Islander

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: URISK — “THE HAULED AND THE WAIF”

 Premieres  No Responses »
Sep 142026
 

(written by Islander)

Urisk are a black metal duo from Bonn, Germany, formed in 2023 by Benedikt Brixius and Marleen Bügener. They have very specific and heart-felt inspirations, which we’ll get to momentarily, and they’ve wasted no time in musically expressing them: Following a debut demo released in the fall of 2024, they released a debut album named Shrivelling Lights in 2025, and a second demo at the end of that same year.

Those were independent releases, but Urisk have now partnered with Vendetta Records for the release of their second album on October 2nd. Its name is CALL, and today we’re premiering a lyric video for its first and only single in advance of the album drop. The name of this song is “The Hauled and the Waif“. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: CRYPTORIUM — “REVOLTING OBSESSION”

 Premieres  No Responses »
Sep 142026
 

(written by Islander)

It’s so nice to begin a new week at NCS by installing a piece of hellishly eye-catching cover art at the top of the page. We have an intricate layout of skull-headed abominations that seem to be feeding on their own intestines, plus spikes, tendrils, and a ghastly glowing light that signifies worse things might lie ahead. We bow in the direction of the artist Slimeweaver for creating such a ghoulish delight.

Even better, the album that the artwork adorns is itself a ghoulish delight, one that will hold special appeal for fans of deathless Swedish death metal, the cemetery spawn of such bands as Dismember, Entombed, Carnage, and Grave. That album will lead listeners Through The Bowels Of Ceaseless Dissonance, and our fiendish guides are the Swedish band Cryptorium.

What we have for you today is the premiere of a song called “Revolting Obsession” in advance of the October 30 album release by Transcending Obscurity Records. Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK: DIE SÜNDE, THE AEONS TORN, SERVANT, FLAME

 SHADES OF BLACK  No Responses »
Sep 132026
 

(written by Islander)

I originally made six choices for this column, but as I did yesterday I overslept due to having a bit too much fun last night at a local watering hole. So, I’m rushing now and am forced to leave two of my choices behind — and to cut this introduction short.

As it happens, all of the following four songs were presented through videos, and the first three are especially good. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD ON A SATURDAY: UNDERDARK, LIZARD CULT, LŌTICO, OF WOLVES, METHEDRINE

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  1 Response »
Sep 122026
 

(written by Islander)

Welcome to The Department of Broken Records. I know that’s what I’ll sound like if I explain how tough it was for me to make choices for this roundup or how late I slept this morning, so I’ll just skip that (get it?) and go straight to the songs and videos, which I hope you’ll enjoy as much as I have — even though the oversleeping has made the collection briefer than average. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: NIGHT HAG — “DROWNED IN DEATH”

 Premieres  No Responses »
Sep 112026
 

(written by Islander)

Over the last five years we’ve paid close attention to the horrid ambitions of the Virginia-based death-doom band Night Hag, beginning with a feature about music from their then-forthcoming 2022 debut album Phantasmal Scourge, following that with an interview after the album’s release, continuing with a premiere of their full-length 2023 split with Italy’s Burial, and now forging ahead with yet another premiere.

The subject of today’s musical revelation is a song named “Drowned In Death“, which is off Night Hag’s fearfully anticipated second album Great Dismal Darkness, which will be released on October 16th by the Rotted Life label.

As some might say, this isn’t a song for the faint of heart, but you’re not faint-hearted or you wouldn’t be here! Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: IN OBSCURITY REVEALED — “CONSECRATED BY ROT”

 Premieres  2 Responses »
Sep 112026
 

(written by Islander)

Musically, the Mexico City death metal band In Obscurity Revealed know themselves very well. They know what inspires them, they know what they do best, and they clearly will not be diverted from their maniacally barbarous mission by trends within “modern metal” that pull this way or that. They named their new album Caustic Maelstrom, and that’s no lie.

Even a decade ago when they released their debut EP Grim Fumes of Revelation, they opened our bleery eyes wide. We wrote then:

The massive grinding riffs hit with merciless force, the turbocharged drumming puts a jolt of adrenaline into the bloodstream, and the needling guitar leads are pure poison. Add in some convincingly ghastly vocals and you have a riveting explosion of sulfurous death metal that’s heavy as hell and highly addictive.

