NO CLEAN SINGING

HELLRIPPER: “CORONACH”

Mar 242026

(This is Daniel Barkasi’s review of a new album by the Scottish band Hellripper that’s set for release on March 27th by Century Media Records.)

The story of Hellripper is quite a humble one, and the project’s meteoric rise in the metal scene has been exciting to witness. The brainchild of sole songwriter and multi-instrumentalist James McBain, it all started as an EP in 2015 – The Manifestation of Evil – that he hoped a few folks in the local Aberdeen, Scotland scene would dig, and it’s been quite the rapid ascent since.

His approach to black/speed/thrash is deeply rooted in the black metal classics like Bathory and Venom, the punky thrash of Toxic Holocaust, and the rock ‘n’ roll swagger of Motörhead, but done so in his own highly singular amalgamation of those aforementioned influences. Having gained further steam with each album, his 2023 effort Warlocks Grim & Withered Hags has been the most complete thus far, adding a sense of refinement within the raw, pacey attack that makes Hellripper so damn fun and memorable.

With his fourth full-length Coronach, which is titled after a traditional improvised song during a wake in the Scottish Highlands, McBain continues fine-tuning Hellripper’s sound with added instruments and songwriting techniques, while not straying from the firmly established overarching approach. There’s enough primal intensity in the album’s 44 minutes to power a freight train at full throttle, and the newfangled elements bring a fresh purview to the riff-centric chaos, ensuring that this isn’t a mere rehash or more of the exact same. Continue reading »

NEUROSIS — “AN UNDYING LOVE FOR A BURNING WORLD”

Album Reviews 2 Responses »

Mar 242026

(This is our Gonzo’s review of the first new album from Neurosis in a decade, a surprise drop last week from the band’s Neurot Recordings.)

We live in a world where it’s exceedingly difficult to keep secrets.

When it comes to new music, fans tend to catch wind of things well in advance. That’s all by design, of course. The ubiquity of streaming platforms and social media has long since given a bullhorn to every band on the planet that wants to tease “big news coming soon,” and honestly, I think we’ve all grown a little numb to those tactics.

So, when I woke up to the news last Friday (March 20) that Neurosis had not only reunited some time ago under a veil of total clandestineness, but also added post-metal demigod Aaron Turner as a fulltime member, and dropped a new album with zero fanfare, zero advanced warning, and zero indications that the band was anything other than long-dormant, the shock factor probably could’ve been mistaken for actual Bay Area seismic activity.

Obviously, this left me with a lot of fucking ground to cover. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: VIMBULNATT — “KERNUMWANDLUNG”

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Mar 232026

(written by Islander)

The German black metal duo Vimbulnatt have been on a creative hot streak from the emergence of their first single in 2019. Since then they’ve released a continuing flood of singles and demos, plus four albums and an EP. Their most recent album (until now) was Der dunklen Tugenden. Der Urgrund, released in November 2024, and now they’re following that with a new full-length named Der dunklen Tugenden. Echos.

This new record will be co-released by Kernkraftritter Records (Germany) and Void Wanderer Productions (Netherlands) on May 28th. To help introduce it, we want to share these evocative words we’ve received from the labels about the music’s inspiration: Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: WRANG — “VOOR ONS DE ZEE”

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Mar 232026

(written by Islander)

The cover painting chosen by the Dutch band Wrang for their new album Verwording isn’t conventional imagery for a black metal band — and Wrang is unmistakably a black metal band. But it’s a choice that connects to both the album’s music and its lyrical themes. Here’s some information provided on behalf of Dominance of Darkness Records, which (along with Korpituli Productions) will release Verwording on April 24th:

Wrang’s themes here differ from those prior, ranging from societal critiques to more abstract themes, such as the inner need for strife, leaving behind home and what you know in a longing for something else. But, like most of the band’s music, these lyrics can also be a bit contradictory: on one hand, always looking for something, yet never at ease once it’s reached. Always restless, defiant, yet always torn – such is Wrang, to the bitter end.

And so that cover art offers an apt metaphor for the album’s sonic and lyrical themes: “always drifting on stormy waters, always searching, never settling, desperate yet defiant.” How does the music represent such themes? We have an example today in our premiere of a video for the album’s second single, “Voor ons de zee” (The sea before us). Continue reading »

GAEREA – LOSS

Album Reviews 4 Responses »

Mar 232026

(Andy Synn attempts to separate fact from fiction when it comes to the new album from Gaerea)

A lot of people are probably telling you a lot of different things about Gaerea at the moment, running the gamut from pre-emptively calling Loss a total failure for “abandoning their Black Metal roots” to claiming that it’s a contender for “Album of the Year” that “redefines the Post-Black Metal landscape”.

But while that’s not, in and of itself, a bad thing – diversity of opinion and a variety of viewpoints can lead to rich and rewarding discussions – the main problem is that a lot of these opinions were set in stone before the album was even released, and now everyone is just digging in and doubling down in their ideological trenches, lobbing accusations and recriminations back and forth so fast that any sense of nuance in the conversation has long been… well… lost.

So let me clarify a few things right up front.

One, despite what some of the self-proclaimed “defenders of the faith” have been saying, Gaerea have not suddenly “turned into Sleep Token” (even if some of the more overtly saccharine, pop-friendly moments might occasionally hint at the comparison).

And, two, Loss is absolutely not the “new musical paradigm” that some of the more hyperbolic pre-release promotional materials would have you believe (and the suggestion that they’ve somehow embraced “the openness of Post Rock” by including a few quiet parts is almost insulting to the audience’s intelligence).

