THE SYNN REPORT Archives - NO CLEAN SINGING

THE SYNN REPORT (PART 191): EXIMPERITUS

Feb 012026

Recommended for fans of: Nile, Mithras, Decrepit Birth

First off… no, I’m not going to be typing out the band’s full name.

For one thing, they’re mostly known by the shortened version, Eximperitus, anyway.

And, for another… c’mon people, there’s only so many hours in the day/days in the week/weeks in the month, and by the time I’d have finished typing it for the third or fourth time it would probably be mid-March.

Suffice it to say, however, that this band… by any other name… would still be as brutal, as technical, and as mind-bending, and more than capable of goig toe-to-toe with the likes of Origin or Wormed, Wormhole or Defeated Sanity, or absolutely any of the very best of the Brutal/Technical Death Metal scene.

THE SYNN REPORT (PART 190): JOURS PÂLES

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Dec 312025

Recommended for fans of: Heretoir, Harakiri For The Sky, Gaerea

Well, here we are everyone, the very last post of the year… before we begin all over again tomorrow.

And it’s fitting that the last post of 2025 gets to be another edition of The Synn Report, as this series of articles was always intended to mark the transition from one month to another… or, in this case, from one year to the next.

I will say, however, that it is absolutely shocking to me that this is the first time we’re writing at any real length about prolific French “Post” Black Metal project Jours Pâles, as while we may have mentioned them here and there before (including just recently in my end-of-year round-up) the timing has just never been right for us to give them the attention they’ve so clearly deserved.

But now, at last, it’s time to change that.

So if you like your music rich in both blackened intensity and moody melodic energy – their most recent album, Résonances, in particular has some serious late-90’s/early-00’s era Dark Tranquillity vibes to it – all topped off with a blend of heart-wrenching emotional highs and immersive, introspective lows which owe a fair bit, in my estimation, to the viscerality and vulnerability of Punk/Hardcore, then you might just be about to discover your new favourite band.

THE SYNN REPORT (PART 189): CZERNINA

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Dec 012025

Recommended for fans of: Shining, Maladie, Der Weg Einer Freiheit

It was just last year when I stumbled across Polish Black Metal madmen Czernina for the first time, and quickly fell in love with their absolutely scorching delivery, whose impressively heavy sound was tempered – and by this I do mean strengthened – by a strain of subtle stangeness woven deep into the warp and weft of their sound.

And when I randomly discovered that the band’s third album, Oszukać Listopad, had been released just last week (and right in time for the end of the month) I knew it was their turn to be on the receiving end of another one of my discography deep-dives.

So if you’re looking for a dose of unflinchingly causitc, yet also unusually creative Black Metal (there’s a reason, after all, that the above “for fans of” references are all for bands who err towards the proggier, yet also punishing, side of the genre)… well, here’s not one but three lethal injections to stick straight into your veins.

THE SYNN REPORT (PART 188): GORYCZ

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Oct 312025

Recommended for fans of: Oranssi Pazuzu, White Ward, Grey Aura

It’s been a busy month, and time is short, so let’s dispense with the preamble, shall we?

Suffice it to say that if you’re looking for some richly textured, darkly evocative music that combines the best bits of “Blackened Post-Metal” and “Post-Black Metal” (of the more avant-garde kind, rather than the more populist one) into something that can best be described as “post-genre”… then Poland’s Gorycz might just be for you.

And with their third album, Zasypia, having just been released back at the beginning of the month now seemed like the perfect time to shine a spotlight on the band.

THE SYNN REPORT (PART 187): TITHE

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Oct 012025

Recommended for fans of: Full of Hell, Wake, Of Feather and Bone

I must admit that Grindcore is not a genre I tend to spend a lot of time with… although I do dip my toe into the filth every now and then (mostly when a band comes along who mixes in some of the ol’ Grind with other, equally metallic, elements).

Case in point, Portland, Oregon trio Tithe – aka Matt Eiseman (guitar/vocals), Alex Huddleston (bass/vocals), and Kevin Swartz (drums) – first caught my attention with the release of 2023’s Inverse Rapture, whose hideous Death/Black/Sludge/Grind hybrid ultimately earned them a place on my list of the year’s “Great” albums (which you can check out here, if you’re curious).

And with the group having just released their third album, Communion In Anguish, a few weeks ago now seemed like the perfect time to introduce you to (or remind you of) the group’s grindy greatness.

THE SYNN REPORT (PART 186): MODERN LIFE IS WAR

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Sep 012025

Recommended for fans of: Comeback Kid, Shai Hulud, Rise Against

One of the best things about a band announcing a new album – especially a band as seminal to their scene as this – is that it often acts as a prompt to go back and re-listen to their previous works, which often (in my case, at least) results in you developing a new appreciation for their earlier material.

