AN NCS PREMIERE: ABYSSAL RIFT — “SPHERE OF PERPETUITY”

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Jun 222026
 

(written by Islander)

The last time we hosted a premiere for Ohio-based Abyssal Rift, in the lead-up to their 2023 debut album Extirpation Dirge, we described the music as abyssal and extraterrestrial, abysmal and maddened, imperiously malignant and violent — “a rendering of death/doom that’s viscerally arresting but also atmospherically surreal, and strangely seductive as well as monstrous”.

That debut album was so frighteningly arresting that the thought of what they might do next triggered recollection of that famous line from the sci-fi horror film The Fly: “Be afraid. Be very afraid.” Well, now we know what they’ve done next, and the warning is valid.

What they’ve done next is create a second album named Relics of Great Ash that will be released on August 14th by the band’s new label Transcending Obscurity Records. And what we’re doing next is bringing you the premiere of its third single, “Sphere of Perpetuity“. Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: PROFANE BURIAL – “TRIUMPH OF DREADFUL AFTERMATH”

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Jun 222026
 

(written by Islander)

The Norwegian symphonic black metal band Profane Burial was formed in 2013 by Kjetil Ytterhus (Haimad, Khôra, Babels Tårn) and André Aaslie (ex-Funeral, Images At Twilight, Omnia Moritur, Vitam Aeternam, ex-Abyssic). They assembled a full band for both live performances and the recording of their debut album The Rosewater Park Legend, which was released in 2018.

We’re told that after 2020 the band entered “a new creative phase” as a trio, with Aaslie assuming guitar duties, Ytterhus stepping forward as vocalist as well as keyboardist, and Bjørn Dugstad Rønnow (Borknagar, Trollfest) as drummer. That led to the creation of their second album, My Plateau, which was released in 2024. Now, again working as a trio, Profane Burial will be releasing a third full-length on July 24th through These Hands Melt.

The title of the new album is Desolate Echoes of Turmoil, and today we help introduce it through the premiere of a lyric video for the album track “Triumph of Dreadful Aftermath“, which arrives third in the running order. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: BOTHRASH — “ESCAPE MORTAL”

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Jun 192026
 

(written by Islander)

As their name suggests, the Costa Rican band Bothrash originally rooted their music in traditional thrash metal after the band’s founding by by John Snake and Minor Picado in 2013. But over the following years and across the course of five albums they have turned their music in darker and more aggressive directions.

As reflected in their forthcoming sixth album Almas Poseídas, the music can now be referred to as a style of vicious black/thrash (albeit with atmospheric elements as well). And while the band have delved into inspirations spawned by horror and occult themes, the new album (as described by the band’s labels) “also incorporates strong elements of social criticism”.

Those labels — GrimmDistribution (Ukraine) and Sanatorio Records (Costa Rica) — will release the new record on July 19th, and today we reveal its multifaceted second single, “Escape Mortal“. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: VIANDE — “SACRIFICE ARDENT”

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Jun 192026
 

(written by Islander)

The French extreme metal band Viande named their 2022 debut album L’abime dévore les âmes, which can roughly be translated as “The abyss devours souls”. It was a fitting title, because in listening to the music we imagined horrific terrors that await the extinction of life in endless chasms from which there is no escape — an abyss lying deep within the earth, opening its giant maw to swallow what now dwells in the sun, or a supernatural dimension to be revealed when hideous powers have decided the time is right, or a frigid void, or what lies within deranged human minds bent on mayhem and murder.

Now Viande are returning with a second album, again to be released by Transcending Obscurity Records (On July 31st). The name of this new one is Monument aux mort — literally a “monument to the dead,” but a phrase that also refers to war memorials established in towns throughout France to honor those killed in the World Wars and other lethal conflicts.

Like the first album, the new one triggers the imagination of listeners. Inevitably, it creates mental visions — daunting, dangerous, and viscerally haunting ones. As T.O. says, “When this carefully devised album ends, the feeling is akin to stumbling out of a horrific catacomb in an enhanced spiritual state, with the cries of a thousand dead souls still ringing in your head.”

As proof of this, we offer you the sounds of “Sacrifice ardent” (which refers to a sacrifice offered with utmost fire and fervor). Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): IF I DIE TODAY — “I FELT NOTHING”

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Jun 182026
 

(written by Islander)

We live in a time of trauma and constant distraction, bombarded by personally damaging events beyond our control, emotional turmoil caused by damage to others, and bafflements produced by algorithmically generated slop and delusion. When it gets to be too much, it might numb us to what matters — tuning-out as self-protection, theoretically for the better but ultimately for the worse.

The title of a new album that will be released tomorrow by the Italian post-hardcore band If I Die Today provoked these dreary musings. Its name is I Felt Nothing, and lyrically it does explore the darker sides of humanity.

But the music is anything but dreary, and it’s about as far away from numbness as you could want — a conclusion we think you’ll reach for yourselves when you hear the album in its entirety via our streaming premiere below. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): WARTHRASH — “NO LIGHT SHALL REMAIN”

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Jun 172026
 

(written by Islander)

Metal fans who aren’t familiar with the Colombian band Warthrash should be forgiven for assuming their music is straight thrash. The pointer is right there in their name, shining like a beacon on an ocean cliff. But although this band from Medellín did sink their early roots in the traditions of thrash when they started more than 20 years ago, their music has evolved in more diverse directions. Newcomers might even get a powerful sense of that by gazing upon the dark and daunting artwork by Felipe Mora that shrouds their latest album.

