Yeah, I did one of these MISCELLANY posts just two days ago, but I’m doing another one now anyway. See, I’ve been getting e-mails from one of the original co-founders of this site, IntoTheDarkness. He doesn’t write for NCS any more despite my nagging, but he does send me e-mails periodically with new music to check out. He seems to hit times in his life when he just consumes massive amounts of new metal for what must be hours, if not days, and then I hear about it.

So, this post is a variation on the usual MISCELLANY, because none of these bands came off the “official” NCS list of new music to check out (that would be the list I keep on scraps of paper, post-it notes, and crayon-scrawlings on the wall). Instead, I’ve pulled bands off the rush of e-mails ITD sent me over the last week. Still, they’re two bands I’ve never heard before, so they do fit that part of the MISCELLANY rules.

And to cap off this post, I’m adding music from two more bands I’d not heard before that were recently sent my way by NCS readers. So, yes, it’s a lot of music, some of it pretty wild, but I think you’ll find it worth exploring.

After the jump, my brain-scrambling experience with songs from Monumental Torment (Russia/Arizona), Kakuna vs Metapod (Australia), Blut Aus Nord (France), and Walking With Strangers (Sweden). Continue reading »