Andy Synn, Author at NO CLEAN SINGING

Andy Synn

CRYPTOPSY – AN INSATIABLE VIOLENCE

Jun 162025

(Andy Synn is here to feed your insatiable hunger for more Cryptopsy whose new album is out Friday)

It’s generally understood, by our regular readers at least, that we tend to favour covering smaller, up-and-coming, or less well-exposed bands whenever and wherever we can, largely because – at our level, at least – those are the bands who will benefit the most from our coverage.

That doesn’t mean we won’t cover bigger bands or more notorious names when the opportunity presents itself to do so… it’s just that, after a band reaches a certain level of popularity (or notoriety) it’s easy for our voice to just get lost in the storm of acclaim (or criticism) that tends to follow most releases of a certain magnitude.

Case in point – do Cryptopsy really need us to review their new album? Well, they’re currently on the cover of Decibel which suggests that a) no, they really don’t, and b) the movers and shakers in the industry might finally be coming around to the fact that the band are (still) kind of a big deal.

But just because a band doesn’t need our help doesn’t mean we don’t want to write about them, and to be quite honest I’ve been itching to put my thoughts about An Insatiable Violence down on paper (or, at least, on the internet) for you all to read for quite some time.

RETURNING – NUMINOUS

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Jun 122025

(Andy Synn returns to nature with the new album from Returning, out 20 June)

Ah, “numinous”… referring to something that arouses or engenders a spiritual or religious experience… what a perfect name for the new album from Returning.

If you’re not familiar with the band, the duo’s previous album (2023’s Severance) introduced us to their moody, mesmeric blend of earthen Black Metal and ethereal ambience, resulting in a haunting, often hypnotic, sound situated somewhere between the visceral vibrancy of Wolves In The Throne Room and the shadowy shimmer of Treha Sektori, with a dash of the mournful melancholy of early Agalloch on the side.

And while I’m not suggesting that the duo have found god – if anything, the divinity they’re seeking to commune with is that of nature itself – there’s certainly a sense of religious awe, if not ecstasy, to their new album.

BEST OF BRITISH: CWFEN / DESOLATED / TRIVAX

Album Reviews 2 Responses »

Jun 112025

(Andy Synn highlights three more homegrown heroes who represent the Best of British)

There is, as I have long been telling you, such a wealth of variety and talent in the UK scene right now that it’s impossible for anyone – even someone as handsome, intelligent, and… above all else… modest as I am – to cover it all.

Still, that’s never stopped me trying, which is why today I’m presenting a killer combo of doomy introspection, aggro intensity, and iconoclastic blackened belligerence courtesy of Cwfen, Desolated, and Trivax.

OBSTRUKTION – THE END TAKES FORM

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Jun 092025

(Andy Synn investigates what form the new album from Sweden’s Obstruktion will take)

As has already been pretty well documented (if you’ve been paying attention, at least) I’m not a huge Thrash guy these days.

Don’t get me wrong, I acknowledge the seminal importance of the style – it does, after all, form the foundation of so much of what we listen to – and still have a lot of love for the classics (and will always have time for Kreator).

But, these days at least, it’s only when it gets mixed up in other styles – Death Thrash, Blackened Thrash, and especially the thrashier side of Hardcore – that it really gets my proverbial motor running.

And the new album from Obstruktion, which smashes a bunch of hefty Death and Thrash influences into the group’s central Hardcore sound, definitely ticks all the right boxes for me.

THINGS YOU MAY HAVE MISSED (BUT SHOULDN’T)

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Jun 042025

(Andy Synn takes yet another look back at what May had to offer us)

For anyone keeping count… yes, this is the third edition of “Things You May Have Missed” that I’ve done in a week, which is a testament to just how much stuff I missed last month while I was busy shirking my blogging responsibilities.

Hell, the truth is there’s more than enough artists/albums left over on the proverbial cutting-room floor – Escarnium and Eschaton, Orphaned and Obsidian Tongue, Morgu and Mayon, etc – to make up at least one more of these articles too (if only I had the time).

THE SYNN REPORT (PART 183): DROUTH

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May 312025

Recommended for fans of: Abigail Williams, Weakling, Woe

Since I was lucky enough to attend another edition of Northwest Terror Fest this year it only seemed to make sense to me to dedicate this edition of The Synn Report to a band I was lucky enough to see for the first time at the festival a couple of years back.

