“RAGE, RAGE AGAINST THE DYING OF THE CHILDREN”: FOUR COMPILATIONS IN AID OF THE PALESTINE CHILDREN’S RELIEF FUND

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Feb 102026
 

(written by Islander)

Rage, Rage Against the Dying of the Hungry is a UK-based charitable organization that has been releasing music to raise funds for various causes. On February 6th they released four massive compilations of music with the pledge that all proceeds will be contributed to the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund. Each compilation has its own title and artwork, and they organize tracks contributed by bands into these four genre categories:

Death Metal & Grindcore (33)
Black Metal & Noise (35)
Heavy & Atmospheric (35)
Punk, Hardcore, Thrash & Madness (34)

Altogether, the compilations include music from 137 bands, and many of them will be familiar to our visitors. The number of songs included on each comp is in parentheses above. Each compilation is very modestly priced — £3.50 per comp — but purchasers can pay more if they wish, and of course the charitable purpose of this endeavor provides a good reason to do so. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD ON A SATURDAY: PANOPTICON, UPRISING, LUCERNE HAMMER, BIAŁYWILK, VANISHING EARTH, LAST SADNESS, FOTOCRIME, EGREGORE, TRANSILVANIA, KATHAREIN

 Exceptions to the Rule, Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  1 Response »
Feb 072026
 

(written by Islander)

At this point Bruce Springsteen’s “Streets of Minneapolis” is probably the most widely heard protest song to emerge from the ICE invasion of the Twin Cities and the murders of Renée Good and Alex Pretti. But it hasn’t been long, only 14 days since ICE agents shot Pretti to death, even though it seems much longer than that.

Undoubtedly other songwriters have already started releasing their own protests across many genres of music, though I wouldn’t know (you’re looking at the wrong dude if you want insight into the breadth of modern musical culture). Where I do tend to notice things are in the genres of extreme metal, and I guess a few “metal adjacent” realms.

Over the last week I noticed a handful of songs from those realms that were either protest songs or tracks designed to raise money in support of the resistance in Minneapolis to the sweeping seizure of immigrants (and racially profiled U.S. citizens). In the first section of this Saturday roundup I’ve collected those songs, and one other that seemed appropriate. Fortunately, the music’s good, in addition to the artists’ hearts being in the right place. (If you know of more, please leave a Comment.)

To round things out, I added three other very good songs that surfaced last week. I could have added 20 more, because it was a big week for new metal, what with yesterday being a Bandcamp Friday. But we do what we can. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD ON A SATURDAY: HANGING GARDEN, WINTERFYLLETH, CRIPPLED BLACK PHOENIX, NERVOSA, CHAINED TO THE BOTTOM OF THE OCEAN, IGORRR

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Jan 312026
 

(written by Islander)

In deciding what to feature in these Saturday columns I sometimes spend a lot of time making my way through a lot of songs. Sometimes many of them are deflating, and the hunt goes on. Sometimes a lot of them are great, and the choices become difficult. But this week I happened upon seven songs in a row and knew right away that six of those would be here today. (I left one of them aside, so the usual collage of cover images would be symmetrical.)

As it also happened, the following songs include an unusual amount of singing — not singing we have to just put up with because other aspects of the songs make them commanding, but because the singing is itself a big part of the draw. And as it happened, all but one of the songs debuted with good videos.

None of these bands is even close to the Metallica strata of stardom, but I think it’s fair to say that most of them are well-known among metal lovers, or at least the kind of metal lovers who show up at our doorstep. Most of these bands have had careers of significant length and discographies that are well-respected. For these columns, I usually try to work in music by bands from deeper under the ground, using bigger names as lures for visitors who might not know of the more obscure names. But I didn’t have room to do as much of that today as I typically do. My goal is to make amends tomorrow. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD ON A SATURDAY: WITCH RIPPER, CNOC AN TURSA, DIABOLUS MECUM SEMPERTERNE, UNMOTHER, GROWTH, MIRE, SLÔDDER, SUNDOWNER, MALUM

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Jan 242026
 

(written by Islander)

A quick note before embarking on the new songs and videos I’ve collected for today: Tomorrow there will probably be no SHADES OF BLACK column. I’ll be over the water in Seattle tonight for a big annual party. Between getting ready, getting there, partying, and getting back, I won’t have much time for NCS and I don’t expect I’ll have a clear head whenever I wake up tomorrow.

And then tomorrow will also serve up a couple of NFL playoff games I want to see, especially the second one.

As for what I’ve picked for today’s roundup, out of a really mammoth week of new releases, I’ve leaned further into shades of black metal than usual because of the likely absence of the Sunday column, and for the same reason I’ve made this collection bigger than usual. I’ve also probably leaned pretty hard into music that seems in line with my perception that the world is going to hell even faster than I thought it would, with way too many people beginning the year still thinking thoughts like these. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD ON A SATURDAY: IMMOLATION, INFERI, HELLRIPPER, BONE WEAPON, BOSSE-DE-NAGE, TEMPLE OF VOID

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Jan 172026
 

(written by Islander)

Thinking back on the last week’s domestic and international news, it sure looks like humanity is circling the drain at an increasing rate of speed and frothiness. (Speaking of which, if you haven’t listened to the new music from Circular Ruin you should, and not just because their name so perfectly captures the current moment.)

On the other hand, the flow of new metal during the past week was more like the opposite of that, a great spinning flow surging up and out of the drain like a reverse-whirlpool of dark waters flooding out of the underground. New songs spun out from bands with prominent names but also from groups whose names are dramatically more obscure (but should becoem better known).

