Austin Weber Archives - Page 10 of 19

ODYSSEY: “VOIDS”

Jan 292016

(Austin Weber wrote this review of the new album by Odyssey from Spokane, Washington.)

Beyond being perennial favorites of a few of us here at NCS, Odyssey have always stood out to me as an instrumental act operating on a different wavelength than most of the instrumental metal I listen to. And I say that as someone who listens to a lot more instrumental metal than most people. While I try not to inject too much personal commentary in reviews, I won’t have time to do as many reviews here in 2016 at times during the year, at least compared to my past output. So I figured, what the hey, let’s do a fun and in-depth one while I have a moment of time currently to do so!

As I mentioned in the write-up for the premiere of “Before There Were Eyes To See” here at NCS recently, Odyssey have mastered the art of writing instrumental metal that doesn’t forsake an aggressive bite and headbanging pulse. But beyond that, Odyssey has always had their own thing going on. And by that I mean that they existed and started developing their sound long before groups like Animals As Leaders, Chon, and countless other newer (by comparison) instrumental acts inspired a paradigm shift and explosive growth for various strains of instrumental metal. A lot of which I love to be sure.

And I think part of what makes Voids special is the sheer sonic diversity from song to song and moment to moment. Odyssey weave together a larger tapestry of influences and ideas than many of their peers. And the special touch they bring to their craft shows across all ten tracks on the album. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE: EHNAHRE — “DOUVE”

Premieres 6 Responses »

Jan 212016

(Austin Weber introduces our premiere of the new album by Boston-based Ehnahre.)

I’ve been following Boston-based experimental doom/death/ and the whole kitchen sink sounding band Ehnahre for a couple years now, first hearing their music in 2012, I believe, when their terrifying-yet-strange record Old Earth was freshly out. Now with the band on the cusp of releasing a new record called Douve this Friday, we’ve been given the chance to stream it a day early — because this is one hell of a musical experience that deserves to have a spotlight shined on it.

Several of the current and past band members’ former ties to Kayo Dot should clue you in on the kind of unorthodox and difficult-to-categorize experience that Douve holds in store. Douve can neither be described in simple terms, nor boxed in stylistically due to its many shifts in style and genre from song to song. Taken as a whole, it’s a class-act example of musical deconstructionism, with multiple metal and non-metal influences colliding and informing the album’s schizophrenic identity. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: ODYSSEY — “BEFORE THERE WERE EYES TO SEE”

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Jan 122016

(Austin Weber introduces our premiere of a new song by Odyssey from Spokane, Washington.)

It’s no secret that people here at NCS have had a mega musical boner for Spokane, Washington-based instrumental prog trio Odyssey. Islander has covered every one of their releases since 2010 when they dropped their second release, Schematics. I’m right there with him as far as a love affair for Odyssey goes, and from the looks of their Facebook fans, I see our esteemed colleague TheMadIsraeli is a fan as well.

I believe I first heard about Odyssey back in 2011 when their full-length An Abstract Existence dropped and drew me in due to the press it received at the time. As the years since then have gone, Odyssey have kept up their penchant for quality, and quantity — this year’s release of Voids will be their third full-length, and sixth release overall since forming in 2007. Which is damn impressive in my book.

We’ve got a proggy barnburner of a tune from Voids called “Before There Were Eyes To See” to show you today. So hit play and keep reading. Or don’t keep reading — but at least jam this madness. Continue reading »

AUSTIN WEBER’S 2015 YEAR-END LIST EXTRAVAGANZA GO NUTS THERAPY TIME! (PART 2)

LISTMANIA 2015 14 Responses »

Dec 242015

(Here’s Part 2 of Austin Weber’s year-end round-up of music. Go HERE to see Part 1, which had a death metal focus. In this part, Austin delves into mathcore, prog, grind, and Kvlt Cold Kvts.)

If anyone reading this hasn’t seen my prior year-end lists here at NCS, I try to bring you an alternative list of some of the best music of the year. Which means I won’t post a lot of releases that you see on other lists. Not because I didn’t dig a lot of them, but because you already know about them and will be seeing a lot of the same names being repeated elsewhere.

In addition to this massive year-end list, I also did one at Metal Injection, but my objective for this one is to focus on lesser-known groups and show you more jams from the year that not enough people heard.

Quotes that appear below the following records were pulled from my reviews, multi-band articles, and song premieres, and more than 20 in this two-part feature are from my posts over at Metal-Injection for releases that I didn’t cover here at NCS. But you’ll also find some new mini write-ups for releases I didn’t get a chance to cover anywhere this year, but loved as well. This is an unordered list as far as “ranking” goes. Hope you find some nu jamz! Continue reading »

AUSTIN WEBER’S 2015 YEAR-END LIST EXTRAVAGANZA GO NUTS THERAPY TIME! (PART 1)

LISTMANIA 2015 15 Responses »

Dec 232015

(We present the first part of a massive multi-part year-end list by Austin Weber. Today’s selections are organized under the heading “Life Metal“.)

I’m not even going to write a winded introduction and re-cap of the year. If anyone reading this hasn’t seen my prior year-end lists here at NCS, I try to bring you an alternative list of some of the best music of the year. Which means I won’t post a lot of releases that you see on other lists. Not because I didn’t dig a lot of them, but because you already know about them and will be seeing a lot of the same names being repeated elsewhere.

