SEEN AND HEARD ON A SATURDAY: WATAIN, KREATOR, NIHILO, SLUGDGE, CEREMONIAL DECAY, SIDEREAN, BESTIA ATER, OTTONE PESANTE

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  1 Response »
Feb 052022
 


Photo Credit: Evelina Szczesik

 

I heard a couple of the following tracks last Saturday and saved them for what I hoped would be one of these collections during the last week, but I never had enough time to put one together. The rest of them I checked out this morning (they’re even more recent), along with others I took a pass on, and more that I’ve saved for tomorrow’s Shades of Black column.

In assembling this collection I followed one of our fairly standard strategies: I decided to include some big names at the outset, in the hope that would lure people into the more obscure names that follow, and I included a curveball at the end.

WATAIN (Sweden)

When you know the band is Watain and you see they’ve released a song named “The Howling“, you already have a good idea what’s coming. But Eric Danielsson spelled it out: “‘The Howling‘ refers to the wordless voice of the wild, wailing eerily through the ages, urging us to leave our safe spaces and explore the dark recesses of the great Abyss both within and without. To see it, to learn from it, to know it.” Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): SIDEREAN — “LOST ON VOID’S HORIZON”

 Album Reviews, Premieres  No Responses »
Jun 232021
 

 

The Slovenian band Siderean began their career under the name Teleport, and as Teleport they released a sequence of demos culminating in 2018’s remarkable Expansion. Afterward came the name change, and a refinement of sound, which was displayed on Siderean’s 2020 demo, aptly named Sidereal Evolution, which was released by Edged Circle Productions. And now, at last, Edged Circle Productions will soon release Siderean’s debut album, Lost On Void’s Horizon.

In their Teleport incarnation, the band drew influence from the likes of Gorguts, Voivod, and Australia’s Stargazer, with musical connections to contemporaries such as Blood Incantation and Sacriphyx. But as revealed on that 2020 demo and even more so on the new album (which includes those demo tracks), they’ve ventured out into more mind-bending and off-planet dimensions, creating a combination of progressive and technical death metal that’s as fascinating and enthralling as it is disorienting.

Thus, it’s with a genuine thrill that we present a full stream of the album just days away from its June 25 release, preceded by our review. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD ON A SATURDAY: AN AUTUMN FOR CRIPPLED CHILDREN, THY CATAFALQUE, AKIAVEL, SIDEREAN, VIOLATED GRAVE, [4672], WINTER ETERNAL

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  No Responses »
Apr 172021
 

 

Roadburn Redux is going on right now. It should be a “must watch, must listen” event for me (and for you), but I’ve had too many distractions the last few days to glue myself to my computer and take it all in. Sadly, I can’t do that this weekend either. All I’ve done so far is to check out a few songs and videos, and I’ve included two of those (which were premieres) at the front of today’s round-up — along with a bunch of other good stuff I discovered over the last 24 hours.

To see the full line-up of events at Roadburn Redux go HERE. You’ll see that it includes both live and pre-recorded music, some of it full sets and some of it individual songs and videos, including premieres. You’ll also see that if you have missed something, the streams and videos will remain on-line at the Redux site until the evening of April 20th.

AN AUTUMN FOR CRIPPLED CHILDREN (Netherlands)

Next month this excellent Dutch band will release their ninth album, As The Morning Dawns We Close Our Eyes. At Roadburn Redux they premiered one of its songs along with a video for it. That song, “Melancholia“, is true to its name in some of its moods (which have a wistful quality) — but the rambunctiousness of the rhythm section, the vibrancy of the gleaming guitar harmonies, and the soaring brilliance in the high end are bursting with life (and the strangled harshness of the vocals are vicious). Continue reading »