Apr 272023
 

 

(Andy Synn embraces the suffering with the upcoming new album from Nightmarer)

For some people the entire Dissonant Death Metal scene can be summed up by one band: Ulcerate.

It’s understandable. After all, not only did they effectively set the template for the style (at least in its modern incarnation) with 2011’s Destroyers of All, they then re-defined it once more with Stare Into Death… in 2020.

But I’m here to tell you that there’s far, far more to the Disso-Death movement than that, from similarly foundational records such as Flourishing‘s The Sum of All Fossils and Ageless Oblivion‘s Penthos, to genre-expanding albums from Ingurgitating Oblivion and Light Dweller, to promising debuts from potential future-leaders like Growth, Barús, and Aeviterne.

And then there’s Nightmarer, whose name should already be on your mind whenever you think about the best and brightest of the new wave of dissonant dissidents… and if they weren’t before, then they definitely will be after you hear Deformity Adrift.

Continue reading »

Feb 102023
 

This has been a rare week when we didn’t have at least one premiere on the calendar every day. That gave me the time to do not one, not two, but three round-ups of new songs and videos, including this one. And I ought to have time for a fourth one tomorrow.

The timing has been fortuitous, because the past week or two has been jammed with new singles and advance tracks from forthcoming records that have piqued my interest (and should pique yours), including the following four, with news of a new reissue at the end.

NIGHTMARER (U.S./Germany)

This tremendously impressive band moved from strength to greater strength over the course of their Chasm EP (2016), their debut album Cacophony of Terror (2018), and their Monolith of Corrosion EP (2021), and now they’re returning with a second album named Deformity Adrift that’s set for release on May 5th via their label Total Dissonance Worship in the US and Vendetta Records in Europe. Continue reading »

Dec 102021
 

(Next week Andy Synn begins his annual roll-out of year-end lists as part of his ongoing attempt to cover as many different albums from the last twelve months as possible – but, before then, he’d like to draw your attention to some of the shorter, but no less sweet, releases from 2021) 

Well, well, well… it’s been a whole year since we last did this little dance hasn’t it?

Sure, it might seem like it’s been longer than that, for a number of different reasons that we really don’t have time or space to go into here, but it’s actually only been twelve months.

Those twelve months have been absolutely packed with music though, and today we’re going to be taking a look, and a listen, to some – not all, of course, just as many as I managed to actually hear, so don’t get too upset when you realise that this isn’t totally comprehensive – of the EPs that were released this year, beginning with a general round-up of everything that I can remember and recommend, and closing with a countdown of my ten favourite short-form releases of the year.

So let us begin… Continue reading »

Aug 262021
 

(Andy Synn takes some time out of his busy schedule to lavish praise on the new EP from Nightmarer, out tomorrow via Total Dissonance Worship)

I must admit, I was late to the party with Nightmarer.

I totally missed their first EP, Chasm, and didn’t get a chance to check out their first album, Cacophony of Terror, until well after practically everyone else in the world had long-since done so (and moved on).

So I told myself that, given the chance, I wasn’t going to make the same mistake again… and although I almost ran out of time (this EP actually comes out tomorrow, so we’re down to the wire here) I’m glad that I kept my promise, even if only by the skin of my teeth, as Monolith of Corrosion is easily the band’s best work yet.

Continue reading »

Jan 082018
 

 

In an effort to catch up with new music that appeared last week (or in some cases that I only discovered last week), I’ve resorted to a two-part OVERFLOWING STREAMS post. And for those who haven’t noticed the format of these posts, they’re a form of personal surrender to the flood of new music. I enjoy writing thoughts about what I want to recommend, but in posts such as this one I just let the music speak for itself because there’s so much to recommend that I don’t have time to blurt out my own reactions.

In Part 1 (here), I collected some newly discovered splits. This one is devoted mainly to new advance tracks, some of which just premiered today, with a few full-album or EP streams in the mix. Continue reading »

Feb 052016
 

Beastwars 2016

 

This week’s flood of scintillating new metal hasn’t crested yet. The last 24 hours brought even more electrifying new songs. I’ve collected five of them here for your listening pleasure.

BEASTWARS

I’m afraid I’ve reached a slavish level of devotion to the music of New Zealand’s Beastwars. I couldn’t be happier that 2016 will bring us a new album. The new one is entitled The Death Of All Things, and it’s the last installment in the post-apocalyptic trilogy the band have been constructing through their music. Continue reading »