NO CLEAN SINGING

AN NCS PREMIERE: DEMONIC MANIFESTATION — “HOST”

Aug 032026

(written by Islander)

As you can see, the cover art created by Brvja XIII for Demonic Manifestation’s new album Grimshrine is a cornucopia of horrors. It seizes attention and maintains it as the viewer more carefully inspects each of its hideous visions.

The album is also a musical cornucopia of horrors that turns out to be just as absorbing as the cover art. The music is massive, mauling, and maniacal, but the band’s impressively dynamic songwriting leads them to reveal other ghastly (and haunting dimensions) — as you will vividly experience for yourselves through our premiere of the album’s second advance track, “Host“. Continue reading »

THINGS YOU MAY HAVE MISSED (BUT SHOULDN’T)

Album Reviews No Responses »

Aug 032026

(Andy Synn has four more recommendations from last month that you may not have checked out yet)

They say one of the most important thing an artist has to learn is not just what it put in to their work… but what to leave out.

And, let me tell you… I am no artist, so having to leave so many artists/albums out each month is more something I’ve learned to accept begrudgingly rather than making it a part of my process.

Still, as disappointing as it may have been to have to leave so many potential reviews on the cutting room floor, I can’t help but be excited to (hopefully) introduce you all to these four records from July which may have flown under your radar.

DEATHGRAVE: “HELL IS EVIL”

Album Reviews No Responses »

Aug 032026

(This is Wil Cifer’s review of a new album by Bay Area grindcore fanatics Deathgrave. It’s set for release on August 21st via Tankcrimes.)

2023’s It’s Only Midnight was pretty decent, but Deathgrave have perfected the kind of thrashing chaos they kick up with Hell Is Evil.

The title track that opens the album finds their songwriting falling into place with an organic yet polished sound that emerged from their most recent trip into the studio, having expanded into writing three-minute songs that give them more time here to develop the song rather than just dealing in angry bursts. “Hard to Swallow” has a dark, deliberate, doomy riff arising to lumber over things, due in part to the fact this band features ex-members of Graves at Sea . At times the vocals sound like they could be from a Carnivore album thanks to the way they are shouted. “I Am Here” runs death metal fury through a grindcore filter, while solidifying the punk attitude.

It only takes the first three songs to convince you that they have made songwriting more of a priority. Continue reading »

THE SYNN REPORT (PART 197): OSTRACA

THE SYNN REPORT No Responses »

Aug 012026

Recommended for fans of: Orchid, Envy, (early) Deafheaven

What’s in a (genre) name?

Well, quite a lot – to some people, anyway – it seems, as picking the wrong genre tag for a band will mean some potential listeners might choose not to check out their music, under the wrong impression that it’s “not for them”.

Which is why I have to be careful when talking about Virginia’s Ostraca and their chaotic, cathartic, blast-driven, discordantly-heavy (yet also bleakly melodic) brand of Screamo/Hardcore/Crust.

If you’re not familiar with those terms, or if you think you’re familiar with them but not sure if this article is worth checking out, then allow me to assure you that the records highlighted here today – five albums (including the recently-released Thread) plus one EP (that I’ve already written about, as it happens) – are each, in their own way, as vicious and as visceral, as venomous and as violent, as anything else from the more “metallic” side of the scene, and all more than worthy of your time.

AN NCS PREMIERE: MINDVILE — “BITE BY BITE”

Premieres No Responses »

Jul 312026

(written by Islander)

Today we’re helping announce that the black/death metal band Mindvile (Spain/U.S.) have signed with Satanath Records (Georgia) and Paragon Records (U.S.) for the release of their debut album, Old Continent, scheduled for September 25th.

The album is described as “the first chapter of “Stories No Tongue Should Tell“, a planned five-album conceptual series exploring real cases of human cruelty and depravity from different regions of the world,” with each release focusing on a specific continent and presenting “stories inspired by real individuals whose actions have left a lasting mark on society.”

In other words, rather than root their narratives in fantasies, Mindvile’s depiction of horror focuses “on real people, real crimes, and the psychological corruption that transforms human beings into monsters.”

