NO CLEAN SINGING

AN NCS PREMIERE: VULGAR MEPHITIS — “TO DUST”

Aug 052026

(written by Islander)

Willowtip Records has announced yet another addition to their stellar roster of bands — the brutal death metal quartet Vulgar Mephitis from Pittsburgh, PA, whose debut album Willowtip will release on September 11th. The name of that album is From Dust, and it follows the group’s 2022 self-titled debut EP.

As you can see, we’re premiering a song from the album named “To Dust“, which in its name seems to logically follow the title of the album. We’ll begin by sharing guitarist Dan Martin’s thoughts about the album, which point the way to what you’re about to hear:

“The main difference in songwriting from the 2022 EP to now would be the addition of myself and Nick Bentzel (drums) stepping into the band, which expanded upon the way songs are structured in general. Previously, the writing process was solely done by Jay Schweinberg (bass) and Jacob Toy (vocals). At the time, the idea was to be a straight up brutal band with linear song structures.” Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: SWORN — “THE ENTROPIC VOID”

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Aug 052026

(written by Islander)

On September 4th the Bergen-based melodic black metal band Sworn will release their fifth album, Null Crowned the Infinite, which follows their well-received fourth album, A Journey Told Through Fire (2023). The new album is a conceptually ambitious and coherent work, one which traces the cyclical nature of the cosmos from its initial spark in the void to its inevitable dissolution.:

“Lyrically, the album explores the terrifying scale of cosmic darkness and the fragility of existence within a primordial emptiness. Sworn investigates the philosophy of becoming and unmaking, where reality and time emerge from nothingness only to eventually collapse back into the same unfathomable origin.”

To help introduce the new album we’re premiering a song called “The Entropic Void“. Sworn describe how it fits within their cosmic narrative: Continue reading »

CLEARING THE SLATE ISSUE TWO

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Aug 052026

(Our writer DGR has been playing catch-up on records released earlier this year when other distractions interfered with writing about them. In mid-July he delivered Issue One (which you can find here), and now we have Issue Two, encompassing reviews of four records released in March, May, June, and July.)

It is politics season here in California, which means that by living in proximity to the state’s capital (Sacramento) you get battered relentlessly with ads from all neck of the woods. Over thirty-five million people live within the boundaries of California, which means that this metro area consisting of a mere two-to-three million means fuck-all to anyone internationally and is barely important enough to list on a map. You have to zoom in two or three times on Google, for instance, before Sacramento is revealed unto the wider world and long after Los Angeles and San Francisco.

By virtue of growing up in the Bay Area I’ve found my wider allegiances between the two regions fairly split, such that I kind of equally care for both even though my current residence will forever suffer from a generationally-instilled case of short-man’s syndrome. It’s why politics season tends to be annoying, because you get to hear your city’s name with the same sort of thin-mouthed sneer that is usually reserved for the scum of the Earth, such that even when filling up your gas tank you get greeted with banners pointing to the price of fuel and a notice that “Sacramento policies did this”.

Which I guess is nice, because at least the rest of the country is finally acknowledging that California is the real capital of this country, and clearly, we’re the ones who decided to start bombing the Middle East again and start a new forever war. It’s a fucked up way of finding that sort of thing out, but I guess anything to mask your consistent rape of the consumer wherein your prices don’t line up at all with what you claim, and by virtue of this state having more drivers than most anywhere else, is most often used to goose your profit margins so that we end up paying way more than “Sacramento policies” might’ve caused. Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: LEADBELCHER — “OFFALATED YESHUA”

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Aug 042026

(written by Islander)

Using Juliet as his voice, Shakespeare asked us to ponder “What’s in a name?” But while roses would indeed smell as sweet (or as foul, depending on your tastes) if given some other name, names do matter, especially when a band chooses one that tells you what they’re up to like a hammer landing on your forehead.

The Irish members and former members of Sermon Of Flames, Mortichnia, and Coscradh chose Leadbelcher as the name of the new band they formed in 2024. Now that’s a name! A no-bullshit name that seems to promise unpretentious ugliness and might also make you smile at its cleverness. But Leadbelcher aren’t pandering for smiles with the music on their debut album Heaven’s Bloated Corpse. They’re using it as an outlet for their fury and disgust.

Here’s how Leadbelcher vocalist Matthew Simpson describes what fueled the record’s music and words: Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: DÈTRESSE — “VERROTTET”

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Aug 042026

(written by Islander)

Is it possible for a single phenomenon to both freeze someone’s blood and heat it to a destroying boil? Physiologists would say no, but they probably haven’t heard the music of Dètresse, which is often an experience that drives us to imagine such a thing.

This trio of talents from Austria and Quebec introduced themselves just last year through a startling debut album named Pessimismes, released by Vendetta Records. We described its music as “emotionally raw, explosively cathartic, and unrelenting in its intensity”, but also as “saturated in agony and hopelessness”, “ruined as well as raging”, and wholly “engulfing” in its varying emotional torrents.

