Islander

AN NCS PREMIERE: OSKOREIEN — “PRISMATIC REASON”

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Jun 192025
 

(written by Islander)

Oskoreien is back!

For people with discerning musical tastes and long memories, that will be a very happy piece of news. For people who may be encountering the Oskoreien name for the first time, it’s a project formed in Los Angeles in 2003 by multi-instrumentalist Jay Valena. As his solo endeavor, Oskoreien released a pair of demos and then a self-titled debut album in 2011, followed by a split with Botanist five years later and then a second album, All Too Human, in 2016 — but nothing since then.

If you haven’t explored those previous releases, they are well worth your time, especially if you’re a fan of multi-faceted melodic black metal (and you can learn more about some of them, and about Jay Valena‘s very interesting inspirations, through the reviews and an interview we published in those earlier years). Oskoreien‘s forthcoming third album, Hollow Fangs, will also be well worth your time. It’s set for release on July 18th, and today we’re premiering its opening track “Prismatic Reason“. Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: RAHVIRA — “ONLY FORWARD”

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Jun 192025
 

(written by Islander)

The history of the Armenian people is a long tale of subjugation and sorrow. As one source explains, between the 16th and 19th centuries the traditional Armenian homeland came under the rule of the Ottoman and Persian empires, and by the 19th century the eastern part of it had been conquered by the Russian empire. During World War I, up to 1.5 million Armenians living in their ancestral lands in the Ottoman Empire were systematically exterminated in the Armenian genocide. And after the Russian empire ceased to exist, the First Republic of Armenia was absorbed by the Soviet Union. The Republic of Armenia, as it now exists, became independent in 1991 during the dissolution of the Soviet Union, landlocked and surrounded by Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Iran.

In April of this year the Armenian black metal band Rahvira (the duo of vocalist Aleksandr “Arson” Muradyan and songwriter/instrumentalist Tigran Rahvira) released an album named Ghosts Of Darkness through Holy Mountains Music (Yerevan, Armenia) and Wine And Fog Productions (Italy). As the band describe, the album “presents the struggles and sorrows of the Armenian people, dedicated entirely to the commemoration of the Armenian Genocide”.

“These songs emphasize the experiences, losses, and hopes of the Armenian people” and represent “the determination of the Armenian people to persevere despite the pain and suffering they have endured…. This album is not only a tribute to a critical chapter of Armenian history but also a spiritual journey — from pain to rebirth — that calls upon us to never forget, while urging us to continue living and triumphing, drawing strength from the past.”

What we have for you today is Rahvira‘s official video for a song from Ghosts of Darkness called “Only Forward“. Continue reading »

AN NCS EP PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): MORTALHA NEGRA — “NECROMANTE”

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Jun 182025
 

(written by Islander)

Helldprod Records has marked June 18th as the release date for Mortalha Negra‘s debut EP, Necromante. While Mortalha Negra is a new name, the person behind it is well-known: Armando Exekutor has led Flagedör for more than two decades and is also a fixture in Gravedancer, whose debut album was released in 2023 (and those are just two aspects of an extensive musical resume within the Brazilian scene, and elsewhere).

Under the banner of Mortalha Negra, A. Exekutor has joined forces with drummer J. Ferrante to create sulfurous black thrash with a powerfully occult atmosphere. Helldprod previews the EP with these words: Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): MORBYDA — “UNDER THE SPELL”

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Jun 172025
 

(written by Islander)

The Leipzig-based band Morbyda will have their debut album Under the Spell released on June 20th by Dying Victims Productions. If enough people find it, we predict it will bring throngs of people under its spell, people across a wide range of ages who relish the glories of devil-horned heavy metal. This quartet may be fairly new to the scene, but they sound like they’ve been at this for decades.

“Blackened speed metal” is the high-level descriptor of the music, and it’s not off-base, but it doesn’t fully capture all the traditions Morbyda pull from, or the absolutely electrifying and fist-pumping results they’ve achieved. With this album, they become a band worth watching very closely Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: FILTH — “EMACIATED”

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Jun 172025
 

(written by Islander)

Following up on a two-song promo released last fall, the Swedish death metal trio Filth will have their debut album Time to Rot released on July 18th by Me Saco Un Ono and Rotted Life.

From the name of the band to the name of the album and the more ghastly aspects of the cover art, the signals are sent that this will be death metal with a decidedly foul and fetid aroma. Perhaps less immediately obvious, the new album is also stunningly ferocious and bludgeoning.

