(Andy Synn has three more bite-sized blasts of brutality to share with you today)
As we all know, short-form releases (splits, EPs, and the like) tend to get the… ahem… short end of the stick when it comes to coverage (especially amongst the larger and/or more mainstream publications, who tend to prioritise full length albums, for obvious reasons).
Last year, however, I managed to reverse this trend a little, covering more EPs than I did the year before that… and in 2026 I’m hoping to continue expanding our coverage of releases best described as “short but sweet”.
GLASSBONE – RUTHLESS SAVAGERY
Glassbone‘s debut EP ended up taking the #1 slot on my list of 2024’s short-form releases (which you can check out here), so you can imagine my excitement when I first got my hands on Ruthless Savagery.
Whereas the band’s brutish brand of Death Metal-meets-Hardcore first drew comparisons to the likes of Tribal Gaze, Terminal Nation, and Embrace Your Punishment (and, to be fair still does), the opening title-track to their new EP somehow manages to push things in an even heavier, harder, direction, landing somewhere between Dying Fetus at their most ignorant and 100 Demons at their most intense, with a little side-order of slammy sickness – just listen to the piercing ping of that snare drum – to sweeten the deal.
Blasting, bludgeoning, and brutalising your eardrums for a little under 4 minutes – before slowing to gruesome, grinding crawl – it’s a perfect introduction, or reintroduction, to the band’s merciless methodology – brain turned off, amps turned up to 11 – that the likes of “Dryin’ Up of their Blood” (which leans a little more into the chunky Hardcore chuggery side of things, while also finding time for a spot of crushing Cannibal Corpse worship along the way) and “Apostasy Imperium” (whose crippling, contorted tremolo riffs and lacerating lead guitar work build to one of the most humongous breakdowns that you’re likely to hear all year) then take even further.
And while Glassbone are never anything less than 100% committed to the beat-down, it’s to their credit that every single track here – including the relentless, slo-mo stomp of “E.K.F.I.V.”,the filthy, Fetus-esque ground ‘n’ pound of “Testimony of Death” (which will probably go down as one of the most brutally heavy tracks of 2026), and absolutely monstrous (as well as unexpectedly, albeit darkly, melodic) closer “Driven By Sinister” – has something different and distinct to recommend it, ensuring that this is one beating that never gets boring.
KANONENFIEBER – SKAGERRAK
Wait a second… Skagerrak? What’s that?
Well, that’s actually the name of the new EP from much-loved anti-war metallers Kanonenfieber, released as part of a larger compilation called Soldatenschicksale which also contains updated versions of the band’s three previous EPs, Yankee Division, Der Füsilier, and U-Bootsmann.
The two new songs which form Skagerrak – “Z-Vor!” and “Heizer Tenner” – won’t provide many major surprises if you’ve been a Kanonenfieber fan for any particular length of time (though the extent to which the band’s sound has moved to border on Heaven Shall Burn territory on the former track might be unexpected if you’ve not been paying close enough attention) but they definitely add two more killer cuts to the band’s growing legacy of anthemic, hook-heavy, and subtly blackened Death Metal.
And while, as mentioned, the aforementioned “Z-Vor!” – all martial metallic rhythms and catchy, string-skipping Melodeath riffage welded to a massive, mantra-like refrain – definitely wouldn’t sound out of place alongside some of the more recent HSB material (right down to the track’s sombre atmospheric embellishments), the seething, surging “Heizer Tenner” shares much more in common with the likes of 1914 and latter-day God Dethroned, with a heavier (and I do mean heavier) reliance on electrifying tremolo work and rapid-fire blastbeats, plus some increasingly savage vocals (occasional rising to a throat-scarring snarl), plus an altogether more “epic” sensibility (the call-and-response chorus in particular makes it feel like you’re right down there in the engine room sweating and bleeding and stoking the fires yourself).
Throughout it all, however, Skagerrak remains unquestionably Kanonenfieber through and through, waving its own flag and marching to the beat of its own drum as always.
MUDTOMB – MUDTOMB
We’re all about giving new bands a chance to impress us – and our readers – here at NCS, which is why I picked out the self-titled debut EP from Chicago’s MudTomb to be part of today’s article.
Clocking in at just under 26 minutes, these 5 tracks – the first of which, “Negative Infinity”, is a moody metallic instrumental that balances dark melody and subtle dissonance in equal measure (while also letting drummer David Devich show off his skills a little) – find the band aligning themselves with the Hour of Penance/Aborted school of Death Metal, delivering a killer combo of ultra-tight, ultra-punchy guitar work and high-intensity, jet-propelled percussion, along with (especially during a song like “Bury the Stillborn”) a hefty helping of melodic menace and nasty, nimble-fingered bass work.
And while the gritty, glass-chewing growls tend to stick to a relatively concise range, there’s a confidence and clarity to their delivery – every savage syllable delivered with brutal power and biting precision – which ultimately impresses me far more than if they were to try and spend their time showing off their histrionic vocal acrobatics, and the decision to focus more on fitting themselves to the music, locking in tightly with the instruments while also providing the necessary human element the EP needed, was definitely the right one in my opinion.
Sure, MudTomb aren’t reinventing the Death Metal wheel here by any means, but the sheer hookiness and grooviness of the likes of “Celestial Inhumanity” (even if it does drag things out a little too long) and climactic neck-wrecker “Eviction by God” ensures that the band’s self-titled debut is definitely a promising first step and should leave a positive first impression (as well as a few bumps and bruises) on anyone who listens to it.