SEEN AND HEARD: ELIRAN KANTOR AND ICED EARTH, DEICIDE, VALKYRJA, HOWLING, AND BLOODSHOT DAWN

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  11 Responses »
Sep 302013
 

I haven’t attempted to compile a round-up of noteworthy findings in several days, so I’ve had to ruthlessly cut what interested me or this post would have been longer than a reticulated python. Even truncated, it’s as long as a boa constrictor. And everything in here is awfully bloodthirsty, right up until the final item.

ELIRAN KANTOR AND ICED EARTH

Is that a fuckin’ brutal album cover up there or what? It’s the latest cover art by Eliran Kantor, who I watch like a hawk because he’s so damned good, and it graces the 11th album by Iced Earth, which is planned for release by Century Media in January 2014. With a grisly cover like that and song titles such as “Democide”, “Cthulhu”, and “Parasite”, in addition to the title track, this could be very interesting.

Speaking of brutal, how ’bout a new Deicide track? Continue reading »

OUR LIST OF 2012’S MOST INFECTIOUS EXTREME METAL SONGS: PART 8

 MOST INFECTIOUS SONGS-2012  6 Responses »
Jan 052013
 

This is Part 8 of our list of the year’s most infectious extreme metal songs. Each day until the list is finished, I’m posting two songs that made the cut. For more details about what this list is all about and how it was compiled, read the introductory post via this link. To see the selections that preceded the two we’re announcing today, click here.

Well, it’s time for some fucking death metal, also known as death fucking metal and metal of fucking death, depending on how excited you are or how much you’ve had to drink. I’m pretty excited about both of today’s bands. They’re both from the UK and both of them produced 2012 albums that vaulted them onto lots of people’s radar screens. They both churn out music that’s the aural equivalent of sticking your head in a blast furnace, and as a side note, their album covers remain among my favorites of the past year.

BLOODSHOT DAWN

I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve written about this band and their self-titled 2012 album, which remains one of my favorite releases of the year (as explained in my January review). In April,we featured an official video for a track from the album called “Visions”, and in August we followed that with their video for “Godless”, which is the song I picked for this list. Continue reading »

BLOODSHOT DAWN: “THEOKTONY”

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  2 Responses »
Oct 262012
 

 

Two combined bits of coolness: Bloodshot Dawn have released a new single for download named “Theoktony”, and they’re contributing all sales proceeds to a worthwhile charity. Details to follow . . .

I’ve written a lot about this UK band and their self-titled 2012 album, which remains one of my favorite releases of the year. In addition to my January review, in April we featured an official video for a track from the album called “Visions”, and in August we featured another official video for “Godless”, which is still available for free download at the Bloodshot Dawn Bandcamp page, where you can acquire the whole album, too.

But what we have today is a new song that’s not on the album, and a new video to go along with it. Both the song and the video kick massive amounts of ass.

The music is signature Bloodshot Dawn — an explosion of blast-furnace death metal packed with thunderous grooves, spidery prog-style guitar soloing, and howling wolf-pack vocals. With a sharp-edged modern production, it sounds uber-powerful. The lyrics can be found here.

The video is split-screen footage of the band recording the song in the studio, and it’s loads of fun to watch. Here you go: Continue reading »

NEW VIDEOS FROM THREE NCS FAVORITES: BLOODSHOT DAWN, A HILL TO DIE UPON, AND DEMONIC RESURRECTION

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  No Responses »
Aug 012012
 

Between last night and this morning, I’ve come across so much new shit worth spreading around that I’m dividing up the collection into two pieces, this being the first one.

In this post are a new video from Bloodshot Dawn (UK), a new video from A Hill To Die Upon (U.S.), and another new video from Demonic Resurrection (India).

BLOODSHOT DAWN

I’ve lost count of how many times we’ve written about this UK band and their self-titled 2012 album, which remains one of my favorite releases of the year (as explained in my January review). In April, we featured an official video for a track from the album called “Visions”, and this morning they released another official video. This time, the song is “Godless”, which is still available for free download at the Bloodshot Dawn Bandcamp page, where you can acquire the whole album, too.

Man, I do dig this song. It kicks you in the head like a pissed-off hyperkinetic mule. Killer riffs, killer drumming, and eye-popping guitar soloing leave no part of your face un-melted. And once again, we have a video — directed, filmed, and edited by Jordan Saunders of Dead Parrot Productions — that visually captures the head-whipping fury of the music. Check it out: Continue reading »

NEWS AND VIDEO ROUND-UP: NE OBLIVISCARIS, ZOMBIE, INC., BLOODSHOT DAWN, AND OVERKILL

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  4 Responses »
Apr 042012
 

One exciting news item + three brand new videos = this post.

NE OBLIVISCARIS

I know that less than three weeks have passed since our last update about Australia’s Ne Obliviscaris, but I think I already made clear that just about any news concerning this band and their forthcoming album is going to get space at NCS.

The new album is called Portal of I, and I expect to drown blissfully in the one hour and 11 minutes of unique music it will undoubtedly serve up. Now, finally, after years of work and more difficulties than many bands encounter, we have a release date for NeO’s debut album: May 7, 2012. We don’t yet have pre-order information, but we understand that’s coming soon.

