Islander

GRUESOME: “SILENT ECHOES”

 Album Reviews  1 Response »
Jun 102025
 

(Here is Todd Manning‘s review of the tremendous new album by Gruesome, out now on Relapse Records.)

Critics love to beat up on bands that aren’t original enough, but to be fair, most bands try to downplay any obvious influences. Cross-continental death metal masters Gruesome are being very open about their latest album, Silent Echoes, due out on Relapse Records on June 6th. It is supposed to sound like Death’s 1991 masterpiece, Human. But the inspiration for such imitation comes from a very genuine, heartfelt place.

Drummer Gus Rios was mentored by and a close friend of Sean Reinert, the drummer who put such a unique stamp on the aforementioned classic record. Reinert passed away unexpectedly in early 2020, and Silent Echoes is a tribute to him. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: AZATHOTH’S DREAM — “COVEN OF THE ANCIENT BLACK FLAME”

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Jun 092025
 

(written by Islander)

The last time we wrote here about the music of Azathoth’s Dream it caused us to wax poetical:

There is a world of the imagination in which the clock of the seasons has frozen and moves no longer, in which the freezing dark of winter is endless. Technology works no longer, and decay is the order of the day. What human life remains is now huddled around fires, and beyond those shrouds of light terrible predatory things wait in the endless night, inhuman and ascendant.

It is a world of dream, a nightmare for huddled humans but a hideous glory for the dreamer…. Other nightmare dreams of endless night may explain the title of the project’s debut album — Nocturnal Vampyric Bewitchment. But regardless, that title is well chosen because the music is all of those things — deeply nocturnal and viciously vampyric, and yes, also frighteningly bewitching.

And now we have new music from Azathoth’s Dream to consider, and specifically an excerpt named “Coven of the Ancient Black Flame” from the band’s forthcoming second album Solitary Forest Necromancy, which will be released by Iron Bonehead Productions on July 11th. Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: ETERNAL DISSONANCE — “EPHEMERAL GLIMPSE”

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Jun 092025
 

(written by Islander)

In a time when musical dissonance has the upper hand across a wide swath of black and death metal, a band name like Eternal Dissonance would seem to promise more of that — sounds of discord, disharmony, and disorientation.

But the word “dissonance” has other meanings outside the realms of music, signifying states of mental or emotional conflict, or the difficulty of finding a way to live which frees the spirit and transcends all the adversarial forces in life which ceaselessly hinder or halt the pursuit of any such objectives.

And so the name of this Spanish atmospheric black metal band whose music is the subject of today’s premiere may have a different significance than acting as a signpost of cacophonous decibels. You’ll be able to decide that for yourselves when you hear the song “Ephemeral Glimpse“, extracted from the band’s second album Through the Endless (set for release on June 17th by the Darkwoods label). Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK: UKHU PACHA, VAITARANA, IANTHIN, SUMERIAN TOMBS, LYUAOIEN, JORDFÄST

 Album Reviews, SHADES OF BLACK, SHORT BUT SWEET  No Responses »
Jun 082025
 

(written by Islander)

Welcome to another Sunday column focused (mainly) on black metal. This one goes pretty deep underground, with music from four debut releases, leavened with songs from two bands whose discography is more extensive.

I’m going to start with reviews of an album and an EP, to make sure I have time to say what I want to say about them, and then turn to a group of individual songs and videos. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD ON A SATURDAY: AMORPHIS, ZATOKREV, BARBAROUS, ACCURSED, NECHT, IN THE COMPANY OF SERPENTS, FER DE LANCE

 Exceptions to the Rule, Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  No Responses »
Jun 072025
 


Amorphis – photo by Sam Jamsen

(written by Islander)

This is another Saturday column in which I decided to lure people with a “big name” at the start and then eventually expose people to names they might not know but should.

I could have included an even bigger collection of prominent names, because the past week also brought new music and/or new videos from Opeth, Paradise Lost, Dark Angel, Car Bomb, and Baest, to name a few. You can find those via the hyperlinks I included. But I wanted to have more time for lesser lights. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: DRAWN AND QUARTERED — “LORD OF TWO HORNS”

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Jun 062025
 

(written by Islander)

Approximately 31 years ago the Seattle band Plague Bearer changed their name to Drawn and Quartered, and they’ve been living up to it ever sense. Over the course of eight albums and numerous other releases they’ve still found ways of spreading lethal musical pestilence, but ruthless death metal disembowelment and dismemberment has been their main stock in trade. (They weren’t kidding when they titled their second album Extermination Revelry.)

