FORTRESS FESTIVAL 2025 PREVIEW

 Metal News  2 Responses »
May 222025
 

(Near the end of this month our Floridian scribe Daniel Barkasi will be making his first trip to England, and his first venture into Fortress Festival. We look forward to his report, and what follows is his explanation of why he’s very excited to go.)

Spring is upon us, and soon enough summer will come searing in with its blazing hot temperatures and allergens abounding. My sinuses are crying with anticipation. But this time of year does bring something us connoisseurs of heavy music no doubt look forward to – festival season! With the very special to us at NCS’ blackened hearts Northwest Terror Fest just wrapping up, and the mighty Maryland Deathfest on the horizon, we’re actually mainly looking toward escaping to a seaside town in North Yorkshire, England.

What’s there, you ask? Normally known for its picturesque views, the odd beach, and a 12th century castle, the town of Scarborough will again be host to an event that’s a bit more on our level. We’re talking about the mighty Fortress Festival, now in its third iteration, happening at the Scarborough Spa, from May 31 – June 1. Continue reading »

SERENITY IN MURDER: “TIMELESS REVERIE”

 Album Reviews  1 Response »
May 222025
 

(Serenity in Murder‘s Timeless Reverie has been out since the end of February on Apostasy Records, but it won’t let go of DGR, and so even now he feels compelled to sing its praises.)

One of the joys of being an internet dork such as we are is that we get to witness regional scenes and tastes sprouting up across the world and then attempt to archive it. While the language barrier is always a little daunting, depending on the country, the need for loud aggression is more universal. It’s not surprising that the semi-permanent poverty and extreme artform of heavy metal has held appeal across the world in that regard.

Sometimes you need to just yell and share your band’s name with a Slayer song, and whatever gets filtered through that particular point in time is transformed based on the person’s ambition. It’s why you can have some of the most musically inclined and smartest people in the world playing essentially the dumbest fucking thing possible – either in an attempt to elevate the artform or the more commonly cited reason of “it’s just fun”. Continue reading »

VADER: “HUMANIHILITY”

 Album Reviews, SHORT BUT SWEET  2 Responses »
May 212025
 

(The Polish titans Vader have bestowed upon us a new EP named Humanihility that will be sprung free by Nuclear Blast on May 30th. Below is our writer DGR‘s take on what it offers.)

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! It’s that time of year in which Vader drops a new EP on us that will no doubt offer a solid preview of things forthcoming from the now three-guitarist-armed band. Vader have done this like clockwork for years now, in between full-length albums offering up a two- or three-song EP that shows where their headspace is at, usually as a tight enough package on its own that it can hold people over for the extended wait that some album cycles tend to require.

They’re also a pretty good preview of what sort of Vader you’ll likely be getting on whatever upcoming full-length the titans have in store. Will it be death metal heavy Vader? Will it be thrashier Vader? Will Vader buck all trends and finally go full avante-garde and unleash some sort of blackened folk swing with extra emphasis on tuba? Will we get another fun cover song in the mix? Will we finally figure out how to work the word “lugubrious” into a review without calling attention to it beforehand?

Schrödinger’s Vader exists in multiple forms in the lead-up to the first spin of a new Vader EP and the sheer potential of it all is enough to keep things exciting. Continue reading »

CRUST – WHERE LIGHT FEARS TO DESCEND

 Album Reviews  No Responses »
May 212025
 

(Andy Synn boldly goes… where light fears to descend)

Due to the fact that DGR and I have been spending the last week or so terrorising the mean streets of Seattle together, we’ve had a lot more time than usual to hang out, shoot the shit, and discuss important matters like art, music, and where to get our next beer.

And it was during these discussions where he raised the point that there’s a bunch of bands – quite a lot of them now, to be perfectly honest – that we’ve adopted as favourites here at NCS, to the point where we actively try to cover everything they do in the hope that other sites will also pick up on them and help give them more exposure.

As some of you may have already guessed, Black/Doom/Sludge coven Crust have been one of these bands for a fair number of years now, and with their new album set for release very soon – this Friday, in fact – now felt like a good time to once again try and give these devils their due.

Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: KRSNĪ — “LONG VOYAGE”

 Premieres  No Responses »
May 202025
 

(written by Islander)

Uzbekistan in Central Asia is remote from the knowledge of most people who are likely to come across this feature. Though populous and ancient in the history of the lands now encompassed by its boundaries, it’s geographically remote as well, and one of only two countries that is “doubly landlocked,” i.e., surrounded by five other countries that are themselves landlocked.

The country’s capital, Tashkent, also has an ancient history, reportedly first settled between the 5th and 3rd centuries BC as an oasis on the Chirchik River near the foothills of the West Tian Shan Mountains. Today, among its more than 2 million inhabitants, it is home to the atmospheric black metal band Krsnī (a word that means “night” in Sanskrit), the solo work of multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Trizna.

Five days from now Satanath Records (Georgia) and The End Of Time Records (Ireland) will co-release Krsnī‘s fifth album, Neige éternelle, and it represents a new phase of sound, a departure from the project’s previous musical and lyrical directions. As a sign of the change and as an advance herald of the album, today we premiere a song called “Long Voyage.” Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: IBEX ANGEL ORDER — “BELIAL INVOKED”

 Premieres  1 Response »
May 202025
 

(written by Islander)

Contemplating new music from Ibex Angel Order is akin to contemplating the opening of a blast-furnace door to Hell, beyond which we will be blinded by enthroned Lucifer in his might and rage.

The last time we wrote about the music of this Dutch occult black metal band here (far too long ago) we described it as “cyclonic, dissonant, and berserk,” “a bewildering mix of toxicity and infernal majesty” that builds to “crescendos of catastrophe.”