And you should take something else away from the unusual colorfulness and more surreal aspects of the cover art: There is more going on in Filth‘s music than grotesque putrescence and rampaging evisceration — as you’ll discover very quickly upon listening to “Emaciated,” the album track we’re premiering today. Continue reading »

AN NCS EP PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): VANISHING EARTH — “THE BOUNDLESS”

 Album Reviews, Premieres, SHORT BUT SWEET  No Responses »
Jun 162025
 

(written by Islander)

Anyone who was even a semi-regular visitor to our site from 2011 through 2023 will recognize the name Oak Pantheon. Over that period we wrote 24 articles about this Minneapolis band’s music, dating back to their first single and continuing through our review of their last album, 2023’s The Absence.

And yes, it did turn out to be their last album, because this past February Oak Pantheon announced that they were amicably splitting up. They explained on social media: “Drifting motivations and musical interests have made it difficult to agree on a cohesive path forward. We will likely work together again, just in different forms.”

Throughout the entirety of their existence and their quite varied musical expressions Oak Pantheon was principally a collaboration between Sami Sati and Tanner Swenson. Since the dissolution of Oak Pantheon neither of them has abandoned music-making. In the case of Sami Sati, we are happily announcing today that he has a new project called Vanishing Earth that serves as a continuation of his efforts and ambitions in Oak Pantheon.

And today we are also very happily hosting the premiere of Vanishing Earth‘s musical debut, a two-song EP named The Boundless that will be released on June 17th. Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: NORILSK — “LA FONTE”

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Jun 162025
 

(written by Islander)

In February of this year Hypnotic Dirge Records released a new album named Antipole by the Canadian death/doom metal band Norilsk. Originally a duo consisting of Nic Miquelon and Nick Richer, the band had expanded by then to include guitarists Tom Hansen and Matt MacIvor, who joined in 2016 and 2017 respectively. But Antipole was the first album to be recorded by all four members, after extensive rehearsals and work among them on the arrangements.

The results of this collaboration, as captured on Antipole, really represent a significant step forward for the band (every band says that about each new release, but in this case it’s really true). The music isn’t conventional death/doom by any means, but encompasses intriguing and surprising stylistic interplays and contrasts.

Moreover, the music’s changing shades of light and dark, of beauty and tragedy, of granitic weight and ethereal evanescence, reflect its thematic interests (sometimes rooted in literature) in expressing duality. As an example of this, today we have a compelling lyric video for a very compelling song off Antipode called “La Fonte“. Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK: STYGIAN, OSMIUM, DEATHWINDS

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Jun 152025
 

(written by Islander)

Sad to say, this Sunday’s column is much shorter than usual. I got a late start on it, but the bigger explanation is that early tomorrow I’m flying to my former stomping grounds in Texas to be at a Tuesday memorial service for a close friend and vital mentor, with an even earlier flight back to Seattle the next day. That means I need to get a head-start today on premieres I had agreed to host over the next three days before my old friend’s passing following a long illness. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD ON A SATURDAY: ORBIT CULTURE, THE ANTICHRIST IMPERIUM, KONTUSION, CLAIRVOYANCE, KHNVM, HEAD OF CASSANDRA, SUN AFTER DARK, VENUS STAR

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  No Responses »
Jun 142025
 

(written by Islander)

Yesterday we premiered a video for a song called “Welcome to Hell“. That title sums up the events that have dominated domestic and international news over the last few days. What fresh hell will today bring? It may be hard to foresee all the details this morning, but it’s already easy to smell the sulphur on the wind.

I picked new music and videos from 8 international bands to get our day started and help get us through it. I feel pretty confident this will all be better than tomorrow’s headlines. If you’re in the U.S. and out on the streets today, stay strong and try to stay safe. Hell, I hope you can stay safe wherever you are. Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: MROME — “ARISTOCRAT”

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Jun 132025
 

(written by Islander)

The Polish band MROME have been making music since the mid-’90s, first under the name Kingdom. As MROME, they’ve released four albums so far, most of which we’ve paid attention to (as you can see here), and now we’re very happy to report that a fifth one is on the way.

The newest one, Boneyard Twist, includes 9 tracks recorded live in the studio, and the band have described it to us as “a kind of return to our dark roots from the early ’90s, inspired deeply by the first wave black metal.” Lyrically, they tell us the songs deal “with grave residents, disabilities of body and mind, necromancy and …monks exploding!”

As a sign of what the new album brings, today we premiere a lyric video for a song named “Aristocrat” — or at least we have tried to premiere it! Continue reading »

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