That album, aptly titled No Light Shall Remain, will be released on June 19th by the band’s new label, the respected Awakening Records. It’s a great display of how varied the songwriting of Warthrash has become over time, and how powerfully their performances translate those varied interests into cohesive songs.

We’re very happy to bring you a full stream of the album today, preceded (of course!) by some of our own thoughts about what they’ve accomplished. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: SALLOW MOTH — “BIOHYBRID VIRULENCE”

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Jun 162026
 

(written by Islander)

Much has been written about the progressive death metal band Sallow Moth since this solo project of Garry Brents began releasing music a decade ago. It drew attention fairly quickly, and then the attention continued expanding with each new release.

We ourselves have devoted continuing attention to Sallow Moth’s evolution, with our Andy Synn extensively reviewing each of the band’s albums released so far — The Larval Hope, Stasis Cocoon, and Mossbane Lantern — as well as the 2024 EP Vial.

One significant reason why so much has been written about Sallow Moth is that the music has undergone a continual process of transformation, but with each phase displaying significant achievements. Heretofore, that process has led to increasingly unpredictable, unorthodox, head-spinning, and challenging concoctions of music.

Which will leave many people wondering about what happens in Sallow Moth’s forthcoming fourth album, Hydrophilous Brood, which follows Mossbane Lantern in a relatively quick year-over-year churn. We have some hints for you today in our premiere of the album’s fourth track, “Biohybrid Virulence“. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: SKJULT — “THE LIGHT WITHIN THE DARKNESS”

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Jun 162026
 

(written by Islander)

Today marks the third time we’ve premiered music from an album by the Cuban black metal band Skjult, but the first time in more than six years — because that’s how much time has passed since the band’s last album, The Voyage. Skjult’s new album, A Perfect Devouring Light, will be co-released on July 17th by Satanath Records (Georgia) and The End of Times Records (Ireland). Here is how the labels preview the new album:

With A Perfect Devouring Light, SKJULT does not extend its previous work so much as destabilize its own foundations. This fifth full-length marks a decisive conceptual shift in which light ceases to function as revelation and instead emerges as a violent, excessive force: an ontological agent that penetrates, consumes, and ultimately nullifies every structure of distinction. Arranged as a continuous liturgical arc, the album rejects the logic of discrete composition while articulating a precise sequence of conceptual intensities…

It’s probably difficult (if not impossible) for most of us to imagine the challenges of making black metal in Cuba, or frankly the challenges of living from day to day for most of the populous in a country that’s now caught in a stranglehold between its dictatorial rulers and a U.S. regime that has created an oil blockade, intensified economic sanctions, and threatened to conquer the island. Current news reports identify severe shortages of fuel, medicines, and food, and the paralysis of large sectors of the economy.

Very dark days indeed, and yet Skjult’s sole creator, Conspirator, forges on, perhaps influenced in his conceptual shift by the dire conditions around him. As a sign of what the new album brings, and one step in its liturgical arc, we have for you a song called “The Light Within the Darkness“. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: CRYPTS OF GOLGOTHA — “ORDER TO COMPLY”

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Jun 152026
 

(written by Islander)

Denver-based Crypts of Golgotha began to form up in late 2022 when the band-members were still teenagers. By their own admission, at that time they were “without an inherent vision.” Initially they were drawn to old school death metal, but began to incorporate influences from other death-metal off-shoots, including brutal death metal and deathcore.

Their first releases were EPs — including Paths Against Divinity (released in October 2024), and The Cavernous Crypts (a March 2025 split with Cavernous) — but now they have recorded a debut album with a revised lineup. Titled Disembodied In the Arms of Perdition, it’s set for release on June 26th through DSFP Records and Return Trip Records.

One single from the album (“Elegy for a Forgotten God“) premiered last month at New Noise, and today we’re bringing you a second one, “Order to Comply“, which is the track that closes out the album. Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: CVINGER — “RITE III – MASS INCINERATION FOR THE DIVINE RESURRECTION”

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Jun 152026
 


photo by Blanka Slana Heine

(written by Islander)

The Slovenian black/death metal band Cvinger will have a new album named Rites ov Flesh released on August 20th by Void Wanderer Productions. It adds to a discography that began to take shape in 2013 and now includes three previous albums and a few shorter releases. Void Wanderer provides this advance description about the new record’s themes:

On the new album, Cvinger is deeply exploring the ritualistic and spiritual practices found within the left-hand path traditions of Slavic and Indian nomadic tribes. The album delves into themes of inner transformation and sacrifice—not physical, but spiritual—through meditation, spiritual visualization, extreme fasting, the use of so-called sacred plants, and the exploration of Aghori sexual rites as symbolic acts of transcendence.

Rites ov Flesh includes nine songs, each of them identified as a “Rite”, and today we’re premiering a lyric video for the third of those — “RITE III – Mass Incineration for the Divine Resurrection“. Continue reading »

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