AN NCS PREMIERE: CONVOCATION — “EMPTY ROOM”

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Oct 012025
 

(written by Islander)

Spring has begun to bloom in the southern hemisphere but here in the far northern latitudes fall is creeping ahead and winter looms behind it. It is time to bid farewell to summer, even if many of you closer to the equator are still baking in the sun’s oven. Time to welcome the fall of dead leaves, the chill that cools the skin, the spreading blanket of night. What better way to greet the circling of the seasons back into gloom than with a split recording named Latitudes of Sorrow by two formidable bands proficient in the alchemies of doom?

Surely these two bands will be known to a great many discerning listeners based on their previous discographies, and certainly well-known to our own visitors based on how often we’ve written about them here. One of them is the Italian band Shores of Null, and the other is the Finnish band Convocation. Their music is distinctive, and distinctively different from each other, and yet the pairing of them together in this new split was an inspired choice: They are kindred spirits.

To help introduce this compelling new split in advance of its November release by Everlasting Spew Records, what we have for you today is the premiere of one of Convocation‘s songs, one named “Empty Room“. Continue reading »

THE SYNN REPORT (PART 187): TITHE

 THE SYNN REPORT  No Responses »
Oct 012025
 

Recommended for fans of: Full of Hell, Wake, Of Feather and Bone

I must admit that Grindcore is not a genre I tend to spend a lot of time with… although I do dip my toe into the filth every now and then (mostly when a band comes along who mixes in some of the ol’ Grind with other, equally metallic, elements).

Case in point, Portland, Oregon trio Tithe – aka Matt Eiseman (guitar/vocals), Alex Huddleston (bass/vocals), and Kevin Swartz (drums) – first caught my attention with the release of 2023’s Inverse Rapture, whose hideous Death/Black/Sludge/Grind hybrid ultimately earned them a place on my list of the year’s “Great” albums (which you can check out here, if you’re curious).

And with the group having just released their third album, Communion In Anguish, a few weeks ago now seemed like the perfect time to introduce you to (or remind you of) the group’s grindy greatness.

Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: HETEROPSY — “MEMENTO MORI”

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Sep 302025
 

(written by Islander)

After four EPs and a split since their formation in 2020, the Japanese death metal band Heteropsy will make their full-length debut with Embalming, an album set for release on October 31st by Caligari Records. The music is described on behalf of the label as a “mix of old-school Swedish death, melancholic vibes, and soulful edge” — death metal first and foremost but (in Heteropsy‘s words) with “vague madness and sadness.”

Further clues to what lies within can be found in the band’s identification of their influences as “sometimes” Dismember, Autopsy, Rippikoulu, Switzerland’s Sadness, and Sweden’s Naglfar: “We mixed our favorite death metal sounds, simmered them, sharpened them, stripped them bare, and then converted them into SAMURAI SWORD.”

The influences are indeed decipherable in the music, but make no mistake, Heteropsy‘s music isn’t some kind of paint-by-numbers copy. Rather than displaying rote fealty to death metal from an old age, they’ve created songs that manage to surprise as well as crush and slaughter. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: DROFNOSURA — “THE WELL OF SEVEN HEADS”

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Sep 302025
 

(written by Islander)

Let’s begin with these words from Transcending Obscurity Records, because they effectively create justifiable intrigue about what you’re about to hear:

Drofnosura from Canada are a strange beast and they’re comfortable in their own iridescent, translucent skin. They have taken elements from multiple styles such as sludge, doom, black, and even post metal, finely ground them, and used the material to sculpt a new body entirely. The influences are not as distinct any more but the entity nonetheless is able to shape-shift and display the tendencies of those styles.

That passage is part of how T.O. introduces Drofnosura‘s second album Ritual of Split Tongues, which will be released on October 24th. They also characterize the music as “whimsical, rhythmic, and elegant,” but as you ponder those adjectives don’t lose sight of the album’s cover art, because like that ghastly image the music is also quite capable of becoming horrifying — as you’ll soon learn for yourselves. Continue reading »

AUTHOR & PUNISHER: “NOCTURNAL BIRDING”

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Sep 302025
 

(Here’s Wil Cifer’s review of Nocturnal Birding, the new album from Author & Punisher that will be out this Friday, October 3rd, via Relapse Records.)

Regular readers already expect this review from me, since I have championed this project since its earliest days. I’ll admit I’m proud of Tristan Shone’s evolution of his sonic torture machines, and now that evolution includes this being the first album to feature guitarist Doug Sabolick joining as a bandmate, which contributes to the more rock feel to things.

Bird-themed, though the first track “Meadowlark” finds Shone’s voice bare of the effects that normally color it. Midway into the song, things kick in with a more organic version of the heaviness we expect from this project. There is a more overt industrial crunch to the amazing stomp of “Mute Swan.” His vocals are more thought-out, rather than just a layer over the throbbing grind of his machines. Megan from Couch Slut lends her voice to the ruckus erupting, with more detailed layers of melody luring you in during this. It might be the best industrial song you hear this year. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: COMBAT NOISE — “RAPID ATTACK (MACABRE DANCE)”

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Sep 292025
 

(written by Islander)

Trying to sum up the history of Cuba in a few sentences would be an impossibility, especially for someone like me who lives roughly 3,000 miles away in the great behemoth of a country that looms northwest of the island (and has never visited there).

