AN NCS INTERVIEW: ENTERRÉ VIVANT

 Interviews  No Responses »
Apr 022026
 

(Today we present Comrade Aleks’ interview of the two members of the atmospheric black metal band Enterré Vivant, with a focus on their very interesting latest album released by the Antiq label.)

Akuzaï, the third album of Enterré Vivant, a duo of Erroaik and Sakrifiss, was released almost one year ago, and it’s still the most up-to-date album of this project which I didn’t totally skip yet failed to investigate properly during 2025. Being influenced by Summoning, Woods of Infinity, and Mystic Forest, this duo works remotely, as Erroaik locates in France, and Sakrifiss relocated to Japan over 25 years ago.

Enterré Vivant progresses coherently if we speak about the music, and Akuzaï delivers both depressive and atmospheric black metal with an authentic touch for sure, yet this time the projects also hooks with the plot behind ten new tracks. The album’s concept is centered around a Buddhist idea of ten sins and World War II, and one can barely connect one to another, so it was one of many points to organize in this interview. Continue reading »

THE SYNN REPORT (PART 193): DOODSESKADER

 THE SYNN REPORT  No Responses »
Apr 012026
 

Recommended for fans of: Nine Inch Nails, Deftones, Death Grips, Godflesh, clipping.

The thing about blending genres is – just like mixing together too many shades of paint – what you often end up with is just… beige.

But when you get it right, not just sloppily blending together all the most generic and familiar aspects of different styles but relying on the clashing, kaleidoscopic contrasts between them to create something weird and provocative that smashes through all the established boundaries… that’s when you get Doodseskader.

And with their third album set for release on Friday, now seemed like the perfect time to shine some light on the duo’s unique amalgam of Electro-Industrial-Hip-Hop and Nu-Punk-Sludge-Metal.

Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): VANIR — “WYRD”

 Album Reviews, Premieres  No Responses »
Apr 012026
 

(written by Islander)

For people of a certain age and living in a certain time, melodic death metal opened a magical musical portal. Principally originating in Sweden, it eventually led enormous numbers of listeners around the globe (including this writer) into new worlds. Other portals forged of metal were opening at the same time, and many others have opened since then, but thanks to bands like the Danish group Vanir, this one has remained open.

Vanir have been musically exploring other worlds (often mythic ones) since 2010, with a discography that has come to include seven albums, and their eighth one — Wyrd — will be released in just a couple of days by Mighty Music. As the label describes, “The record revolves around the timeless theme of fate – spun from war, from the choices of humankind, and from the consequences that have shaped our world”, and it “invites the listener into stories of downfall and triumph, of lives lost and victories won.”

What we bring you today is the chance to hear Wyrd in its entirety. Continue reading »

CULTHE FEST 2026 — EASTER TURNS DARK AND HEAVY

 Metal News  No Responses »
Apr 012026
 

For several years No Clean Singing has been a proud sponsor of Culthe Fest in Münster, Germany, and we’re helping to spread the word about it again this year.

The 2026 edition of the fest is imminent — it will take place over two days on April 4th and 5th. The fest will include performances by 20 acts from over 7 countries on three stages, headlined by Ultha and Warning. It will also include a reading and an exhibition closely related to the festival’s music, all taking place at Sputnikhalle, Café Sputnik, and Triptychon at Hawerkamp Münster.

For further details, here’s the text of Culthe Fest’s latest press release: Continue reading »

INFERI: “HEAVEN WEPT”

 Album Reviews  No Responses »
Apr 012026
 

(The Artisan Era will release a new album by Nashville-based Inferi on April 10th, and DGR has managed to beat that deadline with an extensive review of it today.)

I ain’t no fancy law-talkin’ indivigible but I would argue that the case for what sort of band Inferi are is made within twenty or so seconds of their opening song “The Rapture Of Dead Light” from their new album Heaven Wept.

Inferi are a tech-death band of what could now be considered a classic style. Born of an early and mid-2000s collision of hyperspeed melodeath, proper death metal, and the more technically inclined stylings of groups like Necrophagist and Spawn Of Possession that overtook an entire subgenre in one fell swoop. They are part of a collective that helped crystalize what we now recognize as tech-death proper, enough so that you can mention specific record labels and have a good idea of the waterfall of guitar and drumming that will be headed your way.

Inferi were the band that took every element and just cranked the volume up to ten on everything. They would regularly release such densely packed albums that even years after a release you could go back to one and you’d be stunned by just how much general stuff you missed within each song. The prospect of an Inferi album was in some ways terrifying because you knew it meant you’d be getting hit with these gigantic, multi-suite songs that resulted in near-hour-long releases that would leave the brain scrambled by the time you were done.

Inferi are the sort of band that puts out an album and it doesn’t even occur to you that it had been five years since their previous release, mostly because you’re still not sure you’ve digested that previous one. They are a band where you’ve likely never been more thankful for an album to consist of just eight songs. which is what their newest album Heaven Wept is. Eight songs of hyper-fast, densely packed tech-death built out of the sort of overstimulation that can send lightning crackling across the grey matter in your skull. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: MALAURIU

 Interviews  No Responses »
Mar 312026
 

(Today we follow up yesterday’s NCS premiere of Malauriu’s new album The Third Nail with this interview by Comrade Aleks of bandmembers Schizoid and RM.)

