NO CLEAN SINGING

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): RED RIGHT HAND OF PLAGUE — “TRANSGRESS. SCAR. NUMEN”

Oct 082025

(written by Islander)

The cover art for the debut album of Red Right Hand of Plague is unusual, and intriguing, especially if you don’t know anything about the music of this Portland (Oregon) project. So is the album’s title: Transgress. Scar. Numen. So is this statement that appears on the album’s Bandcamp page:

IN THE EYE OF YAHWEH
HER ITHYPHALLIC REJOINDER

But really, I’m not sure anything could adequately prepare (or forewarn) people for what happens within the album. Labeling the music an amalgam of raw black metal and grindcore isn’t wrong, but that doesn’t come close to capturing just how wild the music really is.

In the paragraphs that follow, we’ll try to come closer, just for the hell of it, but you’ll have the chance to get really close because we’re premiering a full stream of Transgress. Scar. Numen today in advance of its October 10 release. Continue reading »

MASTIFF: “FOR ALL THE DEAD DREAMS”

Album Reviews, SHORT BUT SWEET 1 Response »

Oct 082025

(This is DGR‘s vivid review of a new Mastiff EP that’s set for release on October 24th by Church Road Records.)

Have you ever had a band that were perfect for ruining what would otherwise be a good day? A band that could drag you down into the depths of anger, violence, and misery no matter what in the world was happening outside? You could wake up and have everything be sunshine and rainbows, birds landing on your windowsill, all the animals of the forest resting kindly on your shoulder, and your beloved waiting just out of frame – only to put on a release by said group and have the whole feeling be annihilated and the skies darken around you?

What if we pitched the idea that sometimes that actually feels good in its own right? A weird sort of audio-masochism that works inversely to how your personality actually works? That we take this ugly music and it somehow gets us through the day no matter the situation. Propelled by either the sheer force of anger or the more nebulous ‘force of dumb’. That sometimes the artistic expulsion that helps them exorcise whatever demons might be bothering them works equally for us, calming anxiety and settling nerves.

No? Have you ever listened to the UK’s Mastiff, whose brand of sludge-infused hardcore is perfect for bullrushing whatever room you’re in and declaring, “Oh you thought things were going to be good today? Well, not on my watch!” Continue reading »

TERZIJ DE HORDE – OUR FLESH IS NOT OURS ALONE

Album Reviews 5 Responses »

Oct 082025

(Andy Synn takes a breath before diving in to the new album from Terzij de Horde)

There’s a certain sense of satisfaction to be had from knowing just how long we’ve been writing about the work of Dutch Black Meta/Hardcore crew Terzij de Horde.

As a matter of fact, their debut album, Self (which turns ten years old later this month) has the distinction of being an all-time favourite of mine, while this interview with the group that I conducted back in 2016 remains (in my opinion at least) one of the most interesting and in-depth discussions I’ve ever had with a band.

Which is why I’ve been looking forward so much to the release of their upcoming third album, Our Breath Is Not Ours Alone, which comes out this Friday.

AN NCS PREMIERE: UNCHURCH — “PILGRIMAGE TO ABYSS”

Premieres 1 Response »

Oct 072025

(written by Islander)

“UNCHURCH is an atrocity that emerges from the depths of the Chilean death metal scene in late 2022, where three entities form the strident disharmonies of this new act of violence manifesting from the abyss. Thus, this project, oriented toward anti-Christianity and harrowing death metal, with varied influences within the genre, is born, creating a tripartite conversation between primitive and technical metal, without losing the dark and bestial essence of death.”

That’s the introduction provided by the respected Mexican label Chaos Records, whose ears were caught by Unchurch via the band’s debut release in 2023, a self-produced EP rightly named Ode to Blasphemy. Having been invigorated by that sonic excursion into hell, the label is now set to release the self-titled debut album of these furious blasphemers on November 14th — and we’ve got the fiendish pleasure of premiering its first single today, a surging brain-exploder named “Pilgrimage To Abyss“. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: LIGHTLORN — “TO DREAM OF DISTANT STARS”

Premieres No Responses »

Oct 072025

(written by Islander)

The Swedish “cosmic black metal band” Lightlorn haven’t faltered since their first steps, but have only become more and more accomplished. From their debut EP These Nameless Worlds in 2022, to their first album At One with the Night Sky in 2023, and on through their 2024 single “Noctalgia,” all of which we’ve written about here, they’ve created atmospheric black metal that (as we once wrote) “reaches beautiful heights (in keeping with the band’s celestial interests) but also harries the heart.”

Today we happily share the news that Lightlorn are working on their second album, and we gladly extend our site’s attention to the band’s music by premiering a new Lightlorn single named “To Dream of Distant Stars” that’s scheduled for release on October 10th. They introduce it with these words: Continue reading »

AGRICULTURE – THE SPIRITUAL SOUND

Album Reviews 2 Responses »

Oct 072025

(Andy Synn navigates both the hype and the hate surrounding the new album from Agriculture)

If there’s one thing I’ve learned during my time here at NCS – beyond just how much DGR loves …And Oceans – it’s that you can’t (and, often, shouldn’t) pre-judge a band based on its press-releases.

