Reviews Archives - Page 7 of 620

HULDER: “VERBOLGEN”

Aug 072026

(Here we have Daniel Barkasi’s review of the new album by Hulder, which is beging co-released today by 20 Buck Spin and Season of Mist.)

As notoriety grows and more ears pique in a band’s direction, it can be especially challenging to determine where they may go when a new album rolls around. This scribe is far from the type who demands all bands whom I have a fondness for to only reach a certain level of visibility – rooting against the success of a band you like is such a strange concept – though it’s safe to say we’ve all been left disappointed by a few bands we hold dear when a change in sound occurs.

I’m not going to get into the great Gaerea debate, but they’re a recent example who has invoked all sorts of discourse from all over the opinion spectrum – covered nicely in these halls – but you could see a shift in their case coming, whether it was welcome to you or not. The point is, evolution is unavoidable, whether it be purposeful or a naturally gradual shift. Standing still often equates to being left behind.

Which is where we come to the traditional black metal force known as Hulder. 2024’s Verses in Oath has thus far been a high-water mark, building from their heralded and raw-to-the-bone demos to that of the debut full-length Godslastering: Hymns of a Forlorn Peasantry, which is where the flame started flickering a little brighter. The Eternal Fanfare followed shortly after, aiding the already burgeoning reputation of this black metal traditionalist who wasn’t afraid to carve out a place in the vast history of this genre for themselves. Continue reading »

SHORT BUT SWEET: DESPERATE CRY / PRIVATE PRISONS / SILURIAN

SHORT BUT SWEET 1 Response »

Aug 062026

(Andy Synn offers up three bite-sized bursts of brutal flavour for you to sink your teeth into)

No matter how big of a music lover you are there are always going to be times when you’re just “not feeling it”.

Case in point, I’ve been circling the idea of doing another edition of the “Best of British”, as well as a Death Metal-centric collection, but just haven’t found the right albums/artists yet to fill up a full article of either (a minimum of three is always preferred, and in both cases I’m struggling to find that third band or record that really inspires me to write about them).

Thankfully all it took was a quick shift in focus – away from considering full-length albums towards a trio of recent short-form releases – to get my proverbial juices flowing, so let’s stop wasting time and dig into today’s hand-picked selection of EP-sized extremity, shally we?

CLEARING THE SLATE ISSUE TWO

Album Reviews, SHORT BUT SWEET 2 Responses »

Aug 052026

(Our writer DGR has been playing catch-up on records released earlier this year when other distractions interfered with writing about them. In mid-July he delivered Issue One (which you can find here), and now we have Issue Two, encompassing reviews of four records released in March, May, June, and July.)

It is politics season here in California, which means that by living in proximity to the state’s capital (Sacramento) you get battered relentlessly with ads from all neck of the woods. Over thirty-five million people live within the boundaries of California, which means that this metro area consisting of a mere two-to-three million means fuck-all to anyone internationally and is barely important enough to list on a map. You have to zoom in two or three times on Google, for instance, before Sacramento is revealed unto the wider world and long after Los Angeles and San Francisco.

By virtue of growing up in the Bay Area I’ve found my wider allegiances between the two regions fairly split, such that I kind of equally care for both even though my current residence will forever suffer from a generationally-instilled case of short-man’s syndrome. It’s why politics season tends to be annoying, because you get to hear your city’s name with the same sort of thin-mouthed sneer that is usually reserved for the scum of the Earth, such that even when filling up your gas tank you get greeted with banners pointing to the price of fuel and a notice that “Sacramento policies did this”.

Which I guess is nice, because at least the rest of the country is finally acknowledging that California is the real capital of this country, and clearly, we’re the ones who decided to start bombing the Middle East again and start a new forever war. It’s a fucked up way of finding that sort of thing out, but I guess anything to mask your consistent rape of the consumer wherein your prices don’t line up at all with what you claim, and by virtue of this state having more drivers than most anywhere else, is most often used to goose your profit margins so that we end up paying way more than “Sacramento policies” might’ve caused. Continue reading »

OBSCURITIES – VOLUME XXX: VIVA ESPAÑA

Album Reviews 1 Response »

Aug 042026

(Below you will find Daniel Barkasi’s latest monthly collection of reviews for NCS. This one includes enthusiastic recommendations for six albums released in July 2026.)

No, we’re not going to make a bunch of Vin Diesel references, and this month won’t be filled with so-called “dirty words” – though George Carlin is by far my favorite comedian of all-time, but a small milestone of this being the 30th edition of this column is a small thing that makes me smile a bit. It’s been fun sharing all kinds of music in these exalted halls, and we won’t be slowing down anytime soon.

The World Cup wrapped up, with good ole FIFA making an absolute ass of themselves – what else is new? It’s wild when the previous FIFA president (who was as corrupt as can be) looks trustworthy in comparison to the current one, and with the recent developments of trying to sell off stakes in the tournament to “investors” who have no interest in the game, the man who already had gone too far has managed to overstep even further.

However, despite the seediness of the organizing body, the football itself for the most part was edge-of-your-seat stuff. I enjoyed the games thoroughly, and congrats to Spain, who were unbreakable throughout the entire tournament and absolutely earned their victory. Cabo Verde’s unbelievable performance was also something that sticks out as special – seeing such a small nation push the eventual champions and runners-up Argentina to the edge was a great story. It would have been cool to have gone to a game, but there wasn’t a chance that we were going to plunk down over $1k per ticket. Hopefully the pricing out of a lot of people gets fixed one of these years, but we’re not counting on it. Continue reading »

THINGS YOU MAY HAVE MISSED (BUT SHOULDN’T)

Album Reviews No Responses »

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”

Album Reviews No Responses »

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

Album Reviews 1 Response »

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.

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