Andy Synn, Author at NO CLEAN SINGING

Andy Synn

ABIGAIL WILLIAMS – A VOID WITHIN EXISTENCE

Jul 102025

(Andy Synn provides some advance insight into the new album from Abigail Williams, out 18 July)

Let me be frank about something… I have been lucky enough to have had access to this album for much, much longer than most people.

Long enough, in fact, for me to fall in love with it, fall out of love with it, rediscover it all over again, and have the opportunity to totally reappraise it in light of my long-running relationship with the band and their music.

And, let me tell you, there’s a chance that maybe… just maybe… this will finally be the album which garners Abigail Williams the respect they’ve long deserved.

IN THE COMPANY OF SERPENTS – A CRACK IN EVERYTHING

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Jul 092025

(Andy Synn has thoughts to share about the new album from In The Company of Serpents, out Friday)

This genre that we call “Heavy Metal” (including its various more “extreme” and esoteric sub-genres) is a style of music often acutely aware of its own history and legacy (sometimes to its detriment… but that’s a whole other discussion we won’t be having here).

That doesn’t mean that other artists other genres aren’t just as knowledgeable about their past by any means, it’s just worth pointing out that – in my experience, at least – most Metal bands, and most Metal fans, tend to have a deep appreciation for the acts who went before them and paved the way.

What’s less-commonly talked about, however, is the variety of inspirations these self-same seminal names (you know the ones) took from all sorts of other different styles of music – since “Heavy Metal” itself had, of course, yet to be invented (and there’s still some discussion to this day about who really did it “first”) – and the ongoing role these ancestral, pre- or proto-Metal, influences continue to have on the genre to this day.

But this is something you can’t help but consider when listening to the latest album of sludgy, doom-laced grooves and moody, Americana-tinged melodies from In The Company of Serpents.

BEST OF POLISH: DEVILPRIEST / STELLAR BLIGHT / THANATOREAN

Album Reviews 1 Response »

Jul 042025

Welcome to another edition of “The Best of British” where I… wait, what’s that?

Yes, it looks like today’s article has officially been hijacked by the Polish, who have come to offer us a bevy of blackened delights courtesy of a mix of established artists and brand-new bands (who, as it turns out, are also made up of some familiar names and faces).

THINGS YOU MAY HAVE MISSED (BUT SHOULDN’T)

Album Reviews 4 Responses »

Jul 022025

(Andy Synn has four more recommendations from June which you may or may not have overlooked)

As usual, I’d like to take some time during the intro to this edition of “Things You May Have Missed” to apologise to all the bands who I couldn’t find space for this month, especially Imipolex and Mugshot (who were this close to making the cut), Putridity, Marasme, and Varhara (although the latter three have all been lined up for future editions of The Synn Report, which assuages my guilt somewhat).

Still, I’m hopeful that the four artists/albums that I did choose to cover will more than satisfy your hunger for new music, so I hereby present a mix of Prog, Thrash, Hardcore, Black Metal, and Crust that should satiate at least some of your cravings (for a while, anyway).

THE SYNN REPORT (PART 184): IMHA TARIKAT

THE SYNN REPORT 4 Responses »

Jun 302025

Recommended for fans of: Dödsrit, Watain, Spectral Wound

We are no strangers to the works of existential extremists Imha Tarikat here at NoCleanSinging.

As a matter of fact, I was personally responsible for reviewing the group’s 2nd and 3rd albums, Sternenberster and Hearts Unchained…, and the only reason I haven’t yet written about their recently-released 4th record, Confessing Darkness, is because I wanted to save it for this month’s edition of The Synn Report.

With a firm foundation in (if you hadn’t already guessed) Black Metal – one which showcases a deep and abiding appreciation for the classics without sounding self-consciously (or self-indulgently) “retro” – the band’s distinctive formula also incorporates hefty helpings of gnarly, tooth-gnashing Crust and Punk influences, as well as lashings of heroic Heavy Metal melody, resulting in a sound rich in potential for possible cross-over success while still staying true (or “trve”) to the genre’s roots.

