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SHADES OF BLACK (PART 1): BLUT AUS NORD — “HALLUCINOGEN”

Album Reviews, SHADES OF BLACK 5 Responses »

Oct 202019

For this week’s column I impulsively decided to write about two very different albums I’ve been looking forward to for a big part of the year. Why was the decision impulsive, you may ask?

Well, I’ve been sitting with the first one (by Blut Aus Nord) for months, and begin scribbling thoughts long ago, planning to time a review close to the release date — but some asshole leaked it and forced the label to release it prematurely. I then indefinitely deferred completing my review, knowing that fans of the band would already be well aware of its existence, and wondering what the point of a review would be if everyone could already freely listen to it and form their own impressions.

The second one (by Teitanblood) was hinted at back in the spring, officially announced on September 17th, and released late last week with no preview tracks. We received an advance copy of the album only a day or two before the release. Again, I wondered what the point would be in writing about it. Like the first band, the second one has a large and loyal following who would be well aware of the album’s existence and would be able to listen to it on their own.

And then I impulsively decided to stop over-thinking things. There are reasons to express opinions other than the goal of promoting music you enjoy, even if you don’t succeed in bringing even one new listener to the music. It seems that some people are interested in what we think even if they already have their own opinions. There is also pleasure (as well as agony) to be found in trying to explain why appealing music is appealing. And in the end, it also becomes payment of a debt of gratitude for experiences that make life richer. Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK: BLUT AUS NORD, MARW, ZEIT, THE EMBER THE ASH, TOTENGEFLÜSTER, CONCRETE WINDS

SHADES OF BLACK 7 Responses »

Aug 112019

Although you can’t tell from the title of this post, it’s the first part of another two-part installment of this column. I didn’t call this “Part 1” because I dusted off a long-dormant strategy for the second one, which has its own long-dormant Category tag, and I’m using that instead of Part 2. All will become clear when I’m able to finish and post the second segment, hopefully later today but possibly on Monday morning.

Here, I’m beginning with a notable news item and then marching ahead with the music, which includes an EP, a new song and video, and advance tracks from forthcoming releases.

BLUT AUS NORD

Part of the thrill afforded by a new Blut Aus Nord album is the process of discovery, because BAN has rarely followed a straight and steady path from one record to the next, and predicting how their path might twist and turn requires a crystal ball. In the case of their new album, Hallucinogen, Debemur Morti Productions has announced that it “begins a new era,” “ending the cycle of clandestine industrialised dissonance that culminated with previous transmission Deus Salutis Meae and moving skyward into freshly melodic territories of progressive clarity”. Continue reading »

OVERFLOWING STREAMS: BLUT AUS NORD, ZEAL AND ARDOR, BAPTISTS, CHRCH, LLNN, MORGENGRAU, ABYTHIC, SECTIONED, ATONE

Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC 9 Responses »

Mar 222018

On each of the last three days I intended to post a round-up of new music and videos that I thought were worth your time, and each day I failed. I would have run out of time again today if I hadn’t managed to throttle my usual verbosity. In fact, I’ve resorted to sentence fragments rather than complete sentences in order to get this done.

As the days passed, of course, some of the items in this post have become a bit dated, and the volume of selections has swelled with newer discoveries.

BLUT AUS NORD

After more than 20 years of musical activity, Blut Aus Nord finally released their first-ever music video a few days ago. The chosen song is “Metanoïa“, which appears on Deus Salutis Meae, which I reviewed here, accompanying our premiere of the first publicly revealed track from the album. Continue reading »

BLUT AUS NORD: A REVIEW OF “DEUS SALUTIS MEÆ” AND THE PREMIERE OF “APOSTASIS”

Album Reviews, Premieres 9 Responses »

Sep 272017

At the bottom of this post you’ll find the first public streaming of a song from Deus Salutis Meæ (“God of My Salvation”), the new album by Blut Aus Nord. It’s the album’s fifth track and its name is “Apostasis“. It’s a great song by a groundbreaking band, and I wouldn’t blame you in the least if you skipped down and began listening, whether you continue reading what follows or not.

But if you’re curious about why I chose this song, how it fits within the album, and what else the album holds in store — though not in that precise order — read on. Continue reading »

SELLING OUT, OR, HOW TO MAKE FANS AND KEEP YOUR INTEGRITY

Mosh Pit 14 Responses »

Sep 092017

(Andy Synn is the author of this thought piece, and as always, we welcome your own thoughts in the Comments.)

I/we recently received a pair of promos here at NCS that couldn’t have been more diametrically opposed in style, Deus Salutis Meae by Blut Aus Nord and Will to Power by Arch Enemy.

The former is a return to the oppressive, industrialised soundscapes of The Work Which Transforms God and Mort, whose purposefully unsettling nature practically epitomises the idea of “art for art’s sake”, while the latter is a collection of shamelessly catchy, if predictably formulaic, tunes, designed with one eye firmly on increasing the band’s popularity and mainstream (in Metal terms at least) appeal.

