Andy Synn, Author at NO CLEAN SINGING

Andy Synn

2024 – A YEAR IN REVIEW(S): THE GOOD

LISTMANIA 2024 14 Responses »

Dec 102024

(Today we have Andy Synn‘s mammoth second article rounding up the year that was 2024)

Ok, so this is where “List Week” really gets going.

Before we get stuck in, however, a quick explanation for those of you who are new to the site at this time of year.

The following article is not a normal “Best Of…” list, nor is it intended to be treated like one – instead, think of it as a resource which rounds up all the albums I’ve heard this year (well, almost all of them, there’s a few that got cut simply because I didn’t feel strongly enough about them to include them at all) which didn’t make it onto my “Great” list (which will be published tomorrow).

That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t check them out, however, as there’s a lot of good stuff here (including some of my personal favourites), and the list itself runs the gamut from “it’s pretty good, you might like this” to “this is really fucking good, bordering on great, and needs to be heard”.

It’s not, of course, in any way definitive, because:

I’ll obviously have forgotten to include some things
there’s a few big names I just didn’t have time to get around to
some of what isn’t here will appear on tomorrow’s “Great” list
some bands we purposefully don’t feature/cover (for a variety of reasons)

And, obviously, there’s going to be more albums than I can count that I won’t even have been aware of… but it’s still a pretty big collection of records and releases, split up by style and sub-genre, which I hope you’ll find useful as a way of catching up on stuff you might have missed.

Feel free to drop any questions about anything you’re interested in via the comments… and, yes, I’ve provided links for every single album featured here.

2024 – A YEAR IN REVIEW(S): THE DISAPPOINTING

LISTMANIA 2024 11 Responses »

Dec 092024

Well, here we are again – it’s the beginning of “List Week” again, where I take over the site (barring the occasional interview or premiere) for five days of features rounding up all the albums I’ve managed to listen to over the course of this year.

Now, to clarify, this isn’t about showing off how many albums I’ve heard – I am well aware I am in an unusually lucky position wherein I have access to, and time to listen to, more albums than most (the exception being those people who apparently have time to listen to thousands of albums a year, which… well, let’s say I have my doubts) – it’s about providing a resource for our readers to use to check out stuff they may have missed.

Obviously, there’s also an element of looking back and analysing the year – what was “great”, what was “good”, and (in this particular article) what was most “disappointing” – but there’s no real “ranking” system beyond these three tiers (the exception being my “Critical” and “Personal” top tens at the end of the week, which I’ll say more about at the time).

2024 – A YEAR IN REVIEW(S): SHORT BUT SWEET

LISTMANIA 2024 8 Responses »

Dec 062024

(Andy Synn kicks off “List Week” a little early with a round-up of all the EPs he’s checked out this year)

As is tradition here at NCS we’re going to tee up “List Week” – where I essentially take over the site in order to round-up the “Great”, “Good”, and “Disappointing” albums of the year, concluding with my picks for the “Critical” (i.e. semi-objective) Top Ten and my completely and unapologetically subjective “Personal” Top Ten – with my round-up of all the EPs, splits, and short-form releases from 2024 (including links) which I think are worthy of your time and attention.

Of course, this isn’t a definitive list by any means – anyone who claims any of their lists represent some sort of “definitive” ranking should be treated with rank (pun intended) suspicion, as it’s a literal impossibility for any writer/reviewer to have heard all the great releases from a given year – but it’ll hopefully serve as a useful resource for you to bookmark and come back to whenever you have the time, or inclination, to listen to something more on the “short but sweet” end of the scale.

And, as always, I’m closing the piece with a slightly more in-depth look at my ten favourite – note that I said “favourite”, not “best”, as I’m not trying to make any sort of authoritative claim here – EPs of the year, if only to give you a glimpse into what I’ve liked and listened to the most since January.

(Obviously, this doesn’t include my own band’s EP, which I’d never be so arrogant as to include on my own list, but… maybe you’ll want to give it a listen and include it on yours?)

BEST OF BRITISH: ANTE-INFERNO / EARTHBOUND / WARPSTORMER

Album Reviews No Responses »

Dec 052024

(Andy Synn presents three more of his favourite home-grown heroes)

Well, here we are… it’s almost time for “List Week” (there might even be a little preview coming tomorrow).

But before we get there I wanted to sneak in one last edition of “The Best of British” to highlight three recently-released albums which are sure to tantalise your musical tastebuds.

THINGS YOU MAY HAVE MISSED (BUT SHOULDN’T)

Album Reviews No Responses »

Dec 022024

(Andy Synn highlights three of the more unusual albums from November)

This time next week we’ll have begun my annual round-up of “The Year in Review(s)” – which means right now I’m elbow-deep in the running document (which I’ve kept mostly up to date over the last twelve-ish months) of every single record I’ve heard during 2024.

