Islander

AN NCS PREMIERE: LIMINAL SPIRIT — “A BETTER PLACE”

 Premieres  1 Response »
Oct 242025
 

(written by Islander)

The song we’re about to premiere marked our introduction to Liminal Spirit. Both that name and Liminal Spirit’s music may be new to you too, so we’ll begin by sharing what we’ve learned — including what we know about the unusual subject matter of the forthcoming EP (Unwell) that includes the song we’re premiering.

Liminal Spirit is the solo project of Milwaukee-based multi-instrumentalist Jerry Hauppa. Prior to this, he was involved in the sludge metal band Northless, the death metal band Ara, and the instrumental space-focused band Deorbit. He has referred to Liminal Spirit’s recordings as “seance music”, a fusion of genre ingredients “designed to channel spiritual passage”. That fusion could be summed up as “progressive doom metal”, but as you’ll discover, that shorthand isn’t quite complete. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: VEILBURNER — “MATTER O’ THE MOST AWFUL MARTYRS”

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Oct 232025
 

(written by Islander)

This makes the lucky 13th time we’ve written about the music of Veilburner (beginning 11 years ago), and the 7th time we’ve premiered their music — that’s a lot of prime numbers! Which is fitting because this is a prime band, their music not easily divisible into conventional component parts but instead twisting and looping back onto itself much like the ever-feeding Ouroboros that the band favor in their symbolism.

The subject of today’s premiere is “Matter o’ the Most Awful of Martyrs,” the third song to be revealed from Veilburner’s new album Longing for Triumph, Reeking of Tragedy, which will be released on November 14th by Transcending Obscurity Records. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: URANIUM — “CORROSION OF EXISTENCE”

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Oct 232025
 

(written by Islander)

If there were a Cookbook for Cataclysm you might find a recipe that called for a base stock of hurricane, whisking in blizzards blown by the four winds, a strong helping of avalanche, handfuls of human viscera (explosively ejected), a seasoning of sewage to taste, and everything drenched in lethal fissionable material hot enough to glassify sand and stone. Listening to the music of Uranium, it’s easy to imagine they found that recipe but then altered it for transmutation into sound because it wasn’t sufficiently ugly or painful.

There are other ways of trying to preview the music. Sentient Ruin Laboratories calls Uranium an “American nuclear black industrial weapon”. They call the monstrous tracks on Uranium‘s new album Corrosion of Existence “plutonium-fueled auditory terror” and “an unimaginable cauldron of destruction”. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: NAEVUS

 Exceptions to the Rule, Interviews  No Responses »
Oct 232025
 

(No secret, our Comrade Aleks favors doom above all other metal, and he shows special warmth for the the long-lived German band Naevus in the interview we now present with their vocalist Uwe Groebel, occasioned by the band’s new album Back Home.)

Thanks to Naevus‘ album Sun Meditation (1998), the band is remembered and revered among the more zealous fans of the European and especially German doom scene, alongside bands like Dawn of Winter and Mirror of Deception. Cathedral frontman Lee Dorian once praised the traditional and surprisingly human Sun Meditation, so the album was released on his own label, Rise Above.

This didn’t prevent Naevus from breaking up, and they only returned to the fold in 2012. Their fresh release Back Home is only the band’s third album, but the foursome has lost neither their dexterity nor their inspiration, so even the nine-year hiatus between this release and its predecessor Heavy Burden hasn’t affected the quality of the material.

Naevus continue to impress with their traditional and melodic heavy doom, which most of all invites comparisons to Trouble as a whole and their vocalist Eric Wagner (may he rest in peace) separately as part of his solo project Blackfinger. But while the voice of Naevus vocalist Uwe Groebel’s truly evokes Wagner’s vulnerability, his humanity, the instrumental side of Back Home is their strong part as well. The album boasts plenty of catchy riffs, haunting vocal melodies, and elegant guitar passages, evenly spaced throughout each song.

Naevus managed to get through all obstacles and recorded the new songs with the same lineup which worked on Sun Meditation a quarter of a century ago: Sven Heimerdinger (bass, vocals), Mathias Strauf (drums), Oliver Grosshans (guitars), and Uwe Groebel (vocals, guitars). And you know what? We done an interview with Uwe recently. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: SHORES OF NULL — “AN EASY WAY” (AND A REVIEW OF “LATITUDES OF SORROW”)

 Album Reviews, Premieres, SHORT BUT SWEET  No Responses »
Oct 222025
 

(written by Islander)

Latitudes of Sorrow is a new five-song split featuring the music of two bands whose past music has garnered substantial praise both here and elsewhere: Convocation from Helsinki and Shores of Null from Rome. The esteemed Everlasting Spew Records will release the split on November 21st.

At the beginning of this month we had the privilege of premiering one of Convocation’s compelling songs from the split, “Empty Room,” and now we’re following that with the premiere of “An Easy Way” by Shores of Null. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: GRILO DO DEMO

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Oct 222025
 

(The eyes and ears of Moonsorrow fans should perk up today because of the following interview Comrade Aleks has brought us, the principal subject of which is a new book about the band based on extensive interviews of Moonsorrow’s members. Aleks will introduce the author.)

