AN NCS INTERVIEW: URLUK

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Mar 262026
 

(Comrade Aleks brought us the following excellent interview of the two members of Urluk, an Italian band whose new album will be released next month by Pest Records.)

We interviewed Italian Urluk two years ago or so, and back then they performed haunted and doomed black metal with an original authentic concept that was soaked with bleak shadows of abandoned dwellings and grim countryside. At least this description helped to better perceive their full-length More, and I expected something similar from the band’s second album Memories in Fade that is announced to be released on April 10th via Pest Records.

Yet the truth is that Urluk remained true to their lyrical concept but changed musical direction significantly. Memories in Fade combines the elements of alternative rock, black metal, and ambient alongside some specific pieces which are difficult to categorize. But in the end of the day, they are still Urluk, and I’m glad to support the band with another interview. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: TAAK

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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: LÖMSK

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Mar 192026
 

(A couple of weeks ago Vendetta Records released the debut album of the Swedish black metal band Lömsk. Attracted by the cover art, our Comrade Aleks fell into the album and emerged with a desire to interview the band, and the following discussion with Lömsk’s bassist and vocalist followed.)

War became a part of our background, and it seems that mankind’s feelings towards this everyday catastrophe have become dull. And like the devil turned to be a banal part of black metal’s cultural code, so images of war transformed into just another aspect of extreme metal spirit. Yet the artwork of the new album by the Swedish black metalists Lömsk somehow attracted my attention, and the nine nihilistic hymns of Act II – Of Iron and Blood deliver some twisted excitement – enough to make a little effort and ask about an interview.

And lo! There’s something probably far more behind the scenes of that burning city and its smouldering ruins. 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 INTERVIEW OF ISLANDER – BY PUGET SOUND METAL BULLETIN

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Mar 182026
 

(Puget Sound Metal Bulletin is a print zine created by Old Man Winter, guitarist in the Seattle-based melodic death metal band Veriteras. Last week the fifth issue was published and distributed, and it includes Winter’s interview of our own Islander, presenting a discussion that focuses on NCS and Northwest Terror Fest, preceded by a bit of background about Islander’s involvement with metal. And of course we’re re-publishing that interview here today! For more info about Puget Sound Metal Bulletin and how to get it, see the links below after the interview’s conclusion.)

   NO CLEAN SINGING doesn’t literally mean no clean singing. Well, it used to. As Islander, creator of the long-running metal webpage, puts it on the No Clean Singing about page: “When the site began, the name of it was serious. But as time has passed, my own tastes have broadened and other writers have joined us, and they’re even more open-minded than I am. Now, the name just confuses people, because sometimes we write about metal that includes actual singing instead of (or in addition to) growling, howling, and shrieking. But it’s kind of like if you named your kid Rufus. When she grows up, it confuses other people, but she is what she is and it might confuse people even more if you legally changed it.”

   Personally, I assumed the name meant that they only reviewed metal songs that consisted entirely of swear words. But regardless of the reasons for the name, No Clean Singing has been one of the biggest online metal sites for the global metal scene for nearly two decades, providing interviews, album reviews, premiers, and a Pacific Northwest show calendar (which happens to be a primary source for the metal bulletin’s list of shows on page 7).

   Not only does Islander run No Clean Singing, he’s also one of the creators of Northwest Terror Fest, one of the region’s top metal festivals, drawing fans from across the US, Canada, and beyond.

Read on to hear how these two pillars of the metal scene came to be… Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: DIESPNEA

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Mar 112026
 

(Prepare for a fascinating interview by our Comrade Aleks of one or more members of the Italian duo Diespnea, focusing on their also-fascinating album of avant-garde black metal that was released last month.)

Anonymous avant-garde black metal entity Diespnea, based in Southern Italy, is here with their new full-length album Radici (Roots). Released by code666/Aural Music on the 13th of February, this work is based on traditional black metal concepts mixed with universal “southern” atmosphere. These specific features appear in many forms, starting from a distinctive tribal chant and atmosphere of Amazonian beliefs and finishing with the authentic atmosphere of trance-inducing Mescaline rituals.

This anthropological black metal is grim, mysterious, and psychedelic to some degree, and Diespnea seems to found their unique identity. But let’s let Diespnea speak for themselves — here’s an interview with the band’s member(s). Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: GREEN CARNATION

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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 »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: MIDRYASI’S KULT

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Mar 042026
 

(On March 27th Dying Victims Productions will release Italian Dark Sound, the debut album from Midryasi’s Kult, and to help pave the way our Comrade Aleks conducted the following interview with the founder Geilt — and we’ve included the album’s first two singles as well.)

This story begins in 2002, when the Italian trio Midryasi officially embarked on their own creative explorations in the field of authentic progressive doom metal with a stoner rock edge. This blend fell under the somewhat vague definition of “Italian Dark Sound,” a local subgenre encompassing original bands geographically based in Italy and stylistically associated with the realm of dark prog and vintage doom. The group recorded three eclectic albums and unofficially disbanded for over a decade, but when the first demo (Mountain Devil) of Midryasi’s Kult, led by former Midryasi vocalist and bassist Geilt, was released last year, the situation took on a new dimension.

Although the project has a relatively consistent lineup, all the songs feature Geilt’s participation, and a couple of tracks were actually recorded by the old Midryasi lineup (“Hypnopriest” is taken from the band’s first album). Their new album’s title leaves no room for interpretation – Geilt adheres to roughly the same “Italian Dark Sound” line, relying on harsh guitar melodies alongside pure doom riffs, intricate prog patterns, and an eclectic vocal delivery with a distinctly deranged edge. And the band’s spokesman today is Geilt, of course — here we go. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: INVICTUS

 Interviews  1 Response »
Feb 262026
 

(In late January Me Saco Un Ojo and Memento Mori co-released a new album by the Japanese death metal band Invictus, and that led our contributor Zoltar to reach out for the following good interview with guitarist and vocalist Takehitopsy Seki.)

While the Japanese grind and death scene has granted us some of the wackiest, most disturbing bands over the last twenty-five years or so (we dare you to try to listen to GORE BEYOND NECROPSY or CATASEXUAL URGE MOTIVATION for 24 hours straight and not want to murder everyone), they also know a thing or two about recreating note-perfect tributes to their American elders. Unsurprisingly, the sound of the early ’90s Floridian mob left an obvious mark on many, including Nagano’s own INVICTUS, whose second album was released on vinyl by Me Saco Un Ojo and CD by Memento Mori.

This trio may be obvious MONSTROSITY fans but their extremely tight musicianship, powerful drive, and thrash leanings truly set them apart from the clone pack, and guitarist and vocalist Takehitopsy Seki does obviously know what the fuck he’s talking about, based on the following answers… Continue reading »

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