BOB MALMSTRÖM, BLOOD RED THRONE, AND SVARTSYN

Now that I have your attention, thanks to that new album cover above, I have three more random pieces of new music to share with you today.

BOB MALMSTRÖM

It’s been way too long since we’ve featured anything by Finland’s Bob Malmström here at NCS. I first tumbled to them in December 2011 after catching their official music video for a song called “Eliten”, which was a kind of searing, headbanging, thrash/hardcore/punk onslaught, as rendered by a bunch of dudes in suits sipping champagne. For a fair amount of background about the band’s politically incorrect philosophies and interests, you might check out the post I wrote at that time.

Today brought a fresh reminder of how much ass this band kick: the debut of a lyric video for the title track from a new Bob Malmström album entitled Punkens framtid, which, according to Google Translate, means “Punk future” in Swedish. The new song rocks so hard it nearly knocked me flat, but I somehow kept my feet despite bouncing around in a solo mosh pit of my own making.

It’s got that old-school Swedish chainsaw guitar tone going on, plus a riveting little bass solo, plus d-beat punk rhythms, plus a lot of vocal variety, plus riffs galore. I have one complaint, and it’s a serious one: the song is too damned short! Also, I don’t understand Swedish and I would like to know what the song is about. Any Swedes in the audience care to help out? The video’s lyrics are in Swedish, but an English translation can be found here (thank you Wille for pointing this out). I can’t say I’m surprised by what they say, given what I know about this band: they’re a swift kick in the face of punk for being stagnant and irrelevant.

Punkens framtid will be released on April 19. For information about how to acquire the album and help make Bob Malmström rich-er, visit one of these places:

http://www.bobmalmstrom.com/
http://www.facebook.com/BobMalmstrom/
http://www.recordshopx.com/artist/bob_malmstrom/punkens_framtid/#cd-t-shirt

 

BLOOD RED THRONE

I’ve already reported that Norway’s Blood Red Throne are celebrating the 15th year of their existence as a band with a new, self-titled album in a special edition LP box set that’s been up for pre-sale on Blood Red Throne’s Bandcamp page (here) since last month. It will be released by Sevared Records on May 21. It features that sweet cover art by Rafael Tavares that’s staring at you above.

The first time I wrote about this news, I had no music to share with you. Now I do. What I have is an album teaser that consists of excerpts from many songs, and they are sounding very good to these ears. It appears that Blood Red Throne have created yet another warlike assault of unflinching death metal loaded with charred Norwegian malevolence. Have a listen:

http://www.facebook.com/BloodRedThroneOfficial

 

SVARTSYN

Svartsyn are a long-running Swedish band, and yes, as further evidence that my metal education is still far from complete, I haven’t explored their substantial discography. What I can tell you is that Agonia Records will be releasing the band’s 8th album on May 28 in Europe and June 25 in North America. And no, please don’t ask me the logic behind these staggered transatlantic release dates.

The new album is named Black Testament, and yesterday Agonia began streaming a track from the album called “Demoness With Seven Names” that yanked me straight up at attention. Actually, to be honest, the album art grabbed my attention first, and then the song held it in a grip of steel.

The music is icy, malignant, riff- and blast-driven black metal that’s loaded with weight and charged with primal power. Although it’s stripped-down music at one level, I found the song more intricate than I was expecting at the start, and very compelling. Check it out below.

Pre-orders for Black Testament are being taken now at: https://www.agoniarecords.com/index.php?pos=shop&lang=en

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Svartsyn/10246552986121