Islander

AN NCS PREMIERE: HELLEVAERDER — “HANDEN GEKETEND IN IJZER”

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Apr 142025
 

(written by Islander)

Fighting their way forward since 2017, the Dutch black metal band Hellevaerder made their first large mark with a 2022 debut album (In de nevel van afgunst) and followed that with their appearance in Verloren vertellingen, a 2023 split with fellow members of the Zwotte Kring circle — Asgrauw, Schavot, and Duindwaler. And now they return again with a second full-length, Fakkeldragers (“Torchbearers”).

The album will be released on June 19th in a variety of formats by a triumvirate of labels — Void Wanderer Productions (NL), War Productions (PT), and Zwaertgevegt (NL) — and they recommend it for fans of Darkened Nocturn Slaughtercult, Emperor, Mayhem, and Sargeist.

What we have for you today, as a preview of the delirium and damnations the album brings, is a first listen to the album track “Handen geketend in ijzer” (which might be translated as “Hands chained in iron”). But first, here’s some background about the album’s thematic conception — which continues a narrative Hellevaerder began in their first album: Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: SEXMAG — “SEXORCYZM”

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Apr 142025
 

(written by Islander)

In an age when online porn is as easy to get as water from a faucet, the Silesian band Sexmag‘s name seems like an anachronism. Does anyone buy sex mag’s any more? Does anyone still publish them? Maybe there’s a museum for them somewhere?

It’s fair to say that the band’s music is also a throwback, in the sense that it summons the old spirits of bands like Sarcófago, Tormentor, Bulldozer, and Destruction. But don’t think listening is like wandering through a heavy metal museum or a museum of quaint publications with pinups in the centerfold. It’s more like being thrown into a filthy, blood-spraying orgy where the degenerate participants are vicious devils and demonesses.

But as you’ll already know if you threw yourselves into Sexmag‘s 2021 EP Sex Metal (which we gleefully premiered here), there’s more going on in their music than lewd and crude pentagram-draped romps, and that’s even more evident on their new album Sexorcyzm, whose title track we’re premiering through a video today.

And by the way, though we’re having fun with their name, they reportedly chose it in honor of an important old Polish heavy metal band named Kat (the Polish word for “executioner”), who recorded a song named… “Mag-Sex”. And based on that song’s lyrics, which tell a tale of a man raised by witches, its title might be better understood as… “magic sex“. Continue reading »

KIRITSIS: “KIRITSIS”

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Apr 142025
 

(We begin a new week at NCS with Todd Manning‘s review of the self-titled debut album from Indianapolis-based Kiritsis, out now on Wise Blood Records and Pout Records.)

Metal and hardcore have provided us with many ways to portray the nastiness of everyday life. Indianapolis-based quartet Kiritsis takes a sludge template and injects it with some nasty hardcore at just the right moments, creating the soundtrack to the rage that is slowly consuming our broken psyches.

The opening riff for “Knuckles” sets the stage. It’s the kind of head-nodding sludge riff sure to bring an involuntary scowl to any metal connoisseur’s face. The sound is a bit reminiscent of Crowbar at their most aggressive, such as on “High-Rate Extinction”. Yet, Kiritsis sounds more epic; perhaps some Neurosis influence sneaking in as well. Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK: NASCITURUS, SVART VINTER, NIGHTMARE BODY, ALUKTA, NVAGE, DERHEAD

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Apr 132025
 

(written by Islander)

Biting off more than you can chew: I came real close to doing that yesterday. All the songs by those 14 bands tasted so good, I had to bite into them, though I don’t know how many other people listened to them all, much less read all the words I frantically spilled out.

I guess my mental jaws were sore this morning because, after starting to get caffeinated, I stared at what I’d planned to do for today’s black roundup and backed off. I hadn’t planned an extravaganza on the scale of yesterday’s sonic storm, but it still seemed like a lot, or at least a lot more than I could manage without spinning like a top again, so I pulled out the paring knife and started shaving it down. (Man, that’s a lot of metaphors already and I’m still just in the intro!).

A painful process it was, deciding what to go with and what to leave behind. I hope the pain you’re about to experience below is only the kind of pain you seek. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD ON A SATURDAY (PART 2): HEAVEN SHALL BURN, OMINOUS RUIN, BALMOG, CHAINSWORD HURSAN, KATATONIA, GHOST

 Album Reviews, Exceptions to the Rule, Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC, SHORT BUT SWEET  1 Response »
Apr 122025
 


Heaven Shall Burn – photo by Candy Welz

(written by Islander)

Fanatically determined to get both Parts of this roundup posted today, I took a 10-minute break after launching Part 1 and then dived into this one. I haven’t gone to the bathroom yet, but like Cory Booker I’m depending on Depends.

