TOURISM: CRYPTOPSY, ALLEGAEON, MELVINS, MAID MYRIAD, THE FINE CONSTANT, FULL TERROR ASSAULT, AGALLOCH

 Metal News  3 Responses »
Mar 152015
 

 

(In this post Austin Weber updates us with news of forthcoming metal tours.)

Metal Injections Presents: Cryptopsy/Soreption/Erimha US Tour

It’s been several years since Cryptopsy have toured the United States, but now they’re coming back, and they’re bringing along some sick support acts to sweeten the deal. Soreption is definitely a favorite around here at NCS. Their sleek combination of mechanical grooves and technical death metal is incredible, and last year’s Engineering The Void was an amazing effort by the band. US Death metal act Disgorge and Montreal-based black/death group Erimha round out the tour bill. Continue reading »

ALLEGAEON: “ELEMENTS OF THE INFINITE”

 Album Reviews  10 Responses »
Jun 302014
 

 

(In this post TheMadIsraeli reviews the new album by Colorado-based Allegaeon, which is out now on the Metal Blade label.)

I really fucking like technical melodic death metal. I like melodic death metal in general, but when you’ve also got technical guitar showpieces that call to mind melodic lines written by great classical composers of old, it’s just a trip. Allegaeon have been on top of this particular game, as far as newer American blood is concerned.

I’ve really enjoyed the way these guys have played with their sound since they first began putting out music; the evolution they’ve undergone has been interesting to watch. Their self-titled EP was simply a solid, excellent tribute to the melodic death metal style as a whole, with the band wearing their influences on their sleeves. Their debut Fragments of Form and Function was a technical marvel for the style, while Formshifter took a grittier turn and turned up the focus on groove.

I have to admit, however, that while I loved Formshifter, I was slightly turned off by the heavier groove direction. While the music still had the signature Allegaeon tech-melodeath style going on, that aspect of the music was diminished to accommodate the magnification of groove. Which is why I am glad that Elements of The Infinite now exists. It proves that a band who I had honest fears might be stagnating into groove-driven drudgery were merely revealing a different shade of their sound. Returning with the technicality and full-frontal speed, Allegaeon have stormed back this time, not as a MELODIC death metal band, but as a melodic DEATH METAL band, if that makes any sense. Continue reading »

VIDEOGRAPHY: ALLEGAEON — “OUR COSMIC CASKET”

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  7 Responses »
Jun 182014
 

I haven’t yet listened to all of Allegaeon’s new album (Elements of the Infinite), but my comrade TheMadIsraeli has. He says it’s their best album yet. I’m not going to contradict him without hearing it, especially because the three songs I’ve heard so far tend to substantiate his claim. Those three are “1.618” (streaming here), “Threshold of Perception” (streaming here), and the one that debuted today in video form — “Our Cosmic Casket”.

The video for “Our Cosmic Casket” is Part 2 of a story that began in the video for “1.618”. There will allegedly be two more parts coming our way. Whereas “1.618” brought us the highly amusing Wheel of Sub-Genres, “Our Cosmic Casket” bring us the event horizon of a black hole approaching Earth, with the song’s instrumental pyrotechnics delivering the kind of adrenaline flow you’d get in the final minutes before the atmosphere got sucked into a wormhole, assuming you didn’t decided to beer up for the final cataclysm. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: BELPHEGOR, ALLEGAEON, MEDICATED, MEANKIND

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  8 Responses »
May 072014
 

Here’s the second of today’s planned round-ups of new and noteworthy music and informational items that your fiends at NCS have selectively sifted from the slurry of the interhole for your enjoyment and edification.

BELPHEGOR

It seems to be “Seth Siro Anton” day at NCS. First we helped premiere a new song from his band Septicflesh, and now we have the unveiling of his very recognizable artwork for Conjuring the Dead — the forthcoming 10th studio album by Belphegor. The album was recorded at Mana Studios with Hate Eternal’s Eric Rutan. It’s due for release by Nuclear Blast on August 8 in North America and the EU and on August 11 in the UK and France.

