NO CLEAN SINGING

DEVIN TOWNSEND / TESSERACT / LEPROUS – LIVE AT ROCK CITY, NOTTINGHAM 18/03/17

Mar 212017

(Andy Synn attended the performance of Devin Townsend, Tesseract, and Leprous in Nottingham, England, on March 18th and files this report.)

Despite the fact that this site is called “No Clean Singing” we’re actually big fans of clean sung vocals here… well, in the right circumstances anyway.

No, the site’s moniker originally stemmed not from a blanket hatred of clean singing, but from Islander and co’s growing dissatisfaction with all the bands shoehorning clean vocals into their songs in a desperate attempt to appear more “accessible”, and therefore more marketable, at the cost of both their overall intensity and their underlying integrity.

I personally have a lot of love, and a lot of respect, for bands on the heavier end of the spectrum who are able to integrate and incorporate clean vocals into their sound in a way that feels totally natural. After all, it’s generally a lot more difficult to hold onto a melody and to hit all the right notes than it is to simply scream your lungs out atop a parade of blastbeats/breakdowns/bombastic riffs (not that I’m attempting to downplay the skill and strain involved in being a good screamer/growler).

So when a show like this rolls around, featuring three bands whose singers are all capable of knocking it completely out of the park (and practically into orbit) with their clean singing abilities, you’d best believe that we’re going to write about it. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: WOE (CHRIS GRIGG)

Interviews 6 Responses »

Mar 212017

Photo by Samantha Marble

(Wil Cifer delivers to us this interview of Chris Grigg — founder, vocalist, and guitarist of Woe, whose new album Hope Attrition has just been released by Vendetta Records.)

Woe is one of my favorite American Black Metal bands, right along side Liturgy and Nachtmystium, though Woe stuck closer to more conventional metal, even after their move to Brooklyn. With their fourth full-length Hope Attrition, the band continues to plow into fierce territory, blending in flourishes of death metal and hardcore. I recently caught up with main man Chris Grigg to discuss the new album and the state of black metal in America, and the results went something like this.

******

I heard that in the process of making this album you guys scrapped almost an entire album’s worth of songs in order to settle on what became the final product. What determined what made the cut?

It might not have been a whole album, but pretty close. We got rid of everything that sucked. We just kept reworking the songs and if there was a transition that felt forced, a riff that didn’t feel just right, we scrapped it. We demoed this intensely, so at the end of the day what would be left going into the studio were the best that they could be.

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): HAEMOPHAGUS — “STREAM OF SHADOWS”

Premieres 1 Response »

Mar 202017

I would like to name the members of the Sicilian band Haemophagus who participated in the recording of their new album Stream of Shadows, because each of them deserve a standing ovation and a cascade of roses on their stage (or perhaps more fittingly in their case, a cascade of body parts and blood splatter):

Giorgio (lead guitar, bass, vocals), Gioele (lead guitar), David (drums). (When the band perform live, Marco is the bass player, since Giorgio apparently has only two arms and hands instead of four).

And why do they deserve a standing ovation? Allow me to explain — and then I will present you the opportunity for a more direct understanding as we deliver the music on Stream of Shadows in all its riotous glory. Continue reading »

DON’T WORRY, BE HAPPY (OR ELSE)

RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC 3 Responses »

Mar 202017

Photo by Stig Persson

(Andy Synn presents a collection of songs to celebrate the International Day of Happiness, which the UN has established as March 20th — today!)

How are we all doing today? Good?

I only ask because today is apparently International Day of Happiness, so we should all be feeling that little bit brighter and sprightlier as a result.

Today is also the day when the UN releases their annual World Happiness Report and, wouldn’t you know it, but our Norwegian brethren (and lady-brethren) have only gone and dethroned the Danish as the world’s happiest nation!

So, in tribute to this momentous occasion, here are five bands who help make Norway the happiest place on earth. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: POSSESSION — “BEAST OF PREY”

Premieres No Responses »

Mar 202017

Belgium’s Possession are a rare band, one who established a distinctive, unholy presence with their very first release and whose music has only become even more interesting in a relatively short span of years. After establishing a beachhead with their 2013 debut demo His Best Deceit, they advanced forward with the Anneliese EP in 2014 (reviewed here) and the 1585-1646 EP in 2015 (reviewed here). And now we come at last to the band’s first full-length effort, Exorkizein, created by a line-up that now includes a new vocalist and a new bassist.