So what is it?

MR. CRABMAN AND THE SEAWEEDS: “NOTHING IN RETURN”

Album Reviews No Responses »

Mar 232026

(DGR has made a fortunate new discovery, one outside his usual musical wheelhouses, and seeks to spread the word about it in the following review.)

Every year brings a cycle in which I swear up and down to try and expand my musical horizons, which for the most part I absolutely fail at. The early reaches of the year are usually the prime territory for this grand venture to have any hope of success though, because it is somewhat reliable – save for an odd plotting of years wherein January saw a giant flood – that those early parts will have plenty of room for new artists to take a shot at being out there and get some spotlight.

That beginning part of the year is a time of discovery, and every year does have a few interesting acts manage to break through the white noise in comparison to the summer exploraitons of old reliables and groups timing their releases around festival runs. This year, like I have in years past, has had me attempting to explore the doom genre some more, because if there’s any blind spot that I can openly admit to, the fuzzier side of doom is absolutely one of them. These ventures are a lot of fun because you can break past a surface-level understanding of things and actually acheive some sort of musical growth. If nothing else, it provides a new perspective point from which to see things.

The shaggier, fuzzed-out, and stoner side of doom will always have its fair share of oddballs. The walls of reverb and slow to mid tempos must be artistically freeing, and in that respect you do get groups who will name themselves some eyebrow-raising things just for the sheer fun of it. To explore this side of the genre is to be willingly caught off-guard from all ends, and that is how you wind up with a name like Mr. Crabman & The Seaweeds crossing your desk, amplified even more by their home location of the obviously well-known yet clearly easily missed psychadelic doom capital of the world…Finland. Continue reading »

BLOG BREAK

RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC 2 Responses »

Mar 202026

(written by Islander)

I’m writing this on Friday morning. My spouse and I are about to begin the long trek from where we live to Sea-Tac airport. From there we’ll fly to Walla Wall in eastern Washington to spend a long weekend with two other couples who are a lot of fun to hang out with. And hanging out is what we’ll be doing, along with going on winery tours, dining in the town’s excellent eateries, and doing our best to forget all the fresh hells that are besetting the world.

I do not plan to spend time putting together either the usual SEEN AND HEARD roundup for Saturday or the usual Sunday SHADES OF BLACK column. I know myself well enough that I’ll probably get anxious about leaving a two-day void at the site, and so there’s a chance I’ll scramble something together at some point, but don’t bet on it.

I’ll be back in action here on Monday morning for sure, or as sure as anyone can be about air travel these days. In the meantime, here’s a mysterious video for a scary, heart-aching, and bone-throbbing new song by Erdve that I enjoyed this past week. Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: ASENHEIM — “DER WÄCHTER DER NACHT”

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Mar 202026

(written by Islander)

The German pagan/black metal band Asenheim are celebrating their 20th anniversary this year. That’s an exceptionally long time for the life of any metal band, and Asenheim have filled those years with releases — no long hiatuses, no deaths and rebirths, just a steady progression of creativity. To commemorate this milestone anniversary, Asenheim will have their tenth album, Elbenblut, released on April 24th by Dominance of Darkness Records.

The new album is again the coordinated work of Asenheim founder Tiwaz and second member of long standing, Valfor. It’s an 11-song, 70-minute opus whose themes are set in the Tolkein universe, and we’re premiering a lyric video (in German) for one of those songs today — “Der Wächter der Nacht“. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: TAAK

Exceptions to the Rule, Interviews No Responses »

Mar 202026

(Today we present Comrade Aleks’ interview of Kristjan Virma from the long-running Estonian band Taak, whose latest album was released last October.)

With the Estonian band Taak, things are both simple and complex. Formally, the band has been around since 2004, but in fact, that year the entire lineup of Estonia’s first doom metal band, Dawn of Gehenna, simply changed its name and, to a certain extent, its concept.

Taak (“burden”) took up more old-fashioned material, something akin to proto-doom, and began writing and performing lyrics in their native language. The result is authentic, melodic, heavy, and engaging. Meanwhile, you may remember all of this due to another “exception from rules” interview we did here with the band in December 2020. Time flies. Today, only Ott “Otipowitch” Oras (bass) and keyboardist Kristjan Virma (guitars, keyboards) remain from the original Taak lineup, but I must say, their sixth album, Surmalaev (“Death Ship”), sounds like it was written by a well-coordinated, experienced band that holds true to its roots and knows what to do with that legacy. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): DEIMLER — “DARKNESS FALLS”

Album Reviews, Premieres No Responses »

Mar 192026

(written by Islander)

Death metal does not have to be interesting, innovative, or even moderately intelligent to be enjoyable. We all know this and most of us will freely admit it. In fact, sometimes it’s at its most enjoyable when its dumber than a box of rocks. And conversely, sometimes it can become so busy, disjointed, and intentionally unfamiliar that the band’s labored adventurousness is unpalatable, or so pretentiously serious that it becomes a big yawn (and not the yawning of our adored abysses).

On their new album Darkness Falls, the Spanish death metal band Deimler have found a sweet spot (indeed, many sweet spots) between these extremes. Their music is monstrous and mauling but it’s also frequently mind-boggling in its intricate adventurousness. It powerfully creates unsettling atmospheric auras but also hits like battering rams. It’s packed with hooks, and it includes guitar solos that are eye-opening rarities in the realms of death metal.

As vivid proof of these claims, today we’re premiering a full stream of Darkness Falls on the eve of its March 20 release by Awakening Records. Continue reading »

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