AN NCS PREMIERE: LVTHN — “MOTHER OF ABOMINATIONS”

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Aug 112025
 

(written by Islander)

The abandonment of vowels doesn’t obscure the meaning of LVTHN, a plain enough reference to the titanic serpent of primeval origin, the draconic embodiment of chaos, and in Revelations a manifestation of the power of the Devil. Isaiah prophesied that this “tortuous serpent” would be destroyed by the Almighty at the end of time, but in the meantime the Belgian band LVTHN continue offering musical devotionals of revelation and ruin in the name of the Adversary.

The title of LVTHN‘s forthcoming second album, The Devil’s Bridge, emblazons their inspiration. As described on behalf of Amor Fati Productions, which will release the album on September 6th: “This is a work of devotion. A weapon of Will. A hymn to Lucifer, as light-bearer and destroyer alike…. It is music as weapon. Music as curse. Music as rite.” The bridge is both a metaphor and a a real place of experience, and on the other side the Devil awaits: “Not as myth, but as force, as initiator, as destroyer of illusions.”

We have one aspect of the architecture of this bridge in a song from the album we’re now premiering: “Mother of Abominations“. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: HENERE — “WINDS OF ELDRITCH NORTH”

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Aug 082025
 

(written by Islander)

Gaze upon the cover art for Henere‘s new album The Chosen Path and you’ll begin to get a sense of the music, through the artwork’s portrayal of ice and snow, of ancient battle-death and looming peaks, of dark clouds and strange spiraling brilliance. The music itself conjures those same visions, and more, as you’ll discover today through our premiere of a song from the album named “Winds of Eldritch North” in advance of the record’s co-release by Void Wanderer Productions (Netherlands) and War Productions (Portugal) on September 19th.

For the new album (Henere‘s first full-length following a pair of EPs), founder Wretch (vocalist and multi-instrumentalist) was again joined by guitarist Blood clot and bassist Lament. As the labels describe, this U.S. band’s new music “captures the force and mournful grandeur of black metal shaped by cold winds, ancient myth, and the weight of destiny…. Carefully placed synth passages rise like distant signals through the snow, adding atmosphere without overtaking the storm.” Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: IMPERISHABLE — “SPEWING RETRIBUTION”

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Aug 072025
 

(written by Islander)

Little more than a month ago we had the pleasure of premiering the jaw-dropping first single off Revelation In Purity, the debut album from the U.S. death metal band Imperishable, which is set for an August 29 release by Everlasting Spew Records. Today we’re happy to premiere another high-octane song from the album, this one aptly named “Spewing Retribution“.

If you haven’t already been introduced to these marauders, Imperishable started in 2020 as the brainchild of guitarist/vocalist Brian Kingsland (from Nile and Enthean) and bassist Alex Rush (Olkoth, Enthean). They later completed the recording lineup with the addition of famed drummer Derek Roddy (of Hate Eternal, Malevolent Creation, and too many other bands to name). Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: MATT MILLER — “EFFECTIVELY NEUTRALIZED”

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Aug 052025
 

(written by Islander)

Whiz-bang can only carry an extreme metal guitarist so far, especially in a modern era marked by what one of our writers is prone to call the “tech death nuclear arms race,” in which blistering speed and near-inhuman dexterity have become main marks of competition, often leaving actual songwriting melted in the wake of the blast fronts.

And that brings us to the subject of Oregonian Matt Miller. He has earned a reputation as a death metal shredder par excellence, on top of his reputation as an award-winning producer and engineer. He built that reputation in part through a flurry of solo instrumental albums and EPs released from 2021 to 2023.

But with his new album Fiber Tormentum, forthcoming from Exitus Stratagem Records in September, it is entirely fair to say that Miller has reached a pivotal moment in his musical evolution, with new ambitions made evident and new stylistic ingredients impressively melded together. We have vivid signs of this in the song from Fiber Tormentum we’re presenting today through a video premiere. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: IN CORPORE MORTIS — “IGNEOUS CURRENTS PERVADE THE AETHYR”

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Aug 042025
 

(written by Islander)

Twelve years after their full-length debut Neverwards, and five years following their Eons of Attrition EP, the Italian black metal band In Corpore Mortis are returning with a second album named Umbræ Ignis that’s now scheduled for co-release next month by Satanath Records and Wine and Fog Productions.

One song from the new album has already debuted, and today we’re premiering a second one. Both of them are representations of supernatural evil, both of them insidiously infectious as well as frightening, and they both reveal other facets of chilling mood, including shades of ghostly gothic horror. Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: GJALLARHORN’S WRATH — “A SILENT SCREAM”

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Aug 012025
 

(written by Islander)

The Barcelona-based extreme metal band Gjallarhorn’s Wrath trace their roots to the Spanish atmospheric black metal band Oblivion, which was founded in 2001. After making a strong mark, that earlier group disbanded, but in time the core members reunited. With the addition of vocalist Alex, Lord Ashler moved to bass, Javi Iron returned to handle drums, keys, and composition, and Arash continued as lead guitarist.

