AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: VOLUBILIS — “UNUKHALAI SUPERNOVA”

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Jul 272026
 

(written by Islander)

Occasionally some of us play a mind game in which we imagine how people who know almost nothing about metal would interpret words and phrases we throw around about the music on a daily basis. Like, how would they interpret “tech death”? The possible or hoped-for demise of Silicon Valley? AI reaching its Skynet moment and promptly deciding to wipe out humanity? Some slang term for the precise definition of when a person has expired, even if they might still be breathing?

And yet there are also occasions when the “tech death” label may not really mean what even we think it means, or at least when it falls short in some way. Which brings us to the Montréal band Volubilis.

It’s convenient to label them a “tech death” band, and that label might be better than any other single genre descriptor if you had to choose just one, but it also falls short. Among other things, it tells you nothing about the rather spectacular nature of the tale encompassed by the band’s recently released debut album Theasterion. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: AGONANIST — “THE GATEWAY”

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Jul 242026
 

(written by Islander)

In late August Transylvanian Recordings will release a second album by Agonanist, which is the experimental music project of multidisciplinary artist Tyler Henthorn, who is based in San Francisco. The album’s title is The Spirit of Gravity, and the label describes its contents as: “Dark, Hypnotic, Dissonant & Mystical Black Metal. Somewhere between a fever dream and a claustrophobic nightmare. Sonically unruly, jarring, & entrancing.”

The album has many unusual aspects, which we explored with Tyler in an interview you’ll find near the end of this article. It was produced in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, where Tyler lived for many years. Further, in creating the music he used microtonal instruments, experimenting with EDO (Equal Divisions of the Octave), cutting the octave into numerous steps, with side A of the album described as “a mix of 17ET and 12ET, and side B of 22ET” (with ET standing for “Equal Temperament”).

Moreover, Agonanist enlisted the participation of some notable guests. He sent demos of the songs to Andrew Lee (Ripped to Shreds), Colin Marston (Krallice, Gorguts, Behold the Arctopus), and Kevin Paradis (Benighted, Svart Crown), and gave them the freedom to put themselves into his compositions.

The results are indeed sonically unruly, jarring, and entrancing. Tyler explains: “The Spirit of Gravity represents inevitability, our experience of time being an illusion, causality being a continuous web that spans the entire universe where everything exists at once in a splatter of liquid.”

In reading those words, and in listening to the album, it’s not surprising to learn that Tyler is a fan of the great Polish science fiction author Stanisław Lem (1921-2006) and that the name Agonanist is derived from an episode in one of Lem’s stories. But more about that later (much later). For now we should turn to some of the music on The Spirit of Gravity, including a song named “The Gateway” that we’re premiering today. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: SHABTI — “SOJOURNER”

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Jul 232026
 

(written by Islander)

Those of us here like to think we’re good at getting in on the ground floor with promising new bands and then attentively following their progress forward. But we also readily admit when we’re very late in discovering impressive talents, and we are definitely very late in discovering the wiles of Shabti from Portland, Maine.

The lateness is even more inexcusable given the notable nature of Shabti’s lineup, which consists of drummer Ray Capizzo (Falls Of Rauros, Obsidian Tongue, Panopticon-live), vocalist/guitarist Rob Cook (Worm Altar), and bassist Brendan Hayter (Obsidian Tongue, Fires In The Distance). When a band features talents such as those, you’d think smart people would have explored what they’ve been doing long before now. But alas, we didn’t — until now.

Shabti now have their third album, Haze, Cacophony, And White Light, set for release on August 21st by the Contemn Light label. The album’s first single grabbed our attention like a big hand on the back of the neck, and we then grabbed back, seizing the opportunity to premiere a second single today. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: ENDSPACE — “FIRST TRANSMISSION”

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Jul 232026
 

(written by Islander)

The copy/paste keyboard function is vital to preserving the sanity of people who write about metal in its global settings. Sometimes that’s because band names, album titles, or song names are in a language different from that of the writer. Sometimes it’s because metal bands have a tendency to just make up words for such things, and the words can be unpronounceable due to confounding juxtapositiions of consonants and vowels. And sometimes, but much more rarely, something significant is expressed in long strings of numbers.

Which brings us to the Canadian band Endspace. The name Endspace can be typed without difficulty, but copy/pasting is necessary for the identification of its two members. They are: 040118180514 and 102119200914. Equally strange, this isn’t the first time those two members have identified themselves numerically, even though Endspace is a new band — because they are also members of Fractal Generator, in which they are known by the same collections of digits.

This might lead you to assume there are similarities between what Endspace is doing and what Fractal Generator have done. You wouldn’t be entirely wrong, but you wouldn’t be entirely right either. At a high level Fractal Generator lean into death metal, whereas Endspace lean into black metal. And yet they are only just leaning, because both bands put lots of often head-scrambling twists, turns, and layers into their musical (and lyrical) concoctions.

In the case of Endspace, their first concoctions are encompassed by a debut album named First Contact that will be released on October 2nd by Transcending Obscurity Records. As the label says, it is “sci-fi themed black metal”, and it’s “light years ahead of what we’re accustomed to hearing”. Continue reading »

AN NCS DEMO PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): SHTRIGË — “WOUNDS OF ETERNAL HUNGER”

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Jul 222026
 

(written by Islander)

Shtrigë is a collaboration between two experienced practitioners of the black (metal) arts — Swiss musician Solaris Lupus (the sole mind behind Aspaarn and vocalist of Lord Valtgryftåke) and the Italian musician Sanguis Antiquus (based in Finland), whose many other bands include Clactonian and Thecodontion. In their Shtrigë endeavor the former performs all the instruments and the latter is responsible for vocals, lyrics, and songwriting.

