NO CLEAN SINGING

AN NCS INTERVIEW: WITCHTHROAT SERPENT (NIKO LASS)

Jul 082016

(We present another interview by our comrade, Comrade Aleks, and this time he had a great conversation with Niko Lass of the French band Witchthroat Serpent.)

Who would introduce the band better than themselves? Nobody! And as we want to do things right, let’s start with the official press-release I got from Witchthroat Serpent: about their new album Sang-Dragon:

“Sanguis draconis is a thick, blood-red resin extracted from exotic trees. Since the dawn of time, it has uses in medicine, crafts, and of course. magic. And so is Witchthroat Serpent’s music: dark and heady as blood, weird as it would come from another world, and ridden with that old powerful magic men both used to practice and fear.

“Witchthroat Serpent was created in November 2011 in Toulouse, France, by Fredrik Bolzann (guitar/vox), Niko Lass (drums), and Lo Klav (bass), with the aim to spread occult and powerful doom metal. The self-titled first album was released on CD in 2014 by Deadlight Entertainment, soon followed by a tape version through Zanjeer Zani and on LP by US label Emetic Records the year after.”

Witchthroat Serpent is not a clone. It has its own spells, and sure knows how to use them to enthrall the listener. Morbid groove and psychedelic tunes to seduce you to your perdition. And so too is their new album Sang-Dragon (enthralling), recorded in one day at Drudenhaus studio in September 2015. First released on CD by Deadlight Ent., it will be spread on noble black wax by Svart Records on August 26th. Before that, after just returning from a successful Spanish-French tour in May, the trio appeared on stage at Crumble Fest on June 4th and will play at Motocultor Fest on August 19th.

We had a nice conversation with Niko — informative, productive and honest. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): MONOLITHE — “ZETA RETICULI”

Album Reviews, Premieres 1 Response »

Jul 082016

Only seven months ago we brought you the premiere of a full-album stream on the release date of Epsilon Aurigae, the fifth album by the remarkable Parisian band Monolithe. But that album was only the first part of a two-album work with a common theme, and the second part — entitled Zeta Reticuli — is being released today by Debemur Morti Productions. Once again, we are fortunate to bring you the premiere of a complete album stream.

Both of these albums were recorded at the same time, and as was true of Epsilon Aurigae, Zeta Reticuli is composed of three long tracks, each of them exactly 15 minutes in length. Both albums are named for binary star systems, capturing the idea of two objects orbiting a single gravitational center, or in this case, two albums revolving around a common set of ideas. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: THE SCIMITAR (DARRYL SHEPARD)

Interviews No Responses »

Jul 072016

(Comrade Aleks brings us this interview with Darryl Shepard of the bi-coastal band The Scimitar from Massachusetts.)

A scimitar is a backsword or sabre with a curved blade, originating in the Middle East. The curved sword or “scimitar” was widespread throughout the Middle East from at least the Ottoman period, with early examples dating to the Abbasid-era (9th century) Khurasan. Also, The Scimitar is a severe and dark stoner doom band from Massachusetts. It was started by Darryl Shepard (guitars, vocals) and Dave Gein (bass) when they were on hiatus from Black Pyramid. They invited Brian Banfield to play drums later as The Scimitar turned out to be their main doom project.

Crushing, sharp, and heavy, The Scimitar is a merciless weapon, but the band have been silent since their first album Doomsayer was released two years ago. I posed a few questions to Darryl to clarify the band’s current status and to go deeper into the history of The Scimitar. Continue reading »

INQUISITION DELIVER “POWER FROM THE CENTER OF THE COSMIC BLACK SPIRAL”

RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC 6 Responses »

Jul 072016

The always compelling black metal band Inquisition have just revealed another advance track from their new album Bloodshed Across the Empyrean Altar Beyond the Celestial Zenith, which will be released by Season of Mist on August 26. I thought briefly about including the song in a round-up that I hope to finish and post later today, but then decided not to delay.

The song premiered not long ago at Revolver’s on-line site. Revolver chose not to provide any comment about the song itself, perhaps having concluded long ago that such commentary is a waste of time since people can listen to songs for themselves and most listeners probably wouldn’t strain their eyes reading before pressing “Play”. I, of course, can’t resist the urge to comment. Continue reading »

SPECTRAL GLOOM: BLACK AND DEATH DEMOS OF 2016

RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC 4 Responses »

Jul 072016

(Kaptain Carbon returns to NCS with this feature on black and death metal demos. Kaptain Carbon operates Tape Wyrm, a blog dedicated to current and lesser-known heavy metal. He also writes Dungeon Synth reviews over at Hollywood Metal as well as moderating Reddit’s r/metal community.)

