Andy Synn, Author at NO CLEAN SINGING

Andy Synn

BEST OF BRITISH – HELPLESS / SIDIOUS / TUSKAR

Mar 212022

(Andy Synn brings us three more examples of British brilliance)

It feels like absolutely ages since I’ve written one of these columns, but – after double-checking – it turns out I actually did do one just last month.

For some reason my sense of time has been all out of whack this year, to the point where the days either feel like they’re rushing by (meaning I simply don’t have time to write about all the things I want to) or else have been slowed to a mind-numbing crawl (meaning the wait for new releases seems interminable).

My terrible time-keeping, therefore, is ultimately what’s to blame for this particular edition of “The Best of British” covering such a wide spread, as one of the album’s featured here has been out for almost a full month, the other was released a few weeks ago, and the third isn’t out until Friday, making for a mixed-bag of older, newer, and unreleased records for you to wrap your ears around.

Thankfully one thing that isn’t mixed is the quality, as each of these albums represents the very best work yet by each of the three bands in question. So let’s start the show, shall we?

GLOSON – THE RIFT

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Mar 162022

(Andy Synn descends into The Rift, the astonishing new album from Sweden’s Gloson)

Let me ask you something… what is it that makes one album, or one artist, better than another?

It’s not a question with an easy or simple answer, I know.

There are some people, for example, who seem to believe that being more accessible – more listenable, more likable, more relatable – is something that inherently makes an artist/album better, as their music is now capable of appealing to a wider audience.

On the flip-side of this, though, there are also those who affirm that becoming more challenging, more difficult, more complex – in any of a variety of different ways – is the only true way to keep getting better as a band.

Ultimately, of course, it’s all somewhat subjective, and each of us will have a slightly different set of criteria, a different suite of sensibilities which need to be satisfied (or not), in order to make that judgement for ourselves.

So when I tell you that The Rift, the second album from Swedish quartet Gloson is by some margin the best Post-/Sludge Metal album I’ve heard so far this year – surpassing even Cult of Luna‘s fantastic new record (a statement which I’m sure will inspire much shock and consternation amongst many of our readers) – chances are that some of you will believe me, and some of you won’t.

But that’s fine. Because it’s still true either way.

PERSECUTORY – SUMMONING THE LAWLESS LEGIONS

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Mar 142022

(Andy Synn joins the lawless legions of Persecutory fans with this review of the band’s new album)

So, it’s official – my Hardcore phase which dominated the start of this year is now over and I am now fully engrossed in a shameless Black Metal binge, with new reviews for Vanum, Vimur, Terzij de Horde, Feral Light, and more, all in the works.

Before I get to any of those records, however, I want to draw your attention to Summoning the Lawless Legions, the recently-released second album from Istanbul’s Persecutory, as ever since I discovered it last week I’ve become addicted to its devilish delights. Continue reading »

AEVITERNE – THE AILING FACADE

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Mar 092022

(Andy Synn delves into the darkness of The Ailing Facade, the upcoming new album by Aeviterne)

Gather round my friends and let me tell you the tale of… Flourishing.

With just a single album to their name, released all the way back in 2011 (the same year, as it happens, that Ulcerate released The Destroyers of All, which perhaps explains why The Sum of All Fossils ended up being somewhat overlooked/overshadowed in the grand scheme of things), the group may not be the most well-known of names, but in certain circles their legacy as a band well ahead of their time – progenitors, in many ways, of the still evolving Atmospheric/Dissonant Death Metal movement – is absolutely unquestionable.

But even if you’re not familiar with the band at all, you should still be excited by the upcoming release of the debut album from Aeviterne, as the group’s line-up not only features two ex-Flourishing members (vocalist/guitarist Garrett Bussanick and bassist Eric Rizk) but also involves creative contributions from ultra-talented ex-Castevet drummer Ian Jacyszyn and Artificial Brain‘s Sam Smith, which should give you some hint of the dark and demanding sound the quartet have conjured on The Ailing Facade.

Even taking these impressive credential into account though, the release of this album still raises the question – particularly in a world where bands like Ingurgitating Oblivion, Nightmarer, and Nero di Marte (to name just a few) have further normalised the incorporation of moody atmospherics and doomy, Post-Metal dynamics into Death Metal – of whether or not Aeviterne have perhaps come a little too late to the party to truly reap the rewards of their talents?

UNRU – DIE WIEDERKEHR DES VERDRÄNGTEN

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Mar 072022

(Andy Synn catches up with the new album from Germany’s Unru, which came out last Friday)

It may surprise you to learn that, more often than not, I don’t have much control over what I listen to.

Oh, sure, I try (heavy emphasis on “try”) to pre-plan what I need/want to listen to for NCS-related purposes, but when it comes to what I listen to for my own pleasure I’m much more at the mercy of my urges and impulses.

Case in point, while I started out the year listening to a lot of Metallic Hardcore or Hardcore-influenced Metal, of various shapes and stripes, more recently I’ve found myself unconsciously gravitating back towards the Black Metal side of things.

What a coincidence, then, that German Blackened Crust crew Unru appear to find themselves undergoing a similar transformation on Die Wiederkehr des Verdrängten.

THINGS YOU MAY HAVE MISSED (BUT SHOULDN’T)

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Mar 032022

(Andy Synn catches up with a few things you may have missed last month)

Is it just me or – after two years where time itself seemed to grind to a soul-crushing halt – does 2022 seem to be trying to throw everything at us all at once?

