NORTHWEST TERROR FEST 2018: A PHOTO RECORD (DAY 1)

 Concert Reviews  2 Responses »
Jul 112018
 

 

For the second year in a row, NCS was proud to co-present Northwest Terror Fest, which took place this year on May 31 – June 2 in Seattle, Washington. Several of us in the NCS family helped organize and present the fest, and I guess that makes us a bit biased, but we’re not the only ones who thought it was a fantastic event. The feedback from bands, fans, and the venues has been uniformly very, very positive — so much so that we and our co-conspirators are already at work planning the third installment of NWTF for 2019.

We will of course be bringing you news about next year’s fest when the time is right, but we now want to take one more look back at NWTF 2018. And to do that, we’re fortunate to be able to present some of the amazing photos that New Orleans-based photographer Teddie Taylor took while the festival was in progress. Today we’ve got a selection of pics from the first day — and Teddie managed to shoot every band that performed; that’s one good thing about the rotation of bands between two stages, with no overlap. You can see every minute of every show as long as your energy holds out (and that hasn’t been a problem, given the caliber of the bands who’ve thrown themselves into their NWTF performances).

So, without further ado, here are Teddie Taylor’s photos from Day 1 at NWTF 2018. Continue reading »

ROADBURN 2018, A PHOTO RECORD: DAY 3

 Concert Reviews  No Responses »
May 242018
 

 

The 2018 edition of Roadburn Festival is in the history books. From April 19th through April 22nd at the 013 venue in Tilburg, The Netherlands, metal fans got the chance to choose from among performances by more than 100 bands across four stages and a fascinating array of musical genres. NCS was fortunate to be represented by the fantastic New Orleans-based music photographer Teddie Taylor, who made a visual record of the event for us.

We left it to Teddie to decide which bands to see; no doubt she had a lot of difficult decisions to make — and we had difficult decisions of our own in determining which of her images to share with you (they’re all really damned good!). We’re dividing this collection of pics into four parts, one for each day of Roadburn 2018. You can find her photos from Day 1 here, and Day 2 here. Continue reading »

ROADBURN 2018, A PHOTO RECORD: DAY 2

 Concert Reviews  No Responses »
May 232018
 

 

The 2018 edition of Roadburn Festival is in the history books. From April 19th through April 22nd at the 013 venue in Tilburg, The Netherlands, metal fans got the chance to choose from among performances by more than 100 bands across four stages and a fascinating array of musical genres. NCS was fortunate to be represented by the fantastic New Orleans-based music photographer Teddie Taylor, who made a visual record of the event for us.

We left it to Teddie to decide which bands to see; no doubt she had a lot of difficult decisions to make — and we had difficult decisions of our own in determining which of her images to share with you (they’re all really damned good!). We’re dividing this collection of pics into four parts, one for each day of Roadburn 2018. You can find her photos from Day 1 here. Continue reading »

PANOPTICON RELEASES “THE SCARS OF MAN ON THE ONCE NAMELESS WILDERNESS (I AND II)”

 Metal News  4 Responses »
Apr 042018
 

 

We almost never just post stand-alone news announcements, but we’re making an exception here — and to cut to the chase, Panopticon has now released its eagerly awaited new album, The Scars of Man on the Once Nameless Wilderness (I and II).

Austin Lunn shared the album with a few select friends, but requested no reviews before the release of the album. And so you won’t see one in this post, but you will see one tomorrow, simply because the album inspires too many thoughts and reactions that might cause me some kind of internal damage if I don’t get them off my chest and out of my mind.

For now, I just want to share the stream and links to the places where the album can be downloaded and ordered in physical editions (my own vinyl order should be arriving any day). But first, here is a statement from Austin Lunn that appears on the Bandcamp page where it can be downloaded: Continue reading »

LISTMANIA 2017: A YEAR-END LIST FROM AUSTIN LUNN (PANOPTICON)

 LISTMANIA 2017  4 Responses »
Jan 082018
 

 

(Our friend Austin Lunn had a busy 2017, and one of the reasons is likely the recently revealed fact that Panopticon has a new double-album coming our way in March via Bindrune Recordings in the U.S. and Nordvis in Europe, the title of which is the scars of man on the once nameless wilderness. Nevertheless, Austin again graciously agreed to put together a year-end list of favorite records that we could share with you.)

 

I’m sorry I am a bit behind with this list as my life has been a bit chaotic as of late.

There was so much music to consume in 2017… Here is a list of some of the records I enjoyed in 2017…some are from 2016 and I was just a little late to discover them. I had quite a few more but I just felt as if my list was getting a bit excessive. This list spans a lot of genres and is in no particular order… But I will say that the first 5 on my list were my favorites this year. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD ON A SATURDAY: PANOPTICON, PHENDRANA, ANCST, ALLEGAEON, VAELMYST, ESTUARINE

 Exceptions to the Rule, Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  7 Responses »
Jan 062018
 

 

I had a very busy week, both on and off our site, so busy that I wasn’t able to cobble together a round-up of news and new music. However, I did try to keep abreast of what was coming out, and my list of intriguing tracks that appeared over just the last week is YUGE — so YUGE that I’m afraid I’ll have to resort to an OVERFLOWING STREAMS post on Monday, one in which I don’t do anything but just stitch together new music streams and release details without commentary.

