SHORT BUT SWEET ON A SATURDAY: HELL IS REAL / MOUTHBREATHER / RACETRAITOR

 SHORT BUT SWEET  No Responses »
Aug 152026
 

(Andy Synn picks up the slack today while the boss is away)

Our beloved leader, he whose eyes are all-seeing and whose arms encircle the sun, is currently off on a scenic break, leaving myself and DGR in charge of the site over the weekend.

And, as consumnate professionals… we have nothing prepared.

Or, at least, I should say that we had nothing prepared, since – as luck would have it – a surprise release yesterday has allowed me to complete another tripartite “Short But Sweet” article (which, thankfully, I already had half written) so as to ensure we don’t go another day without feeding the internet’s constant craving for new content to consume.

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SHADES OF BLACK: DARK PLAGUE, PYRE OF DESCENT, LA BESTIA DE GEVAUDAN, MATAVITATAU, SPIRIT POSSESSION, SKELETAL SERPENT

 Album Reviews, Exceptions to the Rule, SHADES OF BLACK  No Responses »
Aug 142026
 

(written by Islander)

As many of you will know, I usually post a column at NCS on Sundays with recommendations in the expanding orbit of black metal. I wasn’t able to do that last Sunday due to leaving home on the early side of the day for what turned out to be a cool birthday celebration in a forest for a friend. I had made some choices for the column by then, and wanted to carry through with them whenever I could this week, while adding a couple of songs I’ve discovered since last weekend.

But it took me nearly all week to get this finished. It comes to you on another day when I’m about to depart from home and computer for most of the day; I have a ridiculously early start on a journey to the Seattle airport for a long weekend vacation. I’m doubtful that I’ll be able to assemble the usual new-music roundups for this coming Saturday and Sunday, but we shall see.

In the collection you’re now looking at I’ve interwoven an album, an EP, and four singles. Continue reading »

NERVOSA: “SLAVE MACHINE”

 Album Reviews  No Responses »
Aug 142026
 

(Erstwhile NCS writer TheMadIsraeli returned to us with a review earlier this week, and he’s already back again, this time writing about a new album by Brazil’s Nervosa that was released in April by Napalm Records.)

I know the band we’re reviewing today is Nervosa, but I just need you guys to take a detour with me, okay? We’re doing a Tarantino sort of introduction here. It will come together with time. I want to talk about Arch Enemy first.

We’re talking about Arch Enemy because I love Arch Enemy. Well, mostly… The Johann Liiva era of Black Earth, Stigmata, and Burning Bridges is arguably still the strongest first three-record run of any of the Gothenburg bands during the ‘90s. If I make a list of my top 100 albums of all time, there’s more than one Arch Enemy record in there, including even the Gossow era for a time or two. Their music was sonic indignation. You felt this unhinged lashing out at the world and all of the unfairness of it in everything they wrote, on top of first-class guitar work both from a riff-writing and a lead-playing standpoint.

I ate and breathed this band for a long time. Then Rise Of The Tyrant came out, and while it’s a solid record, it’s the start of a very noticeable slide into complacency and just… you could tell Michael Ammot was in full careerist mode. Continue reading »

BEST OF BRITISH: EXTINCTION OF MANKIND / HAAST / THE SALT PALE COLLECTIVE

 Album Reviews  2 Responses »
Aug 132026
 

(Andy Synn tries to beat the heat with three more home-grown recommendations)

It’s another hot one here in the UK right now, and people are definitely looking for something to take their minds off the oppressive heat.

And in the absence of any particularly icy Black Metal to cool us down, I thought I’d instead focus on a trio of recent releases (“recent” being a relative term) all capable of capturing your attention and distracting you from the oppressive weight of the weather, in three distinctly different ways.

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APOGEAN: “WASTE WHERE LIFE BEGINS”

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Aug 122026
 

(Former NCS writer TheMadIsraeli returns after a long absence with the following review of a new album by the Toronto death metal band Apogean, which was released on July 10th by The Artisan Era.)

It sounds so fucking stupid to say, but a pretty good barometer of a good album especially if you’re on the AuDHD spectrum like I am is “does this album make me pay attention to it while grinding on Diablo 4?”. Diablo has oddly enough been a crucible through which many albums have been deemed good or bad in my mind; if something can catch my attention through the demands of playing the game especially at end-game sweat levels it means it stands out or it stands on its own.

Apogean’s now sophomore album Waste Where Life Begins is a great record, and one that oddly in my opinion takes quite a divergent path from their debut. Cyberstrictive was good, don’t get me wrong, a good but rather standard tech-death-metal/deathcore middle ground album. I liked it. My life was in turmoil at the time so it wasn’t exactly a priority list to write about in my life but it got a few spins.

Waste Where Life Begins has within the span of a week already gotten more spins out of me than Cyberstrictive ever did. Partially because those scant deathcore touches have been entirely abandoned, which to me, I’m sorry, is just always objectively good, and also due to a commitment toward an oddly more atmospheric, almost blackened death metal direction. The serpentine riffs are still there, but there’s a much greater emphasis on riffs and rhythmically impactful sections that are designed to seize your attention. Continue reading »

FIRE IN THE MOUNTAINS 2026: FOUR DAYS OF DUST, WIND, FRYBREAD, AND TRANSCENDENCE 

 Concert Reviews  1 Response »
Aug 122026
 

(Below you will find NCS writer Gonzo’s extensive and beautifully evocative report and celebration of Fire In the Mountains 2026, which took place on July 23-26 on the sovereign lands of the Blackfeet Nation in northwestern Montana.)

