NO CLEAN SINGING

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): NOX — “ENTITY”

Album Reviews, Exceptions to the Rule, Premieres No Responses »

Jun 072024

Today we’re taking you off our usual well-beaten musical paths as we premiere a full stream of Entity, the debut album of a duo who have taken for themselves the name Nox.

The identities of those two artists are what first led us down this divergent path. They are Inmesher from the German band Rope Sect, whose own new album Estrangement we premiered here not long ago, and Lykaios (aka Lykormas) from the Belgian band Hemelbestormer, whose fascinating post-metal instrumental excursions we’ve written about frequently in the past (he is also the person behind Lhaäd and a member of Rituals of the Dead Hand).

Having been beckoned by those two names and the attractions of the music they’ve made in their other projects, we were curious about what they chose to do as the Nox entity. Hints of what they accomplished were provided in the PR materials furnished on behalf of their label Neuropa Records, which is releasing the album today. For example, this: Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: CRYPT SERMON

Exceptions to the Rule, Interviews No Responses »

Jun 072024

Photo credit: Scott Kincade

(Today we’re very happy to present Comrade Aleks‘ excellent interview with frontman Brooks Wilson from Crypt Sermon, whose new album is set for release on June 14th via Dark Descent Records.)

The Philadelphia doom crew Crypt Sermon took the matter seriously from the very beginning, and the first album Out of the Garden (2015) became, if not a modern classic, at least a significant phenomenon for the doom scene. The second release The Ruins of Fading Light (2019) cemented Crypt Sermon’s reputation as one of the most relevant “new” epic doom bands, but how to grow further with such a triumphant start?

The band’s new album The Stygian Rose is to be released on June 14th, and its lyrics are partly inspired by the ideas of American medium and occult writer Pascal Beverly Randolph. They mix very traditional doom with magical retro metal, combining crushing riffs and shimmering guitar melodies, and Crypt Sermon go into the large-scale and epic doom-ascension with no final destination.

Crypt Sermon are endearing due to their fidelity to heavy metal doom roots and their artistic take on the rigid form of the genre. We have done the interview with the band’s frontman Brooks Wilson, and it’ll help us learn more about the story behind The Stygian Rose and further. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): GLYPH — “ODES OF WAILING, HYMNS OF MOURNING”

Album Reviews, Premieres No Responses »

Jun 062024

Beginning in 2019 the mysterious U.S. black metal entity Glyph has provided a dozen short releases and two full-lengths, with a third album arriving imminently, i.e., tomorrow, via Milwaukee-based Shape of Storms Records and other labels whose names will be familiar to our readers.

The name of the new album, which we’re premiering in full today, stands as a signpost of what lies ahead: odes of wailing, hymns of mourning. And so it seems evident that the album represents a way or working through grief and pain, but it achieves that catharsis in startling, shattering, and ultimately triumphant fashion. Continue reading »

HIPPOTRAKTOR – STASIS

Album Reviews No Responses »

Jun 062024

(Andy Synn is far from indifferent to the new album from Hippotraktor, out tomorrow on Pelagic Records)

Contrary to popular belief, there is at least some method to our madness here at NCS.

I’ll grant you, said method mostly just amounts to us messaging each other back and forth going “do you want this… I can do it if you don’t have time… ok, you do that one instead…” but it’s a method that mostly/sort of/kinda works.

Case in point, my man DGR originally had Hippotraktor‘s new one pencilled in on his review queue but eventually yielded it to me when he realised that, with everything else going on, he just wouldn’t have time to give it the attention it deserved.

And since it was me who originally wrote about the band here, way back in 2021 when I reviewed their first album, it only made sense that I be the one to pick up the slack.

So let’s see how much the band have changed in the last three years, or whether they’ve just remained… in stasis.

AL-NAMROOD: “AL AQRAB”

Album Reviews No Responses »

Jun 062024

(Below you will find Didrik Mešiček‘s review of a new album by the Saudi Arabian band Al-Namrood, which will be released in just a few days from now.)

There are many of us for whom metal is an essential part of our lives and some might say, rather dramatically, that it’s a matter of life and death. For Al-Namrood, however, that statement is quite literal.

The band’s name translates to “non-believer” and that’s the exact essence the Saudis convey with their music and exactly what could get them potentially executed, which is why they’ve never been able to play a live show as the risk is simply too great. Despite that, the band has been going strong since 2008, and Al Aqrab – to be released on June 9th by Shaytan Productions – will now be their 10th full-length album. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): OKULAR — “REGENERATE”

Album Reviews, Premieres No Responses »

Jun 052024

Many death metal bands “look the part”, black-garbed and festooned with spikes, pentagrams, bullet-belts, and/or skulls, and others don’t. Norway’s Okular are on the “don’t” side of the line. In their recent promo photo there’s not a band shirt to be seen nor any other allusion to Satan, the Grim Reaper, or spilled guts, and there’s more khaki in their attire than black. They’ve also got a few more years in their faces, which aren’t contorted in evil grimaces, than whatever hot young things you were listening to yesterday.

