SAHG: “MEMENTO MORI”

 Album Reviews, Exceptions to the Rule  10 Responses »
Dec 072016
 

sahg-memento-mori

 

(Andy Synn reviews the new album by Sahg from Bergen, Norway.)

I have something to confess. Something that’s probably going to cut deep into my well established metal cred (ha!). You see, I don’t really like Black Sabbath.

There, I said it. Let the shaming begin.

It’s not that I actually dislike them. Far from it. As a matter of fact I enjoy them whenever I hear them (particularly the Dio era), and fully respect the band’s timeless legacy (more on that in a moment).

But they’re just not the sort of band whose albums I’d ever spin for my own enjoyment.

However, in the same way that although I’m not really much of a Slayer fan (there goes the last of my credibility), yet still absolutely love many bands who count them as a major influence, there’s a number of artists in my collection who cite Sabbath as their prime reason for being, and who can trace the roots of their sound right back to the Brummie masters (of reality).

And one of those bands is Norwegian doom-groove quartet Sahg. Continue reading »

DISCHORDIA: “THANATOPSIS”

 Album Reviews  3 Responses »
Dec 022016
 

dischordia-thanatopsis

 

(Here’s Andy Synn’s review of the new album by Dischordia from Oklahoma City.)

As I’m currently sifting through all the various releases from this year’s crop, in preparation for my annual list-stravaganza, I’ve been able to pick out a few trends and patterns which have developed over the last twelve months.

One in particular has stood out – just how much good Death Metal, both from established names and underground upstarts, that’s been released in 2016.

And that includes Thanatopsis, the second album by Oklahoma triumvirate Dischordia. Continue reading »

THE SYNN REPORT, PART 79: TERRA TENEBROSA

 Album Reviews, THE SYNN REPORT  5 Responses »
Nov 302016
 

Terra Tenebrosa art

 

(In this month’s edition of THE SYNN REPORT, Andy Synn reviews the discography of Terra Tenebrosa.)

Recommended for fans of: Blut Aus Nord, Leviathan, Ævangelist

Some bands are easy to categorise. Death Metal. Black Metal. Thrash. You can stick a band in one of these boxes and (generally) have a good impression of the sort of sounds you can expect to hear.

Of course, sometimes the category itself can be a bit nebulous. Metalcore. Nu-Metal. Progressive Metal. These aren’t quite as well-defined, and are frequently used as a catch-all term (often, but not always, with negative connotations) for bands that don’t fit properly in one of the “core” Metal genres (no pun intended).

And then there are bands like Terra Tenebrosa, who seem to willfully defy categorisation altogether.

“Avant-Garde Black Metal” seems to be the closest approximation that most people have settled on for their sound, but even this doesn’t quite capture it. There are elements and undercurrents of everything from gloomy Post-Metal and chaotic Hardcore to pulsing Industrial and droning Ambient music, all wrapped up in a grim shroud of morbid, blackened vibes and horror-movie atmospherics.

Whatever it is, though, it works. Continue reading »

WITCHERY: “IN HIS INFERNAL MAJESTY’S SERVICE”

 Album Reviews  2 Responses »
Nov 282016
 

witchery-in-his-infernal-majestys-service

 

(Here’s Andy Synn’s review of the new album by Sweden’s long-running Witchery, which is out now via Century Media.)

Unless you’ve been living under a rock this year you’ll probably have heard something about the release of a new album by a bunch of head-banging, hard-riffing, Thrash Metal veterans who are currently undergoing a bit of a critical renaissance.

No, not Hetfield and co… we’re talking about motherfucking Witchery, bitches! Continue reading »

BEST OF GERMAN (PART 2): NOCTE OBDUCTA, BETHLEHEM, ULTHA

 Album Reviews  30 Responses »
Nov 252016
 

flag-map-of-germany

 

(Andy Synn prepared this trio of reviews for new albums by three German bands.)

Synchronicity can be a strange thing indeed. Case in point, coming hot on the heels of my recent (and surprisingly well-received) column on “Black Metal” here we have a triple-header feature on three bands who all sit somewhere under the big black umbrella, but whose actual adherence to the term “Black Metal” varies pretty drastically.

Not only that, but they all just happen to be German in origin, which means I can collect all three groups under the “Best of German” banner which I first used (here) back in May, and pretend like this whole thing was part of some grand plan of mine, rather than a completely random sequence of events that just happens to have lined up in a way that appears to be thematically significant.

But I’ll take what I can get, because these three albums are all absolutely hervorragend… Continue reading »

WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT… BLACK METAL

 Mosh Pit  51 Responses »
Nov 212016
 

gorgoroth

 

(Here we have an opinion piece by Andy Synn, and as always we welcome your comments.)

As most of you should know by now, I generally love Black Metal. Of course I don’t love every band or every particular sub-species of the style, but overall there’s just something about the music and the ethos of the genre – an intensity, an atmosphere, a sense of stubborn individuality — that really speaks to me.

