NEUROSIS — “AN UNDYING LOVE FOR A BURNING WORLD”

 Album Reviews  No Responses »
Mar 242026
 

(This is our Gonzo’s review of the first new album from Neurosis in a decade, a surprise drop last week from the band’s Neurot Recordings.)

We live in a world where it’s exceedingly difficult to keep secrets.

When it comes to new music, fans tend to catch wind of things well in advance. That’s all by design, of course. The ubiquity of streaming platforms and social media has long since given a bullhorn to every band on the planet that wants to tease “big news coming soon,” and honestly, I think we’ve all grown a little numb to those tactics.

So, when I woke up to the news last Friday (March 20) that Neurosis had not only reunited some time ago under a veil of total clandestineness, but also added post-metal demigod Aaron Turner as a fulltime member, and dropped a new album with zero fanfare, zero advanced warning, and zero indications that the band was anything other than long-dormant, the shock factor probably could’ve been mistaken for actual Bay Area seismic activity.

Obviously, this left me with a lot of fucking ground to cover. Continue reading »

VESSELES: “HOME”

 Album Reviews  No Responses »
Feb 272026
 

(We present NCS writer Gonzo’s review of the debut album released in January by the California band Vesseles.)

A friend once made an interesting point to me about metal in general:

With some exceptions, metal is basically the modern-day equivalent of counterpoint.

It’s important to note that this friend wasn’t just spewing uninformed opinions—he’s a damn good guitarist and he’s released at least one equally good death metal record in the past few years. Also, it helps that I agree with his observation.

But as much as I could bore the shit out of you all about metal and its atavistic origins, this review isn’t about that.

Instead, I’m going to tell you about why California’s Vesseles is not only keenly aware of what they owe to classical music in their ambitious debut, Home, but also how deftly they wield it. Continue reading »

GONZO’S HEAVY ROUNDUP, JANUARY 2026

 Album Reviews  2 Responses »
Feb 192026
 

(Join us in congratulating NCS writer Gonzo on his engagement! Also join us in enjoying his reviews of four recommended January releases.)

I’ve yelled about how February is a useless fucking month at least once in the past, but this year feels a little different. For me personally, anyway.

Yes, you may have noticed that this column is hilariously late compared to my usual cadence, but since I’ve last posted here, I have:

  • Gotten engaged
  • Taken a last-minute trip to New York (I had the advanced notice of 24 hours in business days)
  • Had my byline in Decibel for the first time

Suffice to say some curveballs have thrown themselves into my schedule, but it’s not unwelcome. Despite living in a rapidly declining christofascist empire, life is largely good. It’s a very weird time to be happy in your personal life, if nothing else, and that alone is worth something. I also have the privilege of making my return to Roadburn this April, and with the recent announcement of Cult of Luna playing two sets there, I’ll have a hard time thinking about much else for the next two months.

God, where was I?

Oh, right. Here are another four albums you should really drop everything you’re doing and listen to. Yes, right now. Continue reading »

LISTMANIA 2025: GONZO’S TOP 20 ALBUMS OF 2025

 LISTMANIA 2025  2 Responses »
Dec 242025
 

(As our LISTMANIA orgy continues, today we have a Top 20 list from Denver-based NCS writer Gonzo.)

Well, here we are again.

An intro to things like this seems superficial at best, so I’ll keep this brief: This is my list of my favorite albums from 2025. With no clear-cut favorite taking the #1 overall spot (like last year did with Absolute Elsewhere), 2025 was not short on variety or depth. I found myself constantly (and borderline obsessively) revisiting albums that came out in the dead of winter and early spring, and I was glad I did.

With that, it feels good to have wrapped this one up. Until next year, friends— Continue reading »

GONZO’S HEAVY ROUNDUP, NOVEMBER 2025

 Album Reviews  3 Responses »
Dec 022025
 

(Here’s Gonzo’s latest monthly collection of reviews, this time focusing on three albums released during November 2025.)

Historically, November has a distinct way of fucking up my yearly Listmania plans, and this year is probably no different. It hardly makes sense to even start the hilariously brain-melting exercise of compiling my yearly list before December 1 anymore, because some band will be inevitably lurking just out of sight until the sun starts setting before 5 p.m. every day, waiting to skull-fuck my carefully concocted assemblage of heavy hierarchy into oblivion.

How does this always happen? Am I asleep for 11 of 12 months of the year? Is everything a joke? Well, yes, but that’s another topic entirely. It’s a good thing heavy music even exists at all, otherwise I’d probably intentionally maroon myself on some remote island and hunt billionaires with a crudely assembled spear.

Right. I think we got off topic here. My day job is rapidly approaching “let’s revisit this after the holidays” territory, leaving me with more time to scream into these hallowed pages about death metal. At least two of the records I included this month have a nonzero chance of showing up in the vaunted list of lists next month, and we’ll get to that rotten task soon enough. For now, allow me to regale you with three albums that are all but guaranteed to leave an impression on unsuspecting family members if played loud enough at the Thanksgiving dinner table. Continue reading »

GONZO’S HEAVY ROUNDUP, OCTOBER 2025

 Album Reviews  No Responses »
Nov 032025
 

(October 2025 is done and dusted, Gonzo has survived another month, and so he surfaces here to present reviews of four recommended albums released in the year’s 10th month.)

