NO CLEAN SINGING

AN NCS PREMIERE: A SPLIT BY LITHOTOME AND MOROS

Sep 152016

When this new split becomes available in physical form, you’ll be able to hold it comfortably in the palm of your hand. Just a little plastic case with spools of tape inside, more fragile than your phone and weighing just a couple of ounces. Such an unassuming little thing… even with that nasty visage gazing back at you from the cover with bleeding eyes. It seems so incongruous compared to the weight and power of the monstrous sound lurking within, waiting patiently for the chance to get at your mind, like the horde of evils in Pandora’s box.

The two Philadelphia-area bands participating in this split are Lithotome and Moros. Both are somewhat secretive; neither has a long history of releases; both are stacked with talent of a particular kind, which is on full display in this split. Both also happen to be bands I’ve been ardently wishing would give us new music, and now they finally have — and you shall hear it right here, in advance of its release by Dullest Records. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: HOBBS’ ANGEL OF DEATH — “WALK MY PATH”

Premieres 8 Responses »

Sep 152016

For this listener, the new album by Hobbs’ Angel of Death has been an enormous surprise. From song to song, my smile grew wider and wider when I first heard it, my eyes popping bigger and bigger until I began to fear they’d rocket out of my head and explode against the wall in smears of jelly. The thing is a pure rush of molten metal guitar gold.

I’m sure one reason why the album came as such a huge surprise was that, unlike many of you out there, I was unfamiliar with Peter Hobbs’ history during metal’s glory years in the ’80s, perhaps because bands from Australia in those days labored mainly in the deep underground as compared to their European and North American counterparts.

I’ve learned that his band released two demos in 1987 (Angel of Death and Virgin Metal Invasion From Down Under) and then a self-titled debut album in 1988 on the Steamhammer label. Seven years passed before a second album would emerge (1995’s Inheritance), and then the band broke up.

Hobbs re-formed the band seven more years later, and there have been sporadic festival and tour appearances since then, but only now has Hobbs’ Angel of Death produced an album of brand new music, more than 20 years after the last one. The album’s name is Heaven Bled, and it will be released by Hells Headbangers on October 14. Continue reading »

MESHUGGAH: “NOSTRUM”

RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC 10 Responses »

Sep 152016

While scrambling to get our second of four premieres ready to post today, I received an alert from my comrade DGR that Meshuggah had revealed a new lyric video for the song “Nostrum” off their new album The Violent Sleep of Reason. And so of course I dropped everything and scurried over to YouTube to give this thing a look and a listen.

It’s a 360-degree video that allows you to admire the artwork created by Keerych Luminokaya. As for the song, holy shit is it a heavy, hammering beast, an absolute crusher, highlighted by every other good thing else we’ve come to expect from this band — jaw-dropping drumwork, brilliant rhythmic interplay, raw, hair-raising vocals, and in this case some truly scintillating and frenzied lead guitar performances, coupled with glimpses of cosmic melody. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE: NOX FORMULAE

Premieres 4 Responses »

Sep 152016

Roughly 24 hours from now Dark Descent Records will release The Hidden Paths To Black Ecstasy, which is the debut album of the Greek black metal band Nox Formulae. Circle the date in red, preferably in your own blood, just to ensure that no distractions divert you between now and tomorrow. Trust us, this is an album you don’t want to miss. And to make even more sure that your memory doesn’t fail you, we have a full stream of The Hidden Paths for you to hear right now.

NCS contributor Lewis Edwards reviewed the album for us only two days ago. He praised it for the band’s ability “to strike the balance between originality and familiarity”, the strength of their skill in varying the dynamics of each song, the near-perfect approach to production, which achieves “a sense of frosty eeriness which is noteworthy even for black metal’s infamously high standards” while “providing a thick platform for the more crisp sound of the guitars”, summing up the album as an “assured, refined, and generally well-crafted piece of work” that “speaks volumes about the maturity of the band”. Continue reading »

ULCERATE: “ABROGATION”

RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC 7 Responses »

Sep 152016

This is one of those days at our site when virtually the entire day will be devoted to our own premieres of new songs and full album streams. There will be four of those ahead. But before we dive into those, I have to share this one new song that premiered not long ago at another site (CLRVYNT).

