Mar 062010
 

The three of us who collaborate on this site don’t always agree in our estimation of metal bands, but all of us are big fans of August Burns Red. They’re not as heavy as most bands we write about here, but they’re smart, creative songwriters, they play with passion, and their musical output shows they’re not standing still. Oh yeah, their songs are also distinctive and really memorable — so much so that we named ABR’s song “Meridian” (from the Constellations album) to our list of The Ten Most Infectious Extreme Metal Songs of 2009.

On Friday of last week, ABR posted a six-and-a-half minute video look-back of their 2009 year on the road — mostly behind-the-scenes footage, with some slo-mo performance shots. I didn’t see anything from their September show in Seattle (with The Acacia Strain, My Children My Bride, and Impending Doom), but we don’t need a video reminder. That was one epic set that will stick in our memories for a while. They’re coming back to Seattle in late April, and you can bet your ass we’ll be there — even though we’ll have to pay the price of enduring some other, much less talented, barely metal bands on the bill (who shall remain nameless).

The video is kind of random in its selection of subject matter, and certainly won’t change your life, but these are likable guys and it shows.  And the video is worth watching if for no reason other than the fact that ABR chose “Meridian” as the musical accompaniment for about the last five minutes of the clip (not sure what song is rolling at the start, but it’s not metal).

Dec 202009
 

AugustBurnsRed5

Here at NCS, we’re putting a different spin on year-end listmania. Ours isn’t a list of the best metal full-lengths of the year. It’s not even necessarily our list of the best individual extreme metal songs of the year. Ours is a list of the most infectious extreme metal songs we’ve heard this year. We’re talking about songs that produce involuntary physical movement and worm their way into your brain to such an extent you can’t get ’em out (and wouldn’t want to).

We’re not ranking our list from #10 to #1 because that would be too much fucking work (and your co-Authors would still be arguing about it this time next year). So, our list is in no particular order. We’re also dribbling the songs out one at a time because your lazy Authors are still debating what belongs in the remaining slots. Our list heretofore:

1.  Asphyx:  Sorbutics

2.  Mastodon:  Crack the Skye

3.  Amorphis:  Silver Bride

4.  Goatwhore: Apocalyptic Havoc

And for our fifth entry on the list, continue reading after the jump. Continue reading »