NO CLEAN SINGING

SHORT BUT SWEET: FOUL BODY AUTOPSY — “PERPETUATED BY GREED”

Mar 162016

(DGR reviews the new EP by Foul Body Autopsy.)

If I had to hazard a guess, I would say that the year 2016 is going to be a heavy year for deathgrind for me. Given the political nature of this year, my acceptance of humanity is going to be lying at an all-time low up until I see that number at the end of the year shift from a six to a seven.

This may be me projecting, but I get the feeling that quite a few of us are going to need a healthy dose of music with a certain amount of disdain in its mix to get through this year’s shit show.

Given that, it is nice to see that quite a few bands have made sure that my music player will at least be stocked. Between W R I T H E, Distaste/Rotten Cold, Gadget, Rotten Sound, and now Foul Body Autopsy, it is good to know that there are at least some kindred spirits who are wishing for total annihilation at this moment and will at least be delivering it in sonic form. If there were ever a time when the world needed something from Misery Index — this year would be it. Continue reading »

SHORT BUT SWEET: MESARTHIM — “PILLARS”

Album Reviews 5 Responses »

Mar 162016

(Andy Synn reviews the new EP by Australia’s Mesarthim.)

Space is… really big. You just won’t believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is. And being so big, so infinitely, unendingly big, it’s really no surprise how much it continues to fascinate, captivate, and inspire humanity in its many artistic endeavours.

And yes, while at times it can seem like the sheer infinity of time and space is on the verge of filling up with dime-a-dozen Tech Death bands, they certainly don’t have a monopoly on all things cosmic, as there’s a whole host of acts operating within the (dyson) sphere of Black Metal who take their primary inspiration from the endless wonder and grandeur of the great beyond.

This is particularly evident of course on the Atmospheric/Ambient side of the genre, with acts like Darkspace, Mare Cogitum, and Progenie Terrestre Pura rejecting the darkness of the brimstone abyss in favour of the vastness of the shining void, although even bands like Agalloch and Enslaved (to name but two) have done more than their fair share of stargazing over the years.

Australian astronometallers Mesarthim are one of the latest, and brightest, stars to join this ebon constellation of bands, with the release of their debut album Isolate in July of last year. And now they’re back once again with their new EP, Pillars. Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK (PART 1): SCHAMMASCH, UPRISING, ELFSGEDROCH, INVEHERTEX, THE HEXAGRAM

Album Reviews, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC, SHADES OF BLACK 12 Responses »

Mar 152016

You might think that after posting a round-up on Sunday that included recent music from 39 bands, I would be all out of discoveries to write about. Nope, not even close. From Sunday’s flood of music streams I diverted some to which I wanted to dedicate closer attention, and since then I’ve found even more. All of it happens to be in the orbit of black metal, and so I’ve collected the music in a new edition of Shades of Black.

However, the volume of what I want to write about is so great that I’ve divided this edition into three parts. I will post Parts 2 and 3 tomorrow. Five excellent bands are included in this first installment.

SCHAMMASCH

We’ve already written quite a lot about Triangle, the new triple album by the Swiss band Schammasch, and until yesterday we hadn’t yet heard any of the music. But now we all have a song to hear, a long track named “Consensus“. According to the band, this is the first of three tracks that will be revealed prior to the album’s release. Continue reading »

SHORT BUT SWEET: PYRRHON — “RUNNING OUT OF SKIN”

Album Reviews, SHORT BUT SWEET 2 Responses »

Mar 152016

(Austin Weber reviews the surprising new EP by Pyrrhon.)

Since their inception, NYC-based death metal weirdos Pyrrhon have developed a reputation as an experimental force to be reckoned with. And with each new release the band venture further into new territory and new forms of chaotic, genre-bending insanity. Last year they dropped an EP called Growth Without End that got a lot of critical praise and really seemed to be a breakthrough moment for the group in terms of their growing name recognition. If you remember, that release was itself a quick turn-around, with the band having previously released a phenomenal full-length just two years ago called The Mother Of Virtues.

Now, seemingly out nowhere and with no advance hype, the band quietly dropped a new EP today called Running Out Of Skin. With the only Pyrrhon constant seeming to be a penchant to change and shift their sound, it should come as no surprise that Running Out Of Skin is both familiar and different from their prior works. It consists of three original tracks, two of which were improvised in the studio, and a damn heavy cover of Death’s ”Crystal Mountain” to end the EP. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: MGŁA

Interviews 26 Responses »

Mar 152016

(Last September I sent interview questions to Poland’s Mgła, the creators of one of the best albums of 2015 — Exercises In Futility. Mgła have been very busy since then, and I had given up hope that the questions would be answered, but yesterday we received them. Some of the topics have been overtaken by time, but others remain relevant, and I hope you’ll find the answers as interesting as I do. I thank M. for answering the questions when it would have been easy to forget about them altogether.)