Fire in the Mountains has never been the kind of festival you simply consume. Over the years, I’ve come to understand that it can be demanding—not in the hollow, transactional way so much of modern life has become, but in the more meaningful sense that it asks attendees to be present, considerate, and involved. The reward is a space built around something increasingly rare: community over convenience, inclusion over exclusivity, and shared experience over consumption.

This festival is, and always has been, a vast departure from the life we’ve been told we have to live. That’s why it remains as special as it is. The people hosting this gathering are cut from the same rebellious cloth, as they dare to take risks where it counts, doing things their way, but never losing sight of what they originally set out to accomplish years ago.

Like last year, all these thoughts were surging through my head at dawn as I hit the gas on I-25 from Denver. The same thoughts returned as I finished packing my Subaru to the brim with supplies. Our destination tonight was Great Falls, MT, and we’d complete the trek to Red Eagle Campground for Fire in the Mountains 2026 on Thursday morning.

All of this seemed so familiar, as though it had already happened in a parallel universe. Or maybe it was just the welcome sense of familiarity I felt, knowing that I’d be revisiting a very special and sacred land, reuniting with the incredible people I met last year, and watching even more astoundingly awesome music there over the next four days.

Continue reading »

ONLY DEATH IS REAL: GODAGAINST / IMPERATHRON / SEPULCRUM

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Aug 112026
 

(Andy Synn takes us on a trip to the Death Metal underground of Chile today)

It’s been suggested, perhaps not unfairly, that I’ve been neglecting the Death Metal side of things recently.

So to make up for this (while acknowledging that I’ve definitely covered stuff from Carbon Tomb, Altarage, and a bunch of other short form releases all in the last month or so) I decided that today would be the day we’d dive head-first into the Chilean Death Metal scene in all its nasty, blasty brilliance.

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PULL THE STRINGS – GRIEFBLOOM

 Album Reviews  1 Response »
Aug 102026
 

(Andy Synn kicks off another new week here at NCS with another new album you may have missed)

While it’s true that some bands spring from the proverbial womb fully formed, generally speaking mosts bands take a little bit of time to achieve their final form.

Influences both internal and external, issues of place and time, evolving line-ups and changing circumstances, all have an impact on a band’s development, and it’s difficult to predict exactly what confluence of factors will inspire a band to produce their best work.

And in the case of Pull the Strings, it was the shift from a pure solo project – masterminded by multi-instrumentalist Alan Brucke (also of Mind Prisoner) – to a collaborative duo (with the addition of the equally talented Gabriel Yadon) which has ultimately allowed them to achieve their full potential.

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SEEN AND HEARD ON A SATURDAY: DAWN OF DEMISE, WAYFARER, SVRM, DISHUMANE, TELESTERION, SLOTH HERDER

 Album Reviews, Exceptions to the Rule, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC, SHORT BUT SWEET  No Responses »
Aug 082026
 

(written by Islander)

I was able to spend a fair amount of time yesterday afternoon checking out new music I’d noticed over the past week, and made the choices you now see — though I again got a late start on the writing due to Friday night diversions that also went late. Here are just a few quick notes on what’s ahead:

I do enjoy making these roundups a roller-coaster ride, genre-wise. It was easier to do that with this one because the music that made the biggest impressions on me as I listened yesterday just happened to make a big spread of different experiences. You’ll see. If you’re not crazy about one thing, just keep on going, because the next thing will be a different kind of creature.

I’m not sure I will be able to post a SHADES OF BLACK column tomorrow. My wife and I are going to a birthday event for an old friend, and we’ll have to leave home well before I usually finish those columns. Maybe I’ll feel like making enough of a head-start this afternoon that I can get something ready, even if it’s short, before we head out. Or not. Continue reading »

HULDER: “VERBOLGEN”

 Album Reviews  No Responses »
Aug 072026
 

(Here we have Daniel Barkasi’s review of the new album by Hulder, which is beging co-released today by 20 Buck Spin and Season of Mist.)

As notoriety grows and more ears pique in a band’s direction, it can be especially challenging to determine where they may go when a new album rolls around. This scribe is far from the type who demands all bands whom I have a fondness for to only reach a certain level of visibility – rooting against the success of a band you like is such a strange concept – though it’s safe to say we’ve all been left disappointed by a few bands we hold dear when a change in sound occurs.

I’m not going to get into the great Gaerea debate, but they’re a recent example who has invoked all sorts of discourse from all over the opinion spectrum – covered nicely in these halls – but you could see a shift in their case coming, whether it was welcome to you or not. The point is, evolution is unavoidable, whether it be purposeful or a naturally gradual shift. Standing still often equates to being left behind.

Which is where we come to the traditional black metal force known as Hulder. 2024’s Verses in Oath has thus far been a high-water mark, building from their heralded and raw-to-the-bone demos to that of the debut full-length Godslastering: Hymns of a Forlorn Peasantry, which is where the flame started flickering a little brighter. The Eternal Fanfare followed shortly after, aiding the already burgeoning reputation of this black metal traditionalist who wasn’t afraid to carve out a place in the vast history of this genre for themselves. Continue reading »

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