AN NCS INTERVIEW: GREEN CARNATION

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Mar 092026
 


photo by Lars Gunnar Liestøl

(On April 3rd Season of Mist will release a new album by Norway’s Green Carnation as the second installment in a three-album trilogy. Our Comrade Aleks discussed the first installment with vocalist Kjetil Nordhus last fall, and now we present a second more recent discussion between them which focuses on the new record — and includes lots more news, as well as a stream of a brand new second single from the new album, “I Am Time“, that’s premiering today.)

As you remember, the Norwegian veteran progressive band Green Carnation returned after a significant hiatus in autumn 2025 with an announcement of the trilogy A Dark Poem. As A Dark Poem Part I: The Shores of Melancholia was discussed in our interview here with the band’s vocalist Kjetil Nordhus four months ago, we sequentially follow the plan and provide a new one focused on the trilogy’s second part, A Dark Poem, Part II: Sanguis.

The band’s initial plan was to create three different albums which would complement each other, and until now it seems like everything goes according the plan. At least Sanguis follows closely to The Shores of Melancholia and yet provides some new ideas and quite a refreshing experience. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: MIDRYASI’S KULT

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Mar 042026
 

(On March 27th Dying Victims Productions will release Italian Dark Sound, the debut album from Midryasi’s Kult, and to help pave the way our Comrade Aleks conducted the following interview with the founder Geilt — and we’ve included the album’s first two singles as well.)

This story begins in 2002, when the Italian trio Midryasi officially embarked on their own creative explorations in the field of authentic progressive doom metal with a stoner rock edge. This blend fell under the somewhat vague definition of “Italian Dark Sound,” a local subgenre encompassing original bands geographically based in Italy and stylistically associated with the realm of dark prog and vintage doom. The group recorded three eclectic albums and unofficially disbanded for over a decade, but when the first demo (Mountain Devil) of Midryasi’s Kult, led by former Midryasi vocalist and bassist Geilt, was released last year, the situation took on a new dimension.

Although the project has a relatively consistent lineup, all the songs feature Geilt’s participation, and a couple of tracks were actually recorded by the old Midryasi lineup (“Hypnopriest” is taken from the band’s first album). Their new album’s title leaves no room for interpretation – Geilt adheres to roughly the same “Italian Dark Sound” line, relying on harsh guitar melodies alongside pure doom riffs, intricate prog patterns, and an eclectic vocal delivery with a distinctly deranged edge. And the band’s spokesman today is Geilt, of course — here we go. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: BIZARREKULT

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Feb 192026
 

photo by Radmila Volchenkova

(Here we have a new interview by our Comrade Aleks of Roman V., mastermind of the Norwegian black metal band Bizarrekult, whose new album is due for release on February 20th — tomorrow! — by Season of Mist Underground Activists.)

Norwegian project Bizarrekult emerged from the Siberian band Dryados and moved to Oslo with the relocation of its founder, Roman “Bizarre” (guitar, bass, vocals). Since then, Bizarrekult has had a virtual “studio” lineup, which, in addition to Roman, includes guitarist Ignat Pomazkov from the Belarusian doom band Adliga and drummer Alexander Pryakhin, based in Russia. At the same time, Roman maintains a live lineup of local musicians, so the band is fully active.

As you noticed due to NCS’ newsletter, Bizarrekult’s third album, Alt Som Finnes (“All There Is”), is here and it’s marked by a slight hint of moderate progress. The eight new tracks feature both pitch-black traditional black metal, with some post-branches. The material’s sound ranges from uncompromisingly apocalyptic and quite extreme to dreamy, transparent “philosophical” passages, presented in a softer, more tranquil manner.

Incidentally, the album features guest vocals: Yusaf Parvec (Manes, Dødheimsgard, Code) croaked on “Blikket Hennes,” Lina (St. Petersburg’s Cross Bringer and Predatory Void) sang on “Drøm,” and Kim Song Sternkopf (Møl and The Arcane Order) sang clean on the lyrical post-metal farewell “Tomhet.”

