AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: ASHEN HORDE — “ENTROPY AND ECSTASY”

 Exceptions to the Rule, Premieres  No Responses »
Mar 172026
 

(written by Islander)

This makes the fourth time in a nine-year period when we’ve had the extreme pleasure of premiering music by Ashen Horde, and this time it’s a song from their forthcoming fifth album, The Harvest, which is set for release on May 1st.

In one of those previous premieres we wrote that “Ashen Horde have demonstrated an adventurous spirit, with an ever-evolving amalgam of genre influences and no real interest in boxing themselves in.” Over and over again they’ve blended together such ingredients as technical death metal, black metal, and flares of prog metal with often unexpected but reliably breathtaking results — and as you’re about to discover, they’re still marching flying to the beat of their own drummer. Continue reading »

IS IT AN ALBUM? IS IT AN EP? NO, IT’S…

 Album Reviews, SHORT BUT SWEET  No Responses »
Mar 172026
 

…something in between, according to our own Andy Synn anyway!

It’s funny isn’t it, that nebulous, ill-defined dividing line that separates an EP from an album?

I’ve encountered releases longer than Reign in Blood that still feel like an EP by comparison, just as I’ve listened to records shorter than some EPs which still – in spite of this – come across like a complete and fully fleshed-out album.

Ultimately it often just comes down to a question of feel, which is why the album/EP experience is often so subjective.

Which means it’s up to you to decide whether the latest releases from Votive and Wielded Steel sit on one side of that divide or the other.

Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: HROB — “ZOTROČENÝ OHEN”

 Premieres  No Responses »
Mar 172026
 

(written by Islander)

The Slovakian death metal band HROB was founded by Michal (guitar, vocals) and Kiko (guitar) in November 2021, and eventually the band settled into a solid lineup completed by drummer Matej and bassist Vrana. Atomic Vision Productions released their self-titled demo in 2023, and now their debut album Brána Chladu is set for co-release on April 27th by Memento Mori (Spain) and Night Terrors Records (Netherlands).

The labels describe the music as “a putrid death-doom metal abomination that evokes a sense of dread and desolation,” alternating between “slime-slow passages soaked in brooding heaviness and shake-you-from-a-trance pummeling blasts,” with a “well-timed injection of hauntingly melodic leads and caveman-crude tremolo riffing, respectively.”

What we have for you today is the album’s second single, the whiplash-inducing “Zotročený Oheň“. Continue reading »

BOG MÖNSTER: “DUELLING HORRORS”

 Album Reviews, SHORT BUT SWEET  No Responses »
Mar 172026
 

(This is DGR’s review of a new EP released earlier this month by the Australian trio Bog Mönster.)

When the collection of everything you intend to review consists of a smorgasbord of EPs and albums, tackling two songs can feel both like cheating and like mana from the heavens. The brain doesn’t have to keep track of as much but also you’re kicking yourself for daring to veer from the intended path. However, sometimes you will have a release that speaks loud enough that it compels you to spread the word about it.

Australian sludge group Bog Mönster’s newest EP Duelling Horrors is one such release, consisting of the aforementioned two songs and about ten and a half minutes of music. Bog Mönster had an EP and an album to their name prior to these Duelling Horrors, and their newest arrives close to two years after their previously mentioned album Servants Of The Necrosect back in 2024. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: ONCHOCERCIASIS ESOPHAGOGASTRODUODENOSCOPY — “GUTTED AND CORPSED”

 Premieres  No Responses »
Mar 162026
 

(written by Islander)

After the next paragraph we’re going to refer to this band as OxE, not because it’s too difficult to copy/paste their full name but because reading it repeatedly might cause your eyes to transmit a message to a part of your brain that might then cause you to swallow your tongue, which would be entertaining to see but because we couldn’t see that… OxE it is.

The band’s full name is Onchocerciasis Esophagogastroduodenoscopy. They are located in Quebec City, though the three members hail from different countries (The Popu is German, Alice Simard is Canadian, Jesse Agiomamitis is Australian). To date they’ve discharged a demo, a pair of EPs, and a debut album named The Rotted Plinth of Sachiel.

Now they’re back with a second album, mysteriously and menacingly titled Fugue Gnawed from the Scabbed God Cerebrum. It’s set for release on April 3rd by Stillbirth Records and Gore House Productions, and today we help pave the way with our premiere of the album’s second single, “Gutted & Corpsed“. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: IGNOBLETH — “PROSELYTE PIG I”

 Premieres  No Responses »
Mar 162026
 

(written by Islander)

The Italian black/death marauders Ignobleth admit that their first EP, Voidspawn Sacrifice, could be likened to “Blasphemy and Archgoat worship”. But their sound and style have morphed since then, and the music on their forthcoming debut album Manor of Primitive Anticreation is a much more twisted, unpredictable, and unsettling beast — still capable of reaching ruinous heights of war metal bestiality but also transporting listeners deep into mind-warping and blood-freezing nightmare realms.

