AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: VORTEX — “HAUNTING THE ABYSS”

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Mar 282025
 

(written by Islander)

Among the many musical vortices that violently spin in the dangerous straits of extreme metal (the sonic manifestations of Charybdis opposite the smashing rocks on the other side) are numerous bands, living and dead, who’ve actually taken the name Vortex. The one we focus on today (and not for the first time) is a group of seasoned and hard-gigging musicians from remote Rimouski in the Canadian province of Quebec.

The occasion for revisiting them today is the impending release next month of a new five-song EP entitled Alien Realms, and our premiere of a video for a song from the EP named “Haunting the Abyss“. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: VORTEX — “THE WALLS”

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May 102023
 

When the Canadian collective Vortex begin work on a new album their songwriting approach differs from that of most extreme metal bands. They begin with a story, crafting chapters in a narrative that then become the basis for the songs. The music takes shape based on the feeling of the tale, and because of that the musical ingredients shift with the story. In the case of Vortex and their newest album The Future Remains In Oblivion, those ingredients draw upon death metal and black metal, with helpings of orchestration, and are both scathing and richly melodic.

Like the band’s last two albums, The Asylum (2016) and Lighthouse (2018), their new one is thus a concept record, a continuous lyrical and musical narrative. Today we present one of those musical chapters in advance of the album’s release on June 9th. Continue reading »