SHADES OF BLACK (PART I): INTO DARKNESS, NATTEHIMMEL, BERGRISAR

 Album Reviews, Exceptions to the Rule, SHADES OF BLACK, SHORT BUT SWEET  No Responses »
Mar 262023
 


Into Darkness – photo by Nicolette A. Radoi

As I began making my way through my list of new music I might want to recommend for this Sunday’s column I had one mental WOW! after another. Some actual exclamatory sounds might have escaped my mouth, but the headphones were clamped on too tight for me to tell. After realizing that I’d already found more than enough to occupy this installment I had to make myself stop listening, even with lots of things left to check out,

Maybe I didn’t stop soon enough. There’s a lot here — four advance tracks from forthcoming records, two complete EPs, and one complete albums. To make all this a little more accessiblke, I’ve divided the recommendations into two Parts. I hope you’ll find time to delve into all of it instead of feeling overwhelmed, and that you get a few WOW‘s yourself.

INTO DARKNESS (Italy)

After experiencing the weirdness of time seeming to slow down during the depths of pandemic lockdowns, it now seems that it’s speeding ahead faster than ever. That includes the release of new music, which whizzes by so fast that it almost becomes a blur. That makes it easy to overlook things, and I confess that as a result I missed the release of a new Into Darkness EP about 10 days ago. It certainly wasn’t for lack of interest, since I’ve written enthusiastically about every release by this Italian band since their first demo in 2012. Continue reading »

SHORT BUT SWEET: INTO DARKNESS, EUTHANIZED, MUSMAHHU

 Album Reviews, SHORT BUT SWEET  2 Responses »
Jun 262018
 

 

This is a collection of three short reviews of three short releases that I recently encountered, one from an old favorite, the others from newer projects. If you’re not a fan of death and black metal, you might want to spend your time elsewhere. If you are, there are some ghastly treats in store for you here.

INTO DARKNESS

To begin, I have the latest release from an Italian band whose every release I’ve written about —  their 2012 debut demo (here), their 2013 demo Cosmic Chaos (here), their 2013 EP Transmigration of Cosmic Creatures Into the Unknown (here), their 2014 split with Ghoulgotha (here), and their 2015 split with Profanal (here). And now there’s a new one, and I’m keeping my record of slavish devotion intact. Continue reading »

SHORT BUT SWEET: MALDEVERA , WALL OF WATER, PROFANAL & INTO DARKNESS

 Album Reviews, Free Shit, SHORT BUT SWEET  2 Responses »
Jan 082016
 

Maldevera-Incarceration Plague

 

What follows are delayed reviews of three short releases that I’ve enjoyed, two of which are available for free. And by “delayed”, I mean that I started writing this post in November, put it aside, got caught up in other things — and forgot to finish it! Better late than never, I hope.

MALDEVERA

In the middle of November a Dallas band named Maldevera released a new three-song EP entitled Incarceration Plague via Bandcamp. According to Metal-Archives, this is the fourth demo they’ve released since 2012 — and this one is awesome. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: INTO DARKNESS — “THRONE OF A THOUSAND MISERIES”

 Premieres  3 Responses »
Sep 052015
 

Into Darkness-Sinister Demise

 

Germany’s Into Darkness trace their roots to the mid-’90s. Their debut album, Misfortunal Odes in D Minor, was released in 1997. The next full-length, an album named Dysphoria, appeared in 2012 — and now, 20 years after the band’s original formation, they are releasing a third album. The new one bears the title Sinister Demise, though the album reveals in striking fashion that Into Darkness are very much alive and as ferocious as ever. As an introduction to what Into Darkness have now wrought, we bring you the premiere of the album’s third track, “Throne Of A Thousand Miseries“.

The new incarnation of Into Darkness is still anchored by founding vocalist/guitarist Sebastian Längerer, but he is now joined by two newer faces — drummer Robert Witzel and bass-player Andreas Rigo. Together they form a well-oiled machine, and a very wicked one — and on this album they are joined by guest appearances from members of Necrophagist, Obscura, Blotted Science, and Nervochaos. Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK (Part 2): INTO DARKNESS, SABBATIC GOAT, SERPENTRANCE, TREPANATION

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  8 Responses »
Jun 292014
 

This is Part 2 of a round-up I began earlier today (here). The new songs collected in both parts of this post are the result of my recent submergence in the deepest, dankest pits of black, death, and doom, from which I’ve surfaced with some kind of necrotizing disease that I feel the need to communicate to my fellow lepers. Enjoy!

