NEW VIDEOS: GOATWHORE, INSOMNIUM, GRENDEL, AND REVOCATION

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  10 Responses »
Oct 012011
 

I spent some time yesterday catching up on metal news over the last week and came across an assortment of videos I thought were worth sharing.

The first one is footage of the almighty Goatwhore playing a club in Fort Walton Beach, Florida on September 16. What makes this video worth sharing is that they’re playing a NEW SONG, called “Beyond the Spell of Discontent”, and it’s a smokin’ hot piece of black ‘n’ roll. The video quality isn’t great, but the sound is pretty good. I’ll have the vid of that song for you after the jump; video of the band’s entire set can be viewed here.

The second video is a clip of Insomnium playing “The Gale” and “The Mortal Share” at the 2010 Summer Breeze Festival. The band linked to this video on their FB page last night, which is how I found it. Again, the video quality isn’t pro-standard, but the sound is decent, and it’s fucking Insomnium, and I’m getting tremendously tumescent in anticipation of their new album, so yeah. (Okay, this video isn’t exactly new, but I’m going with it anyway.)

The third video is a recent official release by a Finnish band called Grendel for the song “Apocalyptic Rain”. I wasn’t familiar with Grendel before seeing the video, but I likey the song — it’s a headbanging blast of melodic death metal. The video, which is organized around a game of Russian Roulette, proves two things: (1) the guys in this band weren’t very lucky that night; and, as if we needed more proof, (2) dudes will do almost anything for a chick with big knockers.

Last, but not least, I have a recently posted MetalInjection video of Revocation performing “Conjuring the Cataclysm” live. I always have a shit-ton of fun at Revocation shows, and I really like this song, so there. Continue reading »

SHORT BUT SWEET: ARTIFICIAL BRAIN

 Album Reviews, SHORT BUT SWEET  7 Responses »
Sep 242011
 

I had an interesting and very fruitful exchange of e-mails yesterday with one of our readers who goes by the name Treezplease. He started off with a handful of recommendations for our really irregular and infrequent EYE-CATCHERS series (in which we pick bands to hear based solely on the quality of the album art). But he threw in a couple of other names, and one of them was this Long Island, NY band — Artificial Brain.

I immediately liked the name, because I have long suspected that my own brain is artificial rather than something you would expect to find in nature. Treezplease threw a song my way — “Spacid” — and I listened to it, and it seemed to send a signal to my own artificial brain that cause a biomechanoid larva to awaken and begin eating its way out through one of my ear canals. Or at least that’s what it felt like. I’m not 100% sure because I passed out. When I came to, I did have a trail of phosphorescent slime running from my ear down my neck and something had burrowed a hole right down through my floor, and I’m afraid it may be headed in your direction.

Later, I discovered that “Spacid” is part of a 3-song demo that Artificial Brain made available for free download on Bandcamp in June of this year. And I saw this note on the Bandcamp page: “Space/Death/Black Metal featuring members of Revocation and Biolich.” Uh, whut da fuck? I don’t know Biolich, but Revocation? Fuck yeah. (more after the jump . . .) Continue reading »

REVOCATION: “CHAOS OF FORMS”

 Album Reviews  6 Responses »
Aug 092011
 

(Israel Flanders reviews the new album from Revocation. He likes it big-time.  So do I.)

Yeah, it’s Revocation time.  Which means it’s fuck-shit-up time.

I think we’d all be full of it if we, as a collective, denied that this was an extremely anticipated album.  Empire Of The Obscene was like being put through the deathrash equivalent of a butcher shop, Existence Is Futile was like having your brain scrambled (cheesy song reference for the win) by hot pokers and sewing needles.  So what does that make Chaos of Forms?

THE HUMAN BLENDER TO END ALL FLESH-RIPPING MONSTROSITIES!

If the ferocious opening riff of “Cretin” doesn’t snarl at you like the most savage and demonic of wolves waiting to tear your liver out and force you to eat the remnants after they’ve feasted, the rest of the song will certainly teach you right.  Ferocious thrash riffing, blast beats abounding, shredderific solos, and that sense of signature Revocation experimentation and flirtation with jazz fusion and even southern rock (mostly found in David Davidson’s solos) we’ve all come to love. (more after the jump . . .) Continue reading »

NEW TUNES: REVOCATION AND VADER

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  18 Responses »
Jun 152011
 

On Monday night of this week, NCS co-founder Alexis and I visited Studio Seven in Seattle. Our principal reason for going was to see Revocation again (my third time, her fourth), who were appearing in support of of the headline act, Forbidden. We really can’t get enough of these dudes — their live performance is an electrifying experience. The set just whizzed by, and we both remarked afterward how much we looked forward to the day when we could see Revocation at the top of the bill, with more time in which to turn our heads inside-out.

In addition to being tremendously talented musicians — especially guitarist extraordinaire David Davidson — Revocation have been creating music that is genuinely original. Their blend of thrash and death metal just doesn’t sound quite like anything else, and with each new release, they take more steps ahead in establishing their own unique identity. We’re tremendously excited around here for their next album, Chaos of Forms, which is scheduled for an August 12 release on Relapse Records.

