NO CLEAN SINGING

PORTRAYAL OF GUILT: “…BEGINNING OF THE END”

Apr 212026

(Here we present Wil Cifer’s review of a new album by Texas-based Portrayal of Guilt, which will be released on April 24th by Run For Cover.)

If you had to ask me what band would be the future of heavy music, I would say Portrayal of Guilt. They are not hampered by being tied to any sub-genre. They are forward-thinking, rather than being bolted to the nostalgia of an era, no aspirations to recreate ’90s Tampa or Bergen. Their album We Are Always Alone stands as a masterpiece that this band’s work is measured against. After releasing that album, they pushed themselves to sonic extremes, and …Beginning of the End finds them pushing themselves into a more experimental direction, while making music that might resonate the most with larger, more mainstream metal audiences without compromising who they are. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): DEVOID OF THOUGHT – “DEVOID OF THOUGHT”

Premieres No Responses »

Apr 212026

(Andy Synn has his own thoughts about an album which is far from devoid of them)

I wasn’t supposed to be writing this article.

I’m serious… it wasn’t until yesterday when I name-checked this Italian Death Metal battalion in another review that Islander slid into my DMs to inform me that we had this premiere scheduled (which gives you some insight into the well-polished and highly-professional outfit we’re running here) and to ask whether I’d like to take a run at writing the accompanying review.

Luckily he caught me in the mood for even more weird, mind-warping Metal… which is exactly what Devoid of Thought have delivered on their long-gestating, highly-anticipated, self-titled second album.

THE GOAT TAVERN INTERVIEWS THE FALL (OWLS WOODS GRAVES)

Interviews No Responses »

Apr 212026

(We are most happy to welcome back to NCS The Goat Tavern, a metal enthusiast based in the UK but with roots in Poland. He caught a live performance of the Polish black-metal/punk band Owls Woods Graves in Budapest and then followed that up with an excellent interview of the band’s frontman The Fall, which we now present below. We’re also including photos that The Goat Tavern took of that performance in Budapest. To follow The Goat Tavern, go here and here.)

Anyone drawn to the primal, unfiltered essence of underground metal might have already heard what Owls Woods Graves are all about. With their third album Strix out now, the band has been spreading their punk and black metal mixture like a plague. Their recent show in Budapest as support for the mighty Tormentor and Morbid was a perfect excuse to talk to The Fall, the band’s frontman. We discussed Strix, reflected on the blurred boundaries between punk and metal, and took a closer look at the band’s unique identity and evolution. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: RAHVIRA — “ETERNAL WAR”

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Apr 202026

(written by Islander)

On April 23rd the Armenian black metal band Rahvira will have their latest album in a 20+ year career jointly released by Holy Mountains Music (Yerevan, Armenia), Underworld Echoes Records (Greece), and More Hate Productions (Russia), with official distribution by Satanath Records (Georgia). The album’s title is In the Darkness of Silence (“Լռության խավարում”).

Once again the band’s founder Tigran Rahvira is the sole songwriter, and the lyrics are again in Armenian. We’re told that the texts “explore the search for personal and national identity, the idea of struggle, reflections on life and death, and the necessity of spiritual rebirth.”

What we have for you today is the premiere of the second song to be revealed from the album so far, and its name in English is “Eternal War” (Հավերժական Պատերազմ). Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: VOW — “DEATH WILL BE MY BRIDGE”

Premieres No Responses »

Apr 202026

(written by Islander)

“Formed in late 2023 on Chicago’s northside, VOW draw from the melodic and emotional intensity of European death metal greats such as Eucharist, Gates of Ishtar, and Dawn, merging those influences with the urgency of hardcore and the metallic edge of the NWOAHM.”

That’s part of the introduction provided by press materials we’ve received for Vow’s debut EP, Death Will Be My Bridge, which they describe as their “first definitive vision of mournful, forlorn melodic death metal, crafted for dark nights and darkened skies”. Those materials also include statements by Vow guitarist Aaron O’Neill, including this:

While working out the new material I was very conscious of what our peers were doing and where we may or may not fit in. Ultimately, I grew tired of worrying what others would think and just wanted to create something memorable that would hopefully stand on its own regardless of what was happening around us.

I do not disguise my influences; without name-dropping there are flourishes of melodic death & black Metal, epic doom, heavy metal, USPM, and 2000s metalcore often all within the same song. My goal for this record was to weaponize our affinity for these styles in an original way that makes sense and is true to us.

As an even more immediate representation of Vow’s multi-faceted dynamics, what we have for you today is the premiere of the EP’s powerful title song in advance of the record’s May 15 release by Iron Fortress Records. Continue reading »

ORDH – BLIND IN ABYSSAL REALMS

Album Reviews No Responses »

Apr 202026

(Andy Synn stares blindly into the abyssal realms… and is very pleased by what stares back)

It probably shouldn’t (I know how the game is played, after all) but it still rankles with me whenever I see bands getting major deals, support slots, etc, based on who their members are rather than the quality of their music.

