Album Reviews Archives - Page 9 of 566

ARCHSPIRE: “TOO FAST TO DIE”

Apr 162026

(This is our DGR’s review of Archspire’s new album, which was self-released on April 10th.)

While 2026 still finds itself on shaky ground overall, the opening few months have proven to be an interesting rollercoaster of releases in the heavy metal world. While we’ve had some decent gaps available for discovery, the still-young year has produced a fair share of surprises and a steady drip-feed of known names unleashing their latest monstrosities upon the world.

The most recent wave in particular has been among the more tech-death minded of the metal scene, with a small handful landing at near the exact same time, all with the general philosophy of keeping their foot planted firmly on the accelerator. The guiding light of “all X-games big ramp, all the time” is undeniable when it comes to the viewpoint of some of these bands, and no group has proven to be chief among them more than Canada’s Archspire, who released their newest album Too Fast To Die last week – their newest venture as an independent artist without a label. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: MYLINGAR — “ÚT”

Album Reviews, Premieres 2 Responses »

Apr 152026

(written by Islander)

Recently we have been reminded by photos from the vicinity of the Moon that in many respects the Earth is a verdant, beautiful, and serene place. Closer to ground level, however, it still often remains ugly, violent, saturated with suffering, and shrouded by death. Of that we don’t need reminding, because the evidence is all around us, every day.

The music of the anonymous four-person entity known as Mylingar has always drawn its fuel from the worst that humanity has to offer and the perspective that the world is a killing machine, or so it seems when you listen to their ruinous black/death assaults. And now, nearly seven years after their last album, we’re reminded of that by a new one named Út, which will be released in cooperation with Amor Fati Productions on April 17th.

But as we’ll explain, and as you can now discover for yourselves, there’s even more going on in the album than you might expect based on Mylingar’s previous works. Continue reading »

CLAD IN SHADOWS: “MONUMENTS IN RUIN”

Album Reviews No Responses »

Apr 152026

(The Texas-based melodic death metal band Clad In Shadows released their debut album in late February, DGR managed to come across it, and now he’s turned in the following appreciative review.)

You can use your band name for many things in heavy metal, such as head-turning shock value or as a mission statement. You can even make it dual-purpose, as is the case of New York’s Clad In Shadows. They took their name from an early In Flames song that was a live staple of theirs for a bit, thereby not only making their mission statement clear but also laying out their influences and providing a good basis point for anyone with bare knowledge of metal music’s subgenres as to what they might sound like without hearing a note.

Let’s play a game then, because many of you will have guessed both by the band’s name and who is writing this here writeup what exactly Clad In Shadows sound like on their first album Monuments In Ruin. You have twenty seconds to think, and then come check back in and tell us how closely you landed with the rest of this introduction.

Did you guess that this was going to be blindingly faithful melodeath worship with enthusiasm that shines so brightly it could scour your shadow into the wall? Yes? Perfect. Because that is what Clad In Shadows are doing, and although the album isn’t breaking down any boundaries, it is doing a fantastic job in adding to the overall genre’s collective archive and blueprint. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): AGELESS GATEWAY — “CORRUPTOR OF STARS”

Album Reviews, Premieres 1 Response »

Apr 142026

(written by Islander)

Lovers of science fiction, and especially renderings of cosmic horror, will find a lot to love in the conception of Ageless Gateway’s debut album Corruptor of Stars. It narrates a tale of massive parasitic alien infection of our solar system, and its warping of existence on a breathtaking scale.

In portraying these terrors, this Polish project’s sole creator Apparition interweaves atmospheric black metal with death, doom, and ambient influences to create a chilling and thrilling five-song experience with a compact run-time of 32 minutes, and we’re providing listeners the chance to become immersed in it today in advance of the album’s April 17 release by Godz Ov War Productions. Continue reading »

FOETOREM: “INCONGRUOUS FORMS OF EVERGROWING ROT”

Album Reviews No Responses »

Apr 142026

(Here is Daniel Barkasi’s review of the debut album by the Danish band Foetorem, which came out at the end of March through Everlasting Spew.)

Demos tend to be raw glimpses of a band in their yet-to-be fully realized form. Once in a blue moon, you come across a legitimate head-turner that’s further along in their spawning phase than it has any right to be. Such is the case for yours truly and Danish death/doomsters Foetorem. Their three-song introduction in early 2025 was robust, intricate, and absolutely nasty in the most putrid way (that’s good), whetting the appetite for what they might be capable of within an LP.

That time came not too long afterward, with the band being picked up by denizens of all things grotesque Everlasting Spew Records – a home that feels perfectly suited for the wares we’ve heard from the foursome thus far. Incongruous Forms of Evergrowing Rot is the most fitting name of that first full-length effort, and the question of whether they can fulfill their massive potential or sink into the murky swamp is the curiosity of the day.

INHERIT THE CURSE – ALL WE ARE IS DUST

Album Reviews 1 Response »

Apr 142026

(Andy Synn goes from a long-term favourite to a brand new one from German Metalcore marauders Inherit the Curse)

If there’s one thing we try to avoid doing here at NCS, it’s repeat ourselves.

