Aug 072025
 

(written by Islander)

Little more than a month ago we had the pleasure of premiering the jaw-dropping first single off Revelation In Purity, the debut album from the U.S. death metal band Imperishable, which is set for an August 29 release by Everlasting Spew Records. Today we’re happy to premiere another high-octane song from the album, this one aptly named “Spewing Retribution“.

If you haven’t already been introduced to these marauders, Imperishable started in 2020 as the brainchild of guitarist/vocalist Brian Kingsland (from Nile and Enthean) and bassist Alex Rush (Olkoth, Enthean). They later completed the recording lineup with the addition of famed drummer Derek Roddy (of Hate Eternal, Malevolent Creation, and too many other bands to name). Continue reading »

Jun 302025
 

(written by Islander)

The covid pandemic cast a dark and deadly cloud across the world, but it did have some silver linings in the musical world. With shows canceled and in-person rehearsal and recording sessions suspended, restless creative types began thinking in different directions, and that led to some collaborations that otherwise probably wouldn’t have happened.

One of those silver linings was the formation of the U.S. death metal band Imperishable (to be distinguished from the Swedish band of the same name, who released an album of their own last April). The U.S. band started in 2020 as the brainchild of guitarist/vocalist Brian Kingsland (from Nile and Enthean) and bassist Alex Rush (Olkoth, Enthean). They wrote material during covid, but then put that on the back burner as they got busy again with more normal life and activities with their main bands.

But they brought their ideas to the front burner again after completing their lineup with the addition of famed drummer Derek Roddy (of Hate Eternal, Malevolent Creation, and too many other bands to name), and now Imperishable‘s debut album Revelation In Purity is set for an August 29 release by none other than Everlasting Spew Records — and we’ve got a lyric video for the album’s astounding first single today. Its name is “Oath of Disgust“. Continue reading »

May 202025
 

(Here we have another monthly column of Daniel Barkasi‘s vivid reviews, this time focusing on six highly recommended albums released in April 2025.)

Sometimes, you need to savor the weird pastimes that make life grand. One of those things for me that I haven’t touched upon much in this space is theme parks. Ah, I love a good theme park. Disney does it best, and having been to every Disney park on the planet, we’re a tad invested – both emotionally and financially. No park is better than Tokyo DisneySea, and it’s not particularly close.

Recently, however, we attended a preview of the brand new Universal Epic Universe with KevinP (another theme park connoisseur) before it officially opens to the public on May 22. Everything wasn’t operational, as it’s in a testing phase, but what we experienced was pretty fantastic. We’ll be going again one more time before opening day, and hopefully we’ll get to do everything that we didn’t get to the first time. If you find yourself in the sweaty hellhole that is Orlando, I’d suggest giving it a whirl – especially fans of Universal Monsters and Frankenstein. That land – or “portal” as they’re calling it – is worth the price of admission itself.

More akin to the music subject, this time of year brings festival time. NCS’s beloved Northwest Terror Fest just wrapped up and looks like it was an amazing time. One of these years, I’ll make it out. We’ll be attending Maryland Deathfest, per tradition. Hopefully plenty of readers will be descending upon Baltimore, and if that’s you, don’t be shy and say hello! One of the best things about festivals is the awesome people, and we’re looking forward to seeing plenty of friends and making new ones. If you can make it out to a festival this year, definitely do so.

Whether or not a festival is in the cards, April was bountiful with new releases well worth your time. We could list well over ten that we really enjoyed, and we’d still feel like something is getting unjustly left out. We’ve got six slots, however, so kick back with me and slap on your best headphones. Continue reading »

Apr 122025
 


Gaahls WYRD – photo by Jørn Veberg

(written by Islander)

It’s good to have friends. Friends can give you useful advice. Sometimes friends can also give you advice that makes you think, “I wish they hadn’t said that.” Case in point:

Since the middle of last week my wife has been 1,100 miles from where we live visiting her favorite sister. Home alone, I spent way more than the usual amount of time yesterday getting ready for this column. I listened to bits and pieces of 30 new releases, most of them singles and some of them EPs or albums. I picked 10 of them for today that I thought provided a good amount of variety. I even arranged them in a way I thought made sense.

I was so happy that I shared the list with my old friends Andy and DGR. Between the two of them they then pointed out 4 more new songs that I’d missed, all from known culprits we all like. Fuck me, what to do? Continue reading »