AUTHOR & PUNISHER: “NOCTURNAL BIRDING”

 Album Reviews  No Responses »
Sep 302025
 

(Here’s Wil Cifer’s review of Nocturnal Birding, the new album from Author & Punisher that will be out this Friday, October 3rd, via Relapse Records.)

Regular readers already expect this review from me, since I have championed this project since its earliest days. I’ll admit I’m proud of Tristan Shone’s evolution of his sonic torture machines, and now that evolution includes this being the first album to feature guitarist Doug Sabolick joining as a bandmate, which contributes to the more rock feel to things.

Bird-themed, though the first track “Meadowlark” finds Shone’s voice bare of the effects that normally color it. Midway into the song, things kick in with a more organic version of the heaviness we expect from this project. There is a more overt industrial crunch to the amazing stomp of “Mute Swan.” His vocals are more thought-out, rather than just a layer over the throbbing grind of his machines. Megan from Couch Slut lends her voice to the ruckus erupting, with more detailed layers of melody luring you in during this. It might be the best industrial song you hear this year. Continue reading »

EVOKEN: “MENDACIUM”

 Album Reviews  1 Response »
Sep 242025
 

(We present Wil Cifer‘s evocative review (couldn’t help that) of Evoken‘s new album Mendacium, which will see release on October 17th via Profound Lore.)

It’s been 7 years since Evoken released the masterfulHypnagogia. It was an album that found the band changing what they felt the funeral doom genre could be, with some riffs that were in equal parts epic and melodic. They are taking another creative shift, though this time it lies in the spacious mix and stark composition choices they are making that give an even darker and more dismal sound here.

It’s not big, the way the cavernous echoes are captured by bands on the more deathly end of the doom spectrum embrace. Instead, the guitar haunts liminal spaces. There are none of the lush layers of sound you expect, but a creepy, sparse emptiness that sonically conveys a loneliness not heard in their previous work. The album is still characterized by great guitar work, it is just handled differently. Continue reading »

INTERNAL BLEEDING: “SETTLE ALL SCORES”

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Sep 222025
 

(Wil Cifer penned the following very enthusiastic review of the first Internal Bleeding album in 7 years. It will be released by Maggot Stomp on October 17th.)

Whenever I hear the term “deathcore” being used to describe a band, it normally turns out to sound more like something left over from the Myspace years, rather than the blend of hardcore and death metal that a band like Internal Bleeding kicks up on their new album Settle All Scores.

These guys have been around since the ’90s and have always been ahead of their time. Now, perhaps the kids call this sort of thing “Slam,” but the reality is it’s just hardcore-influenced death metal. Not sure what it is about places like Long Island and Buffalo, New York, but it makes people angry, considering how Cannibal Corpse formed in Buffalo three years before these guys. When it comes to being hyper-aggressive, the two bands are cut from a similar cloth, though Internal Bleeding does not invoke splatter horror vibes, but a gritty street-wise feel. Continue reading »

TODAY IS THE DAY: “NEVER GIVE IN”

 Album Reviews  2 Responses »
Sep 082025
 

(We present Wil Cifer‘s review of the new album by Today Is The Day, which will be released on October 3rd by SuperNova Records.)

When it comes to Steven Austin’s demented little band, Today is the Day, expect the unexpected. The only thing aside from Austin’s familiar high-pitched snarl that their 14th album has in common with previous releases is that it’s different than what he has done before. It’s confrontational but in a much different way. Austin has been churning out his jagged blend of grindcore and noise rock for 32 years, so you can’t blame him for wanting to change things up. This might be his least metallic album yet, but that does not stop the music from stabbing your ears as the songs lead you through a labyrinth of personal narrative cloaked in bizarre experimentation. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: KEN SORCERON (ABIGAIL WILLIAMS)

 Interviews  2 Responses »
Jul 022025
 

(On July 18th Agonia Records will release a new album by Abigail Williams, and today we have Wil Cifer‘s interview of the band’s mainman Ken Sorceron.)

Q: “A Void Within Existence” marks the 6th album for Abigail Williams. What lessons have you learned since the first album that helped shape this one?

A: The biggest lesson is to stop trying to please anyone but yourself. Early on, I was always half aware of how a record would be received, but now I don’t care. That kind of freedom opened the door to something more honest and more extreme. Over time, I’ve learned to fully trust my instinct. I don’t second-guess the darkness, the stillness, or the chaos. If something feels real, I follow it—even if it leads somewhere uncomfortable. Continue reading »

HOLLOW LEG: “DUST AND ECHOES”

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Jun 242025
 

(Wil Cifer reviews Florida-based Hollow Leg‘s new compilation album Dust and Echoes (combining two 2024 EPs), which was released on June 13th by Third House Communications.)

