NO CLEAN SINGING

AN NCS PREMIERE: PEQUOD — “FALSE DIVINITY”

Album Reviews, Premieres, SHORT BUT SWEET 4 Responses »

Jul 032016

“Explosive” is a good one-word summary of False Divinity, the new EP by Germany’s Pequod that’s set for release on July 5th. “Vortic-Death-Thrash”, which is the band’s own label for their music, is accurate, too. It is indeed a vortex of skull-crushing death metal and electrifying thrash, and as you’re about to find out through the full stream in this post, it includes other qualities that make it a lot of vicious fun to hear over and over again.

If you’re new to this band, we’re told that they first came to life in early 1998, and since then they’ve released a pair of demos, a self-titled EP in 2004, and a debut album named Forgotten in 2011. And because they chose the name of Captain Ahab’s whaling ship for their own name, Ahab can’t be considered the only German metal band with an affinity for Moby Dick. Continue reading »

THE REARVIEW MIRROR (UNANIMATED)

THE REARVIEW MIRROR 15 Responses »

Jul 032016

For this Sunday’s look back into metal’s past I have Bardo Methodology to thank for the idea of focusing on Unanimated. Last week, that site featured an excellent interview of Richard Cabeza by Niklas Göransson, which reminded me not only of Unanimated’s past glories but also of the fact that the band is still alive, though it’s anyone’s guess when they will complete work on a fourth album.

As Göransson notes, Cabeza is “Stockholm death metal royalty” (though he has lived in Dallas, Texas, for the last 14 years). In addition to being one of Unanimated’s founding members in 1989, he was a bass player for Dismember and Murder Squad, a vocalist for General Surgery, and a live member of Satyricon and Dark Funeral. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD ON A SATURDAY: TOO MANY THINGS TO PUT IN THE TITLE OF THIS POST

RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC 16 Responses »

Jul 022016

For those of us here in the U.S., today is the beginning of a long weekend in which we celebrate the nation’s independence from another country, which recently declared its own “independence” from Europe and now can’t seem to figure out what to do next. But since we have a couple of presidential candidates here in this country that most people don’t like, I guess we’re having some trouble figuring out what to do next, too.

I nearly decided to take the day off from blogging, not because I’m feeling very “patriotic” but because I’m feeling really lazy. I decided instead to make a feeble compromise with myself: I have a ton of new music I think is worth hearing, but I’m just going to spread a lot of it out for your perusal without any commentary. I feel kind of shitty for doing that, not because you really need my commentary but because I think I owe it to the bands to explain why I think the music is worth hearing. But I guess this is better than doing nothing at all.

Tomorrow we’ll be bringing you an EP premiere and something else, probably another Shades of Black post and/or the first “That’s Metal!” post in months. Unless I continue to indulge my feelings of laziness. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: DIABOLIZER — “APOKALYPSE”

Premieres 10 Responses »

Jul 012016

If that demonic artwork up there by Robert A. von Ritter doesn’t stop you in your tracks and peak your interest in the music that lies behind it, I’ll be surprised. It adorns an EP named Apokalypse by the Turkish death metal band Diabolizer, which Third Eye Temple has decided to release on July 8 in celebration of my birthday. Actually, they don’t know that’s my birthday, but I’m considering it a gift anyway, and a very generous one. It’s a hell of a gift for all of you as well, as you’ll discover through our stream of the entire EP.

Looming like a predatory beast in the underground of Kadiköy, Diabolizer consists of musicians who have been members of such bands as Decaying Purity, Engulfed, Deggial, and Godslaying Hellblast. The EP includes five new songs as well as two tracks that first appeared on the band’s hard-to-find 2012 promo, Shadows Of Impending Decimation. Continue reading »

DEATH RITUALS: VERBUM, OROBAS, AUM, TIDES OF SULFUR, UNCANNY REALITY

Album Reviews, Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC, SHORT BUT SWEET 2 Responses »

Jul 012016

I meant to post this yesterday, but my job continues to mess with me. What I did here was to collect some new singles and a couple of new EPs that I found two nights ago while using the internet to crawl through the underground. I like all this stuff and thought you might also find something in here that strikes the right chord.

In this globe-trotting expedition the music consists mainly of various shades and phases of death metal (much of it “blackened”) by five bands, hence the title of this post.

