NO CLEAN SINGING

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): DEIMLER — “DARKNESS FALLS”

Mar 192026

(written by Islander)

Death metal does not have to be interesting, innovative, or even moderately intelligent to be enjoyable. We all know this and most of us will freely admit it. In fact, sometimes it’s at its most enjoyable when its dumber than a box of rocks. And conversely, sometimes it can become so busy, disjointed, and intentionally unfamiliar that the band’s labored adventurousness is unpalatable, or so pretentiously serious that it becomes a big yawn (and not the yawning of our adored abysses).

On their new album Darkness Falls, the Spanish death metal band Deimler have found a sweet spot (indeed, many sweet spots) between these extremes. Their music is monstrous and mauling but it’s also frequently mind-boggling in its intricate adventurousness. It powerfully creates unsettling atmospheric auras but also hits like battering rams. It’s packed with hooks, and it includes guitar solos that are eye-opening rarities in the realms of death metal.

As vivid proof of these claims, today we’re premiering a full stream of Darkness Falls on the eve of its March 20 release by Awakening Records. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: LÖMSK

Interviews No Responses »

Mar 192026

(A couple of weeks ago Vendetta Records released the debut album of the Swedish black metal band Lömsk. Attracted by the cover art, our Comrade Aleks fell into the album and emerged with a desire to interview the band, and the following discussion with Lömsk’s bassist and vocalist followed.)

War became a part of our background, and it seems that mankind’s feelings towards this everyday catastrophe have become dull. And like the devil turned to be a banal part of black metal’s cultural code, so images of war transformed into just another aspect of extreme metal spirit. Yet the artwork of the new album by the Swedish black metalists Lömsk somehow attracted my attention, and the nine nihilistic hymns of Act II – Of Iron and Blood deliver some twisted excitement – enough to make a little effort and ask about an interview.

And lo! There’s something probably far more behind the scenes of that burning city and its smouldering ruins. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: EXXÛL

Exceptions to the Rule, Interviews No Responses »

Mar 192026

(As you’ll learn in greater detail below, Exxûl is one of a collective of connected bands from the south shore of Québec, and their debut album was released this past January. It drew the attention of our Comrade Aleks, who succeeded in interviewing the band’s songwriter/guitarist Defender (aka Phil Tougas).)

To start with, Exxûl is one of the bands belonging to The Stygian Oath circle. TSO is Canada’s semi-virtual community founded by members of the bands Atramentus (funeral doom metal), Chthe’ilist (death metal), Zeicrydeus (black, thrash metal), and now Exxûl (epic doom metal).

All of these bands are located in Québec and all of them share the same mythology filling their lyrics. All the lyrics are tied to the Perpetual Planes, which is a fictional, dark fantasy world, and “the stories created are often allegories to real life events & personal experiences”.

Musically, Exxûl’s first album Sealed into None has a lot in common with orthodox epic doom bands yet with a good emphasis on their power metal potential. It’s very classic-sounding material with a damn lot of hooks and a quite modern touch. I can’t just pass it by, so here is another “exception of top the rule” interview.

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): HELL TREPANNER — “THE CONSECRATION OF ETERNAL IMPURITY”

Album Reviews, Premieres No Responses »

Mar 182026

(written by Islander)

“Darkness enthroned through the death of purity.” With that legend, the Peruvian band Hell Trepanner announce the inspiration for their new album, which will be released on March 20th by the respected Chinese label Awakening Records. The label provides a more extensive but no less daunting description:

The Consecration of Eternal Impurity is a ritual descent into the profane, where each track serves as a hymn to spiritual corruption and transcendence through chaos. This release explores the paradox between the sacred and the impure, narrating a process of inverted consecration in which purity is sacrificed to give way to a higher form of darkness. With abrasive riffs, relentless drums, and dense atmospheres, the work constructs an oppressive sonic landscape that invokes ancient deities, forgotten ruins, and forbidden ceremonies. It is a manifesto of blasphemous power that redefines the essence of ritualistic and obscure death metal.

As you’re about to discover through our full streaming premiere of this tremendous new album, Hell Trepanner powerfully carry forward the pentagram-strewn banner of South American extreme metal, and we’re proud to help flood the world with its horrid wonders. Continue reading »

GROWTH – UNDER THE UNDER

Album Reviews No Responses »

Mar 182026

(Andy Synn was an early supporter of Growth and their debut album, so it only made sense for him to cover their long-gestating sophomore record, out next week)

Good things come, or so they say, to those who wait.

And, goddamn, have I been waiting for the new record from underground Aussie sensations Growth for a while now… ever since I discovered them and their outstanding debut album (which you can, and should, read more about here) back in 2020, in fact.

Sure, it may have taken them longer than I might have liked (though not as long as some of their countrymen, who I’m still waiting on) to produce the goods, but if good things really do come to those who wait, then surely the extra long wait means it’ll be extra good?

AN INTERVIEW OF ISLANDER – BY PUGET SOUND METAL BULLETIN

Interviews 3 Responses »

Mar 182026

(Puget Sound Metal Bulletin is a print zine created by Old Man Winter, guitarist in the Seattle-based melodic death metal band Veriteras. Last week the fifth issue was published and distributed, and it includes Winter’s interview of our own Islander, presenting a discussion that focuses on NCS and Northwest Terror Fest, preceded by a bit of background about Islander’s involvement with metal. And of course we’re re-publishing that interview here today! For more info about Puget Sound Metal Bulletin and how to get it, see the links below after the interview’s conclusion.)

