NO CLEAN SINGING

AN NCS PREMIERE: GAEREA — “THROUGH TIME”

Oct 312016

This makes the third time we’ve written about Gaerea in recent months, the first time when we premiered a teaser of a song from their forthcoming self-titled debut EP and the second time when we lauded a song from the EP called “Void of Numbness” that premiered at CLVT Nation. Now we have the chance to bring you a full song premiere ourselves, and this one is “Through Time“.

Before getting to the music, consider a couple of quotations. The first is from the band itself:

““Let’s make one thing clear. We need to stress the fact that our era is lost in a huge void of numbness. We are here to bring and present you what your system could not solve by itself. We’ll cover the daylight with ashes and smash the massive skull that’s blocking your brain and will to evolve. We’re GAEREA.”

AN NCS EP PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): WOEBEGONE OBSCURED

Premieres 1 Response »

Oct 312016

The first two full-length releases by the Danish band Woebegone Obscured were immense albums that immediately established an impressive edifice within the landscape of Funeral Doom — 2007’s Deathstination and 2013’s Marrow of Dreams. Since then the band haven’t yet returned to the full-length format, instead releasing an EP named Deathscape MMXIV through Solitude Productions two years ago and now another EP, this one self-titled. Today is the official release date for the new one, which can be streamed and downloaded at Bandcamp. And we’re helping to spread the word about it through this premiere.

In addition to the fact that the new EP bears the band’s name, so do its two songs. The first is “Woebegone”, the second is “Obscured” — and both are staggeringly powerful. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): TREURWILG — “DEPARTURE”

Album Reviews, Premieres 2 Responses »

Oct 312016

(Grant Skelton reviews the debut album by the Dutch doom band Treurwilg. and brings us a premiere stream of all the songs.)

Earlier this year, I stumbled across Treurwilg on Bandcamp. In January, they released an album of tracks recorded live at the Little Devil bar in their hometown of Tilburg. The album art intrigued me, so I gave it a listen. Since then, I’ve been chomping at the proverbial bit for a proper studio album. So when Treurwilg unveiled the track “As His Final Light Is Fading” from Departure, their debut release, my expectations were exceeded. Readers may remember that I featured the track in a previous Seen & Heard. There, I described it thusly:

“The track is heavy and slow. Heavy like a stony albatross about your neck. And slow like the way you’d die from drowning. It’s also ambivalent, fluctuating between violence and melancholy. The last minute is absolute savagery that flays the flesh of the inner ear. And I mean all that in the best way possible.”

SHADES OF BLACK: ANTAEUS, AFAR, ENEPSIGOS, GRAVESPAWN, NEBRUS, STRODA, SURTR

Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC, SHADES OF BLACK 7 Responses »

Oct 302016

As usual, I had trouble picking which songs to include in this Sunday’s edition of Shades of Black — just too damned much new music in a blackened vein that I wanted to recommend. But in the end, this collection felt right to me. It includes considerable variety as well as a mix of well-known names and obscure unknowns (who will perhaps become somewhat better known after today).

I’ve presented the music in alphabetical order by band name, except I bumped Antaeus up by one place to begin this playlist, because… duh… it’s fucking Antaeus.

ANTAEUS

Ten years after their last studio album Blood Libels, the French black metal band Antaeus have a new album set for release on November 18. Entitled Condemnation, it was recorded by guitarist Set and vocalist MkM as the two sole members of the band, with session drums by Menthor (Enthroned, Lucifyre, Nightbringer), who coincidentally was the drummer on the excellent debut album of the Dutch band Soulemission that we premiered just a few days ago. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: TARNKAPPE — “WINTERWAKER”

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Oct 302016

Earlier this month I reviewed the impressive new album Winterwaker (“Guardian of Winter”) by the Dutch black metal band Tarnkappe, whose two members come from such bands as Kjeld, Standvast, and Gheestenland. At that time the only song available for public streaming was a track called “Bodemkruiper”, but today we’ve got the premiere of the album’s title track for your listening pleasure.

As I wrote in the review, Winterwaker is firmly rooted in the traditions of fierce Scandinavian black metal from the early ’90s, yet it still has its own vivid and dynamic personality. “Bodemkruiper” is one of the more fiery and blasting tracks on the album, yet even it reveals that Tarnkappe are concerned with melody as much as driving intensity. Continue reading »

THE REARVIEW MIRROR (MACERATION)

THE REARVIEW MIRROR 1 Response »

Oct 302016

More often that not, these Rearview Mirror posts look back at entire albums from metal’s past, but today the subject is just one song and a video that was made for it.

When I saw the video yesterday, the name Maceration rang a faint bell in my addled head, but the more I learned about the band after seeing the video, the more I thought I really didn’t know about them — because with their line-up, I think I would have remembered.

