AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): HENRY KANE — “CIRCLE OF PAIN”

 Album Reviews, Premieres  No Responses »
May 132024
 

Over the course of a quarter-century career the Swedish musician and vocalist Jonny Pettersson has been involved in an enormous number of bands and personal projects — 30 of them by the count at Metal-Archives, including Wombbath, Heads for the Dead, Just Before Dawn, Berzerker Legion, and Ashcloud. But of all of them, Henry Kane seems to have become the vehicle most adaptable to Pettersson‘s changing inspirations and interests.

That opinion is based on observing the evolutions that have occurred across Henry Kane‘s three albums so far, and the fact that it’s a solo project in which Pettersson writes everything and performs everything. Indeed, he started the project to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of his first demo, naming it for the soul-devouring supernatural antagonist in the Poltergeist film series.

In contemplating a genre label for Henry Kane‘s debut album Den förstörda människans rike, you might consider crusty death/grind, or deathly grind/crust, or grinding death/crust, infused with horror and tuned to maximum slaughtering insanity. If anything, the second album Age of the Idiot was an even more ruinous sonic wrecking machine but also more variable, with a greater number of musical twists and turns.

The new Henry Kane album Circle of Pain (coming out on May 17th via Selfmadegod Records) twists even more from the project’s deathly crust and grind roots. As Jonny Pettersson has told us in advance of today’s album premiere:

“The best thing about Henry Kane for me, is that there are no boundaries to adhere to. So, with this album, I wanted to take what I have done on the previous albums and push the sound even further, and then wrap it all up in blastbeats, anger, and hate.” Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD ON A SATURDAY: ADVERSARIAL, ARROGANZ, BLACK TOTEM, CULT LEADER, DEAD FLESH, HENRY KANE, LILJEVARS BRANN, OU, SIG:AR:TYR, TÝR, ULTIO, VULGARIS

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  1 Response »
Mar 302024
 

It’s the 30th day of March, and 30 is about the number of new songs and videos I checked out in anticipation of this roundup, all of them having surfaced during the past week. I settled on an even dozen to share with you, and you probably won’t like all of them, even if you’re tenacious enough to go through all 12.

Why? Because your range of heavy metallic interests is probably narrower than mine (most people’s are), and the big herd below ranges pretty far and wide. On the other hand, the breadth of the range means you’ll probably find something to like.

Because there’s so much to get through, I dispensed with uploading and re-sizing all the cover art and tried to limit myself (with varying degrees of success) to more pithy expressions than usual. I also alphabetized the selections by band name.

P.S. There will be more recommendations tomorrow, Easter Sunday notwithstanding. In fact, the Easter observance just makes me more eager to char the day black. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: HENRY KANE — “MY SWEET ESCAPE”

 Premieres  3 Responses »
Apr 022020
 

 

Given the usual volume of verbiage we unload in introducing premieres, there’s a better-than-even chance it would take you longer to read what we have to say than to listen to this new Henry Kane song. So, let’s speed things up:

Absolutemayhemnotimetobreathefullborepercussiveblastingandbatteringadensemassof
writhingmutilatingriffagehurtlingbassnotesunhingedhowlingvocalferocity!

Got that?

Okay, here’s “My Sweet Escape“: Continue reading »

OVERFLOWING STREAMS: ENSLAVED, CLOUDS, COYOTE MAN, ESOCTRILIHUM, EXITIUM SUI, FORHEKSA, HENRY KANE, SÖLICITÖR, SHAPE OF WATER, VOODUS, ULCERATE, WITCHES HAMMER

 Exceptions to the Rule, Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  3 Responses »
Mar 262020
 

 

If you’re okay with this, I’m just going to continue pulling together big batches of new songs, with only brief introductions. Not that I would know one way or the other what you think. But please trust me — I’m not having to bend over backwards to find so many songs and videos to recommend. As it always is, even when I’m including more rather than less, you’re still seeing only a fraction of the new music that fires me up.

I did make one exception to my usual rule of not publishing news if it’s not accompanied by music, because Enslaved is always in a special category. After that, the bands are listed in alphabetical order. There are a couple of exceptions to another rule in here too.

ENSLAVED (Norway)

The news is that Enslaved have completed a new album named Utgard, but that they and their label Nuclear Blast have decided to postpone the release until the coming fall. The first single, and an accompanying video (filmed in Iceland), will be released on May 22nd. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: JONNY PETTERSSON ON LYRICS

 Interviews  1 Response »
Mar 162018
 


Photo by Mattias Nilsson/Madcap Piktures

(Not long ago Andy Synn launched a regular Saturday series at our site called Waxing Lyrical, devoted to discussions with metal musicians about the lyrics of their songs and the process of creating them. That inspired Norway-based NCS contributor Karina Noctum to pose similar questions to Swedish musician Johnny Pettersson, and you’ll find his answers below, following Karina’s introduction.)

 

Musician Jonny Pettersson from Sweden has been prominently featured here on NCS with many of his bands. He is pretty active and some of his most-known bands are Syn:drom and Wombbath. Other projects of his are Just Before Dawn, Ashcloud, Gods Forsaken, Henry Kane, and Ursinne, to name a few.

