Windhand Archives - NO CLEAN SINGING

SEEN AND HEARD ON HALLOWEEN: DIRGE, VALKYRJA, CLOAK, INTEGRITY, WINDHAND

Nov 012018

I didn’t go trick-or-treating last night, or dress up for a costume party, or make any ritual sacrifices of kids in the neighborhood, much as I wanted to. No one came to our door asking for handouts either; the human heads impaled on spikes apparently did a good job protecting the perimeter of the NCS headquarters, though the ungodly screams coming out of the loris compound may have also played a role.

I was left to celebrate Halloween by listening to new metal, and man, there was a shitload of it to catch up with. There might be another day of the year when more metal bands and labels release new music than on Halloween, but I doubt it. Releasing cover songs also seems to be a Halloween thing. I picked just a few tracks to share around today… though I’m beginning with one that didn’t come out yesterday, though last night was when I first got around to hearing it.

DIRGE

In March of 2014 we had the privilege of premiering a full stream of the sixth album by the Parisian band Dirge, and I’m mentioning that because I decided to quote myself as a way of introducing their new seventh album. There are few things I enjoy more than quoting myself. Continue reading »

OVERFLOWING STREAMS (PART 3): SPEEDTRAP, SPELLJAMMER, TSJUDER, VHÖL, WINDHAND, GOROD

RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC 10 Responses »

Sep 112015

(Here’s Part 3 of Leperkahn’s round-up of new music for this Friday. Part 1 is here, Part 2 is here.)

SPEEDTRAP

Prior to finding a full stream of their new album Straight Shooter on Noisey, I hadn’t heard of Finnish troupe Speedtrap. If you’re in the same boat that I was in, I’ll tell you that these guys sound pretty much exactly like you think they will, in that they love Motörhead, as everyone should. This thing is chock full of blazing riffs and cheesy lyrics sung by an oddly bluesy power-metal-type singer — I’m in love.

http://noisey.vice.com/blog/speedtrap-straight-shooter
https://www.facebook.com/speedtrapmetal
https://speedtrap.bandcamp.com/ Continue reading »

STUFF WE PROBABLY SHOULD HAVE WRITTEN ABOUT EARLIER: FLUISTERAARS, VAMPIRE, WINDHAND, BARONESS

Exceptions to the Rule, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC 4 Responses »

Sep 062015

(Leperkahn rejoins us with a round-up of new songs that have struck a chord.)

We cover a lot of stuff here at NCS. Hell, I can barely keep up with it myself. However, even more goes on in the wide world of metal than the busy staff could ever hope to cover (and normally, I’m too lazy to move my arse and actually put fingers to keyboard). Alas, here are a few tracks that I’ve been really hyped up on, though sadly lack of time has prevented us from giving them proper coverage.

FLUISTERAARS

Early last year BadWolf published a review of Dutch black metal band Fluisteraars’s debut album Dromers. That review was my introduction to the band, and my, what an introduction it was – three extended tracks of harrowing, melodic lo-fi black metal (and I’ll be damned if “De Doornen” didn’t stick in my head like one of Frankenstein’s bolt things). “De Doornen” ended up earning a spot in the Most Infectious Songs list for 2014, and also ended up on my year-end list.

Luckily for us, Fluisteraars have returned, with a new album entitled Luwte (apparently Dutch for “Lee”, though I’m not sure what that could signify) due out on Eisenton on September 25th. At the Bandcamp page for the album a track is currently streaming, an eleven-and-a-half song entitled “Stille Wateren” (“Still Waters” – three quarters of college-level German prepared me to figure that one out without the services of Google Translate). The track is anything but still in its first half, however, as Fluisteraars have unleashed another torrent of scathing melodic BM riffs, shifting from one to the other seamlessly, all punctuated by some soul-cleaving rasps on the vocal front and drums that are evidently try to stir up a tsunami. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: WOLFHEART, KRISIUN, WINDHAND, ENABLER, INFRA

Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC 6 Responses »

Jul 112015

Happy Saturday. A whole bunch of metal bands I like released new songs this past week. I didn’t jump on all of them with my usual alacrity because I was burning the candle at both ends with a combination of day-job crap, personal crap, and late-night drinking with good friends (not crap), followed by hangover crap. I will make it up to you: Our other writers stand ready to mow your loans or hand-wash your underwear. I stand ready to direct those operations from afar.

In addition, in this post I’m going to stream some of those things I missed, plus one new discovery at the end.

WOLFHEART

Tuomas Saukkonen is one of those rare metal artists who just doesn’t seem to make a misstep. After closing down a multitude of other projects (including Before the Dawn and Black Sun Aeon), he turned right around and released a great album in 2013 (Winterborn) under the name Wolfheart. He has completed work on a second Wolfheart album entitled Shadow World that will be released by Spinefarm on August 21. After the jump, check out the music video for a new song named “Aeon of Cold”. Continue reading »

WINDHAND: “SOMA”

Album Reviews 4 Responses »

Sep 132013

(Guest writer Leperkahn returns to our pages with a review of the debut album by Windhand, which will be officially released by Relapse Records on September 17.)

Before I start, I should qualify this review by noting that it’s an Exception to the Rule, as it features the ethereal clean singing of one Dorthia Cottrell. That said, this 75-minute behemoth of a disc is heavy enough to drag down the pace of your entire day, so I think it should fit into the NCS aesthetic just fine.

Windhand hail from what has now become a mecca of ‘00s metal, Richmond, Virginia, home to such heavyweights as Lamb of God, Gwar, Municipal Waste, and Inter Arma, bearing with them one demo, one split, and one full-length before this one. Bathing in such fertile waters has done them well, as they have emerged as much a product of their hometown as of their influences. This tends to be evoked in the subtle southern country bleakness that pervades this record, and sets it apart from the rest of the doom crowd to which it may be compared.

The first comparison that comes to mind starting this disc is the heavy influence of Electric Wizard, and Windhand admittedly come frighteningly close to aping them completely, from the same fuzzy, monolithic guitar tone to the same distant, ethereal singing that sounds as if it’s coming from beyond a hazy, LSD-soaked void. Continue reading »

TOURISM: HIGH ON FIRE AND KVELERTAK TO CLOBBER NORTH AMERICA LATER THIS YEAR

Metal News 8 Responses »

Sep 032013

Here’s a bit of tour news that put a smile on my face: This morning Scion A/V announced that High On Fire will be touring North America beginning November 10 with direct support on all dates from Norway’s Kvelertak.

In addition, Doomriders (Nov. 10 to 23), Pack of Wolves (Nov. 27), and Windhand (Nov. 29 to Dec. 12) will be opening for those two bands on different legs of the tour.

But that’s not all. As part of this Scion A/V-sponsored tour, High On Fire will be releasing a new single entitled “Slave The Hive” on October 16. According to the press release we received, the song will be available on the tour as a limited edition 7-inch, and a video of the song will be released simultaneously.

The current schedule of dates is after the jump; apparently, more dates will be announced next week. I am highly pleased to see that Seattle is on the list. I know you will be happy for me, and thank you for that. Continue reading »