Uncategorized Archives - Page 8 of 8

DAGOBA LEAKAGE

Jul 262010

My tastes in music have grown more extreme since I first heard Dagoba‘s album What Hell Is About in 2006. You know, the musical equivalent of the well-known progression that beer leads to hard liquor, which leads to weed, which leads to coke, which leads to heroin, which leads to death (metal).

But despite the increasing extremity of my tastes, I still like Dagoba, even though I was a bit disappointed in the next album, Face the Colossus, because it featured more clean singing and a less extreme sound overall. I certainly still like them well enough to be interested in the album they’ve got coming out on August 30 — Poseidon.

Besides, they’re from France. Maybe not as foolproof a recommendation as if they were from Finland, but French metal is pretty fucking good these days.

But as interested as I am, I obviously haven’t been on my toes, because I didn’t know until a few minutes ago that they’ve already officially released one song from the album (“Black Smoker”) and that a second song (“Waves of Doom”) has been leaked onto YouTube. (“Thank-you” to the more-on-his-toes deseee at the most excellent The Number of the Blog for posting about these two tracks.)

Of the two, I much prefer the leaked song, because, well, it’s more extreme. But “Black Smoker” is decent, too. Both songs are after the jump, plus more of the amazing artwork created for the new album . . . Continue reading »

DEATHBED ATHEIST

Uncategorized 17 Responses »

Jul 222010

Last week, we raved about Meridional, the new album from Norma Jean (our review is here).

A couple days ago, the band released the first video from the album, for the song “Deathbed Atheist”. It was directed by Linus Johansson at Popcore Film, which has previously made two other music videos for the band.

We’ve said before that we find most metal music videos to be completely forgettable. This one isn’t. It involves animation and it’s interesting to watch. It’s helped by the fact that the song is damned good.

On the other hand, I’m completely unclear what the imagery in the video has to do with the meaning of the song. Actually, I’m unclear about the meaning of the song itself. So far, I haven’t come across anything from the band that explains it.

The lyrics don’t help me understand what the song is about. The title doesn’t either. I’ve heard of supposed “deathbed conversions” and even “deathbed Christians”, and I get what those phrases mean. But the title of this song is “Deathbed Atheists“. And the lyrics don’t have any obvious connection to the title.

After the jump you can see the video, if you haven’t already, and we’ve put the lyrics up, too. And if you have any insights into what any of it means, please leave a comment. Hasta la vista. Continue reading »

LEFT-BRAIN ASS-KICKING

Uncategorized 2 Responses »

Jul 192010

Near the end of last year, we wrote a feature on math-metal bands that included a short write-up about a Greek band called Tardive Dyskinesia and their new album, The Sea of See Through Skins. Here’s part of what we said:

The band’s 2009 release on Coroner Records, The Sea of See Through Skins, is a fast-paced, infectious barrage of technically sophisticated music played with genuine skill. Yes, you’ll find the abrupt tempo changes and complex time signatures associated with math metal, but the band manages to thread grooves and melody throughout that blazing tapestry. Never boring and quite addictive. These dudes deserve your attention. I wish to hell Greece weren’t so far away — I’d love to see ‘em rip it up on stage.

Our wishes have been granted — sort of. We still haven’t made it to Europe to see their see-through skins in person, and they haven’t made it to Seattle, but Tardive Dyskinesia has just posted a good-quality video of a live performance at the Jammin.G Festival on May 15 in Athens.

If you like the kind of progressive, techy, math-metally, death metal that fires the synapses over on the left side of your brain, and you don’t know about this band, well now’s a good chance to check ’em out. (after the jump . . .) Continue reading »

SURVIVORS ZERO

Uncategorized 3 Responses »

Jun 062010

This is kind of a “six degrees of separation” story. Last December, we heard about The Finnish Metal Tour, which was scheduled to roll through North America in April, with a stop in in our home base of Seattle. The line-up included three bands we would have killed relatives to see — Finntroll, Swallow the Sun, and Moonsorrow — plus a band we hadn’t heard of — Survivors Zero.

We scarfed up tickets but didn’t immediately investigate Survivors Zero. And then in late March, we saw an announcement that Survivors Zero ran into some kind of problem getting a visa to enter the U.S. and had to cancel out of the entire tour. We had a shitload of fun seeing those other three bands (you can see our review and photos here) but kinda lost our motivation for checking out Survivors Zero.

Fast forward to mid-May. We check out an album from yet another Finnish band called Sotajumala and decide we ought to write about them — which we did (here). And in sniffing around the web in an effort to learn more about that band, we discovered that Cobra Records had released a “split DVD” called Slaughter at Lutakko, which for a brief time occupied the No. 1 spot on the official Finnish music video charts. That DVD featured live performances by Sotajumala and — guess who — Survivors Zero.

So, we thought it was time to take the cosmic hint and track down Survivors Zero’s September ’09 debut album, CMXCIX. We shouldn’t have waited so fucking long, because it’s an ass-kicking delight. (more after the jump, including a song and a video . . .) Continue reading »

NCS ON THE AIR (A Reminder)

Uncategorized 1 Response »

May 272010

This is a reminder that two of the three perpetrators of this site (Alexis and IntoTheDarkness) host an internet-only radio show every Friday morning from 10:00 – 12:00 Pacific Time on KSUB, the radio station of Seattle University.

