SHADES OF BLACK: AHAMKARA, AN AXIS OF PERDITION, SJÁLFSMORÐ AF GÁLEYSI, TODESTRIEB, NOITASAPATTI

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Nov 172024
 

I have to be brief today, because I’m compelled to leave home soon for a few hours. An appointment you really don’t want to hear about, and one I’ll be attending masked, in an effort not to infect people around me with my shitty cold. So, without further ado….

AHAMKARA (UK/U.S.)

I think most NCS visitors know by now that we don’t report “the news”, i.e., announcements of new bands or records, if there’s no music streaming. There’s too many such announcements and too few of us. If there’s no music available yet, we just wait until there is, and then see if we think it’s worth recommending.

But there are exceptions to every rule, and I’m beginning with one. Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK: KHTHONIIK CERVIIKS, HELZGLORIAM, ERIPHION, IIIXK, PALE SKY, SJÁLFSMORÐ AF GÁLEYSI

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Jul 122020
 

 

Having caught up on a lot of lost sleep overnight, I’m getting a very late start today. Given the lateness of the hour, I’ve made today’s selections from among a short list of things I’ve listened to most recently instead of digging deeper into my ever-burgeoning list of black and blackish releases. A lot of promising new albums are missing from this group (including just-released records by Barghest (Louisiana), Urnscent (Iran), and Moribund Mantras (Germany), to name just a few, because I haven’t had time to completely make my way through them.

KHTHONIIK CERVIIKS

In early May (here) I tried to find the words to describe the first advance track from Æequiizoiikum, the new album by Khthoniik Cerviiks, and ultimately just threw up my hands and called it “a supernova-level musical spectacle, one that’s ingenious in its conception and eye-popping in its technical execution”. Now there’s a second track from the album out in the world, so it’s time to wrestle with words again. Continue reading »