NO CLEAN SINGING

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): LUCTUS — “TAMSOŠVIESA”

Oct 092025

(written by Islander)

Now almost a quarter-century into their lifespan, the Lithuanian black metal band Luctus are poised to release their fifth album Tamsošviesa (Chiaroscuro) via Inferna Profundus Records. As the band explain, it “marks a new passage in our journey through the ever-shifting borderlands of light and darkness,” representing “both a continuation and a turning point – a chapter where our path through the twilight sharpens into clear focus.”

The album is indeed a changing progression through realms of shadow and brightness, creating excursions within each song that are at times poignant and haunting, and at other times frighteningly diabolical and utterly ferocious. It’s a meticulously crafted work, viscerally powerful and hard-hitting but also frequently mesmerizing as it ranges from major tropes of black metal into sonic territories beyond those traditional boundaries.

We have a lot more to say about the album below, but the main point of this feature is to let you hear all of it for yourselves. Continue reading »

ABRADED: “ETHEREAL EMANATIONS OF CTHONIC CARIES”

Album Reviews No Responses »

Oct 092025

(We present Todd Manning’s review of an album released by the Ohio band Abraded through Redefining Darkness Records on September 26th.)

Metal, punk, grind, and hardcore are definitely separate genres, yet those bands that explore the overlap often are some of the most vicious around. Cleveland’s Abraded know this territory well and rule it with a crusty hand. Their latest, Ethereal Emanations From Cthonic Caries, dropped recently courtesy of Redefining Darkness.

Both grindcore bands and death metal bands make use of the blast beat, but when it comes from the grindcore side of things, it just hits different. Bands such as Abraded possess that grindcore-driven sound, full of kinetic physical violence. Despite the tempos that death metal bands achieve, these grindcore-style beats just sound faster.

Although Abraded now have a full lineup for shows, on this album mainman Patric Pariano is credited with doing basically everything (with David Kirsch on bass), and the drumming is maniacal. Just listen to opener “Ethereal Emanations” as he dances between ripping grind beats, crusty D beats, and mid-paced death metal riffs. For the vocals, his unhinged approach splits the difference between low and hardcore vocals and the kind of crazed, hyper-fast approach that Kataklysm used on their very early albums, such as Temple of Knowledge, before they slowed down. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: LIGHTS OF VIMANA

Interviews 1 Response »

Oct 092025

(We present Comrade Aleks’ interview of Riccardo Conforti, which focuses on his band Lights of Vimana and their debut album Neopolis, released in June of this year on the Dusktone label.)

Lights of Vimana is a new project of musicians known by a lot of doom fans. It features Jeremy Lewis, current guitarist for Pantheist and Mesmur, and Riccardo Conforti, drummer and keyboardist for the epic Italian project Void of Silence. On vocals is Olmo Lipani, aka Déhà, who has performed with Clouds and… well, he’s got about twenty other active projects and bands, ranging from the ambient drone band Slow to the cutting-edge black metal band Cult of Erinyes.

In short, there are only three members, but they’re all experienced and well-rounded. It’s hard to say who’s in charge in Lights of Vimana, but the rich, cinematic keyboard arrangements evoke similarities between Neopolis and Void of Silence‘s albums, so it seems as if Riccardo deserves credit for the music. On the other hand, the divinely inspired guitar melodies and progressive compositional structures are clearly the work of Lewis. Déhà, as a vocalist, has complete freedom of expression, and the album’s five tracks provide ample space for both growls and clean vocals.

Needless to say, this is a project I couldn’t skip easily, so we got in touch with them in order to shed some light (of Vimana) on Neopolis. Continue reading »

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

Album Reviews, Premieres 1 Response »

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!

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