In the outer world, Friday the 13th is often perceived as an unlucky day. But in the crypts, swamps, deserts, and various infernal and post-apocalyptic dimensions where most of our beloved music dwells, the signifiers of luck are reversed. Which makes it strange that on this Friday the 13th we have no music or video premieres on our calendar.
On the one hand, since I write almost all of our premieres, that should have meant I had a block of free time to round up some new songs and videos. On the other hand, I used most of the block going through the thousand NCS e-mails I had mostly ignored all week long. What did that get me? Links to about a hundred new songs and clips I thought might conceivably be interesting — and almost no time to listen and watch. I question my judgment.
To deal with the conundrum, I just quickly picked the following three items and deferred the rest of the sifting process to some point later today or tonight, with the goal of having a more fulsome round-up on Saturday.
BEHEMOTH (Poland)
I questioned whether it made any sense for me to include Behemoth‘s new song and video here, because the odds are extremely high that anyone who visits our site and is also a Behemoth fan has seen and heard it already. But I still couldn’t resist.
I was so wrapped up in the video’s cinematic narrative for “Ov My Herculean Exile” that I was only half paying attention to the song and what Nergal was snarling about in the lyrics. But I have no doubt that the music added to the atmosphere of supernatural menace and horror that the video itself created. The combination is thoroughly chilling.
“Ov My Herculean Exile” is from Behemoth‘s new album Opvs Contra Natvram (their 12th!), which is set for release on September 16th via Nuclear Blast.
https://behemoth.bfan.link/opvs-contra-natvram
http://facebook.com/behemoth
ALTARS (Australia)
Such good news to see that these Australians are returning with a new album after a 9-year absence, with Brendan Sloan of Convulsing installed as the new bassist/vocalist, and also to see Adam Burke‘s evocative painting for the cover art. The album’s name is Ascetic Reflection.
The first advance track, well-named “Perverse Entity“, is a wild, dissonant romp. The guitars seem in the throes of a non-stop seizure, creating a blaring, screeching, jolting, and churning maelstrom while the drums batter and boom and the vocals gnaw and shriek like rabid beasts. The sheer madness of the track, which sometimes sounds like a hellish sewing machine making robes from flesh in overdrive, becomes a more subdued form of madness near the end, but the bursts of demented buzzing by the guitars will still put your teeth on edge.
Ascetic Reflection is set for release by Everlasting Spew Records on my birthday (thanks dudes!), July 8th.
https://everlastingspewrecords.bandcamp.com/album/ascetic-reflection
https://www.facebook.com/AltarsDeath
RIBSPREADER (Sweden)
It’s no secret by now that any time Rogga Johansson puts out a new release from any one of his multitudinous bands and projects, I’m going to jump on it like a cat on a June bug. And so I jumped fast on the first advance track from Ribspreader‘s new album Crypt World. It didn’t hurt at all that drummer Jeramie Kling (Venom Inc., Inhuman Condition, ex-Massacre) and guitarist Taylor Nordberg (Deicide, Inhuman Condition, ex-Massacre) were along for the ride.
What you get from “Into the Morbid Pits” (after the ghastly opening sample) is a feeding frenzy of riffage, drumming that chops like a spring-loaded ax against your neck, and a cornucopia of voracious growls and demented screams. The song moves fast, but makes room for some jolting and thunderous grooves and a shrieking guitar solo capable of raising goosebumps on your flesh. In other words, prepare to have your ribs spread, and none too gently.
Crypt World comes out on May 31st on the Xtreem Music label.
P.S. Rogga‘s band Furnace recently announced a new album that will be released on May 10th, and I can’t wait to hear that one either.
https://xtreemmusic.bandcamp.com/album/crypt-world
https://www.facebook.com/Ribspreader-148182408532846