AN NCS PREMIERE: IRON FLESH — “MALIGNANT KINGDOM”

 Premieres  1 Response »
Apr 082019
 

 

(Andy Synn introduces our premiere of a track off the forthcoming new album by the French quartet Iron Flesh.)

This site’s relationship with French Death Metal fanatics Iron Flesh – originally the solo project of Julien Helwin (ex-Otargos), but soon expanded to a full-powered four-piece – goes back a couple of years now, beginning when we stumbled across their debut EP, Worship the Necrogod, and continuing through our coverage of the band’s follow-up, Scourge of Demonic Incantations, last year.

On a more personal level my own relationship (if you want to call it that) with Julien goes back to when he was filling in on drums for Mithras in 2016, which is when I first met him (and saw how good he was behind the kit), and I’ve been eagerly following his career ever since.

As a result it fell to me to pen a few words about “Malignant Kingdom”, the first track to be released from the band’s upcoming full-length debut, Forged Faith Bleeding, which we’re delighted to be able to premiere for you all today! Continue reading »

BRUTUS: “NEST”

 Album Reviews  No Responses »
Apr 082019
 

 

(Andy Synn reviews the new album by the Belgian band Brutus, released on March 25th by Sargent House.)

Contrary to what you might believe, there is, on occasion at least, a certain methodological madness to the way we do things here at NCS.

Primarily this manifests itself in the way that certain posts and reviews are timed to coincide with album releases or song premieres or some other such item of note, but there are also other, much subtler, forces at work here and there.

Case in point, while I could have held this review back for later in the week, I felt that bright and early on a Monday, at a time when many of our readers will likely be looking for (and most open to) something a little different to energise and invigorate them for the trials ahead, might well be the best time to introduce people to the crisp, captivating catharsis of Brutus. Continue reading »

A TALE OF TWO ALBUMS: FROSTHELM AND WORMWITCH

 Album Reviews  2 Responses »
Apr 052019
 


Wormwitch

 

(Here we have a pair of reviews written by Andy Synn, juxtaposing the new albums by Vancouver’s Wormwitch and North Dakota’s Frosthelm.)

Every time that I’ve done this previously – bundling together paired reviews for Marduk/Funeral Mist, Arsis/Revocation, and Gorod/Beyond Creation – the response to the format and structure of the article has been surprisingly positive, hence why I decided to resurrect it for this piece.

The idea, after all, has always been about using comparison and contrast as a way of both critiquing and celebrating the artists involved, not in a way that necessarily invites or invokes competition, but in a way that uses each band as a mirror or a prism through which to view and reflect upon the other.

It’s also a great way of encouraging fans of one band to check out the works of another, similar, artist, if they haven’t already (and does wonders for our google rankings too).

So, without further ado, let’s take a look at the latest offerings from Frosthelm and Wormwitch, shall we? Continue reading »

CONFORZA: “REVIVAL”

 Album Reviews  No Responses »
Apr 042019
 

 

(Andy Synn reviews the new album by Conforza from New Hampshire, U.S.).

Isn’t it great when you stumble across a new, hitherto unheard, band, totally out of the blue?

Case in point, resurrected and reformatted New Hampshire metallers Conforza released their brand-new album, the aptly-titled Revival, last week and I’ve been listening to it pretty much non-stop ever since. Continue reading »

A DIRTY (BLACK) HALF DOZEN: AKROTHEISM, DIM AURA, KHNVM, NORDJEVEL, SCHATTENFALL, TOTALED

 Album Reviews  3 Responses »
Apr 012019
 


Akrotheism

 

(Andy Synn prepared the following reviews for six new albums from the realms of black metal.)

It’s already the first of April and, somehow, I am already about six months behind in my reviews for 2019.

To try and address this problem, this week I’m going to be grouping together a bunch of different bands/albums to try and simultaneously clear some of this backlog AND get the word out about a few new (or relatively new) releases I think you all need to hear.

So let’s begin with six (well, five and a half) examples of the black (Metal) arts, shall we? Continue reading »

THE SYNN REPORT (PART 107): LANDMINE MARATHON

 THE SYNN REPORT  1 Response »
Mar 302019
 

 

(In this March 2019 edition of THE SYNN REPORT Andy looks back at the four albums released so far by Arizona’s Landmine Marathon.)

