Tag Archive: death

Let’s Start The Week With Obscura Covering Death’s ‘Flesh And The Power It Holds’

Jan.09, 2012

It’s a known fact that I am a huge fan of Obscura and Death. Obscura will soon be releasing an EP of old demos and covers, and among them is a cover of Death’s excellent ‘Flesh And The Power It Holds’, and the cover is amazing. Here you go:

It’s just perfect. For those interested, the EP should come out very soon as a self-release by Obscura, and here’s the tracklist:

Obscura – ‘Illegimitation’ Demo (2003)
1.) …and all will come to an end
2.) Crucified
3.) Fear
4.) Immanent Disaster

Obscura – ‘Cosmogenesis Preproduction’ (2006)
5.) Incarnated
6.) Open the Gates
7.) Headworm

Obscura – ‘Recording Session 2011′ (2011)
8.) Death – Flesh and the Power it Holds
9.) Atheist – Piece of Time
10.) Cynic – How Could I

- NT

Tags: death, Illegimitation, Obscura

Farewell, 2011: Nayon’s Top 21 of 2011

Filed Under: Lists!

Dec.27, 2011

Wow, this year was an amazing year for metal. There were many great technical and progressive albums, which is what I consider to be my ‘main’ genre. A lot of my favorite bands came out with excellent albums, and there were a few surprising newcomers. Some of these I’ve reviewed myself and given a great score, so it won’t be a surprise. Some of these I didn’t have the time to review, which was a shame. Anyway, without further ado, here is my list of top 20 of 2011:

Honorable mentions:

Tre Watson – Gravestones

The reason I’m not giving this an actual rating is because Tre is a close friend of mine, so I can’t be unbiased about this. It’s a really great EP, and especially the last track is a masterpiece. Definitely listen to this.

Substructure – Monolith

These guys just came out of nowhere. They do a great blend of Born of Osiris and The Contortionist, a.k.a progressive spacecore. The reason it’s not in my actual list is because it’s quite short and a bit derivative. It’s still a good listen though.

Empirine – The Great Excursion

These guys perform a technical/progressive death blend of Opeth, Obscura and Cynic. They’re pretty incredible, and we’ve covered them a few times, so you should definitely check them out.

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Raise A Glass For Chuck Schuldiner

Filed Under: Editorials, Things That Are Fucking Metal

Dec.13, 2011

Younger metal fans might not be aware of who this guy is, so let me explain; Chuck Schuldiner IS death metal. The man who formed the band Death, he is pretty much responsible for creating death metal, and as such he was (and still is) very important for me, as death metal is my favorite genre, and my favorite bands are directly influenced by this man’s work (Obscura, The Faceless, Necrophagist and Fallujah to name a few).

Ten years ago today, on December 13th, Chuck Schuldiner passed away. He was struggling with brain cancer, and the medication he was taking made him weak to common diseases which took his life – but his legacy lives on, and unlike many other guitarists who became a big deal after their death, Chuck is irrefutably one of the most important people in metal. His philosophical take on lyrics, his jazz-influenced songwriting and his early era technical/progressive death metal is still unmatched by most. When most bands were concerned with thrashing, Chuck was making music for the mind. Some of his prowess is still unmatched; many bands mistake technicality and progression for chugging on the open string with staccato rhythms, whereas Chuck hit all the strings with odd timing, and screamed like hell at the same time.

So today, one decade on, we celebrate his life and works, and if you haven’t heard them before (or just need a refresher), here are some of his great, unparalleled works to remember him by:

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Tags: chuck schuldiner, death, Fallujah, Necrophagist, Obscura, The Faceless

Cynic – Carbon-Based Anatomy

Filed Under: Reviews

Oct.07, 2011

Cynic

Carbon-Based Anatomy

01. Amidst The Coals
02. Carbon-Based Anatomy
03. Bija!
04. Box Up My Bones
05. Elves Beam Out
06. Hieroglyph

[11/15/11]
[Season of Mist]

There’s no doubt about it; Cynic are absolutely legendary. From their inception, they’ve revolutionized and influenced metal for decades to come. They’re a band that were perhaps ahead of their time when their 1993 debut album Focus was released, injecting spacey progressive rock and jazz fusion into the genre of death metal where such a touch was hard to come by. Their influence has given us bands like The Faceless, Veil of Maya, Textures, and countless others. Thankfully, the current metal scene is more hospitable and receptive of progression, and Cynic are continuing to push their sound into new extremes.

Post-comeback Cynic has so far showed signs of aging, but in a manner similar to that of fine wine. Where Focus had a rough exterior rooted in death metal (fun fact: guitarist/vocalist Paul Masvidal and drummer Sean Reinert spent some time in Death), it was obvious from their return on 2008′s Traced In Air that a much greater emphasis was going to be placed on melody, atmosphere, and much stronger jazz fusion/prog rock leanings. Their latest offering in their Carbon-Based Anatomy EP takes a further step into this territory, bringing some new touches of psychedelia and tribal music with them.

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Tags: Aeon Spoke, Amy Correia, Carbon-Based Anatomy, Cynic, death, Paul Masvidal, Sean Reinert, Season Of Mist

This Month’s Issue Of Decibel Confirms It: New Opeth To Be Awesome, Yet Void Of The Metals

Filed Under: Upcoming releases

Jul.26, 2011

I recently purchased a subscription to Decibel Magazine. Several things contributed to my choice of a subscription, including the nostalgia of anticipating that monthly magazine delivery, those kickass exclusive flexi-discs, and the need within myself to further support and immerse myself in metal culture. Decibel is easily the best metal rag you can pick up these days, where they focus on relevant acts that actually matter to the metal community. If you open up Decibel, you won’t likely see much of the mainstream psuedo-metal that Revolver and Kerrang! often shovel. Far be it from me to be an elitist, but I’d rather read a magazine that does cover stories of Death instead of Bullet For My Valentine. What self-respecting fan of underground music wouldn’t?!

