UNDERDOGS IN THE UNDERGROUND: ARA – “DEVOURER OF WORLDS”

 Album Reviews  2 Responses »
Jan 302015
 

 

(Austin Weber wrote this review.)

It’s been awhile since I came out with anything labeled under my “Underdogs” series here at NCS, but some recent events have influenced its return — mainly that Islander is stuck in work hell, and this site needs content damnit! But more specifically, it needs what we do best: coverage of music that few others do.

So, the plan is for me to do one of these a day (on weekdays) to help out, and also to give me a chance to write about more of the bands I keep finding online. Some may be shorter than this, but all will cover exceptional bands you need to hear from various metal subgenres.

The first target in the resurgency of this series will be Milwaukee, Wisconsin-based technical death metal omni-wizards Ara. Continue reading »

DEVOURING STAR: “THROUGH LUNG AND HEART”:

 Album Reviews  4 Responses »
Jan 232015
 

 

(In this post Austin Weber reviews the new release by Finland’s Devouring Star, which is available now from Daemon Worship.)

When I first wrote about Devouring Star here at NCS last year, they were a newly formed act who drew my attention with a incredibly dense and chilling demo of unnerving and chaotic black metal. After my first post about them, they hooked up with Daemon Worship Productions for the release of a new album entitled Through Lung And Heart. and we were fortunate to premiere the track “Decayed Son Of Earth” last November (here). Coincidentally, NCS writer Badwolf likewise premiered another track off it, “To Traverse The Black Flame”, over at Invisible Oranges where he is currently that site’s editor.

For those still unfamiliar with Devouring Star, they are a Finnish act that draw a sizable influence from the stylings and form of black metal that Deathspell Omega founded. However, I would venture to say the inspiration has more to do with informing the sonic ingredients that Devouring Star use in their compositions than sounding like a copycat act or watered-down hero worship. Continue reading »

SHOW REVIEW: CRYPTODIRA, WINGS DENIED, DEAD BY DESIGN (JAN 15, 2014, NEW ALBANY, INDIANA)

 Concert Reviews  1 Response »
Jan 222015
 

(Austin Weber wrote this show review, and music streams are included.)

At the very beginning of 2014, January 14th to be exact, I was finally able to see upstart New York prog-metal wunderkinds Cryptodira for the first time live. It was a show that I covered for NCS with resident photographer Nik Vechery taking some killer pictures. I mention this because as we move into 2015, I got to see Cryptodira again, and eerily enough, just a day later in January than when I saw them last year. What another fitting start to the year.

Unfortunately, due to my boss not telling me he was able to get my shift covered until I showed up for work the night of the show, I was unable to have Nik accompany me and take pictures. Normally I would have borrowed someone’s camera, but I couldn’t make that happen on such short notice,  so most of the photos in this post were taken on my sub-par quality phone camera, with a few Cryptodira shots taken by the fill-in vocalist for Wings Denied, Jeff Klemm. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: HEAVING EARTH — “JESUS DIED”

 Premieres  6 Responses »
Jan 212015
 

 

(Austin Weber introduces our premiere of a new song by the Czech metal band Heaving Earth.)

The Czech Republic has been churning out plenty of killer metal bands for a long time now. One can only speculate as to why, but that’s not really pertinent, so let’s move along. I thought that I had explored every nook and cranny of their metal scene, and yet alas, I somehow entirely missed out on Heaving Earth. It only took one early-released song sent to my inbox from a PR firm,“Doomed Before Inception”, to hook me in and become eager for their soon-to-be-released record, Denouncing The Holy Throne.

While their band name comes from the Morbid Angel song of the same name, and the band is indeed certainly steeped in early death metal influences, they come across with a sound all their own. Boatloads of killer serrated riffs are an integral part of the Heaving Earth experience, yet it’s their subtly erratic nature, off-kilter hairpin turns, and mountain-sized heaviness that keeps me coming back. That, and the way they come across as very dark and foreboding, very much in the mood and feeling that some of the most fucked-up and disturbing black metal channel so well. Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: INVIDIOSUS — “OVERLORDS OF THE APOCALYPSE”

 Premieres  1 Response »
Dec 232014
 

 

(In this post Austin Weber introduces our premiere of a new single by Minnesota’s Invidiosus.)

You may have already heard the music of Invidiosus here at NCS this year through one of my previous posts about them. Their album from this year, Malignant Universe, often reminded me of Origin in places, although it also drew from all over the death metal spectrum and was also infused with some grindcore love. If you haven’t check that record out yet, you need to. To end your year with an ugly metallic present, the band recorded a new single called “Overlords Of The Apocalypse”, and asked us to premiere the video for it, which doubles as a song premiere since today is its release date as well.

The video was shot during an Invidiosus Halloween show, and it offers up an amusing gore-soaked twist on your typical performance music video. The band members and the audience are dressed absurdly, with D. Todd Farnham in a Satan outfit slappin da’ bass taking the cake. Guitarist Kevin Alter dressed up as bad guy Lo Pan from the legendary John Carpenter film Big Trouble In Little China comes in a close second.

As the video progresses, you see its story take shape; a hammer-wielding maniac who also carries a knife first murders the doorman, then proceeds to start violently killing members of the audience once inside. By the end of the video, the mysterious deranged assassin has murdered every single member of the audience. It’s done in a tongue-in-cheek way, and I thought it was a hilariously original concept. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: APOCROPHEX — “THE GREY”

 Premieres  2 Responses »
Dec 192014
 

 

(We bring you the premiere of a new song by New Jersey’s Apocrophex, with an introduction by Austin Weber.)