The fact that guitarist Brent Lynch is the only member of Hollow Leg who was not from Bloodlet might lead you to think, this band is a continuation of the forerunners of dark hardcore’s legacy. That is not the case.

It’s respectable for the band to mark this as a new chapter rather than use the name of their previous project for the sake of recognition. This is truth in advertising as this band is much more metal, and in my best guesstimation, and the fact they are fellow Floridians, I can assume things changed as they started smoking a ton of weed which caused the shift in musical direction. The biggest change is that Scott’s vocals are still gruff, but come closer to a scowl-tinted croon than the hardcore roar that marked what he did in the late ’90s. Continue reading »

OSSUARY: “ABHORRENT WORSHIP”

 Album Reviews  3 Responses »
Jun 052025
 

(This is Wil Cifer‘s review of a debut album by the Wisconsin death metal band Ossuary, which is out now on vinyl via Me Saco Un Ojo Records, and on CD and tape via Darkness Shall Rise.)

Embarking upon the path of death metal, it seems that a band is confronted with the choice, much like a video game, where they must choose a class, think Dungeons & Dragons in this regard. For this metaphor, we’ll use Mage (Morbid Angel), Fighter (Entombed), Barbarian (Cannibal Corpse), and Necromancer (Incantation).

This particular band, Ossuary, featuring members of Jex Thoth, has chosen to play as a Necromancer, with a darker sound, more atmospheric, with a mood as depressive as doom, and a great deal of sonic depth. Continue reading »

BUTCHERBIRD: “DROUGHT/DELUGE”

 Album Reviews, SHORT BUT SWEET  No Responses »
Apr 112025
 


Artwork by šaška

(On May 30th Drowning Sea God Records will digitally release the debut EP from the London-based metallic hardcore band ButcherBird. Wil Cifer has had a chance to hear it, and sent in the following positive review.)

I’m always up for checking out a hardcore band that is willing to venture off the beaten path. So here we are with ButcherBird, a hardcore band from London that has a metallic groove to their feedback-squealing attack.

The angry shout of the vocals is the most straightforward thing about the overall sound this band is throwing at you. They do use breakdowns, but these cropped up in less expected places. There is a more rock n roll vibe underlying the whiplash of angular riffs, making them more of Rollins Band than Full of Hell when it comes to the sonic scope these guys have crafted. Unwieldy sections of choruses collide to create a celebratory ambience. They are not fueled by a singular mood, but express a wide range of varied emotions with little pretense. Continue reading »

DEAFHEAVEN: “LONELY PEOPLE WITH POWER”

 Album Reviews  2 Responses »
Apr 012025
 

(The following is Wil Cifer‘s review of the new album by San Francisco’s Deafheaven, released on March 28th through Roadrunner Records.)

Six albums into their career, these guys are not out to win over any new fans. Yet this might catch the ears of casual listeners who got lured in by the hype surrounding 2013’s Sunbather, which found these guys the talk of hipsters at craft breweries everywhere.

The band seemed to not give a shit about critical acclaim, and rather than try to double down on the post-rock formula that made Sunbather successful, they have ventured into darker corners and toyed with varied blends of shoe-gaze, black metal, and even thrashing screamo. This new album finds the band striking a perfect balance among these stark contrasts, and creating an album that is in some ways more experimental than Sunbather but also darker and angrier. Continue reading »

SPIRITBOX: “TSUNAMI SEA”

 Album Reviews, Exceptions to the Rule  1 Response »
Mar 102025
 

(Late last week the Canadian heavy metal band Spiritbox released their second album, and today we’ve got Wil Cifer‘s review.)

Before you throw the LaPlante out with the bathwater, it might be easy to write this band off as a pop act. After all, they are an evolution of Myspace metal. However, I might go as far as to say that this album is more inspired than Knocked Loose’s You Won’t Go Before You Are Supposed To, which was one of the heaviest albums since Sunbather to catch the ear of more mainstream audiences. It certainly takes more chances and employs a wider range of sonic colors, rather than hits you with blunt force you bob your head to.

If your eyes have skimmed any of the reviews I have done for this fine site or other of the more devious ones you might have stumbled across on the Dark Web, then you know this is outside of what I normally listen to. If you caught the trail of breadcrumbs that starts with Chelsea Wolfe covering one of their songs, then you might be getting warmer. Continue reading »

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