Even with my high waders on, I was only able to divert a small amount of the surge into this weekly column, and it’s a rarity in that all but one of the bands are from the U.S. Hopefully I’ll be able to divert more of the surge toward your attention in tomorrow’s Sunday column, but the Seahawks are in an NFL playoff game tonight and I’m not sure what kind of shape my head and heart will be in come the dawn, so who knows? Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD ON A SATURDAY: INCANDESCENCE, SPEGLAS, PIGPEN, HEIR CORPSE ONE, DEADWOOD, PATRIARCHS IN BLACK, EXHUMED

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Jan 102026
 

(written by Islander)

I’m obviously still doing what I usually do around here, picking out some new songs and videos to share with you this weekend. But in addition to being overwhelmed by the sudden January surge in new music, the task has been especially difficult because I’ve been so infuriated and depressed by the murder in Minneapolis, the outrageous bald-faced lies spouted about it by Trump and his minions, including the fabricated demonizing of the deceased, and the likelihood that the murderer will face no accountability at all. Only ten days into the New Year, and 2026 already looks devastatingly dark here in the U.S.

I haven’t listened to new music over the last couple of days to take my mind off these events, or other terrible events both here and around the world. I do often immerse myself in music for that very reason, as many people do — to get some relief from more awful aspects of existence. But not now. The rage and the sadness aren’t going to be diverted. Now, I’m just trying to keep my head down and carry on because I don’t have any better ideas, even though it seems on days like this that what we’re doing here is unimportant in the grand scheme of things.

Well, sorry for unloading like that. I still want you to listen to all the songs I picked for today. In my humble estimation, they’re all very good, even though I suspect I’ll appreciate them even more on some distant and brighter day. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: WOLFBASTARD, NINTH REALM, ACERBIC, ABSENT RITUAL

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Jan 092026
 

(written by Islander)

As someone who tries to keep a very close eye every week on the emergence of new metal across a range of sub-genres, I can tell you that the holiday break is well and truly over. Since last week, the relative trickle has become a flood. I now find myself staring at dozens of computer tabs I opened in just a handful of days for songs and complete releases I thought I might want to check out.

I haven’t yet made my way through all of them, and doubt that I can. But with no premieres on our calendar today, I thought I ought to at least make a start, so that the task of compiling our two usual weekend roundups won’t be completely overwhelming, just moderately overwhelming. Here’s what I unearthed from the underground and enjoyed this morning. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD ON A SATURDAY: FROST, EXCAVATED GRAVES, DWELLNOUGHT, A LIGHT WITHIN, GROS ENFANT MORT, NEON SCAFFOLD

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Jan 032026
 

(written by Islander)

Here we have the first Saturday NCS roundup of new songs and videos in 2026. It’s a temporal and stylistic mix of things. Temporally, some of it is from records released in 2025 and some from releases slated to happen this year. Stylistically, it will jump you around like popcorn kernels getting hot, including one new song and video that’s well outside our usual musical focus and a closing selection that’s beyond categorization.

I don’t expect everyone to enjoy everything I’ve assembled here, even though I do. That would be too much to expect. I do hope you’ll find at least one thing to brighten your day (i.e., to darken it like a storm cloud). Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD ON A NEW YEAR’S DAY: KARLOFF, TOMBSEEKER, HEXER, 1986, KATHAREIN, HURSAN

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Jan 012026
 


Seattle Space Needle in the fog, Dec. 31, 2025, photo by Akash Pamarthy for The Seattle Times

(written by Islander)

Yesterday a newsletter I subscribe to (“This, Not That“) compiled quotations by many famous writers about New Year’s Day and the ending of the previous year, some of them humorous, some of them depressing, some of them wise. One of the quotes, by Charles Lamb, seemed to sum up all the others: “No one ever regarded the First of January with indifference.”

I’m certainly not indifferent. I’m determined… determined not to let the day go by without posting here about new music, notwithstanding the likelihood that many people are too hungover or sleep-deprived to wreck their heads with our preferred sonics today. It’s a compulsion of long standing, one that has resulted in our making some kind of music post 365 days a year, or close to that, with fewer than a dozen missed days over the 16+ years of our site’s existence.

As it always does, the new year of heavy music won’t waste much time taking off and achieving orbit velocity. We’ve already seen and spotlighted lots of songs from albums slated for release in the new year’s first quarter, and more will begin surfacing at an accelerated rate after this relatively slow week ends. I’ve picked an array of recent surfacings in this New Year’s Day column.

But, for better or worse, we haven’t completely finished reflecting in other ways on the music that 2025 brought us, including a few of today’s picks. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD ON A SATURDAY: JUODVARNIS, ANGERSEED, MAGNACULT, SKULLD, GAMO GRIND, GRAVETAKER

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Dec 272025
 

(written by Islander)

We all made it through Christmas week more or less intact, not just those of us who toil here at NCS but you too, or you wouldn’t be reading this. Taking some deep breaths, we now look ahead to the final five days of 2025. We have a few more year-end lists to share from friends of our site, although I think one or two of those won’t appear until on or after New Year’s Day. And somewhere around the first day of 2026 I’ll start rolling out the last part of our year-end LISTMANIA celebration, the only one I’m responsible for — our list of 2025’s Most Infectious Extreme Metal Songs.

In the meantime, here’s one last 2025 edition of SEEN AND HEARD, and tomorrow I hope to bring you the year’s last edition of SHADES OF BLACK (it’s more hope than promise because there’s a mid-morning start on Sunday to an NFL football game that will rivet my attention; one does not live by metal alone).

As usually happens, the flood of new music diminished during Christmas week, although there was plenty of actual flooding out here on the U.S. West Coast. However, the diminished music stream still included some very good offerings, on top of what had breached the levees in the weeks before that. As you try to recover from the week just ended and begin peering ahead toward 2026 with some combination of fear, loathing, and maybe glimmers of hope, I hope you’ll enjoy what follows. Continue reading »

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