LUNAR BLOOD: “ANOR” & “ITHIL”

 Album Reviews, SHORT BUT SWEET  No Responses »
Sep 232025
 

(In this article DGR vividly reviews the two EPs released this year (so far) by the New Jersey extremists Lunar Blood.)

The initial plan for tackling New Jersey-based Lunar Blood’s newest EP Anor was to do so soon after I had returned from the May festival run. Anor was released on May 2nd, 2025 and was swept up in the great content maw that is my dragnet, but the opportunity to tackle its three songs wouldn’t present itself until after I returned home closer to the end of the month.

However, like many reviews, best laid plans are often laid to waste instead, and so Anor – alongside a few other victims that I keep swearing up and down that I’ll get to goddamnit – found itself backburnered up until Thursday, September 11th, when I finally found the time post-work – as nothing else important had happened that day other than me taking my team out for breakfast for clearing 1,000 days safe at work – to dive headfirst into its three songs and really come to grips with what the Lunar Blood crew were attempting to create here… only to discover that they had released a follow-up four song EP that same day entitled Ithil. Continue reading »

WE INTERRUPT YOUR USUAL FLOW WITH THE SOUR RISKS OF A CEMETERY TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE

 Album Reviews  1 Response »
Sep 232025
 

(We are delighted that Vizzah Harri (South Africa born and Vietnam resident) has returned to us after some time away, and has brought with him a typically distinctive review of Sour Risk, a new album released in September by Cemetery Trip, preceded by typically distinctive reviews of all the Cemetery Trip releases that have preceded it.)

There are times when we just want more of the same, stuff of old that we grew up with or last year’s best but perhaps by now worn out overplayed. We are all creatures of habit and we can all fall for the trap of thinking deviating from course would be less fruitful than staying it. In metal lore there are the supposed big shifts of note when bands take an avant-garde or post-ish turn, perhaps they stopped growling or even using riffs for that matter! Gasp, the horror.

There was a time that I was appalled by the idea of change. Continue reading »

INTERNAL BLEEDING: “SETTLE ALL SCORES”

 Album Reviews  No Responses »
Sep 222025
 

(Wil Cifer penned the following very enthusiastic review of the first Internal Bleeding album in 7 years. It will be released by Maggot Stomp on October 17th.)

Whenever I hear the term “deathcore” being used to describe a band, it normally turns out to sound more like something left over from the Myspace years, rather than the blend of hardcore and death metal that a band like Internal Bleeding kicks up on their new album Settle All Scores.

These guys have been around since the ’90s and have always been ahead of their time. Now, perhaps the kids call this sort of thing “Slam,” but the reality is it’s just hardcore-influenced death metal. Not sure what it is about places like Long Island and Buffalo, New York, but it makes people angry, considering how Cannibal Corpse formed in Buffalo three years before these guys. When it comes to being hyper-aggressive, the two bands are cut from a similar cloth, though Internal Bleeding does not invoke splatter horror vibes, but a gritty street-wise feel. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: HOODED MENACE

 Interviews  No Responses »
Sep 222025
 


photos by Pasi Nevalaita

(Finland’s Hooded Menace have a new album on the way, set for release on October 3rd by Season of Mist, and today we present Comrade Aleks‘ interview with Lasse Pyykkö.)

My eyes filled with tears of affection when I put my hand on Hooded Menace’s seventh album Lachrymose Monuments of Obscuration. These seven tracks captivate with the inspiring melodies of ’80s heavy metal, the mood and sound of ’90s death-doom, and even a hint of VHS horror soundtracks. These songs warm with a reminiscence of early Paradise Lost, and even Harri Kuokkanen‘s exemplary death metal growl at times recalls the roar of Holmes in his prime.

Meanwhile, the guitar harmonies (Lasse Pyykkö‘s specialty) can’t help but evoke sheer metal classics. Drummer Pekka Koskelo, with a quarter-century of underground experience, hammers away with the focus and intensity of the possessed — and in short, this trio is a dream team.

I can’t hide my excitement with this driving, filled-with-hooks record, but I prefer to hand the floor over to Lasse Pyykkö himself; he has a few things to tell about Lachrymose Monuments of Obscuration. Continue reading »

BEFORE THE DAWN: “COLD FLARE ETERNAL”

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Sep 222025
 

(Before the Dawn released their new studio album Cold Flare Eternal on September 5th via Reaper Entertainment, and today we present our DGR‘s extensive take on the record.)

I worry sometimes that I might not be fully over the initial excitement of Before The Dawn actually coming back after its extended inactive period. To me, they were a perfect gateway band and guide for people into the more extreme realms of heavy metal. At times they could be immensely heavy, groovy, and sharp, and with a luxurious clean singing voice to help reinforce the music alongside some brutal growls.

