AN NCS INTERVIEW: DISTORTED REFLECTION

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Jun 192026
 

(In late February the Greek doom metal band Distorted Reflection released their second full-length through Iron Shield Records, and that led our Comrade Aleks to contact the band’s founder and guitarist/vocalist Kostas Salomidis for an interview, which we are happy to share with you today.)

Distorted Reflection was created by Kostas Salomidis, guitarist and co-founder of one of the first Greek doom metal bands, Sorrows Path. Kostas left his first band in 2022 due to creative differences, and the newly formed traditional doom outift, Distorted Reflection, released their debut, Doom Rules Eternally, two years later. The second full-length, Doom Zone, was recorded by Kostas, again with Vangelis Yal (bassist for prog metal band Fragile Vastness) and new drummer Thomas Zen.

Kostas performs not only as a guitarist but also as a vocalist now, and by the second album, he has made progress in his new role. For better or worse, Doom Zone’s eleven tracks fit into 38 minutes, and within this framework, Distorted Reflection offer a slightly revised formula of the first album. This collection of tracks, built on the foundations of doom and heavy metal, is energetic in spirit and filled with melodic themes that, despite their richness, are remarkably compact.

Let’s try to catch a glimpse in Distorted Reflection with Kostas himself. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: DEFILED

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Jun 162026
 


(all photos by Fukcrec Hbk)

(On June 12th Season of Mist released a new album by the long-persevering Japanese death metal band Defiled, and in advance of that our Comrade Aleks conducted an exceptionally good interview with Defiled founder/guitarist Yusuke Sumita, which we at last present today.)

Having started out in 1992, Japanese tech-deathsters Defiled have changed their lineup, sound, and, to some extent, style several times over the years. The last decade of the band’s career has been marked by a fairly regular stream of new releases, and their ninth full-length, Altered State, arrived right on schedule.

Although guitarist Yusuke Sumita is the only founding member of Defiled still in the fold, his three bandmates are also seasoned veterans, having spent between seven and thirteen years in the band. But even yet another lineup change is unlikely to derail Yusuke’s locomotive, which he, with gritted jaw, drives at full speed, demolishing barriers with concentrated, intense, and thoroughly technical death metal.

It’s barely a surprise, but despite its reputation and ambiguous cover art, the core motifs of Altered State are Orwellian visions of a present/future, but in the form of an open-to-interpretation idea of ​​the general psychological pressure and discomfort that society and the world inflict on us. At times this material sounds like an intense CrossFit workout, and while it’s sometimes hard to enjoy with such a tough workout, it’s achievable with the right amount of practice.

I’m glad that we had an opportunity to interview Yusuke, and I’d like to thank him once more for in-depth answers, which made this interview a pretty rewarding experience. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: DEFECT DESIGNER

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Jun 122026
 

(Anyone who has listened to Defect Designer, and perhaps especially their current album Depressants [released last month by Transcending Obscurity] will expect any discussion with them to be unusually interesting, especially if it includes insights into their creative process — and expectations are fulfilled in the following interview of Dmitry Sukhinin and Martin Storm-Olsen by our Comrade Aleks.)

I bet that you already had a glimpse here on the new metal of Defect Designer, so I’d prefer to avoid revisiting the band’s background. What we have now is Defect Designer’s fourth full-length Depressants, which continues a series of experiments in prog, death metal, and avant-garde music.

Dmitry Sukhinin is responsible for guitar, bass, and main vocals, as well as some of the music and lyrics; Martin Storm-Olsen has added banjo, mandolin, and twelve-string acoustic guitar to his arsenal this time around. Besides relatively new and extraordinary drummer Eugene Ryabchenko, this album also features female vocals (“Body Count of My Cow Tail”), and one of the three guest vocalists is Björn Strid from Soilwork (“Expiration Deferral Request Denied”).

Depressants sounds like an anthem of unbridled chaos, but in reality, it’s a meticulously crafted piece that has undergone a series of modifications at various stages. In fact, the band’s previous album, Chitin, was recorded literally in the middle of working on Depressants! So the songs were written unhurriedly, with all the necessary elements given due attention. Thus, the screaming death metal cacophony of “Butterfly Juice Straw” easily transforms into epic, melodic metal, while the magical, orchestral keyboard lines of “As the Terracotta Dust Settles”, on the contrary, are instantly dispersed by a rabid death metal overtone.

Asynchrony and extreme dissonance go hand in hand with harmony and classical music. Depressants is the carnage of “Daily Dose of Gloom,” the mandolin finale of “Repeated Aversive…,” the hard rock of “Expiration Defreral…,” and the sleepy prog haze of “Body Count…” A lot of everything to listen to, a lot of everything to dig, a lot of everything to discuss with the band’s main authors. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: TARASK

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Jun 032026
 

(In April of this year Antiq Records released a new album by the French black metal band Tarask. Comrade Aleks was drawn to it, and followed up his listening with this interview of the project’s creator.)

I fell for this bait again and initiated an interview with the band, whose new album description included the adjective “Lovecraftian.” But the Toulon-based black metal duo Tarask has slightly altered its concept for their second album, Sitra Ahra, and now relies on occult metaphors as a means of expression towards consumerism and modern society.

Being doom-guy for most of my time, nowadays I lean towards black metal as a more focused and straightforward way of channeling this discomfort… and I had a lot of this today after reading just the headlines of up-to-date news. So I have to admit, that classic and atmospheric black metal of Sitra Ahra is a good soundtrack to this evening when I’m ready to share with you this interview we’ve done with H. P. K. (vocals, guitars, bass). Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: EMINENTIA TENEBRIS

 Interviews  1 Response »
May 262026
 

(Below you will find Comrade Aleks’ very engaging discussion with the humble founder of the French epic black metal band Eminentia Tenebris, whose latest album, their fourth, was released last year by Antiq Records.)

