BLURRING: “BLURRING”

 Album Reviews  3 Responses »
May 082015
 

 

(Austin Weber reviews the debut album by Blurring, which features a lot of impressive veteran names in the line-up.)

While we are only now entering the fifth month of 2015, it’s already been one hell of a year for what I would dub sophisticated and or eclectic grindcore — from Theories’ debut, to the new Oblivionized, the new Antigama, the new Cloud Rat, and the just-released album Romantic Love by Dendritic Arbor. That alone is more cream-of-the-crop grind then we are typically graced with in a single year! While my eardrums are already thoroughly decimated by all these impressive grind releases, there’s another band called Blurring who are right up there at the top as well. Fans of our site may remember I last wrote about Blurring last year, and I’ve been anxiously waiting for the band’s self-titled debut ever since.

The band is a by-product and reflection of the famed and rightly lauded Rochester, N.Y., grind scene, and their line-up is jaw-dropping, with people from many of the best grind bands ever, period. First you’ve got Dan Lilker, who played in Brutal Truth and Nuclear Assault, among others. Then you’ve got two former guitarists from the almighty Kalibas, Scott D’Agostino and Matt Colbert, plus drummer Eric Burke (who is also well-known as a guitarist) of Sulaco/Lethargy fame, along with countless others. And the group is rounded out by vocalist Mark Weldin, who used to play in a band called Warblade.

When you have a band with as much pedigree as these guys have, the end result is likely to be terrifying, in the best way possible of course. But enough of me drooling over the awesome absurdity of their line-up, let’s get on to the music. Continue reading »

DENDRITIC ARBOR: “ROMANTIC LOVE”

 Album Reviews  3 Responses »
May 052015
 

 

(Austin Weber reviews the new album by Dendritic Arbor, which is out as of today on Grimoire Records.)

Both black metal and grind share quite a bit of common ground when you think about it; both styles revolve around creating ugly fucked-up music that traditionally lacks any sense of conventional melody, but more importantly, are the two styles of metal most often referred to as “noise” by people who aren’t fans. While black-metal-infused hardcore/grind/etc has become quite a thriving trend these days, up until now I never felt impressed by almost all of it, save for last year’s Plebeian Grandstand record and very few others. However, when I first heard of Dendritic Arbor last year courtesy of their track “Genie” through Islander, I knew these guys were something special, a band who had finally married the two styles in a way that benefits both, and more importantly as creators with their own unique compositional style. Their sarcastically titled new record, Romantic Love, is one of the best albums you’ll hear this year. I goddamn guarantee it.

Romantic Love starts out entrenched in hellfire and contempt for all life with album opener “Murmuration End”, a merciless patchwork of blackened sonic plagues and thundering, complex grind, schizophrenically fighting each other for control of the song’s direction. This is a trait common to many of their tracks — switching from grind-fueled black metal, to black-metal-fueled grind. I’ve yet to hear anyone else do it as well or as memorably as Dendritic Arbor. Continue reading »

CONTINUUM: “THE HYPOTHESIS”

 Album Reviews  1 Response »
May 042015
 

 

(Austin Weber reviews the new album by Continuum, which is out now on Unique Leader Records.) 

The California death metal scene never ceases to amaze me. What really makes me happy about the music from that region is that much like the Canadian death metal scene, a lot of very talented players are a part of multiple groups, leading to an overall higher quality of material coming from theses areas. And so, for example, we are treated to death metal supergroups such as Continuum, who are composed of: Guitarist/main songwriter Chase Fraser (Decrepit Birth/ex-Son Of Aurelius/ex-Animosity), vocalist Riley McShane (Son Of Aurelius/ex-Inanimate Existence), bass player Nick Willbrand (Eviscerated, ex-Flesh Consumed), guitarist Ivan Munguia (Arkaik, Brain Drill, Deeds of Flesh), and drummer Spencer Edwards (Son Of Aurelius).

In addition, the band’s debut album The Hypothesis includes a guest solo by Matt Sotelo from Decrepit Birth on track 9, “A Surreal Descent”, as well as a sweet guest vocal spot by Anthony Trapani (Severed Savior/Odious Mortem) on the second track, “The Epiphany”. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: BEDLAM OF CACOPHONY — “IN FRANTIC SEARCH OF AN ANSWER”

 Premieres  1 Response »
Apr 282015
 

 

(Austin Weber introduces our premiere of a new song by Bedlam of Cacophony from Orange County, California.)

Sometimes it’s an even shittier day than usual, or maybe just an exercise in going through the motions sort of day — whatever the case, for many of us metal is a cathartic way to process these feelings and views in a positive way. So to give you a daily dose of high-voltage metallic vitamins, we bring you the premiere of a new track by Bedlam Of Cacophony, a California-based group who play a particularly nasty and frenetic form of death metal-meets-grind, executed in a highly technical way with choppy, chaotic songwriting that hints at a Dillinger Escape Plan math-y influence. Continue reading »

THE FINE CONSTANT: “WOVEN IN LIGHT”

 Album Reviews  1 Response »
Apr 272015
 

 

(Austin Weber reviews the new EP by The Fine Constant from Wisconsin.)

