Dawid Figielek – KNIGHT (2013)
For another year we’ve raced through the ongoing firestorms of heavy new music without being thrown off and trampled, and so it’s time to celebrate survival again.
On November 21, 2009, I made the first post at this blog. On the 21st day of every November since then (except one year when I forgot to do it until a few days later) I’ve made a post commemorating our birthday.
In these annual posts I used to explain how I had no ambitions or expectations when I started the blog, nor any training or experience as a music writer, and that the sum total of my motivation was to create an enjoyable diversion for myself from the grind of daily life, and to indulge my burgeoning interest in heavy music. And there, I just did it again, albeit in fewer words than some earlier years.
In these annual observances I also tended to reminisce about how many things about NCS have changed from the early days, and about how surprising it is to me that we’re still here. Some of you remember the early days, because you were here with us then. Others who have begun checking in here more recently might yawn if I indulged in that kind of nostalgia, so once again I’m going to skip that and get right into expressions of gratitude and the annual tradition of mind-numbing statistics.
As for why we’re still here, still hanging on, and why our audience has grown, the most important reason (still) is that I was eventually joined by a group of other writers who seemed to care about the music as much or more than I did, and who completely bought into the guiding principles that I had adopted in starting NCS.
The most important of those principles was that we would spend our time recommending music we believed in and would simply ignore the music that we didn’t like or that we thought wasn’t very good. I don’t imply that there’s anything wrong with reviewers who tell readers why an album is bad; I just never wanted to spend my time doing that. It’s also worth noting that this principle doesn’t prelude our writers from pointing out flaws, as long as overall they want to recommend a release.
Another guiding principle was that we’d never try to make money off this in any way or accept money from anyone for anything — the necessary corollary of which is that no one who writes here gets paid! I thought that would promote honesty and require passion (and I still think that), but at the outset I also thought the idea of this obscure frolic developing into a business would be absurd, because who would ever notice us?
Many writers have drifted in and out of our cadre over these 15 years, some of whom have gone on to write for other publications or to focus on family and careers, and have remained good friends. A few hardy souls have hung in there almost as long as I have, and have become particularly close friends. And so, as usual, I’ll call them out to take a bow.
Andy Synn’s first post was a review of Dimmu Borgir’s Abrahadabra on September 23, 2010. And DGR’s first post was a series of year-end lists on December 28, 2011. They are very fine people, and for me, my friendship with them and with others who eventually joined our ranks has become the most important blessing to me of all for having done this. Their steadfastness in continuing to write for NCS without pay and despite being buffeted by the usual vicissitudes of life over so many years is something I greatly admire, and for which I’m again enormously thankful.
As I look back over the last year, thanks are also in order for the contributions of many other fine folks who have also been helping us for a long time — among them, Comrade Aleks, Wil Cifer, Todd Manning, Gonzo, and Neill Jameson, and Daniel Barkasi. We also continue to benefit from the contributions of relative newcomers, including Christopher Luedtke (U.S.), Didrik Mešiček (Slovenia), Vizzah Harri (Vietnam), Zoltar (France), and most recently Chile (Norway). Thanks to all of you.
Another big reason why we’re still here is you, and others like you — people who find some value in our recommendations, people who enjoy the writing, and/or people who actually seem to care what we think about the releases that continue coming in a flood every week.
Even though we make no effort to make any money from NCS, I doubt any of us would have continued to do this if no one cared or paid attention or gave us any feedback. It’s a lot of work, and all of us might have concluded that it’s time better spent in other ways if we were just yelling into a great void.
Of course, we’re also still here because a still-increasing stream of bands, labels, and publicists exhort us to give their music a shot, and because we still get a lot of joy from the process of exploring new music, and a lot of satisfaction out of helping spread the word about what we find that gets us excited.
And now for the annual round-up of boring statistics!
Since we launched NCS 15 years ago, we’ve published 16,007 posts, including this one — and 862 of those have appeared in the 12 months since our last birthday, which is about 40 fewer than the year before but still averages out to 2.36 posts per day, including weekends. I think much of the dropoff was due to a hellish few months for me at the end of last year and the beginning of this one, when my day job put my nose to the grindstone.
At this writing, we’ve received 86,670 comments since NCS began on this day in 2009, not counting spam and not counting the very, very few we’ve deleted because their toxicity or snarkiness exceeded even our usual hands-off attitude about comments. I still don’t reply to comments as often as I used to, but I read every one of them, and continue to be grateful for the insights, the recommendations, the humor, and the support — and for the fact that our commenters have almost always been civil to us and to each other.