And of course In Obscurity Revealed were just getting started. Their debut album Glorious Impurity followed in 2018 along with a couple of shorter releases, and now, at last, their accurately-titled second full-length will be released by the band’s new label Personal Records on October 9th. To help pave the way, today we’re premiering its second single. As you’ll discover, it’s well-named too: “Consecrated By Rot“. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: DEAD KOSMONAUT

 Exceptions to the Rule, Interviews  3 Responses »
Sep 112026
 

(In June of this year Edged Circle Productions released a new album by the Swedish heavy metal band Dead Kosmonaut, and that led to the following extensive interview by our Comrade Aleks of the band’s founder and songwriter Mattias Reinholdsson.)

This Swedish heavy metal band, officially formed almost twenty years ago by bassist Mattias Reinholdsson, now boasts not only its third album but also a still-stellar lineup. In addition to Mattias’s Book of Hours buddy Henrik Johansson (drums), Dead Kosmonaut features vocalist Per Hellbutcher (Hellbutcher, Nifelheim), as well as guitarists Fredrik Folkare (Unleashed) and Peter Hallgren (Sorcerer).

Such a lineup could offer listeners a brutally extreme experience, but instead, these gentlemen deliver the same melodic, classic metal. The sound of their new album Retrospectre is heavy and clear, not overly cluttered, and the production, entrusted to Fredrik, was oriented toward the ’80s, although these tracks lack the retro-vibe. Despite the artwork and the title, Dead Kosmonaut are not only alive, but kicking ass, and Mattias is here to tell how it’s possible. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): HKSPK — “HEIMKEHR”

 Album Reviews, Premieres  No Responses »
Sep 102026
 

(written by Islander)

Because some people seem to value our daily premieres, they offer many opportunities for this listener/writer to both re-connect with bands we’ve learned to admire and to connect for the first time with others whose music is a new discovery.

Today we make one of those first connections by premiering a new album named Heimkehr by the German band HKSPK. This isn’t HKSPK’s first release — it was preceded by their 2024 Holy Scum debut album and their 2025 EP The Human Butcher — but it’s the first exposure we’ve had to their music.

That exposure has made an eye-opening impression, and we are glad for the chance to now share the whole album with you in advance of its release tomorrow (September 11th). Continue reading »

COVENANT FESTIVAL XI PREVIEW: 11 YEARS OF CANADIAN CHAOS

 Metal News  No Responses »
Sep 102026
 

(We welcome back to NCS a Seattle-based contributor who goes by the moniker KAOS_Agent. He prepared the following preview of the next edition of Covenant Festival, which is scheduled to take place in Vancouver on September 24-26.)

There’s something special about a festival being able to enter into its second decade of existence while at the same time maintaining a high-calibre roster of underground and emergent bands. This year, Vancouver, Canada-based Covenant Festival has assembled an ensemble of black metal bands from corners of the earth both near and far, and showcases the organizing collective’s careful craft and artistic taste. What started as a group of friends spinning vinyl has now grown to one of the preeminent extreme and black metal festivals in North America, and considering the state of the world, there’s never been a better time to visit Canada. Covenant takes place September 24-26 at the venerable Rickshaw Theater, and both single and three-day passes are available here.

Because Covenant Festival is located a mere 2.5 hours away from Seattle, I’ve always viewed it as a sparring partner to the NCS-backed Northwest Terror Festival, but with an extra dose of blasphemy. This should come as no surprise, as the inception of the festival started with Shawn Hache and Sebastian Montesi from Mitochondrion, with promoter Abelardo Mayoral-Fierros soon joining the fold.

Since then, the ethos, complexities and ambitions of the festival have grown to now a 9-person collective, fueled by metal maniacism and operating in an entirely DIY, zero-sponsor capacity. Running a festival can be a soul-wrenching journey, but the expanded team allows them to build off of last year’s momentum to  “always aim to create a world-class experience for both attendees and performing bands.” This year, the activities are centralized to the Rickshaw Theater, a venue well-known in the Vancouver metal community, and one I’ve always wanted to go to ever since seeing internet videos of Strapping Young Lad way back in the day. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): SHRINEBURNER — “HYMNS OF DESPAIR”

 Album Reviews, Premieres  No Responses »
Sep 092026
 

(written by Islander)

Hymns of Despair is the entirely fitting name of the debut album from Chicago-based Shrineburner. Press materials we’ve received describe the music as “earthquake-inducing”, and as “a sonic glacier of abyssal doom/sludge metal infused with fringes of psychedelic, cosmic, blackened elements”. As you will soon discover through our full streaming premiere of these six hymns in advance of Friday’s release date, those descriptions are also entirely fitting.

But of course we have slab of our own descriptions to drop on you. Continue reading »

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