Under the name Gjallarhorn’s Wrath, they have recorded a debut album entitled The Silver Key that’s set for release by Non Serviam Records on September 5th. As the label explains, the album blends “the raw aggression of blackened death metal with the grandeur of orchestral and cinematic elements”.

Last month we hosted the premiere of a transfixing video for a sonic spectacle from The Silver Key named “Wiccan Wyrd“, and today we follow that with another riveting video. This one presents the album’s second single, “A Silent Scream“. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): RINTRAH — “THE TORRID CLIME”

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Jul 312025
 

(written by Islander)

This coming Bandcamp Friday will bring the release by Fiadh Productions of the debut album from an unusual musical collaboration that has taken the name Rintrah. That album, The Torrid Clime, pays tribute to Romantic period art, poetry, and music (circa 1798-1837). It does that in part by drawing the songs’ lyrics from classical pieces by Romantic era poets, presented unaltered and unabridged. The themes include “finding the true God in nature, the sense of the primordial as channeled through the self, nostalgia for the past, and using fantasy as a tool to reshape dissatisfactions with reality”.

The participants in Rintrah include Otrebor (Botanist, ex-Lotus Thief) on drums and vocals, Arsenio Santos (Howling Sycamore) on bass, and William DuPlain (aka Cynoxylon, ex-Botanist) on lead vocals — and guitars were composed and recorded by classical musician Justin Collins.

Yesterday we published an interview with Justin about how Rintrah and the music became a reality. We’ll use parts of that interview as reference points again today, but the main subject now is the music itself, a genre-bending and time-traveling experience that you’ll now be able to enjoy in its entirety. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: RINTRAH

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Jul 302025
 

(written by Islander)

Rintrah is an unusual musical collaboration whose lineup consists of Otrebor (Botanist, ex-Lotus Thief) on drums and vocals, Arsenio Santos (Howling Sycamore) on bass, William DuPlain (aka Cynoxylon, ex-Botanist) on vocals, and acoustic classical guitarist Justin Collins. They describe Rintrah as a project “that pays tribute to Romantic period art, poetry, and music (circa 1798-1837),” in part by drawing their lyrics from “classical pieces by Romantic era poets, presented unaltered and unabridged.”

Last year we premiered Rintrah‘s debut demo (here), and we also wrote about another demo track that came out later in the year (here). Those were rough versions of four songs that will appear in their final form, along with seven more songs, on Rintrah‘s debut album The Torrid Clime.

That album will be released on this coming Bandcamp Friday, August 1st, via Fiadh Productions, and pre-orders by the label and the band are starting today. Tomorrow we will premiere a full stream of the album with a review, and we’re including one of the new songs (“In Tempests”) at the end of this article.

To help pave the way to these events, I interviewed Justin Collins to delve deeper into how Rintrah came to be, and how the music was made. That discussion follows, illustrated with paintings by Caspar David Friedrich and one by Julius von Leypold (excerpts of some of these appear in the booklet accompanying the album). Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: BLACK ALTAR — “IN THE LABYRINTHS OF SITRA ACHRA”

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Jul 302025
 

(written by Islander)

The Polish black metal band Black Altar, spearheaded by its leader Shadow, have been releasing music since 1998, assembling a discography that now includes two albums, a large assortment of splits, EPs, and singles, and two compilation records. Their most recent release is a three-way split named Drakonian Elitism from January 2024 that also includes music by Ofermod and Acherontas.

Black Altar contributed four tracks to that nearly hour-long release, including “In the Labyrinths of Sitra Achra“, which is the subject of the lyric video we’re premiering today. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: OCCULSED — “HEINOUS PULSE”

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Jul 292025
 

(written by Islander)

This makes our sixth premiere of music from the Atlanta-area death metal band Occulsed since the start of 2021. In those past features we’ve described their music as “a filthy discharge of clobbering and eviscerating madness.” We’ve called it “grotesque,” “putrid,” “abysmal,” and “abhorrent.” We’ve highlighted the band’s talent “for creating electrifying visions of horror and disease, of madness and mayhem, and of blood-freezing intrusions from spectral realms.”

We’ve also asserted that the music is “is both predatory and hopeless, noxious and deranged, horrifyingly imperious and seemingly gleeful in its deviant revels,” but “so well-constructed and maliciously well-realized that it becomes addictive (as well as foul).”

Now we get a chance to try to cook up further ways of describing just how punishing and paranormal the music of Occulsed really is. They have a new album named Antegnosis coming our way in September via Everlasting Spew Records, and we have a song from it coming your way right now. Continue reading »

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