AN NCS PREMIERE: ANGEST — “THICK, BLACK TAR”

 Premieres  No Responses »
Jun 042026
 

(written by Islander)

Angest is a new name within the freezing and fiery realms of black metal, but its multi-national lineup quickly attracts attention. It includes two members of Détresse, two members of Humanitas Error Est, and the drummer for Cult of Erinyes and LVTHN.

At one time three of them performed with Lebenssucht, and their resumes also include former or current membership (including live stage sessions) in such bands as Enthroned, Dawohl, Einst, Goat Torment, Gevurah, Sabathan, Thanargonauts, and Towering.

The fact that their debut album Perpetual Anguish will be released by Vendetta Records (on June 26th) is a further signifier of quality. The name of the album is also a signifier, a sign of the night-dark nature of the music and the terrible emotions that fueled it. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: COPROLITH — “SENTENCED TO THE GRAVE”

 Premieres  No Responses »
Jun 042026
 

(written by Islander)

The Canadian death metal band Coprolith clearly have no desire to mislead anyone about the kind of music they make. Their name is a word for fossilized feces. The music on their self-titled debut demo from 2023 (reviewed here) was grotesquely ugly and maniacally marauding. Their forthcoming debut album is named Putrescence. And just look at that cover artwork by Adam Kindred!

All the signals are there, open and obvious, signals warning of rotten-to-the-core death metal that’s foul, festering, and ferocious, the kind of dreadful musical monstrosities that greedily feast upon the intestines of such predecessors as Grave, Demigod, and Incantation.

So no, no experienced metalheads will be misled by what the new album offers, but many will relish just how expertly Coprolith bring their horrid visions to life. We have an example in our premiere today of the album’s opening track, a song called “Sentenced to the Grave“, in advance of the album’s co-release by Me Saco Un Ojo Records and Rotted Life Records. Continue reading »

THINGS YOU MAY HAVE MISSED (BUT SHOULDN’T)

 Album Reviews  No Responses »
Jun 042026
 

(Andy Synn offers another four killer examples of albums you may have overlooked last month)

This particular edition of “Things You May Have Missed” is definitely less diverse than yesterday’s article (which you can, and should, read here if you haven’t already), but that doesn’t mean it’s totally lacking in variety, as while there’s definitely a focus on the more “blackened” side of the spectrum – not by conscious decision, I might add, that’s just what ended up making the cut this time around – there’s also a wealth of twisted dissonance, grinding fury, sludgy groove, and depressive angst on display across these four albums.

So, without further ado, let’s see what else you may have missed… but shouldn’t… last month.

Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: TARASK

 Interviews  No Responses »
Jun 032026
 

(In April of this year Antiq Records released a new album by the French black metal band Tarask. Comrade Aleks was drawn to it, and followed up his listening with this interview of the project’s creator.)

I fell for this bait again and initiated an interview with the band, whose new album description included the adjective “Lovecraftian.” But the Toulon-based black metal duo Tarask has slightly altered its concept for their second album, Sitra Ahra, and now relies on occult metaphors as a means of expression towards consumerism and modern society.

Being doom-guy for most of my time, nowadays I lean towards black metal as a more focused and straightforward way of channeling this discomfort… and I had a lot of this today after reading just the headlines of up-to-date news. So I have to admit, that classic and atmospheric black metal of Sitra Ahra is a good soundtrack to this evening when I’m ready to share with you this interview we’ve done with H. P. K. (vocals, guitars, bass). Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: AMBROTOS — “THE AGE OF TORTURE”

 Premieres  No Responses »
Jun 032026
 

(written by Islander)

The Greek black metal band Ambrotos have had interesting and unusual lyrical themes from the beginning, having released a pair of EPs and a debut album (2022’s Transcendental Mastery) dedicated to pre-Socratic philosophy and ancient cosmology. With their forthcoming second album, Atrocious Chants, the band have shifted their lyrical themes, but they remain interesting — and the album’s cover art by contemporary Athenian painter Fanis Goulis points the way.

The album will be co-released on July 13th by Satanath Records and WP Productions. They offer this description of the new themes:

This new album delves into the fall of Constantinople and the decline of the Byzantine Empire, presenting a unique perspective that intertwines historical narrative with the religious beliefs and perceptions of the medieval era. At its core, the album explores the epic battle between Satan and Christ, offering a profound commentary on faith and conflict.

What we have for you today is the premiere of the album’s second advance track, “The Age of Torture“. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: INTO DARKNESS — “URANUS”

 Premieres  No Responses »
Jun 032026
 

(written by Islander)

We’ve been following the Italian death metal band Into Darkness for a long time — nearly 14 years, to be more precise. Beginning with a demo they released in 2012, we’ve written about their records eight times, most recently praising their 2023 EP, Cassini-Huygens. Those releases all took the shape of EPs and splits, but now Into Darkness finally have a debut album set for release on July 24th by Dying Victims Productions.