On Monday night, Revocation played two new songs from the forthcoming album. One of them, “Cradle Robber”, has been streaming in full recently (here, for example). The second one I’d heard only as an excerpt in this compilation of samples assembled from iTunes. It’s called “Conjuring the Cataclysm”, and it’s my new favorite Revocation song, in part because it’s so different from the band’s usual style. I found a fan-filmed video of the band performing the song on the current tour, and you can see that after the jump.

Also after the jump is a high-quality fan video of Poland’s Vader performing a new song called “Come and See My Sacrifice” on June 12 in The Netherlands. It will appear on Vader’s next album, Welcome to the Morbid Reich, which is projected for release late this year. If you’re a Vader fan (and really, who isn’t?), then you need to see this. Continue reading »

MORE NEW SONGS: REVOCATION AND TOMBS

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  9 Responses »
May 092011
 

The next album from Boston’s Revocation has been on our get-without-fail list since about the beginning of the year. We now have a release date from Relapse Records — August 16 — and the pre-order packages are now up for sale.

We also now have the album title (Chaos of Forms) and the album cover, which is awesome. And last, but not least, only a few hours ago Revocation posted a track from the album (the first to see the light of day) called “Cradle Robber” on their Facebook band-page. It’s a helluva song. Once again, Revocation makes thrash come vibrantly alive — the music is not only fast and wild, but in both off-tempo and full-speed passages, David Davidson’s technical guitar pyrotechnics make your head spin. The drumming on this track is insane, too.

Now, flip your mind upside down for this next one.  New York’s Tombs also has a new album on the way, also on Relapse. Titled Path of Totality, it will land on June 7 in North America, and it’s another one we’ve been anticipating eagerly. Two songs from that album have already premiered — “Silent World”, which debuted on NPR, and “Vermillion”, which launched at BrooklynVegan.com. Today, a third one — “To Cross the Land” — premiered on Stereogum.com.  We’ve got more to say about those songs, plus the new Revocation track, after the jump. Continue reading »

MORE 2011 SICKNESS (PART 5)

 Forthcoming Albums  6 Responses »
May 022011
 


What the hell is that big yellow thing up in the sky? It looks vaguely familiar, but it’s appeared so rarely here in The Emerald City over the last six months that we’re having trouble placing the name. Well, maybe the name will come to us. The great wheel of the seasons surely must continue to turn someplace, but in Seattle it seems to have been stuck on Winter since, like, forever. In some parts of the world, April showers bring May flowers, but here, April showers will probably bring . . . May showers.

Okay, enough whining. At least we don’t get tornados dropping from the sky like atom bombs and wiping whole towns off the map. And even though the weather hasn’t been our friend, we have metal to make up for the cold shoulder — and there’s a bunch of new metal headed our way.

What we do with these installments of METAL IN THE FORGE is collect news blurbs and press releases we’ve seen over the last month about forthcoming new albums from bands we know and like (including updates about releases we’ve included in previous installments of this series), or from bands that look interesting, even though we don’t know them yet. And in this post, we cut and paste the announcements and compile them in alphabetical order.

This isn’t a cumulative list, so be sure to check the Category link called “Forthcoming Albums” on the right side of this page to see forecasted releases we reported in previous installments. This month’s list begins right after the jump. Look for your favorite bands, or get intrigued about some new ones. Continue reading »

WHO WILL DEFINE THE TEENS?

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  9 Responses »
Apr 212011
 

(Brutalitopia is a great name for a metal blog. If we’d thought of it first, you might be reading “Brutalitopia” right now. But instead of us, two other dudes thought up the name, and they’ve put together some great content to go along with it, too. Check that site now if you never have before (use this link). Today, in response to our appeal for help, Brutalitopia Jack has contributed the following thought-provoking guest post.)

Historically speaking, trends and styles tend to occur in phases. This is certainly true for music, and putting metal under the microscope is a great test of this theory; NWOBHM was the representative blueprint of heavy music in the late 1970s, thrash was the mid-80s, and death metal reigned right around the time Metallica sold out. As for the current era, there’s little doubt that heavier progressive acts have assumed dominion for the foreseeable future.

The intriguing situation with prog, however, is the labyrinthine absorption of various sounds and styles that so conspicuously distinguishes itself in today’s muddled scene. Listeners and critics alike often refer to groups as dissimilar as Opeth and Mastodon as progressive, and no issue is made of it. Some argue that the label “progressive” should be understood less as a genre and more as a descriptor of approach and stylistic ethos, but that’s a discussion for another day. The fact remains that progressive metal is at the forefront and will be for some time.

