FIVE OF MY FAVOURITE . . .UNEXPECTED COVERS

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  7 Responses »
Oct 172012
 

(UK-based NCS scribe Andy Synn makes an appearance with another five-fold list of “favourite” things.  Such wasteful use of vowels.)

I realise I’ve been off the grid for a bit now (though I am working on some reviews, a 30th edition of The Synn Report, and an awesome interview) so in between balancing all that, work pressures, and 2 bands, I thought I’d drop you another irreverent column on five of my favourite things.

 

BEFORE THE DAWN – BITTER END (PLACEBO COVER)

Such an odd choice, but one which works perfectly, taking the darkly gothic atmosphere of the original and replacing its more pop orientation with some heavy metal riffage and a meaty drumming backbone. The vocal interplay is also sublime, the predominant clean croons matched with a bullish, anguished growl from Tuomas Saukkonen. Continue reading »

SUMMER BREEZE 2012 – THE REVIEW (Part 1)

 Concert Reviews  7 Responses »
Sep 062012
 

(Our UK-based writer Andy Synn made the trek to Germany for this year’s edition of the SUMMER BREEZE festival, and provided us with a review of the bands whose performances he witnessed.  We’ve divided the review into two parts. In this post, Andy covers the festival’s first two days, and tomorrow we’ll have his impressions of Day 3. We’ve also collected videos of many of the performances at the end of the post.)

So… German festivals go Thursday – Saturday, not Friday – Sunday… who knew? Well apparently everyone else in the world except for us, when we booked an overnight stay in Cologne on the Wednesday night! Still, Cologne was awesome, and only a mere four hours drive away…

Anyway, on reaching the site (after a desperate last minute rush to the petrol station – seriously, make sure you fill up before you reach the Dinkelsbuhl exit guys and gals!) we joined a surprising, infuriating, queue of cars, followed by an interminable security check… time was ticking away and Be’lakor (one of my primary reasons for going to the festival) would soon be taking the stage! So with some slightly rushed stunt driving (I’m pretty certain I went down that grass verge as much sideways as I did forwards) and a breathless scramble… we made it. Just.

DAY 1

Justifying our desperate, occasionally slightly risky, efforts to get to the festival on time, Be’lakor were undeniably awesome. Live, the Agallochian overtones of the music come through a lot more, a melding of misty melancholy with swells of oceanic heaviness giving the band a more distinctive and individual live presence. The group’s image is a little difficult to reconcile with the music though, encompassing a host of short haircuts, laid-back Australian accents, and inappropriate t-shirts! Shame on you guys!

The next band I was dying to see also happened to be one of my favourites, my loyalty to Darkest Hour forcing me to choose them in an unfortunate clash with Glorior Belli. And though it pained me to do so, I’m glad I did. Darkest Hour never disappoint, their punky, hyper-energetic take on melodic death metal fitting perfectly with the blazing sunshine and free-wheeling atmosphere of the festival. Plus, I was still yet to see them live with either the new material or the new line-up, and both absolutely killed it live. Continue reading »

BEFORE THE DAWN: “RISE OF THE PHOENIX”

 Album Reviews  3 Responses »
Apr 262012
 

(In this post, Andy Synn reviews a new album that’s been highly anticipated by your friends here at NCS — Rise of the Phoenix by Finland’s Before the Dawn.)

So, to atone for my most recent sinning, I’ve decided to bring you an album that thoroughly adheres to the site’s name. Truthfully, there is no clean singing on this album.

That in itself might be a bugbear for some, though, as Before The Dawn have become somewhat synonymous with their clean vocal sections in recent years. Indeed, mainman Tuomas Saukkonen’s declaration that he has decided to make a conscious shift away from this sound puts the listener in something of a quandary – as good as this new album is (and it is very good), how will previous records be represented in the band’s setlist in the future?

