THE SYNN REPORT Archives - NO CLEAN SINGING

THE SYNN REPORT (PART 181): SECRET CUTTER

Mar 312025

Recommended for fans of: Soilent Green, Wake, Inter Arma

One of the best things in life is discovering a cool new band out of the blue.

Sadly by the time I discovered this particular band – a considerable amount of time after the release of their second album – the group had gone worryingly quiet, with only a passing teaser of them working on their next release in late 2020 indicating they were still alive, leading me to assume that they’d most likely quietly gone on hiatus (if not broken up entirely).

But the recent release of their long-gestating third album, ///, has firmly put to rest any exaggerated rumours of the bands demise… which is why today I have the great pleasure of (re)introducing you to the face-melting, flesh-ripping, full-throttle Sludge-Grind of Secret Cutter

THE SYNN REPORT (PART 180): GREAT AMERICAN GHOST

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Feb 282025

Recommended for fans of: Employed to Serve, Fit For An Autopsy, Knocked Loose

Despite their steadily growing profile over the years, this is the first time we’re actually writing about Boston-based bruisers Great American Ghost here at NCS (though their 2022 EP, Torture World did get a small mention in my end of year round-up at the time) so a quick introduction may be necessary before we go any further.

Equally influenced by seminal Hardcore acts like American Nightmare, The Hope Conspiracy, and Vision of Disorder as they are living Metal legends like Meshuggah, Gojira, and Fear Factory, the group’s sound has slowly shifted over the years, moving from the rougher, rawer approach of their debut album, Everyone Leaves, through the increasingly heavier and more metallic sounds explored on Hatred Stems from the Seed and Power Through Terror, to the even bigger and more bombastic tones of their most recent record, Tragedy of the Commons (which was released just last month).

So if any of that sounds appealing (and I’m hoping it does) then get ready to discover your new favourite band!

THE SYNN REPORT (PART 179): RELICS OF HUMANITY

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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).

THE SYNN REPORT (PART 178): TEMPESTARII

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Dec 312024

Recommended for fans of: Ultha, Wiegedood, Altar of Plagues

Well, it seems that we have once again completed another rotation around the sun.

And so, with thoughts of celestial cycles and perpetual cosmic patterns at the forefront of my mind I present to you the last Synn Report of 2024, wherein we journey deep into the soul and psyche of Tempestarii.

THE SYNN REPORT (PART 177): ALKYMIST

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Nov 302024

Recommended for fans of: Celtic Frost, Triptykon, Omination

For my penultimate Synn Report of the year I’ve chosen a band who recently put out one of the best albums of the year (sorry, that probably should have come with a “spoiler warning” for my end of year list-stravaganza).

But to fully understand the inner workings of Danish deviants Alkymist – whose music has been described both as “Progressive Sludge” and “Post-Doom” (with the truth lying somewhere in between) – we have to go back to their self-titled 2018 album and become familiar with how they’ve grown and evolved in the years since then.

Are you with me?

Good… then let’s begin.

THE SYNN REPORT (PART 176): OBSIDIAN MANTRA

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Oct 312024

Recommended for fans of: Decapitated, Meshuggah, Replicant

It’s the end of another month, which means it’s time for another edition of The Synn Report.

But not only is it the end of another month, it’s also very close to the end of the year, meaning that – including this one – there’s only three more editions of this column left before the end of 2024.

So I’d better make each of them count, right?

Which is why today I’d like to direct your attention to the Polish powerhouse known as Obsidian Mantra and their hybrid blend of densely-wound, Decapitated-esque riffs and galvanised, Meshuggah-like grooves.

THE SYNN REPORT (PART 175): STAMPIN’ GROUND

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Sep 302024

Recommended for fans of: Earth Crisis, All Out War, Living Sacrifice

If you’re not aware – though it’s been well-documented here over the years – Hardcore was the first genre of “alternative”, non-mainstream music that really spoke to me as a kid.

And although I’ve grown apart from “the scene” over the years – I’m sure there’s still good parts of it still, but trying to navigate all the different cliques and their increasing obsession with “mosh style” just isn’t for me any more – I’m still always keen to find and feature new albums and new bands (perhaps you’ve even read about some of them here?) that I think best represent the sort of Hardcore that I want to hear more of.

At the same time, however, I’ve also still got a lot of love for the bands who first got me into the genre back when I was just a dumb kid (as opposed to an equally dumb adult), which is why today I want to (re)introduce you to the thuggishly thrashy Metallic Hardcore of British bruisers Stampin’ Ground.

THE SYNN REPORT (PART 174): OXYGEN DESTROYER

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Aug 312024

Recommended for fans of: Vader, Goatwhore, Revocation

Sometimes a band and their theme just go so well together – think Slugdge and their mollusc-worshipping metallic magic, or Sulphur Aeon and their obsessive Lovecraftian occultism – that you can’t ever imagine them doing, saying, or singing about anything else.

Such is the case with Seattle’s own Oxygen Destroyer whose monstrous sound – a ravenous hybrid of Death, Black, and Thrash Metal, designed to take your breath away – has become totally inseparable from their monstrous subject matter.

So prepare yourselves, it’s time for a rampage.

THE SYNN REPORT (PART 173): RESPIRE

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Aug 022024

Recommended for fans of: Envy, Alcest, Mono

This edition of The Synn Report may be a few days late, but since I’ve been waiting a long time to write about this particular band – ever since I first stumbled across their fantastic third album, Black Line, in early 2021, in fact – what’s a few days more?

Blending influences from Post-Hardcore (Envy, Refused, Pg.99), Post-Rock (Mono, Mogwai, Godspeed You! Black Emperor), and Post-Black Metal (Alcest, Deafheaven, Dawn Ray’d) – which collectively range even further afield to draw from Prog, Screamo, and Shoegaze – the group’s orchestral “post-everything” approach has been blurring genre boundaries for the last decade, with each successive album further showcasing both the breadth of the band’s creative vision and the depth of emotion they’re able to conjure from their instruments.

And with the recent release of their fourth full-length, Hiraeth, now seemed like the perfect time to finally make good on my promise to one day give them their due here at NCS.

THE SYNN REPORT (PART 172): FRACTAL GENERATOR

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Jul 012024

Recommended for fans of: Replicant, Wormed, Afterbirth

There must be something in the water – or the maple syrup – up in Canada that triggers the extreme gene in certain bands.

How else do you explain the existence of acts like Gorguts, Cryptopsy and the subject of today’s article, Fractal Generator?

Taking a heap of inspiration from the aforementioned pair, along with a hefty helping of Hate Eternal, Morbid Angel, and Mithras, this terrible trio have already made something of a name for themselves with their punishingly technical, subtly dissonant, slam-tinged, grind infused, and synth-layered brand of Death Metal, and with their third (and best) album having just been released now seemed like the perfect time to dedicate a full feature to their works.

Look upon them, and despair…

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