Album Reviews Archives - Page 17 of 545

ARKHAAIK – UIHTIS

Jul 282025

(Andy Synn rejoins the hunt with the new album from Arkhaaik)

One of the things we sometimes discuss amongst ourselves, here in the dark, dank depths of NCS Castle, is what the primary, prevailing “trend” of each year is.

And one thing I’ve noticed over the last seven-ish months is that – rather than being a straight up “Black Metal year” or a “Death Metal year” (or even a “Hardcore year”) – 2025 looks set to be a year defined more by the more unorthodox and unusual expressions from across the genre spectrum.

In some ways this, of course, makes it hard to identify a singular commonality which defines “the year in Metal” (so far, anyway)… but, from a different perspective, you might just say that this flexing and blurring of fluid genre boundaries is exactly what ties so many of the biggest and best albums of 2025.

And now we have this uniquely esoteric and ritualistically hypnotic hybrid of “blackened” Doom and deathly gloom courtesy of Switzerland’s Arkhaaik.

SEEN AND HEARD ON A SATURDAY: ESOCTRILIHUM, KAMRA, HUYA GENUS, YOTUMA, VICTIM OF FIRE, ESSES

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

Jul 262025

(written by Islander)

I got a late start on this Saturday’s roundup of recommended new music, and I feel the need to rush in order to keep it from appearing too late in the day. So my review-ish commentary will be somewhat briefer than usual (please hold your applause) and I’ll cut the rest of the introduction to just this:

I would suggest that this collection is a mix of brain-scramblers, bone-smashing punishers, muscle-twitching groovers, headlong racers, and seductive clean-sung sorcery, more or less in that order. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD ON A FRIDAY: TOMBS, HORNWOOD FELL, ACEPHALIC VOID, DEF/LIGHT

Album Reviews, Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC, SHORT BUT SWEET No Responses »

Jul 252025

(written by Islander)

With only one premiere to handle today and nothing else waiting in the queue for our site, I had a combination of opportunity and need, anxiety about us not posting the usual amount of stuff in recent days and the time (barely enough time) to do something about it. So, as a head-start on Saturday’s roundup, I got this four-band collection done, focusing on two old favorites and two brand new discoveries. The cover art for all four was part of the initial attraction.

TOMBS (U.S.)

The first of the old favorites is Tombs. Earlier this week we got the news that they have a new album named Feral Darkness now set for release on October 17th by their new label Redefining Darkness Records. The “FFO” references for Tombs have changed over time. As a clue about this new full-length, which follows 2020’s Under Sullen Skies, it includes Fields of the Nephilim, Samhain, Mayhem, and Goatwhore. The lineup also includes new guitarist Dan Higgins. Sera Timms also provides guest vocals on one song.

And then there’s this from the press release: Continue reading »

GRAND CADAVER: “THE ROT BENEATH”

Album Reviews, SHORT BUT SWEET No Responses »

Jul 222025

(Today we present DGR‘s review of Grand Cadaver‘s new EP The Rot Beneath, which will be out on August 15th via Majestic Mountain Records.)

When you’re spread among many projects in the way Dark Tranquillity‘s Mikael Stanne has been over the past few years, there is a chance of one of them going consistently underrated in the face of all the other material being put out. The throwback riffwork of swede-death project Grand Cadaver has flown under the radar among many in metal fandom, and it has reached a point where you can’t help but wonder if people are unintentionally robbing themselves of an awesome time by just breezing past the group and chalking them up as another band pining for older days.

Grand Cadaver have proven to be a rock-solid foundation of music since their founding in 2020; the five years since have seen the group chalking up an array of singles, EPs, and two full albums to their name, all of which, yes, look backward in order to progress forward, and have either been stealthily melodic or pushed at the boundaries of floor-stomping death metal enough to keep the events interesting. Continue reading »

SALLOW MOTH – MOSSBANE LANTERN

Album Reviews 2 Responses »

Jul 212025

(Andy Synn has the scoop on the continued re-emergence of Sallow Moth)

One of the most fascinating things in the animal kingdom, in my opinion at least, is the way in which caterpillars transform into butterflies (or moths).

After all, this is an organism which effectively spends half its life-cycle as one thing and the other half as something completely different… to the point where, if you didn’t know any better, you’d be hard-pressed to think of the two forms as belonging to the same species.

Not only that, but in between these two stages the caterpillar itself dissolves into a rich nutrient soup, becoming for a time neither one thing or the other as they undergo this startling metamorphosis.

