NO CLEAN SINGING

AN NCS PREMIERE: CAVE MOTH — “CLONE”

Oct 202026

(written by Islander)

(If you think the artwork is bizarre, wait until you hear the music.)

Cave Moth have released six EPs over the last 13 years. They have evolved into a music collective whose members are spread across the U.S. East Coast, and that group is now poised to release yet another EP in November, one named Useless Spawn, Sapient Husk that represents an important next step in the band’s evolution.

The EP includes a re-recording of “Rabbit’s Foot” from their last album, Paralytic Love (which we premiered here), along with two new songs, “Cartman” and “Clone“. What we have for you today is the premiere of “Clone“, as well as an extensive statement from Cave Moth that delves into what this mind-boggling song and the EP as a whole represent. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: SACCAGE — “BÉTON ARMÉ”

Premieres No Responses »

Oct 202026

(written by Islander)

We are very happy to welcome the return of Saccage from Québec City, a band whose last album Khaos Mortem (their third full-length) woke us up to their talents like the experience of an explosive detonation next door. They followed that 2019 record with a 2022 EP (Charogne), and at last they’re bringing us a new album this year.

Titled Chronophage, it’s set for a CD and digital release by Caligari Records on November 20th, with a vinyl edition expected in December or early January 2027. What we have for you today is the premiere of its second single, “Béton Armé“, a ravaging reminder of the power generated by the band’s fusion of blackened death metal, grindcore, and dark crust. Continue reading »

TOGETHER TO THE STARS: “IRIDESCENCE”

Album Reviews No Responses »

Oct 202026

(Our writer DGR is still playing catch-up in reviewing albums released earlier this year, but now taking them one at a time instead of presenting collections. Today the subject is the fourth album from the Swedish post-black metal band Together To The Stars.)

Much like actual interstellar travel (or interstellar travel as we would imagine it) it has taken a while for us to come into the orbit of Sweden’s Together To The Stars. The group, having existed for seven years and four albums, have never found themselves on a trajectory that brought them close to our lovely little corner of the internet. Their newest album Iridescence – which saw release in early June, though truthfully yours truly finally glanced in the direction of its eye-rending pink in early August – offers us an opportunity to rectify that.

Together To The Stars’ take on black metal – of the much acclaimed post-metal variety – is both enrapturing and infectious, without devolving into a series of tropes or markers so recognizable you can hear the gears of the machine turning in the background. By focusing heavily on climactic moments within each song, as well as memorable guitar work, and a shade of the depressive world of black metal, Together To The Stars find themselves with a gorgeous amalgamation of music that lands them pretty close to Harakiri For The Sky territory while still maintaining an identity free of expected histrionics. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): FVNERAL FVKK — “INDECENT IDOLS”

Album Reviews, Exceptions to the Rule, Premieres No Responses »

Oct 192026

(written by Islander)

We have been avidly following the towering epic doom progressions of Fvneral Fvkk since their first release in 2017 (the Lecherous Liturgies EP). In considering that EP, after first wondering whether it would be a serious undertaking in light of the band’s name, we wrote:

[T]his music is no joke. The largely mid-paced songs are really well-written, anchored by intensely seductive melodic hooks. They’re also plenty heavy, undergirded by a potent rhythm section (you can almost feel those drum strikes gradually cracking your skull like a car windshield crazing under the blows of baseball-sized hail). Compulsive headbanging is the order the day, except when it’s time to crawl like someone who’s suddenly lost the use of his legs, with an anvil on his back.

Apart from those sensations, the band’s lyrical themes further strengthened their appeal in these quarters. Although the music was presented with an often-ecclesiastical solemnity and grandeur, the band’s purpose was to expose and scorch the depravity of the clergy and the “black-robed pedophile ring” many of them have run under the auspices of the Church (to quote from this very interesting and highly informative 2020 interview at our site).

They continued that mission in their 2019 debut album Carnal Confessions, which our Andy Synn named to his year-end Critical Top Ten list, calling it “without a doubt one of the most brilliant albums of the year.”

Sadly, the band didn’t release any new music for quite a long time after that full-length debut. Happily, we now have a second album from them, this one named Indecent Idols. It will be released at the end of this week by Dying Victims Productions, but down below you’ll be able to stream the whole thing today. Continue reading »

BLACK MASK – VESTIGE OF MERCY

Album Reviews No Responses »

Oct 192026

(Andy Synn has a thoroughly nasty new recommendation to share with you all today)

Music, for a lot of people anyway, can be an inspirational thing.

The new Cursebinder (reviewed here), for example, seeks to inspire the listener to reflect on the disaffected nature of the metropolitan age, while the latest slab of Deathcore destruction from To The Grave (also reviewed here) hopes to inspire both rage and disgust at the depradation of the modern meat industry.

And the debut album from Black Mask?

Well, that wants to inspire you to meet the violence of the world head on, with a violent reaction of your own.

BITTER LOSS: “THE FUTILE DREAM OF BEING”

Album Reviews No Responses »

Oct 192026

(The Greek band Bitter Loss released their second album last April, and DGR has gotten around to reviewing it in the following paragraphs.)

