BLOG BREAK (AGAIN)

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  3 Responses »
May 142017
 

 

It looks like that building went volcanic, doesn’t it? It’s actually just an interesting effect of the setting sun on a strange cloud formation, viewed from a sidewalk in Santa Fe, New Mexico, last night, which is where I’ve been since Friday.

Like last weekend, I’ve set blogging aside for this weekend because of another mini-vacation with my spouse. Today we’re driving to Roswell to visit a relative. I don’t expect to see UFOs or experience probing of orifices by alien visitors, but it is Roswell, so who knows? Continue reading »

CONCERT REVIEW: WOLVES IN THE THRONE ROOM AND WIEGEDOOD — LIVE IN BOLOGNA, ITALY (MAY 4, 2017)

 Concert Reviews  No Responses »
May 122017
 

 

(Music journalist Konstantin, who in past years has written for Serbia’s Nocturne Music Magazine, and who brought us a 2-part interview earlier this week, now provides these impressions of the recent performance by Wolves In the Throne Room and Wiegedood in Bologna, Italy, as part of the bands’ Beltrane 2017 European Tour.)

It was more than six years since the last Wolves in the Throne Room concert in Italy when the band announced their long-awaited European tour. The last couple of years saw brothers Nathan and Aaron Weaver focusing on things outside their music and releasing only one instrumental/ambient album, so the return to Europe was highly anticipated.

The tour quickly gained attention, resulting in several dates being sold out, as was the case with the gig in Bologna on the 4th of May. After an outstanding performance at Roadburn Festival, dates around Europe followed, so the concert in Bologna was one of the last on this tour. As was the case with previous concerts, support came from Wiegedood, a Belgian band who share members with  Oathbreaker and AmenRa. Continue reading »

AN NCS EP PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): AMIENSUS — “ALL PATHS LEAD TO DEATH”

 Album Reviews, Premieres, SHORT BUT SWEET  4 Responses »
May 122017
 

 

Last fall, Minnesota’s Amiensus signed with Apathia Records for the release of a new EP this spring, and the release of that EP is now fast approaching. Its name is All Paths Lead To Death, and the release date is May 19th. We’ve previously written about the first two singles from the EP, and now we’ve got the good fortune to bring you a stream of the EP in its entirety.

We’re told by the band that “the concept of the album revolves around Hell and different depictions as well”, which ties to the John Martin artwork used on the cover, depicting Satan reigning on his throne in the hall of the Pandæmonium. And the music ties to that concept as well. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: GODHUNTER — “COCAINE WITCHES & LYSERGIC DREAMS”

 Premieres  No Responses »
May 122017
 

 

A couple of years ago we premiered a Godhunter track from Endsville, their merciless but moving split with Destroyer of Light. After the release of that split, there were a few departures from the band’s line-up, but the remaining members — guitarist/vocalist David Rodgers, drummer Andy Kratzenberg, and keyboardist Matthew Davis — began working on new material, and the ultimate result is a new EP named Codex Narco now set for release on May 19th, which includes contributions from a number of their musician friends.

Two of the tracks from the EP have already appeared, and today we have a third one for you, “Cocaine Witches & Lysergic Dreams“. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: HERESIARCH — “STORMING UPON KNAVES”

 Premieres  15 Responses »
May 122017
 

 

Despite its stunning physical beauty, New Zealand has long been an ominous fortress of black/death supremacy, and Heresiarch have defiantly stood on the battlements ever since the release of their Hammer of Intransigence EP in 2011, with their looming presence growing even more formidable after the release of 2014’s Wælwulf. Given the strength of those EPs, we have been eagerly awaiting their debut album, Death Ordinance, which will be released by Dark Descent Records on July 7th — and now we finally have music from the album to share with you.

The song we’re premiering today is “Storming Upon Knaves“. It’s the second track in the running order of Death Ordinance. It follows the opener “Consecrating Fire”, which is a slow, stunningly bleak decree of doom that evolves into a militaristic march. You get the sense near the end of “Consecrating Fire” that things are ramping up… and sure enough, all hell breaks loose when “Storming Upon Knaves” begins. Continue reading »

THE BEST OF BRITISH, 2017 (PART 3): CRAVEN IDOL / SYNAPTIK / TELEPATHY

 Album Reviews  No Responses »
May 122017
 


Craven Idol

 

(Andy Synn focuses once again on a trio of recent or forthcoming releases by UK bands, this time selecting material from Craven Idol, Synaptik, and Telepathy.)

What a veritable smorgasbord of metallic delights I have here for your delectation. Though, with the joys of Brexit coming up, I suppose I won’t be able to use words like “smorgasbord” for much longer, lest I be declared a traitor to the crown…

Anyway, putting the politics and pontificating to one side, here are three stellar slabs of UK Metal for you all to savour – the throat-ripping Black/Thrash of Craven Idol, the epic and extravagant Prog-Metal of Synaptik, and the intricate instrumental storytelling of Telepathy. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): WHITE WARD — “FUTILITY REPORT”

 Album Reviews, Premieres  2 Responses »
May 122017
 

 

Futility Report is brilliant in a way that few albums are in any year. As much as anything else, it’s brilliant because in its vaulting inventiveness and unexpected juxtapositions it could have been a train wreck, mangled bodies strewn about like broken toys, and fractured machines burning in a jumble of warped iron and splattered diesel. Instead, like mad scientists who are in fact visionaries, White Ward have produced something through their freakish gene-splicing of genre families that’s utterly mesmerizing.

We’ve had the pleasure of premiering two songs from Futility Report already, and I could hardly be happier that we’ve been asked now to premiere a full stream of this remarkable album on the date of its release. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): ANTROPOFAGUS — “METHODS OF RESURRECTION THROUGH EVISCERATION (M.O.R.T.E.)”

 Album Reviews, Premieres  4 Responses »
May 112017
 

 

Prepare yourselves for utterly relentless punishment, coupled with utterly electrifying speed and precision in the administration of the beating you are about to receive. In other words, prepare for a full stream of the new album by Italy’s Antropofagus, aptly titled Methods Of Resurrection Through Evisceration.

If you’ve heard the advance tracks that have appeared leading up to the May 12 release of this album (including the two we have premiered), then you will have a good idea of what awaits you. But that still won’t adequately prepare you for the cumulative impact of these 10 explosive songs. And “explosive” is the right word to use, because the album has been produced in a way that causes it to detonate (repeatedly) with staggering power, and with a balance and clarity that enhances its galvanizing effect without detracting from its stunning brutality. Continue reading »

ANDY SYNN PRESENTS: REVIEWS IN HAIKUS (DYNFARI, BEREFT, FRACTAL UNIVERSE)

 Album Reviews, Reviews In Haikus  No Responses »
May 112017
 

(We present another edition of Andy Synn’s three-line reviews.)

 

That’s right, it’s time for the return of everyone’s favourite irregular (in more ways than one) column, Reviews in Haikus.

This time around it’s an intriguing mix of Icelandic Black Metal, American Doom, and French Prog-Death, so there should be something for (practically) everyone! Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: REQUIEM FOR OBLIVION — “BURNING NATION”

 Premieres  12 Responses »
May 112017
 

 

The song you’re about to hear is both an eye-popping mind-bender and a big adrenaline trigger. It’s so multifaceted and so constantly surprising that it’s likely to leave most listeners exclaiming, “WTF did I just hear?!?,” and then hitting the Play button again without delay.

The song is the title track to Burning Nation, the second full-length by a band from Erie, Pennsylvania, named Requiem For Oblivion. It will be released on June 9th. Continue reading »

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