Andy Synn, Author at NO CLEAN SINGING

Andy Synn

BEST OF BRITISH: DE PROFUNDIS / PLAGUE PIT / SOULFRACTURE

Oct 292025

(Andy Synn recommends three short-but-sweet releases from the UK Metal underground)

Let me start off today with a little announcement of my own… sadly, for reasons beyond our control the third and final part of the Beyond Grace EP trilogy (which will also, Voltron-style, form our third album when all connected together) won’t be out this year.

I know, I know… I’m as disappointed as you are… but having lost most of September due to two different weddings (including my own) and their accompanying stag-dos/bachelor parties, and then struggling to book studio time for the drums, it really couldn’t be helped.

We’ll still be releasing another cover track, most likely at the start of January (and quite possibly as part of an awesome charity compilation), and then following that with another video prior to the EP/album release (where you’ll be able to get the digital version of the new EP and the collected CD/LP version, at the same time) but I’m afraid you’re going to have to wait a little longer for your next fix.

But don’t worry, because today I’m bringing you three other short-form releases from three other killer British bands – including one we’ve toured with before, plus another that we’re hoping to tour with next year – that I’m hoping will help ease your obvious disappointment!

AZELL – ASTRALIS

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Oct 282025

(Andy Synn has some very nice words to say about the second album from Kentucky’s Azell)

I do love a good concept album, don’t you?

A lot of that I attribute to my dad’s influence, as he was (and is) a big Prog fan, which meant I grew up being viariously exposed to the likes of The Wall, Tales from Topographic Oceans, and Quadrophenia.

And while some of my turn to Punk and Hardcore (and then Metal) in my teenage years may have been a form of rebellion against the outlandish excess and indulgent extravagance of these sorts of records, over time I’ve come to appreciate them as an art form more and more.

Note, however, that I explicitly said good concept albums, because there’s also been a lot of bad ones – from self-indulgent fantasy fan-fiction to shamelessly generic sci-fi schlock to badly-plotted (and barely coherent) political allegories, and everything in between – and it’s important to draw a distinction between the two.

Thankfully, however, the new album from sludge-slinging husband-and-wife duo Azell falls firmly on the former side of the divide.

ERYN NON DAE – DISUNITED STATES OF ANIMA

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Oct 242025

(To mark its release, Andy Synn has the pleasure and the privilege of writing about the fourth, and final, album from Eryn Non Dae.)

There is no way of talking about the new album from NCS-approved post-genre provocateurs Eryn Non Dae. without addressing the unexpected passing of their long-time vocalist, Mathieu Nogues Boisgard, in 2023.

Something like that would devastate any band, and I’m sure we all would have understood if the group had chosen to call it a day then and there in order to spend time processing their grief and dealing with their loss.

But the one small mercy amidst this tragedy, however, was that Boisgard had not only already set a title, Disunited States of Anima, and completed the lyrics for the record, but had also demo’d his vocal parts in a way which meant they could – if necessary – be used to complete the album.

And that’s exactly what the band decided to do, honouring his memory by dedicating the last couple of years to slowly, and diligently, bringing his final work (and his final words) to life.

That, however, is also the last time I am going to mention this particular aspect of the record’s development, as while it is undoubtedly important context I’d like to think that Boisgard wouldn’t have wanted the album to be defined by the tragic circumstances surrounding its creation but rather judged solely on its own musical merit.

Which is exactly what I’m going to do.

TOMBS – FERAL DARKNESS

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Oct 222025

(Andy Synn isn’t shy about declaring himself a fan of the new album from Tombs, out now)

It’s funny, isn’t it, the ways in which we define ourselves? The ways in which “who we are” is so often bound up in the things we like (or don’t like).

It isn’t always healthy of course – toxic fan culture is a continuous blight, as we all know, and choosing to base your entire personality around your obsessive fandom of anything (or anyone) is a recipe for dysfunction and depression – but our likes and dislikes definitely form a distinct part of our self-image.

And yet it’s so easy for this image to become distorted or outdated.

Case in point, I’ve been a fan of Brooklyn-based Black Metal quartet Tombs for a very long time now – if you’d asked me I definitely wouldn’t have hesitated to describe myself as such – but it was only while working on my review of their new album that I realised that you’d have to go pretty far back (possibly even as far as 2017’s The Grand Annihilation) to find the last thing they did that I truly loved.

But, thankfully, with the release of Feral Darkness just last week, you no longer have to go very far at all to experience the band at their very best.

THE ACACIA STRAIN – YOU ARE SAFE FROM GOD HERE

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Oct 202025

(Andy Synn embraces both the horror, and the hope, of the new album from The Acacia Strain, out Friday)

From “high art” to “low art” (and I’m sure there’s at least a few people out there who would absolutely consider The Acacia Strain to be the latter, at best) the one thing which truly makes art… well… art, is the emotion and intention which goes into its creation.

And while this seems to confuse some people – especially those “death of the author” types, for whom the only important thing is their interpretation – to me it just makes sense that art is all about what you put into it… and not necessarily what others get out of it.