This, and other important questions remain to be answered, but Rise Of The Phoenix sets the stage for another new era for Before The Dawn. Remember that the band’s sound has shifted and grown since its very inception, shedding its more gothic skin along the way to become the Number 1 capturing entity they were up until this, their most recent transformation. Quite where they will go from here only they can say, but credit to Saukkonen for pursuing a purely artistic change in direction, having achieved chart-topping dominance with their previous style. Continue reading »

FULL ALBUM STREAM: BEFORE THE DAWN’S “RISE OF THE PHOENIX”

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  1 Response »
Apr 192012
 

Well, for those of you who follow us on Facebook, I did promise a full album stream in my last status yesterday — and this isn’t it.  The one I promised is coming in about 45 minutes.  This one is an unexpected stack of fucking good pancake, with an ice-cream-sized scoop of butter on top and enough syrup to sink a fucken battleship.

Today, the Finnish Kaaoszine web site began streaming the new album by Before the Dawn, Rise of the Phoenix, which will be released by Nuclear Blast in Europe on April 25. The stream will last for one week. The Kaaoszine feature also includes a track-by-track description of the album by BTD vocalist/guitarist/one-man army Tuomas Saukkonen.

I think this makes our 1,000th post about this album, including the one two days ago about the new and thoroughly awesome new BTD music video, which is new. But all the attention is completely deserved. Give this thing a spin. You’ll be glad you did. HERE is the link for the stream.

That is all.

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 »

BEFORE THE DAWN: “THRONE OF ICE”

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  2 Responses »
Mar 252012
 

At this rate maybe we’ll get the whole album for free!

About two weeks ago, we featured the official music video by Finland’s Before the Dawn for a song called “Phoenix Rising” from their new album, Rise of the Phoenix. We also included this link for a free download of the song, courtesy of Nuclear Blast (and the download offer is still available).

Yesterday, another song called “Throne of Ice” became available for free download via the Finnish language EMI web site. You have to register on this page to get the download, but it doesn’t seem to be limited to residents of Finland, because I got it. The registration page is in Finnish, but with a little help from Google Translate, I can tell you that the boxes you’ll need to fill out ask for the following info in the following order: a first name, a last name, an e-mail address, a gender selection, and a year of birth. After that is a box with stuff you can sign up for like e-mail alerts (you’ll probably want to uncheck what’s in that box). Then click the “Rekisteroldy” button and you’ll immediately get a download link.

Why am I giving you this tedious step-by-step info? Because the song fuckin’ rocks hard, that’s why. Listen to it after the jump if you don’t believe me. What the hell, we’ll include a stream of “Phoenix Rising” after the jump, too, just in case you missed it the first time. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: TUOMAS SAUKKONEN (BEFORE THE DAWN)

 Interviews  10 Responses »
Mar 092012
 

EDITOR’S NOTE: Finnish multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, and songwriter Tuomas Saukkonen is the driving creative force behind two of this site’s favorite bands — Before the Dawn and Black Sun Aeon — along with about 1,000 other musical projects. BTD’s new album, Rise of the Phoenix, is scheduled for release by Nuclear Blast on April 27, and just yesterday we featured a killer song and official video for one of the new songs, “The Phoenix Rising”. If you haven’t seen it yet, make haste to this location, where you’ll also find a link to a free download of the song.

Today, we’re fortunate to feature this interview of Tuomas Saukkonen by guest writer KevinP, which includes insights into the new album, the band’s line-up changes, and the shift in musical style that we’ll be hearing on Rise of the Phoenix, along with much else.

********

This is your second album coming out on Nuclear Blast. What’s different this time around and why should people who didn’t care for you in the past now be interested?

The timing is a lot better than with the first album with NB. We signed the deal just before Christmas and the album came out in Europe 16.2. So there was not much time for promotion. With the new album we have totally 3 months, which is pretty big thing. Musically there has been a pretty big change in our scale, and there will surely be some changes in the fan base also. If you thought we were just one girlie metal band, you should really check out the new material.
 