As they have explained, this project “takes its name from the Shtrigë, a vampiric witch of Albanian mythology said to suck the blood of infants during the night and to transform themselves into a flying insect (traditionally a moth, fly, or bee).” In line with that choice, Shtrigë draws inspiration “from the dark legends and folkloric traditions of the Western Balkans”.

The duo released their debut demo Of Blood and Night in February of this year, and on July 24th Prehistoric Sounds will release their second one, Wounds of Eternal Hunger, and we’re premiering it today. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): VISCERA/// — “4. ASSETS FOR PSYCHEDELIC WARFARE”

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Jul 212026
 

(written by Islander)

We have been fascinated by the unpredictable evolutions of the Italian band Viscera///, evolutions so adventurous that it’s not an exaggeration to now call their music experimental.

That’s not to say that they throw things against the wall to see what sticks, or drip ingredients into test tubes to see whether the fluids change colors or explode. They are instead quite obviously very demanding of themselves and very meticulous in their planning and execution, it’s just that they march to the beat of their own drummer; their musical interests are wide-ranging and they’ve never been satisfied by remaining in the same musical space for very long.

Because of that it’s probably not hugely helpful in our introduction of their new album to provide a history of the band’s releases (and the changing musical forays they have represented) across their 26 years of activity. It’s maybe more helpful to just focus on the new music and leave the past behind.

And yes, nine years after their last album, Viscera/// have a new full-length titled 4. Assets for Psychedelic Warfare that’s now set for release on July 24th by Time To Kill Records. And yes, we’re premiering it in full today. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: ARGUL — “KAMOG”

 Exceptions to the Rule, Premieres  1 Response »
Jul 202026
 

(written by Islander)

Surprises are often the spice of life, other than when the surprises involve things like getting T-boned at an intersection or having that mole turn out to be melanoma. But the song we’re about to premiere (and the whole album it comes from) has turned out to be a very happy surprise for this writer.

It’s a surprise because I wasn’t previously familiar with the band, and because their style of music is outside the kind of gnashing, gnarly, macabre, and malignant brands of extremity to which I usually subject my crippled ears. And it’s a spice-of-life surprise, because it turns out to be some of the most completely captivating music I’ve heard all year.

The band is Argul, a quartet from Lima, Peru, consisting of guitarist/vocalist Mauricio Guerrero, guitarist/vocalist Jose María Venturi, bassist Jian Holmes, and drummer Alonso Guerrero. They independently released a four-song demo in 2023, and now their debut album Soledad & Orgullo is set for release on August 21st by Personal Records. That album is the home of the remarkable song we’re now premiering, an enthralling track named “Kamog“. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: HANGING GARDEN — “TEARS OF LUSTFUL, SECRET DESIRE”

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Jul 202026
 


(written by Islander)

As you can see, we’re about to premiere a song by Hanging Garden. This is not the Finnish collective that has been releasing music for the last 20 years under that name but is instead a vehicle for the solo work of Dylan Cruz from Yonkers, New York, whose resume includes current or former membership in Noxis, Scumbag, and Dissonance.

Though the name may cause some confusion, no one would confuse the music of the two Hanging Gardens. The one whose song we’re premiering today traffics in a form of technically impressive and richly nuanced progressive death metal.

This Hanging Garden released a debut album (The God That Made Them Bow) in 2024, and on September 18th Transcending Obscurity Records will release the project’s second full-length — Dream Death. The song we’re now premiering is “Tears of Lustful, Secret Desire“. Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: FEARTHROPOD — “LESSER CARNIVORA”

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Jul 172026
 

(written by Islander)

Today we’re announcing that on November 11th Satanath Records (Georgia) and Bajo Tierra Records (Mexico) will co-release the third album from the Mexican death metal band Feathropod, which is a solo project founded in Querétaro by Armando Ríos. The name of the new album is Oathkeeper.

For those who might be unfamiliar with Feathropod, its music has evolved in a steady stream of releases that have elaborately embellished a death metal framework with ingredients of black metal, doom, and especially orchestral music.

Yet while “symphonic death metal” might be a decent genre label for Feathropod’s music, it might be a bit misleading for some listeners, because it might not adequately prepare them for the spectacles of sheer madness that Fearthropod is capable of creating. We have one such spectacle to share today in our premiere of a lyric video for the first single off the new album — “Lesser Carnivora“. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: ETHEREAL ROT — “FESTUM TERRAE”

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Jul 172026
 

(written by Islander)

Today is the day when the New England blackened technical death metal band Ethereal Rot will release their self-titled debut album, and to help spread the word we’re premiering a video for a song off the new album called “Festum Terrae“.

The album narrates an elaborate cosmic horror story conceived by the band, which we’ll soon attempt to summarize. As for the band itself, it’s a quintet from Maine and New Hampshire that includes members of such groups as The Last King, Sonic Pulse, and Sawtopsy, and they recommend their music for fans of Cattle Decapitation, Suffocation, and The Zenith Passage.

Those are appealing references, but they’re still probably not adequate preparation for the mind-bending spectacle of madness and devastation that you’ll experience in the song we’re about to premiere. Continue reading »

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