Ghost Archives - NO CLEAN SINGING

SEEN AND HEARD ON A SATURDAY (PART 2): HEAVEN SHALL BURN, OMINOUS RUIN, BALMOG, CHAINSWORD HURSAN, KATATONIA, GHOST

Album Reviews, Exceptions to the Rule, Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC, SHORT BUT SWEET 1 Response »

Apr 122025

Heaven Shall Burn – photo by Candy Welz

(written by Islander)

Fanatically determined to get both Parts of this roundup posted today, I took a 10-minute break after launching Part 1 and then dived into this one. I haven’t gone to the bathroom yet, but like Cory Booker I’m depending on Depends.

As discussed in Part 1, today’s already-large roundup mushroomed into an even bigger one after my pals Andy Synn and DGR threw 4 more songs into a mix that already included music from 10 bands.

As also discussed there, for you criminals who didn’t bother to read it, I used those 4 as bookends, 2 at the start and 2 at the finish. The 2 at the end have stressed out my usual NCS site-title boundary lines to the breaking point, but not for the first time. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: BEHEMOTH, CYTOTOXIN, FALLUJAH, GHOST

Exceptions to the Rule, Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC No Responses »

Mar 072025

(written by Islander)

Only five days ago Bandcamp announced that it would continue Bandcamp Fridays in 2025, with the first one happening today. Before that, it wasn’t clear that they would continue, so it caught most of us by surprise. But word obviously spread very fast. What was already unfolding as a packed week for new music became a typhoon over the last few days. I was already agonizing about what the hell to do for tomorrow’s usual SEEN AND HEARD roundup, but now I feel like someone caught on the beach as a towering tidal wave rushes ashore.

Bandcamp Fridays are always an ideal time to spread the word about new music, but because of other duties around here I rarely have enough time to pull something together until the day after. I really don’t have much time for it today either, but felt like I needed to do something to make tomorrow’s task even a bit less overwhelming.

What I decided to do is a bit out of character for myself and the site as a whole: focusing exclusively on some of the bigger names in metal (or in one case, metal-adjacent). We don’t ignore the big names around here, as long as what they’re doing is good, but we often use them as a way of luring people into music from bands whose names are much more obscure. If I’d had more time, that’s what I would have done with this small roundup. It was just easier and faster to stick with these four.

But of course, none of these four new songs and videos would be here if I didn’t think they were worth recommending. Continue reading »

OVERFLOWING STREAMS: IMMOLATION, MIDNIGHT, THE HALO EFFECT, FETAL BLOOD EAGLE, MORMÂNT DE SNAGOV, NEBULA ORIONIS, FACELESS ENTITY, KONTUSION, DEATHBELL, SPIRITUAL DECEPTION, OLD IRON, GHOST

Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC 3 Responses »

Jan 222022

I hope you’re having a good weekend. I hope to make it better by sharing a dozen new songs and videos I picked after sliding down the interhole for hours early this morning. I made an effort to provide a broad span of genres, and to arrange everything so as to take advantage of the contrasts. I’ve also put every damned one of these tracks on my list of candidates for 2022’s Most Infectious Songs.

Also, when a round-up swells to these proportions I usually don’t take time to download/upload the artwork, but I made an exception today because there’s a lot of good cover art in this group, beginning with Eliran Kantor‘s stupendous painting for the new Immolation. Speaking of which….

IMMOLATION (U.S.)

Does anyone need any more reason to get stoked over a new Immolation album? I don’t see any hands up. I guess I could have skipped this first song and video. I guess you could skip over it too. But I’m getting more and more near-sighted, so I could have missed a hand, so here goes. Continue reading »

OUR LIST OF 2016’S MOST INFECTIOUS EXTREME METAL SONGS (PART 5): GHOST, HAIL SPIRIT NOIR, ZEAL AND ARDOR

Exceptions to the Rule, MOST INFECTIOUS SONGS-2016 6 Responses »

Jan 062017

As you can see, this is the fifth installment in our unfolding list of last year’s “Most Infectious Extreme Metal Songs“. As you can also see (or will soon discover), not all of the songs in this installment are extreme, or even metal, and there’s a lot of clean singing as well. Feel free to harumph and harang in the Comments, but I could not get comfortable with the idea of looking back at the most infectious songs of last year without including all of these, and I also found a pleasing kind of twisted symmetry in combining them in a single post.

To see the other selections for the list so far, as well as an explanation of what criteria were used in making it, go here.

GHOST

From my perspective, it’s not worth debating whether Ghost are a metal band or not. There are good arguments to be made on both sides. What I think is beyond debate is the band’s ability to craft immensely catchy songs, and not the kind of cotton candy fluff that makes you sick to your stomach after the fifth or sixth time you’ve heard it, which seems to be true of a high percentage of catchy pop songs. Also, they continue to praise the Devil, and I give them horns up for that. Whether the praise is calculated or sincere is a subject we can debate on another day, or not at all. Continue reading »

A NEW SONG FROM GHOST: “SQUARE HAMMER”

RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC 1 Response »

Sep 122016

Well, for the second time today, I’m scurrying to write about a new song premiere (the first one was from Bölzer) without waiting to prepare a Seen and Heard round-up. This next one is from Sweden’s Ghost, and for now it’s exclusively streaming on the Octane music channel. It was preceded by an interview with one of the Nameless Ghouls, who said: “We’re very proud of it. We’re obviously thrilled to be able to play something new. This is a short, to-the-point little gem right at the jugular.”

And so it is. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD (PART 1): BEHEMOTH, SOILWORK, GHOST, DEAFHEAVEN

RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC 14 Responses »

Sep 162015

Yesterday brought a lot of new song and video premieres, from both “big names” in our blessed world of metal and not-so-big names. Since I have so many new things I want to bring to your attention, I decided to split the round-up into two parts. I’m putting the “big names” in this post.

