OUR LIST OF 2025’S MOST INFECTIOUS EXTREME METAL SONGS (PART 16): VALLETTA, LACABRA, MANTAR

 MOST INFECTIOUS SONGS-2025  No Responses »
Jan 232026
 

(written by Islander)

In yesterday’s segment of this list I was explaining about the challenges I face in preparing it. Even though not one solitary soul asked me to do that, I knew you were hungry for the information — though maybe I was sensing a desire for pita bread and a big tub of hummus or a rack of ribs, and I just misinterpreted things. Desires don’t always reach me through the ether in their original form.

Anyway, I mentioned that one of the challenges was figuring out how to group together songs in these daily segments. Even within my odd mind there’s no particular rhyme or reason to many of the groupings, but sometimes there is, and today is one of those times. The first and third songs below just rock the fuck out, and even the one in the middle felt like it belonged, albeit for somewhat different reasons than rocking the fuck out.

All three of these songs were ones I was convinced I’d have to find a place for in this list from the first time (of many times) I heard them. Continue reading »

VOIDHÄMMER: “NOXIOUS EMISSIONS”

 Album Reviews, SHORT BUT SWEET  No Responses »
Jan 232026
 

(We have our contributor Chile to thank for the following vivid review of the debut demo from California’s Voidhämmer, which was released earlier this month by Caligari Records.)

Yes, the temperature outside is about to go down below -20°C or -4 on the Fahrenheit scale for all you non-followers of the International System of Units (which somehow makes it more tolerable on paper, just barely), and with spring thaw still months away, what better way to warm up than to fire up some filthy, rotting death metal.

You could argue that your everyday central heating would suffice, but nothing warms the heart and soul as hearing those riffs pounding down from your speakers and into your orifices. Newcomers in the Californian outfit of Voidhämmer, who are not really newcomers (see below), understand this very well and offer a variety of putrid riffs on their debut EP/demo Noxious Emissions. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): TJAKTJADÁLVVE — “ENCOMPASSING NOTHING”

 Album Reviews, Premieres  3 Responses »
Jan 222026
 

(written by Islander)

For most people (definitely including this writer) the name Tjaktjadálvve will be a tongue-twister. Apart from wondering how it is pronounced, I also wondered what it meant, and so I spent some time searching for an answer.

One thing I found was an interview from last fall in a Hungarian publication of Matthew Bell, the Australia-born but Sweden-residing musician behind the black metal project he named Tjaktjadálvve. With some help from an online translation tool, I saw that Bell gave this answer about the word’s meaning:

The word means “autumn winter” in the Sámi language. A lot of my music is based on my experiences in northern Sweden, so the name seemed perfectly fitting. Continue reading »

OUR LIST OF 2025’S MOST INFECTIOUS EXTREME METAL SONGS (PART 15): ABDUCTION, BLACK RABBIT, ANZV

 MOST INFECTIOUS SONGS-2025  No Responses »
Jan 222026
 

(written by Islander)

I always confront two challenges in making this list — which songs to include overall, and which ones to group together in each segment. In trying to solve the second conundrum I sometimes conceive of connections that make the grouping seem logical, though at times my “logic” must certainly seem perplexing to others.

Tomorrow will be a decent example of an intentional combination, for reasons I’ll explain then. Today really isn’t that, but more just a grabbing of three songs I thought belonged on the list as they jumped out at me from the early part of my alphabetical list of candidates when I scanned through it for the umpteenth time since December. Continue reading »

SEVENGILL – PENUMBRA

 Album Reviews  No Responses »
Jan 222026
 

(Andy Synn takes a deep dive into the new album from Greece’s Sevengill, out now)

They say that you should never judge a book – or an album – by its cover.

And while I’ve yet to receive a satisfactory explanation of who “they” actually are – or, indeed, why any of us should listen to “them” – it’s been my experience that they’re not actually wrong.

After all, I’m sure we’ve all encountered an array of albums whose terrible/cheap/tacky (delete as appropriate) cover art has failed to reflect the actual quality of the music contained within (and vice versa).

That being said, an eye-catching album cover… such as, say, the one you can see above which adorns the front of the recently-released new album by Greek Post-Metal trio Sevengill… can definitely help capture the attention of potential new listeners before they’ve even heard a note.

