AN NCS PREMIERE: CARBON TOMB — “REVERSED HEAD RENEWAL”

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May 192026
 

(written by Islander)

Yesterday we premiered a song from Dysgnostic’s new album End Whispers (you should go listen to it if you haven’t), and today we’re premiering a song from the debut album of Carbon Tomb. It’s fitting that they follow back-to-back, because Carbon Tomb was started by Dysgnostic member Richardt Olsen, who’s the guitarist and screamer within this newer band.

Like Dysgnostic, Carbon Tomb play a form of dissonant death metal, but don’t leap to the conclusion that the two bands are twins. Truly, they are not — they’re more like cousins — though both are very good at what they set their minds to do.

We have an example of Carbon Tomb’s own distinctive songwriting prowess through our premiere of a song intriguingly named “Reversed Head Renewal” from their first full-length, also intriguingly named — Passage to a Neutron Star — in advance of the record’s release by Transcending Obscurity Records on July 17th. Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: PSICORRAGIA — “SOMBRAS LUMINOSAS”

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May 182026
 

(written by Islander)

We’re about to share with you is a beautifully illustrated lyric video for a truly remarkable song, one that invites listeners to enter the valley of the dead and to commune with the frightening and yet seductive spirits who dwell there, to experience their gloom and sorrow, as well as their frantic confusion and their bursts of fiendish exhilaration.

The name of the song is “Sombras luminosas” (Luminous shadows), and it’s from Nekromanthra, the third album by the long-running Peruvian death/doom cult Psicorragia, now set for co-release on June 23rd by Satanath Records (Georgia) and Thrashirts (Peru). Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: DYSGNOSTIC — “THE LAST REFRAIN”

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May 182026
 

(written by Islander)

In 2022 the Danish brutal death metal band Defilementory announced a change of name to Dysgnostic and revealed a dramatic change of musical identity through the release of their first album as Dysgnostic — Scar Echoes. It was presented by Transcending Obscurity Records under the banner of magnificently chilling cover art by Dawid Figielek. As we described at the time, the performances on Scar Echoes “are technically impressive, their dissonant compositions are intricate and twisted, and their music is capable of creating atmospheres of mental and emotional ruin that are both electrifying and profoundly disturbing, and only barely tethered to the ‘real world’.

And now Dysgnostic return with their second album, End Whispers, also to be released by Transcending Obscurity (on July 10th). As you can see, this one also features stunning cover art, this time a frightening and unearthly creation by Belial NecroArts, and we are again privileged to premiere some of Dysgnostic’s new music, a song from the album called “The Last Refrain“.

Here is how T.O. introduces the album as a whole: Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: ZARAZA — “GNAWING AT THE MARROW OF TIME”

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May 152026
 

(written by Islander)

In January of this year we had the pleasure of premiering a video for the first single off the debut EP from a two-piece raw black metal outfit named Zaraza. Those two, Azara and Mictlantecuhtli, introduced their music with these words:

“Rising from holler and rust, gnawing at the marrow of time, a blasphemy against life and cosmos, summoning shadows that devour memory and light….” More succinctly they described their conception as “Appalachian darkness, Rust Belt desecration”.

That EP, …And You Will Remember This Winter, was released on May 8th through So Below Productions, and to help call (deserved) attention to it, today we’re premiering a video for another of the EP’s eight songs. Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: SLOW GOAT — “LOVE LIKE WATER”

 Exceptions to the Rule, Premieres  4 Responses »
May 152026
 

(written by Islander)

Clear your mind and then open it for something that’s a bit off the usual beaten paths around this site, but is still plenty heavy and cloaked in darkness (and frankly, a hell of a lot of neck-wrecking fun to hear and see).

What we’re talking about is the band Slow Goat and the song and video we’re premiering to help spread the word about their debut album Where the Wisest Fear to Tread, which is now set for release on July 10th. To help prepare for the experience, consider these words lifted from a press release we received:

Gamy riffs cut from the flank of the Pacific Northwest. Portland, Oregon’s Slow Goat peddles in the heavy and the psychedelic, with fuzzed-out jams thick enough to chew on, all anchored by clear and commanding vocals that drift between ethereal and feral. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: KYBALION — “MAKE THE WORLD BLEED”

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May 142026
 

(written by Islander)

We first encountered the music of the Italian black metal band Kybalion in 2024 through the release of their second EP, A Crippled Power. We found it a multi-faceted and relentlessly dynamic work, often driven by high-octane and constantly varying bass-and-drum work but with riffing that twisted and turned in intriguing and captivating ways.

