STILL MORE PREMIERES: TRAP THEM, HOUR OF PENANCE, DOWN, MERCENARY

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  7 Responses »
May 142014
 

As you know if you were following our site, yesterday brought such a great flood of new song, video, and album premieres that it was hard to keep up — in my case, like trying to keep up  with Usain Bolt over 100 meters (even if he were wearing flip-flops). In fact, I couldn’t keep up. By noon I had spotted three more new things worth featuring (and one that’s a few days old), but instead had to stop blogging and start doing what I’m paid to do. So, later than I would like, here’s that foursome.

TRAP THEM

Prosthetic Records will be releasing a new album from this vicious East Coast band on June 10. Its name is Blissfucker, and how could you forget that name? One song has previously appeared for streaming and yesterday brought another (via Lambgoat), by the name of “Organic Infernal”. It begins like an alien ant swarm, and then the ants start rocking hard (while continuing to devour whatever writhing creature is caught in their mandibles). Vicious, and memorable.

Blissfucker can be pre-ordered via Prosthetic Records or iTunes. If you missed “Salted Crypts”, which premiered last month, I’m including that below as well. But first, “Organic Infernal”… Continue reading »

TOURISM: SCHEDULE ANNOUNCED FOR CONQUERORS OF THE WORLD TOUR (SEPTICFLESH, FLESHGOD APOCALYPSE, HOUR OF PENANCE, NECRONOMICON)

 Metal News  4 Responses »
May 062014
 

Not long ago I got all slobbery over the announcement that Septicflesh, Fleshgod Apocalypse, Hour of Penance, and Necronomicon would be joining forces for a North American tour this year. Today, the schedule for the tour was announced.

It begins in Virginia on June 22 and ends in Denver on July 12. There are 14 shows in the US, five in Canada and — most importantly — one in Seattle.  Yes, I am a self-centered prick, but I know you’ll forgive me.

The tour is timed to capitalize on the release of Titan on June 24 via Prosthetic Records in North America, Titan being the name of the new Septicflesh album. I eagerly await that record, as well as this tour.

If you can’t make out the dates on that tour poster, here they are (celebrate or moan, depending on your location): Continue reading »

HOUR OF PENANCE: “REGICIDE”

 Album Reviews  4 Responses »
Apr 282014
 

(Andy Synn reviews the new album by Italy’s Hour of Penance.)

Allow me get this out of the way right now: Regicide is about as definitively an Hour Of Penance album as you could ask for. Everything’s present and correct  and firing on all cylinders – the uber-intense death riffs, the overwhelming, over-produced drum work, the raging vocal dissent – it’s all there and all utterly destructive. Whether that appeals to you will depend entirely on how much you’ve loved the band’s previous works, particularly Paradogma and Sedition.

Because let’s face it, the Italian extremists definitely subscribe to the philosophy of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”. Their sixth album packs in the same wealth of punishing riffage, bloody hooks, and concentrated venom that’s been their stock in trade for years now, rejecting any pressure to change or develop beyond their obsession with sheer sonic evisceration. Continue reading »

BOMBASTIC TOURISM: SEPTICFLESH, FLESHGOD APOCALYPSE, HOUR OF PENANCE, , NECRONOMICON

 Metal News  5 Responses »
Apr 232014
 

I was away from the internet for 8 hours yesterday. On the one hand, it was kind of refreshing. On the other hand… I sure as shit missed a lot of metal news. The first item I saw upon returning to the wired world was a post by Andy Synn in our NCS group on Facebook, spreading the word about the Conquerors of the World Tour, with a comment: “Stick Dimmu in as headliners and you’d have ALL the symphonic bluster you could muster.” No shit.

Here’s the announcement that appeared on the Septicflesh Facebook page:

“”We are thrilled to announce that we will be returning to North America/Canada with our blood brothers in Fleshgod Apocalypse, Hour of Penance and Necronomicon,” comments SEPTICFLESH. “This promises to be a night in darkness to be remembered as we prepare to unleash our colossal new album ‘Titan.'”

No dates yet, but this promises to be one of the year’s can’t-miss outings. As soon as we get the schedule, we’ll slap it up on the site without delay.

SEEN AND HEARD: A STREAM DUMP (PART 1)

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  13 Responses »
Apr 122014
 

This has been one of those weeks where my blog time was severely constricted by both personal and job-related demands. You might have guessed that, based on the complete absence of any “seen and heard” posts since Monday. I didn’t have time to do much more than quickly scan through the interhole each day looking for new song and video premieres and make lists of what I’d like to hear and see when time would permit. This morning, I finally crawled through that list, and found a shitload of new things I really liked.

Because I’m behind, and because I don’t want to fall further behind, I’m taking the wimp’s way out in this post. I’m just going to stitch together a bunch of recommended song and video streams (11 of them) with almost no commentary. It’s a stream dump, and I will bet money you’ll find something to like, almost regardless of your tastes. It’s spring, and metal is in bloom.

Salted within this list are a couple of news items that perked my interest, even though there’s nothing available to hear… yet.

I present this box of chocolates in alphabetical order. There will be another similar collection either later today or tomorrow. Tell me what you like. Leave comments! Continue reading »

NEW MUSIC FROM HOUR OF PENANCE: “RESURGENCE OF THE EMPIRE”

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  13 Responses »
Mar 132014
 

Almost exactly two years have passed since Italy’s Hour of Penance delivered their last album, Sedition. Recently the band announced details about the release of their next album, the name of which is Regicide. It’s due for release by the Prosthetic label on May 13 in North America (May 12 in the UK and EU, May 16 in Germany). And today we got an official lyric video for the album’s first advance track — “Resurgence of the Empire”. You can watch and hear it after the jump.