******

Forgive me, but I would like to ask you a few questions about the lyrics to the songs on the new album before getting to the music. I read them before listening and thought they were eloquent and powerful (as usual), though quite bleak and even nihilistic. They changed my mood and state of mind before hearing a note, as if preparing the way. What inspired you in your writing this time?

Life itself, as obvious as it may sound. That’s what the album title refers to. The lyrics are a condensed form of our commentary to the world. Continue reading »

DRAUGNIM — “VULTURINE”

Album Reviews 8 Responses »

Mar 152016

With their new album Vulturine, Finland’s Draugnim have created the kind of music which takes that jaded, sour, petulant roommate in the tenement of your mind, kicks it to the street, and rouses that part of you (maybe long dormant but not quite dead) that yearns to go out and fight for something glorious — to defy the odds and cast caution to the wind, even if blood and death loom ahead. But the music is also as heart-breaking as it is heart-swelling, as tragic as it is vengeful and warlike.

It’s the kind of particularly Northern European blending of black metal, melodic death metal, and folk metal (aka “pagan metal”) that brings to mind, and fully merits, that much-used word “epic” — but it’s so full of fiery passion and genuine conviction that it never becomes theatrical or calculatingly bombastic. It’s an intense, intensely moving, and deeply memorable experience. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: IDOLATRY — “TIAMATIC WINDS”

Premieres 6 Responses »

Mar 142016

Last April we had the pleasure of premiering a striking video for a powerful song by Idolatry from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The song was “Clefs Au Chambre de Tristêsse (A Key To the Room of Sadness)“, and it appeared on a split named Infection Born of Ending with the Ohio black metal band Unrest. Since then, Idolatry have completed work on their debut album, which bears the name Visions From the Throne of Eyes, and today we again bring you another Idolatry premiere, this time for a scorching assault from the new album named “Tiamatic Winds“.

According to the band: “The track is about wildfires ripping through western Canada during the writing of the lyrics. Imagining Tiamat, the Satanic entity, encouraging and blowing the flames hungrily across the mountains.” Continue reading »

FLESHGORE: “DENIAL OF THE SCRIPTURES”

Album Reviews 5 Responses »

Mar 142016

(DGR reviews the new album by the Ukrainian band Fleshgore.)

In the annals of death metal history, few names will likely be considered as “on the nose” as FLESHGORE (which is the type of name that screams that it must be typed in bold letters, all caps, at all times). There will be scant few people who will see the name, hit play, go through the opening few minutes of Denial Of The Scriptures, and then stand there slack-jawed and wide-eyed and declare, “I have no idea what I was expecting”. If not by name alone, then certainly the tentacle-filled artwork should at least tip you off that the music contained within is heavy.

But rather than turn this into a lecture on the effectiveness of death metal group naming conventions, we really need to drill down into the core of this music. FLESHGORE are a three-piece brutal death metal band hailing from Ukraine consisting of a bassist/vocalist combo, a guitarist, and a drummer. Their new album, the aforementioned Denial Of The Scriptures, came out at the end of February. Continue reading »

CHILD BITE: “NEGATIVE NOISE”

Album Reviews 3 Responses »

Mar 142016

(Allen Griffin reviews the new album by Detroit’s Child Bite.)

While the infamous D-Beat has become nearly ubiquitous in some corners of the Extreme Metal world, Punk’s influence doesn’t seem to extend much beyond that these days. Rarely does a Punk band emerge now who harkens back to the genre’s early pioneers and the sense of sonic experimentalism that drove them to create such fascinating music. Detroit’s Child Bite are doing their best to fix that with their new album Negative Noise, due out on Housecore Records on April 1st.

The most immediate comparison one might pick up on as Child Bite does their thing is Dead Kennedys, albeit with the kind of sonic abrasiveness suitable for modern times. Continue reading »

BENEATH THE NCS RADAR (PART 8)

Album Reviews 4 Responses »

Mar 142016

(Our Norwegian friend Gorger returns to our pages with another installment in his series recommending releases that we’ve managed to overlook. And be sure to check out Gorger’s Metal.)

Cheers one and all.

When someone decides to read a book for the very first time, they typically check out the number of pages, before exchanging the 500-page monolith for a seemingly easier 200-page thing.

Likewise, when I do my daily surf, I might occasionally bypass long write-ups, simply because of my busy schedual, laziness, lack of concentration, or whatever.

It’s been far too long since my last post here, so I’ll shorten down my rambling a little bit in favour of both my and your lethargy. Continue reading »

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