SHADES OF BLACK: VETER DAEMONAZ, SEPTUAGINT, NADSVEST, JOURS PÂLES, HEKSEBLAD

 Album Reviews, SHADES OF BLACK  No Responses »
Apr 212024
 

I got a late start on the day and my NCS time is rapidly running out, so I’ll skip the usual long-winded introduction and just quickly summarize what I’ve picked to recommend below:

This collection includes startling new songs from forthcoming records by four bands whose past releases I’ve enjoyed, and one recently released album from an equally startlng newcomer to these ears.

VETER DAEMONAZ (Russia)

To begin, I have a song from a new EP by the Saint Petersburg black metal band Veter Daemonaz, whose previous music I’ve commented about repeatedly in the posts collected here. The song is “На Север (первое видение)” (which means in English, according to Google Translate, “To the North (first vision)”). Continue reading »

AN NCS SPLIT PREMIERE: OPHIDIAN COIL AND SEPTUAGINT — “VORTEX”

 Album Reviews, Premieres, SHORT BUT SWEET  1 Response »
Feb 152019
 

 

In the most rudimentary sense, split releases provide a vehicle for the participating bands to each release new songs in between more extensive releases of their own music, while allowing listeners the chance to sample the works of more than one band at a time. But of course there’s no assurance that the combination of songs from different projects in a single release will do any more than that. Whether the songs actually complement each other, and combine in a way that creates a holistic listening experience that’s greater than the sum of its parts, is a very different issue.

The split release we’re premiering today, entitled Vortex, is one that does go beyond a mere bolting together of singles from more than one group. The two up-and-coming black metal bands who are involved — Ophidian Coil from Serbia and Septuagint from Greece — do not follow identical paths in the music you’ll find here, but there is a “chemistry” between them. The songs of each band, though different in their strategies, exhibit a kind of “spiritual” union in which the different dimensions of Luciferian sound combine in a way that creates a near-30-minute experience that’s immersive — and chilling.

We invite you to listen to these four songs below, an opportunity that coincides with the release of Vortex by Deathhammer Records. And of course we have some thoughts about the music to share as well. Continue reading »

A PAIR OF REVIEWS: CROM DUBH (“HEIMWEH”) AND A SPLIT BY AKROTHEISM AND SEPTUAGINT (“SPHINX: THE GREAT ENIGMA OF TIMES”)

 Reviews  2 Responses »
Apr 022015
 

 

(We welcome back Norwegian guest contributor Gorger, who has provided us with a review of a new album by Crom Dubh that originally appeared in his native tongue on Gorger’s Metal, as well his review of a new split by the Greek bands Akrotheism and Septuagint.)

I tipped Islander off to a track by London-based Crom Dubh not long ago, but he’s a busy bee, and I think these guys deserve some attention, so I asked if he wanted me to present a few words on their first album. Today I discovered yet more delightful metal, this time from two Greek bands. What has crawled into the drinking waters of Greece and infected the metal community of the nation lately? I’m adding them as a bonus.

CROM DUBH – HEIMWEH

When the British quartet Crom Dubh released their debut after more than ten years of existence, that is something we could take delight in, for these lads deliver rapturous grimness and a poignant fresh take on “melodic” extremity. Continue reading »