AN NCS PREMIERE: KRIGSGRAV — “GHOSTS”

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Aug 122025
 

(written by Islander)

Let’s be honest, life is mostly a trudge from one mundane thing to another, flowered by moments of happiness, the petals soon enough fallen and stepped on by the need to keep moving — unless your shit is even worse than that and is more like one fall after another that makes you wonder how you keep getting upright, until you can’t.

Let’s be honest, this is also why so many of us search for experiences that banish the mundane, seeking our personal bouncers at life’s barroom door that won’t let the soul-draggers in. The musical banishers come in different shapes and sizes. Some just pump your heart and muscles full of electricity; some fire up your imagination; some give voice to your hurts and hopes.

Krigsgrav do all of that, and have done so for a long time. They do it again on their forthcoming eighth album, the perfectly named Stormcaller. They call it “the best album of our career thus far”, and while every long-running band says that about every new album, this claim is honesty in advertising. We have proof in the song we’re premiering today: “Ghosts“. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: INFERNAL THORNS — “BLACK FLESH”

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Aug 122025
 

(written by Islander)

When I listen to music I know I’m going to write about I don’t do it the way “normal” people do (I use the term loosely because I know our usual visitors would abhor being labeled that way, and with good reason). I tend to jot down words and phrases, trying to capture what I’m feeling so I can write about it.

That didn’t happen when I listened for the first time to the Infernal Thorns song “Black Flesh“. I didn’t freeze up, but something like the opposite of freezing, caught up in the sheer flood of adrenaline in the bloodstream, marveling at the hellishness of the heat and the bolting changes, muscles twitching from all the diabolical musical barbs, and not one word jotted down.

It was so much hellish fun, such a bacchanal of barbarism, that I didn’t keep track of how many times I listened before reminding myself I needed to organize some thoughts as a way of introducing our premiere.

But fuck, I guess I just introduced our premiere. Continue reading »

ASHEN – LEAVE THE FLESH BEHIND

 Album Reviews  2 Responses »
Aug 122025
 

(Andy Synn continues to be the biggest advocate of Australian Death Metallers Ashen here at NCS)

Let me ask you something… do you ever feel out of step with the (music) world?

I mean, I know we all do at some time, that’s a given, but every so often something comes along to really drive home to me how the bands I want to be bigger and more successful in the Metal scene (particularly the Death Metal scene) are rarely the ones who receive the biggest push.

Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy a bit of Undeath, Gatecreeper, and 200 Stab Wounds now and then, but I’d be much happier to see the likes of Baest (whose new album I reviewed last week), Tribal Gaze (whose upcoming second album, Inveighing Brilliance, was just announced) and Ashen receive the same level of attention.

But, let’s face it, there’s probably a reason I’m not an A&R guy, since I’m demonstrably terrible at assessing which bands are going to be the most marketable and most successful… although I’ve still got a pretty big platform here, and if I can use it to get some more of you to jump onboard the Ashen bandwagon in advance of their upcoming second album (out next week on Redefining Darkness) then I’ll consider it a job well done.

Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: BRAIN DEAD — “SPEED LASER PENETRATION”

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Aug 112025
 

(written by Islander)

Prepare to put your higher faculties on hold for a few minutes. That won’t require any conscious decision on your part after you press Play below, because the song we’re about to premiere will wake up your reptile brain and light a fire under it. It will then romp and run wild and body-check your thinking mind into the wall of your skull.

The Italian satanic speed metal band responsible for this song make no pretenses. Hell, they named themselves Brain Dead! As you’ll learn for yourselves when you listen to “Speed Laser Penetration,” the music is “stripped down” and feral, nothing fancy and nothing clean, as nasty as a wolverine pack with rabies. But it’s also damned compulsive – your reptile brain will thank you – and your thinking mind will probably appreciate the break too. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: LVTHN — “MOTHER OF ABOMINATIONS”

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Aug 112025
 

(written by Islander)

The abandonment of vowels doesn’t obscure the meaning of LVTHN, a plain enough reference to the titanic serpent of primeval origin, the draconic embodiment of chaos, and in Revelations a manifestation of the power of the Devil. Isaiah prophesied that this “tortuous serpent” would be destroyed by the Almighty at the end of time, but in the meantime the Belgian band LVTHN continue offering musical devotionals of revelation and ruin in the name of the Adversary.

The title of LVTHN‘s forthcoming second album, The Devil’s Bridge, emblazons their inspiration. As described on behalf of Amor Fati Productions, which will release the album on September 6th: “This is a work of devotion. A weapon of Will. A hymn to Lucifer, as light-bearer and destroyer alike…. It is music as weapon. Music as curse. Music as rite.” The bridge is both a metaphor and a a real place of experience, and on the other side the Devil awaits: “Not as myth, but as force, as initiator, as destroyer of illusions.”