That previous occasion was our premiere of a tremendous six-way split release named Ekstrophë in 2018. Ibex Angel Order returned the following year with a two-track EP, I.Ô. Creatôr / I.Ô. Destrôyer. Now, six years later, they’re returning again with their second full-length, II – Void Sermon.

The new album will be presented by Void Wanderer Productions on July 24th, and to help introduce it we’re premiering the album track “Belial Invoked.” Continue reading »

OBSCURITIES – VOLUME XVI: SEASON OF PARKS AND FESTIVALS

 Album Reviews  1 Response »
May 202025
 

(Here we have another monthly column of Daniel Barkasi‘s vivid reviews, this time focusing on six highly recommended albums released in April 2025.)

Sometimes, you need to savor the weird pastimes that make life grand. One of those things for me that I haven’t touched upon much in this space is theme parks. Ah, I love a good theme park. Disney does it best, and having been to every Disney park on the planet, we’re a tad invested – both emotionally and financially. No park is better than Tokyo DisneySea, and it’s not particularly close.

Recently, however, we attended a preview of the brand new Universal Epic Universe with KevinP (another theme park connoisseur) before it officially opens to the public on May 22. Everything wasn’t operational, as it’s in a testing phase, but what we experienced was pretty fantastic. We’ll be going again one more time before opening day, and hopefully we’ll get to do everything that we didn’t get to the first time. If you find yourself in the sweaty hellhole that is Orlando, I’d suggest giving it a whirl – especially fans of Universal Monsters and Frankenstein. That land – or “portal” as they’re calling it – is worth the price of admission itself.

More akin to the music subject, this time of year brings festival time. NCS’s beloved Northwest Terror Fest just wrapped up and looks like it was an amazing time. One of these years, I’ll make it out. We’ll be attending Maryland Deathfest, per tradition. Hopefully plenty of readers will be descending upon Baltimore, and if that’s you, don’t be shy and say hello! One of the best things about festivals is the awesome people, and we’re looking forward to seeing plenty of friends and making new ones. If you can make it out to a festival this year, definitely do so.

Whether or not a festival is in the cards, April was bountiful with new releases well worth your time. We could list well over ten that we really enjoyed, and we’d still feel like something is getting unjustly left out. We’ve got six slots, however, so kick back with me and slap on your best headphones. Continue reading »

SYMBIOTIC GROWTH: “BEYOND THE SLEEPLESS AETHER”

 Album Reviews  1 Response »
May 202025
 

(Everyone here only writes about music they want to recommend, but as you’ll see from DGR‘s following review of Symbiotic Growth‘s new album, he is especially enthusiastic about what they’ve accomplished.)

As 2025 has wandered onward we’ve been afforded a few chances to dig backward through the pile of music that we missed. The compulsion to try and cover everything that you’ve been enjoying can sometimes be just as strong as the urge to constantly be at the forefront of the most recent music to hit. The battle of the two can sometimes turn ugly and the cuts made can be just as brutal as the music you’re listening to.

But sometimes you find stuff that’s so special you just can’t let it go, and the world be damned, you will make time to discuss it in one form or another. Thus, when we do get these chances to bring up releases that we’d been meaning to talk about for a while, we’re going to take it. And that brings us to Symbiotic Growth, a progressive black and death metal band hailing from Ontario, Canada. They share members with a few other projects we’ve written about, including the oppressively dense death metal act Fractal Generator, whom drummer Dan Favot has belonged to. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: LIGHTS OF VIMANA — “NOWHERE”

 Premieres  1 Response »
May 192025
 

(written by Islander)

Lights of Vimana is a new multi-national band that unites three known talents from realms of extreme music: Riccardo Conforti from Italy (Void of Silence) on drums and synths, Jeremy Lewis from the U.S. (Mesmur, Pantheist) on guitars and bass, and Déhà from Belgium (Slow, Cult of Erinyes) on vocals. Their debut album Neopolis is now set for release by the Italian Dusktone label on June 13th.

In previewing the album, Dusktone has characterized the music as “atmospheric/progressive doom metal,” and as “a deeply cinematic and textural sound that diverges from the members’ heavier roots, instead weaving together influences from Hans Zimmer, Porcupine Tree, and My Dying Bride.” They add: “Déhà’s predominantly clean, expressive vocals lend a raw, human element to the album’s brooding, futuristic soundscapes, while Conforti’s ambient synth layers and Lewis’s expansive riffs create a dynamic interplay of beauty and desolation.”

And we’ll add one further quote from the previews offered on behalf of Dusktone, because it really rings true

The album paints a vivid portrait of a dystopian world – cold, vast, and haunting – where shimmering atmospheres meet the crushing weight of doom. It is a journey through collapse and transcendence, where every note feels like a flicker of light in the ruins of tomorrow.

One memorable song from the album has already been revealed, and today we present a second one: “Nowhere“. Continue reading »

GONZO GOES TO ROADBURN 2025

 Concert Reviews  No Responses »
May 192025
 

(Our Denver-based writer Gonzo went to Roadburn 2025 in April. Here’s his extensive report on the experience.)

For almost as long as I can recall, I’ve wanted to make the pilgrimage to Roadburn. The 4-day affair in Tilburg, Netherlands, has been one of the most consistently raved-about experiences in heavy music on the planet for the better part of two decades, and I’d been dead-set on getting my ass there for at least half that time.

As it turns out, 2025 would be the year I’d finally get to see if Roadburn lives up to the hype.

The short answer?

Yes. Fuck yes. And then some. Continue reading »

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