SHORT BUT SWEET: HEAD OF THE BAPTIST / THEMATA / UNDERNEATH

 SHORT BUT SWEET  1 Response »
Oct 162025
 

(Andy Synn encourages you to check out three of his favourite EPs from the last month)

As always I’ve been a little lax in covering the various EPs and related short-form releases which have been put out over the last 10-ish months.

But I’ll hopefully be able to sneak a few more in before the end of the year (when, as always, I’ll be putting together a round-up of all the things I’ve listened to, including those I didn’t get to write about), beginning with today’s trifecta of auditory abuse from Head of the Baptist (Belgium), Themata (Finland), and Underneath (USA).

Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: EVOKEN

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Oct 162025
 


all photos by Eva Tusquets

(We present our Comrade Aleks’ recent interview with John Paradiso, vocalist/guitarist of the long-running U.S. funeral doom band Evoken, whose first new album in seven years [reviewed here] will be released tomorrow by Profound Lore Records.)

While funereal death-doom has never been (and never will be) a popular genre, there are bands that know how to squeeze the most out of its dry rulebook and present their vision creatively and with a spark. American pioneers of this genre, Evoken, are generally considered to have formed in 1994, although the band had existed under other names since 1992. Of that original lineup, only two remain in Evoken today: Vince Verkay (drums) and John Paradiso (vocals, guitar). However, the rest of the band are no newcomers either: Don Zaros (keyboards), David Wagner (bass), and Chris Molinari (guitar) have been elevating this slow and agonizing funeral doom to the level of true art for over fifteen years.

I respected Evoken, albeit not fanatically, but their latest full-length Mendacium resonated with me, reflecting a lot of things happening in the world right now. And objectively, this moderately original, distinctive, and mature album is interesting not only from an artistic perspective, but also as a metaphor for a deeply ill world. A world in which we still live. Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: PILE OF KNIVES — “LACERATION”

 Premieres  1 Response »
Oct 152025
 

(written by Islander)

This band from the Pocono Mountains region of Eastern Pennsylvania aren’t trying to fool anyone. They call themselves Pile of Knives. They named their first EP No Light. The name of their new one is Driven By the Blade, and its cover art is a photo of meat cleavers and a gutting knife on a blood-soaked backdrop.

Their music is also unabashedly bludgeoning and brutal, and when they’re not trying to beat the living hell out of listeners, they’re furiously cutting them up and spraying the remains with acid.

Well, that’s one way of trying to capture Pile of Knives‘ amalgam of slam, death metal, beatdown hardcore, and deathcore, which invokes the legacies of such bands as Skinless, Dying Fetus, Internal Bleeding, Origin, and Through The Eyes Of The Dead, but also the likes of Crawlspace, Final Resting Place, Shattered Realm, and No Zodiac.

We’ll try out some other ways of capturing the experience in print as we discuss a song from Driven By The Blade that we’re premiering with a video today. Its name is… “LACERATION“. Continue reading »

BEST OF BRITISH: ASIDHARA / BEYOND EXTINCTION / CONJURER / DIMSCÛA

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Oct 152025
 

(Andy Synn provides four, rather than his usual three, fantastic examples of British steel for you to enjoy)

Looking back at the year so far it appears that while I’ve been pretty regular with these “Best of British” articles I haven’t quite managed to do one a month, hitting January, but not February, then publishing one each in March, April, May,and June, before skipping July, and then just about squeezing one in during August and September.

For this edition (which might not be the only one in October, if all goes well) however, I’ve slightly mixed things up a little, including one album released all the way back in June (which, to my chagrin, I didn’t even get around to listening to until last month), one from the end of last month, and two from this month, one of which was already released, the other coming out next week.

So let’s see what delights this extended edition has to offer, shall we?

Continue reading »

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”

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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 »

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