Case in point, the way that Agriculture were immediately hyped-up as “the next big thing” when they appeared on the scene – combining the suggestion that the band’s inevitable success was a foregone conclusion with an almost “pick me” like intimation that they “weren’t like other Black Metal bands” – felt more like a cynical attempt to astroturf a bandwagon rather than cultivate a reliable fanbase.

And while the band themselves didn’t necessarily help matters – the whole “spiritual sound of ecstatic Black Metal” thing quickly became a meme unto itself – I’ve never had any reason to question their integrity or their sincerity… even if their creativity hasn’t always been properly harnessed to its best effect.

But that (the latter part I mean, not the former) might just be about to (finally) change.

AN NCS INTERVIEW: STEVE MERRY (BE’LAKOR)

Interviews 1 Response »

Oct 062025

Photo Credit: Oli Sansom

(NCS contributor Tør last appeared in our shredded pages during the depths of the covid pandemic, but he rejoins us today from Australia with a very extensive and interesting interview of keyboardist Steve Merry from the Australian progressive/melodic death metal band Be’lakor following completion of their recent North American tour and just a few days away from the band’s three-date tour of Australia with Persefone and Orpheus Omega. We’re grateful to both of them for all the time and thoughtfulness they devoted to this discussion.)

NCS: Years ago when I was still in the US, I was always looking forward to you guys doing a US tour. So, that’s where I want to start because it kind of relates to me personally, but also just knowing that the tour landscape in the US is logistically so brutal. There’s a lot of travel involved, it’s a different culture, there’s gear challenges, and lots of other things going on. So my first question is, how did it go for you guys? Did it live up to your expectations?

SM: Well, firstly, I hope you’re coming to our Melbourne show, we’ve got you on the guest list.

NCS: Yes, I am!

THINGS YOU MAY HAVE MISSED (BUT SHOULDN’T)

Album Reviews No Responses »

Oct 062025

(Andy Synn returns to regular posting today with an apology and an attempt to atone for his absence)

As you may have noticed, I missed a lot of stuff last month… mostly because I was very busy, first with my superb stag-do (“bachelor party” to those who don’t know what that means) which involved myself and my chosen band of brothers heading to Islay for a weekend full of whiskey (so much whiskey), and then my wonderful wedding (yes, that’s right, I’m a married man now) which also involved the extended NCS family coming to visit (which, of course, meant we spent most of the week before and after the event hanging out).

As a result I had very little time to actually sit down and listen to music, let alone write about it, and it’s really only thanks to the valiant efforts of DGR – who was smart enough to write a bunch of reviews in advance of him and Islander coming over – that we actually stayed active and afloat for much of September.

It won’t surprise you to learn then that my “short list” of albums to potentially write about this time around was much, much longer than usual, and even though I’ve tried to compensate for this by increasing the number of albums from 4 to 6, I still feel like I need to apologise to the likes of Cult Member, Nexion, Occulsed, Ordeals, Piece, and Yotuma for not having the time or space to include them (and an additional apology must also be extended to Hexrot, whose late-August release I honestly had every intention of reviewing).

AN NCS EP PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): DEATHFUCKINGWOUND — “VOID MMXXV”

Album Reviews, Premieres, SHORT BUT SWEET No Responses »

Oct 062025

(written by Islander)

We’re about to premiere the debut EP of a Finnish duo who call themselves DEATHFUCKINGWOUND. To introduce it, we begin with the band’s own statement of intent:

“While the world is currently being courted by flames ignited by weak men wielding unfathomable power only paralleled by their insatiable greed and corrupt lust for land and wealth that isn’t theirs, art can be used as a bridge between the oppressed and the beaten, to be then deployed as a weapon against the aforementioned flaccid figures hiding in their ivory towers. Those towers burn, too. Everything burns.

“Our objective is to harness our own strengths into a tangible aural form that is equally unyielding and full of rage as the free spirits craving for the flesh of the sovereigns poisoning this world. VOID MMXXV is a documented moment in time that hopefully reaches many minds alike, representing merely the firsts steps taken towards our own caustic annihilation.”

SHADES OF BLACK: AMIENSUS, ELLENDE, HOLOGRAMAH, CAGED BASTARD

Album Reviews, SHADES OF BLACK, SHORT BUT SWEET 3 Responses »

Oct 052025

(written by Islander)

When I finished writing the SEEN AND HEARD column yesterday and scheduled it for automatic appearance this morning I really didn’t think I would be awake or clear-headed enough to prepare a SHADES OF BLACK thing for today, which is why I said there wouldn’t be one. But even though I didn’t get to sleep after my spouse’s Saturday night birthday party until 1:30 am, I woke up at 7 am — amazingly not hungover, only weary.

I still thought about not trying to do put this column together, but I really hate leaving holes in our regular schedule, so here we are. Fewer selections than usual, but (I hope you’ll agree) very good ones. Continue reading »

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