AN NCS PREMIERE: DEITY — “SACRIFICIUM”

 Premieres  3 Responses »
May 042017
 

 

I usually try to describe what happens in the songs we premiere. I’m not positive why I do that, since the whole point of a premiere is to provide a platform where people can immediately listen for themselves. I suppose it’s fun for me, even if it doesn’t contribute anything important to listeners. But in the case of this new song by the Canadian death metal band Deity that we’re premiering today, I was on the verge of giving up completely.

You see, “Sacrificium” is so blindingly fast and so technically jaw-dropping that attempting to provide even a rough linguistic map of its course is a fool’s errand. It’s a truly breathtaking rocket ride, a non-stop jolt of adrenaline, so blazing in its exuberance that trying to nail it down with words seems unjust, even if that could be done. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: KALOPSIA — “SCORCHED EARTH AND BLACKENED SKIES”

 Premieres  1 Response »
May 032017
 

 

May 19th is the date set by Horror Pain Gore Death Productions for the release of Angelplague, the third album by the New Jersey death metal band Kalopsia. And if you have no good idea what the music will be like, take a close look at that jolting cover art and contemplate the flames, the agony, the mutated horrors, the skyscrapers themselves transformed into demonic monsters.

The cover art is a real grabber, and so is the song from Angelplague that we’re bringing you today, fittingly entitled “Scorched Earth and Blackened Skies“. Continue reading »

GOATWHORE: NEW ALBUM DETAILS AND NEW TRACK REVEALED (“VENGEFUL ASCENSION”)

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  4 Responses »
May 032017
 

 

Rather than save this news and new music for our next round-up, I decided to strike while the iron is hot. It is Goatwhore, after all, and their consistency both on record and on stage has always been impressive. Plus, we’re huge fans.

First, here’s the news, announced not long ago: The band’s new album (their seventh) is named Vengeful Ascension. It’s a ten-track, 41-minute record, featuring eye-catching cover art, and it will be released by Metal Blade on June 23rd. The press release we received also included this description of the album’s lyrical themes: Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: RAPHEUMET’S WELL — “GHOST WALKERS EXODUS”

 Premieres  No Responses »
May 032017
 

 

Many metal bands have embraced science-fiction themes for their music, some of them building entire albums around concepts and story lines rooted in the genre, some original and some taken from existing novels or short stories. But Rapheumet’s Well have dedicated themselves to their own science-fictional narrative arc in a way that’s unusually thorough and immersive.

The last time we premiered a song by these storytellers from Hickory, North Carolina, was in early 2016. At that point they were about a month away from releasing their second album, The Exile, which continued an interdimensional, worlds-spanning tale of conflict and perseverance that the band started with their 2014 debut album Dimensions. And now they’re continuing their grand narrative with a third album, Enders Door, which is set for release by Test Your Metal Records on May 26th.

And from that album we bring you another premiere, in the form of a 360-degree video. The song’s name is “Ghost Walkers Exodus“. Continue reading »

A CHILL IN THE AIR: APOCALYPSE ORCHESTRA, HAWKBILL, OV SHADOWS

 Exceptions to the Rule, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  4 Responses »
May 032017
 

 

I’ve done this before, I’m sure I’ll do it again. Sometimes I listen to new music by bands whose music I haven’t heard before, and by complete coincidence it lines up. That’s what happened here — though this particular listening experience also included a revisiting of an EP I’d heard before.

By chance, I listened to all the music in this post back-to-back a couple of nights ago, and it was not only very good from beginning to end, it also seemed to flow in an interesting and connected way despite the dramatic differences in the music of each band. The wind blew with a chill… and that’s the best way I’ve come up with to capture the sensation of the experience.

APOCALYPSE ORCHESTRA

I love a lot of things about this first song, and the video that accompanies it, but the bagpipess are a huge reason. And now that I’ve mentioned that instrument, I’m sure that some of you will want to run from the song like wolves are on your heels, which I suppose is one reason why some cultures have used them as war instruments. Everyone else, please read on… and listen. Continue reading »

GOD DETHRONED: “THE WORLD ABLAZE”

 Album Reviews  4 Responses »
May 032017
 

 

(Andy Synn reviews the new album by the reunited God Dethroned.)

Like many of you I have been waiting for this album with a sense of near-breathless anticipation ever since it was first announced in 2014 that God Dethroned were getting back together.

