SHADES OF BLACK: ALL HELL, SHADOW OV FENRIS, OSMOSE, VELUM

 Album Reviews, Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC, SHADES OF BLACK, SHORT BUT SWEET  6 Responses »
Sep 042015
 

All Hell-The Red Sect

 

My trip to Alaska for my fucking day job proved to be a quick one. I got back home to Seattle late last night, about 36 hours after I left. If I’d had any sense, I would have gone right to bed. Instead, I spent time listening to new music, following up on links that friends sent me. And now here I am, five hours of sleep later, pecking on my keyboard about what I heard. By chance, what I enjoyed the most were songs in the vein of black metal, and so we have another Shades of Black collection. As usual, the music is quite diverse.

ALL HELL

My friend and NCS contributor Leperkahn messaged me about the promo of a new album by a band named All Hell that he had just received, with these words:  “Trust me when I say stop whatever you’re doing and listen to it, or at least the track at this link, immediately”. Continue reading »

ANOTHER EARACHE / OSMOSE BANDCAMP UPDATE

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  11 Responses »
Jan 102013
 

In mid-November I wrote a feature about the decision by two landmark metal labels — Earache and Osmose — to establish Bandcamp sites and begin uploading albums from their landmark catalogues for digital distribution. At that point, I had gotten word that Earache was interested in receiving fan feedback on what they should add from the hundreds of albums under their control, so I put in my two cents’ worth with a list of 9 albums.

Since then, many of my wishes have been granted. As previously reported, Earache subsequently added groundbreaking albums from my short wish list by Entombed, Bolt Thrower, and Morbid Angel. And today I got an e-mail alert that they’ve now just added another album from my list — Reek of Putrefaction by Carcass. In addition to the fact that this album occupies a key place in metal history, it’s also timely, given that Carcass are apparently recording a new album.

But that’s not all!  Though I missed the news, Earache also recently added yet another album from my list — Extreme Conditions Demand Extreme Responses, the 1992 debut album by Brutal Truth! I feel like Aladdin with a magic lamp and a drunk genie who’s lost count of how many wishes have already been granted.

But that’s still not all . . . Continue reading »

EARACHE AND OSMOSE CONTINUE TO KILL IT ON BANDCAMP: BOLT THROWER AND IMMORTAL ARE NOW UP

 Metal News  6 Responses »
Nov 142012
 

It was all of two days ago that we splashed the news across our site that two of metal’s genuine landmark labels — Earache Records and Osmose Productions — had established beachheads on Bandcamp for the first time. As of two days ago, Earache had uploaded high-quality digital files for albums from their catalogue by At the Gates, Napalm Death, Evile, and Rival Sons, while Osmose had delivered three classic albums by Norway’s Enslaved. But what they’ve each done since then has been equally mind-blowing.

We had gotten word that Earache was interested in suggestions about what albums they should prioritize for upload to Bandcamp, and I included my own short list in that previous post — a list that included Bolt Thrower’s legendary 1991 album War Master. And guess what! As of today, Earache has put War Master on Bandcamp HERE. Allow me to figuratively bow down in humble thanks. Actually, I think I’ll literally bow down, too. So stoked to see what they upload next . . . .

Not to be outdone, wait ’til you hear what Osmose has done: In just the last two days since we published that earlier post, Osmose has added to Bandcamp nine more albums — including the first six albums by the immortal Immortal — Diabolical Fullmoon Mysticism (1992), Pure Holocaust (1993), Battles In the North (1995), Blizzard Beasts (1997), At the Heart of Winter (1999), and Damned In Black (2003).

In addition, Osmose has added three more Enslaved albums: Blodhemn (1998), Mardraum-Beyond the Within (2000), and Below the Lights (2003). Continue reading »

EARACHE AND OSMOSE ON BANDCAMP

 Metal News  17 Responses »
Nov 122012
 

We’ve been singing the praises of Bandcamp since the early days of that platform. In a relatively short time, it has become a vital source for the streaming and distribution of metal, recently expanding its service to become a vehicle for the distribution of merch as well as digital music in a variety of high-quality formats. One sign of Bandcamp’s success is the increasing use of the site by metal labels to stream and distribute albums in their catalogues.

Thanks to MaxR at Metal Bandcamp — which remains THE best way to keep up with the appearance of new metal releases on Bandcamp — we’ve learned that two more labels have recently established Bandcamp beachheads: Earache Records and Osmose Productions.

EARACHE

As far as we’re concerned, this is really big news. Earache Records was founded in the late 80s and was one of the true pioneers in releasing extreme music. Of course, they’re still going strong today, but their back catalogue is like a museum for the history of hardcore and metal.

So far, Earache has added five albums from their catalogue to Bandcamp: Slaughter of the Soul by At the Gates (1995); Five Serpent’s Teeth by Evile (2011); Pressure and Time (Redux) by Rival Sons (2012); Scum (1987) [Full Dynamic Range 2012 Edition] by Napalm Death; and From Enslavement To Obliteration (1988) [Full Dynamic Range 2012 Edition], also by Napalm Death. Continue reading »