NO CLEAN SINGING

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): SSMMÜT — “A BLIGHT ON THE PERFECT ORGANISM OF DEATH”

Oct 282026

(written by Islander)

SSMMÜTT (please pay careful attention to the umlaut as you sound out the name) is the experimental musical project of Irish producer and illustrator Robert Mirolo, accompanied by a changing cast of supporting characters.

The music has rightly been called “shape-shifting”, further described by the label that’s releasing their new album (Cursed Monk Records) as “a visceral alchemy of Doom, Kosmische, and Ambient textures, often collapsing into the crushing weight of blackened sludge” — and that’s not an exhaustive description.

The name of the album, which will be released on October 30th, is A Blight on the Perfect Organism of Death. We are premiering a full stream of it today, all nine songs and 31 minutes of it, preceded by a likely futile attempt to prepare you for the often vicious, often captivating, and constantly surprising carnival that’s now arrived in your neighborhood. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: CANDACE BUCKINGHAM (WALLS OF JERICHO)

Interviews No Responses »

Oct 282026

(Andy Synn doesn’t do many interviews any more, but made an exception for this one)

The main reason I don’t do many interviews any more is due to the fact that I feel like a good interview – not just one that regurgitates the same old boring, boilerplate questions that you can find anywwhere else – is one that you dedicate a bit of time to, and time is something I’m almost always in short supply of these days.

I’d also say that a good interview should be a form of dialogue, one where you get a sense of the personality of the interviewer through the questions they ask, which in turn leads to a more natural and (hopefully) illuminating interaction with the interviewee… which also takes a lot of time to get right.

And did I mention that I don’t really have that much time to spare at the moment?

That being said, when the opportunity fell into my lap to interview the one and only Candace Buckingham (née Kucsulain), formidable frontwoman of Metallic Hardcore legends Walls of Jericho (a band I’ve been a huge fan of for a long, long time, and whose upcoming new album is the sort of record which tempts me to dip back into my big bag of clichés for terms like “comeback”, “revival”, and “renaissance”) I knew I couldn’t turn it down.

So, without further ado, let’s see if I still remember how to converse with another human being, shall we?

SHADES OF BLACK: PAN-AMERIKAN NATIVE FRONT, GALVÄO

Album Reviews, SHADES OF BLACK No Responses »

Oct 272026

(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 »

NØ MAN – BETWEEN THE SWORD AND THE NECK

Album Reviews No Responses »

Oct 272026

(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.

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): SOMNENT — “HEIRLOOM”

Album Reviews, Premieres No Responses »

Oct 272026

(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 »

NEW WORLD MAN – I AM THE MACHINE

Album Reviews 1 Response »

Oct 262026

(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.

AN NCS PREMIERE: HAXPROCESS — “CONDEMNATION OF ETERNAL MISERY”

Premieres No Responses »

Oct 262026

(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 »

TORN WIDE OPEN: NEUROSIS RETURNS TO THE BAY AREA

Concert Reviews No Responses »

Oct 262026

(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 »

SHADES OF BLACK: GLORIOR BELLI

Album Reviews, SHADES OF BLACK No Responses »

Oct 252026

(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 »

SEEN AND HEARD ON A SATURDAY: GOLGOTHAN REMAINS, LENG TCH’E, MENTOR, DEMIURGO, VĀMĀCĀRA, VERET

Album Reviews, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC, SHORT BUT SWEET No Responses »

Oct 242026

(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 »

Older Entries