AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE: CORA CANNING — “UNVEILED WEBBING”

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Sep 042017
 

 

(Austin Weber presents our premiere of the debut album by the two-person project Cora Canning.)

Some of our readers may be familiar with the mind behind today’s stream of Cora Canning – Unveiled Webbing, as it was spawned by the mad scientist from a project called Nostril Caverns that I’ve been covering here at NCS since last year.

Nostril Caverns is Toronto-based multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Chris Balch’s one-man band, which has been active since 1999. The project’s music has covered a wide variety of styles and mergers between genres depending on the release, but often revolves around grindcore, technical grindcore, death metal, black metal, prog metal, and also improvised/experimental music. Earlier this year at NCS, I covered his latest 99-song technical deathgrind (with black metal influences) release, Spatial Lacerations, and I continue coming back to it.

In between sessions of work on his current absurdly ambitious plan for an upcoming release in which each song will be composed of 100 unique sections (instrumental demos of which are available for two of them here and here), he partnered with his friend and fellow multi-instrumentalist Dave Turnbull to create Cora Canning’s Unveiled Webbing, which we’re streaming early below. Continue reading »

LATE DECEMBER AND EARLY JANUARY GEMS (PART 1): CARBON COLOSSAL AND NOSTRIL CAVERNS

 Album Reviews, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  No Responses »
Jan 162017
 

 

(This is Part 1 of a 3-part series written by Austin Weber about noteworthy January releases and a few from the end of last year.)

While the quantity and quality for label-released metal in January seems a bit sparse as far as my tastes go, the underground never disappoints and 2017 is already off to a fantastic pace due to plenty of lesser-known acts dropping killer new material. Just recently I came across a number of new releases (and a few largely unknown ones from 2016) that you just might want to check out — presented here in three parts.

CARBON COLOSSAL – The Disassembly of Earth

Recently a friend shared Carbon Colossal with me, and I’m really glad he did. Longtime NCS fans may recognize the distinctive artwork as familiar, since it’s done by a perennial favorite here, Luca Carey. Using his bright and extremely psychedelic art for such a dark release works quite well in a fucked-up kind of way. The Disassembly of Earth is some sort of technical doom from hell, gone a death-metal-infused path, with fleeting blasts of black metal peppered in between all that. Continue reading »

UNDERDOGS IN THE UNDERGROUND: RETURN TO THE TALENTED DEPTHS OV OBSCURE MADNESS (PART 4)

 Album Reviews, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  No Responses »
Oct 282016
 

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(This is the fourth part of a multi-part post prepared by Austin Weber putting the spotlight on recent releases, and today he focuses on music from these three bands: Mammoth, Nostril Caverns, and Vermine. To check out Part 1, go here; Part 2 is at this location; and Part 3 can be found here.)

 

MAMMOTH – DEVIATION

We’ll start today on a lighter note with the newly released instrumental progressive metal album from the Los Angeles-based group known as Mammoth. While the group has been active for several years now, and with several releases behind them already, I only recently became aware of them when their guitarist Wes pitched Deviation to me and I instantly fell in love. Similar to Mastodon, the band’s name fits so well, because their music really is a massive force similar in size and heft to a damn mammoth. Continue reading »

AUSTIN WEBER ROUND-UP aka FOREVER PLAYING CATCH-UP (Pt 1)

 Album Reviews, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  2 Responses »
Apr 262016
 

Nostril CavernsTectum Argenti
 
vipassicrisis actor art

 

(Austin Weber pitches in on round-up duty with the first part of a multi-part post recommending new metal.)

Hey there NCS readers, it’s been far too long since I stopped in with a massive round-up of obscure (and not yet covered at NCS) jams from all over the metal map musically. Seeing that Islander has been busy slaving away on work-related duties in order to raise funds to care for the recently rabies-infected horde of NCS Lorises, it felt like a good time to begin sharing some of the many bands I have piling up endlessly in multiple word files. There will be several more editions of this to come, so be sure to stay tuned.

Ever since Islander was kind enough to let me do some writing for NCS, this site has felt like home to me. Our audience is so special, and clearly more eclectic and willing to explore than visitors at most sites, it seems. So here’s to you, oh seekers of joy within chaos and serrated sounds. And also for those who are musically prog heads at heart! I made sure that none of what I’m covering here has been covered at NCS so far, so make sure to give everything a listen! Without further ado… it begins! Continue reading »