As discussed in Part 1, today’s already-large roundup mushroomed into an even bigger one after my pals Andy Synn and DGR threw 4 more songs into a mix that already included music from 10 bands.

As also discussed there, for you criminals who didn’t bother to read it, I used those 4 as bookends, 2 at the start and 2 at the finish. The 2 at the end have stressed out my usual NCS site-title boundary lines to the breaking point, but not for the first time. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD ON A SATURDAY (PART 1): GAAHLS WYRD, IMPERISHABLE, MY DEMENTIA, ORTHODOX, A FLOCK NAMED MURDER, DISPYT, FAMILY GARDEN

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Apr 122025
 


Gaahls WYRD – photo by Jørn Veberg

(written by Islander)

It’s good to have friends. Friends can give you useful advice. Sometimes friends can also give you advice that makes you think, “I wish they hadn’t said that.” Case in point:

Since the middle of last week my wife has been 1,100 miles from where we live visiting her favorite sister. Home alone, I spent way more than the usual amount of time yesterday getting ready for this column. I listened to bits and pieces of 30 new releases, most of them singles and some of them EPs or albums. I picked 10 of them for today that I thought provided a good amount of variety. I even arranged them in a way I thought made sense.

I was so happy that I shared the list with my old friends Andy and DGR. Between the two of them they then pointed out 4 more new songs that I’d missed, all from known culprits we all like. Fuck me, what to do? Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: ELUSIVE GOD — “KOB”

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Apr 112025
 

(written by Islander)

Pay no attention to the name of our site. We don’t really mean it. Well, honestly we mostly do mean it, but not all the time. Some of the time we hear singing that just makes us shake our heads in wonder and are helpless to bar the door against it. Today is one of those times. (So, for those few snarks who can’t resist yelling, “But there’s clean singing in this song!”, just choke that down or you’ll prove you’ve never been here before.)

What we have for you today is the premiere of a song named “Kob” off the thrilling new album Ambis by the Croatian epic doom band Elusive God, which will be released on May 9th by the always-interesting Personal Records. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: CRIMSON CROWN — “BURN THE CHAINS WITH UNHOLY FIRE”

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Apr 112025
 

(written by Islander)

We’ve had a few occasions in previous years to froth at the mouth about the extravagant music of the Russian black metal band Malist, on one occasion summing it up as “…blazing and boisterous… thrusting and thunderous… moody, melancholy, and mysterious at times, but mainly explosive and exhilarating (and highly addictive)…”

Now we learn that the Russian musician behind Malist, Nick Kholodov (Ovfrost), has a new project named Crimson Crown and a debut album for the project entitled Vae Victis that will be out next month. Like Malist, Crimson Crown is devoted to black metal, but there must be differences, mustn’t there? Else why create a new project? Well, let’s find out together as we listen to a song from Val Victis named “Burn the Chains With Unholy Fire“. Continue reading »

BUTCHERBIRD: “DROUGHT/DELUGE”

 Album Reviews, SHORT BUT SWEET  No Responses »
Apr 112025
 


Artwork by šaška

(On May 30th Drowning Sea God Records will digitally release the debut EP from the London-based metallic hardcore band ButcherBird. Wil Cifer has had a chance to hear it, and sent in the following positive review.)

I’m always up for checking out a hardcore band that is willing to venture off the beaten path. So here we are with ButcherBird, a hardcore band from London that has a metallic groove to their feedback-squealing attack.

The angry shout of the vocals is the most straightforward thing about the overall sound this band is throwing at you. They do use breakdowns, but these cropped up in less expected places. There is a more rock n roll vibe underlying the whiplash of angular riffs, making them more of Rollins Band than Full of Hell when it comes to the sonic scope these guys have crafted. Unwieldy sections of choruses collide to create a celebratory ambience. They are not fueled by a singular mood, but express a wide range of varied emotions with little pretense. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: ANCESTOR OF KAOS — “ETERNAL NIGHT”

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Apr 102025
 

(written by Islander)

The marauding black/thrashers Ancestor of Kaos have followed a long and winding road, a twisting and turning path that now leads to the April 18 release of their new album Animal Ritual by Horror Pain Gore Death Productions.

They began as a black metal band formed in Havana, Cuba in 2005 under the name Ancestor. Under that name they released a first demo, a split, and two albums. In 2013 the band moved to the U.S following an invitation to play at South by Southwest that same year. Initially they were based in Miami and were active on stage, opening for such bands as Deicide, Acheron, and Goatwhore, among others.

We’re told that from 2015 until 2020 the band went into a brief hiatus where they changed their name to Ancestor of Kaos. In 2022, after resuming activity, they released their Ancestor of Kaos album, which consisted of new versions of old songs, re-recorded in Las Vegas, Nevada. And then, in 2024 (with a renewed lineup) they began releasing singles that would lead to the discharge of this new album. Continue reading »

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