LISTMANIA 2016: A YEAR-END LIST FROM BEN SMASHER

 LISTMANIA 2016  17 Responses »
Dec 262016
 

listmania-2016

 

(For the third year in a row, we present a year-end list from our Iowa-based guest Ben Smasher.)

Welp, next time we drown in 86 gallons of buffalo vomit, we can think to ourselves, “It’s ok, it’s not as bad as that time we lived through 2016!”

I swear the only reason I didn’t put a bullet in my temple this year was because of all the records that would pile up outside my door in the wake of my departure. Though my rabid interest in metal music had waned somewhat over the last few years, this year I decided to begin a YouTube channel (here) where I talk about my collection and other metal-related topics, and that stoked the fires more than they have been in years.

So I feel that this year I have a more refined list to offer because of how much more time I spent delving into the far reaches of the genre. If you find yourself in the throes of the winter doldrums come January, there is certainly some solace to be found below. Continue reading »

LISTMANIA 2016: PROG AND EXPERIMENTAL METAL AND NON-METAL (MORE YEAR-END LISTS FROM AUSTIN WEBER)

 LISTMANIA 2016  5 Responses »
Dec 262016
 

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(Last week we published the first three installments of Austin Weber’s year-end lists, which were devoted to death metal, black metal and grind, and mathcore and instrumental metal. This is the fourth and final installment.)

My goal has been to bring you a massive alternative list of my favorite lesser-known releases of the year, divided into several parts. Which means I won’t post a lot of releases that you see on other lists. Not because I didn’t dig a lot of them, but because you already know about them and will be seeing a lot of the same names being repeated elsewhere.

Undoubtedly some of the releases will be ones you’ll know or heard mentioned in passing, but hopefully you’ll find more new bands and music you were unaware of overall. Quotes that appear below the following releases were pulled from my reviews, multi-band articles, and song premieres from music covered here at NCS and my 2016 posts from Metal-Injection. You’ll also find some new mini write-ups for releases I didn’t get a chance to cover anywhere this year, but loved as well. Continue reading »

THE DGR-NCS HOLIDAY BUYERS’ GUIDE AND YEAR IN REVIEW FOR THE METALHEAD WHO HAS TO HAVE ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING — 2016 EDITION (PART 6)

 LISTMANIA 2016  4 Responses »
Dec 262016
 

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(Each day last week we rolled out a part of DGR’s list of his favorite 50 albums of 2016. In this 6th and final installment of his year-end list we have not-metal favorites, awards, confessions of shame, and other miscellaneous stuff. Follow these links for Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, and Part 5 of the list.)

NON-METAL

I often try to include a small segment of not-metal shit that I’ve listened to during year soon ending, and to be honest, the rotation kind of stays the same. But it’s only because I feel like these groups absolutely nail it. However, I can fully understand that the “DGR pitches Fixt-label and Celldweller music” paragraph can be tiring, which sucks, because both of Klayton’s Scandroid and Circle Of Dust discs came out this year and they’re both GREAT.

However, that’s not going to fully stop me from putting all my credibility underneath a dump truck’s tires and then backing over it until it is a fine paste, so here’s a small taste of the rock and electronica stuff I got around to this year. Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK: DEATH LIKE MASS, PURE WRATH, KAOSOPHIA, AGONIE, INFERNAL COIL, NYSS

 SHADES OF BLACK  1 Response »
Dec 252016
 

burning-tree

 

To all of you who may be celebrating this day, for whatever reason, all of us here at NCS hope you have a joyous Sunday.

Actually, I have no idea whether any of the other miscreants at NCS hope that. For all I know, they hope you contract leprosy. And I’m just saying that because I’ve seen other people say it. So I said it.

With that out of the way, let’s move right into the main objective of this post, which is to put this holiday to the torch, musically speaking of course. And perhaps these gifts will also add to your joy. Continue reading »

THE REARVIEW MIRROR (11 AS IN ADVERSARIES)

 THE REARVIEW MIRROR  No Responses »
Dec 252016
 

Rearview Mirror

 

(Andy Synn steps in for this Sunday’s look back at metal releases from the past.)

Christmas Day, for many, is not just a time to spend with family and friends (or whatever fictional deity you prefer)… it’s a time for reflection, a time for looking back and taking stock. So I suppose it’s only fitting that we publish another one of our Rearview Mirror pieces today.

This time around it falls to me to take you all on a journey into the misty depths of days gone by, all the way back to the fabled year of two thousand and ten, to discover the wonders of the first (and, so far, only) album by French philosadists 11 As In Adversaries. Continue reading »

HOLIDAY CHEER: SVART CROWN, DAEMONIAC, TURIA, TÓXICA, DESTRIERS, UNDRASK

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  2 Responses »
Dec 242016
 

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Once upon a time everything seemed to slow down during the holiday season… or at least everything other than the consumerist frenzy of gift-buying. But now in many ways the final weeks of the year seem as busy and eventful as all the other weeks, both at work and almost everywhere else. This year we even got announcements of a new nuclear arms race that no one asked for — what better way to celebrate peace on earth and good will to men!

