Andy Synn

LANTLÔS – NOWHERE IN BETWEEN FOREVER

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Mar 252026
 

(Andy Synn has a long history with Lantlôs, and that continues on their new album, out 03 April)

As we have seen so far this week, there are Black Metal bands, and there are Post-Black Metal bands… and then there are bands like Lantlôs who used to belong to the second category (and were, in fact, a seminal part of its genesis and evolution) but who are now truly “post” Black Metal, in the most literal sense of the term.

Though, to be fair, that’s been true for a while, with 2014’s Melting Sun (still a huge favourite of mine) and then 2021’s even more provocatively poppy (but still absolutely stunning) Wildhund (which earned a spot in my Critical Top Ten) demonstrating that Lantlôs, aka Markus Siegenhort, have long since shed any remnants of their old skin in favour of a kaleidoscopic rainbow of shades and colours that has more in common with – among others – the likes of the Smashing Pumpkins, Deftones, Foo Fighters, and Devin Townsend.

And, wouldn’t you know it, on Nowhere In Between Forever they’re at it again.

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CALVANA – SUB JANUS

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Mar 242026
 

(Andy Synn has something a little grimmer and grimier for you all to enjoy today)

By sheer coincidence today we’re talking about the second masked band in as many days.

But whereas Gaerea‘s semi-anonymous aesthetic has started to feel more and more like a calculated attempt to craft a marketable mystique, Calvana‘s decision to conceal their identities reads more as a purposeful rejection of anything and everything that might otherwise distract from their music.

And what music it is… as rough and as raw as their Portuguese cousins are polished and pristine, these unknown Italians continue to eschew the trappings of modernity in favour of a more primal and primitive sound that remains firmly rooted in the ancestral dirt of Black Metal.

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GAEREA – LOSS

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Mar 232026
 

(Andy Synn attempts to separate fact from fiction when it comes to the new album from Gaerea)

A lot of people are probably telling you a lot of different things about Gaerea at the moment, running the gamut from pre-emptively calling Loss a total failure for “abandoning their Black Metal roots” to claiming that it’s a contender for “Album of the Year” that “redefines the Post-Black Metal landscape”.

But while that’s not, in and of itself, a bad thing – diversity of opinion and a variety of viewpoints can lead to rich and rewarding discussions – the main problem is that a lot of these opinions were set in stone before the album was even released, and now everyone is just digging in and doubling down in their ideological trenches, lobbing accusations and recriminations back and forth so fast that any sense of nuance in the conversation has long been… well… lost.

So let me clarify a few things right up front.

One, despite what some of the self-proclaimed “defenders of the faith” have been saying, Gaerea have not suddenly “turned into Sleep Token” (even if some of the more overtly saccharine, pop-friendly moments might occasionally hint at the comparison).

And, two, Loss is absolutely not the “new musical paradigm” that some of the more hyperbolic pre-release promotional materials would have you believe (and the suggestion that they’ve somehow embraced “the openness of Post Rock” by including a few quiet parts is almost insulting to the audience’s intelligence).

So what is it?

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GROWTH – UNDER THE UNDER

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Mar 182026
 

(Andy Synn was an early supporter of Growth and their debut album, so it only made sense for him to cover their long-gestating sophomore record, out next week)

Good things come, or so they say, to those who wait.

And, goddamn, have I been waiting for the new record from underground Aussie sensations Growth for a while now… ever since I discovered them and their outstanding debut album (which you can, and should, read more about here) back in 2020, in fact.

Sure, it may have taken them longer than I might have liked (though not as long as some of their countrymen, who I’m still waiting on) to produce the goods, but if good things really do come to those who wait, then surely the extra long wait means it’ll be extra good?

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IS IT AN ALBUM? IS IT AN EP? NO, IT’S…

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Mar 172026
 

…something in between, according to our own Andy Synn anyway!

It’s funny isn’t it, that nebulous, ill-defined dividing line that separates an EP from an album?

I’ve encountered releases longer than Reign in Blood that still feel like an EP by comparison, just as I’ve listened to records shorter than some EPs which still – in spite of this – come across like a complete and fully fleshed-out album.

Ultimately it often just comes down to a question of feel, which is why the album/EP experience is often so subjective.

Which means it’s up to you to decide whether the latest releases from Votive and Wielded Steel sit on one side of that divide or the other.

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LAMB OF GOD – INTO OBLIVION

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Mar 162026
 

(Andy Synn makes a rare exception to our rule about mainly covering underground bands to share his thoughts on some of the Metal scene’s most infamous sons)

Longevity, as the book I’m currently reading would tell you, can be both a blessing and a curse.

And while Lamb of God have certainly been blessed with a long and successful career, they’ve also been cursed – even if it’s the sort of curse I think most of us would be happy to accept – with having to constantly try and live up to the very high standard set in their early years.

Let’s face it, that initial trilogy – New American Gospel, As The Palaces Burn, and Ashes of the Wake – continues to cast a very long shadow, and while there have certainly been moments of brightness here and there (both Wrath and Resolution in particular have some underrated bangers on them) their work since then has, in hindsight, been more about consolidating their position at the top of the card than trying to re-set the bar.

But that was then, and this is now, and – despite the old truism that you shouldn’t judge a book (or album) by its cover – the decision to switch to a new logo for the first time in 20+ years suggests that there might just be something more going on this time than simply going through the motions or fulfilling contractual obligations.

Is it a rebirth? No, I wouldn’t go quite that far. But a renewal? Now that’s where things get interesting…

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MONOSPHERE – AMNESIA

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Mar 112026
 

(Andy Synn goes all in on the unforgettable new album from Monosphere, out Friday)

If yesterday was all about turning OFF your brain and cranking UP the volume (and the violence) – check out my review of the new album from Acranius for more info on that – then today is all about getting those synapses firing on all cylinders again with the latest slab of cerebral-yet-crushing Prog Metal from Monosphere.

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ACRANIUS – WHITEOUT

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Mar 102026
 

(Andy Synn says get ready to turn off your brains and turn up the volume with Acranius)

It’s pretty well-established that we tend to favour music of the more cerebral and artistic type… while still, for the most part, being heavy as hell… here at NCS.

In fact, it’s almost become something of a running joke (just take a glance at any handful of my most recent reviews, such as the artful blackened beauty of Miserere Luminis, the abrasive, pitch-black anarchism of Trespasser, or the complex Prog-Tech contortions of Cryptic Shift) that the older we get the more “progressive” (or “pretentious”) our tastes are getting.

But there’s a time and a place for proggy pretensions and artsy indulgence… and this is not one of those times.

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MISERERE LUMINIS – SIDERA

 Album Reviews  2 Responses »
Mar 052026
 

(Andy Synn encourages you to embrace the mellifluous black magic of Miserere Luminis)

I have no problem at all acknowledging that one thing I’m not great at is making predictions… or, at least, a certain kind of prediction.

There have been bands that I was sure would see massive success who have continued to labour in obscurity for years after what should have been their break-out moment, just as there have been bands who have suddenly blown up out of nowhere… even though that’s exactly where I expected them to go.

But while I’m not all that good at prophesying future fame and success (honestly, I’m not even sure what “success” looks like for bands these days, as most of the old metrics have been rednered obsolete) I like to think I’m at least pretty good at scrying out those albums, regardless of genre, that have the requisite depth and potency to have real staying power.

And Sidera is definitely one of them.

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