We usually think about posting a reminder after the show has already started, or sometimes after it’s done — but this week we’re ahead of the game.

There’s not a lot of talk on this show, other than Alexis and IntoTheDarkness telling you what you’ve just heard and are about to hear. It’s basically one track of extreme metal after another for two hours, with no commercials, and the playlists they create are killer.

To hear the show, you’ll need Winamp, iTunes, XMMS or an mp3 player capable of listening to shoutcast streams to tune in. You can listen by clicking this link. And for future reference, here’s the URL:

http://www.seattleu.edu/ksub/default.aspx?id=26824

RADIO REMINDER

Uncategorized No Responses »

Apr 302010

If you happen to be reading this post between 10:00 a.m. and noon, Pacific time, today (Friday), show some love to two of your NCS Co-Authors and tune in to their radio program. We can guarantee they will be playing two hours of some sweet extreme metal.

You will need Winamp, iTunes, XMMS or an mp3 player capable of listening to shoutcast streams to tune in. You can listen by clicking this link. And for future reference, here’s the URL:

http://www.seattleu.edu/ksub/default.aspx?id=26824

So go do it!

NCS ON THE AIR

Uncategorized 4 Responses »

Apr 162010

HIATUS: The radio show hosted by two of your NCS Co-Authors is on summer vacation, but should resume in September 2010.

Two of the three perpetrators of this site have landed a radio gig. Alexis and IntoTheDarkness will be co-DJs for two hours of metal every Friday morning from 10:00 – 12:oo Pacific Time on KSUB, the radio station of Seattle University.

But you don’t have to live in Seattle to listen, because the broadcast will be streaming worldwide over the web. You will need Winamp, iTunes, XMMS or an mp3 player capable of listening to shoutcast streams to tune in. You can listen by clicking this link. And for future reference, here’s the URL:

http://www.seattleu.edu/ksub/default.aspx?id=26824

If you like the kind of demented extreme music we cover on this site, check out this show.

And yes, the first broadcast starts today (this thing got cleared at the last minute or we’d have given you more warning). And if Alexis and IntoTheDarkness commit any fuck-ups, be forgiving. This DJ thing is a first for them.

BREAKDOWN CITY! “MOSH LIVES II” HAMMERS SEATTLE

Concert Reviews, Uncategorized No Responses »

Feb 052010

Ah, the visceral* joys of live Core — as in hardcore, metalcore, and deathcore. Some of the best bands in each of those genres are featured in the current MOSH LIVES II tour, and your three NCS Co-Authors were there when the tour hit Seattle’s El Corazon on the night of February 3. We bring you this report and a batch of our usual amateurish photos.

(*Visceral: from the Latin word viscera, referring to the internal organs of the body, specifically those within the chest or abdomen. Definition from the Merriam-Webster Dictionary:

1. Felt in, or as if in, the viscera
2. Not intellectual
3. Dealing with crude or elemental emotions
4. Of, relating to, or located on or among the viscera)

Man, talk about getting your money’s worth. Emmure, Terror, After the Burial, Miss May I, Thick As Blood, and local bands Helles and Dire Wolf. In a word, this show was epic. (read more after the jump . . .) Continue reading »

THOSE WHO LIE BENEATH

Uncategorized No Responses »

Dec 032009

BEHEMOTH_AdmatTWLB

A few days ago we frothed at the mouth over Portland band Those Who Lie Beneath and their truly awesome debut CD An Awakening. Today we learned that the band has been added to the Portland and Seattle shows of the Evangelia Amerika tour. That tour was already a don’t-miss extravaganza, headlined by the titanic Behemoth and supported by Greek black metal studs Septicflesh and Norwegian “suicidal black metal” band the Shining. But the addition of TWLB really makes this the kind of experience you’ll miss only if you hate yourself.

Be there or be square: Portland on January 18 at the Hawthorne Theater and Seattle on January 19 at El Corazon.

This sort of behavior makes me sick:

Uncategorized No Responses »

Nov 232009

This local story came to my attention last Friday, and it made me want to destroy things, so I listened to Nile instead.

Pond Scum

For those of you who aren’t local to Seattle, police officer Tim Brenton was shot in cold blood while waiting in his squad car with his partner on the side of the road on Halloween evening. A suspect is under arrest. I believe the shooting was meticulously planned and calculated. A local punk band, Furious Style, thought it was a great idea to immortalize this “alleged” murderer on their merchandise; they deserve to be sent to the worst circle of hell. They claim their actions stem from their stance against police brutality. While I understand that police brutality is unacceptable, murder is murder is murder. Period. This particular officer had no history of such behavior. I try my very hardest not to ever support the taking of human life, no matter how deserved it may appear to be. Once you start making even the slightest exception, lenience just starts cascading on through.

This punk band is full of obviously immature, ignorant people who crave the spotlight with absolutely no sensitivity toward the lives that were tragically affected by the loss of the officer. Punk, metal, whatever, just be a fucking decent human being. Also, every time one of these bands (I know punk isn’t metal, but people new to the metal scene don’t realize this, and categorize us together) supports actions that are harmful to how we live, it taints the image of metal that I respect. And as Seattle Policy Guild President Rich O’Neill has been quoted as saying, if one of these motherfuckers (my word, not his) was mugged and left bleeding out in some alley, do you think they’d call their homies for a rescue op, or 911?

Newer Entries