NO CLEAN SINGING is three years old today. We opened the doors on November 21, 2009, and we’ve posted something (or several somethings) every damned day since then. Of course, the fact that we’re still here after three years doesn’t mean we’re worth a shit, only that we haven’t given up.
Whether this birthday is a cause for celebration or for mourning, depending on your perspective, it does seem like a good time to do three things: Explain who we are (because we seem to have accumulated a lot of new readers in the last year); take note of some accomplishments; and offer a few words of thanks.
WHO WE ARE
On birthdays it’s always nice to reflect upon your origins. This blog began as a protest against the kind of clean singing that was infiltrating metalcore music at the time (what temporarily happened to Bury Your Dead three years ago was the specific provocative incident). My two co-founders and I weren’t dead set against all metal with clean vocals — we announced from the beginning that there would be Exceptions to the Rule — we just found that the kind of extreme music we preferred usually didn’t include them.
Since then, we’ve expanded our horizons to include a much greater variety of metal, with more clean singing in the mix, though I’ve hung on to the site’s original name despite (or maybe because of) how confusing it may be to newcomers. My original co-founders fell by the wayside long ago, ultimately to be replaced by a cadre of regular writers and many irregular ones. Actually, to be brutally honest, we’re all pretty irregular. So’s the music. So, it’s a good fit.
For another year we’ve also stayed true to a few other founding principles. We don’t run ads, and we take no money from anyone for anything. This is a non-profit labor of love, and you can’t buy love anyway. Plus, we’ve continued trying not to take ourselves too seriously, and we’ve continued to stay positive about the music we cover. And we almost always include music in everything we do, including the reviews, because listening to metal is what it’s all about.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS
I don’t really expect very many people to care about the following statistics. But they make me feel good, and that’s what really counts, don’t you agree? Of course you do.
According to Google Analytics, we’ve had 1,116,598 page views in the last year, and site visits by 359,963 unique visitors from almost 200 different countries, with the top 10 being the U.S., the U.K., Canada, Australia, Germany, Finland, Sweden, France, Italy, and Brazil. Slightly more than half of all the site visits over the last year came from new visitors, which means we’ve been growing. As a further sign of that, our support on Facebook has been growing steadily, too. As I write this, we’re up to 2,715.
Just since the beginning of 2012 we’ve reviewed 174 new albums and 61 new EPs, splits, or singles (and thats not counting the dozens of discography reviews covered in THE SYNN REPORT). We’ve published 44 interviews since the year began and 29 concert reviews from both Europe and the U.S. And I’ve lost count of how many bad jokes we’ve made. We’ve used the word “penis” a lot, too, but who’s counting?
THANK YOU’S
At the top of the list of thank-you’s come the people who read this site, and the people who make time to leave comments on our posts. As much fun as it is for all of the writers to blather on about this and that, I suspect we’d stop in a heartbeat if no one cared. Knowing that people get something out of what we’re doing is what keeps this place going. As mentioned previously, we certainly don’t do it for the money.
Next on the thank-you list come the bands. Supporting music we care about is the site’s main mission, which is the main reason we write only about music we want to recommend. As many reviews as we’ve managed to publish, as many bands as we’ve featured in shorter pieces, I wish we could do much more. I’m afraid that anyone who thinks metal is getting stale just hasn’t been listening enough.
I also want to thank our regular writers, named in the order they joined this endeavor: Andy Synn, BadWolf, and TheMadIsraeli. And I have to thank Phro, too. Despite the fact that he writes prolifically for his own blog, he still makes time to throw some lunacy our way, too, in addition to ensuring there’s a lot of penis and tentacle in the comment sections. I’m also indebted to groverXIII and DGR, who gave us a lot of posts in 2012 while waiting for the launch of their next big thing. All of these folks have enriched this place over the last year, and they all happen to be really good people, too.
Kudos also to KevinP and GemmaD, who have given us some very cool interviews, and to Alex Layzell (Grind To Death) who almost single-handedly made possible a milestone for NCS — our first release of music; and if you don’t know what that’s about, go HERE.
