Aug 082013
 

(DGR reviews the latest album by Swiss grind marauders Mumakil.)

Mumakil are a band that I discovered late into their career. The group have been active since 2004, yet it took a split with a personal fave Misery Index for them to land on my radar. But, it is proof that splits can have some success in promoting bands because what Mumakil got up to during the six minutes they occupied on that split grabbed me, and I then found myself somewhat enamored with the group’s 2009 release Behold The Failure – especially because it partially served as my entry and tutorial to more death metal oriented grindcore, as opposed to the usual short blasts and Napalm Death that was my previous exposure.

It’s hard to believe that four years have passed since Behold The Failure; and you sound like a crazy person when trying to tell people that you’ve waited four years for another thirty-five minutes of music. However, Mumakil are a band who have fused death metal into grindcore without morphing into full-blown deathgrind, instead creating the sort of ugly, angry grind that is fueled entirely by blastbeats. When you name your band after the giant war elephant of Lord Of The Rings fame, it’s a signal that you will be a representation of that thing during a war charge. It’s going to be loud, brash, fast, and all too reckless. If you aren’t doing that, then you’ve done a disservice to the mumakil name.

Mumakil deal in spades with the sort of hammering grind mentioned above that just feels absolutely ugly. Everything about it sounds like a sweaty, roaring beast. It makes everything around it feel that way, so much so that one can only imagine a live show being a beer-fueled, swamping, swirling vortex. Continue reading »

Jun 142013
 

This post is about a video from the band Mumakil. Their new album Flies Will Starve is coming out on June 25 in North America (and on slightly earlier dates in Europe). The video is for a song called “Death From Below”.

I can’t watch the video. I’m not in a place where I can watch it. I know nothing about it. I have only these words from my NCS comrade DGR, who sent me the link: “I’m attempting to write this sentence while seizing up. It’s Difficult.”

The video is after the jump. If you’d care to, please feel free to leave a comment and tell me what happens, and any reactions to the song, which I can’t hear at the moment.  Thank you for your attention. I’m going back to work now. Continue reading »

May 022013
 

Here are some things I heard yesterday that grabbed me. I’m starting with two bands who were new to me and finishing with two of whom I was already a fan.

SYNAPSES

Yesterday we posted Andy Synn’s engaging and informative interview with Alan Cassidy, The Black Dahlia Murder’s talented new drummer and formerly the hitter for Abigail Williams. If you haven’t read that yet, you should. At the end of the interview, Andy asked him for musical recommendations, and Alan made a pitch for an Italian band named Synapses. The name was new to me so I investigated.

It turns out that Synapses are a relatively new band whose debut album Expiation was released by Deepsend Records in February 2012, and they’re currently at work on a follow-up. Some tracks from the album are on YouTube and I listened to one called “Assault of the Weak”.

I can understand why Alan Cassidy thinks these dudes are awesome. It’s because they are indeed awesome, and a big reason why is drummer Riccardo “Cannibale” Fanara. “Assault of the Weak” is a fairly brutal form of highly percussive, fleet-fingered death metal with rapid-fire guitar and bass riffing and roaring vox. But as balls-out blazing as the hi-tech music is, it incorporates some mighty grooves and some inventive (and acrobatic) drumming. I’m particularly digging the snare hits, which come in unexpected places and punctuate the blasting in creative ways. Continue reading »

Apr 252013
 

Here’s a bit of welcome news that snuck up on me: Mumakil have a new album coming out on June 25 in North America (and on slightly earlier dates in Europe). The name is Flies Will Starve, and the enticing album art by Remy Cuveillier of Headsplit Design is above.

This is the band’s third album and the first in four years. Relapse Records has set up a “landing page” for pre-orders (here), and it includes a trailer for the album. I also found a Bandcamp page that Relapse set up for Mumakil that includes a digital pre-order option for Flies. It also includes the three songs that Mumakil recorded for their 2012 split with Blockheads. So I thought I’d put the new album trailer in here, plus the Bandcamp player for those three songs for the split, to assist those who are unfamiliar with Mumakil in becoming more familiar with them, and to help relieve sinus blockage.

If you think you might be interested in a howling hurricane of low-tuned, technically proficient, death-infused grind, or you’d simply like to wake yourself the fuck up, then check out the streams after the jump. Continue reading »

Jan 012013
 

Your humble editor has been so busy over the last four days with year-end lists, Most Infectious Song posts, and non-blogging life events that I haven’t compiled a news/new-music round-up since last week. However, I was watching out for developments, and now I’m finally collecting those which seemed worthy of notice. I have enough items to vomit forth into your laps that I’ve divided them into two posts, this being the first.

ETERNAL TEARS OF SORROW

It would be poor form to start the new year at NCS without some Finnish metal. As it happens, this first day of 2013 has delivered something new from Finland, and what it delivered also gives us a chance to start the new year by again confusing people. Sowing confusion makes life worth living.

The news is that Finland’s Eternal Tears of Sorrow have a new album entitled Saivon Lapsi that’s scheduled for release on February 22. It features album art (above) by Travis Smith. In addition to that news, the band also premiered today a music video for one of the new songs, “Swan Saivo”. The video is a beautifully made allegory with a visually arresting finish (and includes some great footage of the band headbanging). And I enjoyed the song, too . . . though its appearance at this site will indeed confuse some people. Continue reading »

Apr 122012
 

(DemiGodRaven reports some unfortunate news . . .)

Considering that they are one of the loudest and most blast-reliant grind bands out there, the announcement that Mumakil are going to be silent for the next few weeks comes as a bit of a shocker. This is due in part to their drummer developing Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, which makes drumming outright impossible. He showed signs of it recently, and after a visit to the doctor the band was forced to silence their new album recording as well as their upcoming tour. I’ve personally suffered through that right-wrist pain in a very light instance and stopped drumming for about two months. Believe me, the sheer act of attempting to hold a stick during that time frame was torture.

This news sucks, as Mumakil are fucking intense and one of my surface-level grind favorites. They’re obnoxious as all hell. I found them via the Misery Index split they did a few years back and enjoyed the hell out of their 2009 release, Behold The Failure. The song “Barbecue In Bhopal” is a solid forty seconds of ass-whooping before it ends. Actually, the first five or so tracks blur into each other before you see your first real break for all of about . . . five seconds . . . before you’re back into a whirlwind of guitars and screaming.

The band’s official statement was posted on their facebook: Continue reading »