ROADBURN 2018, A PHOTO RECORD: DAY 4

 Concert Reviews  No Responses »
May 292018
 

 

The 2018 edition of Roadburn Festival is in the history books. From April 19th through April 22nd at the 013 venue in Tilburg, The Netherlands, metal fans got the chance to choose from among performances by more than 100 bands across four stages and a fascinating array of musical genres. NCS was fortunate to be represented by the fantastic New Orleans-based music photographer Teddie Taylor, who made a visual record of the event for us.

We left it to Teddie to decide which bands to see; no doubt she had a lot of difficult decisions to make — and we had difficult decisions of our own in determining which of her images to share with you (they’re all really damned good!). We’re dividing this collection of pics into four parts, one for each day of Roadburn 2018. You can find her photos from Day 1 here, Day 2 here, and Day 3 here. Continue reading »

CONFLICT OF INTEREST: AN NCS INTRODUCTION TO THRILL JOCKEY

 Album Reviews, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  10 Responses »
Mar 222016
 

Thrill Jockey logo

 

(Our old friend Leperkahn finally gets around to doing something he forecast he would do in early February, with a selection of music that includes not-metal as well as metal.)

I mentioned at the end of my overlong 2015 EOTY list about a month ago that there would be an addendum to said list.

Since the end of September of last year, I’ve been an intern at Thrill Jockey Records, assembling and packing all of your beloved records, among other things (if you’re looking to steal my fingerprints so as to implicate me in a crime later in life, now’s probably gonna be your best opportunity). The job has introduced me to a ton of new music, some of it of the metallic variety, some not, though I would contend that the non-metallic stuff that’s appealed to me might appeal to some of you, as open-minded music listeners who come from a primarily metal background, such as myself.

In a move of unprecedented cronyism and self-promotion, I’m going to use this post to take you through a tour of some recent TJ output, some of it metal, some not. Admittedly, this isn’t a perfect addendum to a 2015 best-of list, since some of what’s featured came out in the first few months of this year, and some came out before 2015. But truly, good music need not consider age; so let’s get on with it. Continue reading »

SHOW REPORT: CORRECTIONS HOUSE AT HIGHLINE (JAN 2, 2014)

 Concert Reviews  7 Responses »
Jan 192014
 

(My NCS comrades DGR and BadWolf paid me a visit in Seattle over the New Year’s holiday, and herein lies the tale of one of our nights together, as told by Toledo-based BadWolf. The iPhone photos are his, too. Sample music is at the end.)

It was Thursday, January 2nd, and DemiGodRaven’s face was getting a bit red. Islander turned to me, and said “he looks sick.” I swapped out his high-gravity IPA with my mellower lager—each beer, craft-made, sported enough hoppy bitterness to cleanse the palate of formaldehyde. Such is the style in Seattle.

DGR and I, being men of modest means, had saved up some scratch to spend our New Year’s week in Seattle at the NCS home base, which meant two things: live music and booze. At that moment it looked like the libations might take their toll on my fine Corvid co-writer.

Fitting, since we were drinking at The Pine Box, a Public House situated in what was once a morgue. The speakers played The Misfits, our server had a Rancid tattoo, and we were tipsy at 7pm. Perfect. Continue reading »

VIDEO ROUND-UP: BLOOD RED THRONE, REPTILIAN DEATH, INTERNAL BLEEDING, AND WREKMEISTER HARMONIES

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  5 Responses »
May 142013
 

I already posted one kind of round-up this morning, one that involved sending you away to other sites to hear new songs that are exclusively streaming elsewhere. But the last 24 hours were so chock full of new musical discoveries that I need to add a second round-up. In this one, however, I can give you the music to hear and the videos to watch at our very own humble site.

BLOOD RED THRONE

And the first offering comes your way from the icy fastness of southern Norway where Blood Red Throne sit on their blood red throne. As previously reported, this band are celebrating the 15th year of their existence with a new, self-titled album in a special edition LP box set that’s been up for pre-sale on Blood Red Throne’s Bandcamp page (here) since March. It will be released by Sevared Records on May 21. It features that sweet cover art by Rafael Tavares that’s staring at you above.

Today, the band premiered a music video for one of the new songs, which bears the wonderfully descriptive title of “Primitive Killing Machine”. It’s a merciless meat-grinder of a song, but as your head is pulled down into the teeth of the machine, it will be ringing with an exotic melody and banging happily away as it’s being pulverised and pulped. Nasty video, too. Continue reading »