According to Metal-Archives, this Danish band’s first output was an “Official Livetape” that included eight tracks, including covers of songs by Obituary and Death. And then they recorded their only album, released in 1992 under the title A Serenade of Agony. By that point, the band’s line-up on the album included two members of the thrash band Invocator, Jakob Schultz (bass, guitars) and Jacob Hansen (drums, guitars, backing vocals), plus guitarist Lars Bangholt — and Dan Swanö as the session vocalist for the recording. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD ON A SATURDAY: BETHLEHEM, MARTYRDÖD, ANIMA DAMNATA, REVELATIONS OF RAIN, CONDENADOS, ETHEREAL RIFFIAN, FLOM, SOUTHERN DRINKSTRUCTION, NO ONE GETS OUT ALIVE

Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC 3 Responses »

Oct 292016

Hey there, happy Saturday to one and all. I kept a list over the last week of (mostly) new music I enjoyed. With the aid of an abacus, I counted how many songs, EPs, and albums were on that list. They added up to 39 (!). I moved some of them into the list of candidates for tomorrow’s Shades of Black post. I then picked the following nine for this playlist. There’s not a lot of rhyme or reason to the selections, though I did aim to provide wide genre variety. I hope you find something to like — I liked all this stuff a lot.

BETHLEHEM

This year the influential German band Bethlehem are celebrating their 25th anniversary by releasing a self-titled album (their eighth overall) on December 2 via Prophecy Productions. The album features a new vocalist, i.e., Onielar, from the German black metal band Darkened Nocturn Slaughtercult, and a new Russian guitarist known as Karzov, who participated significantly in the songwriting.I think it’s worth including this quote from Marcus Losen, Bethlehem‘s drummer in the early years:

“Apparently somebody in this f*cking universe answered my longstanding wish at last. These 10 tracks have the spirit and the balls I missed in Bethlehem for more than 18 years!”

DAMNATION FESTIVAL 2016: PREVIEWS AND PONTIFICATIONS

Metal News 1 Response »

Oct 292016

(Our fortunate friend Andy Synn will be attending Damnation Festival 2016 next week in Leeds, UK, and in this post shares a preview of how he’ll be spending his time. Oddly, there is no mention of beer.)

Not all of you might be aware of this, but it’s not uncommon for PR agents and festivals to only issue press passes on the contingency that the writer/blog/magazine makes sure to produce some preview coverage in advance of the show/event in question.

Now although I don’t often ask for accreditation myself (something about the whole process just doesn’t feel right to me), on those rare occasions when I do I have absolutely no problem agreeing to the sort of quid pro quo set out above. After all it makes sense for the organisers to try to get as much coverage as they can, and as long as no-one is trying specifically dictate or mandate exactly what I can (and cannot) write, I don’t see any issues.

After all, I wouldn’t want to go if I didn’t think the music would be worth it, would I?

So, without further ado, I hereby present you with a little preview of next week’s Damnation Festival, complete with music and random ramblings about each band I hope to get to see. Continue reading »

KRYPTS: “REMNANTS OF EXPANSION”

Album Reviews 3 Responses »

Oct 282016

(We welcome new NCS contributor Lewis Edwards, who wrote this review of the new album by the Finnish band Krypts, which is being released today by Dark Descent Records.)

Any death metal fan worth his salt needs no introduction to Krypts or why Remnants of Expansion has been one of the most anticipated death metal albums of the year, but for those of you less enlightened, Krypts are a four-piece old school death metal revivalist band, of sorts. Their 2013 debut full-length Unending Degradation saw a preference for slow/mid-tempo dirges in the vein of Rippikoulu, accompanied by the off-kilter riffing styles of Demilich and Adramelech, and it cemented Krypts’ place as one of the most exciting bands in modern death metal.

Remnants of Expansion pulls no punches from the very start; the reverb-laden sustained notes at the beginning of album opener “Arrow of Entropy” really set the tone for the rest of the record, and the sense of atmosphere is clearly felt as the song progresses from one sprawling doom-influenced riff to the next over the course of ten minutes. Simply put, it’s an absolutely monstrous way to open the album, and one which perhaps sees Krypts making a signal of intent. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: HORNSS — “OLD GHOSTS”

Premieres No Responses »

Oct 282016

HORNSS come our way from San Francisco, brandishing a new album (their second) named Telepath, which is available now on vinyl from STB Records (though few copies are left) and on CD and digital via Ripple Music on November 18. What we have for you is a piece of music from the album named “Old Ghosts“, and it will kick your ass up between your shoulder blades.

Actually, your ass may wind up somewhere else; individual experience may vary. Mine? Up where I used to scratch my back.

I know — it’s commonplace to say that a song will kick your ass. But about half the time that’s an exaggeration — all you get is an annoying tickle or a dull nudge. But “Old Ghosts” is the real deal. Continue reading »

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