SONS OF FAMINE

Album Reviews, SHORT BUT SWEET No Responses »

Mar 252017

I decided to devote a couple of this Saturday’s posts to new or newly discovered short releases. I’ve also started work on a SEEN AND HEARD round-up of advance tracks from forthcoming releases, though I’m not sure when I’ll finish that one. Maybe tomorrow, maybe Monday. There will be a SHADES OF BLACK feature tomorrow as well. Hope you enjoy these first three EPs.

PUTERAEON

When last we heard from Sweden’s Puteraeon back in 2014 they had inflicted The Crawling Chaos upon us, which was their third album. They have returned this month with a new three-song EP, The Empires of Death. They’ve launched videos for two of those songs so far, “Providence” and “At the Altars” (which was just released today), and there will be one for the third track, “Epitaph“, as well. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE: SCORDATURA — “SELF-CREATED ABYSS”

Premieres 4 Responses »

Mar 242017

Some death metal albums succeed in delivering a level of destructiveness so electrifying, so technically impressive, and so unrelenting in their explosiveness that they send adrenaline levels off the charts. Scordatura‘s new album is one of those. It’s the embodiment of a death lover’s thrill ride.

Self-Created Abyss is the name of this new piece of scorched-earth barbarity, and it will be released on March 24th (today!) by Gore House Productions. To make sure you don’t miss it, we’ve got a full stream of the album at the end of this verbiage. Continue reading »

HERETOIR: “THE CIRCLE”

Album Reviews, Exceptions to the Rule 6 Responses »

Mar 242017

(This is Andy Synn’s review of the new album by Germany’s Heretoir.)

“Post-Black Metal” is a funny old term. Its relatively amorphous nature means that no-one can really fully agree quite what it refers to, or quite what its defining characteristics are as a (sub)genre.

But, to my mind, in order to be considered “Post Black Metal” a band has to have at least some actual Black Metal in their sound (yes, I know that, strictly speaking, “Post” implies after/beyond, but no-one expects a Post-Metal or Post-Rock band to NOT have any Metal/Rock in them, do they?).

It’s not enough to just have a little bit of blackened DNA left over in your system, or just to count certain bands among your influences… if your music doesn’t contain at least some of the sonic markers of Black Metal, then why even bother referring, even obliquely, to it at all?

The reason I’m saying all this is that there are a lot of bands out there, particularly in these Post-Alcest years, who could be considered as Post- “Post Black Metal” at this point, and a full 666 degrees of separation removed from the genre from which they (supposedly) derive their sound.

And while there are those who still think/act like using the words “Black Metal” gives whatever they’re talking about a certain amount of instant credibility, the truth of the matter is that the over-use of terms like “Black Metal” and “Post Black Metal” has not only diluted their meaning in a frankly rather unhelpful manner, but also led to many otherwise worthwhile artists being judged (and found wanting) by a wholly inappropriate set of standards.

So please, don’t think of The Circle as a “Post Black Metal” album. It’s not. But if you judge it on its own merits, by what it is, rather than what you think it should be, I think you’ll find that it really is a great album on its own terms. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: MORBID FLESH — “HERETICS HAMMER”

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Mar 242017

We discovered the Spanish death metal band Morbid Flesh in 2014. During that year we had the pleasure of premiering a stream of their EP Embedded In the Ossuary, which was a stunningly accomplished infliction of death metal cruelty and pestilence in the old Swedish style. Morbid Flesh are now returning with their second album, Rites of the Mangled, which will be released by Unholy Prophecies on April 24. We have already vomited our enthusiasm for one track from the album (“Circle Cursed”), and now it’s our ghoulish pleasure to bring you a second one — “Heretics Hammer“.

“Circle Cursed” was perhaps less an example of classic Swe-death than a firestorm of disease and destruction, its riffs and pacing turning from rapacious savagery to festering decomposition, and back again. And you’ll get a good headbang going as the song romps and gallops. What then does “Heretics Hammer” hold in store for you? Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: THE SARCOPHAGUS — “DYMADIEL”

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Mar 242017

The monstrous cover art of the maestro Paolo Girardi is what first put Beyond This World’s Illusion on our radar screen, and the music from the album has kept it there, moving quickly in an upward trajectory. We’ve previously written about two songs from this new album by The Sarcophagus and now we can bring you the premiere of a third one, “Dymadiel“, in advance of the album’s April 4 release by Satanath Records and a consortium of other international labels.

The origins of The Sarcophagus can be traced to 1996 — their first demo was released in 1997 — making them one of Turkey’s earliest black metal bands. Their discography lists two releases by Osmose Productions that featured the participation of Shining’s Niklas Kvarforth, including the band’s debut album Towards The Eternal Chaos. Seven years have passed since that full-length debut, and Kvarforth’s role is now capably filled by vocalist Mørkbeast from the Russian black metal band Todestriebe. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: AU-DESSUS — “XII: END OF CHAPTER”

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Mar 242017

It’s still soon, but not too soon, to forecast that the new album of the Lithuanian post-black metal band Au-Dessus will become one of this year’s best albums. The first two advance songs from the album are that good. The first one appeared earlier this month, and the second one is here for you to discover today.

The band’s first release was a self-titled EP (albeit a 30-minute EP) released in 2015. Its five tracks were labeled “I” through “V”. The new album is named End of Chapter, and the song titles pick up where the first release left off, beginning with “VI” and closing with “XII: End of Chapter“, which is the enormously powerful song we’re bringing you today. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: COUTOUX — “SIX GILLS”

Premieres 5 Responses »

Mar 242017

If you are a fan of dark and danceable EBM, you may know the name Coutoux. I know less about that genre than I did about the helicoprion, which was nothing at all before embarking on this premiere. But if you are familiar with Coutoux’s previous recordings, you should probably just put them out of your mind, because the song you’re about to hear and the album from which it comes are different beasts.

Coutoux is the solo project of Mathias Eugène Pierre Coutoux, originally from Saint Raphaël, France. His first metal album is Hellicoprion, and it will be released by by KILL ALL MUSIC on March 31. The song you’re about to hear is “Six Gills“. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: VALLENFYRE, DEUS OTIOSUS, LOATHFINDER, MOURNERS LAMENT, MARTYRDOOM, ABDUCTION, HALF BLOOD, MAGNACULT, ANNTHENNATH

RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC 2 Responses »

Mar 232017

As you can see, I have been a busy blogger — but a tardy one. On Monday night I moved through a lot of news and new music, all of which I came across solely from the Monday arrivals in our in-box and my own surveillance of Facebook. I selected these items to recommend, intending to post this on Tuesday, but my fucking day job prevented me from finishing it in time and since then other things have gotten in the way.

At least I resisted the temptation to make this longer by including more things I’ve discovered since Monday night. I’ll pull together some of those for another round-up as soon as I can.

After the first two bands in this collection (who are among my favorites), all the rest are new discoveries for me, making their first appearance at NCS.

VALLENFYRE

On Monday, Century Media announced that it will release a new album by Vallenfyre on June 2nd. The name of the album is Fear Those Who Fear Him. Continue reading »

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