AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: URISK — “THE HAULED AND THE WAIF”

 Premieres  No Responses »
Sep 142026
 

(written by Islander)

Urisk are a black metal duo from Bonn, Germany, formed in 2023 by Benedikt Brixius and Marleen Bügener. They have very specific and heart-felt inspirations, which we’ll get to momentarily, and they’ve wasted no time in musically expressing them: Following a debut demo released in the fall of 2024, they released a debut album named Shrivelling Lights in 2025, and a second demo at the end of that same year.

Those were independent releases, but Urisk have now partnered with Vendetta Records for the release of their second album on October 2nd. Its name is CALL, and today we’re premiering a lyric video for its first and only single in advance of the album drop. The name of this song is “The Hauled and the Waif“. Continue reading »

KRALLICE – SCOUR ORDER

 Album Reviews  No Responses »
Sep 142026
 

(Andy Synn says to expect the unexpected when it comes to the new album from Krallice, out Friday)

Love them or hate them (and, of a certainty, there’s plenty of folks in both camps) Krallice have long been one of the most reliably progressive, artistically provocative, bands in Metal.

Of course, while their avant-garde ambitions and experimental excursions haven’t always paid off – don’t get me wrong, I’m definitely a fan, but I’m also willing to admit that their discography isn’t perfect, although that’s probably to be expected from a group continually trying to challenge themselves and take chances with their sound – it’s to their credit that every release, from Dimensional Bleedthrough toYgg Huur to Crystalline Exhaustion, has presented a slightly different face (or, at least, a subtly different facet) of the band.

And, in that sense, Scour Order is no different.

Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: CRYPTORIUM — “REVOLTING OBSESSION”

 Premieres  No Responses »
Sep 142026
 

(written by Islander)

It’s so nice to begin a new week at NCS by installing a piece of hellishly eye-catching cover art at the top of the page. We have an intricate layout of skull-headed abominations that seem to be feeding on their own intestines, plus spikes, tendrils, and a ghastly glowing light that signifies worse things might lie ahead. We bow in the direction of the artist Slimeweaver for creating such a ghoulish delight.

Even better, the album that the artwork adorns is itself a ghoulish delight, one that will hold special appeal for fans of deathless Swedish death metal, the cemetery spawn of such bands as Dismember, Entombed, Carnage, and Grave. That album will lead listeners Through The Bowels Of Ceaseless Dissonance, and our fiendish guides are the Swedish band Cryptorium.

What we have for you today is the premiere of a song called “Revolting Obsession” in advance of the October 30 album release by Transcending Obscurity Records. Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK: DIE SÜNDE, THE AEONS TORN, SERVANT, FLAME

 SHADES OF BLACK  No Responses »
Sep 132026
 

(written by Islander)

I originally made six choices for this column, but as I did yesterday I overslept due to having a bit too much fun last night at a local watering hole. So, I’m rushing now and am forced to leave two of my choices behind — and to cut this introduction short.

As it happens, all of the following four songs were presented through videos, and the first three are especially good. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD ON A SATURDAY: UNDERDARK, LIZARD CULT, LŌTICO, OF WOLVES, METHEDRINE

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  No Responses »
Sep 122026
 

(written by Islander)

Welcome to The Department of Broken Records. I know that’s what I’ll sound like if I explain how tough it was for me to make choices for this roundup or how late I slept this morning, so I’ll just skip that (get it?) and go straight to the songs and videos, which I hope you’ll enjoy as much as I have — even though the oversleeping has made the collection briefer than average. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: NIGHT HAG — “DROWNED IN DEATH”

 Premieres  No Responses »
Sep 112026
 

(written by Islander)

Over the last five years we’ve paid close attention to the horrid ambitions of the Virginia-based death-doom band Night Hag, beginning with a feature about music from their then-forthcoming 2022 debut album Phantasmal Scourge, following that with an interview after the album’s release, continuing with a premiere of their full-length 2023 split with Italy’s Burial, and now forging ahead with yet another premiere.

The subject of today’s musical revelation is a song named “Drowned In Death“, which is off Night Hag’s fearfully anticipated second album Great Dismal Darkness, which will be released on October 16th by the Rotted Life label.

