AN NCS PREMIERE: DEOGEN — “DESOLATION BESTOWED”

 Premieres  1 Response »
Oct 152025
 

(written by Islander)

Just a couple of days ago we premiered a song by the one-person U.S. black metal band Storming off an album to be released on November 14th by Iron Bonehead Productions. We described that extensive track as a “spellbinding excursion” — immersive, ancient-sounding, glittering, haunting, and dangerous. And now we have a song from another U.S. black metal album to be released by the same label on the same day.

This time the band is Deogen, and the album is their second full-length, aptly titled The Graves and Ghosts of Yore. Although Deogen‘s fashioning of black metal significantly differs from that of Storming, there is in one sense a musical kinship, because it too is a kind of throwback in sound and style, and in its ancient and mythic moods — as you’ll discover by listening to “Desolation Bestowed“. Continue reading »

SHOW REVIEW: BE’LAKOR, PERSEFONE, ORPHEUS OMEGA (MELBOURNE, OCT. 11, 2025)

 Concert Reviews  No Responses »
Oct 152025
 

(Australia-based NCS contributor Tør was lucky enough to see the Melbourne stop on a recent short tour by Be’lakor, Persefone, and Orpheus Omega, and he sent in the following report, accompanied by his photos of the show, in black and white below.)

I enter The Croxton Bandroom in Melbourne on a cool early spring evening, fashionably late. The recuring infection in my left ear has just flared up, and my tolerance for nonsense is at an all-time low.

As soon as I clear the ticket counter, I am greeted by Melbourne’s Orpheus Omega who are blazing through their set. What’s on display is Australian melodic death metal at its finest: solid riffs infused with clever use of keyboards and sweeping melodies. Frontman Chris Themelco navigates the guttural and clean passages with expertise and manages to engage the crowd in the process. The band’s latest release, Emberglow, will undoubtedly please traditional melodeath worshippers as well as those who dabble in the more symphonic end of the spectrum. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: BRAINWAVE — “LOST MY WAY”

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Oct 142025
 

(written by Islander)

Brainwave hail from Wellington, New Zealand, and they devote themselves to the kind of crossover music that blends thrash and hardcore, drawing influence from the likes of Drain, Mindforce, and Forced Order. Now a quintet, they’ll be releasing a record named Ill Intent on October 22nd, which follows up a sequence of short releases that began in 2020. In the band’s words:

“It’s an extremely personal record, albeit one set against the backdrop of a world tearing itself apart. It’s about hopelessness, the pain of loss, and the brutality of everyday life. But it’s also about conquering the summit, overcoming both yourself and your detractors.”

To help introduce Ill Intent to fans of heavy music (and this music is very heavy indeed), what we’ve got for you today is the premiere of a song from the new album named “Lost My Way“. Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: EX CINERE — “NEGATIVE COMMEMORATION”

 Premieres  No Responses »
Oct 142025
 

(written by Islander)

Ex Cinere is the solo work of Joe Waller, who has also created music under the name Sarasvati and with Adora Vivos and Amiensus (among other projects and groups). The last time we wrote about Ex Cinere (and the first time) was near the release of a 2024 debut single called “Ācennan“, which was followed later that year by a second single named “Eorþblód“.

What we’re presenting today is a video for another single, “Negative Commemoration“, so named because its intent is to restore a bit of truth to the whitewashing of an ugly figure on a day set aside for his sanctification by people who enthusiastically still traffic in his ugliness. Continue reading »

THE GRASSHOPPER LIES HEAVY: “HEAVY”

 Album Reviews  3 Responses »
Oct 142025
 

(Here we have Todd Manning’s enthusiastic review of a new album by Texas-based The Grasshopper Lies Heavy, which is set for release on November 14th by Learning Curve Records.)

The Grasshopper Lies Heavy is the two-headed brainchild of founder and frontman James Woodward. One head is the cinematic, post-rock band responsible for releases such as We Shouldn’t Be Here and the 2017 film soundtrack Cavern. The second side of the band is the pummelling, nasty metal behemoth responsible for the group’s latest, the aptly titled HEAVY.

