AN NCS INTERVIEW: TAAK

 Exceptions to the Rule, Interviews  No Responses »
Mar 202026
 

(Today we present Comrade Aleks’ interview of Kristjan Virma from the long-running Estonian band Taak, whose latest album was released last October.)

With the Estonian band Taak, things are both simple and complex. Formally, the band has been around since 2004, but in fact, that year the entire lineup of Estonia’s first doom metal band, Dawn of Gehenna, simply changed its name and, to a certain extent, its concept.

Taak (“burden”) took up more old-fashioned material, something akin to proto-doom, and began writing and performing lyrics in their native language. The result is authentic, melodic, heavy, and engaging. Meanwhile, you may remember all of this due to another “exception from rules” interview we did here with the band in December 2020. Time flies. Today, only Ott “Otipowitch” Oras (bass) and keyboardist Kristjan Virma (guitars, keyboards) remain from the original Taak lineup, but I must say, their sixth album, Surmalaev (“Death Ship”), sounds like it was written by a well-coordinated, experienced band that holds true to its roots and knows what to do with that legacy. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: EXXÛL

 Exceptions to the Rule, Interviews  1 Response »
Mar 192026
 

(As you’ll learn in greater detail below, Exxûl is one of a collective of connected bands from the south shore of Québec, and their debut album was released this past January. It drew the attention of our Comrade Aleks, who succeeded in interviewing the band’s songwriter/guitarist Defender (aka Phil Tougas).)

To start with, Exxûl is one of the bands belonging to The Stygian Oath circle. TSO is Canada’s semi-virtual community founded by members of the bands Atramentus (funeral doom metal), Chthe’ilist (death metal), Zeicrydeus (black, thrash metal), and now Exxûl (epic doom metal).

All of these bands are located in Québec and all of them share the same mythology filling their lyrics. All the lyrics are tied to the Perpetual Planes, which is a fictional, dark fantasy world, and “the stories created are often allegories to real life events & personal experiences”.

Musically, Exxûl’s first album Sealed into None has a lot in common with orthodox epic doom bands yet with a good emphasis on their power metal potential. It’s very classic-sounding material with a damn lot of hooks and a quite modern touch. I can’t just pass it by, so here is another “exception of top the rule” interview.

Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: ASHEN HORDE — “ENTROPY AND ECSTASY”

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Mar 172026
 

(written by Islander)

This makes the fourth time in a nine-year period when we’ve had the extreme pleasure of premiering music by Ashen Horde, and this time it’s a song from their forthcoming fifth album, The Harvest, which is set for release on May 1st.

In one of those previous premieres we wrote that “Ashen Horde have demonstrated an adventurous spirit, with an ever-evolving amalgam of genre influences and no real interest in boxing themselves in.” Over and over again they’ve blended together such ingredients as technical death metal, black metal, and flares of prog metal with often unexpected but reliably breathtaking results — and as you’re about to discover, they’re still marching flying to the beat of their own drummer. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: GREEN CARNATION

 Exceptions to the Rule, Interviews  No Responses »
Mar 092026
 


photo by Lars Gunnar Liestøl

(On April 3rd Season of Mist will release a new album by Norway’s Green Carnation as the second installment in a three-album trilogy. Our Comrade Aleks discussed the first installment with vocalist Kjetil Nordhus last fall, and now we present a second more recent discussion between them which focuses on the new record — and includes lots more news, as well as a stream of a brand new second single from the new album, “I Am Time“, that’s premiering today.)

As you remember, the Norwegian veteran progressive band Green Carnation returned after a significant hiatus in autumn 2025 with an announcement of the trilogy A Dark Poem. As A Dark Poem Part I: The Shores of Melancholia was discussed in our interview here with the band’s vocalist Kjetil Nordhus four months ago, we sequentially follow the plan and provide a new one focused on the trilogy’s second part, A Dark Poem, Part II: Sanguis.

The band’s initial plan was to create three different albums which would complement each other, and until now it seems like everything goes according the plan. At least Sanguis follows closely to The Shores of Melancholia and yet provides some new ideas and quite a refreshing experience. Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK: PURE WRATH, BARBELITH, TRHÄ, HAIDUK, ÆDEL FETICH

 Album Reviews, Exceptions to the Rule, SHADES OF BLACK, SHORT BUT SWEET  No Responses »
Mar 012026
 

(written by Islander)

I hope I haven’t bitten off more than you can chew. Only four selections today, compared to eight yesterday, but two of them are albums and one of them is an EP.

I also hope I haven’t bitten off more than I can chew. As I begin writing this, I realize it will be tough for me to fully express how all this music has impacted me or how it might impact you, given the time constraints I’m under. But I’ll give it a shot.

If there’s a through-line in these recommendations, it’s that all the music is searing, in sound or mood or both, although the stylistic paths traveled by them often diverge. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): HELA — “A REIGN TO CONQUER”

 Album Reviews, Exceptions to the Rule, Premieres  No Responses »
Feb 252026
 

(written by Islander)

Almost six years after their previous album Vegvísir (November 2019), the Spanish doom metal band Hela have created a new album, A Reign To Conquer, that will be released on February 27th by Ardua Music and Tormo Records. Those six years were of course tremendously eventful in the life of the world (and tremendously disruptive), and Hela encountered their own internal challenges which delayed the completion of their newest work. But sometimes the struggle to overcome challenge leads to triumphs that smooth sailing never would have produced, and that’s true of A Reign To Conquer.

