AN NCS INTERVIEW: APHOTIC

 Interviews  No Responses »
Oct 112023
 

b

(In this new interview Comrade Aleks engaged in a fascinating discussion with Nicolò Brambilla from the genre-bending Italian metal band Aphotic, whose debut album Abyssgazer was released last spring by Sentient Ruin.)

The chronicles of death-doom know two bands named Aphotic, and both are great in their own way. Aphotic from the US was a short-lived band formed by ex-members of Dusk; sadly, it was split in 2005, leaving just three EPs behind.

Aphotic from Milan was founded in 2020 by ex-members of the death metal act Ekpyrosis: L. Zeit (bass, vocals), F. Abisme (drums), and N. Gazer (vocals, guitars, synth). Their colleague from Fuoco Fatuo, K. Coil (guitars), joined Aphotic in 2022 right in time to take part in the recording of the band’s first album as a guest. Abyssgazer was released through Sentient Ruin Laboratories and Nuclear Winter Records in March 2023.

The band tends towards rather “doomed” death metal with a few influences outside these genres, and Abyssgazer is remarkable with its rich textures, highly intense delivery, and in-depth atmosphere, which fits its concept well. The philosophy of Cosmology is hidden between its lines and manifests itself through the play of celestial lights and ugly shades born from phenomena beyond human understanding.

Nicolò Brambilla aka N. Gazer revealed a lot of interesting facts about Abyssgazer in the current interview. Continue reading »

AN NCS EP PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): EKPYROSIS — “PRIMORDIAL CHAOS RESTORED”

 Album Reviews, Premieres, SHORT BUT SWEET  No Responses »
May 022018
 

 

Many bands have followed the trail of blood and death blazed by such heralded bands as Incantation and Immolation in the early-to-mid ’90s, and there is no sign that the path is about to run into a wall or lead over a cliff’s edge. But of course it must be said that some bands who think they’re hot on that trail have in fact wandered off into a dull and featureless place, the music a lifeless pantomime of the real thing.

On the other hand, the Italian band Ekpyrosis haven’t lost their way. More precisely, they’re in the vanguard of the movement’s newer adherents. They proved they belong with their excellent debut album Asphyxiating Devotion last year, a record that was tremendously satisfying in its own right but also a promise of perhaps greater things ahead. On their new EP, Primordial Chaos Restored, Ekpyrosis have moved from strength to strength, and it’s our great pleasure to bring you a full stream of it today in advance of its May 7 release by Terror From Hell Records. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: IMMOLATION, ENGULFED, TOMB MOLD, EKPYROSIS, SHADES OF DEEP WATER

 Eye-Catchers, Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  4 Responses »
Dec 142016
 

immolation-atonement

 

For this mid-week round-up of new discoveries I have news about the next Immolation album, excellent advance tracks from three albums coming out early next year, and a full stream of one fine album released yesterday. This collection of items is heavy on the death metal, and it’s also heavy on eye-catching cover art.

IMMOLATION

In a September interview Immolation’s Ross Dolan explained that the band’s new album was finished except for the mixing, that the artwork was done except for a few inside pieces, and that the album would be released early in 2017. I haven’t seen any official announcements about the album since then, but yesterday Bristol Deathfest (here) and UKEM Records leaked some news and the cover art (above) by Pär Olofsson: The name of Immolation’s new tenth studio album is Atonement, and the release is expected on February 24, 2017. Continue reading »