AN NCS INTERVIEW: TSARETVORETZ

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Jul 152025
 

(In this new interview our Russian contributor Comrade Aleks talks with one of the members of the Russian black metal band Tsaretvoretz (Царетворец), whose second album was released in May by Svanrenne Music.)

The official press-release of this melancholic black metal from Russia states: “Tsars are created with blood, committing palace coups. Or with impulses of the soul, perversely evolving into the creation of idols for themselves. But after the fire, only ashes remain. Tsaretvoretz is a straightforward black metal with fiery melodies and atmospheric melancholic passages of post-black, absorbing all the best from Russian and Scandinavian examples of the coal genre. For connoisseurs of Morokh, Second to Sun, Downfall of Gaia”.

Laconic yet informative – as well as this interview with one of Tsaretvoretz’ founders we did due to the release of their second album Kostmi Usypana Zemlya / The Ground Is Strewn with Bones.

Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: KEN SORCERON (ABIGAIL WILLIAMS)

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Jul 022025
 

(On July 18th Agonia Records will release a new album by Abigail Williams, and today we have Wil Cifer‘s interview of the band’s mainman Ken Sorceron.)

Q: “A Void Within Existence” marks the 6th album for Abigail Williams. What lessons have you learned since the first album that helped shape this one?

A: The biggest lesson is to stop trying to please anyone but yourself. Early on, I was always half aware of how a record would be received, but now I don’t care. That kind of freedom opened the door to something more honest and more extreme. Over time, I’ve learned to fully trust my instinct. I don’t second-guess the darkness, the stillness, or the chaos. If something feels real, I follow it—even if it leads somewhere uncomfortable. Continue reading »

ANTIHÆLIX: A SONG PREMIERE AND AN INTERVIEW

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Jul 012025
 

(Our friend Neill Jameson (Krieg) introduces our premiere of music from the debut album by the Philadelphia black metal band Antihælix, and also shares his fascinating interview with the band’s two members.)

Black metal in the United States has become, much like the global scene I suppose, infinitely shapeless, changing form, moving forwards and backwards. Genre blurring has become less of a unicorn and more of a regular horse you see by the road when you’ve driving through farm country. Those who consciously try to be unique are just as obtuse as the folks trying to live like the 1980s never ended.

I’m trying to say that there’s a lot of boring shit made by boring people, but in the nicest way possible. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: MYSTIC CIRCLE

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Jun 122025
 

(Today we present Comrade Aleks‘ interview of Graf von Beelzebub from the long-running German black metal band Mystic Circle. They have been on a creative hot streak, with a just-released album named Kriegsgötter MMXXV following up 2023’s Erzdämon, and yet another album headed for release this coming Halloween. So, lot’s to talk about.)

Well, it’s a kind of an awkward situation, because the interview with one of the oldest German black metal bands Mystic Circle was initiated due to their new release Kriegsgötter MMXXV, which was scheduled on June 6th by Rock of Angels. Indeed it is a kind of compilation, and the band’s followers find there a lot of well-known covers and other stuff, and the band updated this material and you’ll read about it in the interview below.

But during the interview it was discovered that Graf von Beelzebub (vocals, guitars, bass, keyboards) and A. Blackwar (drums, guitars, keyboards) had prepared new album, Hexenbrand 1486. And we’ve dug out a few facts about it as well. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: DIG ME NO GRAVE

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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 »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: JOHAN LANGQUIST – THE CASTLE

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Jun 032025
 

(We present Comrade Aleks‘ interview of Johan Langquist, vocalist of Candlemass and mastermind of the solo project Johan Langquist – The Castle, whose debut album, accompanied by talented allies and digitally released last year, will receive physical releases on June 27th of this year via I Hate Records.)

It’s hard to imagine what the landscape of the world doom scene would be like if the Swedish band Candlemass hadn’t recorded the legendary Epicus Doomicus Metallicus in 1986. This and the following two albums became a source of inspiration and an unattainable quality mark for many bands who worked on the doom path for a long time.

Although Johan Langqvist, who left Candlemass immediately after recording the debut, was only a guest vocalist, this did not stop fans from dreaming about his return for many years, and dreams came true in 2018 when the band reunited in almost “the same” line-up. Who would have thought that today, against the backdrop of Candlemass’s 40th anniversary and the release of their new EP, the news about the release of Johan’s first solo album would be lost? We’ll correct this omission. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: JONAS LINDBLOOD (PUTERAEON)

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May 282025
 

(Our French contributor Zoltar conducted the following excellent interview with Puteraeon founder and vocalist/guitarist Jonas Lindblood in advance of Emanzipation Production‘s release of this Swedish band’s newest album on May 30th — an album we will premiere-stream one hour from now.)

