Oct 112019
 

 

(We present Andy Synn‘s review of the new album by the Norwegian black meal band 1349, which will be released on October 18th by Season of Mist.)

It’s been well-documented, on several occasions, that my favourite 1349 album is 2010’s Demonoir.

As you can imagine then, I was particularly excited when it was revealed that the band’s new album (released next Friday) was a pseudo-sequel (or is it a prequel?) to that hallowed record.

The only question is, could it be as good? Continue reading »

Aug 012019
 

 

The music in the first Part of today’s round-up of new music leaned into the deathlier side of the metal spectrum, but this second Part is more all-over-the-place. Once again, I’m starting with the announcement of a new album, even though I don’t yet have music from the record to share with you.

ESOTERIC

We don’t make a habit of simply posting announcements of new releases because there wouldn’t be enough hours in the day for that kind of thing. Plus, our main mission is to recommend music we enjoy that we’ve actually heard. But this week I’ve made several exceptions to that rule based on the eye-catching nature of cover artwork, coupled with high levels of confidence that the music is going to be exciting. I’m doing it again here, in the case of funeral doom icons Esoteric and Lisa Schubert‘s cover artwork for their new album, A Pyrrhic Existence. Continue reading »

May 022019
 

 

(One of our Norway-based contributors, Karina Noctum, brought us this two-part interview of Seidemann, long-time bassist for 1349 and the principal creative force behind Svart Lotus. The interview was conducted shortly before 1349‘s recent performance at Inferno Festival in Oslo, this is the final installment. Go here to read Part 1. The interview includes photos from Inferno Fest by Metal Exposure and Silje Storm Drabitius, and we thank them for allowing us to use them.)

This is the second installment of the interview conducted with Seidemann (bass) from 1349 at this year’s Inferno Festival in Oslo. This time it deals with what to expect from the new 1349 album, news about other musical projects, and information about future plans when it comes to touring and the releasing of new material. Continue reading »

May 012019
 

 

(One of our Norway-based contributors, Karina Noctum, brought us this two-part interview of Seidemann, long-time bassist for 1349 and the principal creative force behind Svart Lotus. The interview was conducted shortly before 1349‘s recent performance at Inferno Festival in Oslo and will be continued tomorrow. The interview includes photos from Inferno Fest by Metal Exposure and Silje Storm Drabitius, and we thank them for allowing us to use them.)

Before 1349‘s majestic performance of pure Black Metal immersed in aural hellfire at this year’s Inferno Festival in Oslo, I got the pleasure to interview Seidemann (bass). This is the first part of the interview, in which Seidemann presents insights about the creative process behind the band’s latest EP, Dødskamp, which was a musical interpretation of a work bearing the same name by the famed Norwegian artist Edvard Munch, and an in-depth talk about Seidemann‘s band Svart Lotus.

Here you will also find some information about what is to come for 1349 in the near future, and that topic will be further extended to the second part of the interview to be published later. Continue reading »

Jan 202019
 

 

As you can see, I again had enough time this weekend to round up, and write up, enough recommendations to justify a two-part column. I’ll dispense with further introductory comments and get right to it. (P.S. – I’ve added all four of the following tracks to my list of candidates for our 2019 edition of Most Infectious Songs.)

1349

This opening song (which has an interesting background story) took me by surprise twice. First, I had no idea it was coming when it surfaced to considerable fanfare five days ago; it comes a long five years after 1349‘s last album (Massive Cauldron of Chaos). And second, the music itself is a surprise. Continue reading »

Dec 262018
 

 

(Norway-based NCS contributor Karina Noctum prepared this review of the Riders of the Apocalypse show that took place in Oslo on December 19th.)

I usually publish reviews of concerts in Oslo just for a Norwegian audience, but I think this concert review can be of interest for the international NCS audience. The NCS statistics for 2018 were really cool. I must say I was impressed with the amount of visits (more than 1.7 million) and I’m pretty glad we have readers from more than 100 countries all over this small planet. I would like to thank everyone who supports NCS and all those who read my occasional contributions. It is my wish for 2019 to be able to contribute even more!

