THE MONOLITH DEATHCULT: OUR REVIEW OF “VERSVS 1” AND OUR PREMIERE OF “DIE GLOCKE”

 Album Reviews, Premieres  3 Responses »
May 052017
 

 

(Andy Synn reviews the new album by The Monolith Deathcult, and we also present the premiere of a song from the album after the review. We apologize in advance to all our readers.)

Dedicated readers of the site will no doubt be aware of my long-running relationship with The Monolith Deathcult, dating all the way back to 2011 and encompassing, in the intervening years, numerous reviews, interviews, and tour dates (the most recent only a few weeks ago).

Heck, I even ended up helping the band rewrite the press release for this record simply because I didn’t think the original materials were up to scratch!

As a result you might be wondering whether this review is going to be full of bias, favouritism, and partisan hyperbole, to which I’d answer… of course it is.

In fact you’re probably better off thinking of this as a paid advertisement on behalf of Deathcult Inc.

Except I’m not getting paid…

And I’m actually going to be a bit critical in places… Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: THE MONOLITH DEATHCULT — “THIS INHUMAN PLACE MAKES HUMAN MONSTERS”

 Premieres  3 Responses »
Mar 092017
 

 

(The half-witted editor of this site asked NCS scribe Andy Synn to introduce our premiere of the first single from the new album by one of our putrid site’s favorite bands, The Monolith Deathcult. Through a combination of bribery and intimidation, he agreed. And actually, this isn’t really the full song as it will appear on the album, but it’s enough.)

The Monolith Deathcult are a band who need no introduction.

So… that’s my work here done then, right?

Fine, if I have to write something more, I will do. But I am hereby registering my protest against this inhumane treatment. Continue reading »

OUR LAST POST OF 2016… AND OUR FIRST OF 2017 (WITH NEW MUSIC FROM MIDNIGHT, THE MONOLITH DEATHCULT, MISERIST, MIDNIGHT ODYSSEY, VIELIKAN)

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  6 Responses »
Dec 312016
 

 

Yes, of course, it’s just an arbitrary date, one that has no intrinsic meaning. The arrow of time moves inexorably forward, the segmentation of its path into old years and new ones solely our own creation, one more effort to impose some kind of communal order on chaos. The effort fails, but as an occasion for remembering good times and bad, and perhaps kindling hope for a better tomorrow, the clicking of the clock past midnight tonight serves a laudable purpose. Even as simply an excuse for a cathartic blowout, it’s a good thing, if that’s your thing.

The calendar will flip over, but I’ll just keep writing as if nothing is about to change. Why the hell not? I have a lot of new songs and videos I’ve discovered over the last 48 hours. I’ve collected a few of them — the result of hard choices — and will make some of them the subject of this last NCS post of 2016, and the rest the subject of our first post of 2017 tomorrow.

Happy Fucking New Year to all of you from all of us. My resolution, over which I have no control, is to be here with you one year from today, saying the same damned thing. Continue reading »

SHORT BUT SWEET: THE MONOLITH DEATHCULT — “BLOODCVLTS”

 Album Reviews, SHORT BUT SWEET  3 Responses »
Apr 242015
 

 

(Andy Synn has finally reached his limit. And it was The Monolith Deathcult who pushed him to the brink.)

That’s it. I’m done. I’ve had all I can stands, and I can’t stands no more!

As a writer/review/self-important member of the liberal media conspiracy, I’ve come across a lot in my time writing for this site and for the various other publications which I occasionally do some work for.

But never before has a band so blatantly tried to buy my favour. And it’s just unacceptable.

You see, this is about more than just my honour and integrity, more than just my (now suspiciously full) bank balance. It’s about Ethics in Death Metal Journalism, dammit! Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: THE MONOLITH DEATHCULT — “REIGN OF HELL”

 Premieres  9 Responses »
Jan 292015
 

 

We’ve made no secret of our fondness for The Monolith Deathcult. It may go too far to say that everything they touch turns to gold — it would be more accurate to say that everything they touch turns to rubble and bone splinters. But when it comes to metal, destruction IS gold, isn’t it?

Given the quality and success of the band’s last album, 2013’s Tetragrammaton, we thought maybe they had retired to the Riviera, rolling in cash, bathing in champagne, and passing their days in the endless consumption of fine cigars and premium caviar. But it turns out they have actually torn themselves away from the delights of the flesh and recorded some music, of which we have the privilege of bringing you a first taste.

On March 24, Season of Mist will release a new TMDC EP entitled Bloodcults, and a few paragraphs from now you’ll be able to hear one of the songs on the EP, a hellish track named “Reign of Hell”. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: THE MONOLITH DEATHCULT, UNEARTH, OCCULTATION, WORMWOOD, 1349, IN DREAD RESPONSE

 Exceptions to the Rule, Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  10 Responses »
Sep 102014
 

I’ve fallen behind in completing some reviews (one in particular) that I had planned to post on Monday of this week. Partly, this is the result of how many new music premieres and press releases of interest I’ve found this week. The last 24 hours have been no different. What follows is a sextet of such things.

THE MONOLITH DEATHCULT

One of this site’s favorite bands made this statement yesterday:

“We have some exciting news! To bridge the gap between TETRAGRAMMATON and our forthcoming album we decided to record some tunes from our first album The Apotheosis. This because The Apotheosis is sold out and we simply aren’t in for an ordinary repressing. We will release it as an EP+ some cool rare recordings we collected through the years. The title of the EP will be BLOODCVLTS & DEATHCVLTS.

