LAIR OF THE MINOTAUR: “I HAIL I”

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May 262026
 

(This is Todd Manning’s review of the first new album from Chicago destroyers Lair of the Minotaur in a very long time, and it’s out now on The Grind-House Records.)

It’s difficult this time of year for me to find time to write about music, but I couldn’t let a new Lair of the Minotaur record go without comment. I Hail I is the first full-length they’ve released in sixteen years, and it is a fabulous return. Lair of the Minotaur is the brainchild of guitarist/vocalist Steven Rathbone. He’s always managed to bring in top-notch talent to complete the lineup, this time reuniting with longtime drummer Chris Wozniak and bringing in bassist/producer extraordinaire Sanford Parker.

If any metalheads have been unlucky to overlook this killer band in the past, it is worth saying that Lair of the Minotaur sound like their name, like a minotaur let loose in the proverbial china shop. They deftly combine sludge and thrash influences, along with a talent for mixing in limitless hooks and memorable riffs. Their classic debut, Carnage, seemed to emphasize the sludge over the thrash, while most have emphasized the thrash a bit more. I Hail I returns to the burly sludge sounds of the debut. Continue reading »

BOSSE-DE-NAGE: “HIDDEN FIRES BURN HOTTEST”

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Mar 162026
 

(The Flenser has released the first new album by Bosse-de-Nage in eight years, and today Todd Manning shares his thoughts about it.)

Avant-garde metal band Bosse-de-Nage disappeared from the scene years ago, their absence as mysterious as their sound. They appeared dormant if not disbanded, but in truth, they have been slowly crafting their new album, Hidden Fires Burn Hottest. Now it’s time for the world to hear what they have been working on.

Bosse-de-Nage has always been hard to pin down, usually classified as black metal but that only works compared to other genres. Trying to understand Hidden Fires Burn the Hottest is like engaging in negative theology, it is easier to list the things it is not rather than define what it is. Continue reading »

CRYPTID SPAWN: “BLACK PHOSPHOROUS DUNGEON”

 Album Reviews, SHORT BUT SWEET  No Responses »
Feb 172026
 

(We present Todd Manning’s enthusiastic review of a debut EP by Singapore-based Cryptid Spawn, released at the end of January by Iron Lung Records.)

When it comes to vicious hardcore punk, d-beat, and grind records, the label Iron Lung Records reigns supreme. However, it is rare that they release anything that falls more firmly in the metal camp. So when they do put something out that is unquestionably metal, it is something to take notice of. Such is the case with Black Phosphorous Dungeon, the new EP by Cryptid Spawn.

When we say that Cryptid Spawn is undeniably metal, we aren’t talking about Judas Priest, not that there would be anything wrong with that. Cryptid Spawn’s leather-gloved hands are sticky with the DNA of the darkest extreme metal forebears. Think early Bathory, Blasphemy, Sarcófago, and Hellhammer. “Gods of the Grim and Dismal World” shows how they are able to blend the relentless blur of war metal with actual, discernible riffs, the song held together by a primitive but memorable chord progression. The vocals spew blasphemous phlegm in the best possible way, and when the guitars slow down partway through the song, the riff is the best combination of death metal crawl and sludge-ridden filth.It’s an auspicious beginning to a short but devastating release. Continue reading »

FINAL DOSE: “ENDLESS WOE”

 Album Reviews, SHORT BUT SWEET  1 Response »
Feb 062026
 

(Below we have Todd Manning’s review of a new EP by London’s Final Dose, released in late January by Wolves of Hades.)

Less than a year after the release of their full-length Under the Eternal Shadow (premiered and reviewed here at NCS), London’s Final Dose is back with a new EP, Endless Woe. Under the Eternal Shadow made it on my year-end list for 2025, so this latest release deserves some attention.

Most press refers to Final Dose as hardcore-influenced black metal. While that’s not necessarily wrong, it definitely minimizes what the group actually does. Certainly, they deliver the visceral assault such a descriptor implies. Opener “Golden Chalice” blends d-beats and punk moments with savage black metal, but Final Dose manages to maintain the atmosphere of black metal as well. The opening guitar figure evokes all the frost-bitten phantoms one can hope for, and then they segue into icy blasts. But just under two minutes in, a riff enters that splits the difference between Darkthrone and Minor Threat. It all works, whether one is meditating by candlelight or dancing in a pit; these guys have the magick. Continue reading »

LISTMANIA 2025: A YEAR-END LIST FROM TODD MANNING

 LISTMANIA 2025  3 Responses »
Dec 262025
 

(2025 marks the 10th year Todd Manning has been writing with us, and we’re grateful he has stayed with NCS for so long. Below you’ll find his un-ranked list of this year’s best albums (12 of them), plus lists of EPs, “metal adjacent” records, and reissue spotlights.)

Every year I am lucky enough to do this year-end round-up, I typically lament the state of the world, drawing some sort of parallel between the bleak state of affairs and the content of the music consumed. While all that remains true, I’m going to start on a more positive note.