Malauriu (“Bad Omen”) was formed in Sicily in 2013. The band’s lineup has changed several times, fitting its anarchic black metal image. Today, all of Malauriu’s members have relocated to the UK, and the only remaining original member is guitarist, bassist, and keyboardist Schizoid. Having recorded two full-length albums, five EPs, and participated in nearly ten splits, Malauriu have prepared their third major effort, aptly titled The Third Nail.

The album’s cover, which depicts a unique scene from a Sicilian religious festival, is undoubtedly a highlight, but for a more complete picture, check out the tracklist, which includes a cover of GG Allin’s “Abuse Myself, I Wanna Die,” featuring the growl of the monstrous Mentors’ founder Dr. Heathen Scum. This unbridled ode to self-destruction is delivered with a distinctive, unbridled punk drive and extreme vocals, and its lyrical content, as well as its destructive delivery, generally matches the spirit of the album. Fueled by nihilism and prickly malice, the blackened “Death Celebration,” “The Curse of All Flesh,” and “Empowerment Rites”, or the slower, dense, textured “Purple Ceremony” grant everything you may expect from the songs with such names.

In order to reveal some details behind The Third Nail’s production, we organized this interview with Schizoid himself and the band’s vocalist RM. Continue reading »

THINGS YOU MAY HAVE MISSED (BUT SHOULDN’T)

 Album Reviews  2 Responses »
Mar 312026
 

(Andy Synn presents the first of two articles covering some of the many things he missed in March)

There were just SO many releases during March that I wanted, but didn’t have time, to cover, that you’re getting two “Things You May Have Missed” articles this week, rather than the usual one.

Of course, even with twice the usual number of entries I’m still having to leave a horrifying number of bands on the proverbial cutting room floor, and some (but not all) of the bands also considered for this article include Bedrängnis, Circle Back, Deadnate, Egocide, Funeral Pile, Mammon’s Throne, Mariner, Poison the Well, and Teratoma… with many more still on the short-list for the next article as well.

I’ve also got another edition of The Synn Report to somehow squeeze in before then too, so I’d better stop wasting time with this preamble and get to the music, which once again features a quartet of bands, all from different genres, that I would take it as a personal favour if you all checked them out.

Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: THE GREAT OBSERVER — “SENTENCED AT HIGH NOON”

 Premieres  No Responses »
Mar 312026
 

(written by Islander)

The Italian band The Great Observer developed serious ambitions for delving into profound subjects after they began coming together in Rome in 2021 — ambitions reflected in the choice of their name and the philosophers they drew upon for lyrical inspiration.

To express those ambitions in their music, they spent years working toward an alchemy of Mediterranean black metal (Mortuary Drape, Zemial) and early death/thrash (such as Canada’s Slaughter, Master, Order from Chaos). The results are now encompassed by a debut album named Loss of Transcendence that will be released on April 30th by Blackseed Productions.

We will share more details about what inspired the band, but first we’ll turn to the album track we’re premiering today — “Sentenced at High Noon“. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: DEVENIAL VERDICT — “RITUALS OF IGNORANCE”

 Premieres  No Responses »
Mar 312026
 

(written by Islander)

Devenial Verdict’s new record could be considered a retrospective on a 20-year career, but also a reimagining of their past. As a reflection of that concept, the name of the record (which is a combination of two EPs) is Old Blood – Fresh Wounds. To explain, here’s this Finnish band’s statement about the record, which is now set for release by Transcending Obscurity on May 1st:

“This release celebrates the 20th anniversary of Devenial Verdict. We wanted to update some of our older songs on this EP; these songs mark some of the most important musical moments of us as a band. We have the first instances of dissonance in our music and the seeds of our melancholic and atmospheric leanings; we have brutal passages and rare instances of melody. It was really eye opening to realise that all the influences were there all along! Some of these songs have never been properly released and exist only as live videos captured at our shows.

“We wanted to add the Soulthirst EP to this release since 2026 marks the 10 year anniversary for that release. Soulthirst functions as the bridge between all of our older material and our current sound, which we fully unleashed on Ash Blind in 2022.”

What we have for you today is the premiere of the new album’s opening song, “Rituals of Ignorance“. According to a note at Metal-Archives, it was originally part of a four-song demo recorded in 2010 but never officially released. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): MALAURIU — “THE THIRD NAIL”

 Premieres  No Responses »
Mar 302026
 

(written by Islander)

On April 3rd Adirondack Black Mass will release the third album by Malauriu, fittingly named The Third Nail (though we suspect that name has other meanings besides the fact that it’s the band’s third full-length). We’re giving it a big showcase, not only providing listeners a full stream today but also publishing an interview of Malauriu’s founder Schizoid and their vocalist RM tomorrow.

Those of you seeing the album’s cover art for the first time will likely be perplexed by how strange it is, and it’s worth sharing Schizoid’s explanation, because the cover image connects to the album’s lyrical themes, and indeed to the often macabre nature of the music. Here is an excerpt from the interview we’re publishing tomorrow: Continue reading »

 Older Entries  Newer Entries