Islander

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): NOX — “ENTITY”

 Album Reviews, Exceptions to the Rule, Premieres  No Responses »
Jun 072024
 

Today we’re taking you off our usual well-beaten musical paths as we premiere a full stream of Entity, the debut album of a duo who have taken for themselves the name Nox.

The identities of those two artists are what first led us down this divergent path. They are Inmesher from the German band Rope Sect, whose own new album Estrangement we premiered here not long ago, and Lykaios (aka Lykormas) from the Belgian band Hemelbestormer, whose fascinating post-metal instrumental excursions we’ve written about frequently in the past (he is also the person behind Lhaäd and a member of Rituals of the Dead Hand).

Having been beckoned by those two names and the attractions of the music they’ve made in their other projects, we were curious about what they chose to do as the Nox entity. Hints of what they accomplished were provided in the PR materials furnished on behalf of their label Neuropa Records, which is releasing the album today. For example, this: Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: CRYPT SERMON

 Exceptions to the Rule, Interviews  1 Response »
Jun 072024
 


Photo credit: Scott Kincade

(Today we’re very happy to present Comrade Aleks‘ excellent interview with frontman Brooks Wilson from Crypt Sermon, whose new album is set for release on June 14th via Dark Descent Records.)

The Philadelphia doom crew Crypt Sermon took the matter seriously from the very beginning, and the first album Out of the Garden (2015) became, if not a modern classic, at least a significant phenomenon for the doom scene. The second release The Ruins of Fading Light (2019) cemented Crypt Sermon’s reputation as one of the most relevant “new” epic doom bands, but how to grow further with such a triumphant start?

The band’s new album The Stygian Rose is to be released on June 14th, and its lyrics are partly inspired by the ideas of American medium and occult writer Pascal Beverly Randolph. They mix very traditional doom with magical retro metal, combining crushing riffs and shimmering guitar melodies, and Crypt Sermon go into the large-scale and epic doom-ascension with no final destination.

Crypt Sermon are endearing due to their fidelity to heavy metal doom roots and their artistic take on the rigid form of the genre. We have done the interview with the band’s frontman Brooks Wilson, and it’ll help us learn more about the story behind The Stygian Rose and further. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): GLYPH — “ODES OF WAILING, HYMNS OF MOURNING”

 Album Reviews, Premieres  No Responses »
Jun 062024
 

Beginning in 2019 the mysterious U.S. black metal entity Glyph has provided a dozen short releases and two full-lengths, with a third album arriving imminently, i.e., tomorrow, via Milwaukee-based Shape of Storms Records and other labels whose names will be familiar to our readers.

The name of the new album, which we’re premiering in full today, stands as a signpost of what lies ahead: odes of wailing, hymns of mourning. And so it seems evident that the album represents a way or working through grief and pain, but it achieves that catharsis in startling, shattering, and ultimately triumphant fashion. Continue reading »

AL-NAMROOD: “AL AQRAB”

 Album Reviews  1 Response »
Jun 062024
 

(Below you will find Didrik Mešiček‘s review of a new album by the Saudi Arabian band Al-Namrood, which will be released in just a few days from now.)

There are many of us for whom metal is an essential part of our lives and some might say, rather dramatically, that it’s a matter of life and death. For Al-Namrood, however, that statement is quite literal.

The band’s name translates to “non-believer” and that’s the exact essence the Saudis convey with their music and exactly what could get them potentially executed, which is why they’ve never been able to play a live show as the risk is simply too great. Despite that, the band has been going strong since 2008, and Al Aqrab – to be released on June 9th by Shaytan Productions – will now be their 10th full-length album. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): OKULAR — “REGENERATE”

 Album Reviews, Premieres  No Responses »
Jun 052024
 

Many death metal bands “look the part”, black-garbed and festooned with spikes, pentagrams, bullet-belts, and/or skulls, and others don’t. Norway’s Okular are on the “don’t” side of the line. In their recent promo photo there’s not a band shirt to be seen nor any other allusion to Satan, the Grim Reaper, or spilled guts, and there’s more khaki in their attire than black. They’ve also got a few more years in their faces, which aren’t contorted in evil grimaces, than whatever hot young things you were listening to yesterday.

Some metal bands also churn out music like there’s no tomorrow. On the other hand, if Okular are expecting the end of the world, they’re obviously not anxious about it: 11 years have passed since their last album.

