Album Reviews Archives - Page 2 of 569

THINGS YOU MAY HAVE MISSED (BUT SHOULDN’T)

Aug 032026

(Andy Synn has four more recommendations from last month that you may not have checked out yet)

They say one of the most important thing an artist has to learn is not just what it put in to their work… but what to leave out.

And, let me tell you… I am no artist, so having to leave so many artists/albums out each month is more something I’ve learned to accept begrudgingly rather than making it a part of my process.

Still, as disappointing as it may have been to have to leave so many potential reviews on the cutting room floor, I can’t help but be excited to (hopefully) introduce you all to these four records from July which may have flown under your radar.

DEATHGRAVE: “HELL IS EVIL”

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Aug 032026

(This is Wil Cifer’s review of a new album by Bay Area grindcore fanatics Deathgrave. It’s set for release on August 21st via Tankcrimes.)

2023’s It’s Only Midnight was pretty decent, but Deathgrave have perfected the kind of thrashing chaos they kick up with Hell Is Evil.

The title track that opens the album finds their songwriting falling into place with an organic yet polished sound that emerged from their most recent trip into the studio, having expanded into writing three-minute songs that give them more time here to develop the song rather than just dealing in angry bursts. “Hard to Swallow” has a dark, deliberate, doomy riff arising to lumber over things, due in part to the fact this band features ex-members of Graves at Sea . At times the vocals sound like they could be from a Carnivore album thanks to the way they are shouted. “I Am Here” runs death metal fury through a grindcore filter, while solidifying the punk attitude.

It only takes the first three songs to convince you that they have made songwriting more of a priority. Continue reading »

SABERTOOTH – BLESSING RAGE

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Jul 302026

(Andy Synn is back with a recommendation from the Indonesian underground today)

It’s perhaps not entirely surprising to note that the majority of bands we write about tend to be located on one of two continents, Europe or North America.

That’s not to say we don’t try our best to cover bands from other locales – though, as of yet, I don’t think we’ve ever written about any bands from Antarctica – but the fact that two of the three core members of the NCS crew are based in the USA, and the other one (me) is based in the UK (which are also the two places we get most of our audience from), means these are the areas which we get the most exposure to.

Of course, the counterpoint to that is we probably should be making more of an effort to cover bands from further afield – and, all credit to him, Islander already does a pretty damn good job with all his various round-ups of new releases from around the globe – which is why today we’re travelling to Indonesia to take in the sights and sounds and savage riffery of Metallic Hardcore crew Sabertooth.

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: ORBSTRUCT — “A DECADE OF TRANSCENDENCE”

Album Reviews, Premieres No Responses »

Jul 292026

(written by Islander)

This is the tenth year of existence for Orbstruct, the blackened death metal band founded in Kharkiv, Ukraine, and later driven by war to a new home in Poland. During that decade Orbstruct has released three albums, the most recent of which (Ostracism) dropped last year.

To mark this year’s milestone anniversary, Orbstruct performed a live show this past May at the Hype Park Club in Kraków, a show that featured nine songs selected by the band from across their three albums, creating a convergence of their past and present.

Orbstruct’s performance was captured in a recording that will be digitally released under the title A Decade of Transcendence on July 30. It was also captured on film — and today we present that video of this commemorative show. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: KRALLICE, BEASTLOR, SEKTION VASORÉ

Album Reviews, Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC No Responses »

Jul 282026

(written by Islander)

I only had one song premiere to prepare for today and nothing else for us to share with you besides the review from Andy that opened our day. So I impetuously decided to pull together this roundup of new music.

The first two choices attracted my attention because their overlapping lineups include people who I think it’s fair to say are luminaries among discerning metal listeners, those of us who search for more than “the same old, same old”. These artists’ creative interests and impulses also often lead them in unexpected directions, so there was an important intrigue factor in making the choices.

The third choice was much more impulsive. I just decided to listen to the music of the last band to e-mail us yesterday, a band with no reputation I knew of, and only two demo songs to their name. I’m so glad I yielded to that impulse, and I hope you will be too. Continue reading »

VULGARITY – BECKONED BEYOND

Album Reviews 2 Responses »

Jul 282026

(Andy Synn wants you to stop what you’re doing and play this one as loud, and as often, as you can)

We’ve been accused of being “pretentious” here at NCS a few times… which is actually pretty funny if you really know any of us.

