AN NCS PREMIERE: RIVERFLAME — “WHERE DRAGONS ONCE RULED”

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Mar 272026
 

(written by Islander)

“Riverflame were created in 2024 by members of Hail Spirit Noir, Ponte Del Diavolo, and OWLS.” That short announcement got my attention just as effectively as if it had been a meteor plowing into the house next door. Those other groups happen to be personal favorites, so there’s that, but the strong attraction also derives from curiosity about what these four musicians have done together.

What they’ve done is to record an album named Lunar Crusades that will be released on April 24th by code666/Aural Music. But what shape(s) does the music take? That’s hardly predictable, given the distinctively different nature of the music they’ve made in their other bands. The label provides some strong clues by describing the album as “a journey of epic medieval black metal atmospheres and neo-classical arrangements,” channeling “the spirit of Stormkeep, Summoning, and Dissection.”

Even more tangible clues were provided through the release of a song that shares the band’s name, and now we’re presenting more evidence through our premiere of the stunning album track “Where Dragons Once Ruled.” Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: SAILLE — “CYCLE OF CYNICISM”

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Mar 272026
 

(written by Islander)

Today we have a reminder for you — and, as you’ll see and hear, it’s not a subtle nudge or a polite whisper. The reminder is that the epic black metal band Saille (originally formed in Belgium but now a fully Netherlands-based group) released their sixth album Forebode last month through Non Serviam Records, and it’s one you really ought to check out if you haven’t already. The reminder takes the form of a new lyric video for the ravishing album track “Cycle of Cynicism” that we’re premiering today.

For those listeners who are new to Saille’s music, this latest album provides a great introduction. It includes four new songs, of which “Cycle of Cynicism” is one, but also a newly re-recorded version of “Haunter of The Dark” from their 2013 album Ritu and an extended classical version of “Eater of Worlds” from their 2014 album Eldritch, with additional instruments.

In addition, the physical edition of the album (unlike the digital version) includes three bonus tracks — live recordings, featuring a violinist, that were captured at Metal Méan Festival and Graspop Metal Meeting.

And now… onward to the new lyric video for “Cycle of Cynicism“. Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: WITHOUT MERCY — “THE SAINT”

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Mar 262026
 

(written by Islander)

Vancouver, Canada’s Without Mercy have announced that on May 8th they will release a new three-song EP named Infinite Loss. The EP is a mark of change for the band. They’ve explained that for the first time they “left home to make a record, crossing borders, abandoning routine, and committing fully to the process.” That process included confining themselves in a studio environment for 10 days.

As guitarist DJ Temple has stated: “There was no comfort, no distance, and no way to step away. That isolation mattered. It stripped everything down to what was essential. This record exists because we chose to be uncomfortable, to argue honestly, and to stay in the room until it felt right”.

As the first sign of what that creative process yielded, today we’re premiering the EP’s first single, “The Saint,” accompanied by a new music video. Lyrically, the song confronts the idea of being enslaved by the land, “all the different whips, and all the different backs.” Musically, it puts some head-spinning twists on Without Mercy’s branding as a “groove metal band”. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: YEAR OF THE COYOTE — “MAN ALIVE”

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Mar 262026
 

(written by Islander)

Year of the Coyote is a new name here at our site. They’re a DIY sludge-hardcore trio from Portland, Oregon. They descrbe their music in terms that piqued our interest: “Paying homage to an array of grimier hardcore and metal acts — think the suffocating feel of Coalesce, Cult Leader, or Torch Runner mixed with the open, sledgehammer ambiance of late-90s Isis — Year Of The Coyote churns out a mix of off-kilter grinding intensity and avalanche-like dissonance.”

The band released a three-song debut demo in late 2014, and then a first full-length named Siege in 2018. That was quite a while ago, and of course the world has become a very different place, but at last Year of the Coyote will be releasing a second full-length on April 23rd. Its name is Hell Wall, and today we’re premiering its first single, “Man Alive“. Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: SICARIUS — “NEX”

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Mar 262026
 

(written by Islander)

The U.S. black metal band Sicarius has a storied history, one that includes two albums released in 2017 and 2020 by M-Theory Audio, extensive touring, and stage performances with such bands as 1349, Goatwhore, Vader, Marduk, Disgorge, and Incantation. But in the next few years following release of their second album, the band essentially dissolved and was left for dead.

Yet a resurrection has occurred. The band’s co-founders Argyris and Carnage reconnected and have rebuilt the dead organism of Sicarius. We’re told that they began writing and recording new songs in 2024, pulling influences from bands such as Bathory, Rotting Christ, Dissection, Mayhem, Urghehal, Marduk, and Absu, and fusing in elements from groups like Type O Negative. They also brought on board a new vocalist of wide-ranging power, Akefalos.

