AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): WAMPYRIC RITES — “UNDER THE TRAGIC FULLMOON OF THE VAMPIRE”

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Feb 122026
 

(written by Islander)

Vampires and other undead entities reputed to feed on the essences of living humans have figured in the folk mythologies of many cultures around the world for millennia. Fear of such creatures has led to episodes of mass hysteria, executions, the exhumation and decapitation of corpses, and of course the staking of suspected revenants through the heart.

(Many such incidents and more are documented in Killing the Dead: Vampire Epidemics from Mesopotamia to the New World, an exhaustive scholarly work by John Blair published just last November.)

Vampirism lives on in our imaginations (hopefully, only there), itself a deathless dream that the passage of millennia can’t exorcise. In our tiny corner of modern culture, black metal has kept the nightmares alive more than any other sub-set of metal, and one of the most prolific exponents over the last seven years has been the Ecuadorian band Wampyric Rites.

This band’s newest album, Under the Tragic Fullmoon of the Vampire, is now set for release by Inferna Profundus Records tomorrow — Friday the 13th of February — and on the eve of that dreadful event we have a full stream of the album for your consideration. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: NECROFIER

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Feb 122026
 


photos by Brian Sheehan

(On February 27th Metal Blade Records will release a new album by the Houston-based black metal band Necrofier, and the quality of the music convinced our friend Ben Manzella to reach out for the following interview with the band’s vocalist and guitarist Bakka.)

As I’m sure other writers here at No Clean Singing would agree, most record announcements or press releases eventually become like white noise. You feel like you can predict the claims and wording of it being the “best album we’ve made yet”; or, especially in metal, depending on the genre, the claim that the music is “the most brutal thing you will hear all year.” However, when I read about the upcoming release of Transcend Into Oblivion, none of these traps were set, and I knew I’d be eager for this conversation.

During a succinct and relaxed time of conversation with Bakka, vocalist and guitarist of Necrofier, I aimed to hear a bit more about the creative process involved in the detailed song structure that is Transcend Into Oblivion, as well as the recent move to Metal Blade Records. Continue reading »

BEST OF BRITISH: 1986 / MOLOCH / UNMOTHER

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Feb 122026
 

(Andy Synn compiles three more albums from his “local” scene that he’d like you to check out)

As the resident Brit here at NCS, I’ve made it my mission to highlight as many bands from these green and (un)pleasant lands as I possibly can each year (with last year in particular being a big one in that regard).

And while this process hasn’t always gone smoothly – there have been at least a handful of bands over the years who haven’t taken kindly to my coverage, even though it always skews positive, because they didn’t think I praised them enough – generally speaking I’m proud of the fact that I’ve helped spread the word about our vibrant, versatile “scene”… even if that “scene” hasn’t always been kind to me in return.

Today’s triptych of recent and/or upcoming albums features a promising, if imperfect, debut (1986), an extremely ambitious second album that serves as something of a creative reboot/rebirth (Unmother), and the latest release in a long-running, uncompromising career of unrepentant ugliness (Moloch), all of which come with my personal recommendation.

Continue reading »

ULTIMA: “I: KATABASIS”

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Feb 112026
 

(Our Norway-based writer Chile reviews the debut album of the Spanish black metal band Ultima, released last month by Obscurant Visions.)

The beauty of loving different genres of music, and in particular, different genres of metal, gives us the opportunity and a benefit of reaching out for precisely that single piece of music that befits our current state of mind.

Be it something hellishly heavy, calmingly droning, or just something in the middle, no one can argue that the selection of riches is not adequate. We are talking about decades upon decades of talented musicians spoiling us for choice.

Moving through those boundless vasts, we are today travelling to Spain for a fresh dose of black metal conjured in the deepest dwellings of the psyche tailored for anyone bearing a heavy mind, courtesy of Ultima and their just released debut album I: Katabasis. Continue reading »

AN NCS SPLIT PREMIERE: FORCEFED HORSEHEAD AND SHAVING THE WEREWOLF — “FROM HORRID TO WORSE”

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Feb 112026
 

(written by Islander)

“Next Friday, February 13, two of Norway’s most unhinged entities collide as Forcefed Horsehead and Shaving the Werewolf unleash their split EP From Horrid to Worse, a violently inventive, no-rules document of chaos that feels less like a release and more like a controlled detonation.”

That’s how the press materials have announced this new split, and it’s spot-on. So is this further introductory comment:

On one side: Forcefed Horsehead, weaponizing grindpunk, death metal, hardcore and hysteria with apocalyptic precision. On the other: Shaving the Werewolf, twisting powerviolence, noise rock, nu-metal and mathcore into something deeply uncomfortable and disturbingly catchy. Together, it’s all bruises, whiplash, and creative malpractice of the highest order.

