Andy Synn, Author at NO CLEAN SINGING

Andy Synn

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

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.

THINGS YOU MAY HAVE MISSED (BUT SHOULDN’T)

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Oct 062025

(Andy Synn returns to regular posting today with an apology and an attempt to atone for his absence)

As you may have noticed, I missed a lot of stuff last month… mostly because I was very busy, first with my superb stag-do (“bachelor party” to those who don’t know what that means) which involved myself and my chosen band of brothers heading to Islay for a weekend full of whiskey (so much whiskey), and then my wonderful wedding (yes, that’s right, I’m a married man now) which also involved the extended NCS family coming to visit (which, of course, meant we spent most of the week before and after the event hanging out).

As a result I had very little time to actually sit down and listen to music, let alone write about it, and it’s really only thanks to the valiant efforts of DGR – who was smart enough to write a bunch of reviews in advance of him and Islander coming over – that we actually stayed active and afloat for much of September.

It won’t surprise you to learn then that my “short list” of albums to potentially write about this time around was much, much longer than usual, and even though I’ve tried to compensate for this by increasing the number of albums from 4 to 6, I still feel like I need to apologise to the likes of Cult Member, Nexion, Occulsed, Ordeals, Piece, and Yotuma for not having the time or space to include them (and an additional apology must also be extended to Hexrot, whose late-August release I honestly had every intention of reviewing).

VALDUR – GUILDED ABYSS

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Oct 022025

(Andy Synn gazes deep into the Guilded Abyss in advance of its release tomorrow)

I’ve spoken before, both briefly and at length, about how thankful I am that NCS is a wholly ~~incompetent~~ independent entity.

Don’t get me wrong, when I actually wrote for a physical magazine I was still pretty much left to my own devices, but the fact that we have no advertisers to placate, no industry higher-ups to fellate, and for the most part aren’t reliant on PR reps/divisions to feed us potential content (which often comes with an assumed quid pro quo that future access will be contingent on positive coverage), means that Islander, DGR, and I are essentially a law unto ourselves.

And because of this, because we make our own rules and don’t have to answer to anyone else, we’re able to do things like start the week off by reviewing the already incredibly popular album from future mainstream Metalcore darlings Dying Wish and end it by telling you all to save space for the latest slab of suffocating Black/Death savagery from underground iconoclasts Valdur.

THE SYNN REPORT (PART 187): TITHE

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Oct 012025

Recommended for fans of: Full of Hell, Wake, Of Feather and Bone

I must admit that Grindcore is not a genre I tend to spend a lot of time with… although I do dip my toe into the filth every now and then (mostly when a band comes along who mixes in some of the ol’ Grind with other, equally metallic, elements).

Case in point, Portland, Oregon trio Tithe – aka Matt Eiseman (guitar/vocals), Alex Huddleston (bass/vocals), and Kevin Swartz (drums) – first caught my attention with the release of 2023’s Inverse Rapture, whose hideous Death/Black/Sludge/Grind hybrid ultimately earned them a place on my list of the year’s “Great” albums (which you can check out here, if you’re curious).

And with the group having just released their third album, Communion In Anguish, a few weeks ago now seemed like the perfect time to introduce you to (or remind you of) the group’s grindy greatness.

DYING WISH – FLESH STAYS TOGETHER

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Sep 292025

(Andy Synn has a lot to say about Dying Wish and their meteoric, and well-earned, rise today)

There are some people, you know the ones, who will tell you that bands becoming more melodic, more popular, more “accessible”, is inherently a bad thing.

Heck, the name of our site is itself a tongue-in-cheek reference to a specific version of this particular phenomenon.

By the same token, however, I think it’s worth noting that “accessibility” isn’t the be-all and end-all – Imagine Dragons may be more “accessible” than Imperial Triumphant… in fact I’m pretty sure they are… but I know which one I’d rather listen to – and that “popularity” doesn’t necessarily correlate with actual “quality”.

And with the recent resurgence of Hardcore/Metalcore in the mainstream consciousness – I’m talking bands dropping massive breakdowns on live tv, showcasing unexpected pop-star collaborations, and hitting headliner status on festivals which previously wouldn’t have given them a second glance – I can absolutely understand why some folks might be concerned about “the scene” sacrificing integrity in favour of dubious celebrity.

But I’m here to tell you that just because a band starts to get “big” – and Dying Wish are well on their way – that doesn’t mean they suddenly become “bad”.

ASHBREATHER – LA GRANDE BOUFFE

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Sep 252025

(Andy Synn has spent the last week or so gorging himself on fine food and drink… which makes the new album from Ashbreather an interesting, if not entirely inappropriate, choice for his return to action)

Well… here we are again, almost (but not quite) back to normal operation (that’ll probably end up being next week after we’ve recovered from all the travelling and/or revelling we’ve been doing recently).

So, as we gear up to get ourselves back to speed (although thanks to DGR you might not have noticed too much difference, considering the number of reviews he was able to put together to cover our recent down-time) I’ve decided to turn my attention to a band we’ve only covered once here before (back in the tail-end of 2022) and whom I/we sadly kind of lost touch with in the intervening years.

And, let me tell you this… whatever happened to Ashbreather in those years (which included both an EP and a collaboration which I missed) has only made them stronger/stranger.

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