NO CLEAN SINGING

SEEN AND HEARD: MISERY INDEX, FEARTILIZER 1492, VENOMOUS ECHOES, THE ABSOLUTION SEQUENCE

Jul 242026

(written by Islander)

I woke up at 4 a.m. this morning. I wake up early every morning, mainly because of this blog, but not that early. No idea why I opened my eyes then but I couldn’t go back to sleep.

The only silver lining to that unfortunate cloud is that after putting the finishing touches on that Agonanist song premiere I posted earlier today, which I hope you’ve explored, I had time on my hands. And so I decided to get a head-start on the usual Saturday roundup of new songs and videos, time enough to focus on four new things from the usual giant list of possibilities. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: AGONANIST — “THE GATEWAY”

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Jul 242026

(written by Islander)

In late August Transylvanian Recordings will release a second album by Agonanist, which is the experimental music project of multidisciplinary artist Tyler Henthorn, who is based in San Francisco. The album’s title is The Spirit of Gravity, and the label describes its contents as: “Dark, Hypnotic, Dissonant & Mystical Black Metal. Somewhere between a fever dream and a claustrophobic nightmare. Sonically unruly, jarring, & entrancing.”

The album has many unusual aspects, which we explored with Tyler in an interview you’ll find near the end of this article. It was produced in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, where Tyler lived for many years. Further, in creating the music he used microtonal instruments, experimenting with EDO (Equal Divisions of the Octave), cutting the octave into numerous steps, with side A of the album described as “a mix of 17ET and 12ET, and side B of 22ET” (with ET standing for “Equal Temperament”).

Moreover, Agonanist enlisted the participation of some notable guests. He sent demos of the songs to Andrew Lee (Ripped to Shreds), Colin Marston (Krallice, Gorguts, Behold the Arctopus), and Kevin Paradis (Benighted, Svart Crown), and gave them the freedom to put themselves into his compositions.

The results are indeed sonically unruly, jarring, and entrancing. Tyler explains: “The Spirit of Gravity represents inevitability, our experience of time being an illusion, causality being a continuous web that spans the entire universe where everything exists at once in a splatter of liquid.”

In reading those words, and in listening to the album, it’s not surprising to learn that Tyler is a fan of the great Polish science fiction author Stanisław Lem (1921-2006) and that the name Agonanist is derived from an episode in one of Lem’s stories. But more about that later (much later). For now we should turn to some of the music on The Spirit of Gravity, including a song named “The Gateway” that we’re premiering today. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: PSICORRAGIA

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Jul 242026

(In June of this year the Peruvian band Psicorragia released their third album. We had the pleasure of premiering a video for one of its great songs, and today we take pleasure in presenting Comrade Aleks’ excellent discussion with Psicorragia’s Mario Romanet.)

Peruvian death-doom band Psicorragia, led by bassist and vocalist Mario Romanet, has been together since 1994. Their first full-length album, La pasion de lo mortal, was released in 2001, and this year saw the release of their third major effort, Nekromanthra. Although nine years ago, the band had eight tracks in the works for their third full-length, the final release included only six songs, totaling 45 minutes. Yet there’s no need to worry; it’s absolutely a full-length recording and Psicorragia delivered professional and powerful material, effectively serving as the best work of their career.

The very first track, “Y sus plagas invocaron,” showcases their wide range of influences, from death metal to eldritch death-doom. The composition repeatedly shifts its mood from hostilely aggressive to detached melancholy and back again, the ascetic guitar sound offset by keyboard arrangements that take on the form of sublime orchestrations and mournful violin dirges.

Psicorragia tend to blend these two styles and, relying on their instincts, combine both approaches, but, for example, “Lo inexorable” embodies that very classic “death-doom with violin” from the ’90s that has become a brand in itself. The final track, “Nekromanthra,” concludes the album with grueling, drawn-out funereal doom, presented in an ominous, tormented, and almost ceremonial manner.

