(written by Islander)
In last Sunday’s edition of this column I only wrote about one album (by Glorior Belli). It deserved the exclusive attention, but I had planned to write about more releases until some life events got in the way. With today’s album premiere being handled by Daniel Barkasi, I decided to use my time to cover a couple more of the releases I’d intended to include in the Sunday column — two exceptionally good EPs released earlier this month. Continue reading »
(Andy Synn stands up to be counted alongside Washington D.C. Hardcore crew NØ MAN)
People sometimes (and by “sometimes” I mean “frequently”) get very mad at the assertion that all music is, in some way, political.
And I get why, to an extent.
After all, for a lot of people the use of the term “political” is a negative thing… they think of it as being lectured, being told what to think, who to vote for, etc.
But that’s not really what it means.
In fact it’s the very act of making music that’s an inherently political statement, especially when it comes to Metal/Punk/Hardcore… genres that various government and regimes around the world have frequently decried as decadent, degenerate, and a threat to the youth.
That’s what we really mean when we say that it’s “political”, because by picking up that guitar, screaming into that microphone, bashing away at those drums, what you’re doing is taking a stand and asserting yourself, creating art that is for yourself, not to serve the state or the economy but to express something freely and openly and – perhaps most importantly – loudly.
And, on their new album (out this Friday), Washington D.C. quartet NØ MAN are as loud, as proud, and as in-your-face about who they are as they’ve ever been.
(On October 30th Ardua Music will release Heirloom, the third album by the Florida melodic doom/death metal band Somnent. Two weeks ago we presented Daniel Barkasi’s very good interview of the band’s founder Giovanni A. Vigliotti, and today we’re premiering a full stream of the entire album — preceded by Dan’s review.)
Within the halls of the doom genre, it’s not as easy to stand out and grab attention as it is in more bombastic styles such as death, thrash, and black metal. The best acts all contain significant depth in their music, emotively and within the often layered and complex compositions. Mother of Graves has accomplished this, and no doubt will continue to do so, along with Fires in the Distance, Tribunal, and a couple of others.
Today, we want to discuss Somnent, a band who no doubt currently has an underground following, but is on the precipice of something more. You can feel the hunger in their live performances, as well as within the steady progression of their music with each subsequent release. If you haven’t yet, check out our interview to learn more about the project’s origins and its creator and songwriter, Giovanni A. Vigliotti, which partners well with this review and full streaming premiere of the album. Continue reading »
(Andy Synn presents his thoughts on one of the best debut albums of 2026)
A couple of months back I took a quick jaunt back up to my old stomping grounds to catch Metallic Hardcore legends Merauder play a killer show at The Bread Shed in Manchester.
What made the show even better was the fact that, in response to the fact that two different – and potentially competing – tours were in town the same night, the promoters decided to combine forces in a laudable display of both scene solidarity and business savvy, meaning I got even more bang for my buck with the inclusion of a whole other roster of bands on the bill.
And the one that really stood out was that of New York Thrash-core thrillsters New World Man, who made sure that eveyone there would remember their name with an absolutely electrifying, ass-kicking performance that recalled the likes of Power Trip, Drain, and Enforced at their very best.
Which is why I made a mental note to check out their new album (just released on Closed Casket Activities) as soon as it came out, because I knew that if they managed to capture even half of the energy and intensity of their live show on record they would be in line to make a major impact.
So grab your helmets and your elbow pads and prepare to get absolutely wrecked by I Am the Machine.
(written by Islander)
Last year Transcending Obscurity Records released the second album created by the Floridian death metal band Haxprocess, Beyond What Eyes Can See. In advance of its release we wrote: “The album is enormously and exuberantly creative, and an enormously ambitious undertaking, and we can understand why T.O. labels it ‘epic’, not merely because the songs are long but because the band’s achievements are so incandescent.” And in a subsequent review our Andy Synn acclaimed it as ” one of the major highlights of the year in Death Metal (and beyond).”
So you can understand why we (and no doubt many other listeners) were excited to learn that Haxprocess would be quickly returning this year with yet another album, again to be released by Transcending Obscurity. The name of this new one, which is scheduled to drop on December 4th, is Endlessly Flowing Cascades of Grief, and as we did for the band’s last album we’re premiering one of its five new songs today. Continue reading »
(On the 16th of this month our friend Ben Manzella attended a show by Neurosis and Terry Gross at The Fillmore in San Francisco, and we’re grateful for his evocative review of the performances that you’ll find below, and for his wonderful photos of the event.)
I feel a bit suspended in time as I start this article recounting last night’s Neurosis show at the Fillmore with Terry Gross. I don’t know that I’ve experienced this level of emotional and physical intensity at a show in a long time. I think it was the first time since I was a teenager that I had a hard time falling asleep just from my body radiating what I can only sum up as energy.
I briefly chatted with someone who had only recently started listening to Neurosis, and it seemed like they had bought their ticket after seeing them at Fire in the Mountains earlier this year. As a long-time fan, it was great sharing an almost tangible sense of awe as we waited for the bus. Continue reading »
(written by Islander)
Life events external to NCS have forced me to again truncate my plans for this usual Sunday column devoted to variants of black metal. All is well, but I need to leave home and computer fairly soon, too soon for me to do more than write about one album that came out just two days ago, but that I’ve been enjoying for about two weeks. In the coming week I may be able to write recommendations for the other releases I had planned to include today before said life events interfered. Continue reading »
(written by Islander)
I made life difficult for myself this week. Well, don’t we all? I did it by carefully creating an enormous list of new music that I’d spotted in various ways but failing to listen to more than a small fraction of it until this morning — and now time is running out for me to finish this column.
That list turned out to include a lot of surprises — surprise releases from bands I knew and fantastic discoveries from bands I knew nothing about. I’ve included surprises of both kinds in what you’ll find below. But given the time predicament I created for myself, I’ve been forced to resort to a “cheat” to get it finished: Specifically, the last three selections today are complete records (two albums and an EP) that I think are excellent (and surprising), but all I’m going to do is focus mainly on just one song from each of them and hope that will be enough to pull you in. Continue reading »
(written by Islander)
What are the odds? For the second week in a row one of our Friday premieres fell through at the 11th hour, leaving a hole in our schedule and free time I didn’t expect to have.
As usual when these things happen, I have pivoted to pull together a roundup of new songs and videos, getting a bit of a head start on the usual Saturday column. All four of the following choices are from bands who are proven favorites around here (and elsewhere). Tomorrow I’ll focus more on new discoveries. Continue reading »
(We present here Daniel Barkasi’s preview of the next Heart of Winter festival, a three-night event scheduled to take place in Richmond, Virginia on January 14-16, 2027.)
A truly great festival in the United States that features the sort of underground bands that get this scribe to take notice is admittedly hard to come by. We have the always-excellent Maryland Deathfest and of course the NCS-sponsored Northwest Terror Fest as tentpole events, but outside of that, it’s relatively slim pickings, especially compared to what Europe has to offer.
Heart of Winter Festival is here to answer the call.
Beginning as a small upstart event hosted in Richmond, Virginia, it was dormant for 15 revolutions around the sun until this past January, with a statement-making return that included Hulder, One of Nine, Daeva, Evoken, Woe, Inter Arma, Krieg, Demiser, Valdrin, and a bunch of others. We were lucky enough to attend, and what impressed us the most about the event itself beyond the notable lineup was the real DIY attitude and the care in every detail that made that weekend a special occasion.
We won’t have to wait another decade-and-a-half for the next iteration, and with every indication, Heart of Winter is pulling out every stop to make this one hell of a time. Continue reading »