“Dead but dreaming.” Howard Philipps Lovecraft probably never thought while writing for the first time about what would become his most famous creation in the aptly titled The Call Of Cthulhu nearly a century ago back in 1926 that, somehow, this conception would also ring true about his never-ending influence on extreme metal.

A lot has been said about how pioneers like Black Sabbath (‘Beyond The Wall Of Sleep’) or Metallica (‘The Call Of Ktulu’) early on associated the name of the master of Providence to distorted riffing on selected tracks, but lately more than a few bands like French weirdos The Great Old Ones or German epic travelers Sulphur Aeon have gone the extra mile by entirely dedicating their lore to his writings and monstrous cosmology.

The cool thing about Puteraeon is that they never jumped on the bandwagon to start with yet made it clear from their third demo what the deal was, going as far as doing a whole set of songs (The Extraordinary Work Of Herbert West) solely dedicated to one of Lovecraft’s most-beloved novels – and the source of inspiration for what remains his best movie-adaptation, Stuart Gordon-directed 1985 cult horror flick Re-Animator. Continue reading »

A GUEST INTERVIEW: WĘDROWCY~TUŁACZE~ZBIEGI

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May 232025
 

(We are very fortunate today to present a guest interview originally conducted in Polish by The Goat Tavern and translated by them into English. It is a rare and relentlessly interesting discussion with the two members of the fascinating Polish band Wędrowcy~Tułacze~Zbiegi, a band that has now come to an end — sadly for us and many other fascinated listeners.)

The Polish metal scene is full of wonders. Sometimes, the deeper you dig the more treasure you can find. You don’t have to look far, however, to find bands like Furia, Odraza, Gruzja or Totenmesse. These bands, well-established in the underground, feature musicians who often want to express themselves in a different field.

On one sunny May afternoon, I sat down with Sars and Stawrogin and talked about their project, Wędrowcy~Tułacze~Zbiegi, into which they’ve been putting their hearts for years. Now, after they decided to call it a day, it was time to reflect a bit on the past and try to introduce this incredibly fascinating musical creation to a broader audience. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: SIJJIN

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May 132025
 

(Here we present Zoltar‘s interview of Malte Gericke, bassist and vocalist of the pan-national death/thrashing band Sijjin, whose new album Helljjin Combat is out now on Sepulchral Voice Records.)

“I couldn’t be happier man.” Malte Gericke, aka Mors Dalos Ra, is relieved for probably the first time since the band’s split in 2021 not to be asked about Necros Christos, the cult and highly-mystical death/doom beast he led out and back to the abyss for over two decades. And he deserved the right to, as Sijjin, the to-the-point and proudly stuck in the ’80s thrash/death new band he had put together even before NC took their final bow, has proven not to be the expectative derivative but an entity on its own, far less entrenched in occult and cryptic atmospheres and doom-laden circumvolutions, way more straight-forward and unapologetically METAL, as in denim-and-leather-patches-furious-headbanging metal.

If their 2019 demo, later reissued on LP, and their debut album Sumerian Promises were treading on early Morbid Angel territories, as he once again puts it himself, their long-awaited sophomore and very riff-oriented album Helljinn Combat goes even more “back in time”. Old-school to the bone! Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: NIGHTFALL

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May 022025
 

(Today Season of Mist is releasing the monumental 11th album by the Greek metal band Nightfall, with cover art by Eliran Kantor, and in anticipation of that Comrade Aleks conducted an extensive interview with founder and frontman Efthimis Karadimas. It is an excellent read, and we have it for you below.)

Nightfall was always one of those charismatic Greek bands that had its own identity despite all the changes in style. Once they were neck-deep into a rebellious seething stream of death and black metal, then they entered territories of doom and gothic metal. Always on the move, always searching. It’s not a surprise that Efthimis Karadimas (vocals, bass) is the only original hand of Nightfall who has stayed with his creature since the day it was born back in 1991.

However, the band returns with its eleventh album – Children of Eve – full of power and boiling artistic intention. This epic album carries on traditions of ancient Greek metal and keeps its grim identity untouched. However, I find it stupid to tell a lot of pompous words about the band, as we have Efthimis here, and this interview turned out to be a pretty in-depth one. So enjoy Nightfall. Continue reading »

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