KEVINP’S ALBUMS OF THE MONTH (FEBRUARY 2015)

 Listmania, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  6 Responses »
Feb 262015
 

 

(In a continuation of his recently inaugurated NCS series, KevinP runs down his list of the best releases from the month that’s about to end.)

Last month I had what seemed to be a reasonable amount of music to wade through, 24 releases.  This month, I was at 40, so naturally there were some tough cuts I had to make.  Nice problem to have, no complaints really.  Like last month (and every month), please feel free to share your comments, thoughts, and favorite releases in the Comments section below.

5.  Devouring Star – Through Lung & Heart

Very little is known about this Finnish band, who came onto the scene in 2014 with a two-song demo, and they now release their full-length album through Daemon Worship Productions.  While you will see them listed as a black metal band, it’s quite another story.  Continue reading »

GET TO THE POINT: A.C. OF THROES

 Interviews, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  2 Responses »
Feb 122015
 

 

(In this latest installment of his “Get To the Point” series, KevinP poses 5 questions to multi-instrumentalist “A.C.” of the UK band Throes, whose debut album Disassociation is coming out March 22nd… and we have a new song to stream as well.)

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K:  Another day, another new band from you.  So what’s this all about?

A:  Throes comes from a turbulent time.  It was originally formed as a full band in 2011 but due to DG’s term of house-arrest we were forced to disband.  There’s not a great deal worth delving into with regards to the history of Throes. In fact, we’d rather leave most of it feigned in mystery.  This is for a variety of reasons but mainly because when you look at the current incarnation of Throes it bares no similarities to its predecessor (i.e., as opposed to being a full band), it is now a two-man outfit with all instrumental and writing duties handled by myself and vocals performed by DG.

 

K:  So musically what were you aiming for on this, as opposed to the plethora of other bands you are involved with?

A:  This has a whole load of electronic influences and definitely takes a much more experimental approach than any other record I have done.  Also, I wrote the material over a fairly short period of time in comparison to what I would normally spend on a record. Continue reading »

KEVINP’S ALBUMS OF THE MONTH (JANUARY 2015)

 Listmania, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  13 Responses »
Feb 022015
 

 

(KevinP inaugurates a new feature in which he runs down his list of the best releases from the preceding month.)

Welcome to my feature on the best releases of each month.  I’m calling this “Albums of the Month”, but demo’s, EP’s, splits, etc., are also viable candidates, as long as the material is good enough.  Ideally this will be posted during the last week of the month we are discussing, but this time life got in the way for yours truly and our beloved CEO.

Anyways, please feel free to share you comments, thoughts and favorite releases in the comments section below.

5.  Mindful of Pripyat – …and Deeper, I Drown in Doom (EP)

For being around such a short period of time (formed in 2014), it’s quite stunning how professional and tight the sound is from this Italian trio.  Think Terrorizer and early Carcass with absolute razor precision backed by a solid production.  Continue reading »

GET TO THE POINT: STEVE JANSSON (CRYPT SERMON)

 Exceptions to the Rule, Interviews  4 Responses »
Jan 012015
 

 

(NCS interviewer KevinP delivers the first in a planned interview series, and this inaugural edition features guitarist Steve Jansson of Crypt Sermon — whose forthcoming debut album Out of the Garden is absolutely killer!)

Welcome to what I plan on being a monthly feature, GET TO THE POINT.  Besides wanting a fancy title for my interview segment, the idea is to be a bit more succinct, if and when possible.  Who knows, maybe I’ll be a chatty Kathy more than usual and totally not stick to it, let’s see how things turns out.  In the coming months, we will be talking to (among others):  Calvin Robertshaw (My Dying Bride), Matt Calvert (Dark Descent Records),  Öxxö Xööx (a French avant garde doom band), and Nikos Panagiotopoulos (Universe217).  So, without further ado……

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K:  So Enrique (Crypt Sermon’s drummer) was scared to do the interview and pawned me off onto you.  What’s up with that guy?

S:  Oh, we don’t let him do interviews. I sent his ass to get more beer, though.

Hah, nah, Brooks (vocalist) and I are generally the ones who do the interviews. It just sort of worked out that way, I guess. Continue reading »

YOU’RE THE BEST AROUND, NOTHING’S EVER GONNA KEEP YA DOWN 2014

 LISTMANIA 2014  12 Responses »
Dec 012014
 

 

(NCS interviewer KevinP is getting a head start on our Listmania posts with the first of several personal lists he’s tossing our way.)

 

Before my post next week on the Top 25 albums & Top 5 EP’s of the year, here’s some of my “Other Best Stuff of 2014”.

