AN NCS INTERVIEW: MMXX

 Interviews  No Responses »
Apr 282023
 

(During the uncertain and unnerving depths of the pandemic lockdown three experienced musicians from different sides of the Atlantic joined forces to create MMXX, and during the last 18 months Candlelight Records has released their debut album and a follow-on EP. These prompted Comrade Aleks to reach out for the following extensive interview, which included all three of the band’s members.)

One of the key US melodic death-doom bands, Daylight Dies, has been silent for nearly ten years. And to my surprise I’ve found the band’s rhythm section, Egan O’Rourke (bass) and Jesse Haff (drums), in the company of Andrea Chiodetti, the former guitarist of the Italian gothic doom band The Foreshadowing. Actually, it was the interview with Mick Moss of Antimatter where I learned about MMXX, as Mick recorded vocals for two songs on MMXX’s album as the guest vocalist.

Andrea, Egan, and Jesse formed this studio project during the Covid quarantine and it resulted in the full-length album Sacred Cargo released in November 2022, where guys were accompanied by ten guest musicians, including violin and cello players. The other eight guests are vocalists, and among them you’ll find not only Mick but also such names as Aaron Stainthorpe (My Dying Bride), Mikko Kotamäki (Swallow the Sun), and more. Together they recorded the inspiring album Sacred Cargo and the following EP The Next Wave came out on the 14th of April.

Andrea, Egan, and Jesse tell the MMXX story tonight. Continue reading »

STUFF LEPERKAHN DONE FOUND AND DONE LIKED — PART 3?

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  5 Responses »
Oct 022014
 

 

(Leperkahn continues to soldier on with roundup duties…)

Hello again! My stint emulating Islander continues. This time I put all of the songs and videos in alphabetical order, mostly because that happened on accident.

ABUSIVENESS

I’ve come to learn that the opinions of some MetalSucks scribes are either very good or very bad, so that it can be hard to tell whether something a given writer is recommending is worth my time. I tend to gamble on some of their posts in the hopes that a given band will fall into the former category, and I hit a bit of a jackpot in Poland’s Abusiveness. To put their sound succinctly, they sound somewhat like what newer Marduk would sound like if they subtly included some atmospheric keys and/or strings (or at least I think I hear keys and/or strings). On first gander, pitting those two together could be an odd match, but Abusiveness do it with aplomb on the song “Proces”, crafting an exhilarating six-ish minutes with blistering leads and an absolutely radiant solo maybe three or four minutes in. (There’s an ambient bit for the last minute or so that I don’t quite understand, but at that point you can just skip the end.)

“Proces” is from their new album Bramy Nawii, their new album on Arachnophobia. You can pick up Bramy Nawii with free shipping worldwide here if you dig the song featured below. Continue reading »

DAYLIGHT DIES: “A FRAIL BECOMING”

 Album Reviews  6 Responses »
Oct 112012
 

 

(Earlier this week Candlelight Records released the new album by North Carolina’s Daylight Dies. Here’s TheMadIsraeli’s review.)

Daylight Dies have reshaped the landscape of melodic death metal almost overnight.  Their brand of somber, melancholy, doom-infused walls of mourning melody has proven to be quite fucking badass, with a virtually flawless discography that has consistently commanded attention.  The way they weave the music with signature melodic transitions filled with sonic bereavement and darkness is something no other band does so well, each riff, section, or theme in itself taking the listener on a journey. This is one of those bands who just have a perfect batting record, a capacity for unleashing tear-soaked depressive weight conveyed with jolting heft.

Now we have A Frail Becoming, the group’s fourth LP to date.  Daylight Dies have added a new emotion to their palette of despair and misery, a sense of angst that gnashes at you with a wolve’s fangs.  This is a quality not so much heard in the music, as it is felt (although I would say this album is noticeably more aggressive and angrier than their previous efforts), though the band still maintain their lumbering doom cadence.

The album is definitely a high point of the year. While established bands who’ve followed in their footsteps such as In Mourning and newcomers such as Okera have provided us excellent releases this year, A Frail Becoming proves that Daylight Dies are still the sole masters of their craft. It delivers the same consistently high quality they’ve maintained throughout their three previous full-lengths. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: DAYLIGHT DIES, ARES KINGDOM, SYSTEM DIVIDE, AND ULCERATE

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  4 Responses »
Oct 092012
 

Here are a few items of interest I saw between yesterday and today that I thought were worth throwing in your general direction. Catch!

