Mar 032021
 

 

(Here’s Gonzo’s review of the new album by the Toronto-based band Sarin, which is out now on Prosthetic Records.)

If you want to consider the future of “post-metal” as a genre, you won’t have to look very far to find the trailblazers showing us the way.

You could look as far back as the mid-’90s, when Neurosis began their transformation from sludgy hardcore into a subgenre-defining behemoth.

You could look at the glory days of ISIS circa 2005, when Aaron Turner and co. dished out slabs of ethereal heaviness that defied explanation.

And now, you can look at bands like Toronto-based Sarin, whose nasty, emotive brand of sonic vitriol is poised to bring post-metal into the present – with a vengeance. Continue reading »

Feb 062021
 

 

As I was trying to go to sleep last night I mentally fidgeted about what I was going to do for NCS today. The problem was that last week I didn’t have the time or patience to go through our e-mails carefully or do the other things I usually do to sniff out new songs and videos that would be fodder for a round-up. Most weeks I have long lists of possibilities to check out by now. As of last night I had made no such list.

As I tried to find sleep, I grudgingly resolved that I would have to spend a few hours this morning doing what I’d failed to do since last Monday, and make that list — and then start listening. I had to trash that idea this morning when I realized I had slept for 10 hours and that a big chunk of the morning was already gone. So, making the big list of newly released songs and videos will have to wait. Here, I’ve picked from things I already knew about a week ago, and added just a couple of songs more recently recommended to me by valued sources.

KLEXOS (U.S.)

“Obfuscâre Veritas”, the first song now up for streaming from Apocryphal Parabolam, the new album by Kentucky’s Klexos, is dissonant and deranged, twisted and ever-twisting, brazen and brawling — and generally berserk. The vocals display a lot of harrowing dynamism as well. The song exhibits impressive technicality, which is necessary, given how wildly and rapidly the music veers and careens. It will also give you a vigorous beating, which you probably deserve. Continue reading »

Apr 032020
 

 

(Two weeks ago (hereNeill Jameson (Krieg, Poison Blood) shared with us and you a list of musical suggestions to help us get through the current “end of the world” times, and today he follows that with another selection.)

So not a hell of a lot has changed since the last time I sat down to do one of these. Seems that a lot of you are still stuck at home, bitching and moaning that you’re bored while another batch of you (myself included) is considered “essential” and stuck being out with the public every day, most of whom have no real reason to be out of their house except “boredom”. These are the same assholes who’re going to be shocked they’re waiting for a ventilator in a few weeks while the poor sap who never finished college who’s behind whatever counter (me again) still has to go to work without extra pay, wishing they/we/I could be at home or at the very least stop being told by our jobs to be grateful we still have them while the “Today Show” has some montage about how essential employees are “heroes”, a sentiment not reflected in the majority of their paychecks.

That shit-show aside, I’ve compiled a few bands and labels that, since you have the time, are worth your consideration. Hopefully you find something interesting you haven’t heard before or you think my taste is pure horseshit and are moved to compile your own lists.  Either way it gives you something to emotionally invest in for a few minutes while you try to figure out what household item you can use to wipe your ass with. Continue reading »