And even though nothing had been announced about new material, I always knew that it was only a matter of time before the band would eventually get round to completing the WWI-themed trilogy of albums which began with 2009’s Passiondale.

So now here we are, seven long years since the group’s last release, all set to receive the third and final part of that trilogy, The World Ablaze, and the big question is — has the passage of time blunted their edge, or has it simply allowed the band to martial their forces for one final assault? Continue reading »

HATE: “TREMENDUM”

 Album Reviews  3 Responses »
May 022017
 

 

(DGR wrote this detailed review of the new album by the Polish band Hate.)

There are some groups who exist like heavy metal’s undercurrent, groups who seem like they have always been there and never seem to age, as if the band were immortal, with each release they put out slotting neatly right next to the others in their career. Hate are one of those groups. Their martial brand of Satan-inspired, Anti-religion death metal has seemingly existed as part of heavy metal’s subculture forever, one of a small handful of bands playing a particular style, a constant go-to for a specific fix.

The new Hate album Tremendum marks the group’s tenth release in a little over twenty years. The thing that has kept Hate around like this, like many bands who’ve enjoyed a twenty-plus-year career in the metal business, is that Hate found a sound, and since locking into it, for better or worse, they have put out albums with differing variations on that overall style, but have never gone for a massive genre-shift or anything blindingly different. Hate are going to consistently sound like Hate. That is one of the ways you wind up a pillar of a genre, as Hate have done. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: ANTROPOFAGUS — “THE ABYSS (CHAPTER ONE)”

 Premieres  2 Responses »
May 022017
 

 

We really can’t get enough of Nekronikon’s cover art for the new Antropofagus album, M.O.R.T.E. – Methods Of Resurrection Through Evisceration. This makes the third time we’ve found a reason to brandish it on our site, the last time when we premiered the slaughtering supremacy of “Chants for Abyzou“, and now as a visual prelude to our premiere of another attack of pile-driving destruction from the album — a track named “The Abyss (Chapter One)“.

With each new song from the album, Antropofagus further prove their mastery at delivering death metal with head-hammering brutality and insidiously infectious hooks. The grooves are especially strong within “The Abyss”, and so is the cold-blooded, hate-filled savagery. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: TEETHING — “AN OPEN LETTER TO MY BEST FRIEND”

 Premieres  No Responses »
May 022017
 

 

If you’re not familiar with Madrid’s Teething, I’d suggest you have a neck brace handy so you can immobilize the cervical fractures while you seek medical attention after listening to this song. Borrowing some body armor before pressing “play” would be good idea, too. Have you considered writing a last will and testament? Instructions regarding cremation or coffin burial?

“Violent” and “destructive” might begin to describe “An Open Letter To My Best Friend“, but words like “unhinged” and “obliterating” are more accurate for this brand of grinding hardcore. I’ve thought of some more words, too. But first I suppose I ought to tell you that this song is only one of 12 assaults on the senses contained within Teething’s first full album, We Will Regret This Someday, which is being released by a consortium of labels in different formats, each of which should be classified as a weapon of mass destruction. Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK (PART 2): ACHERONTAS, NARGAROTH, MALLEVS MALEFICARVM, CATHEDRAL OF LIGHT, OBSCURE DEVOTION, ENDLESS DISEASE, AKVAN

 SHADES OF BLACK  5 Responses »
May 012017
 

 

This is the second part of a large post I began yesterday (here). It reflects why I chose SHADES OF BLACK as the name for this series many years ago, in that all of the music has connections to the traditions of black metal, but those connections vary, sometimes significantly.

Two of the songs in this post come from forthcoming albums, and one is a stand-alone single, but I picked all the rest from recent albums or EPs. Lacking the time to review most of those full releases, I thought it better (with one exception) to confine myself to specific songs rather than neglect the releases altogether. But they’re all good, and you’ll be able to stream them in their entirety if you like what you hear.

ACHERONTAS

The sixth album by the formidable Greek black metal coven Acherontas is named Amarta अमर्त (Formulas of Reptilian Unification Part II), and thereby draws a connection to the band’s last album, 2015’s Ma​-​IoN (Formulas of Reptilian Unification). It includes participation by Naas Alcameth (Nightbringer, Akhlys, Bestia Arcana) (synths) and Indra (Naer Mataron) (additional guitars). The cover art was created by Karl NE/Nachzehrer (Ex-Nastrond/Shibalba), and W.T.C. Productions plans to release it on Walpurgis Night (May 31st). Continue reading »

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