There’s no guarantee, of course, that they’ll all end up being featured next week – the “short-list” currently stands at just under 400 albums, although I’m sure that number will come down a bit as I decide that I just don’t have a strong enough opinion about certain releases to include them in good conscience (it’s not about the quantity, after all, it’s about being able to present you, our readers, with some representation of each album’s quality) – but there’s still a lot of work to be done, and not much time left in which to do it.

That being said… I do plan on sneaking in a few more reviews before “List Week” officially commences, including this triptych of unorthodox delights from last month which you may well have missed!

THE SYNN REPORT (PART 177): ALKYMIST

THE SYNN REPORT 2 Responses »

Nov 302024

Recommended for fans of: Celtic Frost, Triptykon, Omination

For my penultimate Synn Report of the year I’ve chosen a band who recently put out one of the best albums of the year (sorry, that probably should have come with a “spoiler warning” for my end of year list-stravaganza).

But to fully understand the inner workings of Danish deviants Alkymist – whose music has been described both as “Progressive Sludge” and “Post-Doom” (with the truth lying somewhere in between) – we have to go back to their self-titled 2018 album and become familiar with how they’ve grown and evolved in the years since then.

Are you with me?

Good… then let’s begin.

ALTA ROSSA – A DEFIANT CURE

Album Reviews 1 Response »

Nov 282024

(Andy Synn hopes you’ve saved some space in your year-end lists for A Defiant Cure)

As we approach the end of the year I should probably think about preparing for my annual “List Week”, wherein I take over the site with five days of posts rounding up the “Disappointing”, “Good”, and “Great” albums of the year (the ones I’ve heard enough to be able to form an opinion on, anyway) culminating in my “Critical” and “Personal” top tens.

But with everything that’s been going on recently I haven’t had the time or the energy to really get stuck in yet (which might be a problem, considering I plan on kicking things off on the 09th).

That being said, not having things set in stone yet means there’s still room for a few surprises to make an impact (and I plan on reviewing new, and upcoming, albums, right up until the start of “List Week”)… and one of those surprises which has the potential to massively shake up my “Personal Top Ten” is the recently-released second album from French firebrands Alta Rossa.

SPLIT-CEPTION: DEADBODY/TRIBAL GAZE & SUNROT/BODY VOID

SHORT BUT SWEET No Responses »

Nov 262024

(Andy Synn covers four excellent bands as part of today’s article)

So today I present you a split review for a pair of splits featuring two pairs of bands… but don’t worry if that sentence is already making your brains start to hurt, all you really need to know is that you’re about to hear some seriously heavy music.

And, in the end, isn’t that what we’re all here for?

PANZERFAUST – THE SUNS OF PERDITION – CHAPTER IV: TO SHADOW ZION

Album Reviews 1 Response »

Nov 252024

(Andy Synn advises you to make room in your year end lists for the new Panzerfaust album, out now)

There were a lot of really good records released last week, including the highly-anticipated new Opeth album (which – while perhaps a little overhyped – is less a “return to form” and more a band finding a new form which combines aspects of both their pre- and post- Heritage years), the brain-manglingly brutal new one from Defeated Sanity (which we should be covering soon), and even a cool new EP by the name of Welcome to the New Dark Ages, Part 2 (which, obviously, I may be a little biased towards…).

But, as a long-time Panzerfaust fan – one who, occasionally, feels like he was the only one who really liked the doomier, gloomier sound of Chapter III: The Astral Drain – there was no way I wasn’t going to share my thoughts on the fourth and final part of the band’s Suns of Perdition saga.

The only question being will it all end with a bang… or with a whimper?

AN NCS PREMIERE: BEYOND GRACE – WELCOME TO THE NEW DARK AGES, PART 2

Premieres 8 Responses »

Nov 202024

(Andy Synn presents an exclusive track-by-track premiere of his band’s new EP)

Despite current appearances, I largely try and keep my work with Beyond Grace and my work here at NoCleanSinging separate.

But with everything that’s happened recently (just under two weeks ago my mum was rushed to hospital, and then into emergency surgery, where she came very close to dying… although, thankfully, she pulled through and is now recovering) I didn’t have the time (or the energy) to set up a preview stream for our new EP (out this Friday).

Our gracious leader Islander, however, was kind enough to step up and – entirely unprompted – offer to host an exclusive premiere for us (an offer which, of course, I immediately accepted), which I thought would also be a great opportunity to provide some background info on each track as well.

So, without further ado, I am proud to present our new EP, Welcome to the New Dark Ages, Part 2.

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