We have one aspect of the architecture of this bridge in a song from the album we’re now premiering: “Mother of Abominations“. Continue reading »

OBSCURITIES – VOLUME XIX: MR. OZZY

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Aug 112025
 

(Here’s Daniel Barkasi‘s monthly NCS roundup of reviews, focusing this time on records released in July 2025.)

To begin, a quick word about the loss of one of the legends of legends in metal music. Not long after my last column for June releases, we lost Ozzy Osbourne. To say it was a surprise would be disingenuous, as his health hadn’t been great for a time. The rousing performance he and the rest of Black Sabbath gave everyone at Back to the Beginning was nothing short of stunning, a perfect sendoff for the band who is responsible for all of this.

A quick anecdote: I actually met the man, albeit very briefly. I was set to interview Silenoz of Dimmu Borgir at Ozzfest 2004. I was waiting backstage, and he was running a little behind. Lo and behold, here comes Ozzy with his entourage. He just wanted to make the rounds and say hello to people. I was lucky enough to get a brief greeting, and starstruck, I managed to thank him for making all of this possible. He just thanked me for being there, and moved on, holding court like only he could.

A blip in his day, I’m sure, but he made you feel like you were the most important person in the world for those few seconds. Silenoz came by not too long after, and I thanked him for his delay; he couldn’t have been cooler and still is one of my favorite interviews that I’ve done. The performance that evening was nothing short of brilliant, of course, and how can one complain about seeing Dimmu Borgir, Judas Priest and Black Sabbath on the same bill? Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD ON A SATURDAY: AMORPHIS, PROGENY OF THE SUN, TEMPEST, LAANG, DARK WATCHER, ZLOBNIK, CRUSTY OLD TOAD, DISTRESS

 Album Reviews, Exceptions to the Rule, Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  No Responses »
Aug 092025
 

(written by Islander)

It’s unlikely I will be able to write a SHADES OF BLACK column for tomorrow, due to conflicting weekend plans with my wife. So I’ve made this Saturday roundup a big one, and I’ve included a greater-than-usual number of black metal bands.

I decided to put a shiny bauble at the top of the group, hoping that it might lure some people to dig deeper into the pile before realizing they’ll get cut up by all the sharp objects underneath. Which is to say, there’s really nothing like Amorphis waiting for you later on. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: HENERE — “WINDS OF ELDRITCH NORTH”

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Aug 082025
 

(written by Islander)

Gaze upon the cover art for Henere‘s new album The Chosen Path and you’ll begin to get a sense of the music, through the artwork’s portrayal of ice and snow, of ancient battle-death and looming peaks, of dark clouds and strange spiraling brilliance. The music itself conjures those same visions, and more, as you’ll discover today through our premiere of a song from the album named “Winds of Eldritch North” in advance of the record’s co-release by Void Wanderer Productions (Netherlands) and War Productions (Portugal) on September 19th.

For the new album (Henere‘s first full-length following a pair of EPs), founder Wretch (vocalist and multi-instrumentalist) was again joined by guitarist Blood clot and bassist Lament. As the labels describe, this U.S. band’s new music “captures the force and mournful grandeur of black metal shaped by cold winds, ancient myth, and the weight of destiny…. Carefully placed synth passages rise like distant signals through the snow, adding atmosphere without overtaking the storm.” Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD ON A FRIDAY: OMNEUM GATHERUM, BELPHEGOR, WRETCHED, AUTHOR AND PUNISHER, GORLEBEN, ORBSTRUCT

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  No Responses »
Aug 082025
 

(written by Islander)

For the second time this week I found myself with enough spare time to pull together a week-day roundup of recommended new music and videos, getting a head-start on the usual Saturday collection.

Like the one I sorted out for Wednesday, today’s collection includes some very well-known names but also foists upon you a couple of comparative obscurities to help even things out (and by my lights the most interesting song — and the strangest one — in today’s group comes from one of those lesser lights). Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: IMPERISHABLE — “SPEWING RETRIBUTION”

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Aug 072025
 

(written by Islander)

Little more than a month ago we had the pleasure of premiering the jaw-dropping first single off Revelation In Purity, the debut album from the U.S. death metal band Imperishable, which is set for an August 29 release by Everlasting Spew Records. Today we’re happy to premiere another high-octane song from the album, this one aptly named “Spewing Retribution“.

If you haven’t already been introduced to these marauders, Imperishable started in 2020 as the brainchild of guitarist/vocalist Brian Kingsland (from Nile and Enthean) and bassist Alex Rush (Olkoth, Enthean). They later completed the recording lineup with the addition of famed drummer Derek Roddy (of Hate Eternal, Malevolent Creation, and too many other bands to name). Continue reading »

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