AN NCS EP PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): ORDINUL NEGRU — “NEBUISA”

 Album Reviews, Premieres, SHORT BUT SWEET  No Responses »
Sep 142020
 

 

In just two days Loud Rage Music will release Nebuisa, a new EP by the Romanian band Ordinul Negru, but you won’t have to wait to hear it, because we’re presenting a full stream today.

The EP seems to be a bit of a musical collage, at least in the way the songs came together, but the combined effect of the four tracks is to create a ravaging and ravishing experience. The music is richly multi-faceted, often intricate, and elaborate in its combination of moods and energies, again proving that Ordinul Negru‘s approach to black metal, which includes inventive songwriting and superior musicicianship, is neither conventional nor mundane. It stirs up the emotions but equally arouses the imagination, and has an electrifying visceral impact as well. Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK: LURKER OF CHALICE, ORDINUL NEGRU, SLUAGH, DRAVE

 SHADES OF BLACK  4 Responses »
Jan 052020
 

 

Welcome to another edition of this column, the first of the roaring ’20s. I’m a bit late getting this one finished, so I’ll dispense with any further introductory words and just go right to the music.

LURKER OF CHALICE

When I see the phrase “cult album”, it often seems to refer to something only about five people ever heard, and isn’t all that good. But sometimes it means the kind of thing that made an out-sized impact by a band that then simply disappeared. Lurker of Chalice‘s self-titled album, released in 2005, is one of those. It was that project’s only full-length, and nothing more came after it, but it is vividly remembered by many listeners to this day, more than 15 years later.

Now, there will be another Lurker of Chalice album, though it may not be exactly what people were hoping for. Continue reading »

A DIRTY HALF DOZEN: GRAVITON / HEMELBESTORMER / IMPERIAL TRIUMPHANT / ORATOR / ORDINUL NEGRU / SOREPTION

 Album Reviews  No Responses »
Aug 132018
 

 

(In this post Andy Synn has packaged together six new reviews of six outstanding new albums across a range of metal sub-genres.)

I don’t know about you, but this year I’m finding it far harder than ever before to stay on top of all the new and upcoming releases proliferating throughout the Metalsphere.

Partially this can be attributed to the growing pressures of my day job, combined with the fact that I’m currently renovating my house and working hard on Beyond Grace album #2 (with an eye also turned towards future work for both Twilight’s Embrace and Apathy Noir too), but a lot of it is just down to this simple truth… there’s simply too much music, and not enough hours in the day, to cover it all.

Still, it wounds me to think of all the great (and good) albums and artists out there who our readers might otherwise be missing out on, so consider this another desperate attempt to redress the balance somewhat. Continue reading »