Islander

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): OMEGAVORTEX — “DIABOLIC MESSIAH OF THE NEW WORLD ORDER”

 Album Reviews, Premieres  1 Response »
Nov 262025
 

(written by Islander)

We might think of the varying genres of extreme metal as a branching warren of subterranean caverns, all of them connected but some very far away from others. Some are oppressive in their pressures, others cold enough to freeze breath, some occupied by near-mindless creatures frenzied in their hunger, some haunted by wailing ghosts or giants that woozily lumber about. In some of them, strains of ecstatic and/or mesmerizing melody thread their way through stalactites rhythmically crashing down.

But in some of those underground spaces sheer chaos reigns. That is where you’ll find Omegavortex, in a spiked cavity where skin-searing white phosphorus burns and hurricanes of grit and blades ruthlessly storm, where demons scream in throes of violence and nightmares come to life.

Since 2017 Omegavortex have carved their underground abyss with a few short releases and their 2020 debut album, the aptly named Black Abomination Spawn, but they will soon expand the reach of their terrible domain with a second album, Diabolic Messiah of the New World Order, now set for release on December 5th by Third Eye Temple. We have a full stream of the album for you today — and some thoughts about the gloriously ravishing and ruinous assaults it encompasses. Continue reading »

PIGS PIGS PIGS PIGS PIGS PIGS PIGS: “DEATH HILARIOUS”

 Album Reviews  No Responses »
Nov 262025
 

‘Now we hunt Hippopotamus’ by Aaron Johnson. done in a style they call “reverse painted acrylic polymer peel painting.”

(Vizzah Harri dives deep into and around the latest album by the UK band Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs, which was released this past April by Rocket Recordings.)

Bands with PR in three settings across the globe can hardly be considered underground, though postern gates with stairways leading down to caverns advertising treasures would at least induce a probing glance or load-bearing check of the first step.

If opener Blockage was your introduction to this band or their approach, as it was the case for me, you’re in for a trip that results in an antonymic flush. You are forgiven, however, for still being fixated on Aaron Johnson’s stirring phantasmagoric artwork.

Lifted from the Jeremyriad blog is this quote from the artist about the origins of the piece:

“Now We Hunt Hippopotamus is a convergen ce of disparate influences, specifically including The Hippopotamus Hunt by Rubens (one of my favorite paintings by one of my favorite painters), Indian firecracker graphics (which I discovered traveling in India in 2005, a trip that completely exploded my color palette), and the David Lynch film Wild at Heart (the title of this piece comes from torrid moment when Isabella Rossellini stares down the barrel of her pistol pointed at the camera shouting ‘Now We Hunt Buffalo!’).”

Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: ANGES DE LA MORT — “LE FEU SOUS LA GLACE”

 Premieres  No Responses »
Nov 252025
 

(written by Islander)

The Montreal-based black metal duo Anges de la Mort (French for “Angels of Death”) debuted in 2019 with a self-titled EP and then followed that with a second EP in 2020 (Where Spirits No More Shine), an album in 2024 (Notre tombeau grand ouvert), and a split with Ifernach last year.

Now they’re working toward the release of a second album next year, and today we have the first sign of what it holds in store, through our premiere of a ferocious new song called “Le Feu sous la Glace“. Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: BLACK HILL COVE — “INTO THE ABYSS”

 Premieres  No Responses »
Nov 252025
 

(written by Islander)

Last year the Portuguese metal band Black Hill Cove released their second full-length, Ex Tenebris Vita, on Raging Planet Records, and now they’re following that up with a new single named “Into the Abyss”, which we’re premiering today along with its accompanying video.

On this new song the band collaborated with Norwegian drummer Tomas Myklebust as well as vocalist Ana Cristina Carvalho, who has appeared on previous Black Hill Cove releases. The band have also recently announced that Portuguese drummer Ricardo Oliveira has joined the band, reinforcing the lineup in preparation for upcoming live shows (more about that later in this feature). Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): SLÔDDER — “NARCISSIST”

 Album Reviews, Premieres  No Responses »
Nov 242025
 

(written by Islander)

“Rabid, misanthropic sludge from Sweden.” That’s a succinct and pointedly accurate description of the music made by the band Slôdder, as displayed so far in a pair of 2018 EPs and then in a pair of albums, their self-titled full-length in 2021 and 2023’s A Mind Designed To Destroy Beautiful Things.

And now they have a third album that will drop on November 26th via Shit County Records. Its name is Narcissist, and we’re giving you the chance to hear all of it today. The music is indeed rabid and misanthropic, but as you’ll discover, that’s only part of its personality. Continue reading »

OFERMOD: “DRAKOSOPHIA”

 Album Reviews  No Responses »
Nov 242025
 

(We present Daniel Barkasi’s review of a new album from the Swedish black metal band Ofermod, which was released on October 3rd by Shadow Records.)