Of course, this wasn’t my first exposure to the feral Black Metal ferocity of Portland’s Drouth, as I wrote some pretty positive things about their second album, Excerpts from a Dread Liturgy, back in 2020 (a review which I have partially cannibalised for this article), but getting to see them rip it up live in Seattle last year definitely increased my appreciation for their increasingly savage, scorching sound.

And what better way to show my appreciation than to feature all three of their albums, including their recently-released third full-length The Teeth of Time, in this month’s edition of The Synn Report?

THINGS YOU MAY HAVE MISSED (BUT SHOULDN’T)

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May 292025

(Andy Synn continues to play catch-up with everything he missed this month)

Oddly, but pleasingly, one thing which has come up a few times over the last few weeks is how much many people – from our regular readers to the bands we cover to various people in the industry – appreciate what we do here as, and I quote, a more “curated” experience than what some of the larger and more (in)famous sites provide.

And while I don’t disagree with this, it does slightly overestimate things… after all (and I hope I’m not giving away any trade secrets here) there’s definitely a degree of randomness (you might even call it “chaos”) to what we do here, since we only cover the things we like and which catch our ear(s) – regardless of any external pressures or inducements – each month.

Sure, sometimes there’s a bit of forward planning involved, but what you see and what you get here is most often the result of a spontaneous reaction to new music… which, I suppose, is how we like it!

THINGS YOU MAY HAVE MISSED (BUT SHOULDN’T)

Album Reviews 1 Response »

May 272025

(Andy Synn makes his first attempt at catching up with all the killer new releases from the last month)

As you may have noticed, my posting rate has been way down this month, mostly because I was off enjoying myself – first at Northwest Terror Fest in Seattle (after which I stuck around to hang out with the rest of the NCS crew and extended family) and then at Maryland Deathfest (which, as of writing this, ended about 15 hours ago, give or take) in Baltimore.

To make up for this I plan on doing not one, not two, but three editions of “Things You May Have Missed” for May, focussing on a hefty helping of artists/albums I would have written about if I’d not been so busy (and by “busy” I mean “busy having fun”).

As usual (though not always, to be fair) I’ve tried to cover as many bases, and as many different genres (and sub-genres), as possible in each article – variety is the spice of life, after all – in the hope of not only introducing some of you to your favourite new band or record but also, possibly, pushing you a little outside of your comfort zone and getting you to check out something you wouldn’t normally listen to.

So let’s begin, shall we?

CRUST – WHERE LIGHT FEARS TO DESCEND

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May 212025

(Andy Synn boldly goes… where light fears to descend)

Due to the fact that DGR and I have been spending the last week or so terrorising the mean streets of Seattle together, we’ve had a lot more time than usual to hang out, shoot the shit, and discuss important matters like art, music, and where to get our next beer.

And it was during these discussions where he raised the point that there’s a bunch of bands – quite a lot of them now, to be perfectly honest – that we’ve adopted as favourites here at NCS, to the point where we actively try to cover everything they do in the hope that other sites will also pick up on them and help give them more exposure.

As some of you may have already guessed, Black/Doom/Sludge coven Crust have been one of these bands for a fair number of years now, and with their new album set for release very soon – this Friday, in fact – now felt like a good time to once again try and give these devils their due.

RIVERS OF NIHIL – RIVERS OF NIHIL

Album Reviews 6 Responses »

May 192025

(Andy Synn presents his thoughts on Rivers of Nihil‘s upcoming self-titled album, out 30 May.)

With Rivers of Nihil stating that their upcoming fifth album – which we’ll get to shortly – would involve a synthesis of ideas and elements from all four of their previous records (plus some new ones born from some significant line-up changes) I felt it might make sense to start this review off with a quick round-up of where I stand in relation to their discography so far.

Their underrated debut album, The Conscious Seed of Light, still holds a special place in my heart for the way it introduced me to the band and their nascent blend of rigid, biomechanical riffage and fluid, melodic embellishments, while the heavier, hookier, and more tightly-structured Monarchy remains, in my opinion at least, the most focussed and consistent release of their career (so far, anyway).

And while I understand the love a lot of people have for Where Owls Know My Name – which, with its proggier and more accessible vibes, was where a lot of fans fell in love with the band – to me it remains something of a mixed bag (half “killer”, half “filler”) with the more ambitious and even more progressive (not to mention divisive) approach of The Work representing a much bolder and more successful creative step in my opinion (even if a couple of tracks still didn’t quite… ahem… work).

So, with that in mind, here’s what I think of their eponymous fifth album, which comes out next week.

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