CLEARING THE SLATE ISSUE FOUR

 Album Reviews, Exceptions to the Rule  No Responses »
Sep 092026
 

(Our writer DGR has been playing catch-up on records released earlier this year when other distractions interfered with writing about them. Beginning in mid-July he has delivered three Issues (which you can find here, here, and here), and now we have Issue Four bringing together extensive reviews of four more records released in preceding months.)

I don’t mind the heat too much, I’ve found that I’m still fairly operable as an individual until we reach 110 or so, which thankfully doesn’t happen too often. I get excessively grumpy when there’s humidity involved, which again, isn’t too crazy in my corner of California. Enough trips to the East Coast and the humidity there has at least pulled back the curtain a bit for me on why so many people involved in politics seems like a fucking angry moron. That sort of heat+humidity combo can rot the brain of anyone, and when you have so little to begin with, one trip to our nation’s beloved capital and you come back barely functioning. It’s why the size comparisons when people start complaining about heat make me chuckle, because there’s a different sort of suffering attached to each conception of ‘hot’, and truly, I will always feel like a soft child just barely toughing through them all as it is.

What I do hate is actually the first week of consistent heatwave wherein I have to come to terms with the fact that I’m going to have the AC unit and a fan in my room running constantly. The noise itself is enough if you’re a tender sleeper – I’m not – but what gets me is if I forget to tell the fan to stop moving back and forth, otherwise as I’m sleeping it feels like someone gently brushing across my face whispering ‘hey, heeeeeey, hey, you trying to sleep? Not today fucker’. So even for as much bragging of being able to survive on the surface of the sun, I’m still a grumpy fool.

That said, I much prefer the cold. I feel like the margin of error has an easier curve there. I can always put on more clothes, I cannot get more naked.

I do have a few more of these features to finish and I can’t make the visits to my local coffee shop with my laptop any more awkward than they are already. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): BOCC — “DEMOLARIUM”

 Album Reviews, Premieres  1 Response »
Sep 082026
 

(written by Islander)

Earlier today we published Comrade Aleks’ interview of guitarist/vocalist Emilio from the Barcelona metal band Bocc, the spur for that being the imminent release by Night Terrors Records of Bocc’s second full-length, Demolarium. And now, following quickly on the heels of that interview, we’re premiering a full stream of the album.

The interview provides informative background for what you’re about to hear. Among other things, it explains the meaning of the band’s name, describes the influences and intentions for their music, identifies a change in their composition process for the next album based on a change in the lineup, delves into their largely live recording of the album as a band, and discusses the themes explored by the Catalan lyrics of their songs.

We’ll interweave some of that dialogue into our introduction to the album stream, but of course our main focus now is the experience of the music itself. Continue reading »

KŌYA – PENDULA

 Album Reviews  No Responses »
Sep 082026
 

(Andy Synn has a darkly dynamic Danish debut to recommend today)

Being a music lover – and I mean a real music lover – means being constantly caught in a tug of war between listening to what you already love and/or finding new stuff to add to your collection.

Because, as much as I enjoy spending time with old favourites, re-discovering and re-evaluating albums that perhaps I didn’t appreciate at the time, it’s just as important to keep looking forwards, to stay engaged with new records and new releases, to stop myself from becoming cynical and jaded and stuck in my ways.

Which is why, year after year, I’m always so excited to encounter new bands (or, at least, bands who are new to me) helping keep the flame alive in their own way.

And one of those bands is up-and-coming Danish Sludge-core crew Kōya, who’ve just finished a busy festival season and celebrated by releasing their debut album, Pendula.

Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): EPITAPHE — “III”

 Album Reviews, Premieres  No Responses »
Sep 072026
 

(written by Islander)

The French progressive death metal band Epitaphe have chosen simple Roman numerals as the sole titles for their albums, an interesting choice because their music is far from simple. One of our writers summed up their debut I as “an eclectic, avant-garde combination of quite intellectual death metal with doom-death shades”, and we wrote that in an immense song from their second album II “their richly layered maneuvers are intricate and crafted with care, but all contribute to an overarching impact, guiding the listener with a sure hand through changing moods of fear and despair, longing and grief, turbulence and collapse, and ultimately ushering us into a haunting dream”.

And now Epitaphe are returning with their third album, III, which will be released on September 11th by Aesthetic Death and Gurgling Gore and which we’re premiering in full today. The labels’ press materials preview it in these words: Continue reading »

OBSCURITIES — VOLUME XXXI: DOG DAYS

 Album Reviews  2 Responses »
Sep 072026
 

(We have another monthly collection of reviews and enthusiastic recommendations from Daniel Barkasi. This one dials in six albums released in August 2026.)

When I titled this column, it can be taken as a literal statement for me – we’ve got three dogs, after all – but it’s generally a reference to the hottest period of the summer, which ends in August. I’m used to melting in this month, but the transition to this time of year in the mountains is a stark contrast to that of the Florida soup that we’re used to.