And though the two bands/albums have very little in common on the purely musical side of things, their very nature means they can still be compared as representing the two polar extremes of the modern-day Metal spectrum. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): BLUT AUS NORD AND ÆVANGELIST — “CODEX OBSCURA NOMINA”

Album Reviews, Premieres 22 Responses »

Jun 142016

To get right to the point: On June 17, Debemur Morti Productions will release Codex Obscura Nomina, an album-length split by Blut Aus Nord and Ævangelist, and we now bring you the chance to listen to all of it.

The album includes one EP-length track by Ævangelist named “Threshold of the Miraculous” and four tracks by Blut Aus Nord, which are themselves parts of a unified work called “Spectral Subsonic Waves (The Sound is an Organic Matter)”. Each piece stands alone, yet they achieve the ideal for a split release of any kind: They complement each other in ways that enable them, together, to magnify the impact that each produces separately. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: ÆVANGELIST — “THRESHOLD OF THE MIRACULOUS” (AN EXCERPT)

Premieres 15 Responses »

May 202016

A vast distance on the planet’s surface separates Blut Aus Nord and Ævangelist, but in the perilous, un-fleshed shadow realms from which their music seems to emanate, they are not so far apart. A split release by these two bands is one of those ideas that was ingenious in its conception but once revealed makes obvious sense — and it is an idea that has become a reality.

On June 17, Debemur Morti Productions will release Codex Obscura Nomina, a split LP by these two conjurors of otherworldly hallucinations. Blut Aus Nord contributes four songs while the split includes only a single track by Ævangelist — “Threshold of the Miraculous” — but it’s more than 21 minutes long. As a preview, today we’re bringing you the streaming premiere of an excerpt of that song, along with some thoughts about the song as a whole. Continue reading »

OUR LIST OF 2014’S MOST INFECTIOUS EXTREME METAL SONGS: PART 1

MOST INFECTIOUS SONGS-2014 12 Responses »

Dec 242014

Welcome to Part 1 of our list of 2014′s Most Infectious Extreme Metal Songs. For more details about what this list is all about and how it was compiled, read the introductory post via this link. To see the other songs as we add them to the list, go here.

As was the case last year, I’m starting the rollout of this list before finishing the selection. Between the list of candidates I built for myself over the course of this year and the songs recommended by our staff and our readers (here), I have more than 700 tracks to choose from. I’ve listened to most of them at least once, but the selection process isn’t finished. It will be a work in progress — all the way up until I make myself stop.

Which means, as was true last year, that I have no idea how many songs will be on the list. Last year’s list consisted of 73 songs. I’m going to try really hard to make this year’s list shorter — but who knows? All I really know is that this thing isn’t going to write itself. If I don’t start it now, The Ides of March will arrive before I finish it. Continue reading »

BLUT AUS NORD: “MEMORIA VETUSTA III — SATURNIAN POETRY”

Album Reviews 8 Responses »

Oct 082014

(This is the completion of a review that, in effect, began when I premiered the first advance track from the album.)

Two years ago Blut Aus Nord produced its last full-length album, Cosmosophy, which brought to a resounding close the 777 trilogy. Every album in the trilogy drew praise from critics and fans alike, despite the fact that no one of them sounded quite like any of the others. Cosmosophy left wide open the intriguing question of where Vindsval would go next — though in fairness, with a band as inventive, idiosyncratic, and contrarian as this one, that’s always a question.

Where Blut Aus Nord has gone next is Memoria Vetusta III — Saturnian Poetry. Having completed the very personal 777 project, in which Vindsval chose to work alone, the new album features a new drummer, a superb human one named Thorns, as well as stellar cover art by Kristian “Necrolord” Wahlin. But what about the music?.

The reappearance of the Memoria Vetusta title will no doubt have fans thinking about the first two albums bearing that same name, despite the fact that Dialogue With the Stars followed Fathers of the Icy Age by roughly 13 years and Saturnian Poetry comes more than five years after the release of Dialogue. In short, this is no trilogy; unlike 777, these are not three parts of a single massive piece of music. But at the same time the resurrection of that title, which refers to memories of what is long past, was not done carelessly — the new album makes a fitting companion for the first two. Standing alone, Saturnian Poetry is a superb achievement. Continue reading »

BIG ASS ROUNDUP

Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC 14 Responses »

Oct 032014

(Leperkahn continues to pitch in during my round-up hiatus. Between what I sent him and what he found himself (of which there was quite an overlap), this is a monstrously large collection of recent, recommended goodies.)

Hey all! So a bloody lot of things got put up between when I sent in my last roundup and now, so this is gonna be a long one, since I’m not in the mood to separate them out. Strap in for a wild ride across the metalsphere.

BLUT AUS NORD

A few hours ago a new song named “Clarissima Mundi Lumina” from the new Blut Aus Nord album Memoria Vetusta III — Saturnian Poetry was made available for listening. This follows our own premiere of “Paien” right here. Islander says his review of the album will be posted on Monday, but he says there’s no point in waiting — just go pre-order the album in a special digipack CD edition here or on vinyl here. You can listen to “Clarissima Mundi Lumina” while you’re doing that:

https://www.facebook.com/blutausnord.official
https://www.facebook.com/debemurmorti Continue reading »

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