SEEN AND HEARD ON A BANDCAMP FRIDAY: DYING FETUS, OAK PANTHEON, BLACK ANVIL, FAWN LIMBS

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  1 Response »
Sep 022022
 

Because this is a Bandcamp Friday a ton of bands and labels have launched singles and other releases to take advantage of the opportunity for a bit more income. I wish I could put the spotlight on a dozen or more of them, but I just don’t have the time for that. Instead, I’m reduced to throwing a few mental darts into that great mass and pulling out what got hit.

Barring a meteor strike on my house, an invasion of fast zombies, or prostration before the demon alcohol tonight, I should have another roundup of new music for you tomorrow.

DYNG FETUS (U.S.)

To help propel the launch of a North American tour that starts today, Dying Fetus have released a new single (with a video) named “Compulsion For Cruelty“, which apart from a 2018 split is their first new music since 2017’s Wrong One to Fuck With. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): FAWN LIMBS — “DARWIN FALLS”

 Album Reviews, Premieres  2 Responses »
Aug 112021
 

(Andy Synn wrote the following review and introduction of our full streaming premiere for the new album by the trans-Atlantic band Fawn Limbs, which will soon be released by Roman Numeral and Wolves And Vibrancy.)

Even those who love Metal at its most brutal, its most technical, its most chaotic, must admit, when push comes to shove and their back is against the wall, that the pursuit of extremity, pure extremity, purely for its own sake, ultimately leads to an inevitable and inescapable evolutionary dead end.

Or, should I say, an almost inescapable dead end… because while it’s true that over-specialisation will ultimately limit the growth of any species band – once you’ve attained a certain level of maximum brutality, terminal velocity, inhuman technicality, where else do you have to go? – certain artists, certain entities, have still managed to discover new and unique ways to survive, and even to thrive, while continuing to push their own limits in different, but no less extravagant, ways.

The secret to achieving this, of course, is realising that extremity isn’t a linear scale. It’s a spectrum. One which extends in multiple directions and allows for multiple interpretations and expressions of what it means to be truly “extreme”.

Which brings us, at last, to the new album from Fawn Limbs, which finds the terrible trio choosing a new, yet also disturbingly familiar, path to follow, which leads to a place called… Darwin Falls. Continue reading »

OUR LIST OF 2020’S MOST INFECTIOUS EXTREME METAL SONGS (PART 16): DAUGHTER CHAOS AND FAWN LIMBS

 MOST INFECTIOUS SONGS-2020  1 Response »
Feb 082021
 


Daughter Chaos

 

Well, this is embarrassing. After a previous gap in the daily rollout of this list I resumed, with promises to steadily continue, and then my day job and personal obligations fucked those plans (again). So now here we are, launching Part 16 a full week after launching Part 15. Honestly, knowing what lies ahead of me this week in my day job, I’m pretty sure I won’t be able to add installments every day this week either. But I’d still like to forge ahead a little bit more before giving up altogether.

In case you’re coming here for the first time, all the previous installments for this list can be found here.

DAUGHTER CHAOS

This is kind of a “Chosen by DGR” segment of the list. Both songs were on the set of recommendations he sent me, and on top of that Andy Synn reviewed (with praise) the records that included them. So, I paid extra attention to them and found them to be worthy additions. Continue reading »

FAWN LIMBS: “SLEEPER VESSELS”

 Album Reviews  5 Responses »
Oct 052020
 

 

(In this review Andy Synn catches up with the new album by Fawn Limbs, which was released on September 18th in various formats by Roman Numeral Records, Wolves And Vibrancy Records, Dark Trail Records, and Sludgelord Records.)

While many sites, zines, and publications (especially print publications) have already transitioned into “End of Year” mode, we here at NCS are still out there, scouring the interweb for new bands and new albums to bring to your attention.

And it’s a good thing too, because while the release of Sleeper Vessels (the second album from the trans-Atlantic Tech-Grind trio Fawn Limbs) may have flown a little bit under the radar, its bastardised blend of squalling metallic noise, unsettling ambience, and distorted electronic effluent has the potential to throw a major wrench into the works when it comes to deciding what/who belongs on this year’s many “Best of…” lists.

