NO CLEAN SINGING

SEEN AND HEARD ON A SATURDAY: CLOUDS, WITCHERY, GRAVEBOMB, POHJOISEN SOTURIT, DO SKONU, DAVID BOWIE

Oct 222016

Greetings brethren and sistren on this beautiful Saturday. At least it’s beautiful where I am, deep in the heart of Texas, where I’ve been visiting family members the last couple of days. In fact, it’s such a beautiful morning that I felt compelled to ugly it up with new metal. I found some good ways to do that, which you will hear below, and I found one other surprise, too.

But before we get to music that will bruise the day, I’m beginning this collection with something that’s as beautiful in its own way as this morning. And before I get to THAT song, I’ll leave you with YouTube links to some new music and videos that appeared just yesterday from the following bands, though I’m not writing about them here: Hail Spirit Noir; Madder Mortem; and Dark Tranquillity. I’ll also embed the videos at the end of this post if you’d rather not leave our humble site to hear and see them.

CLOUDS

I thank Grant Skelton for alerting me to this first song, which appeared about five days ago. Its name is “How Can I Be There” and it’s from Departe, the second album by the band Clouds. Continue reading »

SHORT BUT SWEET: MONTE LUNA — “THE HOUND”

Album Reviews, SHORT BUT SWEET 2 Responses »

Oct 212016

(Todd Manning provides this review of a debut EP by the Texas band Monte Luna.)

Austin, Texas duo Monte Luna have just released their debut two-song demo on Bandcamp at the name-your-price level, and it would be best if you didn’t sleep on this one. Mixing equal parts Doom, Sludge, and Dark Psychedelic vibes, they create an atmosphere of tasteful heaviness, full of subtle menace.

“Father Arbitor” kicks things off with bits of noise swirling around while a sample invokes the dark spirits overseeing the material. James Cl’s guitar is distant and striking, heavy but not overtly so. The gravity of the track comes from Phil Hook’s immense beats, slow and tectonic. The vocals sound like they blew in on the wind, ghosts creeping at the edge of the campfire. While it would be mistake to say this isn’t heavy, atmosphere seems to take center stage. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: ETERNAL DEFORMITY — “REINVENTED”

Premieres 4 Responses »

Oct 212016

On November 18, Temple of Torturous will release the first album by Poland’s Eternal Deformity since The Beauty of Chaos four years ago. The new one is named No Way Out, and today we bring you a song virtually guaranteed to carry you away with its vibrancy, dynamism, and emotional power — “Reinvented“.

Those of you familiar with the band’s previous releases will be aware that Eternal Deformity have been on an ever-changing path of musical exploration, from the doom and gothic-slanted leanings of their early material to the circus-themed nightmare of Frozen Circus and the symphonic/blackened traits of The Beauty Of Chaos. The new album incorporates these previous elements of the band’s journey, but it also moves in other directions. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: ZORNHEYM — “A SILENT GOD”

Premieres 6 Responses »

Oct 212016

Today the Swedish band Zornheym are releasing their new single “A Silent God” through Non Serviam Records, and we are helping spread the word through our stream premiere of this new song. “A Silent God” will appear on Zornheym‘s album Where Hatred Dwells, And Darkness Reigns, which Non Serviam plans to release this coming winter.

Regular followers of our putrid site may remember that in August we premiered this Stockholm band’s first single from the album, “The Opposed“, which also provided a first glimpse of the album’s concept, which revolves around the horrors of the Zornheim mental institution and its inmates. When the album arrives, it will be accompanied by a comic strip created for each track by artist Anu Bring (Märvel, Evil-lÿn, Satan’s fall). In addition, the music features a live string section (performed by Dies Iona Ensemble) and a full choir. Continue reading »

THE SUM OF OUR PARTS

Mosh Pit 6 Responses »

Oct 212016

(Andy Synn wrote the following opinion piece.)

The initial title for this column was “The Law of the Average”, as its overall focus was initially supposed to be on how easy it is for bands to settle for just being average… often without even realizing it.

But, as I was writing it — and, as usual, my thoughts were racing ahead of my typing — I realized that although my musings on the curse of being merely “average” was definitely still a big part of the piece, the main focus had shifted somewhat. I was no longer writing about how it must feel to realize (or, even more frequently, not realize) that your band may not ever rise above being simply “average” in the grand scheme of things… I was writing about how and about why I think this happens. Which is a subtle but important distinction.

And, ultimately, I decided (though I don’t really know if “decided” is the right word) to zero in on one fact in particular.