At any rate, this month’s brilliant cover story is all about Opeth‘s new album Heritage. Not too long ago, I came across a Finnish article surrounding the highly anticipated album and ran it through Google Translate, and took the gist of what the slight mess of broken English that was produced. I had concluded that the album was without growls or any of the signature Opeth death metal stylings, and instead was an adventurous look into main man Mikael Akerfeldt’s primary influences and listening habits; classic prog rock was to be the main flavor of Heritage. Of course, I maintained that I could have been slighly off-base, but it turns out that it isn’t the case. It’s true, according to Decibel.

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Tags: Black Sabbath, Bullet for my valentine, death, Decibel Magazine, Heritage, Opeth, Rush

Obscure Gems: Disembarkation – Rancorous Observision

Filed Under: Obscure Gems

Mar.28, 2011

Disembarkation – Rancorous Observision

Do you like heavily jazz-influenced old-school technical death metal? I’m talking Atheist, Pestilence and the likes. If so, you probably know how hard it is to find bands that make similar music, let alone do it well. Hey, it’s all good; you have me to save you. Disembarkation are technical death/jazz fusion band from, you guessed it, Quebec, Canada. There’s all you want here: an old-school production that is very calm and lets the instruments breathe, the bass is as audible as anything else in the mix and plays its own role, and the vocals are just the right texture, somewhere between Atheist and Martyr I guess. If you’re not already drooling right now, this one probably isn’t for you. But if you are, just jump in already. This is good.

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Tags: Atheist, Cryptopsy, dead to fall, death, Disembarkation, In The Mouth of Madness, martyr, Obscura, Pestilence, Rancorous Observision

Death – Scavenger of Human Sorrow [Prog Metal March: March 28th]

Filed Under: Prog-Metal March

Mar.28, 2011

The first track of the last album of the first death metal band on the first day of last week of the month. How appropriate. This album was a hallmark of progressive metal, with incredible drumming by Richard Christy; complex yet simple riffs by the master Chuck Schuldiner; and amazing, deep yet relatable lyrics by Chuck again, along with his best vocal performance. This album changed my life and my outtake on music. RIP Chuck, your legacy will not be forgotten. This song is heavy, technical, emotional… It’s the perfect progressive metal song for me.

- N

Tags: death

Obscura – Omnivium

Filed Under: Reviews

Mar.23, 2011

Obscura

Omnivium

01. Septuagint
02. Vortex Omnivium
03. Ocean Gateways
04. Euclidean Elements
05. Prismal Dawn
06. Celestial Spheres
07. Velocity
08. A Transcendental Serenade
09. Aevum

[03/29/11]
[Relapse]

This is it. The album that all progressive/technical/whatever death metal fans have been waiting for. They are, in my opinion, one of the most important bands in death metal right now. Most bands of their ilk either try to be as old school as possible and end up with a dated sound, or they try to be extremely modern which just sounds manufactured and unnatural. Looking at it from another angle, most bands either try to simplify their sound and end up being boring, or they try to go over the top and you can just feel that they’re trying too hard. Obscura are none of these; their sound is the future of death metal, because they acknowledge the old greats while innovating, and they are very intricate and complicated whilst at the same time comprehensible and not ridiculously flamboyant. I dare say that Omnivium is the perfection of their sound. But what does that mean?

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Tags: Atheist, Cynic, death, gorod, Morbid Angel, Necrophagist, Obscura, Ron Jarzombek

Ulcerate – The Destroyers Of All

Filed Under: Reviews

Feb.15, 2011

Ulcerate

The Destroyers of All

01. Burning Skies
02. Dead Oceans
03. Cold Becoming
04. Beneath
05. The Hollow Idols
06. Omens
07. The Destroyers of All

[01/25/11]
[Willowtip Records]

When flicking through a list of recent metal albums for something that might appeal I stumbled upon this release by New Zealand based Death Metal outfit Ulcerate. Though Death Metal, at least in its purer forms, has never really been a passion of mine, it is the apparent incorporation of Post Metal into their sound that caught my eye, not to mention some pretty glowing reviews from other online critics. I am a huge fan of Sludge and keeping that in mind, I will be reviewing this album from that perspective, so apologies in advance for my ignorance in certain aspects of this release.

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Tags: death, metal, post, sludge, Ulcerate

Reissue Artwork For ‘The Sound Of Perseverance’

Filed Under: General News, Upcoming releases

Jan.02, 2011

On February 15, 2011 in North America (February 21 internationally), Death’s seventh and final album, The Sound Of Perseverance will be reissued with all new artwork. This album is the first in a series of official reissues from legendary metal band Death. The album has been remastered and will also include a second disc of previously unreleased demo material. Original cover artist, Travis Smith will be enhancing the album artwork, as well as liner notes from Death guitarist Shannon Hamm and photographs from “The Sound Of Perseverance” era.

Reissue:

The Sound Of Perseverance

Original:

The Sound Of Perseverance original

And if that’s not enough for you Death fanatics, there will also be a special deluxe version of the The Sound Of Perseverance, which includes a third bonus disc of unreleased material, available exclusively through the Relapse mailorder and iTunes. I’m a big fan of Death and this being one of my favorite album of theirs (then again, I love all of their work), it’s cool to see these albums get remastered along with a whole mess of extras. I’m sure the demo material alone will get people most excited. Details and pre-order options will be announced soon…

Tags: death, The Sound Of Perseverance