Which is why it was so interesting to me to read The Acacia Strain‘s long-time lyrical mouthpiece Vincent Bennett talk about how much more personal their new album was and how this is the first time that he’s truly worn his heart on his sleeve (or, more accurately, in his words).

Because at no point in their career have I felt that Bennett, or the band, have ever tried to hold themselves back or settle for simply going through the motions… their rage has always read as something raw and visceral and uncompromising in both intent and delivery.

But perhaps what he meant is that, despite describing You Are Safe From God Here as the band’s “dark fantasy era” (based on the perhaps-not-entirely-fantastical premise that the entity we call “god” is something to be feared and avoided at all costs), what he’s actually doing this time around is exploring the roots of this rage… the desperation, the desolation, and the despair which feeds it and fuels it, for better or worse.

SHORT BUT SWEET: HEAD OF THE BAPTIST / THEMATA / UNDERNEATH

SHORT BUT SWEET 1 Response »

Oct 162025

(Andy Synn encourages you to check out three of his favourite EPs from the last month)

As always I’ve been a little lax in covering the various EPs and related short-form releases which have been put out over the last 10-ish months.

But I’ll hopefully be able to sneak a few more in before the end of the year (when, as always, I’ll be putting together a round-up of all the things I’ve listened to, including those I didn’t get to write about), beginning with today’s trifecta of auditory abuse from Head of the Baptist (Belgium), Themata (Finland), and Underneath (USA).

BEST OF BRITISH: ASIDHARA / BEYOND EXTINCTION / CONJURER / DIMSCÛA

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Oct 152025

(Andy Synn provides four, rather than his usual three, fantastic examples of British steel for you to enjoy)

Looking back at the year so far it appears that while I’ve been pretty regular with these “Best of British” articles I haven’t quite managed to do one a month, hitting January, but not February, then publishing one each in March, April, May,and June, before skipping July, and then just about squeezing one in during August and September.

For this edition (which might not be the only one in October, if all goes well) however, I’ve slightly mixed things up a little, including one album released all the way back in June (which, to my chagrin, I didn’t even get around to listening to until last month), one from the end of last month, and two from this month, one of which was already released, the other coming out next week.

So let’s see what delights this extended edition has to offer, shall we?

AN ABSTRACT ILLUSION – THE SLEEPING CITY

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Oct 132025

(Andy Synn asks you not to sleep on the new album from An Abstract Illusion, out this Friday)

There are differing schools of thought about when/whether, as a reviewer, you should read what other people have written about an album prior to publishing your own take.

On the one hand, yes, there’s the danger of being overly influenced by the opinions and perceptions of others (something which often leads to a cringeworthy sense of “critical consensus” that largely relies on the fact that no-one wants to rock the boat or suggest that, just maybe, the emperor is a little bit naked).

But, on the other, there’s always the chance that another writer will stumble upon something insightful that could help inform your own unique thoughts and help you consider things in a different light.

Whichever side you land on, however (and, in general, I try not to read much/anything by other writers when I know I’m going to be reviewing something), it’s always worth remembering that any review is always in conversation with a lot of different things… not just the music itself, but also the artist’s history, their public perception, and their previous critical reception, meaning that you’re never fully writing in isolation.

And so, while I’ve tried my best to avoid seeing what others have written about The Sleeping City – though I’ve already spotted a couple of slightly hyperbolic 10/10s here and there – one thing I made sure to do was to go back and re-read my own review of the band’s show-stopping second album, Woe, simply because there’s no way to discuss the former without comparing it to the latter.

TERZIJ DE HORDE – OUR FLESH IS NOT OURS ALONE

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Oct 082025

(Andy Synn takes a breath before diving in to the new album from Terzij de Horde)

There’s a certain sense of satisfaction to be had from knowing just how long we’ve been writing about the work of Dutch Black Meta/Hardcore crew Terzij de Horde.

As a matter of fact, their debut album, Self (which turns ten years old later this month) has the distinction of being an all-time favourite of mine, while this interview with the group that I conducted back in 2016 remains (in my opinion at least) one of the most interesting and in-depth discussions I’ve ever had with a band.

Which is why I’ve been looking forward so much to the release of their upcoming third album, Our Breath Is Not Ours Alone, which comes out this Friday.

AGRICULTURE – THE SPIRITUAL SOUND

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Oct 072025

(Andy Synn navigates both the hype and the hate surrounding the new album from Agriculture)

If there’s one thing I’ve learned during my time here at NCS – beyond just how much DGR loves …And Oceans – it’s that you can’t (and, often, shouldn’t) pre-judge a band based on its press-releases.

Case in point, the way that Agriculture were immediately hyped-up as “the next big thing” when they appeared on the scene – combining the suggestion that the band’s inevitable success was a foregone conclusion with an almost “pick me” like intimation that they “weren’t like other Black Metal bands” – felt more like a cynical attempt to astroturf a bandwagon rather than cultivate a reliable fanbase.

And while the band themselves didn’t necessarily help matters – the whole “spiritual sound of ecstatic Black Metal” thing quickly became a meme unto itself – I’ve never had any reason to question their integrity or their sincerity… even if their creativity hasn’t always been properly harnessed to its best effect.

But that (the latter part I mean, not the former) might just be about to (finally) change.

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