We always do our best to follow new releases and present our readers the most actual and up-to-date information, but life is life and it’s difficult to cover all releases we receive. So I found the digital promo of Eminentia Tenebris’ album Whispers of the Undying in the corner of my desktop. I immediately recognized the album’s cover art, as it looks like a manifest, it’s very metal to the degree of cliché, yet it’s remarkable and solid. Thus finally I paid proper attention to this album and enjoyed it a lot with its epic and cinematic black metal.

It could be a nostalgic vibe of some songs or their refreshing breath, but I believe that the decision to do an interview with Cryo, Eminentia Tenebris’ founder, was a right one. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: GROND

 Interviews  1 Response »
Apr 302026
 

(Today is the day when Xtreem Music releases a new album by the band Grond, and to coincide with that long-awaited event we’re publishing Comrade Aleks’ in-depth interview with Grond frontman and founder Kist. Below you will also have a chance to stream the album in full.)

Moscow-based Grond are stalwarts of the death metal underground and dedicated worshipers of Lovecraftian Horrors. After a huge break the band returns with a new full-length album, and needless to say it’s their most mature, most sophisticated, and most cold-blooded work to date.

Xtreem Music gave Grond the green light, and The Temple, a concept album based on Lovecraft’s story with the same name, but the guys are true to themselves and they offer you their own interpretation of the master’s classics. We interviewed Grond’s frontman and founder Kist, and I’m excited to share this interview with you. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: SOULBURN

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Apr 272026
 

(The Dutch metal extremists Soulburn will release their fifth album on June 12th through Testimony Records, and that created a good opportunity for our Comrade Aleks to check in with Soulburn co-founder Eric Daniels. A great discussuion ensued, and you can check it out below along with the album’s first two singles.)

Dutch extreme metal act Soulburn was born 30 years ago after the first disbanding of legendary death-doom aggressors Asphyx whose core members Eric Daniels (guitars) and Bob Bagchus (drums) taught a new lesson of extremity with the devastating debut Feeding on Angels (1998). Years passed, and Eric is the only original Soulburn member now, although his bandmates Twan van Geel (bass, vocals), Remco Kreft (guitars), and Marc Verhaar (drums) are hardened veterans of the metal underground too.

Honestly, I didn’t expect any surprises from the band’s new album Quantifying Cosmic Doom but more good old blasphemous extreme stuff, yet the album strikes me not only with its high technical quality but also with a much wider concept, both lyrically and music-wise. The album is scheduled for the 12th of June by Testimony Records, so be forewarned! Quantifying Cosmic Doom this way comes.

I was lucky to get this in-depth interview with Eric himself, and there’s no better way to learn more about Soulburn than to read it. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: VIDE

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Apr 232026
 

(Vide’s unusual new album Aux enfants des ruines was released by the Antiq label in late February of this year, and it may have flown beneath the radar of many listeners who would appreciate it. But Comrade Aleks has done his best to elevate it through the following interview with its French solo creator.)

French multi-instrumentalist Hylgaryss’ solo project, Vide, remained in the shadow of another, slightly more atmospheric black metal duo, Sainte Obyana du Froid. But the balance may change, as Vide has returned after a four-year hiatus, and the project has not only slowed down but also become less extreme and more atmospheric.

One of the key features defining the sound of the new full-length Aux enfants des ruines is the use of actual recordings of a children’s choir, performing parts reminiscent of Gregorian chants. In fact, the opportunity to use a children’s choir recording largely guided Vide, and while some of the release is framed by a flurry of familiar black metal misanthropy with a depressive edge, the main storyline of Aux enfants des ruines is almost a spiritual mass, a call to the outcasts, to the “children of ruins,” as the artist calls them.

An atheist, Hylgaryss sought to give the album an “ultra-religious atmosphere, steeped in Christian mysticism.” The album’s entire atmosphere revolves around children: the visuals, the sound, the lyrics, the sheer purity of the voices brings something unusually tender to the raw and melancholic black metal. So there were more than enough reasons to take a deeper view in Vide’s work with Hylgaryss himself. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: GRAVES FOR GODS

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Apr 222026
 

(In late January of this year Meuse Music released the second album from the Australian doom/death metal band Graves for Gods, and that prompted our Comrade Aleks to contact them for a second interview — and here it is.)

Three years ago we interviewed Graves for Gods. Jak Shadows (Voices of Doom) and Matt Spencer (Resonant Strings) told a story behind the band’s debut album The Oldest Gods, and they mentioned that the music for their second full-length was already written. It took more time than anyone might have expected, yet here’s Graves for Gods’ sophomore album Last Light Fades, released earlier this year. As you understand, there was no chance to miss a moment and talk to these two guys again. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: MÖHRKVLTH

 Interviews  2 Responses »
Apr 202026
 

(We present Comrade Aleks’ interview of Gregory Person from the Breton black metal band Möhrkvlth, whose new album Gwenojennoù An Ankounac’h is set for release by the Antiq label on May 5th.)

In the eight years since the release of their first album, the French band Möhrkvlth has seen almost a complete lineup change. However, this hasn’t stopped the new members from following the masterplan of the band’s lead guitarist Gregory Person, and another full-length work entitled Gwenojennoù An Ankounac’h is here. Their atmospheric black metal with notes of depression, lyrics in Breton, and very light hints of traditional music influences may be considered as authentic, and indeed it’s one of the most interesting and memorable black metal discoveries of this spring.

Antiq Records focuses on albums with stories behind them, and so do I, thus let me introduce you to Möhrkvlth further through this interview with the band’s founder.

Continue reading »

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