NO CLEAN SINGING

BÖLZER: “I AM III”

Sep 122016

When I learned yesterday that Bölzer intended to release a new song today, I had a text discussion with DGR about where the song would premiere. We bandied about the names of certain very large online music sites who in well-calculated fashion sprinkle a few bits of extremity into their large stew of not-metal dreck… as DGR put it, sites that have “massive reach, but massive reach to deaf ears” when it comes to music like this. We had that discussion because Bölzer has become such a critical darling (on the strength of very few songs) that it wouldn’t be surprising to see their new track pop up on one of those behemoth sites, even if only .01% of their readers ever bother to listen to music like this.

We should have known better. None of that happened. Bölzer instead released the song straight to Soundcloud, relying on word of mouth to spread it around. The song is “I AM III“, it comes from the band’s forthcoming album Hero, and it’s hellishly good. Continue reading »

VRTRA: “MY BONES HOLD A STILLNESS”

Album Reviews 4 Responses »

Sep 122016

(DGR reviews the debut album by Sacramento’s Vrtra.)

A half hour of music is honestly not a tall order when it comes to heavy metal. Most of the time you’ll find (especially amongst reviews here at NCS) that a half hour is really concise, more often than not an exciting prospect due to its propensity for constant repeats, and usually tied into jokes about a half hour being strictly reserved for Infinite Jest-length grind albums.

A half hour is actually something of a selling point, easily packed into work commutes and lunches. A half hour across three songs makes things much more interesting, and now the concessions start: A half hour available right now only through digital means or via cassette tape is when we start getting into strange territory. Such is the case with Vrtra’s My Bones Hold A Stillness. Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: MÜTTERLEIN — “BLACK DOG”

Premieres No Responses »

Sep 122016

In late July of this year we presented the first in a series of videos that were being created for the songs on an album named Orphans of the Black Sun by Mütterlein, and today we bring you another. This time, the video takes the song “Black Dog” as its subject.

For those who may yet be unfamiliar with Mütterlein, it’s a band named for a song on a 1970 album by the German musician and actress Nico; a band whose principal creative force Marion Leclercq (of the cult French act Overmars) has named Nico, The Cure, and Breach as the three main pillars of her widely varying influences; a band for whom krautrock and Shannon Wright seem to be as beloved as Sabbath and Tragedy; a band who caught the ear of Phil at Debemur Morti Productions and Blut Aus Nord’s Vindsval, who together made Mütterlein’s debut album Orphans of the Black Sun the first release of their new collaborative label Sundust Records. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: GROSSTY — “GROUNDER GRIND”

Premieres 2 Responses »

Sep 112016

I have to restrain my usual wordiness or else it will take you longer to read this post than to hear the song we’re premiering today. The song is 57 seconds long, but trust me, it’s a very interesting way to spend a minute (and it’s not the only music from this band that you’ll have a chance to hear after you’ve made your way to the end of this write-up).

The band’s name is Grossty, they are from India, and their debut album Crocopter is set for release on November 15 by Transcending Obscurity India. Like the album’s eye-catching cover art by T Bare McClough, the music will catch you off-guard. And while we’re on the subject of cover art, take a look at the same artist’s creation for the album slipcase (the name of the piece is “Hexesquigglid“): Continue reading »

THE REARVIEW MIRROR (DISMAL LAPSE)

THE REARVIEW MIRROR 4 Responses »

Sep 112016

(Our Sacramento-based writer DGR is the author of this Sunday’s edition of our series on metal from the past.)

Dismal Lapse were a Sacramento-based death metal band who were active for a brief period in the later 2000s, with their roots in an earlier Sacramento band known as Bled. During their time playing, the group would release one EP entitled The Nameless Faceless and then a 2009 album called Eon Fragmentation — which surprisingly enough this very site wrote a brief bit about long before they gave me the opportunity to set my roots down and burn this place to the ground.

Dismal Lapse played what should be a very familiar sound to a lot of our readers as they were a technical death metal band, although at the time that label hadn’t really homogenized around the sound that we currently associate with it. This fair city where I live would actually have a small hand in that though, alongside a swath of groups from the Bay Area who had been cutting their teeth for a long time on the I-5 touring run, when they were all picked up around the same time and divied up amongst labels like Unique Leader.

