AN NCS PREMIERE: MALACATH — “A HYMN FOR THE HARVEST”

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Jan 212025
 

(written by Islander)

In February Eternal Death will release the fifth album by the New England black metal band Malacath, which began as the solo project of multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Lykos but has been a two-piece of Lykos and drummer Hiraeth for most of Malacath‘s discography. (Both members have been involved in many other bands, including their collaboration in Angel Morgue.)

The new album, Eternal Roar of the Thunder and Rain, brings us four substantial songs ranging in length from 10 minutes to more than 16, followed by a relatively brief acoustic closer (“Eleusis”). What we have for you today is the premiere of one of the long ones, an astonishing epic named “A Hymn for the Harvest.” Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: WHERE THE LIGHT FADES — “TORN OUT”

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Jan 202025
 

(written by Islander)

A new week dawns at our site, and with it we bring a song premiere that’s the dawn of a new EP by Where The Light Fades, a Toronto-area band that arose during the pandemic from the ashes of Astaroth Incarnate.

This new EP is a three-song offering entitled Into The Depths of The Black Creek, and it will be released on January 31st by the Northernshadow label, which previews it this way:

Expect a mixture of black, doom, and some melodic death metal in the vein of Wolves In The Throne Room, Imperium Dekadenz, Mgła, Darkthrone, Taake, and early Katatonia.The lyrics are based on life, death, and grieving – something anyone can relate to. Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: SPOILED — “ZOMBIE HUNTERS”

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Jan 172025
 

(written by Islander)

With a pair of launching-pad EPs behind them, the Italian hellraisers in Spoiled are now on the verge of releasing their debut album Collapse, which will be discharged in February by the Portuguese labels Gruesome Records and Selvajaria Records. The labels preview what’s coming with this description:

This release delivers 15 tracks of blistering, violent, and fast-paced Thrash/Crossover at 250 BPM. Inspired by legends such as D.R.I., S.O.D., Slayer, Iron Reagan, Crumbsuckers, Ratos de Porão, Raw Power, Nuclear Assault, and Municipal Waste, Collapse is a high-octane homage to the genre’s greats.

Today we have a more concrete preview, as we premiere a video for the album track “Zombie Hunters” — a song that uses familiar legends of the ghoulish undead as a metaphor for a different kind of plague. Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: THRONE — “MORRIGAN”

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Jan 162025
 

(written by Islander)

“Hell ain’t a bad place to be”, they say. Well, it’s probably because Throne are not running the place, because if they were, hell would be really… hellish. Throne are back with their heaviest, strongest and most desperate effort so far and their solid sludge metal morphed into something more sulphureous, more malignant and definitely more feral.

That’s part of how the Dusktone label introduces this Italian band’s new album Ossarium, which they also describe as “a long, painful trip into the territories laden out by Eyehategod, Buzzoven, and Acid Bath but with an evolved take bordering on black metal sound….”

In support of these descriptions, Dusktone has already premiered a first single named “Aten,” and today we bring you a video for a second one — “Morrigan” — the song that opens the album. Continue reading »

AN NCS EP PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): MŮRA — “NEEDLE CATHEDRAL”

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Jan 162025
 

(written by Islander)

“Punishing in its heaviness, violently deranged in its fretwork,  hopeless in its moods, and vocally horrendous, the song takes listeners to a nightmarish place, and freezes us in place while it completes its looming edifice of terror and awe.”

That’s how we summed up the title song to a new EP by the Prague-based blackened death/doom metal band Můra when we premiered it earlier this month. Today we premiere the EP in its entirety, in advance of its release on January 20th by Doomentia Records and Caligari Records. Like the title song, it is a very heavy and relentlessly harrowing experience. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): DEUS SABAOTH — “CYCLE OF DEATH”

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Jan 152025
 

On their debut album Cycle of Death the Ukrainian band Deus Sabaoth have put purveyors of religious faith in their crosshairs. It’s not an uncommon focus for black metal bands, but this group extends their critique, both philosophically and in their music, in uncommon ways.

Regarding the philosophical concept of the album, the main theme of the lyrics “is to reflect different perspectives on religion and the existential concerns of those who confront their mortality while rejecting any religious beliefs,” and thus they “delve into a personal, internal struggle, exploring the complex emotions and conflicts faced by those who question the very nature of existence.” The following statement from the band develops these ideas further: Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): GREH — “DYSPHORIC DEVOTION”

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Jan 142025
 

After guitarist Gjero Krsteski left the German horror/punk band Hellgreaser he founded a new band named Greh in 2022 as a one-man project. After releasing an EP and a single on his own, Greh expanded to a full lineup with the joining of drummer Maurice Müller (Hard Strike, Milan) and vocalist Martin Kocula (Grau).

Now a full band, Greh released their 2023 EP Reversion of the Repressed, and then a trio of singles last year. This year — on January 15th — Fetzner Death Records will release the band’s debut album Dysphoric Devotion. It includes those previous three singles and five more original songs, and we’re bringing all of them to you today. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): CLOUDS — “DESPRINS”

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Jan 132025
 

(written by Islander)

Today the Romanian/UK band Clouds are releasing their sixth album, Desprins, and we’re helping spread the word by sharing the premiere of the entire record.

From “Disguise” through “The Fall of Hearts,” Desprins includes seven new songs, plus two bonus tracks — “Sorrowbound” and “Chasing Ghosts,” which were released as stand-alone singles in 2022 and 2023, respectively. The band describe the album as “a fearsome journey into the darkness of consciousness, an introspective reflection upon the human existence.”

The lyrics of the new songs are poetic, which is what we’ve come to expect from songwriter Daniel Neagoe. As we have also come to expect, they are expressions of the crushing disappointments, pain, and hollowness of life (“this mockery of hope”) — dark reflections filled with acrimony, loss, regret, and the realization of delusion. Insanity and rage also mark the narrator’s bleak memorials, but not joy or hopefulness; life has extinguished those. Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: SCITALIS — “SUFFERING”

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Jan 102025
 

(written by Islander)

It seems to have become a tradition at our site to spread the dark word of the Swedish black metal band Scitalis: In 2021 we premiered their 2021 debut EP Awakening (and what an awakening its was!). In the following year we then premiered a song from their debut album Doomed Before Time. In 2023 we also premiered their stand-alone single “Thy Offering,” which was the work of a revised lineup. And now…

…and now we’re helping Vendetta Records announce a new Scitalis album, which has been set for release on January 24th. Entitled Maledictum, it is described as “a haunting exploration of despair and wrath inspired by Sweden’s witch trials during ‘Det stora oväsendet’ (1668–1676).” Once again, today we’re also hosting a song premiere from the new record. Accompanied by a gripping video, its name is “Suffering“. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): GRAVE ALTAR — “SHRINES OF HATRED”

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Jan 092025
 

(written by Islander)

To cut to the chase: You are about to hear one of the most thoroughly exhilarating, constantly surprising, and utterly devilish albums this baby of a new year has yet given us. We will be lucky indeed if the rest of the year gives us anything else that’s this much fiendish fun.

What we’re referring to is Shrines of Hatred, the second full-length of Grave Altar from South-West UK that’s coming out on January 13th via the Vicious Witch label. “Black/Thrash” is the genre label that will be affixed to it, but it’s better called Black Magic. Continue reading »

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