Andy Synn Archives - Page 2 of 151

ULVER – NEVERLAND

Jan 022026

(Andy Synn begins another new year here at NCS with a new album by an old favourite)

The turning of the year is all about change, about rebirth and renewal… and if one band’s career has epitomised all of these things it’s that of Black Metal’s very own “lost boys”, Ulver.

That being said, as someone who’s been a fan of the band for a long time (especially since they fell out of the Black Metal pram and landed somewhere much stranger), the group’s last couple of albums (Drone Activity excluded) have – in my opinion, at least – fallen into a bit of a creative rut, with their attempts to follow in the footsteps of 2017’s fantastic, career redefining, The Assassination of Julius Caesar resulting in increasingly diminishing returns.

Thankfully, however, if history has taught us anything about Ulver it’s that they’re never too far from another stylistic shift, and with the start of a new year comes the start of yet another new era for the band.

Or does it?

THE SYNN REPORT (PART 190): JOURS PÂLES

THE SYNN REPORT 4 Responses »

Dec 312025

Recommended for fans of: Heretoir, Harakiri For The Sky, Gaerea

Well, here we are everyone, the very last post of the year… before we begin all over again tomorrow.

And it’s fitting that the last post of 2025 gets to be another edition of The Synn Report, as this series of articles was always intended to mark the transition from one month to another… or, in this case, from one year to the next.

I will say, however, that it is absolutely shocking to me that this is the first time we’re writing at any real length about prolific French “Post” Black Metal project Jours Pâles, as while we may have mentioned them here and there before (including just recently in my end-of-year round-up) the timing has just never been right for us to give them the attention they’ve so clearly deserved.

But now, at last, it’s time to change that.

So if you like your music rich in both blackened intensity and moody melodic energy – their most recent album, Résonances, in particular has some serious late-90’s/early-00’s era Dark Tranquillity vibes to it – all topped off with a blend of heart-wrenching emotional highs and immersive, introspective lows which owe a fair bit, in my estimation, to the viscerality and vulnerability of Punk/Hardcore, then you might just be about to discover your new favourite band.

BEST OF BRITISH: LYCHGATE / MONOLITH / QRIXKUOR

Album Reviews No Responses »

Dec 232025

(Andy Synn returns with another collection of reviews for recommended releases by UK bands)

Hola everyone!

As you may have noticed (or maybe you didn’t, maybe my absence went entirely unremaked) I didn’t post anything here at all last week, as I needed a bit of a break and a rest after all the time and effort involved in putting together my mammoth, week-long round-up of the year (which, if you haven’t done so already, I encourage you to do so via the following links):

Now, of course, it’s worth re-stating that, collectively, those lists are still in no way comprehensive… nor was I able to write about every single album featured to the extent I wanted to.

But now that I’m back in action – albeit, still at a somewhat reduced schedule – I’m going to take the opportunity to catch you up on a few albums that didn’t get a proper review, which in this edition of “The Best of British” features two records which made my “Great” list, and one one which (for reasons I’m about to illuminate) just didn’t quite make the cut for the top tier list but which still thoroughly deserves your time and attention.

2025 – A YEAR IN REVIEW(S): THE PERSONAL TOP TEN

LISTMANIA 2025 12 Responses »

Dec 122025

(Andy Synn finishes off “List Week” with a bunch of his personal favourites)

Here we are again folks, at the end of the road (for now, at least… I’ll probably still sneak in a few more reviews, including another “Best of British” and a “Things You May Have Missed”, before the end of the year).

And, as always, I’m finishing off “List Week” with my “Personal Top Ten”, i.e. the ten albums that have hit me the hardest, or stayed with me the longest, or otherwise just spent the most time on my regular playlist during 2025.

They aren’t necessarily the biggest names (several of them, in fact, are brand new bands making their first steps onto the wider stage this year), or even the “best” albums (some of them didn’t even make the cut for my “Great” list), but they’re definitely the ones (including some which came as a surprise to me) which had the biggest impact on my listening habits in 2025.

Of course there are lots of other artists/albums I wish I could have included here – honourable mentions go out to the likes of Tombs, Monolith, Crossed, Abigail Williams, and Terzij de Horde, all of whom were very much in the running for a place in my “Personal Top Ten” (the latter coming close to making the “Critical Top Ten” too) – but it should still give you some good insight into how my tastes have developed/regressed/mutated over the course of the year!

