SEEN AND HEARD: ULCERATE, ANAAL NATHRAKH, BEFORE THE DAWN, BENIGHTED, DARK TRANQUILLITY, DISENTOMB, FLESHGOD APOCALYPSE, ISENORDAL, NIGHTRAGE, SINISTRO, WASTEWALKER

No long-winded introduction today, nor any long-winded impressions of the songs and videos either, because… there are so many of them!

Most of these choices (though not all of them) are from bigger names in the extreme metalverse. Most of them were also suggested by my NCS compatriots, because I didn’t do a great job of keeping up with new releases this week. I do plan to have another roundup on Saturday, as usual, and will dig deeper into obscurities, of my own choosing.

ULCERATE (New Zealand)

This first item is a rarity, just a news item without any music to go along with it. But it’s exciting news, and so I couldn’t resist.

The rare news-only item is the announcement by Ulcerate that they will be releasing their seventh album, Cutting the Throat of God, via Debemur Morti Productions on June 14th. The same announcement included the news that a first track, “The Dawn is Hollow,” and pre-order details will be unveiled on March 14th.

https://www.facebook.com/Ulcerate

With the news item out of the way, now we’ll start going in alphabetical order.

 

ANAAL NATHRAKH (UK/U.S.)

Most of you undoubtedly know that “onanism” refers to masturbation (no, we haven’t been surveilling you, just a wild guess). And therefore, the name of Anaal Nathrakh‘s surprise new EP is hilarious: Apocalyptic Onanism. Which I guess means the kind where you spend all day doing it after running out of lubricant last month.

There are three tracks here, all of them variations of the title song from the band’s most recent album Endarkenment, released by Metal Blade in 2020.

The first track (which is blistering) features Ghost (Michael Geist) of Oakland’s GGFH; the second one (which is head-scrambling) is Drugzilla‘s “Orwell Rolling in His Grave Mix”; the third one (deliciously gothic and grandiose) is an orchestral version by Louis Viallet. All of them are fun. Just put ’em on a loop while you rub yourself raw. No spit allowed.

https://anaalnathrakh.bandcamp.com/album/apocalyptic-onanism
https://www.facebook.com/Anaalnathrakhofficial

 

 

BEFORE THE DAWN (Finland)

The next song, “Chaos Sequence“, is one of four on a new Before the Dawn EP named Archaic Flame that’s being released today by Napalm Records.

Prepare for piston-like hammering, jittery nerves, big growly choruses, and bits of swirling melody, plus beach scenes. It’ll get your heart pumping.

https://lnk.to/BTD-ArchaicFlame
https://www.facebook.com/beforethedawn

 

 

BENIGHTED (France)

“This is the fastest track we’ve ever written. It starts off at 402 bpm!” Coming from speedy maniacs like Benighted, that means something. And it also explains why they brought in Oli Peters from Archspire for guest vocals on this next song; not many vocalists can spit as fast as he can.

Prepare to become overheated, with just a few moments to cool off and other moments to get jackhammered into the ground. With lots of breeee….

“Nothing Left to Fear” is from Benighted‘s new album Ekbom, set for release by Season of Mist on April 12th. The title takes its name from a real-life syndrome that makes people believe their skin is infested with bugs. Nice.

https://redirect.season-of-mist.com/BenightedEkbom
https://orcd.co/benightedekbompresave
https://www.facebook.com/brutalbenighted

 

 

DARK TRANQUILLITY (Sweden)

“We are very proud to finally be able to share a taste of whats coming. ‘The Last Imagination‘ introduces the first flavor of many to come of our upcoming album, Endtime Signals…. This video also introduces a first glimpse of the visual universe that Niklas Sundin created for the album.”

That statement appeared on Dark Tranquillity‘s social media this morning, followed by the link to the song and video below. As for the song, prepare for glittering sonic starshine and hard-charging, piston-pumping aggression, and of course beautiful soloing and fantastically voracious vocals. Wonderful video too.