The name of the album is Route to the Other Side. Like previous releases, it was inspired by divulgative (popular) astronomy. In this case it is a concept record about the outer solar system.

The album’s song titles map a journey through those far reaches, beginning with “Jupiter“, moving on to “Saturn” and “Uranus” (the song we’re about to premiere), and eventually passing through the “Kuiper Belt” and onward to “Pluto“, and ending with the title song “Route to the Other Side“. Continue reading »

THINGS YOU MAY HAVE MISSED (BUT SHOULDN’T)

 Album Reviews  1 Response »
Jun 032026
 

(Andy Synn presents four fascinating releases from May that are well worth checking out)

May was an odd month… obviously we were quieter than usual here at NCS due to our annual NWTF/MDF break, but it also felt like there were fewer releases during that time that I really wanted to check out.

Of course, that all changed in the last week or so, as it seemed like every band/label out there decided to back-load their releases, meaning that there’s a lot for me to get through in this article in order to feel like I’ve at least semi-caught up with what I missed.

Hell, I’ll probably end up doing a second one of these “Things You May Have Missed” pieces later this week… and even then I’ll have to leave a few things on the cutting room floor (such as my wider thoughts on the new Devin Townsend, which some have called “a masterpiece” but which feels to me like yet another attempt to sum up his entire career in one “definitive” form that, as a result, simply iterates on existing elements and ideas rather than actually adding to his artistic palette).

Until then, however, enjoy some (hopefully) new music that you may otherwise have missed!

Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: NOTHINGNESS — “SKULL EVULSION”

 Premieres  No Responses »
Jun 022026
 

(written by Islander)

Once again we find ourselves in the fortunate position of helping Everlasting Spew Records announce their release of a jaw-dropping new album. This time it’s the third full-length from the Minnesota-based purveyors of “Digressive Death”, Nothingness.

The name of the new album is Godslaughter, and it follows Hollow Gaze of Death (2019, Independent) and Supraliminal (2023, Everlasting Spew Records). Our friend Gonzo reviewed that second album for us, summing it up as “a dizzying, uncomfortable, and overall suffocating experience in interdimensional sonic terror.”

You could guess from the name of the new album (and the cover art) that Nothingness haven’t backed away from the nightmarish hostility of their musical conceptions. If anything, they have doubled-down. Here’s how Everlasting Spew previews the experience: Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: ILLWIND — “LUCIFER’S MULE”

 Exceptions to the Rule, Premieres  No Responses »
Jun 022026
 

(written by Islander)

Ill winds usually blow no one any good, or so the old saying goes, though in its earliest expression (before the meaning morphed) the writer John Heywood actually suggested that a wind unlucky for one person would bring good fortune to another. In the case of the Peruvian band Illwind, they have brought good fortune indeed through their debut album The Unfolding at the End of Light, which will be released on July 3rd by Personal Records.

Almost anyone who has come across the circulating press materials for the album is bound to be intrigued. For one thing, they disclose that the Illwind quartet includes members of such bands as Reino Ermitaño, Cobra, Arcada, and Argul. For another thing, the music is described as having an “idiosyncratic personality”, one steeped in aspects of traditional doom but also branching out in unexpected directions — such as closing the record with a cover of The Stooges’ “I Wanna Be Your Dog”.

And then there’s this: Continue reading »

ABSURDEITY: “WE CAME, WE SAWED, WE CONQUERED”

 Album Reviews  1 Response »
Jun 022026
 

(Once more we dig into DGR’s pre-festival archive of writings and today bring forth his review of a new album by the Sweden death metal band Absurdeity, which was released in February.)

This part of the year is one of our great opportunities to play catch-up with all the releases that we had absorbed into our collections over the years. The rivers are always overflowing on that front so it can seem a bit random, but the grab bag and shotgun approach has led to some wild weeks in terms of what we post around here. This one in particular is likely no different, and thus we take advantage of the time afforded to us to catch up with Sweden’s Absurdeity and their new album We Came, We Sawed, We Conquered.

Absurdeity is the project of Project Hate mainman Lord K. Philipson and long-running conspirator Jörgen Sandström, an exercise in creating straightforward and brutally focused death metal – in stark comparison to the expansive and humongous works that’ve taken place within the bounds of The Project Hate.

It is a wonder that K. Philipson has anything left in the tank after the multitude of year-over-year releases and ten-plus-minute songs that’ve been the hallmarks of his other project. But, there is something to be said to setting boundaries for yourself, and in the case of Absurdeity the goal was to create something raw and violent, and that is how we approach the aforementioned new album — as a collection of nine raw and violent songs that thankfully keep things concise and impactful, never straying anywhere over the four-minute mark. Continue reading »

 Older Entries