With such a vast discography this article will focus primarily on his Swedish DM band Wombbath, whose latest release was a split with Germany’s Obscure Infinity called Upward On A Thousand Lies (Wombbath’s side was premiered here), but with attention also given to Henry Kane, which soundwise is in the same vein but tending more toward grind, and last but not least to Gods Forsaken, a DM project with a mix of mid- and fast-paced parts. It is definitely recommended for fans of Bloodbath, Dismember, and old At the Gates. An interview about Gods Forsaken conducted by Decibel Magazine can be found here. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: HENRY KANE, APOTELESMA, PASSAGES

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  2 Responses »
Oct 102017
 

 

One of the daily risks of running a blog like this one, which is a part-time yet obsessive hobby rather than a full-time business, is that almost all plans are subject to derailment. The old fucking day job and other personal obligations spring surprises, and they usually take precedence. And so, although I had planned a much bigger round-up than this one, I’ve been diverted, and am now impulsively picking just these three new songs from that much bigger group.

I’m not even going to call this “Part 1”, which would imply I might have a Part 2 tomorrow. But who knows? We’ll just see how tonight and tomorrow go…

HENRY KANE

I hope you already recognize the name Henry Kane, but in case you don’t, it’s the name that the veteran Swedish vocalist and musician Jonny Pettersson borrowed from a character in the Poltergeist film series for his solo metal project — a project that lengthens a resume which already includes participation in Wombbath, Ursinne, Just Before Dawn, Vholdghast, Syn:drom, Ashcloud, and Skineater.

Through Henry Kane, he has put a unique spin on his beloved Swedish death metal in a debut album entitled Den Förstörda Människans Rike that was released earlier this year by Transcending Obscurity Records. And now we have a new Henry Kane track to enjoy from a forthcoming split. Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: HENRY KANE — “DET VAR INTE DITT FEL”

 Premieres  No Responses »
Mar 092017
 

 

You might recognize Henry Kane as the name of the soul-devouring supernatural antagonist in the Poltergeist film series. It’s also the name chosen by the veteran Swedish vocalist and musician Jonny Pettersson for a solo project in which he puts a unique spin on his beloved Swedish death metal. The debut album of Henry Kane is named Den Förstörda Människans Rike, and it was released last month by Transcending Obscurity Records. What we have for you today is a video that matches the horrors of the album’s namesake against the horrors of the music in the song “Der var inte ditt fel“.

Jonny Pettersson has contributed his ferocious voice and his musicianship to an ever-increasing number of projects, including such bands as Wombbath, Just Before Dawn, Vholdghast, Syn:drom, Ashcloud, and Skineater, but he really outdoes himself in Henry Kane. His voice alone in the song that’s the subject of this video is terrifying enough to raise the hackles on the back of your neck. Continue reading »

LISTMANIA 2016: A YEAR-END LIST FROM JONNY PETTERSSON (WOMBBATH, HENRY KANE, ASHCLOUD, JUST BEFORE DAWN)

 LISTMANIA 2016  7 Responses »
Dec 142016
 

 

(Jonny Pettersson is a busy man, with leading roles in such groups as Wombbath, Ashcloud, Just Before Dawn, and Ursinne, as well as his excellent new solo project Henry Kane. Fortunately, he found time to graciously accept our invitation to share a year-end list of favorite releases.)

 

brutally-deceased-satanic-corpse

1. Brutally Deceased – Satanic Corpse (Death metal)

This album had me blown away. It’s the perfect mix of buzzsaw death metal and blasting brutality.

Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: HENRY KANE — “SKULD OCH BEGÄR”

 Premieres  1 Response »
Nov 282016
 

Wombbath05

 

As you can see, Jonny Pettersson has one of the most epic beards in metal. As those of us know who saw him front Wombbath at this year’s Maryland Deathfest, he’s also a charismatic stage presence with a huge, ferocious voice — which has put teeth and guts in releases by not only Wombbath but also such bands as Ashcloud, Just Before Dawn, Vholdghast, and Syn:drom. With 20 years of experience in extreme metal dating back to the early demos of Disfigured Victims, Pettersson has now turned his talents to a solo project named Henry Kane, whose debut album Den Förstörda Människans Rike will be released in February by Transcending Obscurity Records, and today we’ve got the premiere of an album track named “Skuld Och Begär“.

You might recognize Henry Kane as the name of the soul-devouring supernatural antagonist in the Poltergeist film series, and there’s a soul-devouring quality to the music on the album, too. But the music is also a twist on the styles of Swedish death metal that have typically been Pettersson’s meat and potatoes in his other bands — as you’ll discover in this blast furnace of a new song. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: HOUR OF PENANCE, DEVOURING STAR, HENRY KANE, CVINGER, HANGING GARDEN, DISILLUSION, MYLINGAR, EMPTINESS

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  10 Responses »
Oct 122016
 

hour-of-penance-cast-the-first-stone

 

Yes, there are quite a lot of names in the headline of this post, but what follows isn’t quite as daunting as you might think. The first two items consist of news and art for forthcoming releases, but no music yet, and the last two items are just brief teasers of new music. In between I’ve sandwiched four full songs and videos, and I’m quite happy with what I’ve chosen, not only because the music is very good considered in isolation but also because collectively they make for a nice, varied playlist (and the two videos and album covers are quite eye-catching, too). At least it should be nice for people who have eclectic tastes. Here we go….

HOUR OF PENANCE

That’s a hell of a metal album cover up there, isn’t it? It was disclosed yesterday by Italy’s Hour of Penance and Prosthetic Records, who will release the band’s new album Cast the First Stone on January 27, 2017. The cover was created by Gyula Havancsak, whose work we’ve praised before in these pages.

The announcement was accompanied not only by a quote from our site (yay!) but also by the following statement from the band’s vocalist Paolo Pieri concerning the concept of the album, which revolves around the idea that “the injustices suffered during the Crusades and Colonialism do not justify the chain of hate that propagandizes the destruction of the West”: Continue reading »