To be sure, as the labels rightly describe, Hela’s new album is still a voyage “through realms of shadow and sorrow” — a voyage that in some important respects will be familiar to fans of their preceding albums. But other changes will be noticeable. Among them is the appearance of Hela’s new vocalist, Raquel Navarro, and we should begin with her contributions as we start introducing our premiere stream of the new full-length today. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: MARLUGUBRE — “SHE NIGH HIS DEATH”

 Exceptions to the Rule, Premieres  No Responses »
Feb 182026
 

(written by Islander)

By definition, “concept albums” are based upon narratives or themes that connect the songs. Most often, the concepts are represented lyrically. Often, the lyrics are written independently of the music, even after much of the music has already been written. Although listening to the riffs and melodies might inspire the lyricist’s development of concepts, sometimes there may be no evident connection at all between an album’s “conceptual framework” and what the songs sound like.

Which brings us to a new concept album by the Italian artist Marlugubre. The name of the album is Per Amor Nymphae, and as that title signifies (it translates to “Through the Love of the Nymphs”), the songs are based upon the mythical figures of nymphs. Deeply rooted in Greek mythology, the songs include tales of the primordial figure of Nyx from Hesiod’s Theogony, of Chloris, of the tragic myth of Scylla and Glaucus, and of perhaps the even more tragic story of Orpheus and Eurydice — which is the subject of the song from Per Amor Nymphae that we’re premiering today in advance of the album’s February 27 release by Dusktone. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD ON A SATURDAY: PANOPTICON, UPRISING, LUCERNE HAMMER, BIAŁYWILK, VANISHING EARTH, LAST SADNESS, FOTOCRIME, EGREGORE, TRANSILVANIA, KATHAREIN

 Exceptions to the Rule, Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  1 Response »
Feb 072026
 

(written by Islander)

At this point Bruce Springsteen’s “Streets of Minneapolis” is probably the most widely heard protest song to emerge from the ICE invasion of the Twin Cities and the murders of Renée Good and Alex Pretti. But it hasn’t been long, only 14 days since ICE agents shot Pretti to death, even though it seems much longer than that.

Undoubtedly other songwriters have already started releasing their own protests across many genres of music, though I wouldn’t know (you’re looking at the wrong dude if you want insight into the breadth of modern musical culture). Where I do tend to notice things are in the genres of extreme metal, and I guess a few “metal adjacent” realms.

Over the last week I noticed a handful of songs from those realms that were either protest songs or tracks designed to raise money in support of the resistance in Minneapolis to the sweeping seizure of immigrants (and racially profiled U.S. citizens). In the first section of this Saturday roundup I’ve collected those songs, and one other that seemed appropriate. Fortunately, the music’s good, in addition to the artists’ hearts being in the right place. (If you know of more, please leave a Comment.)

To round things out, I added three other very good songs that surfaced last week. I could have added 20 more, because it was a big week for new metal, what with yesterday being a Bandcamp Friday. But we do what we can. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD ON A SATURDAY: HANGING GARDEN, WINTERFYLLETH, CRIPPLED BLACK PHOENIX, NERVOSA, CHAINED TO THE BOTTOM OF THE OCEAN, IGORRR

 Exceptions to the Rule, Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  No Responses »
Jan 312026
 

(written by Islander)

In deciding what to feature in these Saturday columns I sometimes spend a lot of time making my way through a lot of songs. Sometimes many of them are deflating, and the hunt goes on. Sometimes a lot of them are great, and the choices become difficult. But this week I happened upon seven songs in a row and knew right away that six of those would be here today. (I left one of them aside, so the usual collage of cover images would be symmetrical.)

As it also happened, the following songs include an unusual amount of singing — not singing we have to just put up with because other aspects of the songs make them commanding, but because the singing is itself a big part of the draw. And as it happened, all but one of the songs debuted with good videos.

None of these bands is even close to the Metallica strata of stardom, but I think it’s fair to say that most of them are well-known among metal lovers, or at least the kind of metal lovers who show up at our doorstep. Most of these bands have had careers of significant length and discographies that are well-respected. For these columns, I usually try to work in music by bands from deeper under the ground, using bigger names as lures for visitors who might not know of the more obscure names. But I didn’t have room to do as much of that today as I typically do. My goal is to make amends tomorrow. Continue reading »

OUR LIST OF 2025’S MOST INFECTIOUS EXTREME METAL SONGS (PART 18): MESSA, MATALOBOS, AMORPHIS

 Exceptions to the Rule, MOST INFECTIOUS SONGS-2025  2 Responses »
Jan 272026
 

(written by Islander)

Some fashionings of extreme metal are so brutally downtuned or launch such ruinous percussive assaults that melody doesn’t seem to play a role in the songs. But in truth, melody almost always plays some role, though it might be very subtle or heavily obscured. Melody probably plays a more prominent role in songs we think of as infectious. Although grooves can be very catchy on their own, it’s usually melodies of one kind or another that make metal songs memorable.

The three songs I’ve put together for today’s installment of this list have strong melodic components. Unlike the majority of what’s on the list at this point, the voices carry the melodies in important ways in two of them, which is to say they have earned exceptions to the not completely serious rule in our site’s name. Two of them also have unusual instrumental features that help carry the melodies. Continue reading »

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