FINSTERFORST: “JENSEITS”

 Album Reviews  2 Responses »
Sep 082023
 

(Having made his NCS debut yesterday, guest contributor Didrik Mešiček comes right back with the following review of a new album-length EP by Finsterforst, which is out today on AOP Records.)

Finsterforst first appeared on my radar with their previous release, Zerfall, which turned out to be one of the best (blackened) folk metal releases of 2019. The Germans insist on their rather complex musical style, which can seem daunting at first, but it’s very worth investing some time into their music as it does reward you with every listen.

This time the band are back with a new EP (although at 40 minutes, is it really an EP?) called Jenseits, which is really one song, divided into four parts. It will be released on September 8th on AOP Records. Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK: FINSTERFORST, IN THE COURT OF A BROKEN FLESH, HÖGGVA, ATANAS, SILENCE THEREAFTER, LAANG, Заводь

 SHADES OF BLACK  2 Responses »
Jul 212019
 

 

I feel like I should apologize. I know that I’ve chosen a mountainous amount of music to recommend this week, more than any of you are likely to make time for today. Maybe (hopefully) you will bookmark  this page and return to it periodically as the week rolls on until you’ve at least sampled everything here. You might find something you’ll remember for months to come, and perhaps longer. And that, of course, is the reason why I stuffed this week’s column full to bursting, because I felt so strongly about all these releases that I couldn’t force myself to leave any of them on the cutting room floor.

I will also just get the credits out of the way in advance, because this is another collection of music I found as a result of recommendations by others. Most of those came from Rennie (starkweather), and one from Miloš; the two of them regularly complicate my choices for these columns, and other round-ups of new music as well. To justify my own existence I did find the first selection below on my own, and the last one (though I had help even there).

FINSTERFORST

I would have been thrilled by the prospect of a new Finsterforst album, but am even more thrilled because of the two song excerpts that are now out in the world. They’re just excerpts, I guess because the full tracks are lengthy. “Fluch des Seins” is 11 minutes long, and “Ecce Homo” is… wait for it… 36 1/2 minutes long. Continue reading »

FINSTERFORST: “MACH DICH FREI”

 Album Reviews  9 Responses »
Feb 042015
 

 

(Our guest Booker reviews the new album by Finsterforst.)

One of the unique features of this fascinating piece of technological architecture we call ‘the internet’ is the way in which information becomes searchable, indexed, codified and filed away in virtual perpetuity. And as we all know, that can be terrifying when used to spy and pry into people’s lives, or when someone logs into your Amazon account and finds out about that copy of ‘Bronies’ you bought (http://youtu.be/ohnuyqJyEW0)…… yeah, um, that happened to… a friend….

But for someone like me with more memory problems than the guy from Memento, it’s a glorious reminder of ‘how the fuck did I find out about this band?’. Case in point — I can pinpoint the first time the hammering tones of Finsterforst graced my earholes, as this post featured the ‘Nichts als Asche’ video from their previous album Rastlos. And after a few google searches, it was clear the 5-minute odd video was effectively the ‘radio edit’ version (or would that be ‘youtube edit’?) of the 12-minute opening track of the album. Color me intrigued.

Ever since, Rastlos had me hooked with its blend of folk metal, mixed with some strong orchestral influences, traditional Germanic singing, and a touch of Neue Deutsche Härte influence.  And now, a touch over two years later, Finsterforst offer us the follow-up Mach Dich Frei. Continue reading »

VIDEOGRAPHY: BEHEMOTH, LORD MANTIS, THE CROWN, BAPTISTS, FINSTERFORST, HONGO

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  6 Responses »
Dec 052014
 

 

I’m still on the east coast of the US working day and night for the old fucking day job and have had almost no time to search out new new music and write about it — until last night, when I did have enough time to round up this big collection of recommended new videos. Some of these you may have seen already since I wasn’t able to pounce on them with my usual alacrity and grace, but I’m willing to bet big money you haven’t seen all of them.

P.S.  The end is near — I’ll be back in Seattle by Sunday, and things should get a little closer to normal around here after that.  (Thank you, please hold your applause so that others may enjoy the videos.)

BEHEMOTH

You’d think the mighty Behemoth would have done a live video before now, but this new one for “Ora Pro Nobis Lucifer” off The Satanist turns out to be their first ever. The video, which was filmed by Grupa 13, is really, really well done. Of course, the song is a blasphemous killer. Continue reading »

IS THIS NEW STUFF FROM ANTESTOR, AGORAPHOBIC NOSEBLEED, AND FINSTERFORST ANY GOOD?

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  10 Responses »
Nov 172012
 

Went out on the town last night with a bunch of good people to celebrate a friend’s 30th birthday. Had a blast, and got blasted. Today I feel like a demolition crew is excavating my fuckin’ head with dynamite. Honestly, listening to any kind of intense music right now isn’t an appealing idea. If there’s going to be any music in my near-future, it will be something like Hammock, a band Phro introduced me to. I’m guessing he must have been really hungover when he did that.

But even though I can’t bring myself to add any musical dynamite to the blasting that’s already going on in my cranium, I do want to contribute something to the blog today. So here’s how this will work:  I saw three items this morning that I’m guessing are really good, but I can’t bring myself to listen to them. So do me a favor, will you?  Leave a comment and let me know if my guesses are right or wrong.

ANTESTOR

This is a coincidence. Just yesterday we posted the milestone 30th edition of Andy Synn’s SYNN REPORT, the subject of which was the discography of Norway’s Antestor. We also reported that Antestor had recorded a new album entitled Omen — their first one in seven years — and that it’s scheduled for release on November 30, and that it uses a painting by NCS favorite Zdzisław Beksiński for the album cover. And here’s the coincidence: Today the band started streaming a track from the new album called “Unchained”. Continue reading »