AN NCS EP PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): CRYPTIC HYMN — “THE VAST UNKNOWING”

 Album Reviews, Premieres, SHORT BUT SWEET  4 Responses »
Jul 092018
 

 

(Grant Skelton wrote the following review as an introduction to our premiere of the new two song EP by the blackened death metal band Cryptic Hymn from Louisville, Kentucky.)

Kentucky’s Cryptic Hymn have been known to lurk about the shadowed corridors of No Clean Singing. In 2015, I had the pleasure of reviewing their amazing debut EP Gateways. Now, we are pleased to present their latest bastardized offering, The Vast Unknowing.

Cryptic Hymn christen us first with “Wretched Stimulation,” a title which yields a truly revolting visual in my reprobate imagination. This song is a blistered and ashen frolic that should glut any devotee of death metal. While offering plenty of speed, the track shows that Cryptic Hymn are not the least bit afraid of tempo changes. I could say you’ll find the track stuck in your head, but more than likely it will find its way into your veins. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: IRONCLAD, MORTALICUM, CRAWL, EXTOL, CRYPTIC HYMN, OF SPIRE AND THRONE, WOWS

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  7 Responses »
Dec 032015
 

ironcladalchemy

 

(Grant Skelton brings us this collection of new music and videos by seven bands.)

IRONCLAD

To form a band and then release a debut EP in the span of only three months seems a daunting task. But that’s exactly what happened for Ironclad from South Wales in the United Kingdom.

Their current line up includes Steve Taran (bass) and John Courage (guitar), also of folk/pagan metal outfit Siluria. Trak is the man behind the drumkit, while Dean Fletcher (Black Tamanous, Godkilla) handles vocal duties. Continue reading »

CRYPTIC HYMN: “GATEWAYS”

 Reviews  2 Responses »
Sep 292015
 

CrypticHymnGateways

 

(Grant Skelton reviews the new EP by Kentucky’s Cryptic Hymn.)

Paducah, Kentucky’s Cryptic Hymn formed in 2014. In January, they released a demo for the song “Revel In Disgust.” That song now appears on Gateways, the band’s first official release.

Earlier this year (here), I wrote that the strength of an EP is that a band has no room for mediocrity. Since EPs offer a brief taste of what a band has to offer, every song needs to be memorable. Cryptic Hymn’s Gateways delivers five tracks of superior blackened death ‘n’ roll (or black ‘n’ roll if you prefer). The tracks vary enough to show that Cryptic Hymn are certainly capable of experimenting with progressive melodies. Notwithstanding, the tracks do not diverge from the soul of the band’s sound to the point of being unfamiliar. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: ROTTING CHRIST, HATE ETERNAL, CRYPTIC HYMN

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  2 Responses »
Aug 132015
 

Rotting Christ-Lucifer Over Athens

 

I’ve been distracted over the last couple of days by a combination of demands by my fucking day job and time spent with some old friends who decided to escape the furnace that is a Texas summer by visiting Seattle. On top of that, Facebook eliminated my personal profile because it wasn’t under my real legal name, which deep-sixed my friend connections to hundreds of musicians and record labels, whose FB statuses were a constant source of new-music discoveries for me. Put all that together, and the result is that I’m way behind in discovering and writing about new music streams. I’m hoping to re-group in the next day or two, but for now, here are some quick items (the last of which comes to us courtesy of Grant Skelton).

ROTTING CHRIST

As we previously reported, Season of Mist is releasing a double-live album by the almighty Rotting Christ on August 21. Entitled Lucifer Over Athens, it was recorded in Athens in December 2013, and it’s the band’s first-ever live album.

Yesterday, SoM premiered a full stream of the new album, which you can check out below. It’s available for pre-order at this location. Continue reading »