DAYLIGHT DIES

A Frail Becoming, the new album by North Carolina’s Daylight Dies, is being officially released today by Candlelight Records. It’s very, very good. I hope we will have a review soon, because the album deserves whatever we can do to help spread the word.

The latest song to be released for streaming is the album’s fourth track, “Dreaming of Breathing”, which is the subject of a music video directed by Ramon Boutviseth that debuted yesterday. It’s a beautifully filmed video, and the narrative portion suits the moody, dreamlike ambience of the music, while the band footage suits all the thundering that Daylight Dies do so well in their doom-influenced brand of melodic death metal.

Check it out next . . . Continue reading »

DAYLIGHT DIES: “INFIDEL”

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  1 Response »
Aug 292012
 

“Normally, we like to pen a few lines of senseless drivel to entertain before you click that orange button thingie, but today—as August rightfully wanes into oblivion—our digital inkwell is virtually dry. Parched, if you will. That being said, we’re going to let Daylight Dies dash your hopes and weather-make your sunny day outright cloudy. They can do that, you know. It’s time to enter an overcast state of mind.”

With those words of introduction, DECIBEL today began streaming a new song from Daylight Dies’ forthcoming album, A Frail Becoming, which is out October 9th on Candlelight Records USA and is available HERE for pre-order.

The song is “Infidel”. As you might expect if you know this band’s fantastic previous music, it’s a combination (on the one hand) of the deep, the dark, and the crushing, and (on the other) the sublimely beautiful. A Frail Becoming has been very high on our site’s list of most anticipated fall releases, and I can tell you that the rest of the album is every bit as strong as “Infidel”. A review is forthcoming . . . .

THIS is the link that will take you to DECIBEL to hear the song.  On that page there’s also an interesting interview with the band’s bassist/vocalist Egan O’Rourke. GO!

DAYLIGHT DIES: “A FRAIL BECOMING” IS ON THE WAY

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  6 Responses »
Jul 252012
 

All of your friends here at NCS are immensely anxious for the release of the next album by North Carolina’s Daylight Dies. Three years have passed since the release of the band’s third album, Lost To the Living. But yesterday Candlelight Records announced a release date for the new album, entitled A Frail Becoming: October 9. In addition, the label put up a brief video teaser for the album, which is . . . way too fucking brief.

The new record was mixed by Jens Bogren (Opeth, Katatonia, Devin Townsend, and many more) at Fascination Street Studios in Sweden, and the album will feature photography from award-winning Jonathan Mehring.

I’m going to embed the teaser video after the jump, but I’m also including a more effective reminder of why this is one of our most anticipated releases for 2012 — the official video for “Lies That Bind”, a track from the band’s second album, Dismanting Devotion (2006). It vividly displays the band’s talent for moving from dark ethereal beauty to a crushingly heavy assault, without warning, and the video is cool to watch, too.

Speaking of videos, the press release we received states that the band are currently working on a video for the song “Dreaming of Breathing” from the new record. The clip is being filmed by Ramon Boutviseth, who also directed the video for “Lies That Bind”. For more updates, watch this space or visit Daylight Dies on Facebook. Continue reading »

2012 METAL IN THE FORGE (PART 3)

 Forthcoming Albums  10 Responses »
Mar 022012
 

For a change, I actually remembered on the second day of the new month that that the preceding month had ended; usually takes longer than that. My creditors would be happy, except I think their bills need to age a while longer. But yes, February is history — and that means its time to post our usual monthly round-up of news about forthcoming albums. Today’s list is a little more comprehensive than the half-assed job I did at the end of January, which means it’s about three-quarters assed. One of these days it will be fully assed.

Here’s how this round-up usually works: 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, I cut and paste those announcements and compile them in alphabetical order.

Remember — THIS ISN’T A CUMULATIVE LIST. If I found out about a new forthcoming album earlier than the last 30 days, I probably 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.

Having said all that, please feel free to leave Comments and tell all of us (me and your fellow readers) what I missed when I put this list together, because I’m abso-fucking-lutely certain that I missed all sorts of shit. So let us know about albums on the way that  you’re stoked about, even if you don’t see them here! Continue reading »