SEEN AND HEARD ON A SATURDAY: DORMANT ORDEAL, LABYRINTHINE HEIRS, CHAOS INCEPTION, DECREPISY, BELNEJOUM, HABAK, PIGPEN, ALLEGAEON, BURIED REALM

 Album Reviews, Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  No Responses »
Feb 152025
 


Dormant Ordeal – Photo Credit: Piotr Dzik

(written by Islander)

Another week has gone by and I’ve had another session with the roulette wheel of new releases, watching the bouncing ball land in one pocket after another as I mentally spun. It’s a fair analogy, since there are 37 or 38 pockets on a wheel and that’s in the ballpark of new releases from the past week I thought might be worth checking out. Also fair, because of the general randomness of my choices of what to listen to.

But the process is also a little like casino craps, getting an instinct about a shooter and betting on particular outcomes. And so I mentally bet on some of the bands from last week I thought were likely to be winners – and some were and some weren’t.

To be clear, I’ve never played roulette or craps in my life, only watched without much understanding. I’m not much of a gambler with my own money; I care much more about losing than the chance of winning; I prefer to keep what I have; there are other ways of being entertained when the odds aren’t always stacked against you — like listening to the following songs: Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): BURIED REALM — “BURIED REALM”

 Album Reviews, Premieres  No Responses »
Jun 022022
 

 

Colorado-based Buried Realm has returned to the fray with a self-titled third album that’s just as much of an eye-popping attack as the Pär Olofsson artwork that blazes off its cover. That shouldn’t come as a huge surprise for those who experienced the band’s startling debut album The Ichor Carcinoma (2017) or the very impressive sophomore full-length Embodiment of the Divine (2020), but even if you know those records, this one is still a spectacularly head-spinning and electrifying jolt to the system.

Once again, the band’s alter ego Josh Dummer has enlisted an impressive array of iconic names as guests to add their own fireworks to a show that’s already loaded with fireworks. Those names by themselves (which we’ll come to eventually) would be sufficient enticement for any newcomers to give Buried Realm a chance, but they really are just bit players (albeit famous ones). It’s Dummer‘s songwriting and performances that carry the main weight here, and he carries it easily — as you’ll discover through our premiere stream of the entire action-packed record on the eve of its release. Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: BURIED REALM — “THE WONDER AND TERROR OF FORTUNE”

 Premieres  2 Responses »
Jun 262020
 

 

The Colorado-based melodic death metal band Buried Realm made quite a splash with its debut album The Ichor Carcinoma in 2017. It showcased the guitar wizardry and vocal dynamics of the band’s alter ego, solo artist Josh Dummer, and featured guest performances by such luminaries as such as Christopher Amott (Arch Enemy, Armageddon), Peter Wichers (Soilwork), Teemu Mäntysaari (Wintersun), and Travis Montgomery (Threat Signal, Jeff Loomis band). We summed it up as “so astoundingly exuberant and kaleidoscopic that it takes your breath away to hear it.”

Now Buried Realm is returning with a sophomore full-length named Embodiment of the Divine, which will be released on July 24th. Josh Dummer‘s songwriting and extravagant guitar talents are still the heart of the music, but he has again enlisted a tremendous array of guest performers. And as we did for the first album, we’re again premiering a song from the new one, a thoroughly exciting track called “The Wonder and Terror of Fortune“. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: BURIED REALM — “ASPHYXIATION’S LULLABY”

 Premieres  3 Responses »
Sep 012017
 

 

If you’re an experienced listener of extreme heavy metal, when you see the word “asphyxiation”, you might think of bleak, soul-sucking, oppressive sounds, like the sonic equivalent of a garrote tightening on your neck or an anvil on the chest. But the song you’re about to hear, which bears the name “Asphyxiation’s Lullaby“, is asphyxiating only in the sense that it’s so astoundingly exuberant and kaleidoscopic that it takes your breath away to hear it.

The song comes from The Ichor Carcinoma, the debut album of Buried Realm, which is the solo project of Colorado musician/vocalist Josh Dummer. On this album he proves himself to be some kind of instrumental wizard, and a vocal chameleon as well. But he has also surrounded himself with an array of guests that shines like a metal constellation in the night sky. Continue reading »