Feb 252016
 

Convulse-Cycle of Revenge

 

The story of Finland’s Convulse is a twisting, turning one, which in strange ways seems to have circled back on itself, like an ouroboros. The band launched their career as a death metal band through the release of their first demo in 1990 and their acclaimed 1991 debut album World Without God. Three years later brought their second album, Reflections, which marked a controversial shift in sound to what might be called “death ‘n’ roll” — and not long after, Convulse disbanded.

Almost 20 years later, Convulse rose from its own ashes, releasing their third album (Evil Prevails) in the fall of 2013 via Svart Records in what seemed a reconnection to their death metal roots in the early ’90s. And now they bring us a fourth full-length, also to be released by Svart Records, bearing the title Cycle of Revenge — and as they did before in the earliest chapters of their story, Convulse have again gone off in a surprising new direction.

Those of you who caught the premiere of the album’s title track last month have an inkling of what I mean, but we have further proof today as we host the premiere of a lyric video for the new album’s second track, “God Is You“. Continue reading »

Dec 122012
 

This has proven to be an interesting morning for news. Here’s what I saw that made an impression. There’s some music at the end, too.

ALL SHALL PERISH –> OBLIVION

All Shall Perish were one of the originators of the deathcore genre, and in this writer’s humble opinion they remain one of the best bands to be found in that now-thoroughly-saturated space. This morning, All Shall Perish guitarist Ben Orum announced that he is leaving the band. As he explained in a statement I saw on Facebook, his responsibilities to his family have made it too difficult for him to continue touring.

But although he is withdrawing from All Shall Perish, Orum further announced that he is joining a band of whom we at NCS have become quite fond: Oblivion. The connection that led to this new partnership is an interesting one. As Ben Orum explained in his statement:

While I am done with touring, I will never stop writing music. I am joining the extreme metal band OBLIVION as a bassist and contributing songwriter. OBLIVION’s debut album will be released on January 1st, 2013. We are beyond excited to unleash it onto the metal world. I’ve always been into death metal and extreme music, this is my return to TRUE Death Metal. What makes OBLIVION unique and sets us apart from the pack is the fact that our primary songwriter is a world-renown classical composer and professor of music, Dr. Nick Vasallo. His voice gives the music a subtle refinement with the craftsmanship of the compositions. Continue reading »