LYCHGATE: “THE CONTAGION IN NINE STEPS”

 Album Reviews  1 Response »
May 102018
 

 

(This is Wil Cifer’s review of the new album by the UK band Lychgate, released in March by Blood Music.)

If you show up for this album expecting black metal, it might be a jarring turn for you. The fact that it is not black metal but still manages to be just as dark and interesting made me willing to go along for the ride. Not every movement on this shifting landscape of angular chaos connects with me, but I approve of the sense of adventure and rebellion against the black metal status quo.

The atmosphere and melancholy of the first song make the angular math of the guitars more balanced, and they get into some proggy abstraction on “Unity of Opposites” to the point that it might be too much like free-jazz for even Deathspell Omega fans. Like it or not, the band has to be applauded for doing their own thing. Continue reading »

NECROS CHRISTOS: “DOMEDON DOXOMEDON”

 Album Reviews  5 Responses »
Apr 052018
 

 

(Few bands have made as dominant a mark on the progression of extreme metal as Necros Christos, and that makes their new album an event worth focusing on — and Wil Cifer does that here, in this review.)

 

I am a sucker for niche sub-genres. “Occult Death Metal” was one of those. It meant… we masturbate on our copies of Onward to Golgotha, but we’re dark enough to lure people like you in. even with the influences worn plainly on their little black sleeves.

One of the best bands to emerge from that was this German band, who have heralded this album as their last. This supposed swan-song finds the band coming out from the murk of cavernous reverb to a more organic brand of death metal with less Incantation worship. For that matter, there are a few moments that sound like Morbid Angel. Continue reading »

JUDAS PRIEST: “FIREPOWER”

 Album Reviews, Exceptions to the Rule  3 Responses »
Mar 152018
 

 

(Wil Cifer reviews the new album by Judas Priest.)

I have now given this album time to sit with me. My first concern about a Priest album at this point in their career is how is Rob’s voice going to hold up? We might be able to live without KK, but as the Ripper Owens years proved, Rob’s  voice is one of the defining traits of this band.

The first two songs are pretty much dialed-in versions of their former arena-rock classics. Think closer to Defenders of the Faith, which found  the band trying to replicate the massive success of Screaming For Vengeance. While the ghost of Priest past might haunt some of the songs, it is without a doubt a better album than Redeemer of Souls. It has the up-tempo aggression that influenced the thrash bands that would follow. “Lightning Strike” has more of a gallop than the opener. The over-dubbed vocal layers that show Halford’s upper range are pretty convincing. Continue reading »

TOTALSELFHATRED: “SOLITUDE”

 Album Reviews  1 Response »
Mar 072018
 

 

(This is Wil Cifer’s review of the third album by the Finnish band Totalselfhatred, which will be released on April 27th by Osmose Productions.)

 

Depressive Suicidal Black Metal was never going to be the next big thing in metal. It was however a nice dark and emotive break from a steady diet of blast beats. Chances are, if you are reading this review you don’t need a refresher course in this sub-genre. You also are aware that this band from Finland occupied the top tier of the genre along with Shining and Lifelover.

While not pulling the numbers in terms of record sales that Shining has, they are arguably the keenest of musicians when it comes to making this style of music. There is plenty of evidence on Apocalypse In Your Heart (2011) to support this, making it the album against which their newest release is going to be measured. Continue reading »

MOURNFUL CONGREGATION: “THE INCUBUS OF KARMA”

 Album Reviews  1 Response »
Mar 062018
 

 

(Wil Cifer reviews the new album by Australia’s Mournful Congregation, which will be released on March 23 by 20 Buck Spin (North America) and Osmose Productions (Europe).)

I am noticing a trend in metal this year with bands who are cult icons in their respective sub-genres moving in more streamlined and accessible directions. Perhaps these bands at this place in their careers felt this was needed. This is evident right from the opening melody of this Australian band’s newest release.

This offers a much lighter shade of sonic splendor than what moved Mournful Congregation’s 2011 release The Book of Kings. Their 2011 album is what this album must measure up to for me. The Book Kings caught me up with a more emotional majesty in my initial listen to it. They have offered glimpses of their former glory leading in to this album. Continue reading »

TRIBULATION: “DOWN BELOW”

 Album Reviews  3 Responses »
Jan 222018
 

 

(Wil Cifer turns in this review of the new album by Tribulation, which will be released by Century Media on January 26th.)

