SEEN AND HEARD: BLOOD OF KINGU, GIGAN-PYRRHON-ARTIFICIAL BRAIN, VUKARI

Happy goddamned Saturday to one and all. I’m in the middle of a mini-vacation with family and friends, which means I’ve spent more time over the last 24 hours making lists of new music to check out than actually listening or writing. But I hate to let a day go by without posting something at NCS (that’s happened on a grand total of 3 days since we started this site in November 2009), so here are a few quick things I’d like to recommend. With luck, I’ll have a few more to bring your way tomorrow.

BLOOD OF KINGU

As previously reported here, the Ukrainian black metal band Blood of Kingu (started by Roman Sayenko of Drudkh) will be releasing their third album via Season of Mist on September 2 in North America (and August 29 everywhere else). The title is Dark Star on the Right Horn of the Crescent Moon. Last month Terrorizer premiered the first advance track from the album — “Enshrined in the Nethermost Lairs Beneath the Oceans” — and a few days ago Metal Underground premiered a second track.

The new song is “The Bringer of Pestilence”. Like the first advance track, this one kicks open the door immediately and storms through it like a ravening beast. Swarming, corrosive riffs; blasting, thundering percussion; hollow bestial vocals; and extraterrestrial tremolo-picked guitar leads — together they unleash a black/death monstrosity that may surprise you, because you may find its slithering melody hanging around your head after the song ends.

If you haven’t heard the first song, go HERE to listen. The new song is streaming HERE. Blood of Kingu have a Facebook page at this location.

 

 

TOURISM: GIGAN, PYRRHON, ARTIFICIAL BRAIN

Two days ago Metal Sucks announced a North American tour by three out-of-the-ordinary death metal bands — Gigan (Chicago), Pyrrhon (NYC), and Artificial Brain (NY). Not surprisingly, the tour is named The Interstellar Intellect North American Tour 2014. Thankfully, the tour incorporates a West Coast swing that will include Seattle. I know this will make you happy because it makes me happy.

https://www.facebook.com/Giganmusic/
https://www.facebook.com/pyrrhonband
https://www.facebook.com/ArtificialBrainMusic

9/11 – Cleveland, OH @ Now That’s Class
9/12 – Toronto, ON @ Rancho Relaxo
9/13 – Montreal, QU @ L’alizé
9/14 – Quebec City, QU @ Salle Unisson
9/15 – TBA
9/16 – Providence, RI @ Dusk
9/17 – Albany, NY @ Bogies w/ Fit For An Autopsy
9/18 – Holyoke, MA @ The Waterfront Tavern
9/19 – Brooklyn, NY @ Saint Vitus Bar
9/20 – Clementon, NJ @ Harper’s
9/21 – Baltimore, MD @ The Sidebar (Psychodeathia Fest)
9/22 – Raleigh, NC @ The Maywood
9/24 – Covington, KY T@ he Backstage
9/25 – Atlanta, GA @ Swayze’s
9/26 – Pensacola, FL @ The Handle Bar
9/27 – Austin, TX @ The Lost Well
9/28 – Fort Worth,TX @ Tomcats West
9/30 – Denver, CO @ 3 Kings
10/3 – Glendale, CA @ The Complex
10/4 – San Diego, CA @ Til Two Club
10/6 – San Francisco, CA @ Elbo Room
10/8 – Seattle, WA @ El Corazon Lounge
10/9 – Vancouver, BC @ Funky Winkerbeans
10/11 – Bozeman, MT @ The Complex

 

 

 

VUKARI

Yesterday, Panopticon posted a Facebook link to a new EP (En To Pan) by this Chicago band, along with some enthusiastic words of recommendation. I needed no further motivation to check it out. I’m sorry to say that at this writing (because of my vacation) I haven’t made my way through the EP as a whole, even once. But the first two songs are captivating.

“Din of Consciousness” is a shimmering aurora borealis of atmospheric black metal and post rock, with a beautiful central melody, beautiful rippling lead guitar accents, a beautiful interplay of bass and drums, and beautifully roaring vocals. Basically, it’s beautiful.

The second song, “Riddled With Fear and Doubt”, is quickly off to the races, yet although more hard-driving and headbanging than “Din”, it also shines with a similarly heart-swelling melody.

As soon as I finish pecking out these words, I’m going to give the whole EP a proper listen — and you should, too. It’s available on Bandcamp (as is the band’s debut album Matriarch), and I’m embedding the player below.

P.S. One of Vukari’s guitarists is Johan Becker, whose amazing violin playing can be heard on the new Panopticon album, as well as Kentucky and Social Disservices.

http://vukari.bandcamp.com
https://www.facebook.com/vukari