AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: MICHEL ANOIA — “TWO MOUNTAINS”

 Premieres  No Responses »
Mar 232017
 

 

(Austin Weber introduces our premiere of a new music video from the French band Michel Anoia.)

A bit over one year ago from now, Islander premiered the song “Two Mountains” from French metal maniacs Michel Anoia off their album Plethora, and the utterly demented and brain-melting experience of that song had me instantly hooked on their impossible-to-categorize and unique style of extreme metal. When premiering it, Islander astutely described it as “..like a musical Frankenstein’s monster assembled with bits and pieces of grindcore, technical death metal, psychedelia, and jazz. But simply stitching those words together falls short as a means of trying to capture the sound.”

If you missed it then, you’re going to want to check out today’s music video premiere for “Two Mountains”. It’s not a typical band performance music video. The well-shot black-and-white video for “Two Mountains” has a very rich and cinematic look to it, with choppy frenetic scenes to match the equally disturbing music. Hit play, and give in to the madness contained within, both visually and aurally. Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: ESCARNIUM — “WHILE THE FURNACE BURNS”

 Premieres  No Responses »
Mar 232017
 

 

Last fall we had the pleasure of premiering Interitus, the new album by the Brazilian band Escarnium, in advance of its joint release by Redefining Darkness Records in North America and Testimony Records in Europe. And now both labels are bringing out a limited vinyl edition of the record. To pave the way for that, we’re helping premiere a new lyric video for a song off the album named “While the Furnace Burns“.

As vibrantly and viciously manifested on Interitus, Escarnium have developed a truly impressive, sure-handed mastery of evil, primal, old school death metal. Continue reading »

HIDEOUS DIVINITY: “ANGEL OF REVOLUTION”

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  1 Response »
Mar 232017
 

 

I have a much-delayed round-up of new music to post later today. I resisted the desire to make it even longer by including still more new music that surfaced since I first began putting it together three days ago. But I don’t want to overlook this new song by the Italian band Hideous Divinity that premiered yesterday at two European sites. The song is “Angel of Revolution“, and it’s from the band’s new album Adveniens, which will be released on April 28 by Unique Leader in the U.S. and Everlasting Spew in Europe.

This new track follows another one named “Ages Die” that debuted earlier this month, and in case you missed that one, I’ve included it below as well. I’ll also share a comment about the newest song by guitarist Enrico Schettino: Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): TAPHOS NOMOS AND URÐUN — “R.I.P.”

 Premieres  3 Responses »
Mar 222017
 

 

March 24th is the date set for the release of a stupendous album-length split by Pittsburgh’s Taphos Nomos and Urðun from Akureyri, Iceland, and we have a full stream of it today that you definitely need to hear. The name of the split is R.I.P.  — which doesn’t mean what you think it does.

The Taphos Nomos side of the split, which consists of three new songs, bears the title Rarely Investigated Phenomena, while Urðun deliver four new tracks of their own plus a cover of Autopsy’s “Charred Remains” under the title Rigorously Intensified Putrefaction. A few thoughts about each side follow, so you have a bit of advance warning about what you’re getting yourselves into. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: WOUNDED GIANT — “VAE VICTIS”

 Exceptions to the Rule, Premieres  No Responses »
Mar 222017
 

 

After releasing a demo and a debut album named Lightning Medicine in 2013 and a split LP with Goya in 2015, Seattle-based Wounded Giant have a new album headed our way via STB Records on April 1. The album’s name is Vae Victis, and that’s also the name of the song from the album we’re about to hit you with.

And make no mistake, it will hit you — hard. It simulates the experience of being beaten with a length of lumber at the same time as a psychoactive potion penetrates the blood-brain barrier and someone carves a message into your forearm with a razor blade. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: SIGIL — “EVEN THE GODS WILL BURN”

 Premieres  No Responses »
Mar 222017
 

 

Kingdom of the Grave is the debut album by a band from Austin, Texas, named Sigil. The album will be released on April 7 by Horror Pain Gore Death Productions. We came across the album’s title track a couple weeks ago and featured it in a column here, and now we have the pleasure of bringing you another head-wrecker from the album: “Even the Gods Will Burn“.