The importance of influences and how they shape you, as a band, as a musician, and as a person in general. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: WOLF COUNSEL (RALF WINZER GARCIA)

Interviews No Responses »

Oct 212016

(Comrade Aleks brings us his interview of pack leader Ralf Winzer Garcia from the Swiss doom band Wolf Counsel, whose new album Ironclad was released last month)

I bet that fans of right traditional doom metal have heard about the Swiss band Wolf Counsel because of their debut Vol.1 – Wolf Counsel released just one year ago, performing confident and strong doom material in the vein of the forefathers of this genre. But as for me, I almost missed the release of Wolf Counsel’s sophomore work Ironclad, which saw the light of day in September 2016. And you know… this album is an excellent example of flawless doom metal, and after a few listenings I was motivated enough to send questions to Wolf Counsel’s leader Ralf Winzer Garcia (bass, vocals). Continue reading »

VERBERIS: “VEXAMEN”

Album Reviews 1 Response »

Oct 202016

(We welcome back New Zealand writer Craig Hayes (Six Noises), who wrote this review of the debut album by Verberis, which has recently been released by Iron Bonehead Productions.)

The roster of German record label Iron Bonehead Productions reads like a who’s who of pre-eminent cult metal bands. That’s certainly true when it comes to bands who reside in the far-flung isles of New Zealand. Indomitable underground New Zealand bands like Vassafor, Sinistrous Diabolus, Veneficium, Witchrist, Diocletian, Creeping, Prisoner of War, Solar Mass, and Heresiarch have all had storming works released under Iron Bonehead’s banner. And next on the label’s list of uncompromising releases from the southern latitudes is Vexamen: the debut full-length from blackened death metal band Verberis. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: WĘDRUJĄCY WIATR, EMPTINESS, GAEREA, MOHICANS, TRUE WIDOW, JASSA, REVEAL, ANGELA MARTYR

Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC 16 Responses »

Oct 202016

Well, here we are on a Thursday and this is our first new music round-up of the week. I suppose it goes without saying that, four days into the week, I now have a very long list of songs and videos I’ve found that I like enough to recommend — but don’t have time or room to mention all of them.

I’ve made some choices that range far and wide in their musical styles, but because I have a hard time making choices, this is still a big post despite the fact that I haven’t been able to include everything. Stay with me though, because there’s a lot of good music below.

WĘDRUJĄCY WIATR

I first heard of Wędrujący Wiatr through an enthusiastic recommendation by Austin Lunn, the man behind Panopticon. When he first told me about the band, word had surfaced that a new album would be coming out this fall, but no music was yet available; Austin‘s enthusiasm was based on the band’s debut album, 2013’s Tam, gdzie miesiąc opłakuje świt, and after I listened to it, I understood his passion for the music.

Well, now we have a song from the new album, and it’s pretty magnificent. Continue reading »

40 WATT SUN: “WIDER THAN THE SKY”

Album Reviews 3 Responses »

Oct 202016

(Grant Skelton reviews the new album by the UK’s 40 Watt Sun.)

On October 14, 40 Watt Sun birthed an album that has proven difficult for me to review. Part of this is because the music on Wider Than The Sky is just about the complete opposite of what we cover here at No Clean Singing, though surely we’ve covered many bands that exclusively employ clean singing, as an exception to our “rule.”

But there are other reasons why reviewing Wider Than The Sky has been an atypical experience for me. In a recent interview with Sarah Kitteringham for Noisey (here), 40 Watt Sun’s Patrick Walker expressed his distaste with the band’s previous record label promoting them as “doom metal”. Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: AENAON — “FIRE WALK WITH ME”

Premieres 8 Responses »

Oct 202016

The Greek band Aenaon have already made a name for themselves as one of the most interesting, inventive, and distinctive black metal bands on the planet, and their new album Hypnosophy will only burnish that reputation to an even brighter sheen. It well warrants the perhaps overused term “alchemical”, as Aenaon have drawn together a multitude of base elements from disparate genres and transmuted them in wizard-like fashion into music that’s rare and mesmerizing. As a further example of the intriguing delights that Hypnosophy will bring your way, we present the premiere of a lyric video for the album’s second track, “Fire Walk With Me“.

The band have commented on the song as follows:

“Ιnfluenced by David Lynch’s film, this title was chosen as an inspiration for a hymn about the mythical creature, Phoenix. The element of fire is represented by the maelstrom of multiple instruments that are combined to create a Promethian atmosphere. It concludes all the distinctive elements of the Aenaon sound whirling into a fiery musical vortex”.

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