AN NCS INTERVIEW: RESURRECTED

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May 042026
 

(On April 24th Testimony Records released the long-awaited and quite crushing eighth full-length by the German death metal band Resurrected, and that provided a timely reason for our contributor Zoltar to arrange an interview with the band’s sole remaining original member, Thomas Granzow. It was a very good discussion, as you can now see for yourselves.)

Thanks Satan for Germany. Let’s face it: back in the mid-’90s when listening to death metal became as fashionable as eating rusty nails for breakfast, they seemingly were the only ones to care – next to Poland and the Czech Republic to be fair, but a whole different level.

Since the hey days of MORGOTH, they may have failed to produce A-list contenders (and don’t get me started on what ATROCITY turned into post-Hallucinations will ya?) but the underground scene was nevertheless striving with blue collar defenders of the faith who had no problem whatsoever doing songs about zombies and serial-killers while covering early DEATH, like OBSCENITY, ANASARCA, MANGLED TORSOS, BLOOD, TORCHURE, PURGATORY…

 Many were quite derivative, most of them lasted an album or two before drifting away without anybody noticing, but on this desolate battlefield, surrounded by many of their fallen comrades, RESURRECTED – or more precisely their guitarist and main songwriter Thomas Granzow – soldiered on, no matter what. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: GROND

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Apr 302026
 

(Today is the day when Xtreem Music releases a new album by the band Grond, and to coincide with that long-awaited event we’re publishing Comrade Aleks’ in-depth interview with Grond frontman and founder Kist. Below you will also have a chance to stream the album in full.)

Moscow-based Grond are stalwarts of the death metal underground and dedicated worshipers of Lovecraftian Horrors. After a huge break the band returns with a new full-length album, and needless to say it’s their most mature, most sophisticated, and most cold-blooded work to date.

Xtreem Music gave Grond the green light, and The Temple, a concept album based on Lovecraft’s story with the same name, but the guys are true to themselves and they offer you their own interpretation of the master’s classics. We interviewed Grond’s frontman and founder Kist, and I’m excited to share this interview with you. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: SOULBURN

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Apr 272026
 

(The Dutch metal extremists Soulburn will release their fifth album on June 12th through Testimony Records, and that created a good opportunity for our Comrade Aleks to check in with Soulburn co-founder Eric Daniels. A great discussuion ensued, and you can check it out below along with the album’s first two singles.)

Dutch extreme metal act Soulburn was born 30 years ago after the first disbanding of legendary death-doom aggressors Asphyx whose core members Eric Daniels (guitars) and Bob Bagchus (drums) taught a new lesson of extremity with the devastating debut Feeding on Angels (1998). Years passed, and Eric is the only original Soulburn member now, although his bandmates Twan van Geel (bass, vocals), Remco Kreft (guitars), and Marc Verhaar (drums) are hardened veterans of the metal underground too.

Honestly, I didn’t expect any surprises from the band’s new album Quantifying Cosmic Doom but more good old blasphemous extreme stuff, yet the album strikes me not only with its high technical quality but also with a much wider concept, both lyrically and music-wise. The album is scheduled for the 12th of June by Testimony Records, so be forewarned! Quantifying Cosmic Doom this way comes.

I was lucky to get this in-depth interview with Eric himself, and there’s no better way to learn more about Soulburn than to read it. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: VIDE

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Apr 232026
 

(Vide’s unusual new album Aux enfants des ruines was released by the Antiq label in late February of this year, and it may have flown beneath the radar of many listeners who would appreciate it. But Comrade Aleks has done his best to elevate it through the following interview with its French solo creator.)

French multi-instrumentalist Hylgaryss’ solo project, Vide, remained in the shadow of another, slightly more atmospheric black metal duo, Sainte Obyana du Froid. But the balance may change, as Vide has returned after a four-year hiatus, and the project has not only slowed down but also become less extreme and more atmospheric.

One of the key features defining the sound of the new full-length Aux enfants des ruines is the use of actual recordings of a children’s choir, performing parts reminiscent of Gregorian chants. In fact, the opportunity to use a children’s choir recording largely guided Vide, and while some of the release is framed by a flurry of familiar black metal misanthropy with a depressive edge, the main storyline of Aux enfants des ruines is almost a spiritual mass, a call to the outcasts, to the “children of ruins,” as the artist calls them.

An atheist, Hylgaryss sought to give the album an “ultra-religious atmosphere, steeped in Christian mysticism.” The album’s entire atmosphere revolves around children: the visuals, the sound, the lyrics, the sheer purity of the voices brings something unusually tender to the raw and melancholic black metal. So there were more than enough reasons to take a deeper view in Vide’s work with Hylgaryss himself. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: GRAVES FOR GODS

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Apr 222026
 

(In late January of this year Meuse Music released the second album from the Australian doom/death metal band Graves for Gods, and that prompted our Comrade Aleks to contact them for a second interview — and here it is.)

Three years ago we interviewed Graves for Gods. Jak Shadows (Voices of Doom) and Matt Spencer (Resonant Strings) told a story behind the band’s debut album The Oldest Gods, and they mentioned that the music for their second full-length was already written. It took more time than anyone might have expected, yet here’s Graves for Gods’ sophomore album Last Light Fades, released earlier this year. As you understand, there was no chance to miss a moment and talk to these two guys again. Continue reading »

THE GOAT TAVERN INTERVIEWS THE FALL (OWLS WOODS GRAVES)

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Apr 212026
 

(We are most happy to welcome back to NCS The Goat Tavern, a metal enthusiast based in the UK but with roots in Poland. He caught a live performance of the Polish black-metal/punk band Owls Woods Graves in Budapest and then followed that up with an excellent interview of the band’s frontman The Fall, which we now present below. We’re also including photos that The Goat Tavern took of that performance in Budapest. To follow The Goat Tavern, go here and here.)

