OUR LIST OF 2018’S MOST INFECTIOUS EXTREME METAL SONGS (PART 28): HEADS FOR THE DEAD, THE ABSENCE, SCORCHED

 MOST INFECTIOUS SONGS-2018  3 Responses »
Feb 152019
 

 

Most of the installments of the list this week have been genre-focused, moving from shades and phases of black metal, to doom, to technical death metal. Today’s installment also focuses on death metal, but of three very different kinds.

To check out this week’s previous installments of this still-expanding list, and all the others, you’ll find them behind this link, and to learn what this series is all about, go here.

HEADS FOR THE DEAD

The first formulation of death metal in today’s installment happens to be a song we premiered last year from the debut album of this new group, whose impressive line-up consists of Jonny Petterson (Wombbath, Ursinne, Henry Kane, Pale King), who was responsible for the music and its production, and vocalist Ralf Hauber (Revel In Flesh), with Erik Bevenrud (Down Among the Dead Men) as the session drummer. To add to those names, Matt Moliti (Sentient Horror) performed guitar solos on three tracks, and Håkan Stuvemark (Wombbath, Pale King) soloed on two others. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: NIGHTGRAVE, SCORCHED, ABYSSOUS

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  2 Responses »
Aug 242018
 

 

As I mentioned in yesterday’s last post, I’m leaving my home for a short vacation this morning (in fact, by the time you read this, I will have already left), and that probably means we won’t have the usual number of posts today. I’m not 100% sure that I’ll be able to put together our usual Sunday post either.

But before vanishing for two or three days, I did want to contribute something, and this short post is what I’ve done. It consists of a grand total of three songs that surfaced during the last 24 hours, and only three, but they’re very good and I hope you’ll dig ’em.

NIGHTGRAVE

Nightgrave ought to be a familiar name to you if you’ve been a patron of that regular Sunday column mentioned above, SHADES OF BLACK, because I’ve written there frequently about this one-man Indian band, the work of self-taught musician and vocalist  Sushant Rawat. But rather than hold my thoughts about his newest music until Sunday, I thought I’d provide them now, in the hope of catching the ear of some new listeners. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD (PART 2): SCORCHED, PREZIR, BOSSE-DE-NAGE, ROTTING CHRIST

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  1 Response »
Jul 192018
 

 

Continuing where I left off in Part 1 of today’s round-up (and I do plan on yet another round-up tomorrow, by the way), I’ve selected four more tracks that really can’t be grouped in any kind of logical order, and there’s really almost nothing that any of the songs have in common other than their appeal to yours truly. I’ve again kind of up-ended my usual tendency to move from better-known names to lesser-known names.

SCORCHED

This Delaware band is certainly better-known than they used to be, due in part to 20 Buck Spin’s release of Excavated For Evisceration earlier this year, which compiled the band’s non-LP material in one place, but they still need to become a lot better-known because THEY’RE SO GOOD! I have a feeling that will happen when the same label releases their new album on September 28th. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD ON A SATURDAY: MIGRATION FEST 2018, SCORCHED, ETERNAL HELCARAXE, EARLY DEATH

 Album Reviews, Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC, SHORT BUT SWEET  2 Responses »
Nov 182017
 

 

The best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men gang aft a-gley, and sometimes they’re just naturally daft and glazed, which is a good description of myself this morning.

As I mentioned in yesterday’s round-up, I’m now deep in the heart of Texas for a high school reunion tonight, and spent last night catching up with some old friends over a bottle of whisky. I then slept 11 hours, which I don’t think I’ve done since the year of my high school graduation. And so, this Saturday round-up includes fewer items than I had originally planned.

MIGRATION FEST

The first Migration Fest (organized by Gilead Media and 20 Buck Spin), which took place in Olympia, Washington, in August 2016 was fantastic. The next one is now set for July 27-29, 2018, at Mr. Smalls in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. And this morning the festival announced the first round of confirmed bands: Continue reading »

OUR LIST OF 2016’S MOST INFECTIOUS EXTREME METAL SONGS (PART 4): SCORCHED, DEATHCROWN, HIGH COMMAND

 MOST INFECTIOUS SONGS-2016  6 Responses »
Jan 052017
 

 

Welcome to Part 4 of our continuing list of 2016’s Most Infectious Extreme Metal Songs. To see the first three installments and an explanation of the criteria for making the selections, go here.