The album will be jointly released by Invictus Productions and Iron Bonehead Productions on April 7. Two striking tracks from the album, “Infestation – Manifestation – Possession” and “In Vain“, have already debuted, and today we bring you a third one — “Beast of Prey“. Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK (PART 2): WORMWITCH, BURIAL OATH, VOMIT ANGEL, COLDBORN, AJATARRA

SHADES OF BLACK No Responses »

Mar 202017

I don’t suppose there’s any need to blacken a Monday, since they’re usually bruised to begin with, but I didn’t have time to finish Part 2 of this post yesterday and so here we are.

Like yesterday’s Part 1, I’m beginning this one with an announcement, ending it with a video, and slotting in a full release (actually, two) along with some advance tracks. As always, everything here is recommended.

WORMWITCH

Prosthetic Records recently announced that they would be releasing the debut album Strike Mortal Soil by Vancouver, BC’s Wormwitch on May 12. Almost exactly one year ago we premiered a video for a single the band released called “Coffin Birth”. Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK (PART 1): LO-RUHAMAH, JORDABLOD, A MOURNFUL PATH, CRIMSON THRONE, SATANIZE, SAILLE

SHADES OF BLACK 4 Responses »

Mar 192017

Greetings, earthlings. It’s time once again to blacken the sabbath. As you see from the title, I have too many selections to fit into one post. I’ve nearly finished Part 2, but have other nefarious plans ahead of myself today, so I’ll have to polish it off tonight and post it first thing on Monday.

I configured both parts so that each one begins with an announcement and ends with a video from a band that’s somewhat better known than the others, and each one includes a full recent release as well as advance tracks from forthcoming albums or EPs.

LO-RUHAMAH

I spotted the magnificent artwork by Elijah Gwhedhú Tamu at the top of this post, and quickly pasted it on our Facebook page, a few weeks before I, Voidhanger Records announced that it would adorn a new album by Lo-Ruhamah. But now we know that, and we know a few other things about the release. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD ON A SATURDAY: CRANEIUM, SUICIDE WRAITH, ENDON, NAGA, MOSS UPON THE SKULL

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

Mar 182017

I’m in a jam again. This was a busy week for me at my fucking day job, and I had a bunch of personal stuff to deal with that was unrelated to NCS, so I didn’t have time to post any round-ups of new music on top of the other things I did write and edit. I didn’t even have time to make my all of the usual daily forays through our clogged in-box or pay close attention to the music that friends and bands were posting on Facebook.

Even so, when I started listening to new things last night I had a large list of songs to check out. I liked more of those than I’ve got time to write about now. I picked the following five because they make a diverse playlist (and because they’re really good, of course).

CRANEIUM

I’m beginning with a track that absolutely floored me when I heard it, and it has continued to floor me every time I listen to it again. It’s the final song on an album named Explore the Void by the Finnish band Craneium. Continue reading »

HAVOK: “CONFORMICIDE”

Album Reviews 2 Responses »

Mar 172017

(TheMadIsraeli reviews the new fourth album by Colorado’s Havok, which was released by Century Media earlier this month.)

I LOOOOOOOOOOOVE Havok. These guys are the quintessential example of what an excellent re-thrash band sounds like. Old school energy and attitude, but new school song-writing, technicality, and slight tinges of hybridization with other borrowed styles.

Thus far, Havok’s got what I call a pretty flawless discography. The EPs, while underdeveloped, were great; Time Is Up was the best thrash album of its year; and the band’s last release Unnatural Selection was definitely up there in its year, too.

It’s been four years since Havok released anything, marking the first time the band have gone more than two years between major releases since their inception. While they’ve certainly been gaining recognition (rightfully so) and touring like fucking madmen, the band have clearly been working on their sound, and where to go from here. Continue reading »

REMEMBRANCE OF THE WRETCHED

RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC 10 Responses »

Mar 172017

Damn the Irish for fouling our pristine land. Great waves of them washed up after the potato famine of the 1840s, the most destitute national group ever to arrive on American shores. They couldn’t have been less desirable, a gaggle of morally depraved peasants with little education and equally meager resources.

And to make matters worse, they were Papists! Ignorant and superstitious, these mongrels took their orders from a foreign religious power and were bent on degrading and corrupting the moral purity of these great and Protestant United States. They dragged the culture of our homeland into the stinking troughs where they themselves wallowed by birth and breeding. They fled a wretched land and brought the wretchedness with them. Continue reading »

Older Entries Newer Entries