Case in point, when prodigal Punk/Hardcore legends Modern Life Is War announced their upcoming fifth album (set for release this Friday, some twelve years since their last full-length record) I took it upon myself to revisit their discography just in case I wanted to write something about them to commemorate the occasion.

And not only did I end up rediscovering the band – while also developing a greater appreciation for the impact that legendary acts like Minor Threat, Rancid and Black Flag have had on their music – but I also found myself connecting even more deeply this time around with their intensely personal, yet intimately relatable, lyrics and their distinctly dystopian (yet not hopeless) take on modern life (it’s war, don’t you know?).

Now, a word of warning… I’m off to Islay this weekend to spend a couple of days touring some of the island’s many distilleries (it’s my stag-do, if you were curious), so this article will be a little different to most of its predecessors as I’m going to focus my attention mostly on my favourite songs on each of the band’s albums, rather than trying to cover them all comprehensively.

But the one positive side-effect of this of course is that – if you like what you’re about to read and/or hear – you’ll still have lots to discover and appreciate on your own time!

THE SYNN REPORT (PART 185): AZURE EMOTE

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Aug 012025

Recommended for fans of: The Monolith Deathcult, Sigh, The Project Hate

Some people get a little mad when you make too many (or, in some cases, any) references to other bands when writing an article like this.

But when you’re dealing with a group whose creative palette is as wide as this one – the band themselves cite, in addition to the artists mentioned above, the likes of Arcturus, Atheist, Edge of Sanity, Thy Catafalque, and many more, as influences – it’s pretty much unavoidable.

So, without further ado, allow me to introduce you to the Avant-Garde/Progressive “Death Metal” of Azure Emote, a band whose main songwriter is actually their vocalist/keyboardist (Mike Hrubovcak, ex-Monstrosity) which perhaps goes some way towards explaining their more unusual and unorthodox approach to extremity!

THE SYNN REPORT (PART 184): IMHA TARIKAT

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Jun 302025

Recommended for fans of: Dödsrit, Watain, Spectral Wound

We are no strangers to the works of existential extremists Imha Tarikat here at NoCleanSinging.

As a matter of fact, I was personally responsible for reviewing the group’s 2nd and 3rd albums, Sternenberster and Hearts Unchained…, and the only reason I haven’t yet written about their recently-released 4th record, Confessing Darkness, is because I wanted to save it for this month’s edition of The Synn Report.

With a firm foundation in (if you hadn’t already guessed) Black Metal – one which showcases a deep and abiding appreciation for the classics without sounding self-consciously (or self-indulgently) “retro” – the band’s distinctive formula also incorporates hefty helpings of gnarly, tooth-gnashing Crust and Punk influences, as well as lashings of heroic Heavy Metal melody, resulting in a sound rich in potential for possible cross-over success while still staying true (or “trve”) to the genre’s roots.

THE SYNN REPORT (PART 183): DROUTH

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May 312025

Recommended for fans of: Abigail Williams, Weakling, Woe

Since I was lucky enough to attend another edition of Northwest Terror Fest this year it only seemed to make sense to me to dedicate this edition of The Synn Report to a band I was lucky enough to see for the first time at the festival a couple of years back.

Of course, this wasn’t my first exposure to the feral Black Metal ferocity of Portland’s Drouth, as I wrote some pretty positive things about their second album, Excerpts from a Dread Liturgy, back in 2020 (a review which I have partially cannibalised for this article), but getting to see them rip it up live in Seattle last year definitely increased my appreciation for their increasingly savage, scorching sound.

And what better way to show my appreciation than to feature all three of their albums, including their recently-released third full-length The Teeth of Time, in this month’s edition of The Synn Report?

THE SYNN REPORT (PART 182): INOCULATION

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May 012025

Recommended for fans of: Ulthar, Mithras, Cryptopsy

It honestly amazes me that we’ve never written about Inoculation before, outside of a few passing mentions here and there.

But with the recent release of their third album, Actuality, a few weeks ago now seems like the perfect time to address this terrible injustice.

You see, while the majority of the US Death Metal scene is currently (and, perhaps understandably) obsessed with the “New Wave of American Death Metal” (the most prominent names of which I’m sure you’re all aware) that updates and upgrades the classic OSDM sound for more modern ears, this crushing Cleveland trio – who firmed up and finalised their line-up in 2016, and released their first full-length in 2018 – draw just as much (if not more) influence from the late 90s/early 00s explosion of Brutal/Technical Death Metal bands.

That’s not to say that keen ears won’t be able to detect the influence of the likes of Death and Deicide here and there, but I’d argue that its bands like Demilich and Deeds of Flesh whose DNA has the most dominant impact on the band’s ultimate sound (especially after they shook off those early growing pains after their debut).

But don’t just take my word for it… give the band’s collective output a listen below and hear for yourselves (and, if you’re of a mind to, check out what else I’ve written too).

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