MDF BLOG BREAK

 Mosh Pit  11 Responses »
May 292017
 


Oranssi Pazuzu

 

As regular visitors will have noticed, we haven’t posted very much since last Wednesday. That was the day when three of us here at NCS and a group of other friends made our way to Baltimore for the 2017 edition of Maryland Deathfest — which turned out to be a blast once again, from the set by Baltimore’s Destroyer of Man that launched the pre-fest show straight through to the drum solo by Pete Sandoval that ended Terrorizer’s closing set at Soundstage last night.

In past years I’ve written a day-by-day recap of MDF, with photos and sometimes with videos, usually pulling those together on the morning after each day. This year I decided just to enjoy the event and not worry about writing it up while it was happening. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: ASTARIUM — “HOSPITALITY OF DEMON”

 Premieres  No Responses »
May 272017
 

 

Prepare to enter a strange, mad world of creeping horror and demonic delirium as we premiere a track from the new album Drum-Ghoul by Astarium, a one-man symphonic black metal project from Novosibirsk, Russia. Before offering a few thoughts about this particular song — “Hospitality of Demon” –I’d like to share a few words by Astarium that shed light on the tale told through the album:

“Lightning lit up the sky, covered with low clouds, the rain did not cease for a minute. I drove the horses drowning in the mud to the hill that was visible in the distance. Suddenly, a new bright flash lit up the bulk, which grew right in front of me from the darkness. It was the castle ‘Drum-Ghoul‘! Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: NECROHERESY — “SILENCE BEFORE THE STORM”

 Premieres  No Responses »
May 262017
 

 

The Slovakian band Necroheresy have recorded a debut album named Asylum that will be jointly released on June 16th by the Belarusian label Symbol of Domination (Belarus) and two Russian labels, Wings of Destruction and Darknagar Records. Not long ago I wrote about the two tracks from the album that were then available for listening, soon after discovering them, and that led to what we’re about to do now — premiere a third track named “Silence Before the Storm“.

Those two previously released songs represent a kind of blackened death/thrash, with feral, blood-thirsty howls and deranged roars in the vocal department. “Consecration” (which is a free download) is a vicious, heavy, eruption of thrash on the brink of exploding into lacerating shards, which decelerates into a murderous mid-paced march before rocking and ripping in full throttle again. Continue reading »

WRATH FROM ABOVE: “BEYOND RUTHLESS COLD”

 Album Reviews  4 Responses »
May 262017
 

 

(Andy Synn reviews the debut album by Wrath From Above, released in February by Apathia Records.)

99% of the time when you see Russia mentioned in the media these days, it’s invariably something bad. Whether it’s the annexing of the Crimea, the potential involvement/collusion of Russian interests in influencing the outcome of the US election, or just seeing a topless Putin riding a tiger… it’s never pretty.

Thankfully, Wrath From Above are capable of bucking that trend with aplomb, and their debut album, Beyond Ruthless Cold, is one scintillating (hyper)blast of pure sonic savagery. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE: WRECHE — “WRECHE”

 Premieres  4 Responses »
May 252017
 

 

Tomorrow (May 26) Fragile Branch Recordings will release the self-titled album by the black metal duo Wreche, and today we premiere a full stream of the album for you.

This is an album I listed back in early January as one of my own eagerly anticipated 2017 releases. I didn’t expect it to sound like anything else, based on what I knew then about the band’s music, and indeed it doesn’t.

If you’re unfamiliar with Wreche, the lead instrument is the piano, accompanied by voice and drums. And by way of further introduction, I’ll quote this eloquent description of some of the sensations of the music: Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: DIG ME NO GRAVE — “DIG ME NO GRAVE”

 Premieres  1 Response »
May 252017
 

 

The members of Dig Me No Grave were all born and live in Vologda, Russia. Their debut album Cosmic Cult was released in 2014, and that was followed by several shorter releases. Their new album Immemorial Curse is set for a joint release on June 15th by Satanath Records (Russia), Sevared Records (U.S.), and Wings of Destruction (also Russia).

Two songs from the album have been released for listening so far, both of which we’ve written about previously, and now we bring you the premiere of a third one — which bears the band’s name: “Dig Me No Grave“. Continue reading »

SEEN BUT (MOSTLY) NOT HEARD: TAU CROSS, GOATWHORE, OF WOLVES, F41.0, URN, ROTTEN SOUND, COSMIC REEF TEMPLE, SOLAR TEMPLE

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  2 Responses »
May 242017
 


Tau Cross

 

As I begin typing these words I’m on an airplane just entering the air space of Michigan, and if all goes well will be landing in Baltimore in 1 hour and 52 minutes. Maryland Deathfest awaits.

I spent the first part of the flight scrolling through the NCS in-box, adding to my very long list of music to check out. As you know, that’s a ridiculously long list. I don’t expect to get much blogging done while MDF is in progress, so I impulsively decided to write this thing.

Since the wi-fi on this jet isn’t good enough to permit streaming, I haven’t heard most of what I’m putting in this post, nearly all of which I found during that e-mail reconnaissance. I encourage you to leave a comment with reactions, since I have almost none (so far). Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: BUCKSHOT FACELIFT — “BOBBY BOY”

 Premieres  No Responses »
May 242017
 

 

(Austin Weber introduces our premiere of a new single by NY’s Buckshot Facelift.)

For many of us, the metal scene is a family of its own, and when one of our own passes, we often try to pay tribute in some form, and in some situations help raise funds for their families who are left behind. As a band who have always viewed their local scene as their family, Buckshot Facelift are releasing a new song we’re premiering today called “Bobby Boy”, in honor of their local deceased friend Rob McAllister.

The song is a chaotic and interesting slice of weird, genre-bending grind, which is oddly the norm for Buckshot Facelift. It’s a raging elegy for a fallen comrade, one that’s played tightly, but in a free-flowing manner, cycling and rampaging through genres and passages with wild abandon like a drunken rhino on LSD. Continue reading »

MDF 2017 – FIVE OF MY MOST ANTICIPATED BANDS

 Metal News, Mosh Pit  4 Responses »
May 242017
 

 

(Andy Synn (and other fiends here at NCS) is attending Maryland Deathfest XV, which begins a bit later this week, and here he names the five bands whose performances are highest on his list.)

In case you hadn’t heard, there’s a little event called “Maryland Deathfest” happening this week, and I’m lucky enough to be attending for the second year in a row.

As a result, my contributions to NCS are going to be somewhat… minimal… until next week (though I do have a little something blast-tastic lined up for Friday for you all), while I do my best to develop and nurse a cumulative five-day hangover/bangover.

In recognition of this momentous occasion, however, I thought I’d put together a quick list of the five bands I’m most looking forward to seeing at MDF this year – although thinning it down to only five definitely wasn’t easy! Continue reading »

ROADBURN FESTIVAL 2017 — A PHOTO ESSAY BY LEVAN TK (DAY 1)

 Concert Reviews  1 Response »
May 242017
 

 

The latest edition of Roadburn Festival took place at Tilburg, The Netherlands, on April 20-23, 2017, and L.A.-based photographer extraordinaire Levan TK was there to capture the performances on film.

We are fortunate to bring you some of his amazing photos, divided among the days of the festival, with his photos from the first day in this post.

P.S. Levan was quick to get us these photos. The delay in sharing them is entirely the fault of our half-wit editor, who will be flogged in public at a location to be announced. Continue reading »

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