At the moment we have no idea how and who will release this EP. Maybe it will be on vinyl, maybe on CD or maybe only on Itunes and Spotify. Stay tuned!” Continue reading »

AN EISTNAFLUG REPORT: PART 3

 Concert Reviews  1 Response »
Aug 272014
 


Eistnaflug revelers.

(Gemma Alexander is a Seattle-based writer and NCS fan who visited Iceland in the fall of 2012 during the Iceland Airwaves festival and was generous enough to send us interviews with such bands as Angist, Beneath, Kontinuum, Sólstafir, Gone Postal, and Skálmöld. In July of this year she returned to Iceland for the Eistnaflug metal and rock festival (“Eistnaflug” being Icelandic for “flying testicles”), and we are once again the beneficiary of her writing. Today we present Part 2 of a three-part report on the festival, illustrated with Gemma’s own photos. Visit her own excellent blog here and check out more of her reporting on the festival at KEXP’s web site. Part 1 of her report for us is here and Part 2 is here.)

 

For the few of us who bothered with the hours before – or even slightly after – noon on Saturday, the desperate drunkenness of Friday night had given way to a comfortable morning buzz. Fewer than two dozen made it to the first show of the day at 1 p.m., AMFJ.

Which was too bad. Aðalstein Motherfucking Jörundsson is one barefoot guy at a little table in the middle of the floor. There wasn’t much to see, but there was a lot to hear. The set started out doomy and moved into a rave-worthy beat supporting vocals distorted beyond recognition. It was some killer industrial noise.

https://amfj1.bandcamp.com/ Continue reading »

THE MONOLITH DEATHCULT / TALANAS / BEYOND GRACE — UK TOUR REPORT

 Concert Reviews, Metal News  8 Responses »
Mar 142014
 

(Andy Synn provides this report on the recently completed UK tour by The Monolith Deathcult, Talanas, and Andy’s band Beyond Grace.)

So I’ve been harangued into putting together a short (relatively) report of the happenings and happenstances of our tour last month. Frankly, I’m not entirely sure where to start as I’m writing this now, other than to say that – despite the inevitable stresses that came about – I wish I was still on tour now. Playing a show every night, to new people, in a new place… well, that 30 mins onstage you get makes all the rest of it worthwhile.

DAY 01 – BRIGHTON, STICKY MIKE’S FROG BAR

My first piece of advice for any of you going on tour – try to get a good night’s sleep the night before you leave. Definitely don’t stay up late sending out digital promos and organising the launch of your new EP so that you only have time to get in 3 hours before having to go collect the van, drive it back to load your backline, then drive down to London (and then on to Brighton). Yeah, don’t do that. Continue reading »

OUR LIST OF 2013’S MOST INFECTIOUS EXTREME METAL SONGS: PART 16

 Metal News, MOST INFECTIOUS SONGS-2013  5 Responses »
Jan 312014
 

We proudly bring you the 16th Part of our list of the year’s most infectious extreme metal songs. 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 two I’m announcing today, click here.

In different ways, both bands we’re featuring today have their tongues in their cheeks — but their music also has the capability to tear yours out and use it for a bookmark.

THE MONOLITH DEATHCULT

I suppose our adoration for TMDC knows no bounds — or so one might think from the volume of words we’ve spilled about their new album, Tetragrammaton. For example, these words by our reviewer Mr. Synn:

“Their music is dark, oppressive, and brutal – but also relentlessly energetic, knowingly pompous, and impressively self-aware…. Right from the start you can tell that this is the sequel to the superfluously awesome Triumvirate. Yet it’s more than just a mere carbon copy or continuation. Everything that album brought to the table is still there – the ostentatious synths, the audacious symphonic pomposity, the back-breaking death metal brutality, the darkly intelligent lyrical themes and vicious vocal hooks – yet twisted and reworked just so to provide a new experience, a newly refined recipe for disaster….  Continue reading »

READ THIS PRODUCT ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE MONOLITH DEATHCULT

 Metal News  9 Responses »
Dec 122013
 

The Monolith Deathcult, with whom all loyal NCS readers are amply familiar because we talk about them so much our lips are chapped, are offering a limited-edition box set that isn’t really a box set because it has no box, but does contain these items: Tetragrammaton (2013) 2-LP in 180 grams clear vinyl in gatefold design; Trivmvirate (2008) 2-LP in 180 grams clear vinyl in gatefold design; Obliteration of the Despised Promo (2002 – sold out!) LP in 180 grams clear vinyl; a heavy duty carrying bag for carrying items that need carrying; and a limited “crest” design T-shirt.

But lest you think we’ve become shills for band mercy, the real reason I’m posting about this isn’t the merch (though I’m sure TMDC would appreciate your buying all this shit here), it’s the TMDC product announcement. It’s good. It’s funny. So I thought I’d share it. Because I can:

Hand-pressed in a sweat shop by forced child labour. Purchasing this item ensures that one community in an emerging economy will live in a pit of toxic sludge and abject poverty for at least 15 years. Made from 100% unrecycled material from unrenewable sources. Only slighly lethal to aquatic mammals. Do not use as a toy. Observe proper safety instructions when handling. Keep out of reach of children. Use only in a well-ventilated area. Exposure to this box-but-hey-it’s-not-a-box-box set may cause joint pain, nausea, head-ache, or shortness of breath. You may also experience muscle aches, rapid heartbeat, and ringing in the cars. If you feel faint, call your doctor. Continue reading »

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