AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: DEATH OF GIANTS — “ONLY THE GOOD DIE YOUNG”

 Exceptions to the Rule, Premieres  No Responses »
Aug 292024
 

Cover songs usually fall into one of two categories: Either they’re straightforward and faithful renditions of the original (though vocal variations inevitably introduce some differences), or they’re efforts to re-imagine and re-configure the originals, sometimes creating truly new originals.

The latter type of cover song is risky because listeners who are fans of the original may continue hearing it and thinking about it as they listen to the cover, which is a distraction, and at worst they may be annoyed at the changes. But when a cover song “works”, it’s far more interesting than a faithful repetition.

Death of Giants‘ cover of Iron Maiden‘s “Only the Good Die Young“, a video for which we’re premiering today, unmistakably falls into the second category — a striking reinterpretation of the original that turns it into a very different song, and one that works supremely well. It’s even more interesting and moving when you understand how the cover was inspired, though it would be powerfully moving even if you didn’t know. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: DEATH OF GIANTS

 Interviews  1 Response »
Jun 292023
 


Photo by Viviane Eriksen

(Over more than 10 years (yes, it’s been that long!) Comrade Aleks has brought us a great many excellent interviews, but the one that follows is among the very best. It’s a discussion with Morten Søbyskogen, the man behind Death of Giants, whose remarkable debut album was released this past May.)

There’s a tragedy behind the epic and gorgeous Death of Giants debut album Ventesorg. This project of multi-instrumentalist Morten Søbyskogen, who managed to perform one of most remarkable gothic death-doom albums of 2023, is a tribute to his wife Sandra, who passed away from brain cancer in 2018. Morten‘s grief took the form of six grandiose tracks filled with real pain and sincere regret. Ventesorg absorbed all of this sadness and frustration and transformed it into something new and touching.

The album was recorded with participant guest musicians, and moreover Morten performed a few gigs with the session lineup, so there are signs pointing toward Death of Giants becomes something bigger and more global. We talked with Morten, and this honest and long conversation is here before you now, along with a recently premiered video near the end of the band’s live cover performance of  “Horror” by W.A.S.P. at the Oslo release show for Ventersorg. Continue reading »

OVERFLOWING STREAMS: AETHERIAN, APHONIC THRENODY, ARKONA, ASCENDED DEAD, ASHBRINGER, DÅÅTH, DEATH OF GIANTS, HOLY DEATH, IMMORTAL, NOCTURNAL TYRANT

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  No Responses »
Apr 222023
 

Saturdays are usually days when I pick a handful of new songs and videos to recommend, accompanied by some of my own peerless prose (HA!). But as I waded through possibilities this morning it quickly dawned on me that there was just way too fucking much stuff for me to pare down to a handful without experiencing some mental agony in making the choices.

So, I’ve thrown up my hands and resorted to this “Overflowing Streams” format, where you will find a lot more music than in the usual “Seen and Heard” columns, a lot fewer of my own words (dry your eyes), and very little cover art — other than Yoann Lossel’s stunning artwork “Les Fleurs du Mal”, which is on the cover of the new album by the first band in this roundup.

Today the musical arrangement is alphabetical by band name (heavily weighted by the A’s). I’m deferring most of the black metal discoveries until tomorrow.

AETHERIAN (Greece)

Wonderful news to see that this Greek melodic death metal band are returning with a new album, six years after their fantastic full-length debut, The Untamed Wilderness. They say this marks “the start of a new era for Aetherian“, and it appears that they’ve added a couple of new guitarists to an already formidable lineup. The first sign of what the new album brings is a lyric video for the song “Army of Gaia“. Continue reading »