As for the music, we have a first taste today in our premiere of a song off the debut album called “Bite for Bite“. Here’s the band’s comment about this song: Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: VEILCASTE — “CHAINS”

Premieres No Responses »

Jul 312026

(written by Islander)

The Indianapolis doom/sludge band Veilcaste took shape in 2010 under the name Conjurer, adopted their current name in 2020, and continued surging forward on their mission to crush the life out of listeners. With two albums released as Conjurer and three more as Veilcaste, they’ve assembled a very impressive (and very heavy) discography.

Now the band are moving toward the discharge of their fourth album as Veilcaste. The name of the new one is Hellward, and it’s set for release on September 4th. What we have for you today is the premiere of “Chains“, the third single from the album to emerge so far. It follows “Embedded“, which we premiered last April, and “Altar of Ecstasy“, which came out on July 10th. Continue reading »

FILLER

Off Topic 2 Responses »

Jul 312026

artwork by Albin Brunovsky

(written by Islander)

I don’t exactly remember when or why we fell into the pattern we have here for how the posting day goes, but the pattern is that we try to post a first thing at 7 a.m. Pacific Time (where I am) and follow that with two more posts, or sometimes three, an hour apart. The 7 a.m. posts tend to be written by other folks around here. On days when we have two premieres (like today), I try to get those up at 8 a.m. and 9 a.m., which seems to work well because about half our audience is in North America and about half in the UK and Europe.

Today I didn’t have anything in hand for the 7 a.m. slot, hence this “filler” post. We will have those two premieres coming up, and of course I think both the songs are very good or we wouldn’t be messing with them.

And since I’m here and not writing about music, I might as well let you know that this weekend at NCS will likely be different from most weekends. Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: TEMPLE WITCH — “MAKER’S BREATH”

Exceptions to the Rule, Premieres 1 Response »

Jul 302026

(written by Islander)

We are very happy to welcome the doom metal band Temple Witch to our pages for the first time (and we think you’ll be happy about it too). They’re a trio based in Kent, Ohio and have released two albums so far, 2021’s Hand in Hand with Chaos and 2024’s Ocean Thousand, Mountain Thousand.

They also have a third album on the way now, one named Veiling the Void, and we’re helping introduce it by premiering a great video for a viscerally compelling song off the album named “Maker’s Breath“. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: NOVAE MILITIAE — “ABYSSAL DOMINION”

Premieres No Responses »

Jul 302026

(written by Islander)

Today we assist Serpent Sun Records (UK) in announcing the new album Apocryphon Of The Unborn Light by the French satanic black metal band Novae Militiae. It will be released on September 18th and follows this mysterious band’s second album Topheth (2020) and their debut full-length Gash’khalah (2017). The label provides this ominous but intriguing description of the album’s conceptual framework:

Apocryphon of the Unborn Light presents itself as a revelation preceding all creation, where light itself has yet to be born, and where the order of the world already appears destined for its own dislocation. The album unfolds through a non-linear yet cyclical progression, where fall, knowledge and inversion intersect, within a vision where the end is not an outcome, but an original condition.

Each composition acts as a fragment within this whole, forming a coherent structure in which the visible and invisible frameworks of the world gradually fracture toward a point of rupture. Musically, the album is built upon a dark and incantatory form of black metal, alternating between extreme tension and more atmospheric passages, reinforcing an overall dynamic in which the distinction between creation and dissolution progressively dissolves, within a movement of dislocation confronting that which lies beyond.

As a first sign of what the album brings to listeners, today we’re premiering a song aptly named “Abyssal Dominion“. Continue reading »

SABERTOOTH – BLESSING RAGE

Album Reviews No Responses »

Jul 302026

(Andy Synn is back with a recommendation from the Indonesian underground today)

It’s perhaps not entirely surprising to note that the majority of bands we write about tend to be located on one of two continents, Europe or North America.

That’s not to say we don’t try our best to cover bands from other locales – though, as of yet, I don’t think we’ve ever written about any bands from Antarctica – but the fact that two of the three core members of the NCS crew are based in the USA, and the other one (me) is based in the UK (which are also the two places we get most of our audience from), means these are the areas which we get the most exposure to.

Of course, the counterpoint to that is we probably should be making more of an effort to cover bands from further afield – and, all credit to him, Islander already does a pretty damn good job with all his various round-ups of new releases from around the globe – which is why today we’re travelling to Indonesia to take in the sights and sounds and savage riffery of Metallic Hardcore crew Sabertooth.

Older Entries