NO CLEAN SINGING

SHADES OF BLACK: ALCEST, ENSLAVED, WINTERFYLLETH, ULTHA

Exceptions to the Rule, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC, SHADES OF BLACK 7 Responses »

Aug 072016

Just as yesterday’s Seen and Heard round-up was much shorter than usual, so too is this Sunday’s edition of Shades of Black. I got back to Seattle last night from that four-day wedding festivity in Vegas I’ve mentioned before, but between the two premieres I’ve posted since then and a backlog of personal stuff to deal with, I haven’t had time to write about everything I wanted to include in this post. I’m hoping to supplement it during the coming week before going off to Migration Fest on Thursday, when our site’s content will probably diminish again.

With so many songs and full releases on my list of Shades to choose from, I picked the following four items to recommend, without much rhyme or reason. The bands are less obscure than usual for these posts, until you get to the end.

ALCEST

I suspect I will always consider Alcest to be a shade of black even if Neige and Winterhalter decide to start playing bluegrass — though that hasn’t happened yet. The fifth Alcest album is named Kodama, which we’re told is the Japanese word for “tree spirit” and also refers to the process of sounds reverberating across mountains, valleys, and forests that’s often attributed to these spirits. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: DEPRIVE — “DOOMED TEARS OF HUMANITY”

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Aug 072016

At the end of last month Memento Mori released the second album by the Spanish one-man death metal band Deprive. Bearing the title Temple of the Lost Wisdom, it follows last year’s promising debut album Into Oblivion. Today we have for you a stream of one of the new album’s ten tracks, “Doomed Tears of Humanity“.

As before, Deprive’s alter ego Erun Dagoth performs all instruments as well as vocals on this new work, making use of the experience he has gained in a multitude of other bands, including Briargh, Hrizg, Stormstone, CrystalMoors, Eldereon, and Omendark, while drawing upon a similarly diverse array of death and doom influences from the ’90s, including the works of Paradise Lost, Hypocrisy, Morbid Angel, Amorphis, Incantation, My Dying Bride, Cemetery, and Bolt Thrower. Continue reading »

THE REARVIEW MIRROR (CANDIRIA)

THE REARVIEW MIRROR 3 Responses »

Aug 072016

(Austin Weber steps up with this week’s Rearview Mirror feature, focusing on the 1995 debut album by Candiria.)

It’s been far too long since I contributed to our Rearview Mirror series here at NCS, and there’s still an endless number of old and forgotten gems I’d like to cover in this series when I have more time! If you’re ready to step into the time machine for a lesser-known gem by Candiria, come prepared with an open mind. This isn’t easy-listening or genre-by-numbers material. You ready for some supreme weirdness?

Brooklyn-based and never content to confine themselves within a single genre, Candiria have always created the music they want to make, critics and fans be damned. The band have had a long and storied history ever since their inception in 1992, going through multiple styles and sonic territories on different releases, a myriad of line-up changes, a tour-van-related crash tragedy that shook the band to its core, and a couple of breakups/hiatuses followed by multiple comebacks. Recently the band returned with 2014’s Invaders two-song release, and are set to release a new full-length next year. So it seems quite fitting to cover their initial album, Surrealistic Madness, in light of the band’s newly re-activated status. Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: WARDAEMONIC — “DROWNING IN SEAS OF WRETCHEDNESS”

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Aug 062016

I am so damned happy that I have a reason to put Australian artist Chris Cold’s phenomenal album art for Wardaemonic’s Obsequium on our site again. The last time was in February 2015 when we had the pleasure of premiering a song from that album named “Endless War”. And today the occasion is our premiere of an official music video for Obsequium’s opening track, “Drowning In Seas of Wretchedness“.

For those who may be discovering Wardaemonic for the first time through this post, they are from Perth, Australia, and Obsequium is the band’s third album, and their fourth release overall. And for those who are new to the band, this video makes for a compelling introduction. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: MITHRAS AND OUBLIETTE

RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC 2 Responses »

Aug 062016

I’m still in Las Vegas, writing this on a Friday night so that I can schedule it to appear in a burst of flame and a cloud of smoke on Saturday morning. I wasn’t sure whether this trip, which was to attend a wedding, would interfere with my blog obsession, but it has. And the result is that we haven’t had as many daily posts as usual since I left Seattle on Wednesday.