In addition to this massive year end list, I also did one at Metal Injection, but my objective for this one is to focus on lesser-known groups and show you more jams from the year that not enough people heard. Just as important, this list is a reflection of releases that I’m likely to want to put on frequently for years to come. Since we all have different listening tastes, I also wanted to provide a big batch of music and let you decide what you enjoy the most.

Quotes that appear below the following records were pulled from my reviews, multi-band articles, and song premieres, and more than 20 are from my posts over at Metal-Injection for releases that I didn’t cover here at NCS. But you’ll also find some new mini write-ups for releases I didn’t get a chance to cover anywhere this year, but loved as well. Some of these are EPs, since good music is not determined by the quantity but by the quality! Also this is an unordered list as far as “ranking” goes. Hope you find some nu jamz! Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE: DENDRITIC ARBOR — “SENTIENT VILLAGE / OBSOLESCENT GARDEN”

Premieres 2 Responses »

Dec 212015

(Austin Weber presents our full streaming premiere of the new EP by Dendritic Arbor.)

As strong a year as 2015 was for both established and new metal groups, I don’t think anyone had as impressive a year as Pittsburgh-based black metal noisey grinders Dendritic Arbor.

While I’d been tipped off to their existence prior to this year, for most people they came out of nowhere and shot right up to a fairly high amount of name recognition and warranted praise. In today’s crowded climate, that’s especially impressive. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: FLUMMOX — “PAN’S DAUGHTER”

Premieres 1 Response »

Dec 162015

(Austin Weber brings us the premiere of a new song from the band Flummox.)

While 2015 is drawing to a close as we speak, the world of music never really sleeps. Every year I’m already working on reviewing releases for the next year before the current one is over. So before the year ends let’s sneak in another new song with fresh music for your ears.

I first covered Tennessee-based progressive sludge/doom/whatever band Flummox here earlier in the year and wrote about their first record, Phlummoxygen. Somehow these crazy genre-bending weirdos are already close to releasing album number two, Selcouth, on February 12, 2016, through Tridroid Records. So if you want an early Christmas treat, we’ve got “Pan’s Daughter” to show you and get you hyped on Selcouth. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: COMA CLUSTER VOID — “MIND CEMETERIES”

Premieres 9 Responses »

Nov 022015

(Austin Weber introduces our premiere of the title track to the new album by the multinational group Coma Cluster Void.)

In a way it’s very fitting that I’m here today writing about the premiere of the first full Coma Cluster Void song. Because it was Islander himself who first tipped me off to this multinational atonal 10-string death metal band in the first place. At the time he alerted me to them over a year ago, the band only had some very short song snippet clips up. But even those were strong enough to make me realize this band was going to be something special. So as I said, being here today to help premiere the title track from their forthcoming debut album Mind Cemeteries definitely feels like things have come full circle.

As for what the song “Mind Cemeteries” offers your ears, it’s a massive rumbling from the abyss right from the start, heaving with a mechanical, uneven gait that easily induces vertigo. There is a suffocating heaviness to “Mind Cemeteries”, which mercilessly strikes and jabs at you in shrill volleys of noise and disturbing dissonance. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: GENEVIEVE — “ESCAPISM”

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Oct 162015

(Austin Weber introduces our premiere of the scathing new album by Maryland’s Genevieve.)

By definition, escapism denotes an activity or fantasy used to distract us from our daily pain and boredom. So when Maryland-based black/death act Genevieve decided to call their record Escapism, it seems to have been used here more like the opposite of what the word means — as if its use here instead actually represents an invitation of nightmares and horror into their world as opposed to hiding in positive forms of escapism. I get the sense that with music as pitch-black and haunting as Genevieve’s, this reversal of the term’s meaning was done purposefully.

For all the immense hatred and chaos on display in their music, Genevieve do take time to offer reprieves from the chaotic storm bearing down upon listeners, in the form of sparse instrumentals called “Paradise I” and “Paradise II”, which open and close the record. Both are built upon Middle Eastern-sounding melodies and played with a slow, restrained feel, although “Parasite II” reveals a more drone-influenced soundscape overall, one that that creates a sense of mystery as it closes the intense journey that Escapism has taken you on. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: ZILLAH — “SERPENTINE HALO”

Premieres 4 Responses »

Oct 142015

(Austin Weber introduces our premiere of the lethal and fascinating new album by Scotland’s Zillah.)

As most of our readers are probably already aware, Scotland’s own death metal savants Zillah are a band we here at NCS really enjoy. Before the full album stream for Serpentine Halo that you’ll find below, we had previously exclusively premiered both album opener “Therefore I Am” and track three, “Made Flesh And Bone”. We are very proud to be able to let you hear the whole record ahead of its official release date this Friday.

Both of the songs we previously premiered offered an experience akin to injecting pure adrenaline and hatred directly into your skull. Yet calculating full-throttle rage is far from the only mode that Serpentine Halos cycles through. Several tracks that make up much of the second half of the record such as “Karras”, “Man Son Of Swine”, “One Thousand Stones Thrown Pt. 1”, and closer “He Who Knows All” temper their steamrolling nature with an experimental and brooding side that weaves in and out of the faster moments. This really adds a lot of dynamic tension to Serpentine Halo that really expands Zillah’s songwriting palette beyond the typical death metal focus on speed as a weapon — although the album’s other rage-centric numbers, which include “Something Done Cannot be Undone” and “Not All Of Me Shall Die”, are electrifying highlights as well. Continue reading »

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