BLOG SLOW-DOWN AHEAD (AND NEW MUSIC FROM HELLLIGHT)

Over the next two weeks you’re probably going to notice a diminution in the number of posts at NCS, compared to what you’ve become accustomed to. Rest assured that it’s not a sign of some awful catastrophe that has befallen us, or an indication that we’re getting tired of what we do. To banish any such concerns, I’m writing now to explain that I (Islander) will just be on vacation.

Of course, it’s likely that the rest of the NCS staff and contributors will continue to send reviews and interviews to me for publication at their usual pace, but because I tend to write most of the daily posts, things will probably slow down a bit.

I say “probably” rather than “definitely” because it’s possible (though unlikely) that I’ll find time to do more stuff for NCS than I think I will. It all depends on the extent of activities my spouse and other loved ones will want to engage in (I myself thoroughly enjoy doing almost nothing at all while on vacation), and how willing they’ll be to let me indulge in my metal obsessions (they usually get ornery over that, so I’m not hopeful).

The one thing I know I’ll do is write a premiere every day, because I’ve already committed to a slate of them covering the next two weeks — but only one per day. Past that, I’m going to try to keep an eye open for the appearance of year-end lists at “big platform” music sites, in order to keep our year-end LISTMANIA series moving forward, and I will definitely also be posting our annual invitation for year-ends lists for readers while I’m away.

Beyond that, I can’t promise anything else — including the occasional SEEN AND HEARD round-ups and the regular Sunday SHADES OF BLACK installments.

******

Now that I’ve gotten the forecast and the explanation out of the way, how about another suite of new music? Because I hate posting anything here that doesn’t include some music.

What you’ll find below is As We Slowly Fade, the new album by the Brazilian funeral-doom/death-metal band HellLight. This is the band’s sixth album, and it hit me by surprise when it was released by Solitude Productions on November 23rd.

I learned about it the same day of the release through a message from Grant Skelton, and between the time when he messaged me about the announcement of the album and the time when I noticed his message, the entire album had appeared on Bandcamp in full streaming mode.

I confess that I haven’t even listened to all of the album, but what I’ve heard so far is fantastic. And because, as explained above, it’s unlikely I’ll be able to write more about it for at least two weeks, I wanted to mention it now. I hope all of the record is as good as the way it begins — and hope you will enjoy it too.

BANDCAMP:
https://helllight.bandcamp.com/

FACEBOOK:
https://www.facebook.com/helllightdoom/