SHADES OF BLACK: HEIDEN, FARSON, MALAURIU, GALARE, LYSERGIC, LIGATION

 Album Reviews, SHADES OF BLACK, SHORT BUT SWEET  2 Responses »
Feb 152026
 

(written by Islander)

Getting a late start today. In yesterday’s roundup I mentioned that I had a cold. I took some over-the-counter stuff last night to help me sleep through it. I woke up 10 hours later, so I guess it worked, and hence the late start.

I picked all of today’s recommendations yesterday, and though my head is infected, these songs proved to be both more viral and more virile than the rhinovirus. I’m very happy with the choices and hope you will be too.

By way of preview, things begin in what we might call avant-garde territory, and then move in more punk-influenced directions, and then you’ll get blistered and beaten. At the end is an album that’s outside the usual boundaries of this column, but I didn’t want to wait any longer to give it a further push. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: LIGATION — “ERUPTION”

 Premieres  No Responses »
Dec 222025
 

(written by Islander)

“Recommended for maniacs of wildest Pungent Stench, Pan.Thy.Monium, Disharmonic Orchestra, Phlebotomized, and domestic iconoclasts Xysma as well as the heyday of Amphetamine Reptile – this is what it sounds like After Gods!”

And that’s the head-scrambling “FFO” recommendation offered on behalf of Personal Records for the debut album from Finland’s Ligation that they will release on January 23rd. If you know anything about those other bands, it’s a wild combination to consider, but the music’s wild too — which probably shouldn’t come as a huge surprise, given that Ligation’s lineup includes members drawn from the ranks of Profetus, Convocation, Sum of R, and La Murga, among others.

How wild is it? You’re about to find out, through our premiere of a bamboozling track off the new album named “Eruption“. Continue reading »