This is usually the point at which I use Google Analytics data to report how many people have visited us over the last year, where they’re located by country, total page views, and how all that compares to data from the year before. I couldn’t do that last year because of changes Google made in its system of data measurement and the fact that I couldn’t figure out what I needed to do to get us measured again.
I think I eventually figured it out. I now see a report which says we received 1,018,262 page views over the last 12 months, and an “event count” of over 2.7 million, from 280,077 “active users.” I can’t compare these numbers to last year, for the reason explained above, but it’s not far off from what we achieved in our 13th year.
Among those active users over the last 12 months, Google Analytics reports (roughly in keeping with data from previous years) that less than half of those users (41.7%) lived in the U.S., with 7.1% coming from the UK, 4.9% from Canada, 4.3% from Germany, and the balance from 207 other countries around the world, with Australia, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Poland rounding out the top 10, in that order.
We don’t have a widespread social media presence because maintaining and trying to propagate that would require time better spent on what we present at our site. But we do still make Facebook posts alerting people to new articles at NCS. As of yesterday we had 52,604 followers on FB, an increase of 3,385 from this time last year. That’s kind of surprising, because the “organic reach” of our FB posts is pretty pathetic, since I’m not going to pay Meta to boost the reach. (They want to treat us like a business, but we’re not that.)
As we now begin our glorious 16th year of survival, I’ll once again paraphrase from Blade Runner: I don’t know how long we’ll have together… Who does? I hope we’ll still be here at this time next year to celebrate the end of our 16th year, and I hope you’ll still be here with us. It’s been a hell of a trip so far, and all of us here at NCS are excited about continuing the ride.
Stay safe, and don’t let the bastards get you down.
– Islander
41 Responses to “HAPPY 15TH BIRTHDAY TO US!”
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15 years. Wow. Congratulations, Islander! I’ve lurked around here a good portion of that time and have discovered tons of music I never would have found otherwise. Thanks for NCS and here’s to a healthy future full of screams, blast beats, and tremolo picking!
Thanks Joe!
Been reading for 11. Keep up the great work.
11 is a prime number, and a very impressive one. In those 11 years I’m sure we’ve run off a lot of people. Thank’s for your persistence.
This place is the best.
❤️❤️❤️
Once again – thank you for the great joy you bring to my life
Thanks for sticking with us. It would strike many people as a conundrum that angry, demented, and miserable music brings joy, but it definitely does.
Fuck yeah dude. Keep them years coming!
15 year anniversary. What sort of anniversary is that? Black Void Anniversary? Dripping Blood Anniversary? The Dirty Voicebox Anniversary?
Supposedly it’s Crystal for a quindecennial anniversary (not “crystal meth”), but I like your ideas better.
I’m feeling extremely old all of a sudden
If you’re ready for adult diapers I’ve got extras.
Thanks for another great year of music.It pumps me up.
Thanks jimbo.
Happy Birthday NCS! I can’t believe it’s been this long already. Looking forward to another year with you guys!
Hail GOATWHORE!!!
Sept. 14, 2010. That’s the date of your first comment here. The first of 381, but who’s counting? I smile every time I see one, because it reminds me how long you’ve been with us and tells me you’re still alive and kicking. Hope all is well with you and your loved ones. Also…
GOATWHORE!
All is well, though the grandkids can wear me down a little lol.
A part of my day…..everyday. Fantastic Islander! Please keep things rolling. Congratulations!
Very grateful for your kind words.
I’m a sort of a silent reader and listener since 2011 and I still remember the first time I knew about this site.
Precisely it was about my research for a review about “Global Flatline” by “Aborted” and then I found “NCS” and it was immediate respect for your dedication and your passion about our beloved genre.
It is not less important to me your intellectual honesty because I know that you cover only “Metal” who’s
able to make you feel something real and It’s pretty clear this is not a clickbait site who aim for fame,
writing about “soulless” music you don’t love (?) just for quantity and visibility and so on!
Happy birthday once again and thanks for sharing your thoughts, especially to me when you cover artists in the vein of “Ulcerate” and “Gorguts” just to name a few but “Listmania has Begun” so finally we can make some comparisons. I am always curious about what is classified as “unforgettable” by other reader and listeners here, despite our singular tastes and bands I don’t know.
Thank you for your thoughtful and supportive message. Most of our visitors fall into the “silent reader and listener” category, and one reason I enjoy these annual celebrations is it leads some of them (like you) to speak up!