Some of our readers may already be familiar with The Fine Constant due to my recent post about the tour on which they are still currently playing dates, or possibly from when I placed their debut album, Myriad, on my 2012 year-end list. But for those new to the band, you’re going to want to check out this impressive Wisconsin-based trio and discover what makes their music an exceptional breed of top-notch instrumental metal.

Prior to the very recent release of their new EP, Woven In Light, the band had previously dropped that dazzling 2012 full-length called Myriad. Although Myriad was an interesting and original record in its own right, Woven In Light sees the band evolving into a totally different animal with a different focus and feeling. Continue reading »

THE CRINN: “SHADOWBREATHER”

 Album Reviews  4 Responses »
Apr 252015
 

 

(Austin Weber reviews the new album by The Crinn.)

Last year at NCS I helped premiere a track by Minnesota-based mathcore band The Crinn called “Endless”. At that time, their upcoming record, Shadowbreather, had no release date. It wasn’t until very recently that the band announced that Shadowbreather will be coming out on April 28 — and it began streaming in full yesterday.

Sometimes you run into metal records that are unusually strange or mindfuckingly insane from a rhythm or tempo angle, and then, even more rarely, you run into records like Shadowbreather that do both of those things. Having had a chance to sink into the record early, courtesy of the band, I’ve had some time to decipher its nigh-impenetrable shifts and explore its labyrinthine layers over a multitude of listens. I still come away from the experience dazed yet bug-eyed, but now I feel it makes more sense.

The violent and catastrophic nature of their rhythms, riffs, and rasps collide into a mental bludgeoning with a soft side; there is a psychedelic dimension to Shadowbreather that is new to The Crinn’s music. The occurrences of this new element in their sound are not merely segues. More often than not, The Crinn infuse them within chaotic and frenetic math-grind, somehow achieving a cerebral, trippy quality that may not sound right on paper, yet works so well throughout the album. I never guessed that I’d ever be writing about psychedelic mathcore in the first place, but I’m down with it after hearing how The Crinn pull it off so effortlessly on Shadowbreather inside moments of sheer mania and murder.

Continue reading »

OBLIVIONIZED: “LIFE IS A STRUGGLE, GIVE UP”

 Album Reviews  1 Response »
Apr 242015
 

 

(Austin Weber reviews the latest release by London’s Oblivionized.)

Grindcore isn’t a metal genre typically associated with complex songwriting or accomplished musicianship. Which is usually fine, as that’s not the essence of the style or the reason why fans of grind listen to it. But every once in awhile a grind band like Oblivionized comes along with the drive and ambition to develop a sound that consists of more than straightforward 30-second beatdowns and endless power chords.

This London-based trio have generated numerous smaller demo, EP, and split releases over the years and have only now released their first full-length, Life Is a Struggle, Give Up. The wait for an album-length statement from the group was definitely worth it, though, as the band had already spent several years tinkering around and playing a lot of different sounding material, which they have distilled into a mature, cohesive, and eclectic sound here on Life Is a Struggle, Give Up. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: NECROSY — “PERDITION”

 Album Reviews, Premieres  4 Responses »
Apr 162015
 

 

(Austin Weber introduces our premiere of a full stream of Perdition, the debut album by Italy’s Necrosy.)

In recent years the Italian metal scene, and specifically the death metal scene, has been taking the metal community by storm with a never-ending barrage of top-notch releases and a seemingly endless supply of new bands popping up all the time.

Here at NCS, we’ve kept our eye on this region and have written about it countless times, from the country’s most well-known powerhouse acts to its plethora of new talent. In the spirit of our love affair with the rampaging and vicious death metal that Italy churns out with ease, we bring your attention to an up-and-coming new band called Necrosy, with this early stream of their soon-to-be-released debut full-length, Perdition. Continue reading »

SICKENING HORROR: “OVERFLOW”

 Album Reviews  4 Responses »
Apr 102015
 

 

(Austin Weber reviews the new album by Sickening Horror.) 

It often seems as if the metal scene has a short memory. Bands often continue to release phenomenal material long after they cease to get as much praise and enthusiastic reception as they once did. I haven’t seen too many other places repping the new Sickening Horror record, Overflow, and thats a shame.

In 2007, their debut mindfuck, When Landscapes Bled Backwards, captured the attention of technical death metal fans — a sign that a new act from Greece were bringing something new to the genre. Then they released a worthy sophomore follow-up in 2009 with The Dead End Experiment. Luckily, 2015 finally brings us the release of this new third record, and it showcases a band who’ve once again tweaked their sound and style, furthering evolving and bringing something different to the table. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: KOSSUTH — “PLAINS OF THE SOARING DAGGER”

 Premieres  2 Responses »
Apr 092015
 

 

(Austin Weber introduces our premiere of a song from Mictlan, the debut EP by an Indiana band named Kossuth.)

For reasons unknown to me, the state of Indiana has been a hotbed for killer death metal ever since I first got into metal around 2002. The first wave, in my opinion, was kick-started by the release of the now legendary Twilight Of The Idols by Harakiri, which was put out by Willowtip and is one of my all-time favorite death metal records,

In my time here at NCS, I’ve written extensively about death metal acts from Indiana, including bands such as Primordium, Dawn Of Dementia, and Breeding Filth. Now we can add another band, Kossuth, to that list of fresh new death metal talent coming from Indiana. Continue reading »

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