Here, the weather has been absolutely gorgeous, with our former geographical locale still being a humid swamp. We’ve made sure to literally touch grass more often to make sure to enjoy it while it lasts. Watching our young foal Ezri growing every day has been the highlight of recent times for the wife and I.

Now, is this trade-off worthwhile for dealing with the icy, snowy winters – absolutely fucking not. Ice is for hockey, not for chopping and shoveling to get out of the house. But, hey, even my pessimistic self needs to look at the bright side sometimes! I just need to get Ezri a coat soon. Continue reading »

NOTT – AS ALL IS UNDONE

 Album Reviews  No Responses »
Sep 072026
 

(Andy Synn has some heavy music to share on this heavy Monday)

Last week was a busy one for new releases, that’s for sure, and I hope to be able to catch up with at least some of them as the month goes on.

The one that really stood out to me, however… or, at least, the one I was most looking forward to… was the brand new slab of soul-crushing sonic weight from Seattle-based back-breakers Nott (aka Tyler Campbell and Julia Geaman), as their last album, 2023’s Hiraeth, was undoubtedly one of the heaviest albums of the year, as well as being one of my favourite releases on a purely personal level.

And, wouldn’t you know it, they’re still just as inhumanly heavy – if not even more so – as ever.

Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK: BEHEMOTH, TROLLDOM, VREDEHAMMER, HARDIESSE, IHLOOSUHREE, THE LOVECRAFT SEXTET

 Album Reviews, SHADES OF BLACK  1 Response »
Sep 062026
 

(written by Islander)

I feel somewhat better today as compared to yesterday (thanks for asking), though the achiness produced by the inoculation hasn’t completely vanished. Once again, I looked forward to assembling the following column as a welcome distraction from the twinges of soreness.

By way of overview, I’ll say that today’s collection leans into eye-popping tempests of imposing scale and blood-heating intensity, though it also includes psychotic episodes and a musical curveball I’ve saved for the very end. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD ON A SATURDAY: DARKEST HOUR, GREAT FALLS, WORM ALTAR, NERVOCHAOS, MILIM KASHOT VOL. 7, GRISEVILLE

 Album Reviews, Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  No Responses »
Sep 052026
 

(written by Islander)

As we all do, some days I wake up feeling like shit but still have to forge ahead with daily tasks. Today is one of those days.

The covid virus is still spreading around the country, and an updated vaccine for it became available last week. Because I’m in a demographic with an elevated risk of serious infection, I got the updated shot at a local pharmacy late yesterday afternoon. That’s what caused me to feel like shit this morning. I have a mild case of the sniffles but mainly I ache all over. It’s not so bad if I stay perfectly still, but any kind of movement is painful.

If my past experience with the vaccines is a guide, this will all pass by tomorrow or the next day at the latest, and for me the discomfort is a price worth paying for the enhanced immunity. The daily tasks I still feel the need to forge ahead with include preparing this column you’re now reading.

I mean, I could have just blown it off and gone back to bed. No one would have fired me for shirking. No one else would have suffered serious damage (probably). But this is the kind of daily task that takes my mind off of what ails me instead of turning up the torture dial — so on we go. Continue reading »

FOG WALL: “GLOOMWEAVER”

 Album Reviews  No Responses »
Sep 042026
 

(Below is a review by a former NCS writer who now goes by the moniker Obsolete Mystic. His subject is the debut album from a Nevada-based duo who call themselves Fog Wall, an album they are independently releasing today.)

I love FromSoftware. In the realm of video games that studio have always been visionaries and avant-garde pushers of the artform. The cultural impact they’ve had ever since a little game called Demons Souls (OG Japanese importer right here) came out has permanently changed gaming and dark fantasy imagery and thematic elements in a huge way. FromSoftware games also happen to be metal as fuck and could easily inspire metal, especially in the death and black metal categories. As a result, there is in fact a whole grouping of bands that are FromSoftware worshippers.

Today’s focus is on one such band, Fog Wall, who named themselves after the signature walls of fog you traverse in FromSoftware games to begin boss battles. Like a lot of these bands, Fog Wall is a blackened death metal outfit, and they are offering up a very impressive debut in Gloomweaver. Continue reading »

ANNIHILATION IN THE LIMINAL VOID: A DEEP DIVE WITH GALVANIST

 Album Reviews, Interviews  No Responses »
Sep 042026
 

(Today our Denver-based contributor Gonzo brings us high points of his conversation at the recent Fire In the Mountains festival with members of the Montana band Galvanist, intertwined with his thoughts about their new album The Silence Between Stars, released in May of this year via ATMF.)

There’s a particular kind of magic that only happens when you’re standing out on tribal land in the shadow of the mountains, dust coating your boots, cold drink in hand, talking heavy music with people who live and breathe it. Festivals like Fire in the Mountains aren’t just weekend party stops; they’re cultural touchstones where you discover something deeper about the music, the setting, and the people making the noise.

That’s precisely the headspace I was in when I sat down with Bozeman, Montana’s Galvanist to unpack one of the most cerebral, devastatingly heavy, and quietly fascinating projects brewing in Bozeman’s DIY heavy music underground. Continue reading »

 Older Entries  Newer Entries