Lars (bass/clean vocals) and Atte (drums) are out of the band and replaced with Pyry (bass) and Joonas (drums). What made you choose them as replacements?

Joonas and I have been friends for a looong time and we have been trying to find a band or project for a long time where we could be in the same line-up. I’ve been a fan of his playing for a long time. Also he has inspired my drum playing a lot. Pyry used to be my drum student a few years back but had been playing guitar since he was 10. Very cool and musically talented guy who started to play bass around the same time as drum, so he was an ideal choice. Continue reading »

BEFORE THE DAWN: THE “PHOENIX RISING” VIDEO

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  8 Responses »
Mar 082012
 

Read this:

“Enioy the official video clip for the first single “Phoenix Rising”, taken from BEFORE THE DAWN‘s upcoming melodic death metal sledgehammer Rise Of The Phoenix (OUT on April 27).

The song is also available as a free download at Nuclear Blast:http://bit.ly/ziaxYI

Pre-order “Rise Of The Phoenix” at the Nuclear Blast web shop:http://bit.ly/xQtGxu“

Now, watch and listen to this: Continue reading »

BEFORE THE DAWN TEASES US

 Metal News  2 Responses »
Feb 082012
 

Only two days ago we featured news about Rise of the Phoenix, the next album by Finland’s Before the Dawn, which prompted some speculation in the comments about whether the music would be up to the high standards set by the band’s previous releases. After all, it does follow pretty quickly on the heels of 2011’s Deathstar Rising, it does come from a band whose principal creative force (Tuomas Saukkonen) has his fingers in many other projects at the same time, and it will be the first BtD release in six years not to include the distinctive clean vocals of Lars Eikind.

Thanks to a tip from fireangel of the Finland-focused Night Elves site, much of this anxious speculation can be laid to rest. She pointed us to an album teaser uploaded by Nuclear Blast today. Based on the short song excerpts in the teaser, I can’t argue with what Tuomas Saukkonen says in the clip. It does indeed sound epic, fast, heavy, and awesome. Also, I can feel the music having a positive effect on my manhood.

Teaser clip after the jump . . . Continue reading »

ALBUM NEWS FROM BEFORE THE DAWN AND MARDUK

 Metal News  4 Responses »
Feb 062012
 

If someone were to ask me, “Why is Finnish metal so awesome?”, I would answer, “Because it’s metal from Finland, you dork!” — and then I’d give the Nerd Laugh, the one that’s part snort and all-knowing. And if I were being asked by a big hairy dude with no nerd sense of humor, I’d follow that quickly with some examples, one of which would be Before the Dawn.

The band was started in 1999 by the prolific Tuomas Saukkonen (also a member of Black Sun Aeon, Dawn of Solace, and RoutaSielu), and their 2011 album (their sixth), Deathstar Rising, was one of our favorites (I also named a song from the album to our list of 2011’s Most Infectious Extreme Metal Songs — here).  Their combination of hard-driving riffs and dark, beautiful, hook-filled melodies is a great example of the kind of gothic melodic death metal at which the Finns have excelled.

Part of the band’s appeal has been the one-two vocal punch delivered by Saukkonen (whose harsh delivery is killer) and bass player Lars Eikind. Elkind is gone, unfortunately, but of course that hasn’t stopped Saukkonen for a minute. Here’s a January 25 note posted by the band (which I only just saw, thanks to a tip from KevinP):

Finnish melancholic melodic death metal outfit BEFORE THE DAWN returns after living through a phase of changes and uncertainty – cleansed, renewed and stronger than ever! Leaving pieces of both the musical and personal past behind, mastermind Tuomas Saukkonen, lead guitarist Juho Räihä and their new companions get ready for conquering your ears with the finest blend of northern gloom and harsh melodic death metal.

Their seventh studio album and at the same time second release via Nuclear Blast Records is entitled “Rise Of The Phoenix” and will arise from the ashes on the 27th of April 2012!

Very welcome news indeed. After the jump, the track list . . . and news about the next Marduk album. Continue reading »

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