Kybalion are now returning with a new EP set to arrive on June 5th through Non Serviam Records. Its title might seem to announce Kybalion’s musical mission for their new songs: Make the World Bleed. But both conceptually and musically its merits go deeper than mere ruthless exsanguination. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: VERDUN — “LA LAME ET LA CHAIR”

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May 142026
 

(written by Islander)

On June 26th of this year Transcending Obscurity Records will release the third album by the French band Verdun, and their first one in a long seven years. Its name is Abyssal Womb. As the label describes, it represents an evolution of the band’s music into “a form of blackened sludge with a dissonant edge” — “mind-numbingly heavy yet catchy and direct, making it highly effective and memorable.”

Those are good descriptors. Verdun’s new music is humongously heavy and powerfully channels an array of damaged and dangerous moods with riff-driven compositions that get stuck in the head. Moreover, the songs incorporate contrasting melodic accents that are ethereal in tone, and the drum rhythms will routinely get a listener’s muscles jumping.

Two infectious songs from the album have already surfaced (and eventually we’ll have something to say about them below), and now we premiere a third one — “La Lame et la Chair“. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: TSAR STANGRA — “TAGA ZA YUG”

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May 132026
 

(written by Islander)

We always relish the opportunity to brandish the paintings of Paolo Girardi across the top of our page, especially when his artwork adorns music that’s as noteworthy as the album we’re focusing on today.

That album, Химните на разрушените светове (Hymns of the Broken Worlds), is the second full-length from Цар Стангра (Tsar Stangra), a Bulgarian pagan black/folk metal project based in Quebec City, Canada, who have dedicated themselves to forging a fusion of extreme metal and Bulgarian ancestral tradition.

The band was originally founded as a solo project in 2007, evolved into a full band, and released their debut album Небесният ковач (The Heavenly Blacksmith) in 2017. Much time has obviously passed since then, but Tsar Stangra is at last ready to reveal new works through this second album, which is is set for release on July 1, 2026 — a date (they tell us) that is “symbolically aligned with the celebration of July Morning, freedom, and Rock And Roll.”

To help spread the word about the new record, today we’re premiering a rollicking yet also sinister track named “Taga za Yug“. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: FOURNIER — “CAST ADRIFT”

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May 132026
 

(written by Islander)

Today we help introduce the death-metal-addicted among you to a formidable new force — a New Zealand trio named Fournier, whose self-titled debut EP will be released next month by the also formidable Caligari Records.

We’re told that Fournier were inspired not only by pioneers such as Morbid Angel, Immolation, and Timeghoul but also by contemporary artists like Hyperdontia, Phrenelith, and Engulfed, and they harnessed those inspirations to create tense, violent, and overwhelmingly oppressive death metal.

Many of those inspirations shine through in the song from Fournier that we’re premiering today, an exhilarating marauder named “Cast Adrift“. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: GLOOMY GRIM — “BORN IN FIRE 2026”

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May 132026
 

(written by Islander)

This is a song premiere that requires historical context because it is a musical celebration and memorial by the bandmates and family of a man taken from the world too soon.

The history begins in 1995 in Finland when Agathon started the black metal band Gloomy Grim as his solo project. In time he gathered other musicians around him, and over the following decades Gloomy Grim released seven albums, assorted shorter works, and several compilation records.

Over that time Agathon (aka Ykä) also became a key figure in other groups, including Airdash, Soulgrind, Thy Serpent, and Corporal Punishment, and he also performed on recordings by Barathrum and Walhalla, among other bands.

Agathon passed away from cancer in 2022. A memorial concert has now been organized, and it will be held at the Hellsinki Metal Festival’s See You In Hell club Bar Loose on August 6, 2026.

But in addition to that, a group of labels will release an album called Gloomy & Grim: A Tribute To Agathon on June 6th — a date that would have been Agathon’s 58th birthday and is the 30th anniversary of the release of Gloomy Grim’s first demo.

The final song on that album is a re-recording of Gloomy Grim’s “Born In Fire“, and that’s the track we’re premiering today. Continue reading »

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