CRYPTOSIS: “CELESTIAL DEATH”

 Album Reviews  No Responses »
Mar 042025
 

(On March 7th Century Media will release a new album by the Dutch progressive thrash band Cryptosis, and today we present Daniel Barkasi‘s review of the album.)

Thrash and I have held a contentious relationship as of late. True as it is that thrash was my first foray into the heavier side of the metal spectrum many, many eons ago, memorable albums have been difficult to find in these last few years. Without bands like Enforced, what the hell would I do for my fix?

Well, let us not forget Cryptosis – a band that blasted out a semi-debut (formerly known as Distillator, so the group wasn’t brand new) in 2021 that dished a fresh view of Voivod-adjacent progressive thrash that left many heads a-spinning. The name change was indeed appropriate, and said first full-length Bionic Swarm made a steadfast impression. Buffering with an equally scrumptious EP The Silent Call in 2023, the time has arrived by the eagerly anticipated album number two, Celestial Death. Continue reading »

DECREPISY: “DEIFIC MOURNING”

 Album Reviews  No Responses »
Mar 042025
 

(Below we present Wil Cifer‘s review of the a album by Decrepisy, which will be released on March 28th by Carbonized Records.)

The Portland-based band Decrepisy allow themselves to plunge deeper into the darkness on their sophomore album Deific Mourning. They dig into the catacombs where death metal meets doom. This project features members of Negative Prayer, Vastum, and Coffin Rot. These songs are not heavy thanks to the guitar tones or down-tunings, but due to the songs coming from a place of inner ugliness that is allowed to take itself outward sonically.

Any band can capture Entombed’s sound in the studio, but you are not going to believe demons are in their veins, because they are likely well-adjusted kids with good credit who like the sounds and trappings of metal music, but are detached from the darkness it represents. Then some deal with that darkness by allowing themselves to feel it and live it and that is what comes out when they express themselves in their music. This project is tapping into those places so their instruments become the conduits, and the atmosphere manifested here is the natural progression of where the sound should go rather than neatly checking off the boxes of required genre tropes. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: ROTHADÁS — “TETEMEK TAVA… LIDÉRCEK TÁNCA”

 Premieres  No Responses »
Mar 032025
 

(written by Islander)

As you can see, we’re about to premiere a song named “Tetemek tava… lidércek tánca” by the Hungarian band Rothadás. It’s from their forthcoming second album Töviskert… a kísértés örök érzete… lidércharang, which will be jointly released by Me Saco Un Ono Records and Pulvesized Records on March 21st.

According to an online translation tool, the title of the song means “Lake of corpses… dance of ghosts” in English, and the album title translates to “Thorn Garden… the eternal feeling of temptation… a ghostly melody.” Those words point the way to the experience of the music, but we ought to quote from the press materials for the album, because they eloquently point the way in greater detail: Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: NOIRSUAIRE

 Interviews  No Responses »
Mar 032025
 

(Later this month Khaoszophy Productions will release the latest EP from the French black metal band Noirsuaire, a prelude to a debut album that’s currently being recorded. In the following interview, our French contributor Zoltar conversed with Noirsuaire‘s mastermind N. about what inspires the band, how the work is done, and other topics of interest.)

There’s always been a certain, especially perverse flair to French black metal and although the scene hit a wall in the late ’90s and early ’00s once all its precursors like Vlad Tepes or Mutiilation had gone either silent or simply beyond the grave, it’s been more vivid than ever lately, and not just with bands perpetrating a certain local tradition.

Noirsuaire is a good example of a band — or project, depending on how you look at it, as it is basically one man’s doing, the secretive N., helped by a drummer and some external contributors – rooted in the classic European sound of the ’90s yet not solely dedicated to reviving the flickering flame of French black metal as it also is largely in debt to the Finns, mainly Sargeist and Satanic Warmaster.

Yes, from head to toes so to speak, this is pure ’90s black metal alright, down to its extremely coded black and white imagery and staccato riffing, yet with a genuine FOAD attitude that really sets them apart, down to coming up with a short-but-sweet two-track EP of Misfits covers (Death Comes Ripping) simply because they felt like doing it… Continue reading »

WHITECHAPEL – HYMNS IN DISSONANCE

 Album Reviews  4 Responses »
Mar 032025
 

(Andy Synn is as shocked as anyone at how good, and how heavy, the new album from Whitechapel is)

As someone who considers themselves a long-time fan of Whitechapel it wasn’t until I picked up the promo for their upcoming ninth(!) album, Hymns in Dissonance, that I realised I’ve been more of a lapsed fan of the band for even longer.

Truth be told, the last time I enjoyed a Whitechapel album front-to-back was their 2012 self-titled record (still my favourite out of everything they’ve done, though I’ll happily entertain any arguments in support of 2010’s absolutely monstrous A New Era of Corruption), and although I’ve given every subsequent release a shot – from the lazy Slipknot-isms of Our Endless War and The Mark of the Blade (arguably the lowest point, creatively speaking, point in the band’s career) to the increasingly popular, but also increasingly generic, sounds of The Valley and Kin – it’s largely felt like the past decade or so has been all about doing whatever it takes to maximise the band’s popularity, at the cost of what originally drew me to them in the first place.

