NO CLEAN SINGING

AL-NAMROOD: “AL AQRAB”

Jun 062024

(Below you will find Didrik Mešiček‘s review of a new album by the Saudi Arabian band Al-Namrood, which will be released in just a few days from now.)

There are many of us for whom metal is an essential part of our lives and some might say, rather dramatically, that it’s a matter of life and death. For Al-Namrood, however, that statement is quite literal.

The band’s name translates to “non-believer” and that’s the exact essence the Saudis convey with their music and exactly what could get them potentially executed, which is why they’ve never been able to play a live show as the risk is simply too great. Despite that, the band has been going strong since 2008, and Al Aqrab – to be released on June 9th by Shaytan Productions – will now be their 10th full-length album. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): OKULAR — “REGENERATE”

Album Reviews, Premieres No Responses »

Jun 052024

Many death metal bands “look the part”, black-garbed and festooned with spikes, pentagrams, bullet-belts, and/or skulls, and others don’t. Norway’s Okular are on the “don’t” side of the line. In their recent promo photo there’s not a band shirt to be seen nor any other allusion to Satan, the Grim Reaper, or spilled guts, and there’s more khaki in their attire than black. They’ve also got a few more years in their faces, which aren’t contorted in evil grimaces, than whatever hot young things you were listening to yesterday.

Some metal bands also churn out music like there’s no tomorrow. On the other hand, if Okular are expecting the end of the world, they’re obviously not anxious about it: 11 years have passed since their last album.

But Okular‘s non-conformity goes beyond their approach to appearance and timetables. Most importantly, it’s represented by their music, which you’d already know if you happened upon either that last album 11 years ago or the one before that, and which you’re about to learn (or learn again) when you hear their new full-length Regenerate. For newcomers, let’s quickly say that it’s neither plain nor khaki-colored. It’s more like the cover art created by Tina Harsheim Giertsen: Continue reading »

ÆTHĔRĬA CONSCĬENTĬA – THE BLOSSOMING

Album Reviews No Responses »

Jun 052024

(Andy Synn continues to enjoy the blooming of Æthĕrĭa Conscĭentĭa‘s sound on their new album)

If there’s one thing I can say about NCS, it’s that we are loyal to the bands we choose to cover (sometimes to a fault) and… wait, that’s how I started my last review for this band.

Let’s try this again.

If there’s one thing we love here at NCS it’s discovering new, underground bands and then following them as they grow and change and evolve over the years.

And considering this is the third time I’m going to be writing about French Progronauts Æthĕrĭa Conscĭentĭa I think it’s safe to say that we’re in this for the long haul.

So let’s see what strange delights they have for us this time, shall we?

NORTHWEST TERROR FEST 2024: A REPORT ON DAY THREE

Concert Reviews 6 Responses »

Jun 052024

(We’ve been very fortunate to have two wonderful talents reporting on the 2024 edition of NCS-sponsored Northwest Terror Fest — writer Gonzo and photographer John Malley. Together they have made it possible for those who weren’t there to get a sense of the experience, and to remind those of us who were there how great it was. Here’s their report on the fest’s third and final day. Find the Day One report here and the Day Two report here.

Before I get too far into recapping the final day of this glorious weekend, a quick disclaimer:

Every year, it seems I can delve a little deeper into what powers this festival. On Saturday, I found myself going farther behind the curtain of NWTF than ever before. And why not?

I’ve been crawling around these pages for five years now, so the time felt right. What that meant for actual coverage of the band’s performances, though, was anyone’s guess at this point. I was rapidly ascending to another state of existence in which my body was being powered sheerly by caffeine, craft beer, pizza, and weed, so any attempt to cover the rest of this festival coherently was a complete fucking dice roll by now.

With all that being said, if there’s anything I can promise to deliver beneath the fold, it’s quality goddamn entertainment.

NORTHWEST TERROR FEST 2024: A REPORT ON DAY TWO

Concert Reviews 1 Response »

Jun 042024

(We are very fortunate to have two wonderful talents reporting on the 2024 edition of NCS-sponsored Northwest Terror Fest — writer Gonzo and photographer John Malley. Together they have made it possible for those who weren’t there to get a sense of the experience, and to remind those of us who were there how great it was. Here’s their report on the fest’s second day. Find the Day One report here. We’ll bring you Day Three tomorrow.)

