EVOCATION: “ILLUSIONS OF GRANDEUR” ON THE WAY

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  No Responses »
Aug 102012
 

I really can’t get enough of Sweden’s Evocation. They combine old-school death metal with some newer-school learning in a way that just really hits my sweet spot. Their music is raw, it’s heavy, it’s galvanizing, it’s groove-filled, and it’s memorable. Their last album of new material, Apocalyptic, was released in 2010, and after that Century Media signed ’em up. Century then compiled a collection of demo, unreleased, and rehearsal material from the band — whose roots go back to the early 90’s — and unleashed it in June as Evoked From Demonic Depths – The Early Years.

Today, we got the news that Century will release Evocation’s fourth studio album, Illusions Of Grandeur, on September 24 in Europe and October 23 in the US. It will include guest vocals by Amon Amarth’s Johan Hegg on a song called “Into Submission”, as well as three studio bonus tracks on a limited-edition digipak. And it features the eye-catching artwork of Michal “Xaay” Loranc — about whom more in a minute.

I wish I had a new song from the new album to play for you (and for myself), but we’ll have to wait a bit longer for that. But I do have a handful of videos as well as a track from the Evoked From Demonic Depths compilation as a reminder of why the new album should be eagerly anticipated. All of that is after the jump (we’ve streamed some of this stuff at various places and times in the past, but some of you might be new to this band).

Xaay is a Polish artist whose work we’ve featured before at NCS. He’s been a professional designer and digital artist since 1999 and has created album covers and/or merch designs for the likes of Nile, Behemoth, Kamelot, Vader, Necrophagist, and Decapitated. He also created the cover art for both Evocation’s Apocalyptic and for the 2012 compilation. Check those out here: Continue reading »

MORE VICIOUSNESS

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  6 Responses »
Mar 282011
 

Monday is still vicious. We’re still not willing to suffer in silence. Now we have one more piece of music to keep us company. If we’d seen this before finishing off our first post of the day, we would have included it there — but actually, it just became available a few hours ago. Good fucking timing.

It’s a new music video from Sweden’s Evocation. Their 2010 album Apocalyptic was one of our hands-down favorites of that year. We included one of the tracks (“Sweet Obsession”) on our list of the year’s Most Infectious Extreme Metal Songs (check that here).  The music is a smoking chainsaw of death metal from a band who recorded one of their first demos at Sunlight Studios in 1992, so yeah, they know what the fuck they’re doing.

The songs are varied in their pacing, but usually fast, with a vibrating wash of melody-tinged, ass-grinding riffage; scarred, banshee-style vocals; and some sweet, flickering, weaving guitar solos that will put a big fucking smile on your face. They do a very effective job of immediately triggering the headbang reflex and rattling your skull  . . . viciously.

This new video is for a song called “Psychosis Warfare”, which is pretty much what Mondays are all about, right? It was directed and produced by Iwona Kusion and that most awesome album cover artist Michal “Xaay” Loranc, who also did the cover for Apocalyptic. Go past the jump and watch it. Fuck Mondays. Continue reading »

MISCELLANY NO. 24

 MISCELLANY  11 Responses »
Feb 172011
 

It’s time for another MISCELLANY post. Actually, it’s way past time. If I had any hope of checking out all the bands I’d like to check out, I should be doing this every day.

Most of you know the rules: We keep a running list of bands to check out, and I impulsively pick names from the list and listen to a song or two, and dutifully report my impressions — while giving you the chance to hear exactly what I heard, because I’m not high enough on my own opinions to think you will — or should — just take my word for it.

In this edition of MISCELLANY, I’ve got three finds for you — and holy fuck, are there some prize-wnners in this group. Before I sampled the tunage of these three bands, I didn’t know what to expect. In the first two cases, it was a spine shuddering experience — the kind of music that makes me proud to be a metalhead. A true, motherfucking bonanza. In the third case, the music was just so demented that I found myself strongly attracted against my better instincts. Shit, to be brutally honest, it makes me proud to be a metalhead, too!

I can be faulted for an excess of exuberance, but to the extent I’m capable of being objective, I don’t think I’m off the mark on the first two bands. In the third case, I may have simply lost all my bearings. But you be the judge:

From Poland, a band called Nomad (which includes Behemoth guitarist Seth); from Massachusetts, a band called Sentinel; and from the Czech Republic, a band called . . . gulp . . . Mincing Fury and Guttural Clamour of Queer Decay.  (my listening log, and the songs for you to hear yourselves, follow after the jump . . .) Continue reading »