Mario Romanet answered a few questions recently, so I invite you to read this interview and join the macabre world of Psicorragia. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: SHABTI — “SOJOURNER”

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Jul 232026

(written by Islander)

Those of us here like to think we’re good at getting in on the ground floor with promising new bands and then attentively following their progress forward. But we also readily admit when we’re very late in discovering impressive talents, and we are definitely very late in discovering the wiles of Shabti from Portland, Maine.

The lateness is even more inexcusable given the notable nature of Shabti’s lineup, which consists of drummer Ray Capizzo (Falls Of Rauros, Obsidian Tongue, Panopticon-live), vocalist/guitarist Rob Cook (Worm Altar), and bassist Brendan Hayter (Obsidian Tongue, Fires In The Distance). When a band features talents such as those, you’d think smart people would have explored what they’ve been doing long before now. But alas, we didn’t — until now.

Shabti now have their third album, Haze, Cacophony, And White Light, set for release on August 21st by the Contemn Light label. The album’s first single grabbed our attention like a big hand on the back of the neck, and we then grabbed back, seizing the opportunity to premiere a second single today. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: ENDSPACE — “FIRST TRANSMISSION”

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Jul 232026

(written by Islander)

The copy/paste keyboard function is vital to preserving the sanity of people who write about metal in its global settings. Sometimes that’s because band names, album titles, or song names are in a language different from that of the writer. Sometimes it’s because metal bands have a tendency to just make up words for such things, and the words can be unpronounceable due to confounding juxtapositiions of consonants and vowels. And sometimes, but much more rarely, something significant is expressed in long strings of numbers.

Which brings us to the Canadian band Endspace. The name Endspace can be typed without difficulty, but copy/pasting is necessary for the identification of its two members. They are: 040118180514 and 102119200914. Equally strange, this isn’t the first time those two members have identified themselves numerically, even though Endspace is a new band — because they are also members of Fractal Generator, in which they are known by the same collections of digits.

This might lead you to assume there are similarities between what Endspace is doing and what Fractal Generator have done. You wouldn’t be entirely wrong, but you wouldn’t be entirely right either. At a high level Fractal Generator lean into death metal, whereas Endspace lean into black metal. And yet they are only just leaning, because both bands put lots of often head-scrambling twists, turns, and layers into their musical (and lyrical) concoctions.

In the case of Endspace, their first concoctions are encompassed by a debut album named First Contact that will be released on October 2nd by Transcending Obscurity Records. As the label says, it is “sci-fi themed black metal”, and it’s “light years ahead of what we’re accustomed to hearing”. Continue reading »

THE OLDEST HOUSE – THE ART OF ABYSSWALKING

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Jul 232026

(Andy Synn would like to invite you all to enter The Oldest House)

There’s another common phrase – and, boy, do I seem to be using a lot of them recently, don’t I? – that goes something like “better late than never”.

Which might as well be our motto here at NCS sometimes, because if we like something we’ll always try our best to write about it, even if that write-up ends up being a little late.

And, let me tell you, I really like The Art of Abysswalking.

AN NCS DEMO PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): SHTRIGË — “WOUNDS OF ETERNAL HUNGER”

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Jul 222026

(written by Islander)

Shtrigë is a collaboration between two experienced practitioners of the black (metal) arts — Swiss musician Solaris Lupus (the sole mind behind Aspaarn and vocalist of Lord Valtgryftåke) and the Italian musician Sanguis Antiquus (based in Finland), whose many other bands include Clactonian and Thecodontion. In their Shtrigë endeavor the former performs all the instruments and the latter is responsible for vocals, lyrics, and songwriting.

As they have explained, this project “takes its name from the Shtrigë, a vampiric witch of Albanian mythology said to suck the blood of infants during the night and to transform themselves into a flying insect (traditionally a moth, fly, or bee).” In line with that choice, Shtrigë draws inspiration “from the dark legends and folkloric traditions of the Western Balkans”.

