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 »

SEEN AND HEARD ON A SATURDAY: A BAKER’S DOZEN OF BRUTALITY

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  1 Response »
Sep 272025
 


these plus one

(written by Islander)

The last time I compiled a Saturday roundup of new songs and videos was 21 days ago. No need to go into the reasons for that (because I’ve previously shared them). Needless to say (but of course I’m saying it), the volume of new musical extremity that has emerged since then has reached towering proportions.

As the days passed I continued keeping lists and open tabs, and visited many of those locations to do some listening yesterday and this morning, but it was still just a relatively small dent in that looming edifice of new sounds.

To sort of make up for being AWOL for the past three Saturdays, I’ve made this roundup a big one — a baker’s dozen of songs (and one short EP). Recency being primacy, I tended to lean toward newer things at the top of my list.

As you’ll see, I also tended to lean toward prominent and familiar names, but eventually descended deeper under ground. I also loaded almost all the videos on the front end — eight of them to start. And much of what’s coming, including the first four songs in a row, delivers the kind of high-speed intensity that gets hearts hammering. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD ON A FRIDAY: IGORRR, BEASTWARS, AFSKY, AEPHANEMER

 Exceptions to the Rule, Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  4 Responses »
Aug 292025
 

(written by Islander)

With only one track premiere on our calendar for today I grabbed the free time to once again get a head start on our usual Saturday roundup of recommended new music. I picked four songs out of the great flood of new things that surfaced this week.

This little collection includes offerings from bands that have been personal favorites for a while (I’ll get to some newcomers to my ears over the weekend), and it begins and ends with songs paired with very good videos, both of which also include some very different combinations of metal and classical music (and the third song does too). Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK: CAGED BASTARD, OBŠAR, SANGUISUGABOGG, IGORRR

 Album Reviews, SHADES OF BLACK, SHORT BUT SWEET  No Responses »
Jun 292025
 

(written by Islander)

Between signing off on yesterday’s roundup and starting this one, various events conspired to prevent me from making this one as substantial as yesterday’s. One of them involved a surfeit of gin, another a forgetfulness about something I agreed to do today with my spouse; possibly the two are connected.

A rash of new musical discoveries over the last 24 hours was also a contributing factor. They complicated the making of choices at a time when time has become short.

Well, enough about all that, I’d better get started or this collection will turn out to be even briefer than brief. Be forewarned: Nothing in here today resembles conventional black metal, or even black metal at all in some cases. Continue reading »

OVERFLOWING STREAMS: ABYSMAL DAWN, BONES, FLESHGOD APOCALYPSE, IGORRR, IKU-TURSO, INCEPTION OF FALL, NITE, NYREDOLK, SYMBOLIK, TYRANT OF DEATH, VELNIAS

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  4 Responses »
Feb 272020
 

 

Once gain I’m resorting to the round-up format I use when I’ve run out of time to provide my own scintillating commentary about each of the new songs and videos I’ve chosen to throw your way. For the most part, you’ll just have to listen and then imagine how eloquent and evocative I would have been.

In compiling today’s large selection, which is presented in alphabetical order, I had assistance from my colleague DGR. In fact, he recommended six of the 11 items you’ll find here.

 

ABYSMAL DAWN

This new Abysmal Dawn track, “The Path Of The Totalitarian“, is the second single from the band’s new album Phylogenesis, out April 17th on Season Of Mist. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD (PART 1): EARTH ROT, PURE WRATH, HUNTSMEN, IGORRR, THE HOLY FLESH

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  5 Responses »
Jan 172020
 

 

As you can see, I have ambitions to recommend quite a lot of new songs, enough to justify splitting up the collection into two parts. I can’t promise that Part 2 will arrive today, because I haven’t written it yet. Might be tomorrow before you see it, but trust me, it’s worth seeing (and mainly worth hearing) even if you have to wait until Saturday.

I confess that I chose to put these particular five songs together not only because I liked them quite a lot but also because I enjoyed the idea of giving you genre-whiplash as you move through them.

EARTH ROT

The first four songs in this collection all come from bands whose previous releases we’ve acclaimed here at the NCS hovel, and all of them now have new full-lengths headed our way in 2020. The first of those is the Australian blackened death metal band Earth Rot, whose new album Black Tides of Obscurity will be released on March 6th by Season of Mist. The first advance track, “Dread Rebirth“, is the album opener, and it arrived along with a video that’s full of interesting visual effects. Continue reading »

IGORRR: “SAVAGE SINUSOID”

 Album Reviews  5 Responses »
Jun 222017
 

 

(In this post TheMadIsraeli reviews the new album by the French band Igorrr, which was released within the past week by Metal Blade Records.)

 

Sometimes, when it comes to metal or heavy music in general, a concentrated dose of proper fucking insanity is the right call. Sometimes, you don’t need lyrics and sometimes all is said by a good vocalist shrieking his mind out into a mic with no intention of conveying anything other than exactly what you hear. Sometimes, you need accordion. Lots of fucking accordion. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: LO-RUHAMAH, AILS, PLOUGHSHARE, NECROT, ASHES FOR THE MUTE, IGORRR

 Album Reviews, Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC, SHORT BUT SWEET  8 Responses »
Apr 132017
 

 

This collection of new music is perhaps more eclectic and quirky than usual. Certainly, some of the tracks collected here are difficult to categorize, and in some cases almost impossible to describe. As a playlist, I found it appealing in part because it threw me off-balance. As usual, I also tried to include under-the-radar names, as well as (somewhat) better known ones, though I doubt any of these names have reached beyond the crevices of the underground.

LO-RUHAMAH

This makes the third time I’ve emblazoned our site with that wonderful piece of artwork by Elijah Gwhedhú Tamu at the top of this post, but the first time I’ve been able to share any music from the album it adorns. I’ve been eager to find out what kind of music would be wrapped within this imagery, and now I know that it’s as interesting and as attention-grabbing as the visual art. Continue reading »