NO CLEAN SINGING

AN NCS PREMIERE: CELL — “ERASING THE PLANE OF EXISTENCE”

Aug 302016

This song is called “Erasing The Plane of Existence“. It’s from a concept album called The Frozen Moon of Erebath, with a story line that takes place in a galaxy other than our own where a race of beings have destroyed their own planet but continue to plot and plan a galactic conquest from the dead planet’s frozen moon. And the music is performed by men in corpsepaint. Feel free to guess what it will sound like, but you’ll probably be wrong.

When black metal goes off exploring the cosmos, the results are often frigid, atmospheric, and ambient. But the band Cell from Winnipeg, Canada, have found their inspiration not in the desolation of the void but in visions of chaos, and their stories are narrative metaphors for humanity’s own self-destructive greed, hate, and lust for power. Continue reading »

BLACK METAL (PART 4): A COLLECTION CURATED BY NEILL JAMESON (KRIEG)

Aug 302016

(We’re happy to report that Neill Jameson (Krieg) has returned to his series on black metal from years long past, adding a fourth part to the first three (which are collected behind this link). And he still hasn’t exhausted the subject, so if you continue to support this project as you already have, maybe we can convince him to keep going with it.)

I’ve decided to come back to the idea of black metal records and bands that flew under the radar or were well known during their time but have gotten a bit of dust on them over the years as people go for bands in witch hats or whatever the fuck they’re using now. It’s probably something I could do a dozen pieces on, honestly, just by listening to shitty tapes of the radio show I did in the ’90s/early ’00s. I guess it all depends on who gets sick of it first; you, the fine folks at NCS, or me.

My money is on one of the first two. Continue reading »

KHALDERA: “ALTERATION”

Album Reviews No Responses »

Aug 302016

(Andy Synn reviews the new EP by the Swiss band Khaldera.)

It was just over two years ago when I stumbled across Relief, the debut EP by Swiss instrumentalists Khaldera, and was immediately captivated by its distinctive blend of meditative calm and perfectly proportioned power. It quickly became one of my “go-to” EPs, and has remained in regular listening rotation for me ever since.

As you might imagine I was thrilled when, earlier this year, I discovered that the band were hard at work on the follow-up, to be titled Alteration, and seeing as how said follow-up was finally released on Bandcamp last Friday I felt compelled to at least write a few words about it, in the hope of introducing some fresh ears to the group’s signature brand of what I have chosen to call “Progressive Mood Metal”. Continue reading »

REBEL WIZARD: “TRIUMPH OF GLOOM”

Reviews 13 Responses »

Aug 302016

It may go too far to proclaim that every fanatical lover of metal, regardless of genre, will love Triumph of Gloom, or that the album captures every good and fundamental thing that makes metal worth our passion. But if those claims would go too far, they wouldn’t overreach by much.

On the Bandcamp page where this new album by Rebel Wizard is waiting for your attention like a caged animal that’s just picked the lock, you will see these genre tags: “black metal”, “thrash metal”, “heavy metal”, “nwobhm”. That list definitely isn’t overreaching — the album embraces and fluidly moves among stylistic elements of those genres, and more, without sounding like any one of them. It pulls them together and installs the union on a blazing throne, leaving us to bow down in wonder. Continue reading »

INTERVIEW: ANDREAS VINGBÄCK (GRÁ, DARK FUNERAL)

Interviews 4 Responses »

Aug 292016

Photo by David Kareketo

(John Sleepwalker of Avopolis returns to NCS as we share his interview of Andreas “Heljarmadr” Vingbäck, mainman of the Swedish black metal villains known as Grá.)

Sweden’s Grá is a notorious black metal outfit that makes no compromises in aesthetic, despite a subtle evolution unfolding one step at a time. They form the kind of entity that’s hopelessly marked for Death, but Death is only a part of their evolution, according to a rather interesting interview with their mainman Andreas “Heljarmadr” Vingbäck.

It is now obvious that their latest opus, Ending, simply marks the final part of their Charon suite, as well as a crossroad towards new, unexplored territories. The band is already looking forward to hitting the road to promote their latest album, by scheduling a short European tour consisted of seven dates in total. Here is the schedule, followed by the interview: Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): OLDD WVRMS — “IGNOBILIS”

Premieres 1 Response »

Aug 292016

If I were compelled to choose one word to describe Ignobilis, the new album by Belgium’s Oldd Wvrms, it would be “psychoactive”. Yes, I mean that in the sense that it has powerful hallucinogenic properties akin to those of certain trance-inducing chemicals, but the music is capable of producing visions even for those who don’t have a taste for tripping. It sets the imagination roaming through esoteric landscapes populated by visions of witches and warlocks gathered at woodland rituals, shrouded in aromatic smoke and lit by the rising embers of preternatural flames. Or at least that’s what I imagine.