I did notice a fall-off yesterday in the flood of messages arriving in the NCS e-mail in-box, but there were still a lot of new-music announcements, and I found even more in my Facebook news feed. There’s a risk that much of what I saw and heard will be overlooked, with many metal-oriented sites and blogs taking time off and many fans diverted from their phones and computers by holiday activities. So I decided, for the hell of it, to devote this Christmas Eve round-up exclusively to news and music streams that appeared (or that I discovered) for the first time yesterday.

Mind you, what follows isn’t everything I noticed, or even everything I enjoyed. I’ve made these selections to provide diversity of sound, and I’ve saved a few nasty things for tomorrow because NCS always does its best to reduce Christmas Day to a smoldering ash heap — praise and glory to Sol Invictus! Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: ABSCESSION — “THE FINAL FURNACE”

 Premieres  1 Response »
Dec 242016
 

abscession-the-final-furnace-cover-art

 

On this 24th day of December, 2016, the thoughts of some people are turning to contemplations of peace on earth and good will to men (and women). Abscession are more intent on reducing the planet to a smoldering cinder. Their objectives are made manifest in the title of their new single, “The Final Furnace“, and even more undeniably in the music itself.

The song, which is being released in digital form today, is the first track from a forthcoming album that bears the working title Rot of Ages, and we present it to you in the form of a lyric video. It comes emblazoned with cover art painted by Mattias Frisk, frontman of Vanhelgd and an artist responsible for artwork on behalf of such other fine bands as Ghost, Miasmal, and Entrapment. Continue reading »

THE DGR-NCS HOLIDAY BUYERS’ GUIDE AND YEAR IN REVIEW FOR THE METALHEAD WHO HAS TO HAVE ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING — 2016 EDITION (PART 5)

 LISTMANIA 2016  8 Responses »
Dec 232016
 

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(DGR created year-end lists of great length. He wrote many words about each listed item. Your humble editor feared that the site would collapse beneath this great leviathan of words if it reared its bulk in a single post, and therefore decided to split it up, with one part appearing each day this week. Follow these links for Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4.  And guess what? There’s still one more part left to come after this one.)

You knew this was coming, or you would if you had been around here the last few years. It’s been a long-standing tradition here at NCS that when the Listmania series happens, I take the filter completely off and just produce a gigantic screed of words that is occasionally interrupted with album art, music streams, and album titles with little numbers next to them. This year is no different.

In my attempt to rationalize an enormous year of music, I’ve capped my list at fifty albums, ranked in order of whichever numbers my fingers were closest to on the keyboard. On top of that, I have my usual small collection of not-metal stuff, some fun stuff, my list of shame, a likely happy face where number 8 should be because I’m a moron and put the numbers in front of a parenthesis and WordPress translates that into an emoticon, and my personal favorite award that I hand out each year.

The 50-album list continues today, counting down the top 10. What’s left after that will come your way on Monday. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): TEMPLE OF DEMIGOD — “THE GREAT OLD ONES”

 Premieres, Reviews  3 Responses »
Dec 232016
 

temple-of-demigod-cover

 

The Lovecraftian mythos of The Great Old Ones can be musically interpreted in different ways, and within the realm of metal it has been. But the overpowering horror and ancient, terrible power of Lovecraft’s creations seem to cry out for the grandeur of a symphonic treatment. Others have attempted such a thing; few have been as successful as Temple of Demigod in the new album we’re premiering today, which boldly takes The Great Old Ones as its name.

The great peril of all symphonic metal is its tendency in the hands of many bands to become cheesy, or simply too monochromatic and uninventive to add much of worth to the underlying metal elements of the music, or so incessantly bombastic that it tends to produce a mind-numbing effect over the length of an album. These are all pitfalls that Temple of Demigod masterfully avoids, and the success is all the more impressive because The Great Old Ones is the work of only one person. Continue reading »

KRALLICE: “PRELAPSARIAN”

 Album Reviews, SHORT BUT SWEET  7 Responses »
Dec 232016
 

krallice-prelapsarian

 

(Andy Synn has pounced with alacrity upon the just-released Prelapsarian by Krallice and prepared this timely review.)  

Oh you poor, deluded fools… did you really think we were done with reviews, simply because we’re currently mired in the depths of Listmania? And did you really think that I was done writing, just because my week-long list-stravaganza, was finally done?

Perish the thought.

In truth I’d actually intended to get more writing done this week, but I ended up being busy practically all day (and all night) Tuesday, and somewhat hungover on Wednesday… so this is my first real chance to sit down and get my brain back into gear. Worry not though, as I have at least one more review, and this month’s edition of The Synn Report, planned for next week.

But, in the meantime, let’s cast our eyes (and ears) over Prelapsarian, the latest dose of extravantgarde extremity from the ever-prolific Krallice. Continue reading »

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