In addition to the release date, NeO have also announced that they will be touring Australia in support of the album. Although I have no hope of seeing any of these shows except in my mind’s eye, I’m swallowing my frustration and including the tour dates anyway:

Friday, May 18@ The Corner Hotel, Melbourne 18+
Saturday, May 19@ The Castle, Dandenong, Melbourne *ALL AGES*
Saturday, June 9@ The Enigma Bar, Adelaide
Saturday, June 16@ The Bald Faced Stag (The Wall), Sydney
Brisbane show: TBA

Now, onward to those three new music videos . . . Continue reading »

BLOODSHOT DAWN UPDATE

 Metal News  17 Responses »
Mar 052012
 

That is still one uber-badass album cover, isn’t it? The album also remains one of the biggest, most pleasant surprises of the year for me. To quote from my January review (because I always turn to myself for quotes whenever possible): “In a nutshell, Bloodshot Dawn’s debut album is a shockingly strong explosion of fused thrash and melodic death metal, driven by a guitar duo who have bright days ahead of them. I’ll be surprised if we see a stronger debut from anyone this year.”

Today is another red-letter day for Bloodshot Dawn and their fans, because today they’re putting the album up on Bandcamp for streaming and for digital download directly from the band — and this is the link for that page.

And to celebrate the digital release, the band have teamed up with the formidable UK-based extreme metal zine Terrorizer to stream the album in full on the Terrorizer web site between today and March 14. To check that out, go here. Terrorizer will also be giving away the album with subscriber copies of Issue #221 beginning March 22. Continue reading »

BLOODSHOT DAWN

 Album Reviews  5 Responses »
Jan 232012
 

We goat-throwers do like our guitar wizardry. We like other things, too, but bands who bring the shred generally light up our pasty white faces with a beaming glow. If you listen long enough and widely enough, of course, mere speed and dexterity no longer give you quite the same rush as they did in your listening infancy. You look for more — you look for creativity, a certain tone, a certain feel, some heart and soul, even . . . dare I say it . . . intelligence — along with the ability to trigger the headbang reflex, of course.

When a band is able to marry that kind of guitar talent with song-writing ability, performance skill at the other positions, and a knack for fusing diverse musical styles, you get something special. Revocation’s David Davidson and company pulled that off when they made their first serious splash in the scene during 2009 with the release of Existence Is Futile. I think we’re about to get wet from a similar splash on January 26, when Bloodshot Dawn releases their self-titled debut album.

This UK band features two lead guitarists — Josh McMorran (who is also the lead vocalist) and Benjamin Ellis (who also contributes backing vox). When you cut right down to the bone, the songs on the album really serve as platforms for them to strut their stuff. That’s not to say that the rest of each song is composed of filler — far from it. But what makes the album such a stand-out, and each song such a kick in the head to hear, is the space it gives these two to show what they’re made of. And what they’re made of is win. Continue reading »

2012: METAL IN THE FORGE (Part 1)

 Forthcoming Albums  28 Responses »
Jan 062012
 

December and 2011 are both over, and with the end of the last month, it’s time to round up what we saw over the last 30 days about forthcoming albums.

We usually try to post these updates on the first of the month, but the first of this month was New year’s Day, and I was moving kinda slowly that day. Plus, I’ve been focusing on year-end lists from a variety of sources, and, well, I’m late with this. I have more excuses, if you’d like to hear them.  No?  Okay, I understand.  I’ll just shut up and get going with this list.

So, here’s the deal:  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, we cut and paste those announcements and compile them in alphabetical order.

Remember — THIS ISN’T A CUMULATIVE LIST. If we found out about a new forthcoming album before December, we 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.

This month’s list begins right after the jump. It includes some real eye-openers. In fact, it’s not too soon to say that 2012 is already looking like yet another royally skull-fucking year for metal. But as usual, this list is half-assed rather than comprehensive. I confess that in December I was even more half-assed than usual in keeping my eyes open for news about new albums. So, feel free to leave Comments and tell all of us what I missed when I put this list together. Let us know about albums on the way that  you’re stoked about, even if you don’t see them here! Continue reading »

SOME NEW THINGS FOR THE NEW YEAR

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  5 Responses »
Jan 022012
 

The new year has started off with a bang here at the NCS island. We’ve been swamped with new music in just the last couple of days — too much for me to take in all at once, but I thought I’d pick out a random sampling to throw at your faces on this first Monday of 2012. Both of these songs come from relatively new bands, and both are damned impressive. So, while we’re still not finished with our Listmania look-backs at 2011, let’s also start looking at what the new year has in store for us.

BLOODSHOT DAWN

This is a band with members scattered around Portsmouth and Hampshire in the UK. They’ve completed a self-titled debut album scheduled for release on January 26 that contains 11 tracks and more than 50 minutes of music — and as you can see, it features some typically terrific Par Olofsson artwork on the album cover. The band have just made available a single from the album for free download as a taste of what the album offers. It’s called “Godless”, and man, it lit me up like fireworks exploding on New Year’s Eve.

The song is a double-barreled blast of melodic death/thrash with flashy riffing and a headstrong rhythm that’s immediately galvanizing. But what really got me enthusiastic was the instrumental extravagance that takes over in the last third of the song — one head-spinning guitar solo after another. It comes your way right after the jump. Continue reading »

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