AN NCS PREMIERE: EXPUNGED — “STOLEN LIFE”

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Jun 302021
 

 

The roots of death metal grew from rotten soil, and from its earliest phases there has always been an attraction to supernatural horrors. That attraction is vibrantly evident in the debut album of the Canadian band Expunged. But the creation of ghastly visions isn’t the only thing Expunged are very adept at doing on this new record. They also sound like a massive tank attack that’s capable of bringing crushing heaviness along with cemetery nightmares.

This new album, entitled Into Never Shall, will be discharged on July 30th by Hells Headbangers, and it’s being strongly recommended for fans of Nirvana 2002, Carnage, and especially Bolt Thrower. As proof that those references are entirely appropriate, and as a demonstration of the amalgam of humongous and horrifying sounds referred to in the preceding paragraph, today we present the album’s closing track, “Stolen Life“. Continue reading »

AN NCS EP PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): EXPUNGED — “EXPUNGED”

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Apr 212020
 

 

Expunged is a new Canadian death metal band, barely a year old at this writing, but their debut self-titled EP which we’re premiering today quickly blasts away any idea that its members are newcomers just taking their first tottering steps. And indeed they are not tyros.

The band is the brain-child of W.D., who has been the principal member of Dead Soul Alliance, and before that the guitarist of Evolution Fail, whose demo was released in 1997. Joining him in Expunged are drummer K.F. from the old-school death metal band Töteblut and vocalist/bassist J.S. (aka Jo “Steel” Capitalicide from Ice War, among other bands).

The experience shows on this new EP. It is a stunningly good musical house of horrors, one that draws influence from a range of Swedish and Finnish death metal bands going back to the late ’80s and early ’90s. But rather than sounding like some kind of retrograde re-hash, Expunged is an electrifying experience, one that delivers cold, crushing power, lunatic frenzies, ghastly atmosphere, and the kind of melodic and rhythmic accents that make these five songs memorable. Continue reading »