Conceptually, Alt Som Finnes sounds like an introspective, heart-wrenching album, untethered from conventional black metal themes, save perhaps for a profound sense of the inappropriateness of one’s place in a disorganized world. There was no other way but to do this interview with Roman, so you can read almost the entire story of Alt Som Finnes below. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: GUYOÐ

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Feb 132026
 

(Below you will find our Comrade Aleks’ interview with guitarist Dohrn from the Austrian metal band Guyođ, whose new EP was released late last month.)

The Austrian band Guyođ announced themselves in 2023 with their debut, Heart of Thy Abyss. That furious work, at the intersection of extreme death metal and doom, unpolished and thunderous, was imbued with the poetry of Charles Baudelaire and Herman Melville, lending the album a special charm. Their up-to-date half-hour-long release, Death Throes of a Drowning God, which another band would list as a full-length album, is considered by Guyođ to be an EP. This mini-album consists of four full-length tracks, each nearly six minutes long, and four noise drone interludes, collectively titled “Signal,” but with a numbered designation.

Regardless, Guyođ, ignoring convention, delivers listeners dark, concentrated, and meaty stuff. According to the band, one of the ideas behind the EP was to create more disturbing and savage material compared to their first album, and they have succeeded in this quest. This time, the celebration of chaos and madness is presented in the form of vigorous, monstrous death metal with a touch of extreme doom and black metal. At times (“Behind the Walls of Ice”), one is tempted to use the adjective “avant-garde,” but that would be pretentious… but why not? This feast of entropy has its share of deceptive calm, as in the track “Hestia Drowning,” but there are also poignant moments.

Guyođ have taken a creative approach to such a relatively short work, and if you’re looking for a little shake-up, check out this EP. And yet I hate to talk about how I see the music, especially when there’s a chance to talk with its author. Another interview with Dohrn (guitars) is here before you. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: HYVER

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Feb 022026
 

(With apologies for our own delay, today we present Comrade Aleks’ very lively interview from late last year of Léon Guiselin, the proprietor of the always-interesting Antiq Records and a figure in many bands of his own. The broad focus is on his philosophy as a label curator and artist, but with a particular emphasis on the fascinating new album of his project Hyver.)

Over the past couple of years, I’ve been paying more and more attention to releases from the French label Antiq Records, run by Léon Guiselin. Antiq tends to release albums with a story behind it, and whenever I’ve interviewed these bands, the lyrics have been wonderful!

Stylistically, the label focuses on old-fashioned black metal with elements of folk and dungeon synth, which is unsurprising, as Léon himself plays in a number of projects and bands of this kind. One of his solo projects, Hyver, released a new full-length album Shaâtaunoâr in November 2025, the structure of which resembles an old computer adventure game set in a medieval setting. You even have a choice of actions! But first of all, it’s a proper black metal album with good dungeon synth layers!

We did a pretty in-depth interview with Léon in the end of 2025 covering the themes of Shaâtaunoâr, black metal in general, and Antiq itself. And I’m pleased to share it with you. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: BINAH

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Jan 212026
 

(We present Comrade Aleks’ interview of Ilia Rodriguez from the death metal band Binah — a very eloquent and moving discussion that focuses on Binah’s new album Ónkos, which was released last October by Osmose Productions.)

The underground champions Ilia Rodriguez (vocals, guitar, synthesizers) and Andrews McIvor (guitar, bass, synthesizers) have performed with numerous bands, but for 14 years now they’ve remained faithful to their joint brainchild, Binah. Rarely but effectively, they produce their technical death metal pieces, and Ónkos is the third full-length in Binah’s discography.

The duo recorded Ónkos with a guest-drummer – Dan Mullins, who’s involved in several other bands, notably Blasphemer and My Dying Bride. While Binah’s previous albums had a standard structure (intro, outro, eight tracks in between), the new work consists of two gargantuan tracks, “Mount Morphine” and “The After Evermath,” totaling 43 minutes. The songs vary from ambient intros to persistent and abstract death metal constructions and bulldozer riffs in death-doom vein.

This is an album with a real story behind it, and we’re going deep into it together with Ilia. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: ANCHORITE

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Jan 092026
 

(Last August Personal Records released the second album from the multi-national doom band Anchorite, whose lineup is full of veteran names. Their music features singing (remarkable singing), but of course that won’t stop us from publishing Comrade Aleks’ interview of Anchorite’s vocalist, Leo Stivala.)

