SEEN AND HEARD ON A SATURDAY: OBSCVRE SER, ASSUMPTION, RISE ABOVE DEAD, VOID SECTOR ZERO, ACÉDIA, DISFEAR

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  No Responses »
Oct 032026
 

(written by Islander)

Yesterday was another Bandcamp Friday, when the platform waives its revenue share so that artists and labels can take in more money from their sales. There will be two more of those this year, on November 6th and December 4th.

In deciding what music to recommend in this column I nearly didn’t pay any attention to our in-box for the last two days, because I knew it would be flooded with messages from people trying to take advantage of the Friday benefit (and to be clear, I don’t blame them a bit). I already had plenty of possibilities from preceding days this week and last week.

But I wound up wading through the flood anyway, and fielding recommendations from assorted other people online. I didn’t listen to everything I listed for myself, because if I had, it would already be Sunday. But I listened enough to make the choices difficult. Here’s where I came down. I hope you’ll enjoy the picks. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: ASSUMPTION

 Interviews  No Responses »
Jun 212022
 

 

(If you haven’t yet heard the new Assumption album Hadean Tides, you’re missing a remarkable experience. Maybe this excellent interview by Comrade Aleks of Giorgio Trombino will give you the push you need.)

Giorgio Trombino (guitars, bass, vocals, synths) and David Lucido (drums) formed the death-doom unit Assumption in 2011, but these guys from Sicily had a rich background already, and I wouldn’t like to waste your time mentioning all of their other bands. I’m just going to tell you – it’s more than ten, you see.

Despite all the genres they explored with other bands Assumption gives them a firm ground for psychedelic experiments on the fields of death-doom in its most twisted, and sometimes extreme, forms. And this is a great opportunity to taste some really sophisticated doom, as Everlasting Spew Records and Sentient Ruin released Assumption’s new album Hadean Tides a month ago. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: ASSUMPTION — “LIBERATION”

 Premieres  2 Responses »
Mar 142018
 

 

With a 2012 demo (Mosaic of the Distant Dominion) and a 2015 EP (The Three Appearances) behind them, the Italian doom/death band Assumption are returning with a strikingly good debut album. Entitled Absconditus, it will be jointly released on April 20 by Everlasting Spew Records and Sentient Ruin Laboratories. And today we have a couple of firsts for you — the first disclosure of the album’s memorable cover art by the talented Lauri Laaksonen (Convocation, Desolate Shrine), and the first song premiere from the album, which happens to be the expoansive opening track, “Liberation“.

At more than 15 minutes in length, it is indeed a sprawling saga, but one that draws the listener ever deeper into its powerful spell as the minutes pass. Losing interest isn’t a risk here… but losing your bearings on what passes for the reality around you definitely is. Continue reading »

DEATH RITUALS (Part 1): SKELETHAL, MASACRE, NIHIL KAOS, ASSUMPTION

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  6 Responses »
Oct 202014
 

 

I plowed through a lot of new songs yesterday and found a lot to like. Most of it happened to be death metal, though not quite all. So I decided to skip the “Seen and Heard” title for this round-up in favor of a more descriptive lead-in. Also, I found so much to recommend that I’ve divided the round-up into two parts. The second one will come a bit later today.

SKELETHAL

I loved this French band’s previous 2014 EP Deathmanicvs Revelation with an unholy love. I have little reason to doubt that I will experience similarly unnatural attractions to their new one, Interstellar Knowledge of the Purple Entity. Apart from my intense desire to obtain more knowledge about The Purple Entity (!), the advance song that became available for listening this weekend is like an aphrodisiac for the ears. Continue reading »