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GOURD: “MOULDERING ABERRATIONS”
With this review I’m making amends as well as a recommendation. Every year I encounter dozens of new records I wish I had time to write about, and often even intend to write about, but nevertheless...
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AN NCS EP PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): MORDBRAND —“DÖDEN / EFTER DÖDEN”
Gustaf Fröding, who died in 1911, is considered “one of the greatest poets of verse that Sweden has ever produced”. In his own life he struggled with alcoholism and mental illness, and according to...
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AN NCS EP PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): LUX NIGRUM —“BURNING THE ETERNAL RETURN”
It’s fair to say that most of our premieres, even for genuinely underground bands who are seeking neither fame nor fortune, are arranged by PR agents and labels — but certainly not all. Our mission...
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VADER: “THY MESSENGER”
(DGR reviews the new EP by Polish extreme metal veterans Vader, which will be released on May 31st by Nuclear Blast.) It doesn’t feel that long ago that we were musing on the idea, prompted by...
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SHADES OF BLACK (PART 1): NOCTEM, GRIMA, TONGUE, DISPOSSESSED, TEMPLUM ANIMA...
As you can see, I’ve planned a two-part SOB again. I doubt I’ll finish Part 2 in time to post it today, and even if I do, I think I’ll defer it to Monday anyway. With so many new-music round-ups...
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SHORT BUT SWEET: MARBURG —“POLEMICIST”
(This is Vonlughlio’s review of a debut EP by the California technical death/grind band Marburg, which was released in a CD edition by Vargheist Records on July 5th.) This time around I would like...
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SHORT BUT SWEET: REBEL WIZARD (“HARK! HARK! HARK!”) AND OSSUARY (“SUPREME...
Before we move into the weekend I want to recommend two EPs. The first was released last night — I happened to notice the Bandcamp alert in my e-mail not long after it landed there, and bought it...
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SHORT BUT SWEET: WORMED —“METAPORTAL”
(This is Andy Synn‘s review of the new EP by the Spanish technical death metal band Wormed, which was released on July 19th by Season of Mist.) Wormed are, without a doubt, one of the more...
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AN NCS EP PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): SABOTAGE —“THE ORDER OF GENOCIDE”
Thrash comes in a variety of flavors, even if the metalsphere hasn’t been quite as maniacally devoted to concocting sub-genre labels as it has in the case of death metal, black metal, or just about...
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BEST OF BRITISH 2019: BA’AL / INGESTED / MAN MUST DIE
(Andy Synn breathes more life into this occasional series featuring reviews of new releases by UK bands, with reviews and streams of EPs by Ba’al, Lvcifyre, and Man Must Die.) Chances are a bunch of...
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AN NCS EP PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): SOPHIST —“BETROTHAL TO THE STONE:...
Edmonton-based musicians Davis Hay and Michael Sparks joined forces only a few months ago under the name Sophist with the aim of creating a hybrid of black metal and grind, drawing inspiration from...
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DEATH RITUALS (PART 1): PUTRESCINE, VOID OMNIA, INSANITY CULT, PHOBOCOSM,...
It would have been better if I had managed to get a round-up done for yesterday, because fewer people visit NCS on Saturdays than on any other day of the week. Which makes it even more puzzling that...
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AN NCS EP PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): ABYSMALIST —“REFLECTIONS OF HORROR”
“18 minutes of eldritch lurch ‘n’ crunch“. Sometimes it’s hard to improve on a good publicist’s summing-up, and in few words that is indeed a very good description of the “crushing ruminations”...
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SEEN AND HEARD: WELLS VALLEY, INDUS, HEKTIK, BURDEN LIMBS
It’s an eclectic mix of sounds that I’ve chosen for today’s round-up; an authoritative but not infallible source doesn’t consider any of them metal. As on other occasions, I’ve benefited from...
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AN NCS EP PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): ENEMY OF CREATION —“VICTIMS OF THE CROSS”
We’re told that the members of Indiana’s Enemy of Creation are veterans of the underground hardcore scene, and you can tell from listening to the music that they didn’t abandon those roots. But on...
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SHORT BUT SWEET: HORRID APPARITION, EXORCISME
Not too long ago Redefining Darkness Records digitally released a pair of demos (and launched pre-orders for forthcoming cassette tape editions), and I caught up with them last night. They set my...
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AN NCS EP PREMIERE: DIKASTERION —“STAVELOT 1597 / ROME 897”
Building on the strength of their slaughtering 2018 debut demo, the Belgian black/death band Dikasterion have escaped Hell again, and brought much of Hell with them in a new two-track release coming...
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AN NCS PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): WINGS OF DAHAK —“DEATH AT YOUR SIDE”
I’ve been closely following the work of Texas-based Wings of Dahak since coming across the tracks released in advance of their 2017 debut album, Unholy Wings. Initially drawn to the music by the...
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SHORT BUT SWEET: INTERFECTORMENT —“GROTESQUELY DECAY”
(This is Vonlughlio’s review of the new EP by Indonesia’s Interfectorment, which was released on May 31st by Brutal Mind, and features cover art by Toshihiro Egawa.) One of the BDM scenes that is...
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AN NCS EP PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): TYRANT GOATGALDRAKONA —“MARQUIS OF EVIL”
In the ten years that have elapsed since the formation of Tyrant Goatgaldrakona, this Hungarian death metal duo have been measured in their release of music, with only one album (2013’s Horns In The...
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