SEEN AND HEARD: CREST OF DARKNESS, SLECHTVALK, DOEDSMAGHIRD, [4672], BULLHEAD, GRUZJA

 Album Reviews, Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC, SHORT BUT SWEET  No Responses »
Oct 092024
 

(written by Islander)

I found enough time enough to pull together another mid-week roundup of new songs and videos. I picked all of these on Monday and started scribbling about them then, hoping to post this collection sooner than today. In the meantime, a lot of other new things have caught my attention, but those will have to wait ’til Saturday.

The first two of the songs and videos below are heart-pounders and neck-wreckers of different kinds, and then the music begins to twist and turn in increasingly bizarre directions. By sheer coincidence, none of the bands is from the U.S. By design, I again threw a curveball at you with the final selection. Continue reading »

A POST-HALLOWEEN PLAYLIST (PART 2): NEW MUSIC AND VIDEOS FROM CATTLE DECAPITATION, CENTURIES, CREST OF DARKNESS, THE FACELESS, GODFLESH, HEART ATTACK

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  2 Responses »
Nov 012017
 

 

As explained in Part 1 of this gigantic mid-week round-up, I’m trying to catch up on the flood of new videos and songs that were released on Halloween and the few days leading up to it (although a few of the items I’ve selected are a bit older than that).

Because there are so many things I want to throw at your eyes and ears, I alphabetized everything by band name, beginning with Apophis and ending with Watain, and divided the list into three parts. I’m posting them as fast as I can get them ready to go. And because there are so many songs and videos, I’m resorting to a tactic I’ve used occasionally in the past: Although I may dribble a few words here and there, I’m mainly presenting everything with just basic release info and no reviews. Onward to Part 2:

CATTLE DECAPITATION

Cattle Decap put up a video for “Prophets Of Loss” last week, mostly a live performance video using a bunch of tour footage from the group’s recent European run. Great song from a great album. Random comment by my comrade DGR: “It looks like their bassist has cut his glorious mane of hair…. This is most unfortunate. RIP really tall bassist guy’s hair.” Continue reading »

NEW NASTINESS FROM AUROCH, DE PROFUNDIS, AND CREST OF DARKNESS

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  8 Responses »
May 092014
 

I’m in a tug of war with my fucking day job, but I pulled it into the slop long enough to throw together this small collection of nasty new songs and a video. Now it’s my turn to get pulled into the slop — see you on Saturday when we will have… something… probably something covered in slop.

AUROCH

As previously reported, Vancouver’s Auroch have a new album named Taman Shud that will be released on June 24 by Profound Lore, with vinyl coming via Dark Descent. I’ve been very high on this band based on their past efforts, and the new song that debuted yesterday is a strong sign that Taman Shud will be a worthy successor. “Noxious Plume” is the name of this ode to all things poisonous and wantonly destructive. Continue reading »

FROM THE SUBLIME TO THE RIDICULOUS, WITH CREST OF DARKNESS, ANTESTOR, JOHN CLEESE, AND SABAZIUS

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  7 Responses »
Feb 192013
 

Here is a truly random collection of items I came across over the last 24 hours that I’d like to share. On the sublime end of the continuum are new videos from Crest of Darkness and Antestor. On the ridiculous end of the range is a new YouTube clip from Sabazius — the longest clip ever uploaded to YouTube, and it’s a metal song. And in between I have something from the immortal John Cleese that’s both sublime and ridiculous.

CREST OF DARKNESS

Norway’s Crest of Darkness have a new album (their sixth studio release) named In the Presence of Death that’s scheduled to appear on February 25 via My Kingdom Music. Just 12 days ago I wrote about the first new song to debut, a track called “From the Dead”. This morning brought a second new song — “Demon Child” — via an official video. Actually, the song seems to be a special video mix, and so it may differ somewhat from the album track.

I really like the song for the same reason I enjoyed “From the Dead” — Crest of Darkness mix things up. There’s certainly plenty of face-ripping black metal viciousness, but the song also segues into a catchy-as-fuck rock beat that really got my head nodding. Continue reading »

MORE GEMS: CREST OF DARKNESS AND OCTOPUS

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  2 Responses »
Feb 072013
 

It’s getting late in our usual posting day, but I thought I’d throw a couple more things your way that I discovered today.

CREST OF DARKNESS

Norway’s Crest of Darkness have a new album (their sixth studio release) scheduled to appear on February 25 via My Kingdom Music. Its name is In the Presence of Death, and the cover art is above. This band trace their origins back to the mid-90s, though I haven’t ever explored their albums with any care. After hearing the first song to be released from In the Presence of Death, that’s about to change.

The track is called “From the Dead”, and it grabbed my interest within the first 10 seconds. And by the time it really began to roll 30 seconds later, I was hooked. There’s no doubt that this is black metal with lots of bite, but not the kind that depends heavily on drum blasting and knife-edged whirlwinds of tremolo guitar. Depending on where you are in the song, it includes rock beats, industrial rhythms, progressive guitar parts, a head-spinning solo, and ominous, pounding riffs. I really like this and want more!

Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: DEAFHEAVEN, NECROCURSE, CREST OF DARKNESS, AND DEATH I AM

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  1 Response »
Dec 112012
 

Here’s a round-up of things that caught my eyes and ears today. Eventually, they will let go and I will be able to see and hear again. The first thing is a news item about a band I like a lot. The other three items involve deviant musical filth of the supremely headbangable variety, which of course I also like a lot.

DEAFHEAVEN

I admit it: I’m intensely devoted to the music of San Francisco’s Deafheaven. The last time I wrote about them was in this review of their superb recent split with Bosse-de-Nage.  Today I received a press release stating that they have reserved studio time in January for the recording of their second full-length album, which will be entitled Sunbather and is projected for a Spring 2013 release by Deathwish Inc. They’re sticking with the same engineer (Jack Shirley) who worked with them on the debut album, Roads To Judah.

I was intrigued, though made nervous, by the included quote from Deafheaven vocalist George Clarke: “While the new material is more developed, we’ve strayed from what was previously a more melancholic approach. The black metal aspect to our music is prevalent in the new material, but I don’t think it’s necessarily the focus this time around.”  Lead guitarist Kerry McCoy continued, “There are a lot of harsh, dark vibes on Sunbather, but don’t be surprised at how lush and rock-driven, even pop-driven certain aspects will be.”

It’s pointless to begin forming impressions about music you haven’t heard, but I repeat: The term “pop-driven” makes me nervous. To calm my nerves, I decided to get filthy. Continue reading »