More than three years have passed since Blood Magick Necromance, and so we’re pretty damned hungry for some new Belphegor here at NCS. We’re ready to be fed! As soon as we have music to play for you, you can be sure we’ll do that without delay. To keep tabs on Belphegor, their FB page is at this place. Continue reading »

TOURISM AND DE-TOURISM

 Metal News  2 Responses »
Jun 222013
 

Happy fucking Saturday to one and all. In this post I’ve collected information about a random assortment of new tours that have recently been announced. But first, I have to mention a tour that it seems was announced a bit prematurely.

FLESHGOD APOCALYPSE – ANAAL NATHRAKH?

Two days ago it was announced that Fleshgod Apocalypse would be leading ‘The Lords Of Extremity Tour‘ in the UK this October, with support from Anaal Nathrakh, Bound By Exile, and Scordatura. There were press releases, official-looking poster art, and sponsorship by the likes of Nuclear Blast and Terrorizer. And who in their right mind would miss the chance to see Fleshgod Apocalypze and Anaal Nathrakh on the same bill?

There was just this one little problem. Here’s a statement that appeared on Anaal Nathrakh’s Facebook page about 3 hours ago:

“For anyone hoping to see us in the UK in October: It appears we have been announced for a string of UK dates with Fleshgod Apocalypse in October. We did NOT agree to play these shows. Repeat: at no point have we ever said that we would play these dates, or that Mick would even be in Europe at the time. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: BROOD OF HATRED, PLANKS, A TRIBE CALLED RED, AND ALLEGAEON

 Free Shit, Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  6 Responses »
Sep 022012
 

It may be Labor Day Weekend here in the U.S., and although it’s fair to say that I’m fucking off even more than usual with a 3-day weekend to enjoy, I’m also still prowling the interhole in search of new metal experiences worth sharing with our beloved readers, without whom I would just be talking to myself like the average homeless person. And man oh man, did I find some intriguing items yesterday.

I knew only one of these bands before seeing and hearing what I saw — Allegaeon. But we’ve slobbered over them a lot at NCS already, and they’re getting buckets of slobber from fans and critics already, so despite the fact that their new video is indeed awesome, I’m putting them last today. In front of them come three more obscure collectives that deserve the front end of the spotlight.

BROOD OF HATRED

I’m pretty sure that the first and last time I wrote about a metal band from Tunisia was in July 2010, when the subject was a band named Barzakh, in a series on Metal From North Africa. Yesterday I found another Tunisian band named Brood of Hatred, thanks to the wonderful Middle Eastern-based metal blog, Metality. This past March, Brood of Hatred released their debut EP, New Order of Intelligence, which is available for free download on Bandcamp (here). But though I’m now interested in hearing that, what I heard (and saw) yesterday that grabbed my attention was something even more recent.

It’s a brand new video for a new single called “Cacophony In Creation” that will appear on the band’s debut album, Skinless Agony. The song is excellent, both very well written and very well performed.  Continue reading »

ALLEGAEON: “FORMSHIFTER”

 Album Reviews  5 Responses »
May 152012
 

(We’ve been following (and reporting) the news about Allegaeon’s new album very closely, and now we have TheMadIsraeli’s review of Formshifter.)

Melodic death metal has not really flourished in the U.S despite its popularity (which led to the metalcore movement) and ultimately hasn’t seen much action within its territories.  By my lights, only two melodic death metal bands have started in America who have ever been worth a shit — The Absence and Allegaeon.

The Absence have always been decidedly about blatant old-school worship (really fucking good worship) of past heroes, while Allegaeon sought to combine Swedish majesty with American grit, netting them a killer debut EP and an even more musically accomplished album debut, Fragments of Form and Function, which had titanic grooves, ferocious serpentine riffs, and epic melodies all about.  An debut as staggeringly strong as that puts a lot of pressure on a band to succeed the next time around.

Though it’s a cliche to say so, the sophomore release really is the most dreaded album of a band’s career. It is where a band either cement their status as a legitimate musical force or torch their progress to date, then and there.  Fortunately for Allegaeon and their fans, Formshifter is a bewilderingly powerful album that is an essential of the year.

