SEEN AND HEARD: NETHERBIRD, HOODED MENACE, BAT MAGIC, LEILA ABDUL-RAUF, VERMINLORD, ÆNIGMATUM

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  1 Response »
Jun 212021
 


Netherbird

 

Lo and behold, I had time this morning not only to prepare a round-up of new songs and videos but also (unlike the last few I’ve done) to add some completely unnecessary commentary. What you’ll find is a bit of this and a bit of that, with some well-known names and a couple you’ve possibly never heard of. Everything I chose today consists of advance songs from forthcoming records. And with that, let’s begin:

NETHERBIRD (Sweden)

First in today’s collection is “Towers of the Night“. Packaged with a lyric video, it does indeed become towering. Initiated by rumbling and battering drums and by whining, wailing guitar harmonies that radiate anguish and despair, the song further includes sinister fanfares, doses of slashing and jolting savagery, and scalding snarls. The song also reveals a dreamlike yet menacing interlude and anthemic soloing that’s primed for arenas filled with headbangers (whenever such a thing is possible again). Quite a thrilling experience…. Continue reading »

AN NCS EP PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): VERMINLORD — “SOJOURN”

 Album Reviews, Premieres, SHORT BUT SWEET  No Responses »
Sep 182018
 

 

I was afraid something unfortunate had happened to Verminlord — death, dismemberment, or even worse, a decision to stop writing and recording music. An entire year had passed since this usually prolific musician’s last release (a track recorded for a Crushing Intolerance compilation), a year of silence after a string of impressive recordings (all of which I’ve enjoyed and almost all of which I’ve reviewed) that left me sadly resigned to the likelihood that the project had ended.

Fortunately, none of my fears was true. Neither death nor dismemberment befell Verminlord, and the man behind the project (Teo Acosta) hasn’t put aside music in favor of more mundane pursuits. He just needed some time to try to clear his head, and now, following a move from the Pacific Northwest to southern California, he has given us a new three-song EP, which we’re now sharing with you on the day of its release. Continue reading »

CRUSHING INTOLERANCE VOLUME 5: NEW MUSIC FROM DEAFEST, VERMIN LORD, SCATHED, GUDSFORLADT, SHADOW LAKE, AND MORE

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  No Responses »
Aug 192017
 

 

Two days to go until the total eclipse. I’m lucky to be in a beautiful place in Wyoming that lies within the path of totality, which cuts across the United States from Salem, Oregon, to Charleston, South Carolina.

After some carousing and late-night stargazing with friends, I slept like a dead man and wasn’t sure whether I’d write anything for NCS on this lazy morning. I had a few half-baked ideas that I was noodling over, and then I got word that Volume 5 of Crushing Intolerance had been released on Bandcamp. That wound up blowing the other ideas away like dust in the wind. Continue reading »

VERMIN LORD AND NIHTWINTRE: A SPLIT

 Album Reviews, SHORT BUT SWEET  1 Response »
May 082017
 

 

As regular visitors to our site well know, I’ve been carefully following the releases of Seattle-based Vermin Lord, beginning with the project’s excellent 2016 debut album Anguish. Last Friday brought another new Vermin Lord release, this time a split with the Seattle black metal project Nihtwintre.

Both sides of the split are very good, both of them shrouded in darkness, sorcery, and loss, though musically the two bands are quite distinct from each other. There’s a full stream of the split at the end of this post, preceded by some thoughts about the songs. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): VERMIN LORD — “MOURNING”

 Album Reviews, Premieres  No Responses »
Apr 242017
 

 

This marks the fourth time we’ve written abut the music of Seattle’s Vermin Lord. The first time was a review of the project’s excellent 2016 album Anguish, and then we wrote about a single that was released in January of this year, followed in March by our review and premiere of a two-song EP (Visions Of A Cursed Warlock). And now we’re spreading the word about Vermin Lord’s new album Mourning, which is being released today.

Part of what makes Vermin Lord’s music so intriguing (and this is certainly true of the new album) is its unpredictable blending of disparate musical influences. This album in particular brings to mind the term “baroque”, which in one of the word’s dictionary meanings refers to a style of artistic expression “marked generally by use of complex forms, bold ornamentation, and the juxtaposition of contrasting elements often conveying a sense of drama, movement, and tension”. Continue reading »

AN NCS EP PREMIERE: VERMIN LORD — “VISIONS OF A CURSED WARLOCK”

 Exceptions to the Rule, Premieres  No Responses »
Mar 132017
 

 

This marks the third time I’ve written abut the music of Seattle’s Vermin Lord. The first time was a review of the project’s excellent 2016 album Anguish, and then I praised a new single that was released in January of this year, and now I’m happily premiering a new two-song EP: Visions Of A Cursed Warlock.

The two songs tell a story, which Vermin Lord’s sole creator explains as follows: Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD (IN THE FORM OF A VERY METAL MUSICAL SANDWICH): MANETHEREN, MISERIST, CRESCENT, QUASARBORN, MAHAKALA, LETHE, VERMIN LORD, WRATH FROM ABOVE

 Exceptions to the Rule, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  8 Responses »
Jan 262017
 

 

As I made my way through the enormous list of new songs and videos that I’ve been compiling since last weekend, a certain shape began to suggest itself to me — the shape of a tasty metal sandwich. And with that shape in mind (and a gnawing hunger in my guts), I selected and organized the following 8 songs.

For this playlist of mostly brand new things we begin harsh and heavy, then segue into a block of Exceptions To Our Rule (the one about singing), and then move into the other side of the sandwich where total war on the senses lies in wait again. You’ll also find some very eye-catching videos in here, along with a broad assortment of music that struck my fancy — with only truncated commentary from yours truly.

MANETHEREN

According to a press release, “The End is a concept album about a human being travelling across the lands as the world begins to end…. Each song represents different events during the ending process, and as they unfold the being feels as himself is becoming god, or death itself. By the end of the album this being by all means becomes god and rules over the wasteland left behind.” Continue reading »