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.

Continue reading »

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.

Continue reading »

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.

Continue reading »

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 »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): VISCERA/// — “4. ASSETS FOR PSYCHEDELIC WARFARE”

 Album Reviews, Premieres  1 Response »
Jul 212026
 

(written by Islander)

We have been fascinated by the unpredictable evolutions of the Italian band Viscera///, evolutions so adventurous that it’s not an exaggeration to now call their music experimental.

That’s not to say that they throw things against the wall to see what sticks, or drip ingredients into test tubes to see whether the fluids change colors or explode. They are instead quite obviously very demanding of themselves and very meticulous in their planning and execution, it’s just that they march to the beat of their own drummer; their musical interests are wide-ranging and they’ve never been satisfied by remaining in the same musical space for very long.

Because of that it’s probably not hugely helpful in our introduction of their new album to provide a history of the band’s releases (and the changing musical forays they have represented) across their 26 years of activity. It’s maybe more helpful to just focus on the new music and leave the past behind.

And yes, nine years after their last album, Viscera/// have a new full-length titled 4. Assets for Psychedelic Warfare that’s now set for release on July 24th by Time To Kill Records. And yes, we’re premiering it in full today. Continue reading »

PROTEST THE HERO – WITHIN

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Jul 212026
 

(Andy Synn has been a fan of this band for a long, long time… but is he a fan of their new album?)

There’s a commonly quoted, but often misinterpreted, maxim which states that as you grow older there comes a time when you must “put away childish things.”

What it actually means is that the process of becoming an adult means growing beyond selfishness and short-sighted, self-serving impulsivity to consider the people and the world around you… but it’s often taken as a claim that one should give up the things you enjoy, your passions, your hobbies, your interests, in order to display some sort of boring, performative “maturity”.

It’s a sentiment that afflicts a lot of bands too, especially when they suddenly decide to throw in an unnecessary ballad or some generically pretentious prog-parts as a signal to their audience that they’ve finally “grown up”.

Luckily for all of us, however, as much as Canadian genre-splicing jesters Protest the Hero have grown and developed over the years I’m happy to report that they still possess that same shamelessly nerdy, Theatre-Kid Pop-Punk meets Dream Theatre-loving, DnD-playing, Power-Prog energy now as they did way back before they could even grow some proper beards.

Continue reading »

SALLOW MOTH – HYDROPHILOUS BROOD

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Jul 202026
 

(Andy Synn has more words to share about long-time NCS favourites Sallow Moth)

It should be no suprise to learn that we love music here at NCS.

After all, none of us makes any money from this site, or takes any kick-backs – even if bands will sometimes, very kindly, offer to send us music or merch as thanks for a review – meaning we do this purely for the love of it.

And as part of that we also love to support bands who love making music for the sheer joy of it, with little to no regard for current trends or commercial concerns.

Which is one reason – but not, I must stress, the only reason – why we’ve been so supportive of the works of Sallow Moth over the years.

Continue reading »

THERE WERE WIRES: “VESSEL”

 Album Reviews  No Responses »
Jul 202026
 

(This is NCS writer Gonzo’s review of a comeback album from Boston-based There Were Wires that was released in late June by Iodine Recordings.)

When you think “heavy music,” the small slab of New England known as Martha’s Vineyard almost certainly won’t be what comes to mind first. And if it is, I want to know where the hell you’ve been hanging out lately. But never mind that.

Way back in 1999, the band There Were Wires formed in that quiet suburb, and they proceeded to play every sweaty New England club and basement venue they could crawl into. At the time, their sound was rooted in hardcore punk’s raw aggression, and they quickly found a home on Deathwish Records soon after. But after the release of their 2004 album Somnambulists, the band played what they presumed to be their final show, and the members went on to form other acts such as Doomriders, among others.

Now, over 25 years later, There Were Wires have made a return that’s just as ambitious as it is unlikely. Vessel is probably a record that nobody saw coming, but despite that, it deserves your full attention. Continue reading »

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