OUR LIST OF 2022’S MOST INFECTIOUS EXTREME METAL SONGS (PART 5): ALLEGAEON, APPALLING, AUTONOESIS

 MOST INFECTIOUS SONGS-2022  No Responses »
Jan 062023
 

Can you see what I did for this fifth Part of the list? After spending minutes scanning up and down the alphabetized collection of more than 500 song candidates I still have left, and feeling my vision begin to blur, I let my orbs drift up to the top where all the A’s are. Only 42 songs up there.

That’s right, 42 songs just by bands whose names begin with A, but it still made it a bit easier to focus. And having focused, the following three songs jumped out at me from memory. (Don’t worry, this isn’t the last time you’ll see an A-band on this list.)

By coincidence, or maybe not, all 3 of them are high-speed, high-intensity tracks that involve some blazing guitar work. In other words, if your ass happens to be dragging, these will fix you right up and propel you into the weekend ready to fight the world (doesn’t mean you’ll win, but you’ll make a good showing). Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: APPALLING — “PAVILION”

 Premieres  No Responses »
Nov 012022
 

Let me put my cards on the table: I fucking loved Appalling‘s first two albums, 2017’s Secrets of the Adept and 2019’s Inverted Realm. Both of them were powerfully rendered amalgams of chaos and catastrophe, and well-calculated to infect the mind with memorable hooks in the midst of sensations that were both exhilarating and unnerving. Progress was also evident in moving from the first to the second, creating a conviction that these Virginians would continue striving to improve on a very solid foundation.

I make this confession because it means I was already prone to favor the band’s forthcoming third album Sacrilege, especially because it’s being released by a label that’s quickly proved to have dependably good taste (Personal Records) but also because it means expectations on this side were high. Was I disappointed?

Well, you can guess the answer to that question, given today’s premiere of a song named “Pavilion“, but I’ll eliminate the guesswork. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD (PART 1): KAMPFAR, MORD’A’STIGMATA, APPALLING

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  8 Responses »
Mar 142019
 

 

I have more than enough new songs and videos to recommend to your eyes and ears to justify two installments of this Thursday round-up, and (barely) enough time to introduce them. So let’s get right to it:

KAMPFAR

It’s been a long four years since the arrival of Profan, long enough for the Norwegian black metal band Kampfar to be almost out of sight and out of mind, but not buried so deep in the memory that a new song wouldn’t provoke a sharp burst in the pulse at the mere mention of their name. After all, they’ve been plying their trade for almost a quarter-century so far, and filling that time with seven albums of substantial worth. And now an eighth one has been announced. Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK (PART 2): SINCARNATE, FARSOT, OPUS DIABOLI, APPALLING, MOTHERWOOD

 SHADES OF BLACK  1 Response »
Mar 292017
 

 

This is the second part of a post I began on Sunday, collecting recent music in a blackened vein that I’ve been enjoying. As is often the case, other obligations derailed my plan to post this on Monday, and of course I found a few more things since then that I also want to recommend.

The truth is, I’m drowning in dark new releases that I want to recommend, many of which (unlike what’s in this post) are full albums and EPs. I’m stewing about how to solve that problem, since reviewing all of them is an impossibility. But let’s put that conundrum aside and dive into some very good videos and advance tracks.

SINCARNATE

A few days ago the Romanian band Sincarnate released a lyric video for a song called “Curriculum Mortis” from their new album In Nomine Homini, which will be released on April 1 by Hatework. This is one of those full releases I mentioned above — from what I’ve heard so far, it’s excellent, and I hope to find a way to come back to it in print here at our site. But for now, I’m focused on “Curriculum Mortis”. Continue reading »