I hadn’t heard of Grilo do Demo, but Moonsorrow fans are likely familiar with his unofficial and, at the time, fairly detailed biography of the band, which he consistently posted online about fifteen years ago. An enthusiastic journalist, he wrote for a couple of webzines until he met Leo Aragon, who had the idea of ​​making a documentary about Moonsorrow, using that very biography as a basis.

The band was ready to meet him halfway, and the friends and a couple of like-minded individuals traveled to Finland, where they conducted extensive video interviews with the musicians and those involved on the spot. The film’s production stalled at some moment, and you’ll know why from this interview… However, such valuable material, of course, was unlikely to lose its relevance, and the movie’s crew didn’t want to waste the momentum, so over time, they agreed that the footage could supplement Grilo‘s biography. The rest, as they say, is history…

What do we have now? As Cult Never Dies, the publisher, states: Home of the Waves: Conversations with Moonsorrow is a substantial 388-page hardback, featuring a 24-page colour photo gallery and a total of 150 images, most of which have never been seen before. You can pre-order it, and if you’re really into this, here’s the interview with Grilo himself. Continue reading »

AN NCS EP PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): MIASMIC SERUM — “BETTER LEFT DEAD”

 Album Reviews, Premieres  No Responses »
Oct 212025
 

(written by Islander)

Last year we had the ghoulish pleasure of reviewing and premiering a full stream of Infected Seed, the debut album from the Italian band Miasmic Serum, which we called “one of the most thrilling and accomplished death metal assaults of the year so far.”

We are fortunate that Miasmic Serum are already back with a new EP named Better Left Dead that will be released on October 24th by Iron Fortress Records, and equally fortunate to be the bearer of another full streaming premiere.

Whereas that debut album was thematically focused on poisons, venoms, and hallucinogens, for this new EP the band have drawn inspiration from H.P. Lovecraft, and in particular his short story “Herbert West – Reanimator” and the cult 1985 film adaptation Re-Animator. The EP also features the band’s new vocalist Riccardo Marconato (Afraid Of Destiny). Continue reading »

OBSCURITIES – VOLUME XXI: HALLOWEEN & CHILLING RIFFS

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Oct 212025
 

(Daniel Barkasi is back with another monthly collection of carefully chosen obscurities, providing vivid and enthusiastic reviews of six fine albums released in September of this year.)

As I begin to write this in an airport, heading to Pittsburgh on a shockingly delayed flight – helping out the folks with a few things, seeing a great friend who has struggled with some awful health issues (love you, Darren), and the Under Appalachian Skies festival (which has concluded by the time you read this, and it was an incredible time) — it’s dawned on me how wild of a year it’s been, yet it’s gone by so damn fast. Hope everyone is hanging in there best you can!

I wanted to also give my deepest appreciation to those who gave their condolences for our dog Kaiya last month. Those kind words went a long way, and it meant a lot.

Halloween is rapidly approaching, and it’s the season of Reese’s peanut butter pumpkins and good horror flicks. If anyone has any good suggestions, I’m all ears! There’s a ton of Korean films and series that I want to check out, as some of the best productions are coming from there, and have for some time. We also went to Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Orlando recently and had a blast! If anyone ever finds themselves in the swamp at this time of year, it’s definitely worth your time. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: VICTIM OF REALITY — “DESPERATION”

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Oct 202025
 

(written by Islander)

In this feature we share with you a powerful new discovery, the Belarusian band Victim of Reality, and an excerpt from their forthcoming debut album The Dump of Human Hopes.

You can anticipate from the name of the band, the name of the album, and the record’s cover art that they don’t make happy music. Instead, they devote themselves to old school atmospheric doom/death, drawing influence from the likes of My Dying Bride, Swallow the Sun, Saturnus, Evoken, and Funeral.

Here is how the labels that will release the album portray the impact of the band’s music: Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: GLORIOUS DEPRAVITY — “NECROBOTIC ENSLAVEMENT”

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Oct 202025
 

(written by Islander)

Before anyone in the public at large heard a note, it was predictable that the new album by Glorious Depravity would get lots of attention. First and foremast, there’s the band’s lineup, which includes members of Pyrrhon, Gravesend, Woe, Scarcity, and more. And then… well hell… look at that extraordinary cover painting by Dan Seagrave. If you’re a fan of extreme metal, it’s damned tough to see that and not want to hear what’s inside.

The new album, Death Never Sleeps, isn’t this band’s first strike. They launched that with their Ageless Violence debut album on Translation Loss almost five years ago, and the solid strength of that one provided yet another reason to expect the new one would seize attention. This time around, the attention is even more well-deserved because the band have stepped up their game in multiple ways.

There’s commanding proof of Glorious Depravity‘s advancement in the two songs from the new album that have debuted so far, and we have further proof in our premiere today of a third one — “Necrobotic Enslavement“. Continue reading »

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