NO CLEAN SINGING doesn’t literally mean no clean singing. Well, it used to. As Islander, creator of the long-running metal webpage, puts it on the No Clean Singing about page: “When the site began, the name of it was serious. But as time has passed, my own tastes have broadened and other writers have joined us, and they’re even more open-minded than I am. Now, the name just confuses people, because sometimes we write about metal that includes actual singing instead of (or in addition to) growling, howling, and shrieking. But it’s kind of like if you named your kid Rufus. When she grows up, it confuses other people, but she is what she is and it might confuse people even more if you legally changed it.”

Personally, I assumed the name meant that they only reviewed metal songs that consisted entirely of swear words. But regardless of the reasons for the name, No Clean Singing has been one of the biggest online metal sites for the global metal scene for nearly two decades, providing interviews, album reviews, premiers, and a Pacific Northwest show calendar (which happens to be a primary source for the metal bulletin’s list of shows on page 7).

Not only does Islander run No Clean Singing, he’s also one of the creators of Northwest Terror Fest, one of the region’s top metal festivals, drawing fans from across the US, Canada, and beyond.

Read on to hear how these two pillars of the metal scene came to be… Continue reading »

ENSHINE: “ELEVATION”

Album Reviews No Responses »

Mar 182026

(In January of this year the Swedish/French duo Enshine released their first new album in more than a decade. The odds or DGR failing to review it have been slim or none, and at last he has done so.)

Tenured readers of the NoCleanSinging hallowed halls will recognize the name Enshine as one we have covered a decent amount in years past. The introspective, philosophical, skyward-gazing melodrama of the death and doom duo has held much appeal around here during their times of activity. Comprised of musicians Jari Lindholm and Sebastien Pierre, Enshine have sought to unify the strengths of the pair’s many other projects into something that utilized the aspirations of a genre that often evokes dreamlike qualities.

Positioned within a subset of doom with a stronger focus on beauty within the idea of melancholy rather than an outright crushing of the spirit. Atmospheric without being overwhelmingly sad, you’re just as often made to feel like you’re a piece of cloth caught in the wind floating high in the clouds just as often as you are brought back down to Earth and pressed into the ground. Little wonder then, that of the three Enshine releases up to this point, the band’s cover art has either been picturesque hues of blue and white among mountainous landscapes or hyper-colored renderings of the stars. Enshine combines the aspirations of two individuals whose other bands and their own solo careers have aspired to set listeners in a similar head space, both spiritual and introvertedly-philosophical – and very, very heavy on the keyboard leads. Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: ASHEN HORDE — “ENTROPY AND ECSTASY”

Exceptions to the Rule, Premieres No Responses »

Mar 172026

(written by Islander)

This makes the fourth time in a nine-year period when we’ve had the extreme pleasure of premiering music by Ashen Horde, and this time it’s a song from their forthcoming fifth album, The Harvest, which is set for release on May 1st.

In one of those previous premieres we wrote that “Ashen Horde have demonstrated an adventurous spirit, with an ever-evolving amalgam of genre influences and no real interest in boxing themselves in.” Over and over again they’ve blended together such ingredients as technical death metal, black metal, and flares of prog metal with often unexpected but reliably breathtaking results — and as you’re about to discover, they’re still ~~marching~~ flying to the beat of their own drummer. Continue reading »

IS IT AN ALBUM? IS IT AN EP? NO, IT’S…

Album Reviews, SHORT BUT SWEET No Responses »

Mar 172026

…something in between, according to our own Andy Synn anyway!

It’s funny isn’t it, that nebulous, ill-defined dividing line that separates an EP from an album?

I’ve encountered releases longer than Reign in Blood that still feel like an EP by comparison, just as I’ve listened to records shorter than some EPs which still – in spite of this – come across like a complete and fully fleshed-out album.

Ultimately it often just comes down to a question of feel, which is why the album/EP experience is often so subjective.

Which means it’s up to you to decide whether the latest releases from Votive and Wielded Steel sit on one side of that divide or the other.

AN NCS PREMIERE: HROB — “ZOTROČENÝ OHEN”

Premieres No Responses »

Mar 172026

(written by Islander)

The Slovakian death metal band HROB was founded by Michal (guitar, vocals) and Kiko (guitar) in November 2021, and eventually the band settled into a solid lineup completed by drummer Matej and bassist Vrana. Atomic Vision Productions released their self-titled demo in 2023, and now their debut album Brána Chladu is set for co-release on April 27th by Memento Mori (Spain) and Night Terrors Records (Netherlands).

The labels describe the music as “a putrid death-doom metal abomination that evokes a sense of dread and desolation,” alternating between “slime-slow passages soaked in brooding heaviness and shake-you-from-a-trance pummeling blasts,” with a “well-timed injection of hauntingly melodic leads and caveman-crude tremolo riffing, respectively.”

What we have for you today is the album’s second single, the whiplash-inducing “Zotročený Oheň“. Continue reading »

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