And, look, I get why so many people like the latter two albums – Bozeman has a great singing voice, no doubt, and it’s clear how much effort he’s put into expressing the necessary emotion and processing his trauma on each record – but so much of their recent music has just been so aggressively bland (and, on the occasion where it actually does show some teeth, so blandly aggressive) that I can’t help but feel disappointed in them for continually playing things so safe.

Which is why Hymns in Dissonance is such a revelation – because I don’t think anyone out there expected them to go this hard, or this heavy, ever again.

Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK: ОБРІЙ (OBRIJ), LHAÄD, FAUSTIAN SPIRIT, KOLDBRANN, TYHJÄ , ANONYMOUS SKULL

 Album Reviews, SHADES OF BLACK, SHORT BUT SWEET  2 Responses »
Mar 022025
 

(written by Islander)

My computer tells me that my introduction to yesterday’s roundup of new music and videos was 1,502 words long. I obviously had too much time on my hands, though I don’t know why I spent it doing all that sharing instead of covering more music. But don’t worry, I won’t do that again today. Today’s introduction is 47 words long:

I’ve alternated today’s selections between complete albums or EPs and individual songs from forthcoming records. Apart from that, there’s no rhyme nor reason in how I organized the choices. I made these choices because, to quote the English poet William Cowper, “Variety’s the very spice of life.” Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD ON A SATURDAY: THE WEEK THAT WAS, AND MUSIC FROM NINE BANDS

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  4 Responses »
Mar 012025
 


Marcus Larson (1825–1864) Ocean at Night with Burning Ship (detail)

(written by Islander)

It has been a week in hell. I don’t mean the stuff you’ve seen every day in the national news reports, including the vile treatment of Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the White House yesterday (I’m addressing the 3 of you who can still bear to read the national news), but hellish events closer to home that impacted our putrid precious site.

Specifically, beginning last Sunday night and carrying into Monday the Puget Sound area of Washington where I live got walloped by lightning storms, heavy rain, and very high winds. Windstorms are fairly common during the winter months here, and the results are predictable: In the heavily forested island where I live, trees fall, limbs break off, and they hammer themselves into the power lines, all of which are strung above ground close to trees. And pop! The power goes out!

Which it did in the early hours of last Monday. And when the power goes out here, so does the internet, because my ISP’s local servers and routing stations apparently don’t have generators or human beings close by to keep them going. And when the internet goes out for everyone in my neighborhood (and this time for nearly all of the 30,000 people who live on the island), the strength of cell phone signals drops to borderline non-existent. I guess because everyone is trying to use their phones in place of the stricken net service. Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: FUNERAL DANCER — “MANANANGGAL”

 Premieres  No Responses »
Feb 282025
 

(written by Islander)

The black ‘n’ roll band Funeral Dancer came together at the end of 2019 in Long Island, New York, rising from the ashes of the blackened death metal band Locus Mortis. Since then they’ve released a pair of demos and a 2023 EP (The Nightmare) and played well-known venues in the New York area (including opening for Devil Master and 200 Stab Wounds at Necrofest at Saint Vitus Bar).

Now Funeral Dancer have signed with the revived Dark Empire Records (the Cleveland-based label started back in the ’90s by Integrity‘s Dwid Hellion) for the April 4 release of a new EP called Fiends of the Outer Wave. As a taste of what’s coming, today we’re bringing you the official lyric video for a song from the EP named “Manananggal“. Continue reading »

THE SYNN REPORT (PART 180): GREAT AMERICAN GHOST

 THE SYNN REPORT  1 Response »
Feb 282025
 

Recommended for fans of: Employed to Serve, Fit For An Autopsy, Knocked Loose

Despite their steadily growing profile over the years, this is the first time we’re actually writing about Boston-based bruisers Great American Ghost here at NCS (though their 2022 EP, Torture World did get a small mention in my end of year round-up at the time) so a quick introduction may be necessary before we go any further.

Equally influenced by seminal Hardcore acts like American Nightmare, The Hope Conspiracy, and Vision of Disorder as they are living Metal legends like Meshuggah, Gojira, and Fear Factory, the group’s sound has slowly shifted over the years, moving from the rougher, rawer approach of their debut album, Everyone Leaves, through the increasingly heavier and more metallic sounds explored on Hatred Stems from the Seed and Power Through Terror, to the even bigger and more bombastic tones of their most recent record, Tragedy of the Commons (which was released just last month).

So if any of that sounds appealing (and I’m hoping it does) then get ready to discover your new favourite band!

Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: AN AXIS OF PERDITION — “I AM ODIUM”

 Premieres  1 Response »
Feb 282025
 

(written by Islander)

We have a rare treat for you today, not just an exceptionally good new song by An Axis of Perdition but also an exceptionally good new video.

Let’s get to the video first. It tells a story, something like a haunting fairy-tale that the Brothers Grimm might have imagined. It was directed by award-winning filmmaker Randal Plunkett. The interior settings and the costumes are beautifully made, the exterior settings well-chosen. It’s also well-acted and meticulously filmed, and the narrative unfolds in a way that’s gripping.

Here’s a comment about the short film by Randal Plunkett himself: Continue reading »

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