AN NCS EP PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): SOREWOUND — “ESPANTO”

 Album Reviews, Premieres, SHORT BUT SWEET  1 Response »
Dec 022025
 

(written by Islander)

Like almost all genres of metal, sludge has evolved and branched in numerous directions since origins that saw hardcore bands slowing down and delving into doom. These days, calling a band’s music “sludge metal” is still useful in some measure, but still leaves a lot un-said because the musical variations within that broad genre have become so wide-ranging.

Which brings us to Sorewound, a Costa Rican band that seems bent on turning back the clock by a couple of decades. Their music, as represented in their debut EP Espanto, is by some current measures primitive and “stripped down,” ugly and corrosive, punk-influenced and capable of creating grisly harmonies that might be abysmal in one minute and feral the next — but always seem horrifying.

Here’s how Sorewound’s label, Cursed Monk Records, introduces the EP: Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: LEYLINES — “ABBERATION”

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Dec 012025
 

(written by Islander)

In October of this year the New York punishers Leylines dropped a devastating new EP named Sepulchral, which follows up their 2024 self-titled debut. It discharges a mix of heavy-grooved bludgeoning, freaked-out but surgically executed tech-metal, madhouse vocal savagery, and unexpected haunting clean passages.

To help spread the word about these “tech groove deathcore juggernauts”, today we’re premiering a horrifying video for what is probably the new EP’s most destructive song — “Abberation“. Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: DOMHAIN — “MY TOMB BENEATH THE TIDE”

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Dec 012025
 

(written by Islander)

We’re about to premiere a beautifully made short film that’s mysterious, haunting, and harrowing, paired with a song by Domhain (from Northern Ireland) that channels those same feelings… and more. Together, they create a completely engrossing and emotionally compelling experience, one we predict won’t be soon forgotten by anyone who watches and listens.

The song is “My Tomb Beneath the Tide“. It’s from Domhain’s new album In Perfect Stillness, which will be released by These Hands Melt on February 20th, 2026. Spoilers follow, so feel free to scroll down to the video now. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: VIN DE MIA TRIX — “EXIT GLACIER”

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Nov 282025
 

(written by Islander)

We last considered the music of the Ukrainian progressive doom band Vin de Mia Trix in 2017, the occasion being the release that year of their second album Palimpsests. They now have a third one on the way, eight years and a Russian invasion after the last one.

The title of the new album, This Landscape Is Alive, reflects its themes, described as “a poetic and philosophical exploration of the troubled coexistence of the human and the landscape.” What we have for you today is the premiere of the new record’s opening song, “Exit Glacier“. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): MIND PRISONER — “LESS FAITH”

 Album Reviews, Premieres  No Responses »
Nov 272025
 

(written by Islander)

Mind Prisoner came together in Portland, Oregon, but their members are now continentally separated between Oregon and South Carolina. Following a handful of demos and an EP, the band released their debut album The Color of Ruin almost exactly one year ago. Our Andy Synn wrote here that it “made one hell of an impression” on him after finally hearing it, using “an array of Black Metal, Post-Black Metal, and Blackened Doom influences” to create experiences that were “dark and desolate,” “bleak yet beautiful,” “bitter” and “biting,” “terrifying” and “tormented.” He closed by suggesting “that Mind Prisoner haven’t even reached the peak of their powers yet, and we should all make sure to watch them very closely in the future!”

We’ve followed that advice, and what the future has now brought us is a new Mind Prisoner album named Less Faith that’s due for release tomorrow — November 28th. It displays a stylistic shift from their first full-length, accurately summarized by their label as “post-black metal with elements of doom, post-punk, and gothic rock,” but as you’ll discover for yourselves through our full streaming premiere of the new record, many of the adjectives that Andy used in describing the first album still apply. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): OMEGAVORTEX — “DIABOLIC MESSIAH OF THE NEW WORLD ORDER”

 Album Reviews, Premieres  1 Response »
Nov 262025
 

(written by Islander)

We might think of the varying genres of extreme metal as a branching warren of subterranean caverns, all of them connected but some very far away from others. Some are oppressive in their pressures, others cold enough to freeze breath, some occupied by near-mindless creatures frenzied in their hunger, some haunted by wailing ghosts or giants that woozily lumber about. In some of them, strains of ecstatic and/or mesmerizing melody thread their way through stalactites rhythmically crashing down.