And now their work on a new album named Nex is complete, and the record is set for release on April 10th by Adirondack Black Mass. It is described as “a 10-track story about loss, death, retribution, and fury that honors tradition while being unafraid to venture on its own.” It’s the album’s title track that we bring you today through a lyric video — a song that includes a guest performance by guitarist Charles Hedger (Ghul) of Mayhem. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: BLOOD COUNTESS — “THE SCAVENGER’S DAUGHTER”

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Mar 252026
 

(written by Islander)

The last time we encountered the music of Blood Countess from York in the UK, in the run-up to their 2022 debut album Occulta Tenebris, we wrote: “The stench of sulfur and the fear of peril hang about these lunging and whirling ecstasies, and it’s not hard to imagine the flashing of bat wings and the baring of knife-sharp fangs.” Now, four years down the road from then, Blood Countess return with their second full-length, Imperatrix Sanguinis.

As explained on behalf of their label, Dominance of Darkness Records, the band “remain true to their moniker, spilling tales of Elizabeth Bathory’s reign of blood-soaked tyranny – obsession, sex, and perversion entwined with madness and hatred for humankind – all led by the invective throat of frontwoman The Cuntess”.

As a sign of the merciless but head-spinning slaughter that the new album delivers, what we have for you today is the premiere of the record’s second single, “The Scavenger’s Daughter“. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: SOTABOSC — “FREYJA”

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Mar 252026
 

(written by Islander)

Here is background information about the Spanish band Sotabosc whose music we’re sharing with you today from their debut album El batec dels Maquis:

SOTABOSC was founded in 2023 in Barcelona by Oscar Linares and Manel Song, known for their work in Syberia, together with Xavi Forne, creator of the dark-folk project Ulmus and founder of Error! Design. In 2025, the project solidified with the addition of David Rodríguez on vocals and Gerard Serrano on bass, completing a lineup deeply connected to the Catalan underground scene and involved in bands such as Amargor, Arna, Malammar, Stained Blood, Vampyric Winter, Llacuna, Hurricade and Carontte, among others.

Firmly rooted in an anti-fascist ethos, SOTABOSC conveys its message through lyrics sung entirely in Catalan and a carefully crafted visual identity, including artwork, logos, stage aesthetics and graphic materials. Their artistic and political discourse form a coherent whole, integral to the project.

The album itself has a distinctive structure, and to describe it we’ll again quote from materials we’ve received: Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): AGGRESSIVE PERFECTOR — “COME CREEPING FIENDS”

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Mar 242026
 

(written by Islander)

Commas are critical units of punctuation. “Let’s eat Grandpa!” is not the same as “Let’s eat, Grandpa!” Or, as in the joke about pandas and firearms, “Eats shoots and leaves” is not the same as “Eats, shoots, and leaves”. But even though Aggressive Perfector named their new album “Come Creeping Fiends“, I’m still reading it as “Come, Creeping Fiends” or “Come Creeping, Fiends”, i.e., as an invitation to people like us rather than a preview (or warning) about what happens within the course of the album.

Well, now that you have that interpretation of the title in your head, which you now won’t be able to forget, we’ll provide our own invitation to listen to the album, an invitation that goes on for much longer than the grammatical contortion we’ve applied to the record’s name.

Or, you could skip the invitations, scroll down, and just listen to all the evil songs now, before Dying Victims Productions releases this magnificently diabolical album on March 27th. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: VIMBULNATT — “KERNUMWANDLUNG”

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Mar 232026
 

(written by Islander)

The German black metal duo Vimbulnatt have been on a creative hot streak from the emergence of their first single in 2019. Since then they’ve released a continuing flood of singles and demos, plus four albums and an EP. Their most recent album (until now) was Der dunklen Tugenden. Der Urgrund, released in November 2024, and now they’re following that with a new full-length named Der dunklen Tugenden. Echos.

This new record will be co-released by Kernkraftritter Records (Germany) and Void Wanderer Productions (Netherlands) on May 28th. To help introduce it, we want to share these evocative words we’ve received from the labels about the music’s inspiration: Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: WRANG — “VOOR ONS DE ZEE”

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Mar 232026
 

(written by Islander)

The cover painting chosen by the Dutch band Wrang for their new album Verwording isn’t conventional imagery for a black metal band — and Wrang is unmistakably a black metal band. But it’s a choice that connects to both the album’s music and its lyrical themes. Here’s some information provided on behalf of Dominance of Darkness Records, which (along with Korpituli Productions) will release Verwording on April 24th:

Wrang’s themes here differ from those prior, ranging from societal critiques to more abstract themes, such as the inner need for strife, leaving behind home and what you know in a longing for something else. But, like most of the band’s music, these lyrics can also be a bit contradictory: on one hand, always looking for something, yet never at ease once it’s reached. Always restless, defiant, yet always torn – such is Wrang, to the bitter end.

And so that cover art offers an apt metaphor for the album’s sonic and lyrical themes: “always drifting on stormy waters, always searching, never settling, desperate yet defiant.” How does the music represent such themes? We have an example today in our premiere of a video for the album’s second single, “Voor ons de zee” (The sea before us). Continue reading »

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