AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: THORNS OF RUINS — “WICKED SOULS”

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Jun 302026
 

(written by Islander)

Thorns of Ruins makes its first appearance in ours page today. It is the solo work of Thomas Aamodt, who is probably better known for his other project, the Norwegian black metal band Ildfar.

We’re informed that the idea for Thorns of Ruins started back in 2022 when some of the songs that would become Ildfar’s second album, Nattemørkets kall, did not fit within Ildfar’s universe. Rather than abandon them, Thorns of Ruins was formed – and since then Aamodt has strived to create even greater musical separation between the two projects.

That separation is now most evident in Thorns of Ruins’ second album, Stellar Reverence, which will be released on August 13th by a trio of labels — Satanath Records, Black Plague Records, and Pagan Fury Records.

The new music still shows its connections to black metal, but it also reaches across genre lines to create intersections with doom and death metal, and to craft melancholic, atmospheric, and melodic experiences. We have an example of how multi-faceted the music is, through our premiere of a lyric video for the song “Wicked Souls“. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: CEREMONIAL WORSHIP — “PANTHEON OF SUFFERING”

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Jun 302026
 

(written by Islander)

The Greek black metal band Ceremonial Worship now find themselves in the tenth year of their existence. In that time they’ve released a pair of EPs, a split, and two albums — with a third one slated for international release by the Eternal Death label on July 31st.

This new album, Between Sleep and Death, is the work of a new lineup (though with founder High Priest C.W. still in the lead), and it has drawn comparisons to both classic Hellenic black metal (the legacy of Rotting Christ, Varathron, Necromantia) and “second wave” bands such as Kawir, Legion of Doom, Nocternity, and even mid-period Nightfall.

What we have for you today is the premiere of the second advance track off the new album, a truly ravishing song called “Pantheon of Suffering“. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: UNMOTHER

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Jun 302026
 

(Today we present Comrade Aleks’ interview of Spyros, aka Declwa, guitarist/bassist for the UK band Unmother, whose second album was released in February of this year and was reviewed by us here.)

The second album of London-based project Unmother, State Dependent Memory, depicts a disturbing urban atmosphere of isolation and unsafety in post-black metal tones. The black metal elements used as the album’s framework are almost devoid of the genre’s extreme spirit, but the speed of delivery and screaming vocals work to Unmother’s advantage. The album’s main mood, or atmosphere, so to speak, is supported by “experimental” and melancholy deviations from the theme, embedded in the guitars’ transitions into the appropriate register and the non-trivial, noire keyboard melodies.

Unmother truly has crafted material with its own character, and the black metal component isn’t as prominent as one might expect, but that’s not particularly important. State Dependent Memory provides questions and barely answers, and an interview with the band was a question of time. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: RAPID — “MOONLESS NIGHT”

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Jun 292026
 

(written by Islander)

A decade has passed since the Finnish metal band Rapid released their first demos, eventually leading to their 2022 debut EP Blackstar Oppression Regime. The music captured in those four songs has rightly been described on behalf of their label as an electrifying collision of “the urgency of hardcore punk, the hook-oriented propulsion of speed metal, and the spidery aura of old-wave black metal”.

Here we are, four years later, and Rapid’s debut album Enter the Realm of Fire is set for release on August 21st by Dying Victims Productions, and we’ll help you get your week off to a diabolical start with the premiere of an album track called “Moonless Night“. Continue reading »

JUNIUS – SOTERA

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Jun 292026
 

(Andy Synn catches up with a band we’ve featured a lot of over the years)

With so much music being released all the time, by both new bands and old ones, it’s all too easy to lose track of even your favourite artists.

Case in point, has it really been nine years since the most recentl album from Boston-based Post-Rock-influenced, Shoegaze-inspired Alt-Metallers Junius?

Well, apparently it has (not counting an interim Live Album from 2024), and while nine years definitely isn’t the longest gap between albums I’ve ever heard of (I’m still waiting patiently for that new Anata album) it’s definitely enough time that you might be wondering if the band have still “got it”.

So, let’s find out, shall we?

Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK: ALKUHARMONIAN KANTAJA, THE WATER WITCH, BLODTÅR, BLACK DOOR

 Album Reviews, SHADES OF BLACK  No Responses »
Jun 282026
 

(written by Islander)

For this Sunday I don’t have as many selections to recommend as usual. That’s not because I haven’t come across more releases that are worth recommending but because I’m short of time as I begin writing this.