At the same time, however, when bands we love here at NCS break up – and in this case we’re talking about Vermont-based Prog-Sludgers Barishi – I’m always happy to keep an ear out for whatever their members do next.

Does this make me a hypocrite? Probably. But I comfort myself with the thought that there’s at least a qualitative difference between, say, a major festival giving a so-called “super-group” a slot before they’ve even released any music and a site like ours trying to keep up with the careers of some of our favourite underground artists.

Hypocrisy or not though, the debut album from Ordh demonstrates exactly why it’s so important to keep track of this level of talent, wherever they end up.

AN NCS INTERVIEW: MÖHRKVLTH

Interviews No Responses »

Apr 202026

(We present Comrade Aleks’ interview of Gregory Person from the Breton black metal band Möhrkvlth, whose new album Gwenojennoù An Ankounac’h is set for release by the Antiq label on May 5th.)

In the eight years since the release of their first album, the French band Möhrkvlth has seen almost a complete lineup change. However, this hasn’t stopped the new members from following the masterplan of the band’s lead guitarist Gregory Person, and another full-length work entitled Gwenojennoù An Ankounac’h is here. Their atmospheric black metal with notes of depression, lyrics in Breton, and very light hints of traditional music influences may be considered as authentic, and indeed it’s one of the most interesting and memorable black metal discoveries of this spring.

Antiq Records focuses on albums with stories behind them, and so do I, thus let me introduce you to Möhrkvlth further through this interview with the band’s founder.

SHADES OF BLACK: DUIR, LORN, TYRANNUS, HAJDUK, BANSHEE MOON, LIVIDUS

Album Reviews, SHADES OF BLACK No Responses »

Apr 192026

(written by Islander)

I mentioned yesterday that I had collected 69 new songs or complete releases as a starting point for deciding what to recommend in this weekend’s usual columns. After yesterday’s selections that magic number had diminished, but not enough to make today’s choices any easier. Still, choices must be made.

I can’t identify any musical or thematic throughline for these six recommendations, so you’re in for a fair amount of bouncing around. I do have reasons for why I arranged them in the order I did, but I doubt those are very interesting so we should just get to the music.

P.S. I want to recommend something else today besides music. After a long time of anxiously waiting for the movie Sirāt to hit streaming services, I was finally able to watch it last night (it never played at any theaters anywhere close to where I live). I thought it was a stunning as the many stunned reviewers said it was. Be forewarned: it’s a desolate and devastating story, one that creates a shroud of near-ever-present tension. But it’s also a near-perfect piece of filmmaking, and if you see it I don’t think you’ll forget it. I’ll leave this link to a more comprehensive review.

P.P.S. These lines appear on the screen when the movie begins, and explain the meaning of its Arabic title: “There is a bridge called SIRĀT that links hell and paradise. Whoever crosses it is warned that it is narrower than a strand of hair, sharper than a sword.” Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD ON A SATURDAY: UNDERGANG, CORPUS OFFAL, FUNEBRARUM, BARÚS, VINTREGAL, LACASTA, THERE WERE WIRES, CLASS TRAITOR

Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC, SHORT BUT SWEET 3 Responses »

Apr 182026

(written by Islander)

As I often do, I made a list of links for new songs and videos I wanted to check out in anticipation of this Saturday’s column, i.e., things that had surfaced or that I had noticed since last weekend. Having done that, I counted the number of links, and there were 69 of them (I swear that number is completely coincidental!), including a few I noticed for the first time this morning. It wasn’t even a complete list; I had a bunch of other tabs open on my desktop that I didn’t add to the list because I knew time was running short.

I recognize this is odd behavior. Why make a list that long when you know you won’t make it through even a quarter of the items? Why make a list that long when you know it will only knot up your brain in deciding which of them to check out? I have no answer, though perhaps a trained therapist would have some theories.

As usual, I resorted to impulse. The only calculated part of the process was a desire to mix up bands I already like and others that were new to me, and a further desire to mix up the genres so that visitors here will be at least somewhat caught off guard if they move from one choice to the next and the next. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): VAEOVON — “SPIRITUAL NULLIFICATION”

Album Reviews, Premieres No Responses »

Apr 172026

(written by Islander)

The origins of the phrase “elevator pitch” are murky, but the meaning isn’t. It refers to someone describing an idea to someone else who doesn’t have long to listen, or doesn’t want to give you much time. You’ve got the length of an elevator ride to get your point across and sell it.

In our field, record labels, publicists, and artists make elevator pitches too, usually in writing. Some are better at it than others. Sometimes the elevator pitch for a band’s music tells you pretty much all you need to know in deciding whether to check out the goods, especially when a band’s music isn’t much more complicated than a couple of quick paragraphs can capture. But sometimes the elevator pitch really doesn’t tell you (and can’t tell you) everything that makes the music worth hearing.

Which brings us to the New Zealand band Vaeovon and their debut album Spiritual Nullification. Continue reading »

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