Continue reading »

AN NCS EP PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): MATRIPHAGY — “FROM NOTHING TO NOTHINGNESS”

 Album Reviews, SHORT BUT SWEET  No Responses »
Jan 212026
 

(written by Islander)

On January 23rd, just a couple days from now, Iron Fortress Records will release a new EP by the Massachusetts brutal death metal trio Matriphagy, digitally and in a CD edition that also includes songs from a previous Matriphagy split and an EP as bonuses. What we have for you today is a premiere stream of all the songs on the new EP.

This EP, titled From Nothing to Nothingness, includes three tracks, the last of which is Matriphagy’s demented and demolishing re-working of the Cryptopsy song “Benedictine Convulsions“. All three songs are ruinously punishing, unhinged in various ways, and frequently as head-spinning as they are traumatic. Continue reading »

OUR LIST OF 2025’S MOST INFECTIOUS EXTREME METAL SONGS (PART 14): THE OMINOUS CIRCLE, VENUS STAR, HAVUKRUUNU

 MOST INFECTIOUS SONGS-2025  No Responses »
Jan 212026
 

(written by Islander)

We’ve reached Part 14 of this list today, which includes three songs I think are exceptional for reasons beyond their addictive qualities.

I’ll also report that I’ve been able to spend enough time with other candidates on my gargantuan list of 2025 songs that I’ve succeeded in mapping out all the remaining Parts of this list except the last one. Figuring out the last one is always a daunting and distressing challenge, and I’ll be agonizing about that one probably right up to the eve before I post it at the end of next week. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: BINAH

 Interviews  No Responses »
Jan 212026
 

(We present Comrade Aleks’ interview of Ilia Rodriguez from the death metal band Binah — a very eloquent and moving discussion that focuses on Binah’s new album Ónkos, which was released last October by Osmose Productions.)

The underground champions Ilia Rodriguez (vocals, guitar, synthesizers) and Andrews McIvor (guitar, bass, synthesizers) have performed with numerous bands, but for 14 years now they’ve remained faithful to their joint brainchild, Binah. Rarely but effectively, they produce their technical death metal pieces, and Ónkos is the third full-length in Binah’s discography.

The duo recorded Ónkos with a guest-drummer – Dan Mullins, who’s involved in several other bands, notably Blasphemer and My Dying Bride. While Binah’s previous albums had a standard structure (intro, outro, eight tracks in between), the new work consists of two gargantuan tracks, “Mount Morphine” and “The After Evermath,” totaling 43 minutes. The songs vary from ambient intros to persistent and abstract death metal constructions and bulldozer riffs in death-doom vein.

This is an album with a real story behind it, and we’re going deep into it together with Ilia. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): KARLOFF — “REVERED BY DEATH”

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Jan 202026
 

(written by Islander)

Reportedly, the German band Karloff “formed in 2018 initially as a means for erstwhile Graveyard Ghoul member Tom Horrified to blow off some punk-oriented steam with a couple close comrades.” But they’ve obviously turned out to be more than a one-and-done “let’s do this for the hell of it” outfit.

Not only have Karloff followed up their initial 2018 demo with five more releases, including an EP, a handful of splits, and their 2022 debut album The Appearing, they’ve persistently evolved their music in ways that most listeners probably wouldn’t have expected based solely on their first couple of releases.

And they’ve done that again on their forthcoming second album Revered by Death, as you’re about to discover for yourselves based on our full streaming premiere of the record today. Continue reading »

OUR LIST OF 2025’S MOST INFECTIOUS EXTREME METAL SONGS (PART 13): HOODED MENACE, GRAND CADAVER, DOOMSDAY

 MOST INFECTIOUS SONGS-2025  No Responses »
Jan 202026
 

(written by Islander)

Triskaidekaphobia is a recognized affliction, but no one should fear this 13th installment of our infectious song list. Instead, it should be relished, though in the case of some aspects of the following music it may be worth remembering that in the tarot deck, XIII is the card of Death, often depicting the Pale Horse with its rider. You’ll probably relish those aspects too. Continue reading »

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