We’ve also benefitted from a lot of guest writing in the last 12 months, and I want to thank everyone who has contributed. I’ve learned about a ton of excellent metal through all of our guest posts and been greatly entertained by the writing as well. Though our tradition is to make November a special time for guest submissions, they’re always welcome — and I suspect we’ll be seeing more from some of the writers who made their first appearances during this month.
As we begin our fourth year, we’ll continue doing our best to entertain, to inform, and to support metal and the community of people devoted to it.
And because we need to have music in just about everything we do here, the following are songs from two bands I’ve recently discovered, about whom more will be said in the near future: Tengger Cavalry from China and Ævangelist from the U.S. (and thanks to Raven Stead and Utmu, respectively, for these recommendations).
— Islander
103 Responses to “HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO US: NCS TURNS THREE”
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Happy Birthday to NCS!!!!! We do care!!!!!
Thank you sir!
I’m glad I joined this blog more than I think I can express. Not only have I made good friends in you, BadWolf and Andy Synn but I really feel we are one of THE best of these blogs on the net right now. I hope to see great things for us in the future. I think this blog deserves the recognition. I remember when I first stumbled upon here and being impressed with the content. I also remember when you acted like you were a bit baffled that I actually wanted to write knowingly having no pay to look forward to =P
I love this site. I haven’t been able to devote myself to it this year like I was able to the last, but I’m honored that you’ve allowed me into the staff and that I get to do this.
I’m still baffled, and still very glad you’re here. 🙂
Shit…three years old? Hmmm…you’re just about the right age. I better wait few more years though. AND THEN! Oh, yes, and then we will go on your first fishing trip!! For fuzzy flounders and pants sharks.
Can we? Can we? When can we go!!? When can we go!!?
Sorry to burst your nice fishing trip but me and the octopus are going as well.
Oh, that sounds nice!
Yay! Can we have a sleepover too?!?
Well, you probably won’t sleep too well, but you can certainly try.
Who said anything about sleeping!
sounds good to me!!! sleepover as well and no sleep involved 😛
Did you mean to say no sheep involved? Because there will definitely be sheep.
Baaaaaaaaaaaaah!
Ba-ah!
no sleep and ohhh yes sheep will be involved for sure 🙂
What the actual fuck was that?????
@Phro: It’s a clip from the second episode of the anime adaptation of a light novel series called
Mayo Chiki!. The girl crossdresses as a butler, and the guy gets nosebleeds whenever touched by a girl. That was a part of their first date. (OwO)
This site is the only thing that maintains my tenuous link to sanity.
And I thank you for that.
Hate to tell you bro, but that link snapped about two years ago.
Who’s Sanity, and why haven’t you introduced us to her yet?
Actually, just give us her address – been wanting to try setting up some DIY surveillance equipment.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKxBoPgujNk
My real thoughts.
I always knew you were a supermodel.
OH SHIT! A vaseline apocalypse.
Vagapocalypse?
Birfday blog sub-header.
Awwwww, I get a present too!????
Here, let me give you a back rub to show my thanks.
That was kind of nice, but I wish you had heated the oil. Or was that oil?
I just took some of your payment for Bluehost out of the fridge.
How did you get my bloody semen?
Wait, don’t answer that.
Well, you know what an automatic cow milking machine is, right?
Oh yeah. You can’t beat industrial strength suction.
What even?…
congratulations. NCS has become a daily stop for me in the last year or so. Thanks for all the great work. \m/
\m/
Happy birthday from the TZEEEAC Crew, you have been and continue to be an inspiration to us. Here’s to many more years of No Clean Singing!
Thank you! As long as you haven’t been inspired to mutilate woodland creatures . . .
Are the top-10 countries in order? Cuz if so, then HAHA IN YO FACE SWEDEN!
Oh and gratz NCS & Islander. It’s been a great ride for the over two years I’ve been following the site.