A couple things are different this time around.  The band have switched to 8-string guitars, which often results not only in riffing that’s extremely technical and varied, but also in some of Allegaeon’s most brutal, fat, and consuming moments when the time arrives to throw down in a song.  This particular change has been really positive — with the switch to 8 strings, Allegaeon have written riffs that have quite a bit more majesty, pomp, and circumstance than ANYTHING they wrote on Fragments of Form and Function. Continue reading »

ALLEGAEON’S NEW LYRIC VIDEO FOR “BEHOLD (GOD I AM)” MAY BE GOOD

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  6 Responses »
May 072012
 

Allegaeon’s new album Formshifter will be released tomorrow on Metal Blade. Today, we have a new lyric video for a song called “Behold (God I Am)”.

I have seen this video, but that is all I have been able to do.  To be more precise, I have not heard this video.  I am in a secret location where I can look at my computer, but I can neither turn up the volume nor employ ear buds or headphones.  I could tell you why, but then I would have to kill you.

Having seen the video, which includes lyrics because it is a lyric video, I know what the song is about. It’s about the age-old war among religions, with the lives of innocents caught in the crossfire. Endless sermons . . . endless carnage . . . all in the name of one Creator. Nope, it’s not a happy song.

I also know the song includes a long intro, because much time passes before the words appear. There are also instrumental sections, because the words disappear at times.

I like this band quite a bit, which is why I’m posting about a song I’ve never heard. Please tell me whether that was a mistake, or a boon to your day, won’t you?  The vid is after the jump. Continue reading »

NEWLY MINTED: BEFORE THE DAWN, ALLEGAEON, AND THE ODIOUS

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  7 Responses »
Apr 172012
 

In this post, I’m collecting three newly minted pieces that went into circulation yesterday or this morning, like shiny gold coins that dropped into our grimy claws: a new video from Finland’s Before the Dawn; a new song from Colorado’s Allegaeon (pronounced uh-lee-juhn, in case you forgot), and a new lyric video from Portland’s The Odious. Here we go:

BEFORE THE DAWN

Such a coincidence. Earlier today, I posted a review of a new EP from a UK band — Twilight’s Embrace — that reminded me of Before the Dawn’s style of goth/doom-infused melodeath, and lo and behold, it’s not long before I get an e-mail from DGR alerting me to this new video. It’s for a song called “Pitch-Black Universe” from the band’s forthcoming album Rise of the Phoenix (out on April 27 via Nuclear Blast).

The song is what we’ve come to expect from Before the Dawn — jabbing riffs, sweeping/swirling guitars, bearlike vocals, broken glass, fires burning, the drip of blood, pitch blackness. The video is sweet, too. It’s immediately after the jump. Continue reading »

2012 METAL IN THE FORGE (PART 3)

 Forthcoming Albums  10 Responses »
Mar 022012
 

For a change, I actually remembered on the second day of the new month that that the preceding month had ended; usually takes longer than that. My creditors would be happy, except I think their bills need to age a while longer. But yes, February is history — and that means its time to post our usual monthly round-up of news about forthcoming albums. Today’s list is a little more comprehensive than the half-assed job I did at the end of January, which means it’s about three-quarters assed. One of these days it will be fully assed.

Here’s how this round-up usually works: In these METAL IN THE FORGE posts, I collect news blurbs and press releases I’ve seen over the last month about forthcoming new albums from bands we know and like at NCS (including occasional updates about releases we’ve included in previous installments of this series), or from bands that look interesting, even though we don’t know their music yet. In this series, I cut and paste those announcements and compile them in alphabetical order.

Remember — THIS ISN’T A CUMULATIVE LIST. If I found out about a new forthcoming album earlier than the last 30 days, I probably wrote about it in previous installments of this series. So, be sure to check the Category link called “Forthcoming Albums” on the right side of this page to see forecasted releases we reported earlier.

Having said all that, please feel free to leave Comments and tell all of us (me and your fellow readers) what I missed when I put this list together, because I’m abso-fucking-lutely certain that I missed all sorts of shit. So let us know about albums on the way that  you’re stoked about, even if you don’t see them here! Continue reading »

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