On the other hand, this collection includes two complete albums. To forewarn you, both of them are unconventional, which is to say they may pose a challenge to some listeners who are less inclined to spend their time with avant-garde and experimental concoctions. But for people inclined to get off the usual beaten paths, with a taste for getting their minds bent, both albums are remarkable.

I’ve followed those two with two singles from forthcoming albums. Compared to today’s first two selections, they’re more easily grasped, but they’re still very engrossing. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD ON A SATURDAY: BEHEMOTH, RUSSIAN CIRCLES, FUMING MOUTH, SÉPULCRE, LUMINOUS VEIL, JØTNARR, THOLN, MAUNAH

 Album Reviews, Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC, SHORT BUT SWEET  2 Responses »
Jun 272026
 

(written by Islander)

Sometimes we lead off these roundups with shiny lures (bands whose names are well known) to attract hungry fish (you), in the hope that the fish will get hooked by something sharp hanging below in darker waters. That’s what I’ve done today, though to be clear, I was also attracted by the lures.

(Note to self: don’t use the fishing analogy again since you haven’t gone fishing in decades and the only lures you used were worms.)

The lures are themselves quite different from each other, and so are the lesser-known hooks, and altogether they provide a lot of listening (and viewing) pleasure. Be forewarned: there’s a bit of singing in the mix until you get to the end — when there’s a lot of it (and extraordinary singing it is). Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: LITOSTH — “ECLIPSE”

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Jun 262026
 

(written by Islander)

Shades of mental and emotional darkness have been features of heavy metal in general, and extreme metal in particular, for a very long time. Sometimes it’s been represented through supernatural imagery and lyricism, sometimes by more direct experiences of real-world turmoil and desolation.

But while it’s commonplace to see descriptions of metal songs or albums as “dark”, it’s still startling (and shuddering) to read about the ethos of Litosth’s forthcoming fourth full-length, Dreaming. It is described in the press materials proffered by Personal Records as a record that “offers no comfort, no resolution, no redemption”:

“What it offers is something more disturbing and necessary: the complete architecture of collapse. Eight tracks that do not describe the fall — they are the fall…. The album descends layer by layer through what remains when everything that was imposed is stripped away: faith, morality, purpose, and the illusion of ascent. What remains is not liberation. It is only ashes, emptiness, and silence…. Dreaming is not a record about dreaming. It is about finally ceasing to do so.”

How does this Brazilian duo of multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Maicon Ristow and lyricist Wendel Siota plumb such desolate depths through their music? We have a partial answer today in our premiere of a guitar-and-bass playthrough video for the song “Eclipse“. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: NINTH REALM — “DAMNATION’S VEIL”

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Jun 262026
 

(written by Islander)

On August 28th Transcending Obscurity Records will release Damnation’s Veil, the second full-length from Maryland-based Ninth Realm. The label rightly describes it as “a scathing form of death/thrash metal music bearing influences of hardcore and heavy metal, with a slight blackened edge”, and a narrative theme that delves further into the band’s original dark fantasy world, Tythorin.

Today we’re premiering the new album’s title song, but before we get to that we’ll encourage you to check out the first two singles from the album that have preceded the one we’re revealing today. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: VÉHÉMENCE

 Interviews  1 Response »
Jun 262026
 

(On June 10th the Antiq label released Assiégé pour l’Eternité, a special recasting of the influential debut album by the French medieval black metal band Véhémence. In the following very interesting interview Comrade Aleks makes a deep dive into the changes wrought through this recasting with Véhémence founder Tulzcha and vocalist Hyver.)

The French band Véhémence was started as a solo project by Tulzcha, who decided to try his talent at this endeavor on his own. His first album, Assiege (2014), was noticed, and over time, Tulzcha formed a team, which today includes Antiq Records owner Leon Ghiselin (aka Hyver), drummer Thomas Leiner, and bassist Konstantin Korolev, whom you might recognize from Passéisme.

Over three albums, the project grew so much that it was decided to completely re-record the first album, revamping the arrangements, adding lead guitar parts, live drums, violin, flute, and more. Additionally, the lyrics were updated, now even more in keeping with Véhémence’s medieval fantasy, and, of course, the cover art was also updated. The songs remain recognizable, but at the same time, it’s impossible to ignore how they’ve changed for the better.

Tonight I invite you to the realms of medieval black metal with Tulzcha and Hyver as our guides. Continue reading »

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