VERBUM

Verbum are based in Chile, and their debut EP Processio Flagellates was originally released on tape by the Chilean label Penitenziagite Records, although it’s now also available as a download at Bandcamp. Continue reading »

ASTRONOID: “AIR”

Album Reviews, Exceptions to the Rule 13 Responses »

Jul 012016

(Andy Synn wrote this review of the new album by Astronoid from Boston)

Previously unknown to me (though the band have, prior to this, released a total of two EPs and one stand-alone single), I’ve been seeing the name “Astronoid” popping up on my radar quite a lot recently, as the release of their debut full-length album Air seems to have caused something of a stirring in certain circles.

And rightfully so, as it’s an incredibly captivating, instantly infectious album, practically bursting at the seams with some of the most gloriously emotive melodies and shamelessly enervating riffage I’ve heard this year.

But I wasn’t entirely certain it was NCS material.

In fact I’m still not.

But, screw it, I’m going to review it anyway. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: VOW OF THORNS — “DOOMED WOODS”

Premieres 2 Responses »

Jun 302016

Ontario’s Vow of Thorns made their advent in 2013 with an EP named Forest Dweller, and on July 15 they will release their first full-length album, Farewell To the Sun. Today we have the pleasure of bringing you a stream of the album’s closing track, “Doomed Woods“.

When asked to comment about the song, guitarist Dustin Richards explained: “The lyrics to ‘Doomed Woods’ are what sparked the theme for the album. With this track we set out to create a song that conveys the experience of facing death head-on. Accepting your inevitable end and embracing it.” Continue reading »

FIRST ROUND OF BANDS ANNOUNCED FOR MARYLAND DEATHFEST XV; EARLY-BIRD SALES BEGIN TODAY

Metal News 24 Responses »

Jun 302016

About 20 minutes ago the organizers of America’s finest metal festival announced the initial slate of bands confirmed to appear at next year’s installment of the festival — Maryland Deathfest XV. And here’s the list, pasted from MDF’s Facebook announcement:

Acid King
Akercocke (UK) – Exclusive U.S. appearance!
Autopsy
Behexen (Finland) – Exclusive U.S. appearance!
Brodequin
Decrepit Birth
Dopethrone
Embalmer
In The Woods… (Norway) – Exclusive U.S. appearance!
Iron Lung Continue reading »

SLOW OUT OF THE GATE (AND A NEW VIDEO FROM ZEIT)

RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC No Responses »

Jun 302016

Zeit

I just woke up. Over the last couple of days my fucking day job has interfered with my ability to blog as much as usual (and it will do that again today), plus I’ve had some personal stuff to deal with as well. The net result is that we only had two posts yesterday, and I wasn’t able to write anything last night to schedule as our first post for today.

I do have an idea for a post collecting some excellent new abrasive sounds that rose up from the underground and battered my head over the last 24 hours, and we will have a song premiere today as well. But it will take me some time to get those ready.

In the meantime, I wanted to leave something here to entertain you. And I found just what I needed with my first glance of the day at our exploding e-mail in-box. Continue reading »

SHORT BUT SWEET: CONJURER — “I”

Album Reviews, SHORT BUT SWEET 4 Responses »

Jun 292016

(Andy Synn reviews the new EP by Conjurer, which will be released on July 1 by Holy Roar Records.)

We all know by now that hype can be a double-edged sword.

Certainly it can serve to drum up some necessary excitement and anticipation where it’s needed, there’s no denying that. But equally, it can set up unrealistic expectations that act like the proverbial albatross around a band’s collective neck, particularly in cases where certain blogs and magazines (and even the band’s own PR) keep throwing out sweeping comparisons and wild exaggerations as part of a veritable onslaught of hyperbole.

It can honestly leave you wondering whether to believe what you’re reading, or if it’s simply another example of puffed-up propaganda from the media group mind.

Birmingham-based quartet Conjurer (whose name you may have seen mentioned here at NCS once or twice before) have built up something of a buzz for themselves in the few short years they’ve been together, based almost entirely on the strength of their live performances.

And, as such, their debut EP, the ungooglable I, has a lot riding on it. Not only is it the band’s first chance to solidify their own sonic identity on record, but it’s also their first opportunity to prove whether or not all that hype and hyperbole floating around in the digital aether is actually justified.

So… do they deliver the goods? Or are they all mouth, and no trousers? Continue reading »

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