Another result is that the ever-growing list of new songs and videos I’d like to recommend has become more enormous, since I haven’t had time to assemble round-up posts. What to do? As it happens, that perplexing question was answered, sort of like receiving an epiphany.

The two new songs in this post are the only two metal songs I listened to on Friday, and that makes them the most recent metal songs I’ve heard. I listened to them back-to-back, late at night. They’re both outstanding, and beyond that, they seem to go together (I’ll be curious if you have a similar reaction). And since I’ve only got time to write about two songs before running completely out of gas, they solve my problem of which songs to pick from that enormous list of new things to include in this round-up. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: SERPENT ASCENDING — “ENTRANCE”

Premieres 3 Responses »

Aug 052016

Serpent Ascending is the solo project of Finnish musician and vocalist Jarno Nurmi, who was once a member of Slugathor and Nerlich and remains one of the two members of Desecresy. Five years ago, I, Voidhanger Records released a collection of Serpent Ascending demo tracks under the title The Enigma Unsettled, and on September 16 it will be releasing the project’s full-length debut, Aṇaṅku.

The new album includes eight tracks in the range of two-to-five minutes, and today we bring you a stream of the opening song, “Entrance”. Continue reading »

BENEATH THE NCS RADAR (PART 16): MURDRYCK, FORTERESSE, NEIGE ET NOIRCEUR, SHED THE SKIN

Album Reviews, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC 1 Response »

Aug 052016

( Norwegian blogger Gorger is back, highlighting still more releases that we have overlooked. To find more of his discoveries, type “Gorger” in our search bar or visit Gorger’s Metal.)

Whilst Islander is sulking in a hotel room in the gaudiest city in the US, because the slot machine stole all his cash after he couldn’t avoid the temptation of just testing them and trying to score some, I’m grabbing the opportunity to step in and steal the attention. Or I’m chipping in and helping out. It all depends on how you see it.

This time around, we’ll be blazing some black metal from Sweden as an appetizer, and feasting on a two-course black metal entrée from Canada, before blasting some explosive American death metal for dessert. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: GEHENNA AND BLEACH EVERYTHING

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Aug 042016

Tomorrow (August 5) Magic Bullet Records will release a powerhouse split named Heavy Metal Suicide by two bands who throw everything they’ve got into uncompromising music that assaults the senses with raw, physical force — The Infamous Gehenna and Bleach Everything — both of whom are also working on new full-lengths.

Gehenna contributes two tracks that prove again the truth of the label “Negative Hardcore” that’s been attached to their music for more than two decades, while Bleach Everything launch three short, sharp shocks to your well-being. For readers who may be new to one or both bands, read on… or just jump to the player below for a vicious, gut-punching, head-battering experience. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: GAEREA (A VIDEO TEASER)

Premieres 12 Responses »

Aug 042016

This is an out-of-the-ordinary premiere for us. It’s an out-of-the-ordinary standalone post of any kind, premiere or not. Because what we’re bringing you isn’t a full song.

It’s out of the ordinary in some other ways, too: The name of the band is Gaerea, but I don’t know anything about who is in the band. I don’t know where they are from. And I don’t know what this is a teaser for.

But I think you’ll figure out pretty fast why we’re doing this anyway — because the music is out-of-the-ordinary, too. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: GATECREEPER, FÓRN, PREDATORY LIGHT, HOBBS’ ANGEL OF DEATH, OPETH

RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC 14 Responses »

Aug 032016

I’m finishing this post on the way to the airport, where I’ll board a flight for Las Vegas with my spouse to attend the wedding of one of her nieces. We’ll be there for three days. That may interfere with NCS activity for the rest of the week. If there’s not much up on the site between now and Sunday, that’s the explanation.

But it may not interfere. Everyone I know who will be at this thing, including my wife, plans to spend a lot of time in the casino. I’m not much for gambling; throwing away money in an undoubtedly losing cause tends to sap the pleasure after a while. And since I’m not keen on getting broiled outside, that leaves the hotel room… and metal.

In the meantime, here’s a quick round-up of new music. Because time is short, I have to largely dispense with reviews/descriptions today. The last time I did this, a reader jumped on me for not at least providing a genre description, so I’ll do that. Continue reading »

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