2025 – A YEAR IN REVIEW(S): THE CRITICAL TOP TEN

LISTMANIA 2025 8 Responses »

Dec 112025

(Andy Synn presents another detailed selection of 10 albums representing the absolute best of 2025)

In the words of the late, great Lieutenant Jean Rasczak… “this is for all you new people.”

Now the “Critical Top Ten” is not, and I need to stress not, a traditional “Top Ten”, in that it’s not ranked, nor is it actually intended to be the 10 “best” albums of the year (since, if we’re being realistic, that’s pretty much impossible to quantify, considering all the different factors that go into making all these different styles and sub-genres of Metal).

What it’s supposed to do, however, is provide a selection of 10 of the best releases of the year, drawn from my “Great” list (so if it wasn’t there then it’s not going to be here either… something which I try to clarify every year, even though I still get people complaining that [x] band isn’t mentioned despite the fact that, as I’ve stressed several times, if it wasn’t featured in my massive round-up over the last couple of days that means I didn’t get round to hearing it), that are designed to represent the impressive quality and creative variety of the scene over the last twelve months.

Again, it’s not comprehensive… obviously… and while I try to be as objective as possible in my selections (these aren’t my “favourite” albums of the year, those are coming tomorrow) I’m sure there’ll be lots of disagreements with my choices (in fact, looking at some of the comments we’ve already received, some of you are going to be very pleased, and a few of you are going to be very upset, but all of you should at least appreciate some of the surprises I have in store this year).

But I’ve found the best way to think about this article is as a sort of “time capsule” of the year… sure, there’s not room for everything, but when future generations look back on 2025 this should serve as an excellent snapshot of the year in Metal, across as many styles and sub-genres as I was able to squeeze into just 10 albums!

2025 – A YEAR IN REVIEW(S): THE GREAT

LISTMANIA 2025 36 Responses »

Dec 102025

(Andy Synn continues his ongoing round-up of the year with his selections for the top tier albums)

Like I said yesterday (you have read yesterday’s wide-ranging round-up of all the “Good” albums, right?) 2025 may have been a little lacking when it comes to the big names and famous faces – lots of them put in good work, don’t get me wrong, there just weren’t as many supreme stand-outs among the “old guard” as we might have hoped – but the younger and/or newer and/or more underground bands continued to absolutely kill it this year (with the “debut albums” section once again being far bigger than even I had predicted).

That being said, it was also a year of unexpectedly awesome come-back albums too, with some of the smaller gaps of this nature ranging between 7 and 9 years, and some of the larger being as long as 13 or even 30+ years, thus demonstrating that – as much as it’s awesome to see so many new bands kicking off their careers in style and helping to keep the scene alive – you never truly know when a band is going to do their best work.

Once again, I need to stress that this list of “Great” albums is in no way comprehensive – I’m sure there’s lots of albums that should be here that I simply wasn’t able to give the time and attention that they deserved – and, as “objective” as I’ve tried to be (these albums aren’t necessarily my favourites of the year, though quite a few definitely are) it’s probably worth pointing out that of course my personal tastes, values, and preferences are going to influence what gets included… so please don’t fly off the handle if an album you think is a “masterpiece” (though, personally, I try not to use that word) isn’t included here (and check the “Good” list to see if it’s there).

PS – if you’re going to comment (and I hope that you do, if only to highlight some bands/albums that you’ve discovered today or yesterday that you really like, as it’s always good to hear that these articles are proving useful) please note that I probably won’t be able to respond straight away, as I’m currently in Switzerland (which is particularly apropos considering the surprising number of Swiss bands in this list) enjoying a much needed end-of-year/post-wedding break, and I’ll try and get back to you if/when I get a chance!

2025 – A YEAR IN REVIEW(S): THE GOOD

LISTMANIA 2025 13 Responses »

Dec 092025

(Today we have Andy Synn‘s mammoth second article rounding up the year that was 2025)

As we get into the real meat of “List Week” it’s probably worth stating a few things up front, for the sake of clarity if nothing else.

First off, none of these lists are a traditional “Best Of…” (the only one that’s actually ranked is my “Personal Top Ten” and that’s solely an issue of personal preference), rather they’re meant to be viewed, and used, as a curated catalogue of links and recommendations designed to help our readers catch up on some of what they may have otherwise missed over the last twelve-ish months.