Greece’s Bitter Loss is a band who have sat on the backburner for a little while, joining an honored class of groups who’ve not been done right by my personal gauge. Forever in a stasis of being promised a discussion but never quite reached even though they would’ve been fully deserving of their own articles were it not for life and work continually planting their foot on my throat. Thus the continued olive branch extension and attempt to make amends continues, and Bitter Loss’ album The Futile Dream Of Being deserves just as much spotlight as any other – even if in truncated form.

Thrash is a hard genre to quantify and write about these days given its existence being so integral to heavy metal’s cultural explosion over the years. As with many of the initial foundations of a music style, thrash can often feel as if it has been frozen in amber and evolution has long since sailed by – reducing it to a constantly repeating collection of tropes and circle-pit starters, sometimes entry level and otherwise unwilling to change without fearing the offense made to the old guard.

Obviously that isn’t the case, and as with any genre that has been around for a while it has splintered off into its own subfactions – some more fascinating than others in the sheer amount of musical virtuosity required – and many of those can be lively and vibrant even when it seems like the main umbrella is being held up by a collective of aging pillars sticking to what they know is best and true. Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK: INQUINAMENTUM, OBSCVRE SER, BOARHAMMER, LES BÂTARDES DU ROI

Album Reviews, SHADES OF BLACK, SHORT BUT SWEET 3 Responses »

Oct 182026

(written by Islander)

I’m beginning today’s collection with the same explanation I used in yesterday’s roundup, except I slept even longer and later last night than I did on Friday night. I may have done too good a job in convincing my restless mind to turn itself off overnight, because a big chunk of this morning had passed by before I could begin turning it on again.

The result is that this post is again appearing near mid-day in my time zone. The further result is that I’ve had to cut it back from what I had initially planned, or it would be appearing in the afternoon, and unfortunately I need that time to deal with other personal obligations before the new week launches tomorrow.

And so, this collection of songs is shorter than I wish it were, but I hope you’ll still get something pleasurable out of it. I certainly did. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD ON A SATURDAY: IRREVERSIBLE MECHANISM, DÄMMERUNG, KORPSESOTURI, SONIC MOON, HVRT, FAKE DUST

Album Reviews, Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC, SHORT BUT SWEET No Responses »

Oct 172026

(written by Islander)

I slept for a very long time last night. This is becoming more common on Friday nights. One key factor is that I’m convincing my restless mind that I don’t have to roll out these Saturday roundups as soon as I used to. I can sleep late instead, having realized that the world won’t end if this column arrives near mid-day in my time zone. Our weekend visitors will catch up when they can, or so I tell myself.

I did succeed in making almost all of today’s choices yesterday. The one exception, which comes last in the order, arrived via a recommendation I saw this morning that I couldn’t ignore. I’ll explain when we get there. The five bands that lead up to it are significantly different from each other in the music they make. Which is to say, I’m again satisfied that this collection will keep your head on a swivel as you move from one to the next, and maybe it will spin all the way off! Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: EXTOL, AETHERIAN, ARONIOUS, NIDARE

Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC No Responses »

Oct 162026

(written by Islander)

On almost all weekdays for many years I have committed to make either two track premieres or an EP premiere or an album premiere. Sometimes there is a day off because of some late-stage mishap (never my own, of course), as there was on Tuesday of this week, and sometimes we either receive only one invitation for a track premiere or only one that we’re happy to accept (believe it or not, I do turn down invitations when I can’t enthusiastically recommend a song).

Today was one of those rare days when I only calendared a single song premiere. And so, as on Tuesday, I had a bit of time to use for catching up with new songs and picking a few to recommend in another rare weekday roundup. Barring some kind of unexpected interference I will have more to recommend, as usual, on Saturday and Sunday. Continue reading »

MANNVEIRA: “VESÖLD”

Album Reviews No Responses »

Oct 162026

(Below you will find Daniel Barkasi’s review of a new album by the Icelandic band Mannveira which is being released today on Dark Descent Records.)

Black metal contains a tendency, if not a foundational principle, to push the envelope in several facets. Recent times have shown the style to be malleable to all sorts of sonic avenues, a fair number of which have been extremely esteemed in the quality department. It’s of no surprise that – again – we land upon an Icelandic act who is doing that in its own volatile and entirely specific manner.

Mannveira is the subject at hand, and we certainly weren’t expecting a new record in the late embers of this year. However, here we are with Vesöld, the follow-up to the chilling Vítahringur – a work that impressed mightily via its psychedelic tones and obscure atmosphere. It wasn’t clear as to when new music might arrive from this collective, so the announcement of this release was a pleasant surprise indeed.

Quite a cast in the band’s makeup, with Vesöld featuring Altari‘s Óskar Þór Guðjónsson, Forsmán‘s Oddur Blöndal (check our their album from earlier this year), Kviðrista’s Illugi Kristinsson, Naðra‘s Hilmar Gylfi Guðjónsson, and Örlygur Sigurðarson, whose credits include 0 and the aforementioned Naðra. In short, a hell of a group with a wealth of differing musical endeavors in their history, returning to present what is Mannveira’s second LP — a piece that doesn’t stray far from the first, but conversely travels a multitude of freshly compelling paths.

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