The lyrical themes of the album revolve around tearing down the walls of ignorance and fear erected by religion and other “dysfunctional authorities” so that freedom might bloom. “Resurgence of Empire” by itself would serve quite well as a battering ram in that demolition project. It would work well on actual walls as well as metaphorical ones. You’ll find out why I say that momentarily. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: HOUR OF PENANCE, NOCTEM

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  6 Responses »
Mar 062014
 

As previously advised, I’m on the road again in the grasp of my fucking day job, but I did carve out some time to make the rounds in search of new things and, as usual, found quite a lot to like. Because time is short, I’ll divide what I found into two posts, this being the first.

HOUR OF PENANCE

Almost exactly two years have passed since Italy’s Hour of Penance delivered their last album, Sedition, which was excellent. Today the band announced details about the release of their next album: The name is Regicide, and it will be coming our way via the Prosthetic label on May 13 in North America (May 12 in the UK and EU, May 16 in Germany).

From a previous Facebook post by the band, I know that the album art was created by the same Gyula Havancsák (Hjules Illustration and Design), whose work for Arkona’s new album we featured here recently. He also created the covers for HoP’s Sedition and Paradogma. Continue reading »

CANNIBAL CORPSE / THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER / HOUR OF PENANCE – NOTTINGHAM, ROCK CITY – MARCH 8, 2013

 Concert Reviews  2 Responses »
Mar 132013
 

(Andy Synn weighs in from England with a review of the live show by Cannibal Corpse, The Black Dahlia Murder, and Hour of Penance in Nottingham.) 

Pretty badass line-up, right? I definitely count myself lucky to have caught this tour, as not only have I never seen HoP live before, but I never miss a Black Dahlia show if I can help it, AND I’d been hearing awesome things about Cannibal Corpse’s form this time around.

I count myself doubly lucky because the damn doors to the show were scheduled for half freaking 5, with Hour Of Penance hitting the stage at the ungodly time of 5:45 pm, a time when a huge number of people were either still in work, or still stuck in traffic. In fact I know several people who came from surrounding cities who missed the first two bands entirely, and barely made it in time to see Cannibal Corpse!

Bad form Rock City, bad form… Continue reading »

“THE U.S. TORTURE TOUR” CONTINUES THIS FALL: CANNIBAL CORPSE, MISERY INDEX, HOUR OF PENANCE, DEEDS OF FLESH

 Metal News  7 Responses »
Sep 112012
 

The PRP and Lambgoat have reported this morning that Cannibal Corpse, Misery Index, Hour of Penance, and Deeds of Flesh will be embarking on a continuation of THE U.S. TORTURE TOUR this fall. There has not yet been an official announcement, though one is expected soon. UPDATE: There has now been an official announcement by Cannibal Corpse, and here is a complete schedule:

11/16 Huntsville, AL Crossroads Music Hall
11/17 Little Rock, AR Juanitas
11/18 Springfield, MO Outland Ballroom
11/19 Bloomington, IL The Castle Theater
11/20 Eau Claire, WI House Of Rock
11/21 Madison, WI High Noon Saloon
11/23 Flint, MI The Machine Shop
11/24 Pittsburgh, PA Mr. Smalls
11/25 Poughkeepsie, NY The Chance
11/27 Providence, RI The Met
11/28 New York, NY Rocks Off Concert Cruise aboard The Harbor Lights*
11/29 Allentown, PA Crocodile Rock
11/30 Asbury Park, NJ Stone Pony
12/01 Washington, DC Rock N Roll Hotel
12/03 Louisville, KY Headliners
12/04 Spartanburg, SC Ground Zero
12/06 Miami, FL Grand Central
12/07 Tampa, FL Brass Mug

*Show will not feature Hour of Penance

There will be maiming and killing and the consumption of human flesh and the picking of teeth with bone splinters. It’s nice to see that whoever organized this tour chose not to dilute the brutality by mixing and matching the genre styles. It’s just going to be 100% death metal hell.

We’ll fill in more details when we learn them.

Oh, and one more piece of titillating Hour of Penance news has surfaced. Continue reading »

HOUR OF PENANCE: “SEDITION”

 Album Reviews  6 Responses »
Jun 122012
 


(DemiGodRaven turns in this review of the latest release by the Italian death metal stallions in Hour of Penance.)

The fact that it has taken as long as it has for this review to be written is a sign that someone at NCS should get the shit beat out of them. I will gracefully bow out of this equation since I feel I am already doing my part by penning this, so I highly recommend Andy . . . mostly for kicking out a Whitechapel review as I was 1/4 of the way through one of my own and saying everything I was going to say.

It has been a solid couple of months since Sedition saw release, and I have spent the entire time getting my face beaten in by this disc. Hour Of Penance are one of the highlights amongst the Italian death metal scene at the moment, only recently really vaulting themselves into the spotlight, just as brethren and kin Fleshgod Apocalypse have really begun to capture people’s attentions. To say that the bands share some similarities isn’t a statement meant to imply that Hour Of Penance are derivative, it’s just a statement of fact. The bands have been intertwined throughout their histories, as one was launched from the other.

Whilst Fleshgod have taken a more orchestral route filled with blastbeats and ridiculously over-the-top operatic vocals, Hour Of Penance have followed the much darker, more brutal route in their music. Whilst one band have chosen to overwhelm the listener with sheer bombast, Hour Of Penance apparently decided that with Sedition they were going to bludgeon everyone. If Agony was 2011’s death metal kick in the ass for the mainstream, then goddamnit, Sedition should be 2012’s. Continue reading »

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