Secondly, note that I said “some“, because that’s a pretty important point that might need re-affirming… since these lists (the “Disappointing”, the “Good”, and the “Great”) are neither definitive nor comprehensive in any way.

In fact, if anything, it feels like my listening habits have diverged even further from what’s “on trend” than usual since January, meaning that – either due to a lack of time or a lack of interest – you won’t be seeing some of the bigger names that have appeared elsewhere (Lachrymose Monuments of Obscuration, Lonely People With Power, Viribus Unitis, Hideous Aftermath, The Hardest Thing About Being God…, etc) on any of my lists this year.

To be clear, I’m not trying to say that I have the most eclectic/esoteric tastes in the world – there’s more than enough other writers out there claiming to have listened to 500 different albums every month that I wouldn’t dare try and compete with them – nor am I trying to “show off” how much I’ve listened to this year (I think I actually ended up hearing fewer full-length releases in 2025 than I did in 2024).

But I do think that you’re probably going to find at least some stuff here you won’t have seen featured much elsewhere (not by the bigger sites, anyway) and while I’m not saying everything here is “great” (that is what tomorrow’s “Great” list is for, after all) it’s all worth checking out, at least, because you never know what sorts of hidden gems you might uncover.

PS – as always, I’ve tried to break up the list into distinct/discreet sections, highlighting a few releases here and there which I think are deserving of specific attention, and have provided links for every album here!!

2025 – A YEAR IN REVIEW(S): THE DISAPPOINTING

LISTMANIA 2025 19 Responses »

Dec 082025

(Andy Synn kicks off his annual week-long take-over of the site with a round-up of albums that he couldn’t, in good conscience, include in either his “Good” or “Great” lists)

Webster’s Dictionary defines “disappointing” as “failing to meet expectations“… and that’s what we’re here to talk about today, not the albums we don’t like, not the artists we hate (there’s more than enough room for that sort of negativity elsewhere on the internet, I’m sure), but those releases from 2025 which just didn’t quite make the cut this year.

And let me be clear about something, every one of these artists/albums featured here today is one that I was either already a fan of, or was hoping to become a fan of, prior to each of these releases, so what I’m not looking for is for people to use this as an excuse simply to bash bands, or their fans, just because they’ve got some weird grudge against them.

Rather, this is a place for us to express our sense of disappointment, to air our feelings about those artists/albums who failed to live up to our standards (or, indeed, their own), so that we can move on to better, brighter things over the next few days as I round-up all the “Good” and “Great” albums I’d like you all to check out (if you haven’t done so already).

Before then, however, prepare yourselves… the only way out is through!

2025 – A YEAR IN REVIEW(S): SHORT BUT SWEET

LISTMANIA 2025 2 Responses »

Dec 052025

(Andy Synn kicks off “List Week” a little early with a round-up of all the EPs he’s checked out this year)

All going to plan today is Friday 05 December, which means that tomorrow I’m heading to Switzerland for a mini-honeymoon (the proper one will be sometime next year).

Don’t fret though, as while I won’t be “physically” around the site as much I’ll still be taking over NCS entirely next week to publish my annual lists of everything I’ve listened to (enough to have formed a solid opinion, at least) this year, beginning with the “Disappointing” albums on Monday, then the “Good”, “Great”, “Critical Top Ten”, and “Personal Top Ten” (in that order).

Before then, however, I wanted to round-up all the various EPs (and related short-form releases) I managed to get in my ears this year (more than last year, I think, which is always nice), which also includes – at the end of the article – my personal favourites of the year.

As always you’ll find links to stream every single release here – which, I suppose I need to stress, is not in any way a definitive list! – so hopefully at least some of you will have the good sense to bookmark this page and spend some time over the next couple of weeks checking out some very deserving bands!

MARTRÖÐ – DRAUMSÝNIR ELDSINS

Album Reviews 1 Response »

Dec 032025

(Andy Synn sneaks in one last review just under the wire before drawing a line under the year)

With this being my last review prior to next week’s take-over of the site for my annual round-up of “A Year In Review(s)”, I knew it had to be something special.

And what better than the long-gestating, and highly-anticipated, debut album from a band – or, to be more precise, a duo – who seem set to take their place as the tip of the spear in the ever-expanding, and ever-abrasive, sphere of “dissonant” Black Metal.

So, please, allow me to present Draumsýnir eldsins… a vision of fire that will soon burn itself into your brain.

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