Endtime Signals is slated for release on August 16th via Century Media Records.

https://darktranquillity.lnk.to/TheLastImagination-Single
https://darktranquillity.lnk.to/EndtimeSignals
https://www.facebook.com/dtofficial

 

 

DISENTOMB (Australia)

Now prepare for full-auto weaponry in action, screeching string tortures, manically shifting fretwork coupled with episodes of morbidly lurching thuggery, and words ejected from a throat choked with viscera and bone fragments. Be careful your cats don’t play with your teeth before you can pick ’em up from the floor.

The name of the song is “Drear Prophecies“, released by Unique Leader earlier this week. It’s from an upcoming Disentomb EP entitled Nothing Above.

http://orcd.co/drearprophecies
https://www.facebook.com/disentomb

 

 

FLESHGOD APOCALYPSE (Italy)

Next up we have a new single and video from these Italian stallions, introduced this way by Francesco Paoli:

“This is the first song we release since my ‘dance’ with death, back in August 2021. It’s obvious that such a life changing event would have affected our music. It took a toll on me, physically and mentally, and sharing my experience is also part of my healing process. Pendulum is just the opening chapter of a bigger story, which is yet to be told…”

Prepare for an OTT audio and visual extravaganza — but what did you expect? In the music, a pageantry of soaring operatic vocals and towering grandiosity, which shifts into high-speed obliteration, harrowing snarls and howls, sinister succubus singing, diabolical piano runs, and equally devilish guitar soloing.

https://fga.bfan.link/pendulum.yde
https://www.facebook.com/fleshgodapocalypse

 

 

ISENORDAL (U.S.)

Next up is the most recent single and video from a new Isenordal album named Requiem for Eir​ê​nê.

Prepare for a brief video-borne excerpt from a longer piece named “Epiphanies of Abhorrence and Futility“. The part you’ll hear is a ravishing assault of growling and singing, feverish fretwork and gliding and slashing violin, hammering drums, and in the midst of all that, slowly meandering keys that begin to become unnerving.

Requiem for Eir​ê​nê is being released today by Prophecy Productions. You can hear the entirety of this song and the rest of the album via the Bandcamp link below.

https://isenordal.bandcamp.com/album/requiem-for-eir-n
https://www.facebook.com/isenordal.metal

 

 

NIGHTRAGE (Greece)

The next song and video were also just released today. Prepare for hard-charging, pulse-pounding melodic death metal which flies high in the choruses and eventually jolts the hell out of your spine — but also includes a brief gentle digression with singing instead of the prevailing vocal napalm. Like other songs in today’s collection, this one will get your heart hammering.

“Euphoria Within Chaos” is from a new Nightrage album named Remains of a Dead World. It’s slated for release by Despotz Records on May 31st.

https://open.spotify.com/album/1r8zpi5S0urObTDsDrmbqx
https://www.facebook.com/nightrageofficial

 

 

SINISTRO (Portugal)

When Decibel Magazine premiered the next song and video, they wrote: “In what could be described as a Tool video directed by David Lynch, Sinistro is giving us six whole months to decode the noir tale of a wooden jointed art class mannequin and whatever that smoking pile of dirt is supposed to be”.

Nicely put, because the video definitely is a noirish mystery. Concerning the music, it’s noirish too, and hallucinatory (though the rhythm section regularly punch the listener in the kidneys), with Priscila Da Costa‘s pure singing as the centerpiece in the midst of vaporish and shimmering sensations – though her voice also spears upward, leading the music to zeniths of haunting and harrowing intensity.

“Pontas Soltas” is from Sinistro‘s new album Vértice. It will be released by the band’s new label Alma Mater Records (a label run by Moonspell frontman Fernando Ribeiro) in September of this year.

https://www.facebook.com/sinistroband

 

 

WASTEWALKER (U.S.)

The final song in today’s collection, which is coupled with a lyric video, is “Penitence Through Bloodshed“. It’s from a new EP by this Sacramento band named Trapped Between Realms of Suffering that will be released on April 24th.

Prepare for flurries of viciously feverish fretwork, bullet-spitting drum fusillades, and a cavalcade of demons and monsters behind the mic, but also seductively swirling and dismally chiming melodies, and a brief but mesmerizing instrumental interlude. By the end, it rivals the blistering madness of the Anaal Nathrakh song with which we began today. In other words, this is a real head-spinning sonic kaleidoscope.

https://wastewalker.bigcartel.com/
https://www.facebook.com/wastewalkermetal