Perhaps even more interesting is the fact that while a few fundamental structures do survive and carry over from one state of being to the next, studies have shown that certain memories, certain behaviours, can also survive the process, meaning that (to the extent that they are able) it might be said that butterflies (and moths) remember what it was like before they had wings.

And I can’t help thinking, while listening to the band’s new album (out 01 August) that Sallow Moth‘s own life-cycle has closely mimicked that of their name-sake.

OSKOREIEN: “HOLLOW FANGS”

Album Reviews No Responses »

Jul 172025

(written by Islander)

In mid-June we helped spread the welcome news that the L.A.-based black metal band Oskoreien was returning with a new album after a roughly 9-year absence, and to help do that we premiered the album’s opening song “Prismatic Reason“.

Now we’re on the eve of the album’s release, and the time is thus right to express some thoughts about the record as a whole. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): BA’AL — “THE FINE LINE BETWEEN HEAVEN AND HERE”

Album Reviews, Premieres No Responses »

Jul 172025

(written by Islander)

The British metal band Ba’al picked a name for their new album that will make most people’s scanning eyes stop in their tracks when they see it: The Fine Line Between Heaven and Here. Your hurrying brain might quickly interpret it one way (the wrong way) and then pause (if it’s not rushing too fast) to realize it says “Here“, not “Hell“.

The title is clever, but it’s also meaningful. The band explain:

“The Fine Line Between Heaven And Here reflects on growing up in a city like our home of Sheffield; the contrast between bleak, grey industrial sprawl and the beauty of nature that surrounds and often overlaps with it. It touches on mental health, substance abuse, suicide, grief and existential dread.”

“Here“, where we are, can be hellish. Human beings have always imagined the torments of Hell based on what they know and have seen of ourselves and our fellow travelers on our spinning orb. It may be that we have also imagined the glories of Heaven based on the glories of Here too.

How Ba’al have used their music to render the grey and the green, the scars and the sublime, will be revealed in full today through our premiere of their new album. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD ON A TUESDAY: KUNTARI, MOUTH OF MADNESS, VERMINGOD, PLUTONIAN SHORE, SETH, HYENISM

Album Reviews, Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC 4 Responses »

Jul 152025

Kuntari

(written by Islander)

With only one premiere responsibility today and nothing else in the queue from our other writers, I had just enough time to compile a rare weekday roundup of new songs and videos. I think many of the songs that follow include aspects of the exotic, or at least that’s the best word I can come up with. The collection is book-ended by a couple of things I found thanks to someone else’s recent collection.

KUNTARI (Indonesia)

Last October I came across the Indonesian musical project Kuntari (the duo of Tesla Manaf and Rio Abror) based on a fascinating collaboration Kuntari did with an Indonesian “Post-Black Metal/Crust/Shoegaze” band named Avhath. I included a bit of background info about Kuntari and a lot of enthusiastic words about just one head-spinning song from the collaboration here. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): STOMACH — “LOW DEMON”

Album Reviews, Premieres No Responses »

Jul 142025

(written by Islander)

Miserable and merciless, doomed and depraved, an exorcism of inner demons. Those are among the descriptions you may have seen if you’ve come across the news about a new album from Chicago-based Stomach. You may have also seen the album’s name: Low Demon. And man, is it ever that.

The album will be released this coming Friday by Hibernation Release. It will likely turn the end of the week into a smoking crater, from which horrid smoking things will crawl. But hell, why wait to see what happens? Let’s see what happens today. There’s no good reason to let this week pretend to have a positive start (we know better than to be fooled that way), and so we’ll drop Low Demon on your heads right now. Continue reading »

OBSCURITIES – VOLUME XVIII: THE HALFWAY POINT

Album Reviews No Responses »

Jul 142025

(Below you will find Daniel Barkasi’s monthly collection of NCS album reviews, this time recommending six records released in June 2025.)

It’s the middle of the year, and boy are my… everything tired. Time always seems to move fast, because it does. We don’t need reminders of the all too limited amount of it, but sadly they happen regularly. Since our last installment, a major news story that affected me as a Liverpool FC supporter – but more so as a human – was the death of brothers Diogo Jota and André Silva in a driving accident, traveling from Porto to Liverpool for the start of training for Diogo.

The most heartbreaking part, other than him only being 28, was that he had gotten married a week prior, with three very young children. Furthermore, he came across as a lovely fellow that didn’t fall into the egotism that many professional athletes fall into. A humble guy who loved his life, and showed it all the time. LFC classily will pay out the remainder of his contract to his now widow, and will fully fund his children’s education. They also retired his #20 kit number – all-around class from a classy club. RIP Diogo and André – YNWA. Continue reading »

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