The duo released their debut demo Of Blood and Night in February of this year, and on July 24th Prehistoric Sounds will release their second one, Wounds of Eternal Hunger, and we’re premiering it today. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: DAUÞUZ

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Jul 222026

(In this new interview our Comrade Aleks conversed with the two members of the Mining Black Metal band Dauþuz, whose new album Todeswerk: Uranium II was released in late May by Amor Fati Productions.)

Having some knowledge of radionuclide technologies and the history of their application, I could not ignore the new album of the German black metal band Dauþuz entitled Todeswerk: Uranium II. The official press-release stated that the album’s concept was built around uranium mining in the Bohemian Joachimsthal after World War II and the inhuman conditions of workers who were forced to labour in the name of the Soviet Nuclear Program.

But the story is more complicated as always, and it’s easy to find that for long years the town was almost the only source of uranium since WW I. Uranium mining was temporarily suspended due to increasing cancer deaths in 1929, yet despite attempts to improve workers’ conditions, the mortality rate continued to rise. It’s not a secret that things went really bad when Jáchymov was occupied by German troops during WW II, and fascists utilized Soviet prisoners in the name of the German Nuclear Program there. Needless to say, the situation changed vice-versa when the War was over, and everything was in ruins.

As I reflected on this topic, I found some glimpses of the story of uranium mining in Africa… Did you know where the uranium used to make the bombs that destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki came from? Go and check, there was no fun there either. So, okay, uranium mining in Africa, Canada, and the USA – back then no one gave a damn about the environment or miners’ lives either of course. There was no any trace of humanism in this field for decades, and I bet there is nothing like this in some Third World countries nowadays as well.

Todeswerk: Uranium II tells the story of suffering, forced labour, and death in the name of progress and power in a most artistic way – both straightforward and epic. The interview with Dauþuz’ members Aragonyth and Syderyth was tough sometimes due to the difficult topics we discussed, but we managed to keep it diplomatic to some degree. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): VISCERA/// — “4. ASSETS FOR PSYCHEDELIC WARFARE”

Album Reviews, Premieres 1 Response »

Jul 212026

(written by Islander)

We have been fascinated by the unpredictable evolutions of the Italian band Viscera///, evolutions so adventurous that it’s not an exaggeration to now call their music experimental.

That’s not to say that they throw things against the wall to see what sticks, or drip ingredients into test tubes to see whether the fluids change colors or explode. They are instead quite obviously very demanding of themselves and very meticulous in their planning and execution, it’s just that they march to the beat of their own drummer; their musical interests are wide-ranging and they’ve never been satisfied by remaining in the same musical space for very long.

Because of that it’s probably not hugely helpful in our introduction of their new album to provide a history of the band’s releases (and the changing musical forays they have represented) across their 26 years of activity. It’s maybe more helpful to just focus on the new music and leave the past behind.

And yes, nine years after their last album, Viscera/// have a new full-length titled 4. Assets for Psychedelic Warfare that’s now set for release on July 24th by Time To Kill Records. And yes, we’re premiering it in full today. Continue reading »

PROTEST THE HERO – WITHIN

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Jul 212026

(Andy Synn has been a fan of this band for a long, long time… but is he a fan of their new album?)

There’s a commonly quoted, but often misinterpreted, maxim which states that as you grow older there comes a time when you must “put away childish things.”

What it actually means is that the process of becoming an adult means growing beyond selfishness and short-sighted, self-serving impulsivity to consider the people and the world around you… but it’s often taken as a claim that one should give up the things you enjoy, your passions, your hobbies, your interests, in order to display some sort of boring, performative “maturity”.

It’s a sentiment that afflicts a lot of bands too, especially when they suddenly decide to throw in an unnecessary ballad or some generically pretentious prog-parts as a signal to their audience that they’ve finally “grown up”.

Luckily for all of us, however, as much as Canadian genre-splicing jesters Protest the Hero have grown and developed over the years I’m happy to report that they still possess that same shamelessly nerdy, Theatre-Kid Pop-Punk meets Dream Theatre-loving, DnD-playing, Power-Prog energy now as they did way back before they could even grow some proper beards.

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