INTO DARKNESS

After only one listen, I proclaimed the debut demo by Italy’s Into Darkness “one of the best death/doom releases of 2012″. After a line-up change, they then followed that auspicious start with a 7″ EP entitled Transmigration of Cosmic Creatures Into the Unknown (reviewed here), which proved that the 2012 demo was no fluke.

In between those two releases the band produced another demo named Cosmic Chaos (2013) (discussed here and available on Bandcamp), which included a rough mix of a song entitled “Shifted To the Red End of the Spectrum”. Finally, that song is going to be released on a vinyl split with San Diego’s Ghoulgotha, and today it became available inn revised form on Bandcamp. Continue reading »

SHORT BUT SWEET: INTO DARKNESS — “TRANSMIGRATION OF COSMIC CREATURES INTO THE UNKNOWN”

 Album Reviews, SHORT BUT SWEET  5 Responses »
Dec 272013
 

After only one listen, I proclaimed the debut demo by Italy’s Into Darkness “one of the best death/doom releases of 2012”. I wasn’t alone — the surprising first effort of this new three-piece drew praise from many quarters. Now, after a change of line-up, they’ve followed that auspicious start with a new 7″ EP entitled Transmigration of Cosmic Creatures Into the Unknown (also available for download on Bandcamp), and it proves that the 2012 demo was no fluke.

Vocalist/lead-guitarist Doomed Warrior is the only surviving member of the band that produced that demo — now joined by Ken Hunakau (also a member of Fuoco Fatuo) on bass and rhythm guitar and drummer Pide Guts (Necro) — but the new release proves she was (and is) the heart and demonic soul of this band. She still sounds like she was separated at birth from Martin van Drunen, despite being born more than 20 years later, and if anything her voice has grown even more depraved and destructive since Into Darkness’ first outing. And her songwriting and guitar work are equally striking this time around. Continue reading »

NEW DEATH/DOOM DESTRUCTION FROM INTO DARKNESS

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  6 Responses »
Aug 162013
 

 

Last November, as part of a MISCELLANY post (here), I made an impromptu review of the self-titled debut demo by an Italian band named Into Darkness. I tend to get carried away on a daily basis with bouts of metal enthusiasm, and I called that demo “one of the best death/doom releases of 2012“. But even after I calmed down as time passed, I still felt that way.

Today I discovered two new songs from Into Darkness. One, which has just been uploaded to YouTube, is named “Dreadful Omen of A Dark Millenium”. It will be included on a forthcoming 7″ EP. The second, “Shifted To the Red End of the Spectrum”, is also destined for future release on the EP or on a vinyl split, and it’s streaming on Bandcamp. These are two of four songs the band recorded earlier this year that are being released in “rough, unedited” form on pro-tape under the name Cosmic Chaos by an Italian label named Unholy Domain Records.

The two new songs are convincing evidence that Into Darkness are a band whose every release is going to be must-listen music for devoted fans of death/doom. Speaking of devotion, there’s a lot of old-school worship in the music, with strong reminders of both Incantation and Asphyx (and the latter, especially because of the resemblance of Doomed Warrior’s vocals to those of Martin van Drunen). Continue reading »

MISCELLANY NO. 50: INTO DARKNESS AND DEATHCODE SOCIETY

 MISCELLANY, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  5 Responses »
Nov 282012
 

A milestone has been reached!  Our 50th installment of the not-so-regular MISCELLANY series! And here are the self-made rules of this self-made game:

I pick bands whose music I’ve never heard using a methodology akin to throwing darts at the wall; I listen to a song or two from each band; I write some brief impressions; I embed the music so you can listen, too. It’s an experiment, because I usually have no idea what the music is going to sound like, and it’s a way to make new discoveries.

In this installment of the series, I checked out the music of Into Darkness (Italy) and Deathcode Society (France).

INTO DARKNESS

Why did I pick this band? Well, to be brutally honest, which is the only kind of honest we know how to be at NCS, you’re looking at two of the reasons at the top of this post. That’s right, the one in the middle has cool shades and a cool jacket.

The other reason is that MaxR at Metal Bandcamp strongly recommended them. I guess that’s sort of a cheat on the MISCELLANY rules because even though I hadn’t listened to the music before beginning this excursion, I know Max has good taste. So this wasn’t a complete shot in the dark. Unless of course Max was drinking heavily when he sent me that message. Continue reading »