Honestly, it feels like I’ve barely had time to turn around and two months have already passed me by, leaving a ridiculous number of artists and albums unremarked and unreviewed.

Heck, I didn’t even do one of these columns for January (though if I had, it would probably have included Directional, Dysnerved, Mathan, and Wiegedood) so I’m even more behind than I thought.

It doesn’t help that February was absolutely packed with impressive new releases – including a number of unexpected surprises – so picking what and who to feature in this article was more difficult than usual this time (though, don’t I say that every time?).

Still, I hope you’ll like at least some of what I’ve chosen to feature today, which includes two bands from a little bit outside our usual spectrum, and two more overtly extreme artists making their long-awaited comeback after an eight year absence!

THE SYNN REPORT (PART 143): NON EST DEUS

THE SYNN REPORT 2 Responses »

Feb 282022

Recommended for fans of: Spectral Wound, Uada, Woe

I don’t know whether it makes me a hypocrite (but, then again, aren’t we all?) but while I retain a more than healthy scepticism about any sort of so-called “supergroup” (sure, some of them are great, but most of them are just famous – and sometimes not-so-famous – musicians trading solely on their names to sell you their latest mediocre side-project) I have a lot more time for solo artists with multiple projects.

Actually, to be more accurate, I have a lot more time for those solo artists I actually like – as I am famously very picky when it comes to projects which are the product of just a single individual – which is why, upon learning that Non Est Deus was another artistic endeavour by the same person behind both Kanonenfieber and Leiþa, I knew I had to check it out.

As it turns out, not only is Non Est Deus a predictably excellent slab of sleekly savage, mercilessly melodic Black Metal – one that’s not afraid to groove, or gallop, as the situation dictates, while also being willing to throw in the occasional unexpectedly esoteric curve-ball just to keep you on your toes – it’s also actually an older and more prolific project that either of the other two, having already released both The Last Supper (2018) and There Is No God (2019), with a third album, Impious, set to be unveiled this Friday via Avantgarde Music and Noisebringer Records.

All of which, obviously, makes Non Est Deus a prime candidate for The Synn Report, so let’s cut to the chase and get to the music, shall we?

BEYOND THE STYX – SENTENCE

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Feb 242022

(Andy Synn goes a few rounds with France’s Beyond the Styx and their new album, Sentence)

As I’ve said several times before, my journey into Metal began with my discovery of Punk/Hardcore.

Beginning with bands like Thrice, AFI, and BoySetsFire I eventually gravitated towards more overtly “metallic” Hardcore groups like Earth Crisis, Zao, and Vision of Disorder, and it wasn’t long until I fell/dived headlong into the even heavier side of the Metal scene.

The thing is, while I never really felt like I fit in as a Hardcore kid – I wasn’t really into the fashion (I probably wear more basketball vests now than I ever did back then), I wasn’t vegan or straight-edge (I do about one non-meat day a week these days, and have been known to drink the entire NCS crew under the table), and always felt like karate-dancing in the pit was stupid (and even, arguably, contrary to what “the scene” was supposed to be about) – I never lost my love of the music.

And while recently this has manifested itself in a series of reviews of some killer Death Metal/Hardcore crossover albums (check those out if/when you have time), it was the release of Sentence by French Metallic Hardcore crew Beyond the Styx, which really took me back to my roots this month.

BROOD OF HATRED – THE GOLDEN AGE

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Feb 232022

(Andy Synn opens his mind to the new album by one-man Prog-Death prodigy Brood of Hatred)

So, let me think, what do I know about Tunisia?

Well, I know it’s the Northern-most country in Africa, and predominantly Muslim, and I’m pretty sure I went on holiday there once with my parents when I was a kid… but other than that I don’t really know too much about it.

I know even less about its Metal scene, which appears to be extremely small and extremely underground, to the extent that the only two bands I’m really familiar with – Vielikan and Omination – are primarily written and recorded by the same individual!

As it turns out, Brood of Hatred main-man Mohamed Mêlki was also a member of Vielikan at one point, but has since branched out to craft his own particular brand of engagingly immersive Prog-Death, with The Golden Age (set for release this Friday) being by some margin his best work yet.

HATH – ALL THAT WAS PROMISED

Album Reviews 2 Responses »

Feb 172022

(The highly-anticipated new album from Hath is scheduled for release on 04 March via Willowtip, and Andy Synn has the inside scoop on what you can expect from this rollercoaster of a record)

Hath‘s first album, Of Rot and Ruin, was one of the most hyped albums of 2019, to the extent that (if memory serves) a number of people were extremely keen to label it a “masterpiece” before they’d even heard it.

As much as I enjoyed the record, however, I couldn’t help noticing that much of the music was heavily indebted – a little too heavily indebted, if I’m going to be totally honest – to some of its more obvious influences and inspirations, especially the varied and viscous works of beloved UK Prog-Death duo Slugdge, something which most other reviews seemed to either massively downplay or totally disregard for fear of rocking the boat.

But despite the fact that I was, shall we say, somewhat more critical than most (though still, overall, pretty positive) about their debut, the band still actively reached out to us here at NCS asking if we’d be willing to give their new album a listen and share our honest opinion about it, whatever that might be.

Now, if nothing else, this tells me one of two things about Hath. Either they’re extremely confident about All That Was Promised… or they’re simply gluttons for punishment.

Let’s find out which, shall we?

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