SHADES OF BLACK (PART 1): ΣΧΕΔΟΝ ΝΕΚΡΟΣ, VENEFIXION, SERPENTRANCE, IN THE COMPANY OF SERPENTS, TRIACANTHOS

 SHADES OF BLACK  No Responses »
Jul 252021
 

I’m taking a chance calling this Part 1, since Part 2 exists only in my head at this point. But we need goals, right?

At least Part 1 is complete. What I chose for it is a collection of four singles from forthcoming releases and one complete album that just surfaced today. A couple of these aren’t black metal, strictly speaking, but I got so excited about them that I didn’t want to wait, and at least from my perspective they don’t seem out of place. My goal for Part 2 is a few more complete recent releases.

ΣΧΕΔΟΝ ΝΕΚΡΟΣ (Greece)

Erstwhile NCS contributor KevinP has been banging the drum among friends for this first song, and the song is a banger too. The big rumbling riff that opens the track is an immediate head-snagger, and the song just gets more addictive as the riffing becomes increasingly feverish. Embellished by a nasty tone, the guitars viciously roil, jab, and jolt, backed by viscerally compelling drumwork and bestial bellows and barks. It’s an adrenaline-fueling mix of skull-slugging grooves and boiling chaos…. Continue reading »

DOOMSDAY, PART 3: IN THE COMPANY OF SERPENTS / LOVIATAR / SHEDFROMTHEBODY

 Album Reviews, Exceptions to the Rule  5 Responses »
May 292020
 


In the Company of Serpents

 

(Today Andy Synn completes his week-long foray into the realms of doom with another trio of reviews. If you missed Parts 1 and 2, you’ll find them here and here.)

The one thing which unites the three bands featured in this article, the third and final edition of my week-long focus on all things slow, heavy, haunting, and atmospheric, is their sheer quality, as each one of them could be considered a highlight of this year’s bumper crop of doomy delicacies. Continue reading »

SHORT BUT SWEET: IN THE COMPANY OF SERPENTS — “MERGING IN LIGHT”

 Album Reviews, SHORT BUT SWEET  6 Responses »
Nov 152014
 

 

After two albums in 2012 and 2103, Denver’s In the Company of Serpents have blessed this year with a new EP, set for release on the winter solstice, the longest night of the year in the northern hemisphere. It’s stupefyingly heavy and viciously catchy, and although its title is Merging Into Light, the merger seems to be happening in the last brief instant before the glimmer is extinguished and everything goes dark.

The music is tank-like in the roll of its mechanics, the guitar and bass chords so distorted and sludgy that it seems like an experiment in the most efficient means of sonic spinal compression, the drum strikes so powerful that they come down like a pile-driver on concrete. The effect is near-cataclysmic. But oh man, the groove is so dominant — these are neck-grabbing songs that will bend your head up and down to their will. Continue reading »