OUR LIST OF 2019’S MOST INFECTIOUS EXTREME METAL SONGS (PART 19): SORCERY, WARCRAB, TO DUST

 MOST INFECTIOUS SONGS-2019  5 Responses »
Jan 302020
 

 

Well, those of you who’ve been following this list know that I fucked up and didn’t post the next installment yesterday. I had some unforeseen and immediate obligations to deal with in my personal life. It was all I could do to write the premieres I had promised for yesterday. So now (if you’ve been counting), I have two missed days to make up. It’s looking more and more likely that I won’t finish by the end of January after all.

Excuses aside, today’s episode is another one in which I didn’t try to group songs that shared strong stylistic similarities and instead just wanted to make sure that I put these songs on the list before time ran out. Still, I do think they make a great playlist.

SORCERY

I gave a hint not long ago that there would be a Sorcery song on this list, and so there is, just as there was in the 2013 and 2016 editions of this list. Basically, with every album these Swedes have put out since their resurrection after a long dormancy, I’ve become so addicted to their songs that I’ve felt compelled to honor them in this way. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD (PART 1): BODYFARM, SORCERY, COFFINS, DEVOURMENT

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  3 Responses »
Aug 012019
 

 

Today’s round-up of new music and videos again comes in two-parts, which is more a statement of optimistic expectations than a present reality, since I haven’t started work on Part 2 yet. As for the present reality of Part 1, it’s focused on the deathlier side of the metal spectrum. As I did earlier in the week, I’ve also inserted an announcement unaccompanied by music, which I rarely do, but again couldn’t resist.

BODYFARM

I’m beginning with that announcement. Even though there’s no music yet to share from Bodyfarm’s new album, I couldn’t resist adding it to this collection because Dan Seagrave‘s cover art is so spectacular (this series, after all, is called SEEN and heard for a reason). There’s also the added attraction of this Dutch band’s previous releases, which provide solid reasons for expecting good things from the new one. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: SORCERY, CRYPT SERMON, BAEST, WORMED, AXIOMA, [4672]

 Album Reviews, Exceptions to the Rule, Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  7 Responses »
Jul 012019
 

 

To get this new week off to a rousing start I have a round-up of new music from six bands, culled from the good, the bad, and the ugly sounds that found their way to my earholes this past weekend. As is often the case, part of my design in this culling was to provide a selection of metal that might appeal to a range of tastes.

SORCERY

2019 has already proven to be another banner year for death metal, but the news that Sorcery will be releasing a new album still lit up my head like a Roman candle. I know it seems like my enthusiasm overflows on a daily basis around here (the appearances, by the way, aren’t deceiving), but Sorcery still occupy a special place in my black-hearted affections. (The fact that their new album is adorned with another fantastic piece of artwork by Juanjo Castellano is sweet icing on the cake.) Continue reading »

OUR LIST OF 2016’S MOST INFECTIOUS EXTREME METAL SONGS (PART 12): ASPHYX, SORCERY, GATECREEPER

 MOST INFECTIOUS SONGS-2016  4 Responses »
Jan 162017
 

 

I feel like wallowing in the warmth of a certain kind of guitar tone today, along with a certain kind of delicious death-metal gut churn and head battering.

Yes, you’ve arrived at the 12th part of our growing list of 2016’s Most Infectious Extreme Metal Songs. Should you be inclined to explore the tracks that preceded these three beasts, click this link.

ASPHYX

Astoundingly in this day and age, when more venerable metal bands with prominent names are phoning it in than showing they still have fire in their bellies, Asphyx released one of 2016’s mod satisfying death metal records. Continue reading »

DEATH BENEFITS: CENTINEX, SORCERY, GHOULGOTHA, GOD ENSLAVEMENT, GRAVE DESECRATOR, AIRLINES OF TERROR, DEATHCROWN

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  5 Responses »
May 112016
 

Centinex-Doomsday Rituals

 

I’m still significantly distracted from the mission of NCS these days for personal reasons that I’ve described in previous posts, and that will likely continue to be the case for at least the next week or two. But although the round-ups haven’t been coming as frequently as usual, I did manage to pull this one together over the last few days. All the songs (and one video) are fairly recent and all provide some very tasty flavors of death metal (lots of cool cover art in this post as well). For better or worse, I need to keep my own verbiage short and let the music speak for itself.

CENTINEX

That’s a hell of an album cover up there (created by Bahrull Marta of Abomination Imagery) for a hell of a band — Sweden’s Centinex. Their new album Doomsday Rituals is set for release by Agonia Records on July 8.

The band’s current line-up, which is different from the one that released eight albums prior to the disbanding of Centinex in 2005, is truly impressive: Martin Schulman (Demonical) on bass, Sverker Widgren (Demonical, Diabolical) on guitars, Alexander Högbom (October Tide, Spasmodic) on vocals, and Kennet Englund (Interment, Centinex 1999-2003). And so is the new song that premiered yesterday. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD (WEEKEND EDITION): SORCERY, BE’LAKOR, GEVURAH, DECEPTIONIST, CRYSTALMOORS, KALMANKANTAJA, SŪRYA

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  13 Responses »
Mar 262016
 

Sorcery-Garden of Bones

 

I blogged like a blogging fool last week, shirking my fucking day job to an embarrassing extent. Now I have to pay for all the shirking by working this weekend. Or at least that’s the plan; I wouldn’t bet a lot of money on that if I were you. But before I attempt to make good on that noxious plan, here’s a collection of news and new music that’s not noxious, except in a good way.

SORCERY

I discovered yesterday that Xtreem Music will be releasing a new Sorcery album named Garden of Bones on May 15. I’m as excited as a springbok being chased by a cheetah. Continue reading »

OUR LIST OF 2013’S MOST INFECTIOUS EXTREME METAL SONGS: PART 22

 MOST INFECTIOUS SONGS-2013  7 Responses »
Feb 062014
 

I decided to add two trios of songs to the list today, this being the second installment. For more details about what this list is all about and how it was compiled, read the introductory post via this link. To see the selections that preceded the three songs I’m announcing today, click here.

For this current threesome of songs I’m going back to the rough and the raw, to the kind of music that hungers for your flesh and wants your teeth as souvenirs. And man, the grooves on these babies…

SORCERY

I almost overlooked Sorcery’s Arrival At Six as a source of candidates for this list. My faulty memory was telling me this veteran Swedish band’s comeback album was released in 2012, but after double-checking Metal Archives, I saw that it was a January 2013 discharge. What a pleasant discovery — because there’s a song on that album that has become one of my go-to head-wreckers — “Warbringer”. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: SORCERY, SKROG, AND HATE MEDITATION

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  3 Responses »
Jan 022013
 

Yesterday I posted two catch-up features in an effort to spread the word about new music and news I came across over the long holiday weekend. But two really wasn’t enough. So, here’s a third.

SORCERY

The revival of old school death metal marches on.  In this instance, the purveyors are not newcomers mimicking the style, but people who were doing this when the old school was young.

Sorcery are a Swedish band who originally came together in the late 80s. By 1991 they had recorded an assortment of demos and one full-length album (Bloodchilling Tales), and then dissolved. Their revival began in 2009 with the recording of a new demo (followed by a second in 2012), and now they’re on the verge of releasing a new album — Arrival At Six — on the Xtreem Music label (release date: Jan 15). Of course, it was recorded at Sunlight Studios, by Tomas Skogsberg. And as you can see, it features completely killer cover art by Daniel Devilish.

Thanks to a tip from Utmu, yesterday I listened to the first single from the album, “Warbringer”.  Continue reading »