 

BEST METAL COUNTRY:  GREECE

This one was fairly easy since the beginning of the year.  Aenaon and Hail Spirit Noir started things off with a bang.  Then you had Dead Congregation, Spectral Lore, and Thy Darkened Shade.  You also have quality releases from Shattered Hope, Septuagint, Soulskinner, Principality of Hell, Varathron, and a glorious EP from Universe217. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: BEN PAKARINEN (COPROLITH)

 Interviews  2 Responses »
Nov 282014
 

 

(We bring you KevinP’s interview of Ben Pakarinen, vocalist/guitarist for Finland’s Coprolith, whose second album Death March was released this past spring by Violent Journey Records.)

 

K:  So you’ve recently returned from a tour in China.  Is this your 3rd time playing there?

B:  Yes, we are back from China. It was Coprolith’s second time touring there. Last fall we toured with my other band, Antagonist Zero.

 

K:  Seems like you have a fairly big following to tour there twice.  Does China give you more “love” than Europe?

B:  Yeah the shows are awesome and the crowds are crazy indeed. And this time we also released our latest album, Death March, as a special edition with 3 bonus tracks. But we have also toured a lot in Europe, the Baltics, and Russia.  I think when it’s a good show and good crowd, it doesn’t  matter which country it is. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: 10 BOMBS WITH ANDERS BIAZZI (JUST BEFORE DAWN)

 Interviews  3 Responses »
Nov 202014
 

 

EDITOR’S NOTE: The new album by Sweden’s Just Before Dawn is a killer. Its name is The Aftermath and I reviewed it here. It’s out now on Chaos Records and you can order it here. It’s also available on Bandcamp, and there’s a full stream of the whole tasty thing at the end of this post. But first, enjoy KevinP’s Q&A with Just Before Dawn’s main man Anders Biazzi.

 

1.  So, you’re back for round two.  Tell us what is different this time around?

This time the album is more well-written, I think.  There are more people working on it, around 24 guys laid down their shit for this album.  Otherwise there are no changes:  war and steamrolling devestation.

 

2. What was your favorite collaboration and why?

I think it would be “Lightning War”.  It’s a really powerful track with great vocals from Dave Ingram and great whammy leads from Rick Rozz.  A real steamrolling track, Bolt Thrower style! Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: TIM CHARLES (NE OBLIVISCARIS)

 Exceptions to the Rule, Interviews  5 Responses »
Oct 032014
 

 

(In this post we present KevinP’s interview of Tim Charles, violinist and clean vocalist of Australia’s Ne Obliviscaris, whose new album Citadel will be released on November 7 (November 11 in the U.S.). You can listen to two of the new songs while you read, here and here.)

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K:   So would this be the first interview you have done where the name of the site is diametrically opposed to your position in the band?

T:  I guess so! But despite the name of the site, you guys have always shown NeO great support over the years regardless, and so I’m very happy to be chatting with you today about our new album.

 

K:  We are coming up on the release of that album, Citadel, on Nov 7.  What would you say is different and/or what were you able to accomplish this time around as compared with Portal of I?

T:  When we first started writing Citadel we didn’t have any meetings to discuss the direction of the new songs. We simply just did what we’ve always done and write music until we were happy with the song. Personally we were very proud of Portal of I and we loved the songs, so when it was so well-received, that gave us a lot of confidence to forget about the outside world and just back our own judgement and have faith that as long as we love the new stuff then the public will enjoy it also.

We definitely noticed that there were some new sounds being explored, but honestly it wasn’t really until the end when it was completely done that we realised it was actually quite a bit different.  It’s still very much NeO, but honestly I’m not sure we could create 2 albums the same if we tried! It’s always been in our nature to explore and move forward musically, and to me Citadel just sounds like another step forward.

I guess one other difference between the albums is that Portal of I was more akin to 7 separate stories, all related to each other, that when put together create an album. This new album, however, was created in a more conceptual way with the music largely flowing continuously from start to finish and hence is more one unified piece. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: ANIL CARRIER (TOWERS OF FLESH)

 Interviews  No Responses »
Sep 082014
 

 

(NCS contributor KevinP interviews the ubiquitous Anil Carrier, pictured above right in the line-up of Britain’s Towers of Flesh. He is also a member of Binah, Exsequor, Necrotize, Purify the Horror, The Solemn Curse, and Theoktony — though we don’t claim that’s a complete list.)

 

K:  I always joke how you are in like 532 bands, so I find it more than ironic we are talking TOWERS OF FLESH today while you are recording the new THEOKTONY.  How do you find the time for all these projects?

A:  Generally it’s very difficult and time consuming. You have to sacrifice a lot to do this on the level that I do.  But as time goes on it definitely becomes worthwhile.

My role in each band differs.  I may play all instruments and compose everything on a record or I might just jump in for the drums and leave the rest to others.

 

K:  Do you ever feel burnt out or the need to just get away from it all with so many projects?

A:  It can sometimes be very tiresome. But I have always been driven to build a body of work and although I wouldn’t say that it’s a selfish need it’s definitely something that drives me to carry on.  I have periods where I don’t write music and other times when I can’t stop, so I wouldn’t say I ever get burnt out. Continue reading »

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