But Okular‘s non-conformity goes beyond their approach to appearance and timetables. Most importantly, it’s represented by their music, which you’d already know if you happened upon either that last album 11 years ago or the one before that, and which you’re about to learn (or learn again) when you hear their new full-length Regenerate. For newcomers, let’s quickly say that it’s neither plain nor khaki-colored. It’s more like the cover art created by Tina Harsheim Giertsen: Continue reading »

NORTHWEST TERROR FEST 2024: A REPORT ON DAY THREE

 Concert Reviews  6 Responses »
Jun 052024
 

(We’ve been very fortunate to have two wonderful talents reporting on the 2024 edition of NCS-sponsored Northwest Terror Fest — writer Gonzo and photographer John Malley. Together they have made it possible for those who weren’t there to get a sense of the experience, and to remind those of us who were there how great it was. Here’s their report on the fest’s third and final day. Find the Day One report here and the Day Two report here.

Before I get too far into recapping the final day of this glorious weekend, a quick disclaimer:

Every year, it seems I can delve a little deeper into what powers this festival. On Saturday, I found myself going farther behind the curtain of NWTF than ever before. And why not?

I’ve been crawling around these pages for five years now, so the time felt right. What that meant for actual coverage of the band’s performances, though, was anyone’s guess at this point. I was rapidly ascending to another state of existence in which my body was being powered sheerly by caffeine, craft beer, pizza, and weed, so any attempt to cover the rest of this festival coherently was a complete fucking dice roll by now.

With all that being said, if there’s anything I can promise to deliver beneath the fold, it’s quality goddamn entertainment.

Continue reading »

NORTHWEST TERROR FEST 2024: A REPORT ON DAY TWO

 Concert Reviews  1 Response »
Jun 042024
 

(We are very fortunate to have two wonderful talents reporting on the 2024 edition of NCS-sponsored Northwest Terror Fest — writer Gonzo and photographer John Malley. Together they have made it possible for those who weren’t there to get a sense of the experience, and to remind those of us who were there how great it was. Here’s their report on the fest’s second day. Find the Day One report here. We’ll bring you Day Three tomorrow.)

As I got out of bed on Friday morning, still riding whatever high Amenra left me with the night before, a random intrusive thought barged into my brain without warning:

“Is insanity a prerequisite for going to festivals?”

Perhaps. In any case, my immediate reply to my own thought was, “No, but it probably helps.”

I feel like this is usually where I’d follow up by reassuring you all that yes, I did in fact pass my last psych evaluation and no, I am definitely not an unhinged jetlagged sleep-deprived writer about to binge on eight straight hours of music and stimulants for the second night in a row.

But if I did that, I’d be telling at least one lie. (I’m not saying which part.)

Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: THIRTEEN GOATS — “SIGN OF THE GOAT”

 Premieres  No Responses »
Jun 042024
 

Somewhere the Devil is smiling broadly, imagining how much hell-raising fun you’re about to have when you listen to the song we’re premiering (with a video) from Thirteen Goats‘ new album Capricorn Rising.

This song, “Sign of the Goat“, functions as an overture for the rest of the album, which is itself described as “an extreme metal rock opera about madness, death, and the destruction of all things”. We also have a more detailed preview from the Vancouver-based band about the role of the song in that context: Continue reading »

EXUVIAL — “THE HIVE MIND CHRONICLES PART I: PARASITICA”

 Album Reviews  2 Responses »
Jun 042024
 

(Here we have our friend Gonzo‘s enthusiastic review of a new album from Denver-based Exuvial, and we share the just-released first single from the album.)

It’s hard to turn heads (and melt faces) in tech-death anymore, thanks in part to so many bands who continuously raise the bar with stellar musicianship and songwriting (see The Zenith Passage, Archspire, ATRÆ BILIS). So, when a new band conjures up a debut album that could stand on its own next to names like those, I take note.

With that, I give you Denver’s Exuvial. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: DERELICT — “SPECTRUM”

 Premieres  No Responses »
Jun 042024
 

Over the course of three albums beginning in 2006 the Montréal band Derelict have established a name for themselves as a group that found an intersection between technical death metal and the more brutal and melodic pathways of the death metal soundscape. A long 12 years have passed since their last album, but now they’re finally returning with a fourth one.

The title of the new album is Versus Entropy, a nine-song affair that’s now set for release on June 21st. What we have for you today is the premiere of the second single from the album — “Spectrum” — and it’s a very interesting song in more ways than one. Continue reading »

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