GONZO’S HEAVY ROUNDUP, OCTOBER 2026

 Album Reviews  No Responses »
Nov 092026
 

(Our Denver-based writer Gonzo has returned to reviewing and recommending albums for us on a monthly basis, and here he recommends four of them released in October.)

As usual during this time of year, I’m immersing myself in every new album I can get my hands on while catching up on anything and everything I may have missed. I’ve grown accustomed to this dance, especially as I start (over)thinking about what goes into my vaunted best-of list for the year. (Jesus, is that really happening next month? Time isn’t real, obviously.)

Beyond that frantic exercise, at least one album always comes as an October surprise: one so damn good it fucks with the entire best-of hierarchy I’ve laid out so far. I expected it, and I’ve included it in this month’s roundup. (Spoiler, it’s first.)

Don’t sleep on the other three albums I’ve included, though.

Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK: NΩX, BLESSER, DESPIRITUALIZED, RAAT, UNDERDARK, SULPHURIC NIGHT

 Album Reviews, SHADES OF BLACK, SHORT BUT SWEET  No Responses »
Nov 082026
 

(written by Islander)

I’ve decided to “cheat” again, by which I mean that I’ve come across a pair of new black metal albums and a new EP thatI want to recommend but don’t have time enough to write proper reviews, and so I’m just focusing on one song per record. Given my time constraints, the alternative would be to write nothing about them now and hope that I could do something more fulsome on a future day. However, I’ve had hopes like that dashed too many times to put much stock in them.

But before we get to the EP and the albums, I have a trio of singlesthat I think will also be worth your time. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD ON A SATURDAY: THE GREAT SEA, RAT KING, OREAMNOS , PROFANE ALTAR, VORLUST, HAGEL

 Album Reviews, Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC, SHORT BUT SWEET  No Responses »
Nov 072026
 

(written by Islander)

I’ve been seeing the word “tsunami” a lot this week. I assume it’s because yesterday was a Bandcamp Friday, which always provokes a flood of new music and a typhoon of traffic in our in-box from bands and labels trying to take advantage of Bandcamp’s relinquishment of their revenue share. I dunno, maybe there was another reason. I’ll have to investigate.

I kept pretty good track of all the new music I wanted to check out in preparation for this regular weekend roundup. My spouse has been away from home visiting her favorite sister and so I spent a lot of time yesterday making my way through that big list of possibilities.

After much mental backing-and-forthing I came up with six picks for today, including a pair of EPs, while still leaving a lot of candidates for the usual Sunday column tomorrow. Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: DISSECT THE MASSES — “THE HARVESTERS RETURN”

 Premieres  No Responses »
Nov 062026
 

(written by Islander)

As trained medical professionals, we need to warn those of you who took in our first premiere on this Bandcamp Friday that this next one is likely to produce a severe whiplash effect with traumatic consequences for necks and heads.

Okay, just joking, we’re not trained medical professionals, just ardent metal fans — but the warning still stands because the change you’re about to experience is sudden and startling.

The authors of the change are the U.S. triumvirate Dissect the Masses, which includes members of Fleshbore, Unaligned, Abyssalis, and Demon King in the lineup, and the song we’re bringing you is from their debut album A Vile Disfigurement in advance of its December 11 release by our friends at Transcending Obscurity Records. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: DESTRUCTION OF ORION — “BETTER DAYS”

 Premieres  No Responses »
Nov 062026
 

(written by Islander)

Darkness. A life devoid of hope.
For it is that light, that semblance of hope,
which destroys.

There is not hope in this moment,
It is not found in the past,
Nor realised in our death.

The burden of such unrelenting pain,
denies our truth, our healing.
Existing as fragments of ourselves,
broken, beyond repair,
…yet clinging on for better days.

Those dark words form a preamble to the song we’re about to premiere. It’s from Dimensions Of Chaos, a new album by the Bulgarian funeral doom project Destruction of Orion, which will be released on November 27th by Aesthetic Death. Continue reading »

NORTHWEST TERROR FEST ANNOUNCES FULL 2027 LINEUP AND REVEALS ARTWORK

 Metal News  1 Response »
Nov 062026
 

(written by Islander)

Yesterday NCS-sponsored Northwest Terror Fest announced its final lineup for 2027 and revealed the official poster art for the event. As you can see, the artwork created by Adam Vick (with layout by Christian Alm) is tremendous, and the lineup is too.