Recommended for fans of: Gatecreeper, Bolt Thrower, Venom Prison

So the original plan for this month’s edition of The Synn Report was to feature the work of one-man Black Metal malcontent Abduction so as to line up nicely with the release of his brand new album.

Unfortunately, what Islander didn’t tell me was that he’d already arranged for a premiere (and review) to go live yesterday… which just goes to show that it’s important to communicate, kids! (Editor’s intrusion: Andy listed “mind-reader” on his resume. Mere puffery, apparently.)

Thankfully, I have a huge list of alternative Synn Report candidates to select from, which made the whole process a lot easier than you might imagine, especially since I’ve been itching to write about Arizona Death Metal quintet Landmine Marathon for ages! Continue reading »

ACCURSED SPAWN: “THE VIRULENT HOST”

 Album Reviews  2 Responses »
Mar 272019
 

 

(Here’s Andy Synn‘s review of the new album by Accursed Spawn from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, which was released by PRC Music on March 23rd.)

For whatever reason we here at NCS seem to have developed a bit of a reputation, in certain quarters, as a site that solely covers Black Metal.

Of course, you and I know that’s not true (even if my next edition of The Synn Report is most definitely going to be blacker than the blackest black… times infinity), but I’m willing to accept that perhaps it sometimes looks like we feature our blackened brethren more frequently than any other members of our disparate metallic menagerie.

Still, you know we love our Death Metal too, in all its myriad forms, and to prove it I’d like to introduce you all to Canada’s latest extreme export… Accursed Spawn. Continue reading »

WHITECHAPEL: “THE VALLEY”

 Album Reviews  2 Responses »
Mar 252019
 

 

(This is Andy Synn‘s review of the new album by Whitechapel, which will be released by Metal Blade Records on March 29th.)

While we don’t always cover the so-called “big name” releases here at NCS, on those special occasions when we do we always try write something that actively adds to the conversation, rather than simply rehashing the same old tired tropes and clichés.

Of course that begs the question, is it actually possible to write anything new or insightful about Whitehcapel at this point?

After all, this is a band who have now comfortably reached that “critic-proof” level where a sufficiently large proportion of their fanbase will likely pick up whatever they put out, sight unseen, while their more committed detractors will continue to deride and denigrate the band for their ‘core roots, and nothing I write is likely to massively influence anyone from either side.

However, this presupposes that the only point of a review like this it to rate an album as “good” or “bad”… whereas I’d contend it’s just as, if not even more, important to provide potential readers/listeners with context and perspective so as to help them make their own, educated, decision(s).

Which brings us to The Valley. Continue reading »

GOMORRAH: “GOMORRAH”

 Album Reviews  11 Responses »
Mar 222019
 

 

(Here’s Andy Synn‘s review of the new album by the British Columbia death metal band Gomorrah, which is being released today.)

While I definitely could have written about this album long before now (seeing as how the band’s representatives were kind enough to send me an early promo copy on request), I decided to wait until today to publish my review as I wanted everyone reading it to be able to listen to (and, ideally, purchase) the full record straight away.

Because while I can’t guarantee that all our readers are going to fall in love with Gomorrah (the band and/or the album) as much as I have, chances are that the band’s bombastic, blast-tastic brand of high-yield, high-octane Death Metal will appeal to an extremely wide cross-section of our regular audience. Continue reading »

CSEJTHE: “L’HORREUR DE ČACHTICE”

 Album Reviews  3 Responses »
Mar 212019
 

 

(We present Andy Synn‘s review of the new album by the black metal band Csejthe from Quebec City, which was released on March 13th.)

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, never underestimate the power and importance of good artwork.

Honestly, it still boggles my mind to see that album art – which is, in many cases, the first thing people will ever experience and associate with your music – is so often treated as a mere afterthought, something to be skimped on or left to the very last minute.

After all, why wouldn’t you want to present your music in the best way possible? Wouldn’t you, shouldn’t you, want the visual aesthetic to match and (ideally) complement the sonic side of things?

Case in point, I was initially drawn to L’Horreur De Čachtice by the distinctive design and unusual colour palette of the album’s cover art (by Ovezt Alia), only to discover that what I’d stumbled across was some fairly ripping Black Metal from the cold, wintry wastes of Canada, which was more than good enough to justify a feature here at NCS. Continue reading »

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