BARREN ALTAR – BOUND BY IMPERMANENCE

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Jun 262025

(Andy Synn hopes that his love for the new album from Barren Altar is in no way impermanent)

For those of you who still think my review slate recently – Cryptopsy, Deadguy, Heaven Shall Burn, etc – has been a little too “big time”, here’s something undeniably uglier and more underground courtesy of Black/Doom death-worshippers Barren Altar.

NOISE TRAIL IMMERSION – TUTTA LA MORTE IN UN SOLO PUNTO

Album Reviews No Responses »

Jun 252025

(Andy Synn encourages those of you who want a little more chaos in their lives to check out the new album from Noise Trail Immersion, set for release this Friday on I, Voidhanger Records)

I feel like I’ve been covering quite a few big – or, at least, well-known (in Metal circles at least) – bands recently, so perhaps it’s about time to switch my/our attention to a group who are a little less (in)famous?

That doesn’t mean that Noise Trail Immersion don’t already have a reputation to uphold with Tutta La Morte In Un Solo Punto, their upcoming fifth album – in fact, we’ve probably played a small role in helping raise their profile over the years – but for the wider community, including some of our readers I’m sure, this could well be their first time encountering the Italian quintet.

And what will they encounter? Nine tracks of swarming, swirling, switch-blade sharp Dissonant Black Math Metal whose main purpose seems to be to repeatedly punish and perforate your eardrums over the course of forty-three furious minutes.

HEAVEN SHALL BURN – HEIMAT

Album Reviews 2 Responses »

Jun 232025

(Andy Synn has a lot of history with Heaven Shall Burn, which now includes their new album, Heimat, which is set for release this coming Friday on Century Media Records)

Way back in the year 2002 a young man who would one day come to be known (in certain dark corners of the internet, at least) as Andy Synn fell in love with an album by the name of Whatever It May Take by German Metalcore icon(oclast)s Heaven Shall Burn, who would go on to have a major influence on his music tastes for the foreseeable future.

That same year he also encountered an outstanding (some might even say seminal) piece of cinema named 28 Days Later, from director Danny Boyle, which would also have a huge impact on the media he would choose to consume going forwards and set the standard for what home-grown Horror could be.

And now, here we are in 2025 with new releases from both band and director demanding our attention once more… but while one of those has proven to be a crushing disappointment, let’s hope that the other one lives up to its legacy, shall we?

DEADGUY – NEAR-DEATH TRAVEL SERVICES

Album Reviews 4 Responses »

Jun 182025

(Andy Synn encourages you all to book a trip with Deadguy on their long-awaited new album)

Don’t call it a comeback!

Or… maybe do? Because if there’s one time you’re probably justified in using that word it’s when a band has a thirty year gap between albums (especially if it’s a thirty year gap between their debut and their follow-up).

The thing is, no matter how influential and iconic Fixation on a Coworker was (and still is, to be clear) there’s no getting around the fact that it has been a very long time since 1995, and during the intervening three decades between then and now the Hardcore scene has grown and expanded and evolved to such an extent that the big question actually seems to be… does the world need a new Deadguy album?

Well, here’s the thing, however you answer that question – mine would be a resounding “yes”, by the way – all that really matters is that this is the album that Deadguy themselves needed to make.

SARGASSUS – VITRUVIAN RAYS

Album Reviews No Responses »

Jun 172025

(According to our own Andy Synn, now is the perfect time to get to know Finnish quartet Sargassus)

One thing I mentioned in the intro to yesterday’s review (which you can, and should, read here) was that while we don’t always end up covering some of the bigger bands out there, sometimes we’ll do it just because we enjoy doing so.

But what I failed to mention is that there’s another benefit to occasionally covering some of the more notorious names… because if and when those articles start doing larger numbers and attracting new readers (as has been known to happen every now and again) there’s inevitably a knock-on effect that brings more eyes to the smaller and/or more underground names we usually write about.

Which is why I’ve chosen to follow up my Cryptopsy coverage with some words about the recently-released debut album from Progressive/Melodic Black/Death Metal quartet Sargassus.

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