 

The new album from this Swedish band is labelled by my iTunes as “gothic metal”. This is a bit of a misnomer as it sounds nothing like Type O Negative or My Dying Bride. They have been wearing a bit of make-up for some time now, but that affects their complexion more than their sound. The bells and whistles giving them a layer of atmosphere have multiplied. There are more synths on this album, but it makes it more melodic not darker.  But I have a high bar for what I call “goth”. If there are not less than six degrees of separation between a band and The Cure’s Pornography album it’s not “goth”.

What seems to have occurred in the time that has passed since they released The Children of the Night is this band has listened to a ton of classic metal from the ‘70s and ‘80s. While a logical progression for their sound, this makes for a much more streamlined version of their already melodic take on death metal. Continue reading »

LISTMANIA 2017: WIL CIFER’S TOP 25 METAL ALBUMS OF 2017

 LISTMANIA 2017  8 Responses »
Dec 222017
 

 

(We present NCS contributor Wil Cifer’s selection of the Top 25 metal albums of 2017.)

 

Here’s my top 25 metal albums of 2017. Making these lists can send my OCD into a spiral, so I have learned to abandon my more complex methods of ranking them and leave it to what Last Fm said I listened to most. In some cases it didn’t feel right so I flipped entries around.

While I adhere to a pretty strict policy of not feeding the trolls, these lists can lead to a great deal of grumbling, so this time around I have included a brief blip explaining why one album ranked higher than the other.

In short these are MY Top 25 Albums of 2017, so if your name is not Wilhelm Satanchild Cifer, then I don’t really care what you think, but feel free to share your thoughts any way since this is the internet. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: STEVE TUCKER (MORBID ANGEL)

 Interviews  6 Responses »
Nov 172017
 

 

(Not long ago we posted Wil Cifer’s review of the new Morbid Angel album, which will be released on December 1st, and now we present his interview with Steve Tucker.)

With Morbid Angel’s new album Kingdoms Disdained continuing to grow on me, I am beginning to feel it’s their best work since Domination. So I jumped at the chance to talk to bassist/vocalist Steve Tucker and ask about what played into this return to their more vicious sound and what factors in the world today influenced the album’s thematic lyrical tone. Here is what was said. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: UFOMAMMUT

 Interviews  No Responses »
Nov 132017
 

 

(Our contributor Wil Cifer usually brings us album reviews, but today he provides a most interesting interview with all three members of the distinctive Italian band Ufomammut.)

Back in September this Italian trio released 8 on Neurot Records, which has proven to be one of the year’s more interesting releases in heavy music with their blend of psychedelic sludge. I managed to catch up with them when they got off their most recent jaunt on the road to pick their brains about the creative process and what makes this band tick. The result is as follows.

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The hardest part of being in a band can be interaction between other members over the years, so what has been the key to keeping the band together?

Urlo: A good dose of stoicism for sure… ahaha. I must say that we found a good alchemy between us. Poia and me are always together, we see each other every day, being 2/3 of the poster art collective Malleus. We’ve known Vita since a lot of years before we started the band. So… we three had great moments and bad moments, obviously. We all believe in what we’re doing, in one way or the other, so Ufomammut is what kept us together. And, at the end, after so many years, it’s been fun 🙂 Continue reading »

MORBID ANGEL: “KINGDOMS DISDAINED”

 Album Reviews  7 Responses »
Nov 082017
 

 

(These are Wil Cifer’s initial thoughts about the new Morbid Angel album, which will be released on December 1 by Silver Lining Music.)

You can’t blame me or any long-time fans of this band for going into their 9th album with trepidation. Trey is the only original member. I hoped Pete Sandoval might come to his senses like a kid who learns Santa isn’t real and drop the Jesus thing to rejoin the band. But that was the wishful thinking of my inner 15-year-old. I never liked the Steve Tucker albums. They just sound like everyone else.

A few songs in, Tucker was still a hard sell for me even though he is certainly trying his fucking hardest here. The new drummer Scott Fuller won me over much earlier on with his aggressive assault. Continue reading »

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