So since yesterday was all about a legendary, long-running band and what could possibly be their final album, today I’m going to shift my focus to a much, much younger band who just put out their first full-length release.

Sun rise, sun set.

AT THE GATES – THE GHOST OF A FUTURE DEAD

Album Reviews 5 Responses »

Apr 132026

(It’s with a heavy heart, and a deep sense of responsibility, that Andy Synn sets out to give the new album from the one-and-only At The Gates – featuring the final recorded performance of the dearly-departed Tomas Lindberg – a proper eulogy in advance of its release next week)

Ever since I first received my copy of The Ghost of a Future Dead I’ve been struggling… not just with what to say about it, but how to say it.

After all, any time a new release from a seminal, life-changing band like this one – I’m sure that a fair few people reading this now probably owe their Metal awakening to the seminal Slaughter of the Soul – appears people are inevitably going to come at it with a whole host of preconceived notions, opinions, and expectations, and the last thing some of those people want to hear is any actual criticism.

And when you add in the fact that not only is this the last At The Gates album featuring their much-loved, and much-missed, voccalist Tomas Lindberg, but it also might even be the last At The Gates album ever (as the band, understandably, have acknowledged that they have no idea if they’ll want or be able to continue without their fallen frontman) that makes it even harder to know exactly how to approach things.

But, thankfully, messrs. Lindberg, Larsson, Erlandsson, Björler and Björler were kind enough to make at least one part of my task easy… as The Ghost of a Future Dead is the band’s best album in over a decade.

SHADES OF BLACK: SZNUR, ACOLYTHUS, SCYTHE OF MEPHISTO, NON SERVIAM

Album Reviews, SHADES OF BLACK, SHORT BUT SWEET 7 Responses »

Apr 122026

(written by Islander)

You could make a nearly endless list of traumas experienced by human beings that are more severe than having a sick pet. But having a sick pet can still be traumatic. I speak from experience — uncomfortably recent experience.

My wife and I live with two brother cats to whom we’re intensely attached. They have the run of our house but they’re never more than a few feet away from us. They’re very affectionate, very smart (for cats), very beautiful. We’re careful not to let them outside because they’re small, they’ve never been in the wild since birth, and we live in a forest full of predators of different species.

Last night after my wife and I had returned home from dinner and watching a ballgame, one of the cats began foaming at the mouth and manically racing around the room. We keep anything that might be an ingestive danger to them out of their reach, so it was perplexing. We scurried around trying to help him and trying to discover what might have caused this.

After about 15 minutes passed with no change, we managed to catch him and put him in a cat carrier, got in the car, and started driving to a 24-hour emergency animal-care clinic. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): URLUK — “MEMORIES IN FADE”

Album Reviews, Exceptions to the Rule, Premieres 1 Response »

Apr 092026

(written by Islander)

Last month we published an interview by our Comrade Aleks with the two members (U. and M.) of the Italian band Urluk, focusing on their new album Memories In Fade. Aleks introduced it with an explanation that although the band had remained true to their haunted lyrical themes, the music has changed direction significantly as compared to their last album More. Urluk’s U. acknowledged the change, commenting in the interview that “[t]he atmosphere surrounding Urluk today is less about aggression and more about reflection, decay, and memory — things slowly dissolving rather than burning violently.”

In the interview, the band’s members provided further insights into their music’s evolution from the doomed black metal of their last album. As U. described, “Memories In Fade draws from a broad palette: Post Black, Gothic Rock, post-punk atmospheres, touches of Dream Pop, and even hints of 60s folk-blues. Keyboards play a larger role this time, sometimes creating that bittersweet, almost life-affirming melancholy reminiscent of Type O Negative.”

What we have for you today is a full stream of this very interesting new album in advance of its April 10 release by Pest Records. Before we get to our own thoughts about it, let’s share one more excerpt from the interview which compares the new album with the one before it:

Conceptually, the albums are connected, but musically they stand quite far apart. More was still deeply rooted in black metal — dense, abrasive, and very direct in its emotional expression. Memories in Fade feels like the aftermath. If More was about the weight of experience, this new record is about the residue it leaves behind: fading memories, nostalgia, and the strange calm that follows turmoil. The sound has become softer in some ways, yet more vulnerable. Continue reading »

BLACKER THAN THE BLACKEST BLACK: NATURE MORTE / NON EST DEUS / SISYPHEAN / ULTHA

Album Reviews 4 Responses »

Apr 082026

(Andy Synn presents a quartet of recently released Black Metal recommendations)

For reasons we may never understand a huge percentage of the Black Metal scene decided to release their new albums last week – including a surprise drop from long-time NCS favourites Ultha – and, despite our best efforts, we’re probably not going to be able to cover all, or even most, of them here.

But I’ve chosen four visceral examples from this veritable smorgasbord of blackened delights to highlight here today all the same, as I refuse to let the perfect be the enemy of the good.

Older Entries Newer Entries