Yesterday NWTF revealed the names of 10 more bands who hadn’t previously been disclosed: Gorguts, Immolation, Imperial Triumphant, Fulci, Coscradh, Distest, Generation Decline, Melancholia, Nyx Division, and Ripping Remains. They make an already very strong lineup even stronger, joining Napalm Death, SubRosa, Deadguy performing Fixation on a Coworker, and more. Here’s the full international lineup in aphabetical order: Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): NOCTURNIS — “DRANGSAL”

 Album Reviews, Premieres  2 Responses »
Nov 052026
 

(written by Islander)

Since the earliest days of metal’s dawning bands have expressed rebellious themes by embracing the symbology of Lucifer and his fallen angels, some have delved into the occult in more than symbolic fashion, and others have drenched themselves and their listeners in gore. And so it is refreshing to continue finding bands who put their thematic focus on historical events and social commentary.

The black metal band Nocturnis, who dwell in the Black Forest region of southern Germany, are one such band. Their powerful 2022 debut album Unsegen told the story of a young soldier in World War I, who was driven by his conscience into a no less harrowing inner struggle due to the atrocities he experienced, a struggle he ultimately loses.

And now we have a second Nocturnis full-length that explores a different series of historical events. Titled Drangsal, it is a concept album about the European witch hunts. It’s set for release on November 6th (tomorrow!) by Fetzner Death Records, but we’re sharing a full stream of it now. Continue reading »

LOCKSLIP – THE CONVERSATION

 Album Reviews  No Responses »
Nov 052026
 

(Andy Synn wants to have a conversation with you about a new band and their killer debut)

As you all surely know, we are big proponents of balance here at NCS… for every light a dark, for every yin a yang, and for every big, iconic name we cover there must be a smaller, more underground artist we can give a helping hand to.

And, lo and behold, here we have The Conversation (out tomorrow), the debut album from wild-eyed Math-Punk Metalcore crew Lockslip, to even the scales once more.

Continue reading »

OBSCURITIES – VOLUME XXXIII: RIP KENNETH GALLANT

 Album Reviews  No Responses »
Nov 052026
 

(Here we present Daniel Barkasi’s latest monthly collection of reviews for NCS. This one focuses on albums released in October 2026.)

Thankfulness can be tricky. Everyone’s life situation is unique, of course, and we all have encountered strife, heartache, sadness, but also joy, elation, and warmth. Lately as I’ve seen folks really struggling, it isn’t lost upon me how fortunate we’ve been in many facets of this winding adventure that is life. As I write this, I’m looking out at our horses, petting our wonderful Australian Cattle Dog, Jericho, as he attempts to tackle me with affection, and the importance of such moments aren’t lost on me. A reflective mood has struck my often pessimistic brain, and it goes to show that sometimes you’ve got to slow down a bit and embrace every good moment. They’re the ones you want to remember and call upon during difficult times.

Solidifying this feeling is the loss of a friend and fellow passionate music writer in Kenneth Gallant, who passed away back in July, and I unfortunately only recently found out about it. Continue reading »

HALLOWEEN ’26: A PLAYLIST OF SCARY AND HAUNTING EXTREME METAL

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  2 Responses »
Nov 042026
 

(Our Italian friend Tito Vespasiani has brought us a Halloween-themed playist of extreme metal songs, both very new and somewhat older, from nine bands, which he introduces one-by-one in the following column. He’s got the collection up on Spotify too.)

Hello folks! It’s external contributor Tito V. here again. Long time no see. It’s been a while since my last playlist for No Clean Singing and I decided to come swinging with a new one suitable for this time of the year… haunting and eerie tunes only!

I know, there may be TONS more deserving to be added here. From zombies to monsters of all sorts, passing through ghastly guitar tones and more scary tunes, but we wanna keep this “fairly” short in order to be able to check it out properly and revisit it, alright. Continue reading »

 Older Entries