SHADES OF BLACK (AND OTHER SHADES): THE STONE, COSCRADH, VALLENDUSK, THULCANDRA, SULPUR, FUOCO FATUO, CROSS VAULT, CTHONICA, EHNAHRE

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC, SHADES OF BLACK  No Responses »
Mar 072021
 

 

I want to thank those of you who have left comments or sent messages expressing sympathy and support for my current day-job misery. I was also surprised, and admittedly a bit disappointed, that a lot of people checked in on yesterday’s post even though I didn’t have the time to write about any of the music — or even listen to it! So I thought, what the hell, let’s do that again.

This column is usually devoted to black metal, and so I’ve started that way but also diverted from it. But yesterday one of our supporters (rodney) left a comment with some recommendations, and I thought I would include some of those here at the end, because he included some enticing descriptions of the bands and their music. Some of that music would seem to fit SHADES OF BLACK and some might not, which is true of my own choices

I again haven’t listened to any of this. As was true yesterday, I’m gambling, but these all seem like good bets. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): EHNAHRE — “THE MARROW”

 Album Reviews, Premieres  No Responses »
Aug 212017
 

 

(Austin Weber brings us his review of the new album by the Boston-based ensemble Ehnahre, as well as the premiere of a full stream of this fascinating new record.)

Ehnahre are one of the most interesting groups in metal, a lot of which is due to how much their music draws so liberally from outside of metal, specifically from classical music, chamber music, jazz, film score music, avant-garde, improv, and beyond, with all of this married to a love for all things experimental and harsh, wrapped inside a doom metal, death metal, and sometimes black metal influenced framework.

They’re a rare group, one whose sound is amorphous and ever-shifting from release to release and from song to song, delivered with a scope and love for long-form compositions that ends up making their music feel like it’s a world all its own. For those new to Ehnahre, both current and former members have spent time playing in fellow avant-garde metal experimentalists Kayo Dot  if you need further evidence that this project is worth paying attention to.

I’ve been following the project for many years now, and finally got around to covering them here at NCS starting in 2016 when we helped Ehnahre do an exclusive early stream of their sprawling double album, Douve. That was followed by a second 2016 release in the form of an EP called Nothing and Nothingness, that I also made sure to cover here at NCS. So I’m happy to continue supporting them here with an early stream of their new album, The Marrow. Continue reading »

UNDERDOGS IN THE UNDERGROUND: RETURN TO THE TALENTED DEPTHS OV OBSCURE MADNESS (PART 3)

 Album Reviews  1 Response »
Oct 172016
 

ehnahre-nothing-and-nothingness

 

(This is the third part of a multi-part post prepared by Austin Weber putting the spotlight on recent releases, and today he focuses on music from these three bands: Ehnahre, Absvrdist, and Körbl. To check out Part 1, go here, and Part 2 is at this location.)

EHNAHRE – NOTHING AND NOTHINGNESS

Back in January of 2016, I helped the Boston-based avant-garde doom group Ehnahre stream their fascinating new full-length called Douve here at NCS. It seems 2016 is a particularly productive year for Ehnahre, as the band is already back with a freshly released EP called Nothing and Nothingness. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE: EHNAHRE — “DOUVE”

 Premieres  6 Responses »
Jan 212016
 

Ehnahre-Douve

 

(Austin Weber introduces our premiere of the new album by Boston-based Ehnahre.)

I’ve been following Boston-based experimental doom/death/ and the whole kitchen sink sounding band Ehnahre for a couple years now, first hearing their music in 2012, I believe, when their terrifying-yet-strange record Old Earth was freshly out. Now with the band on the cusp of releasing a new record called Douve this Friday, we’ve been given the chance to stream it a day early — because this is one hell of a musical experience that deserves to have a spotlight shined on it.

Several of the current and past band members’ former ties to Kayo Dot should clue you in on the kind of unorthodox and difficult-to-categorize experience that Douve holds in store. Douve can neither be described in simple terms, nor boxed in stylistically due to its many shifts in style and genre from song to song. Taken as a whole, it’s a class-act example of musical deconstructionism, with multiple metal and non-metal influences colliding and informing the album’s schizophrenic identity. Continue reading »