As some might say, this isn’t a song for the faint of heart, but you’re not faint-hearted or you wouldn’t be here! Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: IN OBSCURITY REVEALED — “CONSECRATED BY ROT”

 Premieres  2 Responses »
Sep 112026
 

(written by Islander)

Musically, the Mexico City death metal band In Obscurity Revealed know themselves very well. They know what inspires them, they know what they do best, and they clearly will not be diverted from their maniacally barbarous mission by trends within “modern metal” that pull this way or that. They named their new album Caustic Maelstrom, and that’s no lie.

Even a decade ago when they released their debut EP Grim Fumes of Revelation, they opened our bleery eyes wide. We wrote then:

The massive grinding riffs hit with merciless force, the turbocharged drumming puts a jolt of adrenaline into the bloodstream, and the needling guitar leads are pure poison. Add in some convincingly ghastly vocals and you have a riveting explosion of sulfurous death metal that’s heavy as hell and highly addictive.

And of course In Obscurity Revealed were just getting started. Their debut album Glorious Impurity followed in 2018 along with a couple of shorter releases, and now, at last, their accurately-titled second full-length will be released by the band’s new label Personal Records on October 9th. To help pave the way, today we’re premiering its second single. As you’ll discover, it’s well-named too: “Consecrated By Rot“. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: DEAD KOSMONAUT

 Exceptions to the Rule, Interviews  3 Responses »
Sep 112026
 

(In June of this year Edged Circle Productions released a new album by the Swedish heavy metal band Dead Kosmonaut, and that led to the following extensive interview by our Comrade Aleks of the band’s founder and songwriter Mattias Reinholdsson.)

This Swedish heavy metal band, officially formed almost twenty years ago by bassist Mattias Reinholdsson, now boasts not only its third album but also a still-stellar lineup. In addition to Mattias’s Book of Hours buddy Henrik Johansson (drums), Dead Kosmonaut features vocalist Per Hellbutcher (Hellbutcher, Nifelheim), as well as guitarists Fredrik Folkare (Unleashed) and Peter Hallgren (Sorcerer).

Such a lineup could offer listeners a brutally extreme experience, but instead, these gentlemen deliver the same melodic, classic metal. The sound of their new album Retrospectre is heavy and clear, not overly cluttered, and the production, entrusted to Fredrik, was oriented toward the ’80s, although these tracks lack the retro-vibe. Despite the artwork and the title, Dead Kosmonaut are not only alive, but kicking ass, and Mattias is here to tell how it’s possible. Continue reading »

SHORT BUT SWEET: CONTENTION / FROM BELOW / GOD’S HATE / INITIATE / JUDICIARY / VILE MIND

 SHORT BUT SWEET  No Responses »
Sep 102026
 

(Andy Synn presents six short-but-sweet releases from across the Hardcore spectrum)

A book I read recently (and I’m just now realising that “recently” was actually months ago) brought up the topic of “overflow”, particularly as it pertains to the impact – or impacts, plural – of simply having too much information.

And while the original focus of the discussion was more about how an excess of scientific data, leading to a glut of scientific publications, can potentially devalue the resultant perception of the work, the theme also transfers over nicely to the topic of reviews (and, particularly, review scores).

Put it this way, with more and more music being released (and, importantly, made more widely accessible) each year, and more and more reviews of said music being written in response, it’s inevitable that there’s going to be more albums receving higher scores, which will in turn give the audience the impression that reviewers are being too generous and that scores are being devalued… even if the normal distribution remains the same.

It’s a problem, even if it’s not one people think about very often, and one reason I’m glad we don’t do ranked scores here at NCS, as our role is more to curate the vast array of new releases each month and help them find their audience, not put them against one another in competition.

Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): HKSPK — “HEIMKEHR”

 Album Reviews, Premieres  No Responses »
Sep 102026
 

(written by Islander)

Because some people seem to value our daily premieres, they offer many opportunities for this listener/writer to both re-connect with bands we’ve learned to admire and to connect for the first time with others whose music is a new discovery.

Today we make one of those first connections by premiering a new album named Heimkehr by the German band HKSPK. This isn’t HKSPK’s first release — it was preceded by their 2024 Holy Scum debut album and their 2025 EP The Human Butcher — but it’s the first exposure we’ve had to their music.

That exposure has made an eye-opening impression, and we are glad for the chance to now share the whole album with you in advance of its release tomorrow (September 11th). Continue reading »

 Older Entries