After a five-year hiatus, the international project Anchorite is ready to remind us of themselves with their second full-length album, Realm of Ruin. Anchorite’s strengths extend beyond the fact that Forsaken frontman Leo Stivala is on vocals; the entire lineup is remarkable. Leading the charge is bassist Peter Svensson, whom we recently wrote about in light of the new album from his main doom band, Void Moon, and who is known for countless other projects he’s involved in! Behind the drums is Void Moon’s drummer (and vocalist), Marcus Rosenqvist, and on guitar is Martin Andersen from the Danish heavy metal band Meridian.

The professionalism of Anchorite’s members guarantees the quality of Realm of Ruin, but if you’re familiar with Svensson’s discography, it’s time to ask: Is it physically possible for a person to produce so much metal without wearing himself out? Especially since three more albums featuring his most active contributions were released in 2025. True, two of the three (Furnace and War Magic) are death metal, and one (Bardo Thodol) is heavy metal, but jokes aside, Anchorite delight the ear with solid, never-failing doom metal with a leaning toward traditional, combative heavy metal. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: VÍGLJÓS

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Jan 062026
 

(Today we present Comrade Aleks’ very interesting discussion with the Swiss band Vígljós, whose latest album was released last September by Les Acteurs de l’Ombre Productions.)

These days, it’s incredibly difficult for bands of any genre to surprise listeners. Of course, not everyone is interested in the thrill of jazz syncopation in extreme metal or groundbreaking special effects performed by artificial intelligence, but you’ll agree that, despite our reverent attachment to certain genre staples, sometimes we crave something new.

The Swiss black metal band Vígljós found an original solution by basing their first album, Tome I: Apidæ, last year on etudes about the life of bees, or something similar. This year, the band of beekeepers invited a new member with his own instrument, the mellotron, and recorded a concept album about ergotism epidemics in Medieval Europe. Vígljós cleverly played with the famous imagery of Bruegel’s creepy beekeepers on the new cover, retelling the story of mass insanity and death in the universal language of music.

The unadulterated aggression of blast beats and the supreme inhuman screams set the tone of the album, but they are softened by a morbid melancholy, bitter as the noxious poison of metaphysical ergot. In short, the atypicality and originality of Tome II extends beyond the band’s visual image, and that’s truly remarkable. Of course, we couldn’t pass by a band with an imagination of such a scale, so here’s the interview with Vígljós’ collective mind.

Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: JEFF WAGNER

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Jan 052026
 

(Today we present Comrade Aleks’ excellent interview with veteran metal author Jeff Wagner, whose latest book — an extensive official biography of Voivod — is out now.)

Jeff Wagner is a writer and journalist who dedicated over 35 years of his career to the metal scene working with labels like Relapse, InsideOut, Century Media, and The End as well as being an editor of Metal Maniacs magazine. Besides that, Jeff is the author of Peter Steele’s biography Soul on Fire, an overview of 40 years of the progressive scene titled Mean Deviation, and Destination Onward, Fates Warning’s biography as well.

His new book is Always Moving – The Strange Multiverse of Voivod, a 540-pages-long journey into the realms of one of the ever-evolving and most exciting metal bands. Needless to say, no stone was left unturned during Jeff’s research, and he performed a great work reaching out to a lot of people connected with the band. More information on Jeff’s quest and his work ethics in the interview below. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: ILLA

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Dec 302025
 

(Here we present our Comrade Aleks’ interview with Saїmon Ramov, frontman of the Siberian black metal band ILLA, whose new albnum Dialogue was released this past September.)

Born in Novosibirsk two years ago, ILLA claimed to be quite an active project as it took just one year to give a birth to the first full-length, Sarva-Saktan (2024), and one more year was spent on finishing the sophomore work Dialogue, released on September 16th by SoundAge Productions and Svarenne Music.

One of ILLA’s main features is their sheer interest in Hindu mythology and culture. Thus their (mostly “post-“) black metal has its atmospheric and epic charm. As Saїmon Ramov, the band’s frontman, states: “Each track is a journey into unexplored corners of consciousness, where culture, tradition, and music intersect. We strive to convey to listeners not only sound, but also the significance of stories shrouded in mystery”. Continue reading »

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