In 2009, that wasn’t really too much of a thought though, and Dismal Lapse were one amongst a handful playing a style that was intense and, yes, hyper-complicated. Continue reading »

DEATH RITUALS: KRYPTS, RUINS, SPECTRAL APPARITION, TOTALITARIAN, BLOOD OF SEKLUSION, MORAL VOID

Album Reviews, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC, SHORT BUT SWEET 10 Responses »

Sep 102016

On Thursday I mentioned that I was on the verge of leaving Seattle for a trip related to my day job. I’m still on that trip, which has taken me to a mountainous region of Utah for a “retreat” hosted by the company I work for. This happens every year, and it’s always fun. This year may be even more fun than usual, because so far I haven’t subjected myself to alcohol poisoning.

Yesterday and this morning I had time to pull together some new music and one news item. Despite the title of this post, most of the following six bands either straddle the line between black metal and death metal or might be considered all the way over on the black-metal side of the line. But the title wasn’t intended as a straight genre descriptor. There are other reasons for the title, which you’ll discover soon.

KRYPTS

I’ve been anxiously awaiting the new album by the Finnish band Krypts, because their 2013 debut full-length, Unending Degradation, was damned good. The name of the new album is Remnants of Expansion, it’s embellished with artwork by Timo Ketola, and it’s coming out on October 28 via Dark Descent. Continue reading »

DEVIN TOWNSEND: “TRANSCENDENCE”

Album Reviews 4 Responses »

Sep 092016

(Andy Synn reviews the new album by Devin Townsend.)

The man, the myth, the legend, known as Devin Townsend is certainly a creature of many contradictions. And, over the years, his various attempts to integrate and incorporate the many different facets of his nature have certainly produced some of the most compelling, creative, weird, and wacky wonders of Metal’s modern age.

Love him or loathe him, you can’t deny that he’s one of the genre’s most distinct and idiosyncratic personalities.

He’s also never been one to rest on his laurels, or try and go backwards. He’s said as much in interviews himself. And though there are doubtless going to be those who feel like he’s been playing it a little too safe recently (an accusation I wouldn’t necessarily refute, since the majority of Sky Blue felt like a poppier reworking of similar themes and ideas from Epicloud… which itself had its fair share of generic filler), he’s never consciously tried to resurrect or repeat his previous work. Each album is a unique statement reflecting a specific place and time, and a specific state of mind.

Which is why you might be surprised to learn that Transcendence is the closest thing to the Accelerated Evolution days that Devin’s produced since… well, since Accelerated Evolution! Continue reading »

COGNIZANT: “COGNIZANT”

Album Reviews 5 Responses »

Sep 092016

(Austin Weber reviews the new self-titled release by Cognizant from Dallas, Texas)

The rise and growth of skronky death metal and über-dissonant black metal, influenced equally by the likes of groups such as Gorguts, Deathspell Omega, and legions more, has led to the emergence of some very interesting new groups. And of those influenced by these antecedents, the most under-appreciated seem to me to be the new wave of tech-grind groups who draw elements from both schools of thought and then bring it down into a tight and concise grind format.

Some of you may be aware of my rampant obsession with tech-grind of the skronky and dissonant kind, as reflected in my coverage of groups such as Dendritic Arbor, Blurring, Okazaki Fragments, Cave Moth, Crisis Actor, and Amygdala last year — who now have been re-named as Cognizant. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: SAOR AND NATTRAVNEN

Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC 3 Responses »

Sep 082016

As usual, I’ve accumulated a long list of new songs and videos that emerged over the last 48 hours, hoping to throw many of them your way in this Thursday round-up. Alas, I’ve been scrambling to leave on a trip this morning for my day job that will take me away until Sunday night. I figured that I had time (barely) to spew praise on maybe two songs, and I picked these two, because they’ve spiked my brain like none of the others.

SAOR

Andy Marshall ought to be declared a Scottish national treasure. Under the name Saor, he has crafted two wonderful albums in 2013’s Roots and 2014’s Aura. And on November 11, a third one will be released, with the title of Guardians. Continue reading »

THE ISOLATION PROCESS: “THE ISOLATION PROCESS”

Album Reviews 3 Responses »

Sep 082016

(Andy Synn wrote this review of the self-titled album by The Isolation Process from Stockholm, Sweden.)

Wow, my current slate of potential reviews for NCS is pretty packed. Alcest, Obscure Sphinx, Mesarthim, Départe… a triumvirate of awesome British bands you guys might not have heard yet… the new album by the prolific An Autumn For Crippled Children… another edition of The Synn Report on a band who not only just released their fourth album, but who ONLY sing clean… the last quarter of 2016 is looking pretty packed already, and that’s not even taking into account all the other releases – big and small – set to hit the (digital) streets in the next few months.

So why the hell am I pushing all that aside to cover an album that’s now over two and a half years old?

Because I’ve fallen head over heels for it, and just can’t stop listening to it. That’s why. Continue reading »

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