BEHEMOTH

Poland’s Behemoth premiered a new music video yesterday, and this one is for the title track to their last full-length, The Satanist. The video was directed by Andrzej Dragan and it’s unquestionably well-made and engrossing. It also stars an actress whose wide-eyed and slightly skeletal face is perfect for the video’s very lost protagonist.

As for the interpretation of the video, we have the fairly straight-forward description of the director, who conceived of the video based on the music, and the more occult interpretation of its symbolism by Nergal. First, the words of Mr. Dragan: Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: OMNIUM GATHERUM, AMORPHIS, GHOST

Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC 14 Responses »

Aug 112015

In preparing these round-ups of new songs I usually try to include music from more obscure underground bands in addition to names most of us would recognize. But I didn’t have much time yesterday to wade through the interhole in search of new things, and by chance two of the new songs I heard come from some of the bigger names; the third one has been out for a month, but there’s a reason I’m including it now. And by chance, catchy melody is the common theme for these songs (which is a big reason these three bands are so well-known).

OMNIUM GATHERUM

It’s been over two years since Finland’s Omnium Gatherum released their last album, Beyond. On August 9 they began a North America tour headlined by fellow Finnish melodeath stalwarts Insomnium — who are mounting the tour without growler/bassist Niilo Sevanen, replacing him for this tour with Mike Bear (Artisan, ex-Prototype) from the U.S. And to coincide with the tour, Omnium Gatherum and Insomnium are releasing a 7″ vinyl split, featuring artwork by Olli-Pekka Lappalainen. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD ON A SUNDAY (PART 1): ALFAHANNE, DALKHU, DYSPHOTIC, GHOST

RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC 5 Responses »

Jul 192015

Happy goddamned Sunday to one and all. I spent a lot of time yesterday making my way through new songs and short releases that I had noticed over the last week and found quite a lot to like — so many that I planned four posts about what I found. I’m not sure I’ll succeed in writing all four of them before the new week buries me in other things, but I’ll at least do the first two today — a two-part collection that includes seven new songs from forthcoming albums and one new single. I’ve arranged them in alphabetical order by band name, and the first four are collected here.

ALFAHANNE

The second album by Sweden’s Alfahanne, Blod Eld Alfa, will be released by Dark Essence Records on September 11, and the label has now debuted a song from it named “Skallerormsgift”. It features guest vocals by Kvelertak’s front guy Erlend Hjelvik. (The album also includes guest appearances by Nattfursth (Sorhin), Spellgoth (Horna, Turmion Kätilöt), and Shining’s Niklas Kvarforth). Continue reading »

PAPA EMERITUS II UNMASKED? (AND NEW IN-STUDIO GHOST PERFORMANCES)

Exceptions to the Rule, Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC 15 Responses »

Feb 122014

Part of the popular attraction of Sweden’s Ghost B.C. is their anonymity — and the masks, make-up, and costumes with which the members conceal their features. Fans and music writers have speculated about who the Nameless Ghouls and the band’s frontman really are, but no names have ever been officially revealed. Last September, the current frontman — Papa Emeritus II — appeared without make-up in a mini-documentary about the band. In the clip, he spoke Italian, and, having revealed his face, it became clear that he had also appeared in Ghost’s official video for “Year Zero”. But he didn’t sing, and there was still some lingering doubt about whether we were seeing the real deal. Any doubts have now been erased. Or have they?

During their recent Australian tour, Ghost stopped by the studio of Music Feeds and played three songs live: “Ritual”, “Year Zero”, and their cover of Roky Erickson’s “If You Have Ghosts” (from their 2013 covers EP). Videos of the three song performances surfaced on YouTube yesterday, and Papa Emeritus II appears without make-up — and yes, it’s the same dude who is interviewed in that mini-documentary.

I still don’t know who the guy is, and his position in the band appears to have a shelf life — one day, there will be a Papa Emeritus III. But the dude can sing, and for all Ghost fans, the following videos will be fun to hear and see. I’ve collected them after the jump, followed by that documentary clip. (via Blabbermouth).

But… it appears that even Papa’s face without the skull make-up is still… a mask. See for yourself. Clever Ghost trolling. Continue reading »

OUR LIST OF 2013’S MOST INFECTIOUS EXTREME METAL SONGS: PART 17 (EXCEPTIONS TO THE RULE)

MOST INFECTIOUS SONGS-2013 7 Responses »

Feb 012014

Welcome to Part 17 our list of the year’s most infectious extreme metal songs. For more details about what this list is all about and how it was compiled, read the introductory post via this link. To see the selections that preceded the two I’m announcing today, click here.

I’ve called this the “Exception to the Rule” edition of this list, because both songs today involve clean singing. At least measured by how often I’ve heard them, they are also two of my favorite songs of the year. Some newcomers who aren’t aware that we make exceptions may be disappointed. But it would be hypocritical of me to ignore these songs.

SHINING

One One One is a very different album from this band’s startling last release, Blackjazz — more stripped-down, more hook-focused, more “approachable”. As DGR put it in his review for us:

“Whereas the last disc was what four guys who are incredibly accomplished on their chosen instruments could do with absolutely no one stopping them or telling them to tone it down a bit, One One One sounds like what happens when the group chooses to exercise a bit of self-restraint — to see if they can still produce that same effect with a more minimalistic sound…. A lot of One One One brings to mind the old axiom that just because you have the ability to do something, doesn’t mean that you should. Everything feels strategically placed so that the band get the maximum impact for a more minimalist amount of showmanship, and it works. Really, really well.” Continue reading »

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