The logical and fanatical question then becomes this; as we enter the second decade of the new millennium, will the burgeoning progressive metal frontier yield a Big Four like Thrash once did? The short answer (at least to this guy) is no. And that’s only because we’ll simply never see a collective reaction to such a limited number of bands ever again; the digital age makes it impossible for even 40 bands to hold the attention of the whole metal community. But while we likely won’t be able to point at four groups as the unquestioned, paramount torchbearers of metal in the 2010s at the end of the decade, it’s not a futile enterprise to attempt to identify four that could really break into the forefront in the next several years. Essentially, fuck everything I just said and put on your pretending caps.  (more after the jump . . .) Continue reading »

MORE 2011 SICKNESS (PART 4)

 Forthcoming Albums  15 Responses »
Apr 022011
 


Technically, we should have posted this yesterday, but yesterday was April Fool’s Day, and people might have thought we were making up some of this shit. But it’s all true, and nothing happens on April 2 to plant doubt about truth. Except for what causes doubt to be planted about truth on any other day of the year.

Here we are at the beginning of the second quarter of 2011 — the time when for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, spring is supposed to spring.  Where I live, spring has apparently been victimized by a brutal street mugging and is hospitalized at the moment.  A few plants have been deluded into thinking it’s spring, but for the rest of our local world, it’s still fucking winter.

Fortunately, the change of the seasons have fuck all to do with the release of metal. What we do with these installments of METAL IN THE FORGE is collect news blurbs and press releases we’ve seen over the last 30 days (or in this case, the last 31 days) about forthcoming new albums from bands we know and like (including updates about releases we’ve included in previous installments of this series), or from bands that look interesting, even though we don’t know them yet. And in this post, we cut and paste the announcements and compile them in alphabetical order.

This isn’t a cumulative list, so be sure to check the Category link called “Forthcoming New Albums” on the right side of this page to see forecasted releases we reported in previous installments. This month’s list begins right after the jump. Look for your favorite bands, or get intrigued about some new ones. There’s some awesome shit on the way. Dive in after the jump. Continue reading »

MORE 2011 SICKNESS (PART 2)

 Forthcoming Albums  No Responses »
Feb 012011
 


The first month of the year has come and gone. January brought those of us in Seattle some typically ass-sucking winter weather, though it wasn’t nearly as bad as the brutality dished out by the weather gods on our metal brothers and sisters in the Midwest and Northeast of the U.S. And of course, our readers ins places like Russia, and Finland, and Sweden are probably laughing their asses off reading our complaints about our winter weather. So, we’ll just shut up about that.

Besides, January brought all sorts of great new metal to our tender ears, so who gives a shit about the weather anyway? And you know what else January brought? It brought news of still more metal goodness on the way — great bursts of audio sunshine in our collective futures that will part these winter clouds and leave them whimpering in cloudy tatters.

Okay, maybe we should leave poetry to the poets and just get on with this next monthly installment of METAL IN THE FORGE, where we collect news blurbs and press releases we’ve seen over the last 30 days about forthcoming new albums from bands we know and like, or from bands that look interesting, even though we don’t know them yet. And in this post, we’ve cut and pasted the announcements and compiled them in alphabetical order. Look for your favorite bands, or get intrigued about some new ones:

AJATARRA: “AJATTARA — the Finnish band featuring former AMORPHIS frontman Pasi Koskinen (a.k.a. Itse Ruoja Suruntuoj) — will release its seventh album, Murhat (“Murders”) on February 2 via Osasto-A Records. Murhat is available for streaming in its entirety on the AJATTARA Facebook page.”  (much more after the jump . . .) Continue reading »

REVOCATION DOES DEATH

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  2 Responses »
Jan 292011
 

The March issue of DECIBEL magazine arrived a couple days ago at the NCS island. There on the cover was a photo of a smiling Chuck Schuldiner licking blood from a nasty cut on his finger. And to commemorate the magazine’s 12-page oral history of Death, the issue included a “Flexi” disk recording of Boston’s Revocation covering “Pull the Plug” from Death’s 1988 album, Leprosy.

I stared at that Flexi disk for a few minutes, trying to think what to do with it.  I tried to shove it into my computer’s CD drive, but it was too big. I shook it really hard and held it up to my ear, but no music came out of it. I even chewed on it, but it still wouldn’t give up its secrets. Slowly, it dawned on me that this thing was meant for a turntable — y’know, those things that make stuff spin around and around, with an arm that holds a needle that somehow makes sound come out of the spinning things?

Problem is, we don’t have any turntables here at NCS. So that Flexi disk is destined to go through life as a coaster.

Then, just as I was resigning myself to having to imagine what “Pull the Plug” would sound like as performed by Revocation, that dim bulb in my head flared briefly and I remembered an e-mail I’d gotten earlier in the week from NCS contributor BadWolf telling me that the Revocation song was streaming over at MetalSucks. I hadn’t been anyplace where I could listen when that e-mail arrived, and then I just forgot about it. So I guess that Flexi disk served a purpose after all.

If you happened to miss that song-stream over at MS, don’t make the same mistake twice — you can stream the song here, right after the jump, and you should, because, to use a journalistic term of art, it’s hot shit. Continue reading »

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