This year, I’ve been able to more deeply engage with all the music that I love, to take refuge in these wonderful music scenes. I got to join a band I was already a fan of (Blasted Heath), do a short tour, and release some material from my noise project (Towers Burning Water). I also just got to hear so much more new music this year than I had in the past couple of years. It was a challenge to narrow this list down and to keep this article at something resembling a reasonable length. I always write this round-up the way I like to consume similar lists of others, a way to gorge on music I missed. Please enjoy…

Continue reading »

THE GRASSHOPPER LIES HEAVY: “HEAVY”

 Album Reviews  3 Responses »
Oct 142025
 

(Here we have Todd Manning’s enthusiastic review of a new album by Texas-based The Grasshopper Lies Heavy, which is set for release on November 14th by Learning Curve Records.)

The Grasshopper Lies Heavy is the two-headed brainchild of founder and frontman James Woodward. One head is the cinematic, post-rock band responsible for releases such as We Shouldn’t Be Here and the 2017 film soundtrack Cavern. The second side of the band is the pummelling, nasty metal behemoth responsible for the group’s latest, the aptly titled HEAVY.

There’s no attempt to marry the two identities here. HEAVY specializes in mid-tempo assaults, lethal grooves, and cathartic explosions. They rip out of the gates with “Human Claymore” and “Lyrics Are Hard”, two tracks of vicious stomps. What these lack in tempo variation, they make up for in powerful, nuanced riffing. There is an efficiency to The Grasshopper Lies Heavy, each riff sounds like it has been created and shaped organically, not tech per se, but full of detail. It’s the sort of riff-writing acumen that made Mastadon’s Remission so infectious, but here it is filtered through the pummeling power of early Coalesce. Continue reading »

ABRADED: “ETHEREAL EMANATIONS OF CTHONIC CARIES”

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Oct 092025
 

(We present Todd Manning’s review of an album released by the Ohio band Abraded through Redefining Darkness Records on September 26th.)

Metal, punk, grind, and hardcore are definitely separate genres, yet those bands that explore the overlap often are some of the most vicious around. Cleveland’s Abraded know this territory well and rule it with a crusty hand. Their latest, Ethereal Emanations From Cthonic Caries, dropped recently courtesy of Redefining Darkness.

Both grindcore bands and death metal bands make use of the blast beat, but when it comes from the grindcore side of things, it just hits different. Bands such as Abraded possess that grindcore-driven sound, full of kinetic physical violence. Despite the tempos that death metal bands achieve, these grindcore-style beats just sound faster.

Although Abraded now have a full lineup for shows, on this album mainman Patric Pariano is credited with doing basically everything (with David Kirsch on bass), and the drumming is maniacal. Just listen to opener “Ethereal Emanations” as he dances between ripping grind beats, crusty D beats, and mid-paced death metal riffs. For the vocals, his unhinged approach splits the difference between low and hardcore vocals and the kind of crazed, hyper-fast approach that Kataklysm used on their very early albums, such as Temple of Knowledge, before they slowed down. Continue reading »

ABHORRENT EXPANSE: “ENTER THE MISANTHROPOCENE”

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Aug 142025
 

(We present Todd Manning‘s vivid review of the second album from the deliciously demented Midwest US band Abhorrent Expanse, which will be released tomorrow by Amalgam Music.)

For all the talk of demons and quantum physics and Lovecraft and heavy metal, how many bands can actually take you outside mundane human experience? You may love Judas Priest as much as the next person, but listening to them isn’t going to warp your sense of time and space and take you to other dimensions. Conventional song structures might just be for conventional lives.

Arriving from the Midwest by way of R’lyeh, Abhorrent Expanse‘s journey began with 2022’s Gateways to Resplendence, a stunning hybrid of extreme metal and avant-garde improvised music. Now, in 2025, they’ve returned with Enter the Misanthropocene, due out August 15th, courtesy of Amalgam Music. Continue reading »

GRUESOME: “SILENT ECHOES”

 Album Reviews  1 Response »
Jun 102025
 

(Here is Todd Manning‘s review of the tremendous new album by Gruesome, out now on Relapse Records.)

Critics love to beat up on bands that aren’t original enough, but to be fair, most bands try to downplay any obvious influences. Cross-continental death metal masters Gruesome are being very open about their latest album, Silent Echoes, due out on Relapse Records on June 6th. It is supposed to sound like Death’s 1991 masterpiece, Human. But the inspiration for such imitation comes from a very genuine, heartfelt place.

Drummer Gus Rios was mentored by and a close friend of Sean Reinert, the drummer who put such a unique stamp on the aforementioned classic record. Reinert passed away unexpectedly in early 2020, and Silent Echoes is a tribute to him. Continue reading »

BENEDICTION (“RAVAGE OF EMPIRES”) AND CANCER (“INVERTED WORLD”)

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May 082025
 

(Todd Manning prepared the following dual reviews of the latest albums by two UK legends, Benediction and Cancer, out now on Nuclear Blast and Peaceville, respectively.)

Resurrecting old school bands can often be a hit or miss affair. At least half, if not more than half, fail to capture anything resembling the magic of their earlier years. However, for those who do pull it off, listeners are beyond thrilled.

For some of us, the early ’90s were one of the greatest eras of metal. The death metal bands from then created such amazing music, full of brutality and a unique atmosphere. While we often hear about Swedish, New York, or Floridian death metal bands, we can’t forget the great British masters as well. Carcass and Bolt Thrower, of course, top that list, but Cancer and Benediction were important as well, and they both have new albums out. Continue reading »

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