There’s no attempt to marry the two identities here. HEAVY specializes in mid-tempo assaults, lethal grooves, and cathartic explosions. They rip out of the gates with “Human Claymore” and “Lyrics Are Hard”, two tracks of vicious stomps. What these lack in tempo variation, they make up for in powerful, nuanced riffing. There is an efficiency to The Grasshopper Lies Heavy, each riff sounds like it has been created and shaped organically, not tech per se, but full of detail. It’s the sort of riff-writing acumen that made Mastadon’s Remission so infectious, but here it is filtered through the pummeling power of early Coalesce. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: HEXAGRAF — “STERVEN IS VRETEN”

 Premieres  No Responses »
Oct 132025
 

(written by Islander)

We’re about to premiere a song from Walsen van hoop, the debut album from the Dutch duo known as Hexagraf that’s now set for co-release in December by Void Wanderer Productions and War Productions. To begin introducing it, we’ll share some of the evocatively worded background info provided by the labels:

Hexagraf is a dark, brooding musical project born from the collaboration between two Zwotte Kring members: Daan (Hellevaerder, Throne of Time, Duindwaler, Magistraal) and Floris (Schavot, Meslamtaea, Asgrauw, The Color of Rain). Their journey began when Daan contributed guest vocals to Schavot’s album Verstrikt in Halflicht. The creative chemistry during that session was undeniable, powerful enough to spark the idea for a new, shared project. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: STORMING — “STARFIRE”

 Premieres  3 Responses »
Oct 132025
 

(written by Islander)

Looking ahead to November, we welcome Iron Bonehead Productions‘ release of the second album by the U.S. black metal band Storming. Its name is Celestial Clear Moonlit, an evocative title for music that sounds outside of our own time and place.

But what time and place does the music occupy? It is located on the map of the listener’s imagination, and so each person’s vision may well be different. You can begin letting your mind run away with you by listening to the song from the album we’re premiering today, an extensive, spellbinding excursion named “Starfire“. Continue reading »

AN ABSTRACT ILLUSION – THE SLEEPING CITY

 Album Reviews  No Responses »
Oct 132025
 

(Andy Synn asks you not to sleep on the new album from An Abstract Illusion, out this Friday)

There are differing schools of thought about when/whether, as a reviewer, you should read what other people have written about an album prior to publishing your own take.

On the one hand, yes, there’s the danger of being overly influenced by the opinions and perceptions of others (something which often leads to a cringeworthy sense of “critical consensus” that largely relies on the fact that no-one wants to rock the boat or suggest that, just maybe, the emperor is a little bit naked).

But, on the other, there’s always the chance that another writer will stumble upon something insightful that could help inform your own unique thoughts and help you consider things in a different light.

Whichever side you land on, however (and, in general, I try not to read much/anything by other writers when I know I’m going to be reviewing something), it’s always worth remembering that any review is always in conversation with a lot of different things… not just the music itself, but also the artist’s history, their public perception, and their previous critical reception, meaning that you’re never fully writing in isolation.

And so, while I’ve tried my best to avoid seeing what others have written about The Sleeping City – though I’ve already spotted a couple of slightly hyperbolic 10/10s here and there – one thing I made sure to do was to go back and re-read my own review of the band’s show-stopping second album, Woe, simply because there’s no way to discuss the former without comparing it to the latter.

Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK: DIMHOLT, POKUTA, EMBRACED BY DARKNESS, HAMMERFILOSOFI, HUBRIS, POGARDA

 Album Reviews, SHADES OF BLACK, SHORT BUT SWEET  No Responses »
Oct 122025
 


Dimholt

(written by Islander)

In compiling this Sunday’s column I can’t say that I intentionally searched for unsettling music, but that’s where the listening trail led me — in directions that were chilling, depressive, and enraged.

Time being limited (as always), I left a few discoveries behind that were especially raw and abusive, in addition to being unsettling. I hope to get back to them later. One thing that struck me about what I didn’t leave behind is that all the music that follows turned out to be more multi-faceted than first impressions might suggest. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD ON A SATURDAY: BLOOD RED THRONE, PHOBOCOSM, HORNWOOD FELL, LYSERGIC

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  No Responses »
Oct 112025
 

(written by Islander)

For these Saturday roundups I’ve been trying to include a minimum of six picks. I only have four today because I’m leaving the house early with my wife to get breakfast with another couple at a very cool place that’s an hour drive away. Bedtime last night was also unexpectedly late due to a certain excruciating 15-inning baseball playoff game and its delirious aftermath.

Being even more limited today than usual, there was a risk my picks would be even more random than usual, even more like throwing darts at a squirming mass of targets and hoping the few I hurled would impale winners. To mitigate the risk, I picked bands who had won me over repeatedly in the past. As I hope you’ll agree, that turned out to be a good strategy. Continue reading »

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