At the risk of sounding cliched, it’s always a depressing reality when Halloween comes to an end. It’s even worse when daylight savings time kicks in on the same weekend, reminding us that the Big Dark is already upon us, signaling the months of snow and rain and subzero temperatures that lurk around the corner.

Choose your coping mechanism as you wish, but whatever they are, I recommend you add these four new releases to distract you from the horrors. Continue reading »

UMULAMAHRI AND SUFFERING HOUR: A TALE OF TWO EXTREMELY EXTREME EPs

 Album Reviews, SHORT BUT SWEET  No Responses »
Oct 272025
 

(Gonzo is busily thinking about what to cover in his next monthly review roundup for NCS, but in the meantime he’s pulled together some thoughts about a pair of EPs released in the early days of October by two U.S. bands.)

When you spend a significant amount of time bulldozing your way through new music discoveries, a lot can happen. For one, it eventually becomes a hell of a lot harder to be impressed at anything. Your brain starts to tune out anything formulaic or unimaginative. Quality will always triumph over quantity, you start to tell yourself, and surely you’ll find yourself immersed in the throes of a dopamine hit that can only be generated by the nastiest, vilest, and more extreme foray into sonic depravity the human mind can possibly conjure. Just keep searching.

Then, at long last, when your quest for heavy music fulfillment reaches a zenith, it leads you to the very edge of the abyss you were once so intent on finding… and you suddenly find yourself afraid to look down, fearing what lies below.

In the case of these two EPs, the abyss stares back. Continue reading »

GONZO’S HEAVY ROUNDUP, SEPTEMBER 2025

 Album Reviews  No Responses »
Oct 032025
 

(September 2025 is in the books, and so Gonzo is back with us to share his recommendations of five albums released in that month.)

It’s probably a pretty clear indicator of the world we’re living in when not one, not two, but three albums released in the same month are some of the most intense emotional experiences I’ve had all year. And friends, let me tell you—it’s been a year.

It’s with albums like the newest from Sundrowned and Heretoir that provide comfort in the darkest of times. Whether or not these are a direct result or response to world events is anyone’s guess, but music in 2025 has hit decisively differently than years previous.

All this being said, if you’re looking for coping mechanisms, emotional catharsis, or just a goddamn wild-ass ride you won’t forget, I can’t recommend my picks for September highly enough. Continue reading »

GONZO’S HEAVY ROUNDUP, END-OF-SUMMER EDITION, 2025

 Album Reviews  2 Responses »
Sep 122025
 

(Denver-based NCS scribe Gonzo wrote the following album-review roundup, covering four albums released in July or August and one released a week ago.)

As per usual with every summer, I’ve spent about 75% of it in places that don’t include being in front of my computer. And when I am seated here in this vaunted throne, I’m staring at work. The kind that pays the bills. Sigh.

But really, who am I to complain? After a three-year wait, this summer’s resurgence of Fire in the Mountainswas everything it ever could’ve been and more, highlighting a July that was filled with all kinds of uplifting moments. And while I was out galivanting in the woods for undetermined lengths, tons of new releases came gurgling out of the ether that I have yet to write about.

Let’s fix that. Continue reading »

FIRE IN THE MOUNTAINS 2025: THE DAWN OF A NEW AGE OF HEAVY CEREMONY

 Concert Reviews  12 Responses »
Aug 072025
 

(Denver-based NCS writer Gonzo prepared the following extensive report on this year’s edition of the Fire in the Mountains festival. All photos except where noted by Jacob Juno.)

Like more than a few who will read this, the experience of the 2022 Fire in the Mountains festival left an indelible mark on me. That July weekend in the Tetons, now over three years in the rearview mirror, gave more than just a weekend of music in the wilderness to everyone in attendance. It took what easily could’ve been a risky one-off experiment and turned it into something decidedly different. Its success can be measured entirely by the community it built over those three unforgettable days.

Some of it was the incredible lineup, which included Enslaved, YOB, Wolves in the Throne Room, Wayfarer, and many others. Still more of it was the beautiful setting just outside Grand Teton National Park. But so much beyond that felt intangible, as if any human tongue lacked the words necessary to describe how it felt to be there.

I thought about all of this as I finished packing up my Subaru to the brim with camping gear two weeks ago. The wait was over. After three long years of uncertainty, the Fire in the Mountains festival would finally be making its triumphant return in a new place, rife with the potential for new beginnings.

And even though I didn’t know it at the time, the 2025 edition of this festival would not only obliterate every expectation I had for it, but it would signal the dawn of a new kind of heavy ceremony, paving the way for yet another weekend for which I’d struggle to find the words to describe.

The following recap is me trying anyway. Continue reading »

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