And now the time has come for these hell-spawned destructors (they’re actually very nice people!) to discharge a ninth album, this one named Lord of Two Horns. With fiendish pleasure, we’re helping spread the word about it today through our premiere of the album’s ferocious title track. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: ALKEMIA — “LAMENTING SERENADES OF EDEN”

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Jun 062025
 

(written by Islander)

Alkemia is a new band that has emerged from Uppsala, Sweden, but the lineup is composed of metal veterans. They include three members of the long-running death metal band Sarcasm — Heval Bozarslan (vocals), Peter Laitinen (guitar), and Philip Borg (bass) — and drummer Alvaro Svanerö, who was also once a Sarcasm member.

But despite these connections, Alkemia isn’t a Sarcasm clone by any means. Instead, this new formation has delved deeply into doom. As Alkemia‘s label Chaos Records explains, the music on the band’s debut album Depulsus “balances the solemnity of traditional doom metal with the raw intensity of death-doom, forging a sound that stands apart yet pays homage to the greats.”

Identifying some of those greats, the label recommends the album “for those who seek the melancholy of My Dying Bride, the dark mysticism of Celtic Frost, the ominous grandeur of Black Sabbath, and the bleak weight of early Paradise Lost.”

Those are all very accurate reference points, as you’ll hear for yourselves through our premiere of the album track “Lamenting Serenades of Eden“. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: DIG ME NO GRAVE

 Interviews  1 Response »
Jun 062025
 

(We present Comrade Aleks‘ interview of Alexey Rumyantsev from the Russian death metal band Dig Me No Grave, whose new album is set for co-release by Satanath Records and Metal Race Records on June 15th.)

It’s difficult to add something to Islander’s overview of Dig Me No Grave’s fourth album Necrocosmic Ceremony. Yet this interview was planned long ago indeed for this Russian band that performs quite old school death metal focused on Lovecraftian horror and Robert Howard’s most grim fantasies. So let’s consider it as a logical addition to the review, and I hope that Alexey Rumyantsev, as the band’s vocalist and founder, will help to dig into it deeper. Continue reading »

OSSUARY: “ABHORRENT WORSHIP”

 Album Reviews  3 Responses »
Jun 052025
 

(This is Wil Cifer‘s review of a debut album by the Wisconsin death metal band Ossuary, which is out now on vinyl via Me Saco Un Ojo Records, and on CD and tape via Darkness Shall Rise.)

Embarking upon the path of death metal, it seems that a band is confronted with the choice, much like a video game, where they must choose a class, think Dungeons & Dragons in this regard. For this metaphor, we’ll use Mage (Morbid Angel), Fighter (Entombed), Barbarian (Cannibal Corpse), and Necromancer (Incantation).

This particular band, Ossuary, featuring members of Jex Thoth, has chosen to play as a Necromancer, with a darker sound, more atmospheric, with a mood as depressive as doom, and a great deal of sonic depth. Continue reading »

BALMOG: “LAIO”

 Album Reviews  1 Response »
Jun 052025
 

(In his review below, our Norway-based contributor Chile has some very nice things to say about the recently released fifth album by the Galician black metal band Balmog.)

Apart from being a generally well-conceived idea, black metal is also an excellently executed idea, evidenced by thousands if not tens of thousands of bands in existence. Bands coming from all four corners of the world, bringing their own cultural identities to the table and letting them shine through their music. Obviously, black metal being the subject, “shine” is maybe a bit misleading, but you get the idea.

All this makes life much easier for us reviewers, because you can pick any place on Earth, and you’ll find something interesting. Like our guests today, for example. Coming from the town of Soutomaior in the Spanish province of Galicia, Balmog is an undoubtedly interesting band, and also a very experienced one. With a career pushing on two decades, the band has been constantly releasing quality stuff and in good quantity too.  Continue reading »

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