From that distance and perspective, it often seems like Cuba was frozen in time many decades ago, thanks largely to the hostility of the U.S. (and the intransigence of Cuba’s rulers). Certainly, despite the country’s rich history and obvious charms, it doesn’t seem to have been a very welcoming platform for extreme metal bands, or probably metal bands of almost any kind.

And yet, metal has survived in Cuba. And for 30 years, the Cuban death metal band Combat Noise has survived. To celebrate their 30 years of determined survival, a trio of labels (Satanath, Sanatoria, and The End of Times) will release a special compilation album called 30 Years Of Cuba Death Metal on October 28th. It includes 11 songs from across those three decades of Combat Noise music, all of them completely re-recorded for this record at Deepblast Studios in La Habana in 2025.

What we have for you today is the re-recorded version of “Rapid Attack (Macabre Dance)“, a terrific new rendering of song originally released in 2003 as part of the two-song Combat Noise single Under My Rifle’s Fire. Continue reading »

DYING WISH – FLESH STAYS TOGETHER

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Sep 292025
 

(Andy Synn has a lot to say about Dying Wish and their meteoric, and well-earned, rise today)

There are some people, you know the ones, who will tell you that bands becoming more melodic, more popular, more “accessible”, is inherently a bad thing.

Heck, the name of our site is itself a tongue-in-cheek reference to a specific version of this particular phenomenon.

By the same token, however, I think it’s worth noting that “accessibility” isn’t the be-all and end-all – Imagine Dragons may be more “accessible” than Imperial Triumphant… in fact I’m pretty sure they are… but I know which one I’d rather listen to – and that “popularity” doesn’t necessarily correlate with actual “quality”.

And with the recent resurgence of Hardcore/Metalcore in the mainstream consciousness – I’m talking bands dropping massive breakdowns on live tv, showcasing unexpected pop-star collaborations, and hitting headliner status on festivals which previously wouldn’t have given them a second glance – I can absolutely understand why some folks might be concerned about “the scene” sacrificing integrity in favour of dubious celebrity.

But I’m here to tell you that just because a band starts to get “big” – and Dying Wish are well on their way – that doesn’t mean they suddenly become “bad”.

Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: IRR — “ETERNAL IMMUREMENT”

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Sep 292025
 

(written by Islander)

IRR is a Swiss black metal band formed by Daniele Brumana (drums), Sebastian Vogt (bass/vocals), and Tobias Kalt (guitar/vocals) after the disbanding of their previous band Forlet Sires, whose music we applauded here in previous years. They made their recording debut in 2023 with a demo named Twisting and Twirling / Of Flesh Subliming. After a few selected live shows with bands like Afsky, Panopticon, Kvelgeyst, Vígljós, or Abhorration IRR dedicated themselves to work on their debut album.

That album, Remains Remain, is now completed and scheduled for release in various formats on October 24th by Berggeflvster Records, Monastyr Records, and IRR. To help introduce the album, today we have a riveting video premiere for a stunning album track called “Eternal Immurement“. Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK: AFSKY, DEADLAND, VEIL LIFTER, BAALBERITH

 Album Reviews, SHADES OF BLACK, SHORT BUT SWEET  2 Responses »
Sep 282025
 

(written by Islander)

As was true with yesterday’s SEEN AND HEARD roundup, 21 days have passed since I was able to compile one of these SHADES OF BLACK collections. Unlike yesterday’s roundup, I’m not able to make up for the lapses with a mega-sized assembly today, due to… baseball. It’s the last game of the regular season for my hometown team, and I’m going.

I know that confession damages my kvlt credentials, yet I’ll try to repair the damage with the following five selections. Stylistically they’re not in the same vein, and yet I do think there are some connections, including a certain classical elegance and immensity among some of them, and a certain dark and even depressive cast common to some, which seemed fitting for the day — roughly one week into the Fall season, with The Big Dark looming here in the Pacific Northwest. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD ON A SATURDAY: A BAKER’S DOZEN OF BRUTALITY

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  1 Response »
Sep 272025
 


these plus one

(written by Islander)

The last time I compiled a Saturday roundup of new songs and videos was 21 days ago. No need to go into the reasons for that (because I’ve previously shared them). Needless to say (but of course I’m saying it), the volume of new musical extremity that has emerged since then has reached towering proportions.

As the days passed I continued keeping lists and open tabs, and visited many of those locations to do some listening yesterday and this morning, but it was still just a relatively small dent in that looming edifice of new sounds.

To sort of make up for being AWOL for the past three Saturdays, I’ve made this roundup a big one — a baker’s dozen of songs (and one short EP). Recency being primacy, I tended to lean toward newer things at the top of my list.

As you’ll see, I also tended to lean toward prominent and familiar names, but eventually descended deeper under ground. I also loaded almost all the videos on the front end — eight of them to start. And much of what’s coming, including the first four songs in a row, delivers the kind of high-speed intensity that gets hearts hammering. Continue reading »

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