FILLER

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Jul 312026
 


artwork by Albin Brunovsky

(written by Islander)

I don’t exactly remember when or why we fell into the pattern we have here for how the posting day goes, but the pattern is that we try to post a first thing at 7 a.m. Pacific Time (where I am) and follow that with two more posts, or sometimes three, an hour apart. The 7 a.m. posts tend to be written by other folks around here. On days when we have two premieres (like today), I try to get those up at 8 a.m. and 9 a.m., which seems to work well because about half our audience is in North America and about half in the UK and Europe.

Today I didn’t have anything in hand for the 7 a.m. slot, hence this “filler” post. We will have those two premieres coming up, and of course I think both the songs are very good or we wouldn’t be messing with them.

And since I’m here and not writing about music, I might as well let you know that this weekend at NCS will likely be different from most weekends. Continue reading »

BLOG BREAK? MAYBE?

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Oct 042025
 

Last night my spouse and I joined out-of-town visitors at a local casino for dinner and drinks — LOTS OF DRINKS. TOO MANY DRINKS. It was fun, but man am I paying for my fun this morning, even after sleeping way later than usual.

Before going out last night I did lay the foundations for a SEEN AND HEARD roundup. I’ve picked the music, uploaded cover art, installed the usual links, and made some notes that might turn into sentences. It’s possible I will eventually feel well enough to finish and post it, but if that happens it will be much later in the day than usual. It’s also possible I’ll finish it and wait until Sunday to post it.

Which brings me to another issue. Continue reading »

BLOG BREAK (PART 2)

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Sep 202025
 

(written by Islander)

Being at least moderately realistic, I realize that not all of our visitors in a given week will visit us every single day. Some people will land on this post without having landed on the one a week ago, which was another break from what I usually do for NCS on the weekends. In that week-ago post I shared the news of Andy Synn‘s impending wedding and why that would alter our usual coverage of music for a handful of days. I also re-shared that news in a new-music roundup a couple of days ago. But since some of you will have missed those, here’s a quick recap:

Today is the day when our Andy Synn will take his vows in front of family and friends in a beautiful place on the outskirts of his hometown of Nottingham, England. I am happy to say that I will witness it in person, as will our fellow NCS slave DGR and a few other close friends from our side of the pond. Continue reading »

BLOG BREAK

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Sep 132025
 

(written by Islander)

That photo up there was my view of last night’s sunset from the deck of an Air BnB on Whidbey Island in Washington’s Puget Sound. I’m here for a reunion of some old friends, most of whom I haven’t seen since we made this same trip a year ago. I’ll be going back home tomorrow afternoon.

Last night was a late night, loaded up with alcohol and talk. That made for a late wake-up this morning, and I’m one of only two people in our group of seven who are awake yet at this point. I briefly thought about pulling together at least a brief roundup of new music, but my rumbling stomach and fuzzy head convinced me that pumping my skull full of loud noise wouldn’t be a great idea. Continue reading »

BLOG BREAK

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Apr 272025
 

It would have made more sense to make this post on Saturday morning, but better late than never, I hope.

As frequent weekend visitors to NCS know by now, I didn’t write a SEEN AND HEARD column yesterday, and I don’t have a SHADES OF BLACK column today. On Friday I flew from Seattle to my hometown of Austin, Texas for a class reunion. As I write this, I’m in the Austin airport waiting for the return flight.

I thought I might have time to write at least short versions of the two weekend columns while I was in Austin, but when I wasn’t hanging out into the wee hours with a lot of old friends, many of whom I haven’t seen in ages, I was dead asleep in my silent hotel room with blackout curtains drawn, late to bed and late to rise. It was a luxury that I decided to indulge to the fullest. Continue reading »

NEBULOUS OBFUSCATION OF ESSENCE (RELEASES THAT STRAIN CATEGORIZING)

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Sep 192024
 

(We will let our Vietnam-based writer Vizzah Harri explain in his own words what he did in selecting the records reviewed in the following article, and why they are here now.)

What follows are other obscurities and arcane esoteric mysteries of the abstruse. If a more redundant sentence exists as title, I’m obviously ignorant of its existence. It’s almost October, I know, but my brain is still stuck in the heretofore, so the next few writeups will contain releases that happened at the end of the year of the rabbit (cat in Vietnam) and the beginning of the year of the dragon (earlier in 2024).

In signs of the times, it is easy to become but a whisper of grace wrapped in a facade of putrescence in the absolute cacophony and unceasing mass of new sounds. In this era of mass consumption, it is the underground at times where some of the truest art hides. Especially of the underground metal kind if you are so inclined. