SHOW REVIEW (REYKJAVIK EDITION): SKINLESS, MUNNRIÐUR, SEVERED

 Concert Reviews  No Responses »
Mar 052018
 

 

As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, I’m in Reykjavik, Iceland. I say that not to rub your nose in a fact
that seems to have provoked jealousy in a few friends, but only because it’s obvious from what you’re about to read. Of course, it would be understandable if you were jealous, because it is pretty fucking wonderful to be here.

The primary purpose for the trip was to attend the last edition of Oration Fest later this week, but I had an unexpectedly outstanding way to spend our first night in the country, because it turned out that last night was the date scheduled for the Reykjavik Deathfest Warmup show, featuring performances by Skinless, Munnriður, and Severed. (The third edition of Reykjavik Deathfest will take place in May — and Skinless and Severed will be playing again then — and you can details about that here.)

I wasn’t aware of this until a couple of Icelandic Facebook friends told me yesterday afternoon, and one of them took the added step of putting me on the guest list, which removed all doubt about whether to surrender to jet lag or venture forth for a night of headbanging. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: SEVERED — “EDGE OF THE ABYSS”

 Premieres  No Responses »
Feb 062016
 

Severed

 

In recent years, Iceland has developed a reputation as a spawning ground for excellent black metal bands, but the country’s contributions to extreme metal go well beyond those black arts. And as convincing proof of that, I give you Severed.

I first came across the band’s music back in 2012 when they were using the name Severed Crotch. Even then, I was late to the party. By that point they had released a couple of demos in 2007 and a debut album in 2010 (The Nature of Entropy). Now brandishing a more truncated name (suggestive of more generalized and less crotch-specific violence), the band have recorded a new five-song promo that’s intended to lay the groundwork for their next full-length album.

The band have been gradually releasing songs from the album for streaming since last fall, and today we’re fortunate to bring you the fourth one, a track named “Edge of the Abyss“. Continue reading »

AN EISTNAFLUG REPORT: PART 2

 Concert Reviews  7 Responses »
Aug 262014
 


Sólstafir’s Addi Tryggvason with Skálmöld at Eistnaflug

 

(Gemma Alexander is a Seattle-based writer and NCS fan who visited Iceland in the fall of 2012 during the Iceland Airwaves festival and was generous enough to send us interviews with such bands as Angist, Beneath, Kontinuum, Sólstafir, Gone Postal, and Skálmöld. In July of this year she returned to Iceland for the Eistnaflug metal and rock festival (“Eistnaflug” being Icelandic for “flying testicles”), and we are once again the beneficiary of her writing. Today we present Part 2 of a three-part report on the festival, illustrated with Gemma’s own photos. Visit her own excellent blog here and check out more of her reporting on the festival at KEXP’s web site. Part 1 of her report for us is here.)

 

The second day of Eistnaflug began at noon with sets from Pink Street Boys and Oni. I, on the other hand, began less ambitiously, arriving at the venue after 2 p.m. I don’t know anything about the first band, but was sorry to have missed the sludgy, Neskaupstaður-based Oni.

http://oniiceland.bandcamp.com/releases

 

The first band I saw on Friday was In the Company of Men. Billed as mathcore, the effect was individuals doing their own thing in the company of others. But they each went to eleven with it, and maybe my math isn’t very good.

https://www.facebook.com/InTheCompanyOfMen/timeline

 

I had heard that Morð (“murder” in Icelandic) was divisive in the local black metal community. In the event, I couldn’t really see what was so unorthodox. Was their corpse paint all wrong, or was it a slight tendency to slip into groove? Whether tr00 or transgressive, Morð put on a good show.

http://morth.bandcamp.com/ Continue reading »