OBSCURITIES – VOLUME XXV: 28 HEAVY DAYS LATER

 Album Reviews  3 Responses »
Mar 052026
 

(In this latest of Daniel Barkasi’s monthly reviews for NCS he focuses on records released in February 2026.)

With the snow thawing in our area – a much different tale for many in the northeast US – leaving the house has become much more of a normal feat, without the risk of slipping on an ice sheet. I should have whipped out my ice hockey skates when we had sub-freezing temperatures, and made a complete ass of myself. Well, you know, in a different way than normal.

The lessening presence of arctic cold in the air hasn’t slowed the release calendar, with proceedings picking up with an icy bluster of quality releases in the year’s shortest month. For the “bigger” releases, Mayhem put out what has been one of the most dynamic and intriguing releases of their existence, while Worm went symphonic with dazzling results, and vets Converge bestowed an all-timer upon us.

While we’ve only got six spots to bestow in this column, there were several strenuous omissions, not due to a lack of quality of course, but fierce competition amongst a bevy of top level records. Mors Verum’s death metal manifestation is ever intriguing, Howling took me by surprise with their abrasive black metal, and The Magus and Nazghor provided contrasting-yet-gripping slabs of the dark arts, whereas Bizarrekult and Diabolus, Mecum Semperterne gave their own inspiring and undeniable viewpoints on all things black. Hell, there’s a full slate for this monthly exercise that would have been fantastic, but therein lies the strength of February’s offerings. Continue reading »

AN NCS EP PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): ABSENT RITUAL — “THE CRYPTIC DESCENT: A COMPILATION OF MADNESS”

 Album Reviews, Premieres, SHORT BUT SWEET  No Responses »
Mar 042026
 

(written by Islander)

The Eternal Death label bills the debut demo from NYC’s Absent Ritual as “outsider black metal”. But what does that mean? Isn’t all black metal “outsider” music at its core? Wasn’t that indeed what spawned it so many decades ago, as a rebellious reaction to death metal and other musical genres that were then captivating listeners?

Well, times do change, don’t they. You could make a claim that the bones of black metal have become ossified in some respects, to the point when many bands in the genre seem more conformist than they do rebellious. And so here in the current day, the description of Absent Ritual’s music as “outsider black metal” signifies that the band are following an unorthodox, idiosyncratic approach that isn’t hemmed in by strict genre boundaries, perhaps more true to the original animating spirit of the genre even though the music reveals surprising twists and embellishments.

You’ll understand what we mean when you listen to all three songs on their demo — The Cryptic Descent: A Compilation of Madness — which we’re now premiering in advance of its March 6 release date (a Bandcamp Friday, btw). Continue reading »

THINGS YOU MAY HAVE MISSED (BUT SHOULDN’T)

 Album Reviews  3 Responses »
Mar 032026
 

(Andy Synn tries his best to catch you up with some of what you may have missed last month)

Today’s edition of “Things You May Have Missed” is going to be another bumper one – six albums, instead of the usual four – due to the ridiculous number of new releases that came out in February.

In fact, here’s an abbreviated list of everything that didn’t make the cut this time around, just so you can see what I’ve been struggling with – including Ashbringer, Atlas, Ensanguinate, Diespnea, Farson, Fayenne, Fossilization, Howling, Misotheist, Muertissima, Palaces, and Puke Wolf –  all of which are well worth checking out (Advent of Wounds in particular is likely to make an appearance on a lot of “end of year” lists).

There’s a small chance, of course, that I might find time to do a follow-up article to this one covering some of the above artists/albums in depth… but don’t bet on it (after all, the more time I spend on last month the less time I have to dedicate to albums from this month).

However, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed by the bands I’ve selected for today’s article – some of which have received very little coverage elsewhere, as far as I can tell, and several of whom are making their first appearance here at our site as well – which, hopefully, cover a pretty wide spread of styles and (sub)genres, meaning there should be something for almost everyone here.

Continue reading »

AN NCS EP PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): MORTOPSY — “PUTREFACTIVE STATES OF THE HUMAN FORM”

 Album Reviews, Premieres, SHORT BUT SWEET  No Responses »
Mar 032026
 

(written by Islander)

Almost exactly five years ago we published an extensive interview by our Comrade Aleks of Québec musician Yves Allaire, aka evillair. The focus was on his band Nordicwinter, although the interview ranged beyond that as well. As the interview exposed, Allaire has been making metal music in a variety of different traditions since the early ’90s (Metal-Archives lists 10 current or former bands on his resume), but the atmospheric/depressive black metal of Nordicwinter clearly became his focus. Indeed, Nordicwinter has released five more albums since the time of that interview, including 2025’s Solitude.

Which makes the debut EP we’re now about to premiere from a new evillair entity quite a nasty surprise.

The name chosen for this new project — Mortopsy — points the way toward the EP’s music, as does the EP’s name: Putrefactive States of the Human Form. It is, in short, a formulation of pathological deathgrind and death metal inspired by the grisly early musical psychoses of Carcass and General Surgery, and it’s great. Continue reading »

SWÆRMMM: “Γ”

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Mar 032026
 

(Our editor recently gave a quick take on a new EP by the Swedish lunatics Swærmmm, which is the second part of a planned trilogy, and today DGR gives it a longer take, while wishing he could see what the EP will do to you.)