Islander and No Clean Singing have been champs regarding my sometimes insane focus when it comes to articles. I remember at the last Maryland Death Festival I met Islander for two seconds and the first thing I mentioned to him was “Thanks so much for letting me write about Dungeon Synth.” I am in the process of writing the second part on that series but I have decided to do an article more in line with the site’s ethos. Black and death demos. Hopefully he will let me keep being weird.

Demos have been of immense interest to me because they are an entity whose intent has changed over the years, particularly since the era of the digital internet landscape began. Artists can release full-length albums to fans without the need for a record label intermediary. Demos were originally intended as a demonstration to labels, which could lead to albums and further releases with that label’s support. While this seems like a dream of the halcyon days of big labels, the process of demo to album still exists in underground metal, albeit slightly different in intent. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: INFECTING THE SWARM — “OBSCURING THE SEVENTH SUN”

Premieres 4 Responses »

Jul 072016

Augsburg, Germany, is home base for the über-talented one-man brutal death metal band Infecting the Swarm. With one well-received album under his belt (2014’s Pathogenesis), Hannes S. has completed a second album in a planned conceptual trilogy, this new one named Abyss. Lacerated Enemy Records will be releasing the album on September 9, and today it’s our pleasure to bring you the premiere of the album’s seventh track — “Obscuring the Seventh Sun“.

Yesterday on our putrid site we posted an “op-ed” piece (here) attempting to answer the question often asked of metal heads: “Why do you listen to that stuff?” Our writer (Mr. A. Synn) identified many answers, but for him the main one could be summed up in one word: “ENERGY” Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: NUKE — “HELLRIDER”

Premieres 6 Responses »

Jul 062016

Almost one month ago I came across a song called “Nuke Me Baby” by a Detroit band named Nuke from their forthcoming, self-titled debut album on the Hells Headbangers label. It lit me up like I’d stepped on a downed power line. I managed to gasp out the phrase in print that it “makes me want to get wasted and piss on a police car”. Despite that, or maybe because of that, I got the chance to premiere another song from Nuke. I even got to pick the song I wanted to premiere. It wasn’t easy (so many fine tracks on this album), but I’m going with “Hellrider“.

Nuke may be a newish band, but the line-up includes Ritchie Riot from Shitfucker on vocals and other members who’ve played in Reaper, Borrowed Time, Perversion, and Anguish. They’ve got some veteran skills, of a certain kind, that they’ve put to damned good use nuking the bejesus out of listeners on this new album. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: BARISHI — “GRAVE OF THE CREATOR”

Premieres 3 Responses »

Jul 062016

We’ve been following Vermont’s Barishi every step along their way, with our man Andy Synn reviewing both their 2013 debut album (here) and their 2015 EP Endless Howl (here). Barishi have now prepared a second full-length named Blood From the Lion’s Mouth, which will be released worldwide by Season of Mist on September 16, and today we bring you a stream of the album’s first advance track, “Grave of the Creator”.

Regarding the new track, the band comments: “”Grave of the Creator” came together in the middle of the album’s writing process. The majority of the song was written on an old acoustic guitar in a hundred year old log cabin in the middle of Maine. It’s been fun hearing its transformation since then.”

And the song definitely has transformed since its acoustic beginnings. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE: ANICON — “EXEGESES”

Album Reviews, Premieres 11 Responses »

Jul 062016

It makes some sense that New York’s Anicon have partnered with Gilead Media for the release of their debut album, Exegeses, which happens this coming Friday. The band includes drummer Lev Weinstein of Krallice (and Geryon, among other groups) as well as bassist Alexander DeMaria, who performs live with Yellow Eyes. Apart from the connections between those bands and Gilead Media, Exegeses displays certain qualities that make it a natural fit for the kind of dark and unusually distinctive music in which Gilead tends to traffic.

In addition to the impressive rhythm section identified above, Anicon includes the group’s founding members Nolan Voss and Owen Rundquist, who share both guitar and vocal roles. The interplay and the harmonizing of their guitar performances on Exegeses is a principal source of the album’s great fascination and power — as you’re about to find out for yourselves through our premiere of a full album stream. Continue reading »

WHY DO YOU LISTEN TO THAT STUFF?

Mosh Pit 31 Responses »

Jul 062016

(Andy Synn prepared these meditations on why he listens to metal.)

Like most of you (or so I’m assuming for the purposes of this column) the above question is one that I was, for a long time, quite intimately familiar with. And though I tend to hear it less frequently nowadays than I used to, variants of it still crop up now and again:

“How can you listen to that stuff, it’s just noise?”

“Where’s the melody?”

“It all just sounds the same!”

And, as much as I’m occasionally tempted by the knee-jerk, involuntary reaction (“YOU JUST DON’T UNDERSTAND!!!) I’m not an angst-ridden teenager anymore… I’m an angst-ridden adult, and thus far more willing to engage with these sorts of questions and statements, and try to understand where they’re coming from.

Plus, it’s actually a good question… why DO we listen to Metal? Continue reading »

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