Anyone drawn to the primal, unfiltered essence of underground metal might have already heard what Owls Woods Graves are all about. With their third album Strix out now, the band has been spreading their punk and black metal mixture like a plague. Their recent show in Budapest as support for the mighty Tormentor and Morbid was a perfect excuse to talk to The Fall, the band’s frontman. We discussed Strix, reflected on the blurred boundaries between punk and metal, and took a closer look at the band’s unique identity and evolution. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: MÖHRKVLTH

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Apr 202026
 

(We present Comrade Aleks’ interview of Gregory Person from the Breton black metal band Möhrkvlth, whose new album Gwenojennoù An Ankounac’h is set for release by the Antiq label on May 5th.)

In the eight years since the release of their first album, the French band Möhrkvlth has seen almost a complete lineup change. However, this hasn’t stopped the new members from following the masterplan of the band’s lead guitarist Gregory Person, and another full-length work entitled Gwenojennoù An Ankounac’h is here. Their atmospheric black metal with notes of depression, lyrics in Breton, and very light hints of traditional music influences may be considered as authentic, and indeed it’s one of the most interesting and memorable black metal discoveries of this spring.

Antiq Records focuses on albums with stories behind them, and so do I, thus let me introduce you to Möhrkvlth further through this interview with the band’s founder.

Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: RÖTUAL

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Apr 172026
 

(For the Dead, released in March on Remorseless Records, is the first full-length from the Canadian death-doom entity Rötual, and what follows is Comrade Aleks’ interview of band-member Nicolas Miquelon.)

Since the release of the Canadian Norilsk’s first album, I haven’t missed a single one of their albums, and at some point I noticed that their guitarist Tom Hansen and vocalist Nic Miquelon, alongside their comrades Ben Bertrand (bass) and Mike Berrigan (drums), had formed a side project called Rötual. Over the course of a couple of years, the project grew into a band and recently released their first full-length album.

While Norilsk has taken liberties with the doom genre throughout their career, allowing for various experiments in related areas, Rötual strictly adheres to quite traditional death-doom. The men have invested expertly in the material and managed to successfully include virtually every element in the album For the Dead, from short bursts of lead guitar to its massive and dirty riffs, from growling parts to brief passages of clean vocals – and all in all it works and hooks.

The band’s ideology adheres to a pernicious, deadly canon, as evidenced not only by the cover and the album title, but also by track titles like “Mycelium,” “Worms,” ​​and “To Live Is to Rot,” which I adore for its mournful, clear-voiced chorus. At the same time, For the Dead doesn’t feel particularly decadent – ​​it’s clear that the band approached the work creatively, not simply taking the framework of ’90s death-doom but transforming it with their own ideas. As always, there’s hope that such a move as an interview may draw more attention to the band, and here we are to spread the word For the Dead together with Nicolas Miquelon. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: RIKET

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Apr 152026
 


photos by Ekaterina Yakyamseva

(Comrade Aleks has brought us many good interviews for many years, all of them worth some attention, but some stand well forward of others, and this discussion with Johan from Rikets is one of them. Read it and you’ll see why.) 

The debut album by Swedish death metallers Riket was released to mark the band’s tenth anniversary. And it’s not just another melodic death metal band, as, foremost, all lyrics are written in the native language and it’s inspired by historical events in Sweden. And as you may imagine, the album’s title 2026 isn’t just a number. At the same time, there’s no room for the usual metal cliches like Vikings’ conquests or war in Riket’s lyrics, and every song is named after the year when this event took place. The band focuses on more specific authentic topics, which you will learn from the interview below.

Meanwhile Riket has created an organic, well-produced, and honest album in the key of sophisticated yet straightforward melodic death metal. And 2026 has every chance of being remembered by listeners for more than just the lyrics. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: GLUTTONY

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Apr 102026
 

(On March 13th FDA Records released Eulogy to Blasphemy, the fourth album by the Swedish death metal band Gluttony, and that motivated Zoltar to arrange the following interview with founding member and guitarist Anders Härén.)

Considering the rather ‘modern’ (for lack of better terms, as this had probably more to do with the average age of the musicians involved  than anything else) take on death metal that MY OWN GRAVE had, it was too tempting to some to call them out as posers once the word got out that three quarters of its line-up all of a sudden decided to play it old-school with a full-on HM-2-fueled mindset as GLUTTONY. But if jumping on the SweDeath wagon is one thing, the band’s first proper album Beyond The Veil Of Flesh released back in 2014 was not.

Maybe it had something to do with having a singer (Magnus Ödling) with a more black metal background (the man did front SETHERIAL for fifteen years plus) or the unusually tight rhythmic approach à la VOMITORY, but a cheap DISMEMBER/ENTOMBED throw-off it was not. Twelve years later, the band are releasing their fourth and probably best record to date, Eulogy To Blasphemy, and it was all too tempting to ask their founding member and guitar player Anders Härén why his thirst for the HM-2 hasn’t dried out yet… Continue reading »

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