But I decided I would do something for today as a head-start (in addition to working on a SHADES OF BLACK post for tomorrow), and here’s what I’ve done: I picked the latest recommendations from three of my NCS colleagues, and then added one of my own, which happens to be the latest new song premiere that I’ve listened to. But first, a news item…

PANOPTICON

A few days ago the administrator of Panopticon’s official Facebook page posted the artwork you see above, along with these few words: “Slip case cover for the new double album. the scars of man on the once nameless wilderness. Out in March on Bindrune Recordings in the USA and Nordvis in Europe. Art by Hanna Larsson of Sólfjall Design.” Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD ON A SATURDAY: PANOPTICON, WINDSWEPT, ILLIMITABLE DOLOR, PROJECT OMEGA, MURDERSOME, ROBOT ZOMBIE ARMY

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  7 Responses »
Jan 072017
 

 

I mentioned in yesterday’s Seen and Heard post that I’ve been under the weather and wasn’t sure if I would be posting much this weekend. I still feel like a piece of frozen shit that’s leaking rivulets of mucus, but I suppose it’s a testament to my obsession with metal that I’ve nevertheless compiled the following playlist of new songs for your enjoyment. I really enjoyed all of them as well, despite the best efforts of the cold virus to turn all my joy into slag.

PANOPTICON

A couple of days ago DECIBEL magazine premiered a stream of a new song by Panopticon that’s included as a flexi disc in the new issue of the magazine (the one with Immolation on the cover). The song’s name is “Sheep In Wolves’ Clothing”. It was specially recorded for the flexi series, so I’m not sure whether it will appear on Panopticon’s new album. And yes, if you hadn’t heard, there will be a new Panopticon album in 2017. Continue reading »

LISTMANIA 2016: A YEAR-END LIST FROM AUSTIN LUNN (PANOPTICON)

 LISTMANIA 2016  21 Responses »
Dec 132016
 

austin-lunn-2016

 

(We are again fortunate to present another year-end list we eagerly await each year, from an immensely talented musician and a damned fine human being — Austin Lunn of Panopticon and Seidr.)

 

I have to apologize in advance for the length of this list. It has been a great year for metal in my opinion… many, many releases to enjoy and as a result my list is super-long. I cut some stuff for the the sake of brevity… and speaking of brevity, I will do my best to keep the accompanying blurbs short this time around.

This has been an intense year for me, and many of these albums will forever be the soundtrack for those memories in my mind…. so here goes: Continue reading »

A LETTER OF GRATITUDE FROM PANOPTICON (AND NEWS ABOUT THE NEXT ALBUM AND FUTURE PERFORMANCES)

 Metal News  3 Responses »
Aug 232016
 

Panopticon at Migration Fest-1

 

EDITOR’S NOTE: The recently completed Migration Fest in Olympia, Washington, jointly organized by 20 Buck Spin and Gilead Media, was filled with memorable highlights, but perhaps the greatest of all was the first live performance by Panopticon, which closed the fest’s second night.

In a 90-minute set that cut across a broad swath of Panopticon’s albums, Austin Lunn was joined on-stage by drummer Ray Capizzo (Falls of Rauros), bassist Andy Klokow (who also performed live with Obsequiae), and guitarist Jake Quittschreiber (Circadian Ritual). The time seemed to fly by, and left an enthusiastic audience roaring their appreciation and their thanks. (We have five videos from that set, along with a more extensive review, here.)

And now we want to share another expression of gratitude, this time a thank-you letter from Austin Lunn himself to everyone who became a part of Migration Fest — and in this letter he discloses plans for the next Panopticon album as well as future live performances: Continue reading »

MIGRATION FEST: DAY TWO

 Concert Reviews  5 Responses »
Aug 142016
 

Capitol Theater-Day Two

 

This is the second part of a three-part recap of the first Migration Fest in Olympia, Washington. For the first installment, covering the pre-fest show on August 11 and Day One on August 12, go here.

The first day of Migration Fest proved to be a very strong start to what I selfishly hope will become an annual tradition. If anything, Day Two topped it, in large part on the strength of a history-making performance by Saturday’s headliner — Panopticon — that was simply stunning.

At the end of this post I’ve embedded five videos from Panopticon’s 90-minute set, and I’ve got one video of Vastum in here, too. By tomorrow, I also plan to update this post (and yesterday’s recap of Day One) with videos of additional bands. For now, I’m including the best of my crappy cellphone photos, and some words of course. Continue reading »

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