Thanks man. And yes, I listed the countries in order.
NCS, you’ve made me a better man, aka metalhead, aka giddy consumer of thoughtfully mindless and blissfully devastating music. Though I’m still nowhere near self-actualization. NCS has become my daily toy store. For that, I thank you, you kind wretched souls…
“thoughtfully mindless and blissfully devastating music” — I have to find a way to use that, royalty-free, of course. 🙂
Happy birthday NCS.
Many thanks (365chaosriddendays is a great tag, btw)
Thank you, and to all the rest of NCS staff for the passion in supporting the extreme metal scene, greetings from Italy.
I’m your reader since 2011 and I’ll never stop, you really made my days.
Happy Birthday. Cool to be a little part of this, and many many thanks for all the support.
The feeling is completely mutual. Thanks for everything you’ve done at Metal Bandcamp. Maybe you’ll do a year-end list of some kind for us?
Absolutely.
What flavor is the cake this year?
Unless Phro baked the cake, then just tell me it’s chocolate.
Okay, it’s chocolate.
The cake is a lie.
Party pooper. Party. Pooper.
Happy birthday NCS! Congrats Islander and all the writers and contributors! I’ve made some good friends here on this site which is great because after I graduated, my friends and I started to drift apart and we don’t talk as much, and I like that I know some people that I can relate to.
I’ve been coming here since 2010 I think, and I plan on coming here as long as the blog is a thing!
Thank you for being such a loyal supporter, and for all the excellent metal recommendations over the years, the most recent of which is in this very post. AEvangelist rules.
No problem, but I should really be thanking you and everyone who contributes to this blog! Without this I wouldn’t have met you, Phro, BlackShuck, TheMadIsraeli, Andy Synn, MaxR and Eric.
Wait, are you sure you want to be saying thank you for meeting ALL of those people?
Well, he hangs out around here. He can’t really deny it, can he?
Congratulations and happy birthday!
Full Metal Attorney has been around since May 2005. 🙂 It’s been through periods of dormancy and went through many different phases over the years, until it actually started turning into what it is now on November 19, 2009, with my first extreme metal album review. That’s a full two days before NCS started. Ha! I win.
I assume the loris is in the mail.
The lorises are busy working with the Wayback Machine to change your first extreme metal post to Nov 22, 2009.
(And happy birthday to Full Metal Attorney too!)
Don’t worry, I’m going to come round and… ‘congratulate’ you… in person.
Well, this has been an amazing year. Quite the life you’ve lived, if the world is to end this December. If it does not, please consider upgrading your news service by employing flying orcas, to replace or assist your carrier-pigeon-brigade.
I’m willing to consider that. Will they work for fish? Sea lions are hard to come by.
Hmm… Dolphin work for fish, seemingly. And they’re smaller than orcas – which could be a good thing. So, maybe you can get dolphins instead?
plain and simple i fucking love this site
I like the plain and simple approach. 🙂
Happy B! Glad that you exist. You have made me discover tons of good shit. Hope to discover more between now and when you’ll turn ten. Keep it up! I know you can.
Well done.
Metal forever \m/
Thank you — it’s hard to imagine turning 10 at this point, but stranger things have happened. Seven years from now we’ll probably be able to beam this shit directly into people’s brains.
Whoa, whoa, whoa. You’ll make people go insane with stuff like that.
Happy birthday! Thank you Islander and NCS crew – I’ve been exposed to so many bands I rate via you guys, bands I’m sure I wouldn’t have found otherwise… so keep spreading the disease. Viva NCS!
Happy birthday!
Happy birthday! This is definitely my favorite metal blog. Since I discovered it earlier this year I’ve found so much new music that I thoroughly enjoy. It’s also quite nice that, unlike on some other sites, the articles are generally positive in nature. On top of that, they’re well written and devoid of the abundance of spelling and grammatical errors that can be found elsewhere. Even better still, that positivity and writing proficiency often extends into the comments section, which is quite refreshing here on the ol’ interwebs. In short, I fucking love NCS and plan to keep coming back as long as it remains in existence; keep up the great work!
