AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: BYTHOS — “SORATH THE OPPOSER”

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Mar 262020
 

 

Although a new alliance, the Finnish black metal band Bythos boasts a seasoned line-up of performers who come from other groups whose names will be known to every fan of black metal — Behexen, Horna, Sargeist, and Ajattara. In this new formation they’ve combined their talents to create an album that is thematically “an interdimensional view of the underworld and its deities, emphasising strongly on the spiritual evolution to liberate the imprisoned powers, and make one with the outer darkness”.

As further described, The Womb of Zero deals with: “The resetting of the divine plans through destruction and rising above limitations of life. Beauty in destruction, destruction in beauty. A sonic interpretation of what once was, and our constant path of devolution towards the Luciferian dawn”.

We share these insights first, because the music within the album translates these lyrical themes so well, and so powerfully, creating sensations of both chaos and transcendence, of fury and exultation, of menace and magic. We have a great example of these achievements in the song we’re presenting today through an occult-themed video, in advance of the album’s April 24 release by the esteemed Terratur Possessions. Prepare for “Sorath the Opposer“. Continue reading »

MARYLAND DEATHFEST 2017 — A REVIEW (PART 1)

 Concert Reviews  3 Responses »
May 312017
 

 

That photo up there shows the sight that greeted my eyes on Monday night while waiting for my ferry boat home after returning to Seattle from Maryland Deathfest 2017, but it also accurately represents my glowing impressions of this year’s fest in Baltimore.

Like many, I was disappointed to learn that MDF would be “downscaling” this year, eliminating the Edison Lot venue and having all the shows indoors at Rams Head Live and Soundstage. I also saw some grumbling on the internet (imagine that! grumbling on the internet!) that the line-up wasn’t as strong as in many past years; on top of that, Nightbringer was a last-minute no-show because of an airport outage in the UK.

Despite those misgivings, my own strongly held view is that this edition of the festival was a rousing success. (Part 2 of this post can be found here.) Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE: BEHEXEN — “THE POISONOUS PATH”

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May 272016
 

Behexen-The Poisonous Path

 

Today Debemur Morti Productions releases the new fifth album by the infamous Finnish horde Behexen. Its name is The Poisonous Path, and we’re helping deliver the stream to your ears.

The smart move would be to skip down to the bottom of this post and start playing the album, even if you intend to read the following paragraphs. The album is so good that there’s no reason to lose any time before inviting it into your head, where it will trigger the release of adrenaline and then drive all other thoughts away with blades and fire. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: AEGRUS, BEHEXEN, CULT OF FIRE, GRAND MAGUS, MORNING MODE, THE ORDER OF ISRAFEL, SVARTELDER, THRÄNENKIND, TOSKA

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  7 Responses »
May 162016
 

Dávid Glomba-Cult of Fire cover

 

(One of our friends from Norway, eiterorm, rejoins NCS with a guest “Seen and Heard” post, collecting news and/or recommended new music from a diverse array of 9 bands.)

While Islander is recovering from his Friday night sufferings, alcoholic daemons, and (gasp!) metal shows, I thought I’d step in with an occasional roundup.

AEGRUS

The Finnish black metal band Aegrus recently revealed the details for their upcoming release. The EP, entitled Conjuring the Old Echoes, will be unearthed some time this summer via Hammer of Hate Records. Below is the track list for the release. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: BEHEXEN — “CHALICE OF THE ABYSSAL WATER”

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Apr 202016
 

Behexen-The Poisonous Path

 

If you’re wondering about that thundering black mass of a storm on the horizon, the one with the boiling fires of Hades at its center and crackling tendrils of lightning that spear the earth in a fury, it’s not a natural phenomenon. It’s the approach of a new album by Behexen.

The fifth full-length by these infamous Finnish demons fittingly bears the name The Poisonous Path, and it will descend upon us on May 27 via Debemur Morti Productions. In this post we bring the premiere of its first advance track, “Chalice of the Abyssal Water“.

Four years after Nightside Emanations and almost 20 years after their first demo, Behexen show no signs of repentance or fatigue, but instead a dedication to further perfecting their hellish black art. Continue reading »

BEHEXEN: “NIGHTSIDE EMANATIONS” ALBUM STREAM

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  2 Responses »
Oct 162012
 

About three weeks ago, after a four-year wait, the fourth album by Finland’s Behexen — Nightside Emanations — appeared via their new label Debemur Morti. It’s an album I’ve been meaning to check out, because Behexen holds such a revered place among die-hard devotees of black metal. Today, that became a very easy thing to do.

DECIBEL magazine’s on-line site (here) has begun streaming the entire album in a feature that also includes an interview with Wraath, one of the two guitarists who joined Behexen after release of the band’s last album, My Soul For His Glory (2008). The new album reflects the contributions of those two, in addition to the band’s two original members, vocalist Hoath Torog and drummer Horns (both of whom are also in Sargeist).

At this writing, I’ve only made my way through the first half of the new album. I’m not sure how it compares to Behexen’s previous releases, but I’m liking what I hear. With the exception of the cathedral-organ “Intro” and “Circle Me”, which is a mid-paced, doom-laden crusher, the music is intense and furious. The vocals are vile, the guitars are flensing, and the drums are vicious.

DECIBEL was nice enough to run the stream in an embeddable player, so you can check out the album following the jump. Continue reading »

FINLAND TRIBUTE WEEK: HORNA, BEHERIT, IMPALED NAZARENE, SARGEIST — AND BEHEXEN

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  19 Responses »
Dec 092010
 

What, did you think we would forget about black metal? No way. How could we put together a tribute to extreme metal from Finland and not (fearfully) bow our horned heads in obeisance to the music of the beast? We just needed a little time to summon up the courage before wading out into that smoking, seething, sulfurous pool that is Finnish black metal.

As regular readers know, we wouldn’t call ourselves black-metal experts. As fans of the genre, we’re relative latecomers, and we’re still discovering bands — not only new ones but also historical icons. But from what we’ve learned in our ongoing education, Finland has definitely made its mark. You know the mark we’re talking about (it begins with a 6 and ends in a 6 and, uh, it has a 6 in the middle).

Today, we’re featuring three long-running bands who seem to be among the best known within kvlt circles (Horna, Beherit, and Impaled Nazarene :)) — even we had heard of them before and even knew some of their music — plus another (Sargeist) who may not be quite so well-known but are very capable of impaling your head on a musical spike. And in a last-minute update, we’ve just got to say something about Behexen.

Once again, we’re indebted to our commenters for their suggestions, and particularly to Johan Huldtgren (Obitus) for bringing Sargeist (and Behexen) to our attention. We know Johan is really waiting for the humppa music, but he’s gonna have to wait a bit longer. Patience, bro. For now, dear unclean readers, inscribe a pentagram on your forehead with fetus blood and listen to what we’ve dug out of the maggot-ridden crypt — it’s quite a varied spectrum of what Finnish black metal has to offer, and the music is awesome.   (after the jump . . .) Continue reading »