Earlier this year at NCS, I wrote about a two-man technical death metal group called Apocrophex. They are a new band, having just released their first material in February of this year, a two-song EP entitled Wheels Within Wheels that I discussed in that earlier post. Hot off the heels of that introduction to their world, they are giving NCS the opportunity to showcase a tantalizing new song, “The Grey”, as a teaser to their upcoming debut full-length, Suspended From The Cosmic Altaar (featuring cover art by Raul Gonzalez).

While they only have two members, with Justin Buell handling the guitar, bass, and drum programming and Pete Colucci providing the vocals, their music really does sound like the expansive and multi-faceted work of a full band, which is a testament to both their skill and their songwriting craft. I was already hooked on them from their first EP, but figured they still had untapped potential that would keep us interested in what their future might hold. Well, “The Grey” shows them tapping into that potential. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: ARCHAIC DECAPITATOR — “ETHEREAL ASPECTS”

 Premieres  3 Responses »
Dec 182014
 

 

(Austin Weber introduces our premiere of a new song by a Connecticut band named Archaic Decaptator.)

2014 isn’t over just yet. But I am already on to 2015 releases, earlier than normal I might add. While getting a break would have been nice, when good metal music beckons, I try to answer its demented siren call and spread the word. Which is why I needed to write about Archaic Decapitator, a Connecticut-based death metal group, one who are fairly new to me.

I found out about the band because technical death metal badasses Formless quite recently posted a link to a newly released song of theirs, “Sublevels” (which I will embed below). I suspect they did so because their bassist, Craig Breitsprecher, is in both bands, and also does backing vocals in Archaic Decapitator. I’m pretty happy to have heard this audio recommendation, as this turns out to be yet another underground band worthy of championing.

I struck up by the idea of a song premiere, leading to this newly released eargasm, “Ethereal Aspects”. The impeccably badass song serves is an early teaser to the band’s upcoming EP, The Catherine Wheel. Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: ARTIFICIAL BRAIN — “ABSORBING BLACK IGNITION”

 Premieres  5 Responses »
Dec 162014
 

 

(We interrupt our seemingly endless series of year-end lists to bring you a video premiere by a band whose 2014 album is cropping up on many of them — with an introduction by Austin Weber.)

Let’s be honest, as far as metal releases go in 2014, few have been as praised and visible throughout numerous year-end lists as Artificial Brain’s Labyrinth Constellation. Thus, the remainder of this year shall be renamed The Year of the Brain. And for good reason! Getting to see them live this year was a mind-blowing experience for me.

While I don’t want to re-hash what I said in my review, I can sum it up as a highly creative album that keeps aggression and white-hot intensity at the forefront in spite of its progressive nature, keeping things oddly catchy while making sure each song has its own identity, effortlessly worming its way into your skull. A lot of metal critics pussy out on putting death metal releases on year-end lists, so imagine my pleasant surprise when I saw that Labyrinth Constellation has already appeared on so many. Not only that, but another big reason this is The Year of the Brain is because the band were featured in a clip on the CBS show Elementary; and hell, even Lucy Liu says the band’s name in the clip! Continue reading »

LISTMANIA 2014: A BIG YEAR-END LIST FROM AUSTIN WEBER

 LISTMANIA 2014  27 Responses »
Dec 092014
 

 

(NCS writer Austin Weber brought us this big list of his personal favorites from 2014, divided into 7 categories.)

I hate to begin with the obvious and easiest intro, but 2014 really was one hell of a prolific year for quality metal releases from all stripes and sub-genres. I felt slightly overwhelmed, but I found a lot of killer releases by new bands this year, in addition to new releases by the many bands I was already aware of, many of whom took evolutionary leaps my feeble mind could not have possibly predicted. And the future still looks bright for metal potential. So, all is well.

As I did with my last two years’ “best of” lists, I chose to skip over many of the names that would appear on most lists, in favor of more underground or less championed fare. This is to give you, the reader, a shot at hearing more quality releases from the year, beyond the same pile of releases whose names will be hammered into your brain by a multitude of other year-end lists. The intro to this article goes on for too long; if it’s TLDR to you, skip to the lists. Continue reading »

DOWNFALL OF GAIA: “AEON UNVEILS THE THRONES OF DECAY”

 Album Reviews  6 Responses »
Dec 042014
 

 

(Austin Weber reviews the new album by Downfall of Gaia, out now on the Metal Blade label.)

While my metal tastes are not as honed in on the ongoing post-metal wave as on other genres, I can always respect and love a band of any stripe who go beyond the tropes and usual containments of a style to find their own identities, alone in a place none have gone before. Bands like that are worth the investment of time in what they have to say about the world and themselves.

That’s precisely how I feel about the new Downfall Of Gaia album, Aeon Unveils the Thrones of Decay. The only other reference that might give you a ballpark idea of their territory is Agrimonia — both have perfected a blend of post-metal and crust-punk woven into a swirling, multi-genre template that retains an aggression lost in most post-metal, although Downfall Of Gaia thread in a lot of menacing black metal, full of killer riffs, into their tapestry, with many more aggressive moments than in Agrimonia’s music. Continue reading »

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