Andy Synn Archives - NO CLEAN SINGING

AN NCS PREMIERE: BEYOND GRACE – WELCOME TO THE NEW DARK AGES, PART 2

Nov 202024

(Andy Synn presents an exclusive track-by-track premiere of his band’s new EP)

Despite current appearances, I largely try and keep my work with Beyond Grace and my work here at NoCleanSinging separate.

But with everything that’s happened recently (just under two weeks ago my mum was rushed to hospital, and then into emergency surgery, where she came very close to dying… although, thankfully, she pulled through and is now recovering) I didn’t have the time (or the energy) to set up a preview stream for our new EP (out this Friday).

Our gracious leader Islander, however, was kind enough to step up and – entirely unprompted – offer to host an exclusive premiere for us (an offer which, of course, I immediately accepted), which I thought would also be a great opportunity to provide some background info on each track as well.

So, without further ado, I am proud to present our new EP, Welcome to the New Dark Ages, Part 2.

BEST OF BRITISH: CODESPEAKER / HIDDEN MOTHERS / STILL

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Nov 182024

(Andy Synn presents three more high quality cuts of pure, A-grade British beef)

Let me tell you something… I love my band, and I love the music that we make (did I mention that we have a new EP out this Friday?) but the truth is we’ve never really found where we belong in the UK Metal scene.

Don’t get me wrong, we’ve played with and befriended some great bands, and at one point even had our own little mini-clique of others like us (Rannoch, Talanas, Spires, Luna’s Call) who also didn’t really “fit in”.

But we’ve always felt like (and, as far as I can tell, been considered) “outsiders”.

However, the three bands I’m talking about today are not only three of the most promising acts in the UK scene (two of whom recently released their long-awaited sophomore albums, with the third being about to release their highly anticipated debut) but could all easily fit together on one bill without sacrificing their own distinct identities.

Which, I guess, also makes them the perfect picks for this edition of “The Best of British”!

SHORT BUT SWEET: DRAGONCORPSE / GLASSBONE / MINUALA / SALLOW MOTH

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Nov 132024

(Andy Synn dives into four recent short-but-sweet releases)

There’s been a lot of truly excellent EPs released this year, with at least a few more still to come (as a matter of fact, we’ve got our own new EP coming out just next week).

And although, for reasons previously stated, my time is probably going to be a little more limited than usual over the next month or so, I’m hoping to at least cover a few more of them before “List Season” officially kicks in.

Beginning with the four succulent morsels of metallic goodness that I’ve elected to feature here today.

GORGING SHADE – INVERSIONS

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Nov 112024

(Andy Synn refuses to throw any shade at Inversions)

So my weekend definitely did not go to plan.

Late Friday night my mum was taken to hospital due to severe and unexplained stomach pain, and then early Saturday morning was rushed into emergency surgery to prevent her from, well… dying.

Thankfully the surgery was successful and she’s now recovering well, but she’s not entirely out of the woods just yet, which means I’m going to be spending quite a bit of my time away from home for the next month or so.

As a result my posting schedule may be a little irregular for the foreseeable future, but hopefully I’ll still be able to bring you one or two gems a week that you might otherwise have overlooked.

Gems like Inversions, the long-gestating debut album from Atlanta’s Gorging Shade.

BLACKER THAN THE BLACKEST BLACK: AETHYRVOROUS / DEADSPACE / SUN WORSHIP

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Nov 072024

(Andy Synn highlights three recently-released examples of the blackened arts)

A couple of nights ago I went to see the documentary film “Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story“.

It’s a movie about heartbreak, and about hope. About the toll which a loss like that takes on a man, and upon his family, yet also about resilience and how the simple act of perseverance – in the face of despair – can represent the greatest heroism.

Quite honestly, it moved me to the verge of tears several times – not just because of the power of the story being told by all those involved, but because in those people up on the screen, often captured in moments of candid openness and raw vulnerability, I also saw myself and a reflection of my own humanity.

But, then, that’s what art does – it allows us to communicate something ineffable about what it is to be human.

After all, we may all share this planet together, but each of us, in a very real sense, is an island unto themselves… and it’s through our art that we try to bridge those gaps between us.

Ultimately this has very little to do with the subject(s) of today’s article – which covers three recently-released Black Metal albums which I believe more people need, and deserve, to hear – beyond the fact that each of them, in their own way, is art.

ONLY DEATH IS REAL: BLACK CURSE / LIFESICK / LIVING GATE

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Nov 052024

(Andy Synn dives back into the Death Metal scene)

I’ve been accused, not entirely unreasonably, of being a little jaded and cynical when it comes to Death Metal these days.

Don’t get me wrong, I love Death Metal, in all its different forms – ok, maybe not all its different forms – but… you’ve got to admit… it can get a little tiresome being told that [X] band is “the next big thing” or “the saviour of the genre” when all its doing is rehashing the same old HM-2/Swe-Death/OSDM revivalist tropes as the last band to get the exact same sort of hype just a few months previously.

Thankfully there are lots of bands out there who – while not necessarily breaking the mould or reinventing the wheel – are still more than capable of reminding us all, me included, just why we like what we like, hype be damned, and I wanted to highlight three bands, with three distinctly different flavours, for you today.

PS – while I couldn’t find time/space for them you should also check out the extremely promising debut albums from Weeping and Recidivist (though, at just over fourteen minutes, calling the former an album seems like a little bit of a stretch) as well as the riff-tastic new one from Ripped to Shreds (which contains one of my favourite Death Metal songs of the year in the form of the irresistibly hooky “冥婚 (Corpse Betrothal)”)

THINGS YOU MAY HAVE MISSED (BUT SHOULDN’T)

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Nov 042024

(Andy Synn presents four of October’s most outstanding releases you may not have checked out)

Time’s arrow marches ever forwards my friends, and soon enough – sooner than you think – it will be “List Season” all over again, where we look back and take stock of the year gone by before we turn our attentions to 2025.

As a result I’m having to be incredibly selective about where and how I spend my precious time in regards to reviews, which means that I’ve had to make some fairly lamentable omissions this past month, including the new album from Cosmic Putrefaction (though hopefully I’ll get to that one in more detail in one of my end of year retrospectives), plus both the new Doedsmaghird and Iotunn releases (though you can find excellent write-ups of both over at AngryMetalGuy), and many more besides.

But let’s not focus on what we may have missed and instead focus on what we shouldn’t, shall we?

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.

MITOCHONDRION – VITRISEPTOME

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Oct 302024

(Have they achieved enlightenment, or simply gone mad? Andy Synn sets out to see what eight years wandering the wilderness have done to Mitochondrion)

As we rocket towards the end of the year – looking at the calendar it appears I’ve got five, maybe six, weeks to start putting together my mammoth annual round-up of all the Good, Great, and Disappointing albums I’ve encountered since January – the pressure on my already limited time just seems to grow with each passing day.

But sometimes, when something special comes along… sometimes you just have to make time in order to give a record the review it deserves.

And the colossal, cacophonous new album from Mitochondrion – their first new release in eight years, and their first full-length album since 2011 – is one that both deserves, and demands, your full attention… and mine.

TRAKTAT – DOGMATIC ACCUSATIONS

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Oct 292024

(Andy Synn dons his black mask and his bullet belt to get gnarly with the new album from Traktat)

Some people say that you shouldn’t judge a book – or, in this case, an album – by its cover.

But when said cover depicts a single knife, rendered in rich, bloody red, on a dark, crimson-tinged background… well, let’s face it, you know things are about to get real.

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