(Andy Synn presents four releases from January which you might have overlooked)
It’s a new year which means… new bands!
And so, to celebrate this, here’s four debut albums from last month which I strongly urge you all to check out.
Feb 042025
Andy Synn
Jan 312025
Recommended for fans of: Devourment, Disentomb, Disgorge
It’s somewhat crazy to think that we’re now on the 179th edition of The Synn Report.
That’s 179 different bands (actually it’s probably slightly more) I’ve dived into since starting to write here, with the first edition – not counting the unofficial “part zero” which was written by Islander following an early recommendation of mine – being published in January of 2011.
Of course, looking back, my initial intention to do these reports weekly seems hopeless naïve – I managed it for a while, but once I became a permanent fixture here I had to scale them back to monthly – but the purpose behind them, to write up and recommend a band’s entire back-catalogue, rather than just their latest release, is one thing which hasn’t changed.
And so, to kick off the 2025 season, today we’re going to be getting truly, utterly, and unforgivingly brutal with the Belarussian blast ‘n’ bludgeon of Relics of Humanity (whose long-gestating third album releases today).
Jan 302025
(Andy Synn traverses the dreamlands in search of the meaning and measure of Kadath)
My history with the musical cult known as The Great Old Ones is a long and storied one indeed.
Way back in 2014 I selected their stunning second album (and still their finest hour, in my opinion) Tekeli-li as one of the best albums of the year, and not long after that I was enraptured by the band’s headlining performance at The Black Heart in London (a show which, despite them moving on to bigger stages, remains their most iconic performance in my mind).
In the years since then I have written about the band multiple times, offering my thoughts on both their live shows and their subsequent recorded output – 2017’s bigger and more bombastic EOD: A Tale of Dark Legacy and 2019’s more furious and ferocious Cosmicism – and remained a faithful acolyte through it all.
And yet there’s always been a part of me wondering, and worrying, if they’d ever be able to recapture that same sense of magic – that immersive, otherworldly atmosphere – which permeated their early work(s).
But… perhaps the stars have finally aligned once more?
Jan 282025
(Andy Synn promises to review more EPs this year… we’ll see about that!)
Every year I promise that I’m going to feature and review more EPs here at NCS… and every year I fail spectacularly at this, and have to jam in all the short-form releases of the year into my annual “List Week” instead.
But, mark my words, this year things are going to be different! Although, I might have said that before…
Jan 222025
(Andy Synn once more sets out to share a few of his favourite home-grown exports)
My main hope, for all of these “Best of British” articles, is that they encourage people to check out some of the grass-roots talent from this dark, Satanic isle that they might otherwise have overlooked.
After all, I know from bitter, personal experience how hard it can be to break through and get yourselves noticed when there’s so many other bands vying for attention and exposure at the same time.
Not, it must be said, that this seems to be an issue for any of the bands in today’s piece – Barshasketh are one of the most respected bands in the UK Black Metal Scene, Grief Ritual have played multiple festivals and are about to release their much-hyped debut album on Church Road Records, and Mutagenic Host have already been pegged by some as the “next big thing” in British Death Metal – but hopefully this article can still play a role in bringing them all to an even wider audience.
Jan 202025
(Andy Synn finds that the fourth time continues to charm when it comes to Shedfromthebody)
With 2025 finally starting to get into gear, it’s time for us to start looking ahead and planning out what artists and albums we’re going to review over the next few months (and beyond).
That being said, it’s always important to leave a little bit of wiggle room in your schedule for an unexpected surprise or two… such as the recently-released new album from Finnish “Doom-gaze” chanteuse Suvi Savikko, aka Shedfromthebody.
Jan 162025
(Andy Synn embraces the chaos and catharsis of Poland’s Uulliata Digir)
It was just last week when I commented that 2025 seemed to be off to a bit of a slow start – usually I’ve encountered at least one new favourite by now – but, wouldn’t you know it, it looks like I spoke too soon!
Bursting out of the blocks with the sort of wilfully unorthodox, genre-blending sound – grounded in the harshness and heaviness of Black and Death Metal, but equally influenced by dark Jazz and doomy drone, while also incorporating passages of post-metallic ambience and abrasively sludgy atmosphere – which defies easy categorisation (“Avant-Garde Extremity” is probably the best way to describe it) the self-titled debut from Uulliata Digir has quickly established itself as probably the best thing I’ve heard so far this year.
And, because of that, I felt like I needed to share it with all of you.
Jan 152025
(Andy Synn meditates upon the new album from Rudra)
There’s been a lot of talk recently about the role of so-called “AI” is going to play in our lives going forwards, particularly in regards to algorithmically-generated “art”.
And while a lot of the discussion has – understandably and correctly – focussed on the fact that, by their very nature, these generative learning models are incapable of producing anything truly original (with equally valid questions remaining about just how much of what they’re fed on is plagiarised from actual, existing artists), I think a deeper, but no less salient, point tends to be overlooked.
After all, “originality” is not the sole arbiter of great art (we are all the sum of our influences, after all) and there’s a reason that entire movements – genres of music, schools of painting, styles of literature, etc – have taken shape over the years, as the purpose of these “forms” is to allow the artists to express themselves.
That, my friends, is what’s really missing from the debate… an acknowledgement that the purpose of art is not simply to create a “thing” but to communicate, to share something of the artist that can’t be expressed any other way, and that without that soul, that self, on the other end there’s nothing beneath it all. It’s inherently hollow.
And while Rudra‘s eleventh(!) album, Antithesis, certainly doesn’t attempt to break the mould or reinvent the wheel, there’s no doubt that they’ve poured their hearts and souls, and every ounce of their passion, into it.
Jan 132025
(Andy Synn looks ahead to what we might expect from 2025)
Is it just me or does 2025 seem to be off to a bit of a slow start?
Don’t get me wrong, I’ve already written about a couple of gems (Am I In Trouble?, MEM//BRANE) and I’ve got my eyes on a few upcoming releases (including one which, having heard it in full, is probably destined for my “Disappointing” list) but, for the most part, it feels like 2025 has yet to properly kick into gear.
This isn’t necessarily a bad thing though, since it gives us a bit more time to get our shit together and start planning out the year to come… which in this case means highlighting some of the albums which I really hope make an appearance, and make an impact, some time over the next twelve months.
Jan 092025
(Andy Synn says that the new album from MEM//BRANE is one hell of a way to kick off 2025)
Let’s keep the momentum of the new year going with a new band… or, at least, a band who are new to me… shall we?