I have no objectivity on this point, but I do think we have one of the best comment sections on the web — amazingly troll-free, funny, and interesting, which of course is a tribute to the people who make time to participate. And I’ll tell you from first-hand experience, seeing lots of comments on something you write is a big motivator to keep writing.
Another thing I forgot to mention that I really like is that you live in the Seattle area so when you write about a show or something metal happening nearby, it’s actually relevant to me, as I live just a little ways south of the great city of rain. Plus, if for some reason in the future I decide that I must stalk a writer from a metal blog, it’ll make my life that much easier!
Be forewarned: the lorises don’t like stalkers. They’re still playing with the intestines of the last stalker.
Hmm, I might have to rethink this… stalking seems like an awful lot of effort anyway. Besides, the whole “stalking” thing would probably just amount to half-assed attempts to find you at a show or something. The lorises don’t go to shows, do they?
They only go to the ones that involve human sacrifice.
I’ll be sure to stay alert next time I go to one of those, maybe keep a pocket full of loris treats to appease them.
Yeah, the comments are great! I especially like how Islander participates in them, and I like how a lot of us joke around. Especially the conversations between Phro and Islander…
I like how you call them conversations.
Well there’s definitely a certain…back and forth!
Oh, c’mon. We all know that you two speak to each other in a special language none of us understands. We can only imagine what you’re really saying.
I’ve been trying to decode it for a while now. It’s either much more vulgar than it appears, or they’re discussing knitting techniques…
I think it revolves around knitting while copulating.
That sounds about right, let’s go with that.
I found Phro’s first appearance at NCS, a comment on a post about Banjo Metal, Sept 21, 2010:
https://www.nocleansinging.com/2010/09/21/banjo-metal/#comments
Those Yoshida Brothers a cool. I remember a photo Phro posted on Facebook of a shamisen. Do you play that Phro?
Kinda? I once got to the point where I could get through a few songs without having to stop, but…not so much anymore. I love the instrument.
But what do you think about the shamisen?
Me fail english? That’s unpossible!
I’m somewhat mortified to say that I don’t know what you’re referencing…
Are you sure you don’t know?
[It’s from an episode of The Simpsons. It’s a line by the character Ralph Wiggum.]
Happy Birthday NCS! This is and has been the best metal blog for a long while. I think Dan C. said it all up there.
Thanks byrd. You’re one of the true old-timers here, and I really appreciate your hanging in there with us for so long.
BYRD!!!! I MADE A VIDEO SHOWING OFF MY ASS FOR YOU!!!!
Late to the party, but gratz on your third year man. Ive enjoyed reading (and occasionally contributing) to this site. Thanks for putting up with a kurmurgeony elitist with a big mouth
I’m not 100% sure why you continue hanging around here, given that there’s probably only 5% of the music we talk about that’s likely to peak your interest, but I’m glad you do. 🙂
Eh…I can find music….I just generally enjoy the site and the people here. Its the legitmate conversations and the chance to expand everyones tastes ( including mine) that make me come back everyday.
Cheers man \m/
We should have a kurmugeony battle between you and Kevin P….but you both have to strip down to your speedos and get in the jello pit first.
Only techdeath fans use jello…pudding is way more kvlt
Damnit, I can never be good enough for you!!!! My disappointment knows no bounds!!!
Happy Birthday FuckFaces!!!!
There is nothing like NCS on the internet. Congratulations.
I think I speak for all the fuckfaces when I say thank you for your continuing support. It’s been cool having you around here.
Apologies on my tardiness (In my defense, I was on a boat for the last week consuming moderate quantities of alcohol and larger quantities of food). Many congratulations are in order, all deservedly so, and I am proud to say that I “know” you guys (at least, as far as one person can know another when all of their contact is solely through the internet), and I am happy to have been able to contribute to the site in my own manner. I anticipate with great eagerness the continuing development of this site.