Sep 052019
 

 

If you’re unaware that Unspeakable Axe will be releasing a new Ripper EP on September 30, that means you haven’t been checking in with us every day (shame on you!). We’ve written enthusiastically about the first single from that EP here, and we’ve also reviewed the EP as a whole. In a nutshell, it’s fantastic. That should come as no shock to anyone who’s familiar with this Chilean band’s previous work, but what might be surprising is how much further they’ve spread their prodigious (dragon) wings through these five new songs.

The name of the new EP is Sensory Stagnation, which is an interesting title, because the music is instead the antidote to sensory stagnation. It’s hard to comprehend how anyone could be bored with the state of metal these days, though some über-elitists profess to be. But for any benighted souls who do think metal is stagnating, Ripper’s newest offering will wake you up just as effectively as taking a seat in Old Sparky and riding the lightning. As proof of that, we’re following up the EP’s first advance track with a premiere of the title song today. Continue reading »

Aug 262019
 

 

(Todd Manning wrote the following review of the new record by the Chilean thrash band Ripper, which is set for release on September 30th by Unspeakable Axe Records.)

For many, and myself included, Ripper’s 2016 full-length Experiment of Existence was a highlight of that year.  The songwriting on that opus was a deft combination of classic Teutonic Thrash and proto-Death Metal with hints of technical musicianship added in for flavor. Now these Chilean madmen are back with their newest release, Sensory Stagnation, once again with Unspeakable Axe Records. Continue reading »

Aug 182019
 

 

Although Part 1 of this death-centric round-up (here) included a mountain of new music, the mountain is about to grow to greater heights as a result of continued vulcanism in the underground. What I’ve chosen for Part 2 are a new album released on Friday, and recent advance tracks from three forthcoming full-lengths.

DIOCLETIAN

In 2015, after the release of the uber-powerful Gesundrian, Diocletian split up, but the dissolution wasn’t permanent. Guitarist Atrociter re-formed this New Zealand war-metal strike-force with a new line-up that also includes Rigel Walshe (Dawn of Azazel) at bass and vocals, guitarist M.H. (ex-Heresiarch), E. M. at drums, and Impurath from Black Witchery as lead vocalist. That group has recorded a “comeback” Diocletian album entitled Amongst The Flames Of A Burning God that was released two days ago by Profound Lore. Continue reading »

Jan 102017
 

 

Welcome to the 8th Part of this evolving list of Most Infectious Songs from releases that appeared in 2016. To see the previous installments of the list and to learn the grounds for selection, click here.

I’ve again decided to group three songs together in this episode of the list rather than two, and I’ve again amused myself (and hopefully you) by combining tracks that I feel have a certain kinship among them, even though each one is distinctively different from the others.

RIPPER

Experiment of Existence, the new album by the Chilean band Ripper, was for me a big highlight of 2016. We got the chance to premiere a full album stream, and that was preceded by a review from Todd Manning (aka Allen Griffin) that included these words of praise: Continue reading »

Mar 312016
 

Universe 217-Change

 

(Here’s the third of our friend KevinP’s monthly selection of releases for 2016, naming his Top 5 favorite albums released during March.)

Truth be told, I’ve been knee deep into “comic book research” for the past few months, but especially in March, so my attention has been split between music and yet another hobby to spend way too much money on.  And by research, I mean investigating what new books and series recently came out and what’s on the horizon so I can generate a valid “pull list”.  I was toying with the idea of doing a semi-regular column on comic books.  What do you think of that prospect?  I’m rarely, if ever, gonna discuss a book about men (or chicks) in spandex, it will be all the indie and creator-owned ones (yes, I’m an elitist snob in my other hobbies as well).  Anyways, on with this month’s best of…… Continue reading »

Feb 242016
 

Ripper-Experiment of Existence

 

In the early days of this new year we had the pleasure of hosting a song premiere from the new album by the Chilean hell-raisers in Ripper, along with a review of the album by our guest Allen Griffin, who summed up the music with these words:

“Titled Experiments of Existence, this release in many ways appears to channel the savagery of groups like Possessed, Dark Angel, and particularly Pleasure to Kill-era Kreator. Yet, one thing that quickly becomes apparent to the listener is the precision of execution. One hesitates to use the term ‘technical’ for all the baggage that comes along with it, but this difficult material is performed flawlessly. The aggression, though, is never compromised. This is neither Watchtower nor Voivod, just a death/thrash hybrid performed at the highest standard.”