Thanks for all you do, Islander, Andy, DGR, and the rest of the NCS crew! This is my favorite site – and I have discovered some fantastic metal bands through it. Hails and happy birthday!
Hails to you JR, you’ve been with us a long time.
NCS is by far the best site for great music. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate the amount of work that goes into this. I’ve been introduced to so many amazing bands that I might never have encountered otherwise. The writing is top notch. The selections thoughtful. The result is a place that captures all that is right with our music. You guys rule! Now keep it going for at least 15 more years!
Thank you! The idea of going for 15 more years is a daunting concept, especially given my advanced age, but I also do love the thought of that.
I don’t think I’ve ever commented on NCS before but I start every day on my commute to work by reading NCS and check out bands that sound interesting. I have discovered countless bands through this blog – in fact a quick glance at my library tells me it probably is more than 60 bands in just the last few years that I’ve discovered thanks to you guys. I really like that you guys focus on posting about albums/bands that you find worthwhile. Posting negative reviews is probably tempting sometimes but honestly I much prefer the feeling that this page is a place of positivity.
Love you guys, and I’m thankful for all the great music you have helped me discover.
I’m really glad you decided to comment, and amazed to learn how many bands we’ve helped turn you onto. Making this a place of positivity has always been the goal. Although my early inspirations as a music blogger were sites that spent a fair amount of time poking fun at bands whose music they thought sucked, one of the reasons I wanted to steer clear of that is that it just seemed kind of sadistic. Of course other places (including well-respected ones) criticize albums in ways that aren’t sarcastic or demeaning to the musicians, and I understand the value of that for listeners trying to separate the wheat from the chaff. I just preferred (and still prefer) the idea of sticking with recommendations.
Nice work Islander and crew – I seriously think you guys should do some kind of one-off merch! At least stickers for festivals, I want a tee shirt to rep!
Good to see your name once again after so many years. I do periodically think about doing some kind of made-to-order merch. A really long time again I had joke NCS tour shirts made and gave them away to NCS visitors. Turned out to be a pretty expensive and time-consuming joke since I was handling all the packaging and shipping myself. Lots and lots of trips to the post office. I’m sure there’s an easier way to do it if I can get up the energy.
15 years… amazing! Congratulations once again!
And a big thank you for your dedication, it’s admirable.
Here’s to the next 15!
Ah, another familiar old name! Thanks for the good words!
My gratitude to you and this site remains unending, my friend. So happy to have a place on this ride with all of you. Can’t wait to meet up again in May at NWTF.
I’m really looking forward to seeing you again at NWTF too! The 2025 festival lineup is a great one IMO, but as usual, seeing friends is half the draw for me.
Happy birthday! I listen to metal for may years and came to conclusion that i cannot check every new band or album, so i need to find someone who will do that for me… And this site is my primary source of it!
Thank you for your gigantic and massive work. Long live NCS!
Thank you Igor. Trying to act as a responsible “filter” for the enormous amounts of new music is a primary function here, but I still feel guilty about not doing more. I guess it’s probably silly to feel that way, but I think all of us here listen to things we really like and just don’t have time to cover it, or we miss out altogether or discover something great way after the fact. One of the reasons I always enjoy YE list season is seeing what I’ve missed. 🙂
NCS is by far the first website I’m going to (apart those for professional purposes). I always find great value in your recommendations ans deeply appreciate the fine description of tracks or albums that are reviewed. Apart reviews from longrunners as M. Synn and you Islander, I discover high connections with Daniel Barkasi recommandations. One more reason to keep being by your side, NCS.
Thank you for making the time to write these inspirational thoughts (and I think I speak for Andy and Dan too — this kind of recognition and appreciation inspires us to keep going).
Congrats on 15 years! I’m grateful to have contributed some articles over time and see reading NCS as a key part of helping me avoid the trap of only listening to what I’m already familiar with. It is hard to say which exact bands I’ve discovered or been reintroduced to through NCS, but I know it was articles on here that increased my curiosity.
Looking forward to NWTF next year!
Thank you Ben! This time we really must connect at NWTF. Glad you will be there again.
Felicidades NCS!! He estado fuera de casa unos días por la boda de mi hermana.
Llevo relativamente poco tiempo con vosotros, pero os habéis convertido en mi sitio favorito por vuestra dedicación, educación y pasión por nuestra música.
Os deseo todo lo mejor!
Muchas gracias Invictus, y felicidades a tu hermana. Espero que haya sido una gran celebración.