But in some of those underground spaces sheer chaos reigns. That is where you’ll find Omegavortex, in a spiked cavity where skin-searing white phosphorus burns and hurricanes of grit and blades ruthlessly storm, where demons scream in throes of violence and nightmares come to life.

Since 2017 Omegavortex have carved their underground abyss with a few short releases and their 2020 debut album, the aptly named Black Abomination Spawn, but they will soon expand the reach of their terrible domain with a second album, Diabolic Messiah of the New World Order, now set for release on December 5th by Third Eye Temple. We have a full stream of the album for you today — and some thoughts about the gloriously ravishing and ruinous assaults it encompasses. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: ANGES DE LA MORT — “LE FEU SOUS LA GLACE”

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Nov 252025
 

(written by Islander)

The Montreal-based black metal duo Anges de la Mort (French for “Angels of Death”) debuted in 2019 with a self-titled EP and then followed that with a second EP in 2020 (Where Spirits No More Shine), an album in 2024 (Notre tombeau grand ouvert), and a split with Ifernach last year.

Now they’re working toward the release of a second album next year, and today we have the first sign of what it holds in store, through our premiere of a ferocious new song called “Le Feu sous la Glace“. Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: BLACK HILL COVE — “INTO THE ABYSS”

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Nov 252025
 

(written by Islander)

Last year the Portuguese metal band Black Hill Cove released their second full-length, Ex Tenebris Vita, on Raging Planet Records, and now they’re following that up with a new single named “Into the Abyss”, which we’re premiering today along with its accompanying video.

On this new song the band collaborated with Norwegian drummer Tomas Myklebust as well as vocalist Ana Cristina Carvalho, who has appeared on previous Black Hill Cove releases. The band have also recently announced that Portuguese drummer Ricardo Oliveira has joined the band, reinforcing the lineup in preparation for upcoming live shows (more about that later in this feature). Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): SLÔDDER — “NARCISSIST”

 Album Reviews, Premieres  No Responses »
Nov 242025
 

(written by Islander)

“Rabid, misanthropic sludge from Sweden.” That’s a succinct and pointedly accurate description of the music made by the band Slôdder, as displayed so far in a pair of 2018 EPs and then in a pair of albums, their self-titled full-length in 2021 and 2023’s A Mind Designed To Destroy Beautiful Things.

And now they have a third album that will drop on November 26th via Shit County Records. Its name is Narcissist, and we’re giving you the chance to hear all of it today. The music is indeed rabid and misanthropic, but as you’ll discover, that’s only part of its personality. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: OLDE OUTLIER — “SWEPT”

 Premieres  3 Responses »
Nov 212025
 

(written by Islander)

Obviously, we host lots of premieres — almost every weekday. Our rule is not to agree unless we’ve first listened to what’s being offered and then come away pleased. There are exceptions, when we’re familiar with the band’s music or have a high degree of trust in whomever’s pitching the premiere. In today’s premiere a different and even more rare kind of exception became insistent: I thought the band’s name could have been a description of myself, and for almost that reason alone, I said YES, without hearing the song.

You can see the band’s name up there: Olde Outlier. I’d never heard their music before, for the good reason that they haven’t released any records yet. The forthcoming album that includes the song we’re premiering — From Shallow Lives to Shallow Graves — is their first one. When I read the pitch, I learned that their lineup makes them appear to be a continuation of an Australia band named Innsmouth, who split up after the 2014 release of their sole album, Consumed by Elder Sign. But since I never heard that album, the history didn’t mean much.

I usually find myself in accord with the choices made by Olde Outlier’s label and the label’s PR agent, so that provided a degree of confidence. And I was enthralled by the album’s cover art. But really, more than anything else, it came down to the band’s name. Maybe a flimsy reed to lean on in deciding to host this premiere, but it turned out to be no reed, but a stout trunk. Continue reading »

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