AN NCS PREMIERE: NUCLEUS — “REPLICANT”

 Premieres  No Responses »
Mar 102020
 

 

On March 16th Unspeakable Axe Records will deliver a spectacular split release that harnesses the talents of four hellaciously good death metal bands. The last time Unspeakable Axe did something like this was in 2016, when 4 Doors To Death brought together tracks by Cemetery Filth, Ectovoid, Sabbatory, and TrenchRot (if you haven’t checked that one out, get your ass over here and do it). This time, under the title 4 Doors To Death vol. II, the label is presenting a combination of 12 original new tracks by Nucleus, Ectoplasma, Fetid Zombie, and Temple of Void, amounting to a solid hour of ferocious metal.

Today we’re beginning the roll-out of one track from the split by each of these four bands — one per day from now through the end of this week. By then we fully expect you’ll be salivating over this release, though honestly, it shouldn’t take more than today’s song from Nucleus to get the slobber flowing. Continue reading »

NUCLEUS: “ENTITY”

 Album Reviews  1 Response »
Jul 052019
 

 

(This is Andy Synn‘s review of the new second album by the Chicago-based, sci-fi-themed death metal band Nucleus, released last month by Unspeakable Axe Records.)

If I’d been able to spend a little more time with this record before now I’d undoubtedly have included it alongside Fuming Mouth and Towering in my recent double-review, as not only does it display a similarly striking blend of old-school influences – marrying the meaty, malevolent riffosity of Morbid Angel to the proggy, proto-brutalism of Death – but it does so in a way that’s so vibrant, so visceral, and so thrillingly vital, that, even now, it still sounds as fresh as when Azagthoth and Schuldiner first set finger to fretboard. Continue reading »

HEMOTOXIN (“BIOLOGICAL ENSLAVEMENT”) AND NUCLEUS (“SENTIENT”)

 Album Reviews  1 Response »
Mar 092016
 

Hemotoxin-Biological Enslavement

 

(In this post Allen Griffin provides brief reviews of a pair of forthcoming albums.)

If Ripper’s fantastic new album Experiment of Existence (reviewed here) wasn’t proof enough, Unspeakable Axe is releasing two more records that show they have somehow tapped a special vein of Old School Death and Thrash Metal, all of which seem to mine Science Fictional lyrical themes. To a certain degree, naysayers may try to argue that these bands bring nothing new to the table, yet if hindsight is truly 20/20, these hybridizations of Metal’s past are certainly able to produce excellent material that stands on its own in this current musical climate.

HEMOTOXIN

First up is California-based unit Hemotoxin and their second full-length release Biological Enslavement. Much like the aforementioned Ripper, Hemotoxin draw much of their influence from the era when Thrash was transitioning into Death Metal, but also add their own highly technical spin to their material. But where Ripper look toward groups such as Kreator and Merciless, Hemotoxin seem to be a bit more rooted in Bay Area classics, but are well-indebted to early Death Metal as well. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: KZOHH, HÜZÜN, WINTER NIGHTS, NUCLEUS, WORSHIP OF KERES

 Album Reviews, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC, SHORT BUT SWEET  12 Responses »
Feb 182016
 

KZOHH cover art

 

I mentioned yesterday that this week has brought yet another flood of new music. Continuing to sift through what I’ve been seeing and hearing, I’d like to share and recommend new songs and videos from five bands today. Lots of diversity here…

KZOHH

The Ukrainian black metal band KZOHH includes members of such other excellent groups as Khors and Reusmarkt, among others. In early December I included some words about a great song named “Alousia et Pestilentia Ignearia” from their just-released second album, Rye. Fleas. Chrismon.

Yesterday the band released a multi-camera, pro-shot live video of their performance at the Via Sinistra III Festival in Kharkiv, Ukraine, on December 6, 2015. The name of the song performed in the video is “Massebegravelser”, which is also from Rye. Fleas. Chrismon. Continue reading »