Some metal bands also churn out music like there’s no tomorrow. On the other hand, if Okular are expecting the end of the world, they’re obviously not anxious about it: 11 years have passed since their last album.

But Okular‘s non-conformity goes beyond their approach to appearance and timetables. Most importantly, it’s represented by their music, which you’d already know if you happened upon either that last album 11 years ago or the one before that, and which you’re about to learn (or learn again) when you hear their new full-length Regenerate. For newcomers, let’s quickly say that it’s neither plain nor khaki-colored. It’s more like the cover art created by Tina Harsheim Giertsen: Continue reading »

ÆTHĔRĬA CONSCĬENTĬA – THE BLOSSOMING

Album Reviews No Responses »

Jun 052024

(Andy Synn continues to enjoy the blooming of Æthĕrĭa Conscĭentĭa‘s sound on their new album)

If there’s one thing I can say about NCS, it’s that we are loyal to the bands we choose to cover (sometimes to a fault) and… wait, that’s how I started my last review for this band.

Let’s try this again.

If there’s one thing we love here at NCS it’s discovering new, underground bands and then following them as they grow and change and evolve over the years.

And considering this is the third time I’m going to be writing about French Progronauts Æthĕrĭa Conscĭentĭa I think it’s safe to say that we’re in this for the long haul.

So let’s see what strange delights they have for us this time, shall we?

NORTHWEST TERROR FEST 2024: A REPORT ON DAY THREE

Concert Reviews 6 Responses »

Jun 052024

(We’ve been very fortunate to have two wonderful talents reporting on the 2024 edition of NCS-sponsored Northwest Terror Fest — writer Gonzo and photographer John Malley. Together they have made it possible for those who weren’t there to get a sense of the experience, and to remind those of us who were there how great it was. Here’s their report on the fest’s third and final day. Find the Day One report here and the Day Two report here.

Before I get too far into recapping the final day of this glorious weekend, a quick disclaimer:

Every year, it seems I can delve a little deeper into what powers this festival. On Saturday, I found myself going farther behind the curtain of NWTF than ever before. And why not?

I’ve been crawling around these pages for five years now, so the time felt right. What that meant for actual coverage of the band’s performances, though, was anyone’s guess at this point. I was rapidly ascending to another state of existence in which my body was being powered sheerly by caffeine, craft beer, pizza, and weed, so any attempt to cover the rest of this festival coherently was a complete fucking dice roll by now.

With all that being said, if there’s anything I can promise to deliver beneath the fold, it’s quality goddamn entertainment.

NORTHWEST TERROR FEST 2024: A REPORT ON DAY TWO

Concert Reviews No Responses »

Jun 042024

(We are very fortunate to have two wonderful talents reporting on the 2024 edition of NCS-sponsored Northwest Terror Fest — writer Gonzo and photographer John Malley. Together they have made it possible for those who weren’t there to get a sense of the experience, and to remind those of us who were there how great it was. Here’s their report on the fest’s second day. Find the Day One report here. We’ll bring you Day Three tomorrow.)

As I got out of bed on Friday morning, still riding whatever high Amenra left me with the night before, a random intrusive thought barged into my brain without warning:

“Is insanity a prerequisite for going to festivals?”

Perhaps. In any case, my immediate reply to my own thought was, “No, but it probably helps.”

I feel like this is usually where I’d follow up by reassuring you all that yes, I did in fact pass my last psych evaluation and no, I am definitely not an unhinged jetlagged sleep-deprived writer about to binge on eight straight hours of music and stimulants for the second night in a row.

But if I did that, I’d be telling at least one lie. (I’m not saying which part.)

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: THIRTEEN GOATS — “SIGN OF THE GOAT”

Premieres No Responses »

Jun 042024

Somewhere the Devil is smiling broadly, imagining how much hell-raising fun you’re about to have when you listen to the song we’re premiering (with a video) from Thirteen Goats‘ new album Capricorn Rising.

This song, “Sign of the Goat“, functions as an overture for the rest of the album, which is itself described as “an extreme metal rock opera about madness, death, and the destruction of all things”. We also have a more detailed preview from the Vancouver-based band about the role of the song in that context: Continue reading »

Older Entries