The first thing that caught my attention when I saw the line-up for the concert that took place the 19th this month was Svart Lotus. I had heard about the band before and knew it was 1349‘s bassist who was behind the project. But as to what the other band playing Riders of the Apocalypse could be exactly I wasn’t sure at first. The other band scheduled to play was going to be Superlynx, and I had heard from some rock-knowledgeable friends that they were good, but I hadn’t really checked the band for myself as I tend to have just enough time for metal. So I figured I would go based mainly on the 1349 connection. Continue reading »

Jan 192016
 

1349-live-shot

 

(Wil Cifer reviews the Atlanta stop of the “Chaos Raids Tour”, featuring performances by 1349 and Tombs.)

Cvlt Nation’s “Chaos Raids” tour is the darkest metal line-up on the road so far this year. Featuring two bands I have wanted to see for some time, Tombs and 1349, served as enough of a motivating factor to force me out of the house, since this fell on the day David Bowie died. It served as catharsis, as all good metal shows should.

We got to the Basement in the hipster-infested East Atlanta Village a little late, so we missed the local opener, blackened death metallers Vimur, and Full of Hell, who I had already seen with Mutilation Rites. Continue reading »

Oct 222015
 

nagasaki-explosion

 

(This is Part III of a three-part article prepared by our Russian friend Comrade Aleks. Part I is here, Part II is here.)

This third part of an article that has mainly told the story of World War II’s Eastern Front was supposed to appear earlier, but for some reasons I couldn’t rush. Its structure isn’t so straight, but the main subjects of this part aren’t battles, but the dirtier side of War, War Crimes.

It’s impossible to believe that such things were done by human kind in the period from 1941 ’til 1945, yet these crimes in different forms continue to the present days. You’ll not find here my point of view – only facts from the internet which you can easily check, and mostly extreme and brutal musical points of view on the events of World War II.

Here we have tracks from KYPCK, 1349, Slayer, and Jucifer (again), and you’ll also find exclusive comments by such bands as Winterborn (with fierce and sudden audio help from Impaled Nazarene), The Committee, Cirith Gorgor, and Endstille — along with their music.

I have no quote of Erich Maria Remarque for this time. Just never forget. Continue reading »

Apr 082015
 

 

(Andy Synn reports on the first day of Oslo’s Inferno Festival 2015 and provides photos.  For Andy’s report on the pre-fest show last Wednesday, go here.)

The first day of the festival proper began (for me at least) promptly at 6:15 when Spellemann Award-winning Death Metallers Execration took the stage.

Down and dirty, with a hint of something creepy just beneath the surface, the band’s blending of rolling, Vader/Autopsy–style death-grooves, Behemoth/Watain-esque stomp and swagger, and touches of eerie, Morbid Angel-ish atmosphere – accentuated here and there by unexpected progressive touches, flashes of surprising technicality, and an undercurrent of lurching sludge – should, by all rights, be an awkward mix. Yet somehow they make it work, taking this amalgam of sounds and using it to whip up an absolute cacophony of ugly, unrepentant nastiness that’s also as infectious as sonic syphilis. Continue reading »

Oct 082014
 

 

(Andy Synn reviews the new album by Norway’s 1349.)

Something that I’m more than willing to admit to is the fact that, when writing a review for NCS, I’ll take time to peruse other sites and see how the opinions I’ve formed stack up against those of other writers, and how well (or not) they fit with the common consensus.

I don’t see much of a problem with it personally, although I know several other writers who like to review in a vacuum, without the potential confounding influence of other people’s opinions. Often it means I stumble upon interesting factoids that I might otherwise have missed, which add context to my own work, or interesting interpretations that make me revisit what I’ve written in a different light.

Of course, occasionally you cross paths with the sort of completely biased review written by an oblivious fanboy, or an ignorantly negative attack written by someone with an obvious agenda, but mostly I find the opinions of other writers (particularly the ones whose opinions I really respect, regardless of whether I share them) to be a great help to me in my own work.

Why am I saying all this at the start of what’s meant to be a review of the (awesome) new album by 1349? Continue reading »