As discordant, as demanding, and as defiantly difficult to categorise as this record is, there are certain points of reference – from the mind-bending technicality of Car Bomb and the pneumatic angularity of Ion Dissonance to the abrasive intensity of The Red Chord or the experimental extremity of Pig Destroyer – which, superficially at least, might make it a little bit easier to take in.

But the truth is that Sleeper Vessels is an album that positively thrives on sowing chaos and confusion at every possible moment, and there’s no real way to fully prepare yourself for this record’s catastrophic, kaleidoscopic assault upon the senses.

But I’ll do what I can. Forewarned is forearmed, after all. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: INCANTATION, SKELETAL REMAINS, DEMON CLEAVER, FAWN LIMBS, SPECTRUM OF DELUSION

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  1 Response »
Jul 142020
 

 

I’m suffering from time compression. I’m thankful to still have a day job but it’s given me a shitload of things to do over the last 24 hours (and counting). That, and a few personal obligations I can’t put off, have squeezed my NCS time, and I have to use some of that to prepare two premieres today before my golden coach turns back into a pumpkin.

So, I’m throwing your way the following new songs and videos, all of which I thoroughly enjoyed, accompanied by very few of my own words. They’re all high-energy; they include lots of technical showmanship; and of course you’ll get a few doses of ferocity and evil along the way.

INCANTATION

To begin, here’s Incantation‘s official video for “Fury’s Manifesto“, the second single from their new album Sect of Vile Divinities — which is actually a good name for Incantation themselves. The album will be released on August 21st by Relapse Records. Continue reading »

AN NCS EP PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): FAWN LIMBS — “THEIR HOLES AROUSED BY THE SPLINTERS CARVED FROM THEIR TEETH”

 Album Reviews, Premieres, SHORT BUT SWEET  10 Responses »
Dec 032019
 

 

This past June we premiered a song named “Pines” from the debut album, Harm Remissions, by a trans-oceanic noise/grind trio named Fawn Limbs (presented through a video that excerpted footage from the 1933 film White Zombie). Even just that one song made a stunning impact, one that we likened to “the thrill of witnessing destruction… like the excitement of being present at the implosion of giant buildings to create space for something new”, but combined with “other thrills within the mayhem of the music which derive not from chaos but from the almost machine-like precision of their otherwise freakish demolition jobs”.

Those impressions might have seemed paradoxical, but while the track did indeed have its berserker destructive components, there was an impressive degree of precision on display as the musicians rapidly morphed from one kind of demolition to another (and delivered some unexpected groove along the way). The album as a whole — experienced as a whole — was (and is) an even more breathtaking bombardment, one that plays nasty games with your mind as this trio maniacally shift gears without warning and engage in even more extravagant displays of seething and boiling fretwork lunacy and rhythm-section interplay (along with unexpected digressions).

As the year draws to a close, Fawn Limbs have decided to give us one last blast with which to properly bury 2019 beneath rubble — a new EP that will be released on December 6th under the nightmarish title Their Holes Aroused by the Splinters Carved From Their Teeth — and today we’re bringing you a full stream of it. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: FAWN LIMBS — “PINES”

 Premieres  3 Responses »
Jun 212019
 

 

The thrill of witnessing destruction is a large part of Fawn Limbs‘ appeal, like the excitement of being present at the implosion of giant buildings to create space for something new. But there are other thrills within the mayhem of their music which derive not from chaos but from the almost machine-like precision of their otherwise freakish demolition jobs. This may seem paradoxical, but you’ll see what we mean when you check out the song we’re premiering today.

The song is “Pines” (which does not refer to trees) and it comes from this trans-oceanic trio’s debut album, Harm Remissions, which will be released on August 2nd. The album is an amalgamation of grindcore, math-metal, and noise, created by Finnish guitarist/vocalist/noise-producer Eeli Helin and the Pennsylvania-based rhythm section of Lee Fisher (drums) and Samuel Smith (bass). The album also includes guest vocal appearances by Andrew Hawkins (Baring Teeth), Champ Morgan (BLK OPS, Derelict Satellite, Kill the Client), and Mitchell Luna (Maruta, Noisear). Continue reading »