Apr 172014
 

Late last fall Southern California’s Reciprocal self-released their second album, New Order of the Ages. It was an 11-track, 67-minute monster that drew the attention of Lacerated Enemy Records, which will now be releasing the album on CD this coming June 6, with new cover art by Jon Zig.

I missed the album when it first made the rounds last year, but because of this expanded label release I’m getting the chance to find out what I missed. And if you missed it, too, we’re giving you a chance to make amens — because today (along with Terrorizer in Europe) we’re helping to spread the word about a stream of the album’s fifth track, “Illuminati”.

Listening to “Illuminati” is like being unceremoniously parachuted into the middle of a war zone on some distant world where the weaponry is beyond our understanding and the combatants assault each other in highly accelerated time. All the instrumental performances are simply off the hook and tightly integrated despite the jet-fueled pacing and the dizzying course changes. Continue reading »

Dec 032013
 

(NCS contributor Austin Weber has delivered unto us a three-part introduction to new and forthcoming releases by 7 bands. In this third and final part, he focuses on Jeff Hughell, Reciprocal, and Fraud. Part 1 can be found here and Part 2 here.)

The end of the year is usually a slower time for new music releases, a time when much alcohol is consumed and countless amounts of money are wasted on bullshit soon forgotten. But fortunately I’ve got plenty of releases and new songs to catch up on and spread the word about.

JEFF HUGHELLCHAOS LABYRINTH

As one of metal’s most talented bassists, Jeff Hughell is literally in a league of his own, as he primarily plays in two-handed tapping style, which is quite uncommon. Already he has been a part of numerous quality projects, but what most don’t know is that he is also a solo performer. He already has one release of bass-and-drum-only death metal under his belt called I Came To Hate. Now he has recently released a second bass album called Chaos Labyrinth. This is an insane album, and is stuffed with a lengthy, jaw-dropping number of guest spots. Continue reading »