The song is “Abrogation“, and it comes from the very highly anticipated new album by New Zealand’s Ulcerate, the name of which is Shrines of Paralysis. It will be released by Relapse Records on the 28th of October (and can be pre-ordered in physical form here or digitally here). Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: A SPLIT BY SUNLIGHT’S BANE AND GEIST

Premieres 1 Response »

Sep 142016

Seeing Red Records, in cooperation with the German label WOOAAARGH and the UK’s Vetala Productions, have brought together two bands from different sides of the Atlantic for a split 7″ release that threatens to boil the ocean between them into the atmosphere. The bands are Sunlight’s Bane from Michigan and Geist from the northeast of England. Two songs from each band appear on the split, and it will be released on September 16. To whet your appetites (or snuff them out completely), we have a full stream of the split below.

Both of these bands are making their first appearance at our putrid site, and so a few words of introduction are in order. Continue reading »

THE BEST OF BRITISH 2016, PART 3: XII BOAR / INVOCATION / UNFATHOMABLE RUINATION

Album Reviews 8 Responses »

Sep 142016

(Andy Synn turns in a trio of reviews for three recent albums of quite different styles and genres, united by their country of origin.)

Well ladies and gentlemen, here we are again, another opportunity for me to fly my nationalistic colours (which don’t run, let me tell you that) and gab on about a triptych of recent (or recent-ish) releases from my beloved motherland. As is traditional, we’ll be starting off the column with a rousing rendition of “Rule Britannia”, so if you’d all please be upstanding…

All joking aside of course, most of you will know by now that I don’t really care that much for nationalist sentiment or blind patriotism, particularly when it comes to music. I like a band because I like their songs, not because we happen to have been born in the same country or geo-political sphere, and I have very little time or patience for the vagaries of scene politics or the type of person that thinks you have to support a band just because they come from the same place as you.

That being said, however, I do realise that such factors as geographical proximity and general exposure mean I’m much more likely to stumble across bands from the UK who are worth blogging about than someone living elsewhere on this big blue/green marble, so I feel a certain sense of responsibility to cover these bands when they pop up on my radar.

So here we go again, once more, into the breach! Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: A SPLIT BY MARES OF DIOMEDES AND DREICH

Premieres 1 Response »

Sep 142016

On September 16, 2016, Heavy Earth Records will release the new split record by the Irish band Mares of Diomedes and the Danish group Dreich. Mares of Diomedes contribute two tracks to the split, while Dreich make their recording debut with three songs — and today we bring you the chance to listen to all five.

While “doom” may be the simplest label to use in describing the split, it doesn’t tell you nearly enough about what you will hear, or about the differences in the ways these two bands bring the weight down on your fragile heads. So, by way of introduction, we provide a few more thoughts about the music…. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: DEATHCULT — “DEATH IN JULY”

Premieres 4 Responses »

Sep 142016

On September 26, Invictus Productions will uncage Beasts of Faith, the debut album by the Swiss band Deathcult. One of these beasts has already been pulled into the spotlight from the shadows by DECIBEL magazine, and today we do the same for a second one — a song called “Death In July”.

For discerning listeners, Deathcult’s first demo in 2012 made quite a strong impact and their 2014 EP Pleading for Death . . . Choking on Life only confirmed that Deathcult were a distinctive cult worth watching. In those earlier years the band’s profile no doubt benefitted from the presence in the line-up of vocalist/guitarist O. Ketzer of Bölzer, but Beasts of Faith proves that Deathcult’s talents run deep and remain strong without him on this new album. Continue reading »

FROZEN GATE: “BEHIND THE DARK ICE”

Album Reviews, Eye-Catchers 6 Responses »

Sep 142016

(In this post DGR reviews the debut album by the Swiss band Frozen Gate.)

Occasionally some questions will arise as to how the NCS reviews process works. To be honest with you, the answer is fairly simple — we’re pretty freewheeling. We try our best to keep up with recent and relevant releases but often the authors of the site are pretty free to write about whatever strikes our fancy, which is why you’ll occasionally see reviews for albums that came out anywhere from the beginning of this year to two years ago on this page. If we think our readers will like it, we’ll write about it.

But, there are occasional quirks in this system that can often bring about discoveries: In this case it is that I am a giant manchild, who at his “wizened” age will still occasionally check out albums if the combination of cover art and album name strikes my fancy or in this case, amuses me.

Switzerland’s Frozen Gate released their debut album Behind The Dark Ice earlier this month and I came about it whilst scrolling through my various resources for recent releases. In this case the cover art for Behind The Dark Ice caught my eye — mostly for how stark it is. It can best be boiled down to just the band’s logo with a crest and some dark blue paint-brushing, evocative of a frigid land. It’s bare bones but it manages the job of matching its name sake of Behind The Dark Ice. I just had to have a look — while having no idea what sort of music Frozen Gate put out. Continue reading »

Older Entries Newer Entries