Good old-fashioned, second wave, ritualistic, riff-centric black metal is a distinct sort of flavor profile that admittedly has been done many times; a particular sound that represents a sort of comfort zone to these ears. Those who purvey that sound were my gateway into a much larger and diverse universe of black metal, and when that feeling is captured and executed precisely, we’re all in. Enter Ofermod, the vehicle of the enigmatic Belfagor, who has cycled through a fair number of members throughout the years – especially vocalists. Through it all, however, the style has stayed remarkably consistent; a testament to Belfagor’s focused vision.

Albums such as Sol Nox and Mysterium Iniquitatis serve as the best examples of what Ofermod have to offer up to now, both being albums that are recalled when seeking this archetype of black metal. Now we have Drakosophia, with a new vocalist in tow in Adeptus (who is now a former member – more on that later), and the resultant is familiar and wholly satisfying. Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK: ASTERIAE, OPPRESSION, WORM

 Album Reviews, SHADES OF BLACK  No Responses »
Nov 232025
 

(written by Islander)

Greetings again on another Sunday, or whatever day it might be when you find your way here. Today’s collection is shorter than I would like it to be, because I have plans for the morning with my spouse that will take us out of the house, and I wasn’t able to spend much time pulling this together yesterday.

I’m beginning with an album released one month ago that I’ve been meaning to say something about for at least that long, and then following it with singles from two forthcoming albums that sound pretty exciting. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD ON A SATURDAY: ENSHINE, UNIVERSE217, CARRION VAEL, GHOULHOUSE, CH’AHOM, XAOC

 Album Reviews, Exceptions to the Rule, Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  No Responses »
Nov 222025
 

(written by Islander)

I guess the word of the week is “piggy”, and not because Northwest Terror Fest announced yesterday that Piggy D will be one of the headliners at the May 2026 edition of the fest. In other news from the Department of Coincidence, we will post a review next week of an album by a band called Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs.

I guess I’ve been piggy myself this morning, ravenously rooting through the trough of extreme metal that got filled up with new releases over the past week. Now engorged, here’s what I decided to vomit up for your delectation this weekend: Continue reading »

UNALIGNED: “A FORM BEYOND”

 Album Reviews  1 Response »
Nov 212025
 

(Given our DGR’s proclivities in musical taste it was just a matter of time before he got around to reviewing the debut album from Unaligned, which was released by Transcending Obscurity Records in September. And now’s the time.)

Fireworks are pretty much illegal in the glorious nation of California. Something about the state being a massive tinderbox in the spring and summertime thanks to our brand new, shiny, and totally not climate change related weather pattern of atmospheric river into complete and utter drought means that even the slightest butterfly fart has the risk of igniting Santa Monica and reducing it to ash. That’s not to deny that the appeal isn’t there, and a brightly colored explosion is immensely and undeniably fucking cool, to say the least.

But, if we cannot have our yearly culling of hands and other extremities by some of the less bright among the shedful of lightbulbs that is our populace, we can seek other ways to chase after that high. What about musically then? Perhaps that is why even though it has long ossified into its own form of genre, tech-death seems to hold on out here. From any source, all across the nation, we will more than happily absorb that wall of notes and pyrotechnic instrumentation. We are the one of the homes of the big ramp of the X Games after all, and what is tech-death if not the musical idea of lining up a whole bunch of fireworks all in a row, setting them off at the same time, and then launching yourself across a forty-foot gap while attempting to land some sort of trick?

Tech-death is the very existence of “why can’t it just be the big ramp all the time”. With subtlety now strapped to a rocket and launched into space, tech-death itself has been a vibrant home to foster all sorts of wild musical showmanship, and surprisingly, it still shows no sign of slowing down. The latest evidence of that comes to us from all the way across the country in Florida’s Unaligned and their September-released album A Form Beyond. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: OLDE OUTLIER — “SWEPT”

 Premieres  3 Responses »
Nov 212025
 

(written by Islander)

Obviously, we host lots of premieres — almost every weekday. Our rule is not to agree unless we’ve first listened to what’s being offered and then come away pleased. There are exceptions, when we’re familiar with the band’s music or have a high degree of trust in whomever’s pitching the premiere. In today’s premiere a different and even more rare kind of exception became insistent: I thought the band’s name could have been a description of myself, and for almost that reason alone, I said YES, without hearing the song.

You can see the band’s name up there: Olde Outlier. I’d never heard their music before, for the good reason that they haven’t released any records yet. The forthcoming album that includes the song we’re premiering — From Shallow Lives to Shallow Graves — is their first one. When I read the pitch, I learned that their lineup makes them appear to be a continuation of an Australia band named Innsmouth, who split up after the 2014 release of their sole album, Consumed by Elder Sign. But since I never heard that album, the history didn’t mean much.

I usually find myself in accord with the choices made by Olde Outlier’s label and the label’s PR agent, so that provided a degree of confidence. And I was enthralled by the album’s cover art. But really, more than anything else, it came down to the band’s name. Maybe a flimsy reed to lean on in deciding to host this premiere, but it turned out to be no reed, but a stout trunk. Continue reading »

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