Swærmmm –

While the brain is tempted to take a shortcut and hallucinate its own phrase in the same way many of our current AI overlords are hallucinating medical advice and legal procedures, if memory serves correctly there is an old shopping bag of a saying which states that everyone has about one good book in them.

We’re of course discussing humanity’s wider ability to create in that aspect, as I highly doubt many of us could pen a full book and have it be a combination of cohesive or interesting. But if taken on a holistic level, everyone has at least one good “something” they can unleash out into the world whether it be music, artwork, writing, or any other combination of craft.

On that same aspect it seems that every musician has one project in them that boils down into abject chaos. It is as if the idea of regular musical creativity is not enough anymore, and at a certain point a sort of subconscious gremlin speaks up and utters the musical creative equivalent of “what if we just burn it all to the ground?”. Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK: PURE WRATH, BARBELITH, TRHÄ, HAIDUK, ÆDEL FETICH

 Album Reviews, Exceptions to the Rule, SHADES OF BLACK, SHORT BUT SWEET  No Responses »
Mar 012026
 

(written by Islander)

I hope I haven’t bitten off more than you can chew. Only four selections today, compared to eight yesterday, but two of them are albums and one of them is an EP.

I also hope I haven’t bitten off more than I can chew. As I begin writing this, I realize it will be tough for me to fully express how all this music has impacted me or how it might impact you, given the time constraints I’m under. But I’ll give it a shot.

If there’s a through-line in these recommendations, it’s that all the music is searing, in sound or mood or both, although the stylistic paths traveled by them often diverge. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD ON A SATURDAY: PHASE MERIDIAN, COGNIZANCE, PIG’S BLOOD, NUNSLAUGHTER, SWÆRMMM, FRACTURED INSANITY, NIXIL, GODLESS ANGEL

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC, SHORT BUT SWEET  2 Responses »
Feb 282026
 

(written by Islander)

I did a better job than usual this past week going through NCS e-mails every day, compiling a list of what I thought might be worth checking out, and digging through that list with sharp ears. I still had to leave a lot behind, but made a voluminous 8 picks for this Saturday’s column.

And then… I went out last night to party without writing anything, and woke up very late today. I thought about cutting my planned column in half so I could get it finished before sundown, but then decided, fuck that, I’ll keep everything but cut way back on the verbiage — to the likely consternation of music scholars who will be studying my writings for decades into the future (yeah, that wasn’t serious).

If my plan for the day works out, these 8 choices (many of them with good videos) will leave you with whiplash and a scrambled brain if you manage to make it through all of them. Continue reading »

VESSELES: “HOME”

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Feb 272026
 

(We present NCS writer Gonzo’s review of the debut album released in January by the California band Vesseles.)

A friend once made an interesting point to me about metal in general:

With some exceptions, metal is basically the modern-day equivalent of counterpoint.

It’s important to note that this friend wasn’t just spewing uninformed opinions—he’s a damn good guitarist and he’s released at least one equally good death metal record in the past few years. Also, it helps that I agree with his observation.

But as much as I could bore the shit out of you all about metal and its atavistic origins, this review isn’t about that.

Instead, I’m going to tell you about why California’s Vesseles is not only keenly aware of what they owe to classical music in their ambitious debut, Home, but also how deftly they wield it. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): HELA — “A REIGN TO CONQUER”

 Album Reviews, Exceptions to the Rule, Premieres  No Responses »
Feb 252026
 

(written by Islander)

Almost six years after their previous album Vegvísir (November 2019), the Spanish doom metal band Hela have created a new album, A Reign To Conquer, that will be released on February 27th by Ardua Music and Tormo Records. Those six years were of course tremendously eventful in the life of the world (and tremendously disruptive), and Hela encountered their own internal challenges which delayed the completion of their newest work. But sometimes the struggle to overcome challenge leads to triumphs that smooth sailing never would have produced, and that’s true of A Reign To Conquer.

To be sure, as the labels rightly describe, Hela’s new album is still a voyage “through realms of shadow and sorrow” — a voyage that in some important respects will be familiar to fans of their preceding albums. But other changes will be noticeable. Among them is the appearance of Hela’s new vocalist, Raquel Navarro, and we should begin with her contributions as we start introducing our premiere stream of the new full-length today. Continue reading »

TRESPASSER – יְהִי אוֹר

 Album Reviews  2 Responses »
Feb 252026
 

(Andy Synn prepares to burn it all down again with the new album from Black Metal anarchists Trespasser)

Despite what you might think, I don’t necessarily have to agree with a band’s beliefs in order to enjoy and appreciate their music (the sheer number of Christian, Satanic, or otherwise religious bands I’ve written about and recommended over the years is testament to that).

Don’t get me wrong, there are certain ideologies, etc, I choose not to engage with or support – and that is very much my personal line to draw – but, for the most part, there’s just something about a band who truly believes in what they’re singing/screaming about which makes them far more engaging to me.

And, make no mistake about it, Swedish anarcho-philosophers Trespasser have never been afraid to wear their beliefs and ideals right out on their sleeves.

Continue reading »

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