Pessimismes was an eye-popping, heart-stirring, and soul-sinking debut, so much so that it landed Dètresse at Julfest in Austria earlier this year, followed by a two-week European tour alongside Miserere Luminis in April, and will put them on stages in another tour alongside Darvaza, Merrimack, and Helleruin in December 2026, which will include appearances at Eindhoven Metal Meeting (Netherlands) and De Mortem et Diabolum (Germany).

The December touring activity is prompted in part by Vendetta Records’ forthcoming October release of a second Dètresse album — Misères. We are helping to announce that event today through our premiere of a song from the new album named “Verrottet“. Continue reading »

OBSCURITIES – VOLUME XXX: VIVA ESPAÑA

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Aug 042026

(Below you will find Daniel Barkasi’s latest monthly collection of reviews for NCS. This one includes enthusiastic recommendations for six albums released in July 2026.)

No, we’re not going to make a bunch of Vin Diesel references, and this month won’t be filled with so-called “dirty words” – though George Carlin is by far my favorite comedian of all-time, but a small milestone of this being the 30th edition of this column is a small thing that makes me smile a bit. It’s been fun sharing all kinds of music in these exalted halls, and we won’t be slowing down anytime soon.

The World Cup wrapped up, with good ole FIFA making an absolute ass of themselves – what else is new? It’s wild when the previous FIFA president (who was as corrupt as can be) looks trustworthy in comparison to the current one, and with the recent developments of trying to sell off stakes in the tournament to “investors” who have no interest in the game, the man who already had gone too far has managed to overstep even further.

However, despite the seediness of the organizing body, the football itself for the most part was edge-of-your-seat stuff. I enjoyed the games thoroughly, and congrats to Spain, who were unbreakable throughout the entire tournament and absolutely earned their victory. Cabo Verde’s unbelievable performance was also something that sticks out as special – seeing such a small nation push the eventual champions and runners-up Argentina to the edge was a great story. It would have been cool to have gone to a game, but there wasn’t a chance that we were going to plunk down over $1k per ticket. Hopefully the pricing out of a lot of people gets fixed one of these years, but we’re not counting on it. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: DEMONIC MANIFESTATION — “HOST”

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Aug 032026

(written by Islander)

As you can see, the cover art created by Brvja XIII for Demonic Manifestation’s new album Grimshrine is a cornucopia of horrors. It seizes attention and maintains it as the viewer more carefully inspects each of its hideous visions.

The album is also a musical cornucopia of horrors that turns out to be just as absorbing as the cover art. The music is massive, mauling, and maniacal, but the band’s impressively dynamic songwriting leads them to reveal other ghastly (and haunting dimensions) — as you will vividly experience for yourselves through our premiere of the album’s second advance track, “Host“. Continue reading »

THINGS YOU MAY HAVE MISSED (BUT SHOULDN’T)

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Aug 032026

(Andy Synn has four more recommendations from last month that you may not have checked out yet)

They say one of the most important thing an artist has to learn is not just what it put in to their work… but what to leave out.

And, let me tell you… I am no artist, so having to leave so many artists/albums out each month is more something I’ve learned to accept begrudgingly rather than making it a part of my process.

Still, as disappointing as it may have been to have to leave so many potential reviews on the cutting room floor, I can’t help but be excited to (hopefully) introduce you all to these four records from July which may have flown under your radar.

DEATHGRAVE: “HELL IS EVIL”

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Aug 032026

(This is Wil Cifer’s review of a new album by Bay Area grindcore fanatics Deathgrave. It’s set for release on August 21st via Tankcrimes.)

2023’s It’s Only Midnight was pretty decent, but Deathgrave have perfected the kind of thrashing chaos they kick up with Hell Is Evil.

The title track that opens the album finds their songwriting falling into place with an organic yet polished sound that emerged from their most recent trip into the studio, having expanded into writing three-minute songs that give them more time here to develop the song rather than just dealing in angry bursts. “Hard to Swallow” has a dark, deliberate, doomy riff arising to lumber over things, due in part to the fact this band features ex-members of Graves at Sea . At times the vocals sound like they could be from a Carnivore album thanks to the way they are shouted. “I Am Here” runs death metal fury through a grindcore filter, while solidifying the punk attitude.

It only takes the first three songs to convince you that they have made songwriting more of a priority. Continue reading »

THE SYNN REPORT (PART 197): OSTRACA

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Aug 012026

Recommended for fans of: Orchid, Envy, (early) Deafheaven

What’s in a (genre) name?

Well, quite a lot – to some people, anyway – it seems, as picking the wrong genre tag for a band will mean some potential listeners might choose not to check out their music, under the wrong impression that it’s “not for them”.

Which is why I have to be careful when talking about Virginia’s Ostraca and their chaotic, cathartic, blast-driven, discordantly-heavy (yet also bleakly melodic) brand of Screamo/Hardcore/Crust.

If you’re not familiar with those terms, or if you think you’re familiar with them but not sure if this article is worth checking out, then allow me to assure you that the records highlighted here today – five albums (including the recently-released Thread) plus one EP (that I’ve already written about, as it happens) – are each, in their own way, as vicious and as visceral, as venomous and as violent, as anything else from the more “metallic” side of the scene, and all more than worthy of your time.

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