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

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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”

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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 »

OUR LIST OF 2025’S MOST INFECTIOUS EXTREME METAL SONGS (PART 9): IN MOURNING, CYTOTOXIN, JORDSJUK

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Jan 142026
 

(written by Islander)

We’re at another installment of this list where I don’t really have any organizing principle to explain why I put these three songs together. They’re just three songs I thought deserved to be on the list, and they happen to come from three really good 2025 albums too, but each one sounds very different from the other two. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: ANCHORITE

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Jan 092026
 

(Last August Personal Records released the second album from the multi-national doom band Anchorite, whose lineup is full of veteran names. Their music features singing (remarkable singing), but of course that won’t stop us from publishing Comrade Aleks’ interview of Anchorite’s vocalist, Leo Stivala.)

After a five-year hiatus, the international project Anchorite is ready to remind us of themselves with their second full-length album, Realm of Ruin. Anchorite’s strengths extend beyond the fact that Forsaken frontman Leo Stivala is on vocals; the entire lineup is remarkable. Leading the charge is bassist Peter Svensson, whom we recently wrote about in light of the new album from his main doom band, Void Moon, and who is known for countless other projects he’s involved in! Behind the drums is Void Moon’s drummer (and vocalist), Marcus Rosenqvist, and on guitar is Martin Andersen from the Danish heavy metal band Meridian.

The professionalism of Anchorite’s members guarantees the quality of Realm of Ruin, but if you’re familiar with Svensson’s discography, it’s time to ask: Is it physically possible for a person to produce so much metal without wearing himself out? Especially since three more albums featuring his most active contributions were released in 2025. True, two of the three (Furnace and War Magic) are death metal, and one (Bardo Thodol) is heavy metal, but jokes aside, Anchorite delight the ear with solid, never-failing doom metal with a leaning toward traditional, combative heavy metal. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD ON A SATURDAY: NO/MÁS, NOICE AHOLIC, VREID, TANIN’IVER, DE L’ABÎME NAÎT L’AUBE, SINDRE NEDLAND

 Album Reviews, Exceptions to the Rule, Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  No Responses »
Dec 132025
 

(written by Islander)

I’m kicking off this week’s roundup of new songs and videos with a preview of what’s coming at NCS between now and year-end, mainly for newcomers to our site since the old-timers know what the drill will be.

First, we still have a few year-end lists from “big platform” sites and zines that we’ll share. I have two of those in hand now, which I’ve written about for posting on Monday. I suspect next week will bring at least one more, and then we’ll be done with that aspect of LISTMANIA.

Second, having just completed a week’s worth of Andy Synn’s year-end lists, on Monday I’ll also start posting lists from other NCS writers and special guests. I have X of those in hand at this point, and more will roll in. My plan is to spread those out a bit, with the goal of completing the posting of them by the first week in January.

Third, beginning in January I’ll again roll out the one list I’m responsible for, my choices (with lots of assistance from our readers and other writers) of the year’s Most Infectious Extreme Metal Songs. On that note, if you want to make nominations for those awards, you can still do that by leaving a Comment on this post. Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: SPLENDIDULA — “ECHOES OF QUIET REMAIN”

 Exceptions to the Rule, Premieres  No Responses »
Dec 042025
 

(written by Islander)

Loss and remembrance… these are the overarching themes of a new album by the Belgian atmospheric black/doom band Splendidula. Fittingly, the album’s title is Absentia, an apt name because the music’s emotional core lies in the tragic absence of loved ones.

No one can avoid the death of friends and family members. It’s only a matter of time. It’s rarely foreseeable, and often it seems unjust because it’s so random. Splendidula went through such a period beset by loss, and in the making of this new album they dedicated themselves to remembering, and to mourning.

As a new sign of what they achieved in their music, today we’re premiering a video for a song called “Echoes of Quiet Remain“. It includes a guest vocal appearance by Aaron Stainthorpe, known of course for his iconic role in My Dying Bride (and High Parasite). We’ll begin with Splendidula’s own statement about the song: Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD ON A SATURDAY: PONTE DEL DIAVOLO, NEL BUIO, BIND TORTURE KILL, NÍLIM, EQUILIBRIUM, MARISSA NADLER

 Exceptions to the Rule, Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  No Responses »
Nov 292025
 

(written by Islander)

As on most Saturdays, today I’ll be looking back at the recent past, recommending some selections of underground metal that caught my ears and eyes during the last week or two, but first I want to look ahead — specifically, to something I’ll be asking you to do on Monday.

On Monday I’ll post the annual NCS appeal to our visitors to share their lists of the year’s best metal. Every year this post proves to be a highlight because so many people fill up the Comments with their favorite releases, which makes those Comments a great gathering place for things other people might have otherwise missed. We keep that post linked in the upper right corner of every page on our site for the 12 months that follow (just look there now to see the 2024 lists).

Bear in mind that you don’t have to have your lists completed and ready to go on Monday. Hell, you could add a 2024 list even today. But it’s time to at least begin thinking about it. And now, on to this week’s roundup of new songs and videos…. Continue reading »

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