Today we’re bringing you the chance to discover fully for yourselves what Allen was talking about as we premiere a full stream of Experiment of Existence. Continue reading »

Jan 072016
 

Ripper-Experiment of Existence

 

Today we bring you the premiere of a song named “Magnetic Solar Storms” from the second full-length by the Chilean band Ripper. You can stream it at the end of this post. But first, we welcome back guest writer Allen Griffin, who provides this review of the album from which it comes: Experiment of Existence.

The thrash revival of the past several years seems to have been spawned almost exclusively by a focus on the Bay Area scene, to the exclusion of almost everything else that was going on in the past. Perhaps predictably, this thrash resurgence has often neglected some of the darker and more brutal roots of the sub-genre’s origins. Thankfully, the latest album from Chilean death/thrashers Ripper is set to fix the imbalance.

Titled Experiments of Existence, this release in many ways appears to channel the savagery of groups like Possessed, Dark Angel, and particularly Pleasure to Kill-era Kreator. Yet, one thing that quickly becomes apparent to the listener is the precision of execution. One hesitates to use the term “technical” for all the baggage that comes along with it, but this difficult material is performed flawlessly. The aggression, though, is never compromised. This is neither Watchtower nor Voivod, just a death/thrash hybrid performed at the highest standard. Continue reading »

Dec 142015
 

Ripper-Experiment of Existence

 

You may have noticed that we’re now hip-deep in year-end LISTMANIA, and that tide will continue to rise from now into the New Year. This means that we won’t have quite as many new-music round-ups as we usually do, but I’m still going to try to squeeze a few in as time permits — including this one…

… which includes lots of eye-catching artwork as well as ear-catching music, but not many of my usual descriptions (because I’m hurrying).

RIPPER

The Chilean band Ripper turned a lot of heads last year (including mine, wherever I left it) with their debut album Raising the Corpse, and now they’ve got a new one on the way named Experiment of Existence. The advance track from the album that premiered today is a superior ass-kicker. Continue reading »

Apr 252015
 

 

Hell has visited Earth again, in spectacular fashion. This time, the portion of Earth visited by Hell is Chile, where three days ago the Calbuco volcano erupted near the southern town of Puerto Montt after being quiet for 42 years. It has become the subject of some truly breathtaking photos and videos, some of which I’ve embedded in this post after the jump.

Are there any natural occurrences in the world more metal than an explosive volcanic eruption — especially eruptions that include lightning within the volcanic plume? I think not.

So, of course I decided that I needed to include some metal from Chile to accompany the photos and videos you’re about to see. I did dome searching through the NCS archives and discovered that in just the last 18 months we’ve written about more than a half dozen Chilean bands. I’ve collected songs from each of those bands, plus a couple of others. For a change, I’m not going to write any florid descriptions of the music, but just provide the streams and some links in case you want to explore further. All the music is excellent — volcanos aren’t the only things that unleash hell in Chile. Continue reading »

Aug 012014
 

I’m indulging my rarely indulged taste for thrash in this post — rare, because usually thrash doesn’t taste very good to me, except when it’s as vicious as a starving wolverine. Often, death/thrash qualifies very well, and that’s what we have here. One of these bands (the second one) I’ve been sitting on a while without writing about them, and the other I discovered only yesterday. In my addled mind, they seem to make a natural pairing, even though the songs are separated by decades.

NUM SKULL

Thanks to a tip from NCS supporter Utmu, I learned yesterday that on September 16, 2014, Relapse Records plans to reissue on vinyl, CD, and digital the 1988 debut album of a band named Num Skull. The album’s name is Ritually Abused.

I had never heard of Num Skull. Metal-Archives says they were from Winthrop Harbor, Illinois, and that their last album was released in 1996. The first review of Ritually Abused that I read on MA began this way:

“This record is perfect and then some. A proper score would be 103.” And it continues as follows (written by someone who says he heard the band practicing in a two-car garage when he was 12 or 13 years old and had no idea what was going on): Continue reading »