True, we do have a lot of love for weird, proggy music, and we certainly have a lot of fun playing around with language and using some of those “big” words certain people find so frightening, but you know what we also love?

Big riffs, big hooks, and bands that just put out banger after banger after banger.

Which is why I’ve been jamming the new album from Missouri Metalcore menaces Vulgarity over and over again recently.

ALTARAGE – COGWHEEL

Album Reviews 2 Responses »

Jul 272026

(Andy Synn returns to the darkness with a revitalised Altarage and their new album, out Friday)

There’s an excellent question that Sir Michael Caine once asked, and answered… “why do we fall? So we can learn to pick ourselves up.”

And, make no mistake about it, there’s certainly a pretty decent (and vocal) number of Altarage fans who will be happy – well, not exactly happy – to tell you all about how much the band fell off after their opening salvo of three killer albums (Nihl, Endinghent, and The Approaching Roar) in a row.

Don’t get me wrong, I have some sympathy with this view – as much as I loved the band’s initial trilogy of terror, I was willing to go on record with how disappointed (and disjointed) I felt 2021’s Succumb to be (a position I still stand by), and while I appreciated 2022’s Sol Corrupto a little more than most it definitely still fell short of the band’s usual high standards – but I’m also the sort of person who believes that it’s important for bands to take chances, and that a few experimental misses can sometimes lead to even bigger hits down the line.

Which may well be what we have here, as while 2023’s Worst Case Scenario was clearly informed by the lessons learned from the Succumb/Sol Corrupto sessions, it’s only with the upcoming release of Cogwheel that Altarage seem to have really managed to pick themselves back up again and become the same terrifying force they used to be.

Batman begin.

SHADES OF BLACK: NECROLIGION, MOORAH, SÁRR, NAMU, DUSKSEEKER, AKVAN

Album Reviews, SHADES OF BLACK, SHORT BUT SWEET No Responses »

Jul 262026

(written by Islander)

I had enough time between yesterday and this morning to make this week’s SHADES OF BLACK collection a large one. It includes a trio of EPs, a pair of singles, and one full-length album, all of which got their claws on me in very different ways.

I suppose I could have sub-titled this collection “Best of British”, because three of the bands are from that green and pleasant land (that place of clouded hills and Satanic mills, to complete Blake’s famous references). However, my friend Andy claimed that phrase for his own reviews long ago, and anyway the following collection also includes bands from Czechia, Texas, and Iran. Hope you enjoy everything here. Continue reading »

THE OLDEST HOUSE – THE ART OF ABYSSWALKING

Album Reviews 1 Response »

Jul 232026

(Andy Synn would like to invite you all to enter The Oldest House)

There’s another common phrase – and, boy, do I seem to be using a lot of them recently, don’t I? – that goes something like “better late than never”.

Which might as well be our motto here at NCS sometimes, because if we like something we’ll always try our best to write about it, even if that write-up ends up being a little late.

And, let me tell you, I really like The Art of Abysswalking.

AN NCS DEMO PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): SHTRIGË — “WOUNDS OF ETERNAL HUNGER”

Album Reviews, Premieres, SHORT BUT SWEET No Responses »

Jul 222026

(written by Islander)

Shtrigë is a collaboration between two experienced practitioners of the black (metal) arts — Swiss musician Solaris Lupus (the sole mind behind Aspaarn and vocalist of Lord Valtgryftåke) and the Italian musician Sanguis Antiquus (based in Finland), whose many other bands include Clactonian and Thecodontion. In their Shtrigë endeavor the former performs all the instruments and the latter is responsible for vocals, lyrics, and songwriting.

As they have explained, this project “takes its name from the Shtrigë, a vampiric witch of Albanian mythology said to suck the blood of infants during the night and to transform themselves into a flying insect (traditionally a moth, fly, or bee).” In line with that choice, Shtrigë draws inspiration “from the dark legends and folkloric traditions of the Western Balkans”.

The duo released their debut demo Of Blood and Night in February of this year, and on July 24th Prehistoric Sounds will release their second one, Wounds of Eternal Hunger, and we’re premiering it today. Continue reading »

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