None of the three bands in this collection is a household name yet, even in the cramped, squalid households of metal, way out on the outskirts of town, across the railroad tracks and next to the cemetery. But this list isn’t limited to big names, as you probably would have guessed either from past annual installments or from looking at what we write about every week. But who knows? These names may be a lot bigger by this time next year.

SCORCHED

Last October we had the pleasure of premiering a full album stream of this Delaware band’s debut full-length, Echoes of Dismemberment. Allow me to quote from my review, which accompanied that premiere (because if I don’t, who will?): Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): SCORCHED — “ECHOES OF DISMEMBERMENT”

 Album Reviews, Premieres  4 Responses »
Oct 312016
 

scorched-echoes-of-dismemberment

 

We’ve been watching the rapid ascent of Delaware’s Scorched with increasing excitement ever since we premiered a full stream of their self-titled demo in May 2015, which was then about to be released by Unspeakable Axe. And just this past July our Norwegian friend Gorger praised their split with Putrisect (Final State of Existence) in his own distinctive voice. We also made mention of the excellent four-way split they joined along with Gatecreeper, Homewrecker, and Outer Heaven.

But now the band have reached new heights with their first full-length album, Echoes of Dismemberment, which it’s our pleasure to premiere for you in advance of its November 25 release by Unspeakable Axe.

When I heard the first publicly released song from the album (“Rot In Confinement”) after it premiered at DECIBEL, I ventured the opinion that Scorched were “about to blow up”. Now having heard the full album, I still feel that way — in spades. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD (PART 2): KHONSU, SCORCHED, KOSMOKRATOR, TOTTEN KORPS, IMPURE ZIGGURAT, SATANIC MIGHT, LETHAL SHÖCK

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  3 Responses »
Sep 302016
 

Khonsu-The Xun Protectorate

 

Well, as I warned in Part 1 of this round-up yesterday, my fucking day job did indeed screw up my plan to post Part 2 later that same day. As I also warned, the music in this one is more obscure and arguably more ferocious than the first collection. But believe me, it’s damned good stuff.

And because of the delay since yesterday, of course I’ve discovered one more new thing to tack on to what I originally planned, and it’s the first item in this collection.

KHONSU

We’ve been very eager and excited about the new album coming our way from Norway’s Khonsu, the name of which is The Xun Protectorate, and this morning the first single was released. Continue reading »

BENEATH THE NCS RADAR (PART 14): EP SPECIAL

 Album Reviews, SHORT BUT SWEET  6 Responses »
Jun 062016
 

collage

 

(We welcome you to the glorious 14th part of our Norwegian comrade Gorger’s highlighting of releases we haven’t previously reviewed.  To find more of his discoveries, visit Gorger’s Metal.)

I’ve got a few shorter releases to share with you today. I’m calling it an EP special, but for good measure, I’m tossing in a split and a graphic novel(!) too. I’ve also shortened down my ramblings to leave you sore-eared rather than sore-eyed. Enjoy. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: “SCORCHED” BY SCORCHED

 Premieres  3 Responses »
May 182015
 

 

Next Monday Unspeakable Axe Records will begin shipping the debut self-titled demo of Delaware death metal band Scorched, and in advance of the release we’re bringing you a music stream of the entire album — which is available for digital download as of today.

Scorched consists of four full-length songs along with a brief intro track and two atmospheric interludes. On those four songs, the band more than live up to their name, delivering a scorching conflagration of feral death metal with style. The music has an old-school tone and viciousness and mixes full-throttle rampaging (with elements of crust/punk in the mix) with slower, staggering, doom-saturated lurches. There’s a skull-crushing rhythm section at work, along with riffs that thrash, chug, and eviscerate with equal potency. Continue reading »