As I got out of bed on Friday morning, still riding whatever high Amenra left me with the night before, a random intrusive thought barged into my brain without warning:

“Is insanity a prerequisite for going to festivals?”

Perhaps. In any case, my immediate reply to my own thought was, “No, but it probably helps.”

I feel like this is usually where I’d follow up by reassuring you all that yes, I did in fact pass my last psych evaluation and no, I am definitely not an unhinged jetlagged sleep-deprived writer about to binge on eight straight hours of music and stimulants for the second night in a row.

But if I did that, I’d be telling at least one lie. (I’m not saying which part.)

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: THIRTEEN GOATS — “SIGN OF THE GOAT”

Premieres No Responses »

Jun 042024

Somewhere the Devil is smiling broadly, imagining how much hell-raising fun you’re about to have when you listen to the song we’re premiering (with a video) from Thirteen Goats‘ new album Capricorn Rising.

This song, “Sign of the Goat“, functions as an overture for the rest of the album, which is itself described as “an extreme metal rock opera about madness, death, and the destruction of all things”. We also have a more detailed preview from the Vancouver-based band about the role of the song in that context: Continue reading »

EXUVIAL — “THE HIVE MIND CHRONICLES PART I: PARASITICA”

Album Reviews 2 Responses »

Jun 042024

(Here we have our friend Gonzo‘s enthusiastic review of a new album from Denver-based Exuvial, and we share the just-released first single from the album.)

It’s hard to turn heads (and melt faces) in tech-death anymore, thanks in part to so many bands who continuously raise the bar with stellar musicianship and songwriting (see The Zenith Passage, Archspire, ATRÆ BILIS). So, when a new band conjures up a debut album that could stand on its own next to names like those, I take note.

With that, I give you Denver’s Exuvial. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: DERELICT — “SPECTRUM”

Premieres No Responses »

Jun 042024

Over the course of three albums beginning in 2006 the Montréal band Derelict have established a name for themselves as a group that found an intersection between technical death metal and the more brutal and melodic pathways of the death metal soundscape. A long 12 years have passed since their last album, but now they’re finally returning with a fourth one.

The title of the new album is Versus Entropy, a nine-song affair that’s now set for release on June 21st. What we have for you today is the premiere of the second single from the album — “Spectrum” — and it’s a very interesting song in more ways than one. Continue reading »

THINGS YOU MAY HAVE MISSED (BUT SHOULDN’T)

Album Reviews No Responses »

Jun 042024

(Andy Synn catches up with four albums from a mammoth May that you might have overlooked)

It was my immense good fortune to spend a good chunk of May travelling and seeing bands, first with a trip to Seattle for another excellent edition of North West Terrorfest, and then a jaunt to Baltimore to sample the delights of another Maryland Deathfest.

And since my travels gave me an opportunity to read and listen to music, I decided to make the most of it by re-immersing myself in a few of my favourite albums from the last few decades, with the result being that I probably ended up listening to fewer new releases last month than you might have come to expect.

That doesn’t mean I’ve been completely out of the loop, by any means (just give that handy “Andy Synn” tag a quick click and you’ll see that I still wrote a bunch of reviews, including several designed to cover our down-time during both the above festivals), it’s just that there’s probably going to be a few more “catching up” pieces to come after this one as well (most notably a review of the new Árstíðir Lífsins, whenever I get around to it).

As always, however, I’d like to begin a new month with four favourites from last month which I think deserve a bit more attention and acclaim, so let’s not waste any more time and just get right down to it, shall we?

AN NCS PREMIERE: VOID WITCH — “HORRIPILATING PRESENCE”

RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC 1 Response »

Jun 032024

“Void Witch is a doom/death collective out of Texas/US, formed from ex-members of Azoth, Shitstorm and Drainbow during the Years of Great Plague and conceived as a collective project to give unearthly voice to the gruesome maunderings of our corrupted and degenerate minds.”

That is how Everlasting Spew Records introduces Void Witch and their forthcoming debut album Horripilating Presence to people who may not yet have encountered them through their 2021 first demo or their daunting and deleterious self-titled debut EP, which crawled from rotten black earth in 2022. The label’s preview continues this way:

“Void Witch’s aesthetic is an unholy marriage of classic doom metal, old school death metal, and grunge sensibilities with themes of body horror, gruesome myth, murder ballads, and other cautionary tales.”

But Void Witch have provided their own introduction: Continue reading »

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