As a sign of these changes we have for you today the premiere of the debut album’s second single, “Proseylte Pig I“, in advance of the album’s release by Caligari Records on April 17th. Continue reading »

LAMB OF GOD – INTO OBLIVION

 Album Reviews  1 Response »
Mar 162026
 

(Andy Synn makes a rare exception to our rule about mainly covering underground bands to share his thoughts on some of the Metal scene’s most infamous sons)

Longevity, as the book I’m currently reading would tell you, can be both a blessing and a curse.

And while Lamb of God have certainly been blessed with a long and successful career, they’ve also been cursed – even if it’s the sort of curse I think most of us would be happy to accept – with having to constantly try and live up to the very high standard set in their early years.

Let’s face it, that initial trilogy – New American Gospel, As The Palaces Burn, and Ashes of the Wake – continues to cast a very long shadow, and while there have certainly been moments of brightness here and there (both Wrath and Resolution in particular have some underrated bangers on them) their work since then has, in hindsight, been more about consolidating their position at the top of the card than trying to re-set the bar.

But that was then, and this is now, and – despite the old truism that you shouldn’t judge a book (or album) by its cover – the decision to switch to a new logo for the first time in 20+ years suggests that there might just be something more going on this time than simply going through the motions or fulfilling contractual obligations.

Is it a rebirth? No, I wouldn’t go quite that far. But a renewal? Now that’s where things get interesting…

Continue reading »

BOSSE-DE-NAGE: “HIDDEN FIRES BURN HOTTEST”

 Album Reviews  No Responses »
Mar 162026
 

(The Flenser has released the first new album by Bosse-de-Nage in eight years, and today Todd Manning shares his thoughts about it.)

Avant-garde metal band Bosse-de-Nage disappeared from the scene years ago, their absence as mysterious as their sound. They appeared dormant if not disbanded, but in truth, they have been slowly crafting their new album, Hidden Fires Burn Hottest. Now it’s time for the world to hear what they have been working on.

Bosse-de-Nage has always been hard to pin down, usually classified as black metal but that only works compared to other genres. Trying to understand Hidden Fires Burn the Hottest is like engaging in negative theology, it is easier to list the things it is not rather than define what it is. Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK: EVEALE

 SHADES OF BLACK  2 Responses »
Mar 152026
 

(written by Islander)

I don’t have much to share with you in today’s column. I spent a lot of time yesterday unsuccessfully trying to solve a security glitch that disabled my administrative access to NCS, and then more time communicating with our web host and third-party security service and staring at the in-box waiting for them to figure out the problem and fix it. Listening to and writing about music got elbowed out of the way.

The web host did eventually fix the problem by disabling the CAPTCHA feature on the site, which I guess is now forcing some visitors to re-register here and/or re-set passwords. Sorry about that. To celebrate the fix, and to flush away the anxiety caused by the fear that we wouldn’t be able to post anything on Monday (including premieres I’d committed to do), I went out last night and drank too much.

That led to a very late start on this Sunday, which compounded the problem of not getting a head-start on the column yesterday. To further compound the problems, my spouse and I are leaving home very soon to visit a family member who’s recovering from an injury.

I thought about just abandoning the column for this one day, but as you probably know, I hate leaving any days without music at NCS. So here is just one thing I’d like to recommend. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD ON A SATURDAY: LAIR OF THE MINOTAUR, SKAPHOS, WITCH RIPPER, SISYPHEAN, VOID OF LIGHT, DEPRESSION NAP, APOSTLE, NOISE AHOLIC

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  2 Responses »
Mar 142026
 

(written by Islander)

Technology is treacherous. I had this post written five hours ago, but a glitchy security feature prevented me from accessing the site and posting it. Our web host fixed the problem just minutes ago. Which is why this roundup is appearing so late.

Other than weeks ending on a Bandcamp Friday and weeks that include Halloween, my perception is that weeks ending on a Friday the 13th tend to be the most bulging with new metal. That was certainly true of the past week (and the few days before it began). You want proof? Well, here are 10 well-known bands who released new songs and/or videos during that period:

ALLEGAEON (U.S.)

EMPLOYED TO SERVE (UK)

HELLRIPPER (Scotland)

IMMOLATION (U.S.)

INFERI (U.S.)

MONSTROSITY (U.S.)

PORTRAYAL OF GUILT (U.S.)

SARCASM (Sweden)

SIX FEET UNDER (U.S.)

VOMITORY (Sweden)

I easily could have included any of those songs and videos in this column, because they’re all damned good. And you won’t go wrong going after them, which I’ve made it easy to do via those hyperlinks. But I decided instead to do what we often do around this place, and that’s dig deeper under the ground. Continue reading »

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