Before The Dawn were a great way to ease people into extreme music. The good-cop/bad-cop vocal stylings have only spread further, and while it became the calling card of many a metalcore band proper, the Finnish journeymen that made the band up always hewed more toward a melodeath style of things. Continue reading »

BLOG BREAK (PART 2)

 Off Topic  6 Responses »
Sep 202025
 

(written by Islander)

Being at least moderately realistic, I realize that not all of our visitors in a given week will visit us every single day. Some people will land on this post without having landed on the one a week ago, which was another break from what I usually do for NCS on the weekends. In that week-ago post I shared the news of Andy Synn‘s impending wedding and why that would alter our usual coverage of music for a handful of days. I also re-shared that news in a new-music roundup a couple of days ago. But since some of you will have missed those, here’s a quick recap:

Today is the day when our Andy Synn will take his vows in front of family and friends in a beautiful place on the outskirts of his hometown of Nottingham, England. I am happy to say that I will witness it in person, as will our fellow NCS slave DGR and a few other close friends from our side of the pond. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: SILENT TOMBS

 Interviews  No Responses »
Sep 192025
 

(Today we happily present Comrade Aleks‘ interview of Victor Mercado, vocalist of the Mexican doom/death metal band Silent Tombs, whose excellent debut album will be released by Personal Records on October 17th.)

Islander already wrote about the forthcoming release of Silent Tombs’ album Mourning Hymns from Beyond, and it’s hard to add something new to his words. This bunch of experienced extreme metal musicians from Colima, Mexico managed to create a stunning melodic death-doom masterpiece combining all the key influences of the genre yet obtaining a clear individual touch.

These mid-tempo songs built of riffs heavy as a coffin lid, soaring breathtaking melodies, and a firm, vivid rhythm-section accompanied by killer growling parts make a modern classic. I’m still surprised with the top level of this release and its mature, natural vibe, and I bet that this interview with Victor Mercado will give you an answer to some questions you may have after listening to the first singles from Silent Tombs. Continue reading »

DAWN OF ASHES: “INFECTING THE SCARS”

 Album Reviews  1 Response »
Sep 192025
 

(DGR finally surrendered to his impulses and wrote the following review of an album released in June by Metropolis Records, the newest nightmare from L.A.-based Dawn of Ashes.)

Many, many moons ago when the planet was young and the amino acids that would eventually become the building blocks of life were still bubbling within the primordial soup – such as, last year – in a fit of inspired pique and otherwise wholesale madness just to torpedo any crumb of legitimacy that might be granted to the name tag of yours truly, I reviewed Gothminister‘s eighth studio album Pandemonium II: The Battle of the Underworlds.

The costume-wearing kitsch and otherwise designed to be blatantly infectious goth-rock and metal rhythms charmed me, fully aware that a band this late in their career had mostly evolved into spectacle rather than musical artform. At the time they were a group I had a surprising amount of history with, having followed them since 2004’s Gothic Electronic Anthems, and the idea of having them drift through the hallowed halls of this site was – at the time – far too amusing to pass up.

I have also never heard the end of it to this day, and to hear it told, have also opened the gates to some of the more wild premieres we’ve hosted in the year since with the reasoning being that we had already covered a Gothminister album so why the hell not? Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: THE MUNSENS, LAMP OF MURMUUR, AN ABSTRACT ILLUSION, NIPHREDIL

 Album Reviews, Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC, SHORT BUT SWEET  5 Responses »
Sep 182025
 

(written by Islander)

As I write this I am in Nottingham, England, and eagerly looking forward to attending Andy Synn‘s wedding on Saturday. An overnight flight brought me from Seattle to London with an early arrival yesterday, and I didn’t feel too much the worse for wear despite only napping for an hour on the 8-hour flight. Then came a car ride to Nottingham and a lunch there with Andy, his bride-to-be, and some other American friends (including DGR) who have also come over for the event.

By the end of our long lunch and a post-prandial drink at another spot, I was hitting the wall. I fought to stay up until 6 pm and then crashed hard. But I woke up early this morning after 12 1/2 hours of sleep feeling great, and now I’m quite happy with my jet-lag solution!

Of course it’s still weird being on UK time, weird in the sense that I decided to pull this round-up together with something like 7 hours to go before it will magically appear in line with our normal daily posting schedule, instead of just minutes. Continue reading »

NOVEMBERS DOOM: “MAJOR ARCANA”

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Sep 182025
 

(What follows is DGR‘s extensive review of Major Arcana, a new album from Novembers Doom that’s set for release on September 19th by Prophecy Productions, with videos for all three pre-release singles at the end)

The sadness of September continues unabated with all of your favorite titans of melancholy seeming to have chosen this month as the time to unleash their latest creative opus upon the world. Chicago’s November’s Doom have long earned their right to stand among the mightiest in this arena, with a career of well over thirty years and – now – twelve albums to their name.

Their newest one Major Arcana sails into port after a six-year journey for the Novembers Doom crew since their previous release Nephilim Grove in 2019. Major Arcana delivers unto its listeners ten songs and about fifty-six minutes worth of music. Continue reading »

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