Sigil is the brainchild of vocalist/guitarist Alex Citrone (who also created the cover art), and the band that recorded the album further includes bass-player Leda Ginestra, drummer Jeremy Hassel, and lead guitarist Andy Bonney (although Thomas Schlicht plays lead guitar in the band’s live line-up). Continue reading »

FIT FOR AN AUTOPSY: “THE GREAT COLLAPSE”

 Album Reviews  2 Responses »
Mar 222017
 

 

(Andy Synn reviews the fourth album by New Jersey’s Fit For An Autopsy.)

It’s a little-known fact, but we actually quite like Deathcore here at NCS… at least, when it’s done well.

After all, our purview has always been to write about Metal, in all its forms, regardless of style or sub-genre. As long as it’s good, as long as it has the passion, the power, and the energy we’re looking for, we’ll write about it.

It doesn’t matter if the band is big or small, new or old, mainstream or underground. Black Metal, Death Metal, Prog, ‘core, or Post-… if the quality is there we’ll do our darnedest to cover it.

Which leads us, nicely, to the new album by New Jersey noisemongers Fit For An Autopsy. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: HUKUTUS — “METSÄ JA YÖ”

 Premieres  3 Responses »
Mar 212017
 

 

This premiere came about as all of them do: We were asked to help introduce a piece of music to the public. I listened to it first before answering the request, to decide whether I could in good conscience recommend it to our readers. I was already pretty sure the answer wold be yes before even reaching the 1:00 mark. By the time I had reached the end, I was scrambling to answer “Yes!” as fast as I could. It’s an emotionally powerful, intensely memorable song, the kind of song that has called me back to it many times since the first listen, and has put my heart in my throat each time.

The song is a single by the Finnish band Hukutus named “Metsä ja yö“, which the band tell us means “The Forest and the Night“. Like the song’s title, the lyrics are in Finnish. Here’s the rest of what the band have explained about the song: Continue reading »

SHADOW WOODS METAL FESTIVAL 2017: FULL LINE-UP NOW ANNOUNCED

 Metal News  No Responses »
Mar 212017
 

 

We’ve been following the evolution of the Shadow Woods Metal Fest since before its inaugural appearance in 2015, and have published lively reviews and photos from the first two fests (here and here), thanks to our contributor Kaptain Carbon, who has had a hell of a great time at both of them. The next edition of Shadow Woods Metal Fest in Maryland shows all signs of being another fantastic event.

In mid-February we reported on the first 20 bands confirmed to appear at the 2017 edition of the festival, and now Shadow Woods has announced the complete line-up. Among the new names that have now been announced are Uada, Woe, Dead In the Manger, Infera Bruo, Nechochwen, and Withered. Here’s the complete list of all 39 bands in alphabetical order — which is a super-strong group of names: Continue reading »

DEVIN TOWNSEND / TESSERACT / LEPROUS – LIVE AT ROCK CITY, NOTTINGHAM 18/03/17

 Concert Reviews  3 Responses »
Mar 212017
 

 

(Andy Synn attended the performance of Devin Townsend, Tesseract, and Leprous in Nottingham, England, on March 18th and files this report.)

Despite the fact that this site is called “No Clean Singing” we’re actually big fans of clean sung vocals here… well, in the right circumstances anyway.

No, the site’s moniker originally stemmed not from a blanket hatred of clean singing, but from Islander and co’s growing dissatisfaction with all the bands shoehorning clean vocals into their songs in a desperate attempt to appear more “accessible”, and therefore more marketable, at the cost of both their overall intensity and their underlying integrity.

I personally have a lot of love, and a lot of respect, for bands on the heavier end of the spectrum who are able to integrate and incorporate clean vocals into their sound in a way that feels totally natural. After all, it’s generally a lot more difficult to hold onto a melody and to hit all the right notes than it is to simply scream your lungs out atop a parade of blastbeats/breakdowns/bombastic riffs (not that I’m attempting to downplay the skill and strain involved in being a good screamer/growler).

So when a show like this rolls around, featuring three bands whose singers are all capable of knocking it completely out of the park (and practically into orbit) with their clean singing abilities, you’d best believe that we’re going to write about it. Continue reading »

 Older Entries  Newer Entries