To back up these words, what we have for you today (along with introductory comments of our own) is a full stream of Horrid to Worse in all its apocalyptic and poisonous glory. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: ØRB — “PRESENCE:ABSENCE”

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Feb 112026
 

(written by Islander)

Last November we premiered a song called “Ghost Key“, the first single from the debut album of Ørb, the melodic death metal project of English/Danish solo artist Karl Koch. Today we’re presenting the second single, “Presence:Absence“. To set the stage for it, we’ll quote again from Ørb’s description of the album’s dystopian sci-fi theme — which focuses on a very real and urgent phenomenon:

The full-length album follows a lone resistance figure in a dystopian future where humanity teeters on the brink of extinction under the omnipotent grasp of The Nexus – an advanced AI network that has reduced humanity to obedient cogs in a machine-driven existence. Armed only with unwavering principles and the history of humankind, this stoic survivor embarks on a perilous journey to challenge the AI overlord.

The album’s narrative arc traces a revolt that may be liberation—or only another loop in the machine. Central questions drive the work: Can fate be overcome? What remains of human identity when autonomy is stripped away? Does a belief in determinism empower or limit us? These aren’t abstract philosophical exercises—they’re survival questions in an age where AI increasingly shapes human experience.

The project stands with one boot in tomorrow’s wasteland and one in the world we already feel tightening around us, creating a parable about resistance that resonates beyond the boundaries of extreme metal. Continue reading »

PONTE DEL DIAVOLO – DE VENOM NATURA

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Feb 112026
 

(Andy Synn crosses the devil’s bridge once more)

It was almost exactly two years ago that Italian diabolists Ponte Del Diavolo released their debut album, Fire Blades From the Tomb, and although I didn’t catch up to it immediately I did manage to pen a review as part of that month’s “Things You May Have Missed“.

This time around, however, I’m (just) ahead of the game, as their new album, De Venom Natura, is set to come out this Friday, meaning I get the chance to help set your expectations ever so slightly in advance.

So, without further ado… let’s see where this bridge takes us, shall we?

Continue reading »

BLOOD RED THRONE: “SILTSKIN”

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Feb 102026
 

(Soulseller Records launched Blood Red Throne’s latest album in December of last year, and of course we knew the time would eventually arrive when our DGR would write it up (because he loves this band’s music) — and now he has.)

This is a review for a 2025 release

A hair under two years is pretty quick turnaround time in the world of heavy metal. That doesn’t translate much to a layman’s way of thinking of course, as the old adage still holds true that creativity does not exist in a vacuum nor could you every try to put any time scale on inspiration. Some groups are prolific, others move at a snail’s pace – it’s a case of what works for some, may not work for others.

That said, it’s hard not to get a little spooked when turnaround time feels too quick between albums. Any number of events could take place in the background to cause it: new contracts may require new albums in a year, sometimes material gets backburnered or banked for future releases, but the year over year turn has just as often resulted in releases coming out as straight-shooting and “expected” as an album could be. Quick releases are likely the home of more solid-sevens out there than anything else.

But what then do you do when a band whose very existence is consistency, as if they themselves are the universal continuity upon which the world is built? Anything lesser would result in galactic cataclysm and anything more would equal a galactic sublimation. What if a band just exists on that line of “good-to-great” or “inarguably-solid-as-a-rock”? What then does a quick-feeling turnaround time do to them?

Even though the year may have ended, we still have to touch base with a few releases and one we weren’t about to let escape from our sight was the mid-December unleashing of Blood Red Throne’s latest album Siltskin. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: HORION — “STRONGHOLD”

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Feb 102026
 

(written by Islander)

Today we introduce you to Horion, a relatively new band from the Basque Country of Bayonne, France, and their debut EP Doom which will be released on March 26th by Void Wanderer Productions. Their music could be summed up as a dark and melodic brand of black metal infused with death and doom influences, but it is unusual in several respects.

First and foremost, the music prominently features cello performances which (as Void Wanderer accurately portrays) are “sometimes melodic, sometimes abrasive, always engaging a dialogue with the guitars and carving out soundscapes between chaos and melancholy”. But the music also includes a distinctive songwriting approach, which you’ll discover for yourselves through our premiere today of the EP’s first single, “Stronghold“. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: ORGAN — “DOGMA”

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Feb 102026
 

(written by Islander)

A long seven years ago we prepared a feature called “Where Doom Meets Death“. One of the bands we spotlighted then was Organ from Belluno, Italy, and their extensive EP Eterno. We summed up the music as “massive, mountainous, megalithic music, and equally immense in the scale of its bleakness” — “both crushing and celestial, mortifying but mesmerizing, apocalyptically desolate yet also delirious, reaching frenzies of intensity that seem to straddle the line between shattering grief and the rapture of being burned by holy fire.”

Eterno was indeed a stunning release, and left us looking forward to what the future would bring for Organ. It has been a very long wait, but at last Organ are returning, with a new album named IMMOBILISM that will be released on April 8th through Invisible Order Records. In addition to helping announce this eagerly anticipated event, today we’re premiering one of the new album’s five nightmarish tracks — “DOGMA“. Continue reading »

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