I also particularly love the fact that Black Metal, although denigrated by many for being too insular and restrictive (and, in fact, also celebrated by many for the former), is actually one of the most musically open and creative genres in Metal when you really dig into it.

From the most Avant-Garde to the most Punk, from the most Melodic to the most harshly Industrial, from the Post/Progressive/Atmospheric side of things, to the punishing panzer-style of pure blasting blasphemy… and more… to my mind the core essence of Black Metal is a refusal to be restricted or defined by the expectations of others. It’s about freedom and the ability to “do what thou wilt…”

But, of course, that itself raises some problems. Continue reading »

ACHERONTAS / SLIDHR: “DEATH OF THE EGO / CHAINS OF THE FALLEN”

 Album Reviews, SHORT BUT SWEET  1 Response »
Nov 182016
 

acherontas-slidhr-split

 

(Andy Synn wrote this review of the new split by Acherontas from Greece and Slidhr from Ireland.)

A good split-release, such as the Nightbringer/Dødsengel effort Circumambulations of the Solar Inferno, the recent Ur Draugr/Haar tag-team, or any of the multitude of Misery Index splits, can be a great place for a band to explore ideas and themes which – for whatever reason – might not fit as part of a full album or which they simply want to stand on their own, while also allowing them the chance to “share the stage” (as it were) with another act of a similar outlook and ethos.

In rare cases, such as last year’s unholy alliance between Dragged Into Sunlight and Gnaw Their Tongues, or the much more recent collaboration between Selvans and Downfall of Nur, both of which err closer to the album than the EP side of things, the split release becomes a true amalgam of both bands, giving birth to something wholly unique in the process.

But, however the bands involved choose to approach it, a good split-release is always an opportunity to make a statement, and this new five-track split (3 by the godless Greeks, 2 by the Irish idolaters) from Acherontas and Slidhr makes one very simple statement of intent indeed… we bleed black, and breathe fire, and we will not be denied our due. Continue reading »

ANDY SYNN PRESENTS: REVIEWS IN HAIKUS (METALLICA)

 Album Reviews, Reviews In Haikus  10 Responses »
Nov 172016
 

metallica-hardwired-to-self-destruct

 

(Andy Synn’s haiku review feature usually includes a trio of 3-line reviews, but this one includes a dozen haikus for a single album.)

So I assume by now that many of you, if you have even a passing interest in the band still, will have heard some (if not all) of the new Metallica album, Hardwired… to Self-Destruct?

After all, it’s finally being released tomorrow, and the band have now debuted a different music video (some better than others) for each of the twelve songs which make up the double-disc set, so it should be easy enough to make your own mind up whether or not you’re still willing to get on-board the Metallica train.

Now as much as we tend to focus our energies on covering the smaller bands here at NCS, sometimes it’s fun to comment on the bigger acts too. It really just depends (in my case, at least) as to whether or not we feel like we have anything interesting to add to the conversation.

And having seen a mixture of reactions ranging from the hilarious (“death to false metal!”) to the fawning (“this is the best album of the year, Metallica can do no wrong!”) I felt like I wanted to at least say a little something about the album… and what better way than through the ever-enigmatic medium of the humble haiku?

So, after the jump, twelve haikus and twelve videos, summing up my feelings, good and bad, towards Hardwired… Continue reading »

ANTAEUS: “CONDEMNATION”

 Album Reviews  7 Responses »
Nov 162016
 

antaeus-condemnation

 

(Andy Synn reviews the eagerly anticipated new album by the French black metal band Antaeus.)

With so much being written recently about the molten new release (is it an EP? is it an album?) by a certain bunch of radical French firebrands, it would be easy, all too easy, to overlook what some of their countrymen are doing.

Which would be a mistake of practically biblical proportions, because this week sees the long-awaited release of Condemnation, the fourth album from Satanic savages Antaeus. Continue reading »

THE REARVIEW MIRROR (ENSLAVED)

 Album Reviews, THE REARVIEW MIRROR  1 Response »
Nov 132016
 

Rearview Mirror

 

(Andy Synn wrote this Sunday’s edition of our regular look-back at metal’s earlier days.)

2016 marks Enslaved’s 25th anniversary as a band, and 22 years since they released their first album, Vikingligr Veldi, which is the subject of today’s post.

Originally released on the now-defunct Deathlike Silence Productions (which was founded by original, and now deceased, Mayhem vocalist Øystein Aarseth, a.k.a. Euronymous, to whom the album is also dedicated), Vikingligr Veldi has recently been given a fresh coat of paint and a spiffy new remaster for its long-awaited release on vinyl.

And although the original version still sounds pretty damn good for its age (yes, it’s a little buzzy in places, and occasionally the keys can get a little overbearing, but there’s a pleasing amount of clarity and depth to the overall sound, and each instrument, including the oft-neglected bass guitar, is given a good amount of room and space to breathe), the remaster just gives the album that extra bit of polish and shine, without detracting from the raw energy or rough and ready sensibilities of the album as a whole. Continue reading »

 Older Entries  Newer Entries