Ignobilis was preceded by two EPs that Oldd Wvrms released in 2015 (Mater Serpentum and NØT) and a full-length named Ritae released earlier this year, which includes the band’s two EPs plus three previously unreleased tracks — re-recorded, remixed, and remastered with the band’s new singer. Since then, the band and that vocalist have parted ways, leaving a trio on this new album consisting of drummer Cho, bassist Oli, and guitarist Ben. In place of the kind of vocals that appeared on the band’s last release, they have added different voices that mesh with and enhance the music’s hallucinatory qualities. Continue reading »

VEILBURNER: “EUCHARIST OF THE BREATHING ABYSS”

Premieres 8 Responses »

Aug 292016

(Austin Weber introduces our premiere of a new song by Pennsylvania’s Veilburner.)

When working on new articles or premieres for bands I’ve already covered in the past, sometimes it helps as a refresher to go back to what we said about the band before, to help put in context the new music being presented to us by such a group. Yet again, this line of thought came to mind in reflecting on our continual coverage of the unique form of industrial and psychedelic-infused take on black-metal-meets-death metal that Pennsylvania duo Veilburner continue to crank out year after year.

Looking back at our NCS archives, we first covered Veilburner here at NCS in 2014 in a multi-band article I posted soon after hearing about their incredible debut, The Three Lightbearers. Since then the band released a follow up full-length last year called Noumenon, from which we helped premiere a song called “Ever Relapsing Fever”. That was followed by the album’s placement on year-end lists here by both Andy Synn and myself.

While I failed to do a full review for either of those first two albums, both of them have continued to be releases I come back to, so I kinda feel like a dick for not doing more to help spread the word about them. I will have a chance to do better this time around, starting with this premiere of a killer new song off their upcoming third full-length, The Obscene Rite, entitled “Eucharist of the Breathing Abyss”. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: AENAON, OBSCURE SPHINX, SATAN’S WAR MACHINE, AND THE ABYSMAL PREDATOR TOUR

Exceptions to the Rule, Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC 10 Responses »

Aug 292016

Happy Monday! I mean that sincerely, despite the usual depressive aspects of the day, because this Monday brought us three exciting new song premieres that I discovered soon after caffeinating myself strongly enough to stun a bull, plus an announcement of an exciting U.S. tour. And here’s what I found:

AENAON

As our regular readers are well aware, we have become ardent followers of the Greek band Aenaon since discovering the wonders of their 2014 album Extance, which made no fewer than four different year-end lists published at our site, as well as a host of our reader’s lists. It was also the source of a song (“Grau Diva”) that I included in my list of 2014’s Most Infectious Extreme Metal Songs. You may then be able to imagine how eagerly we have been awaiting the band’s new album, Hypnosophy. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: BEYOND GRACE — “ACOLYTES”

Premieres 7 Responses »

Aug 292016

If you’re feeling sluggish, out-of-sorts, or just generally fed up with the boredom and frustration of your existence, we have a sure-fire remedy, the kind of death metal that’s akin to grabbing a live power line with both hands, while ringing wet, and letting the current jolt your spine and set your head on fire.

The name of the song we’re helping premiere is “Acolytes“, and it’s a new free single by Beyond Grace from Nottingham, England, presented through the medium of a music video. The song features a guest vocal appearance by Abysmal Dawn’s Charles Elliott, in addition to the vocals of Beyond Grace’s regular frontman and visionary member, our own Andy Synn. Continue reading »

LESBIAN: “HALLUCINOGENESIS”

Album Reviews 1 Response »

Aug 292016

(Wil Cifer reviews the new album by Seattle’s Lesbian, which is out now on the Translation Loss label and features striking cover art by Dan Seagrave.)

Before reviewing this album I went back and listened to Lesbian’s album Stratospheria Cubensis for a little perspective. Six years ago when that album came out, they were still pretty committed to not neatly fitting within any sub-genre of metal, and now they have continued to defy those boundaries even more.

Former members of The Accüsed formed this band back in 2007 and have now evolved their brand of proggy death metal into something even more darkly bizarre. Their new album finds the vocals becoming even more varied, blending sung vocals and growls. This is done in a very tasteful way that might win over some of you who think this approach is dated. In some ways it makes me think of what might have happened if Acid Bath had collided with Cynic. Continue reading »

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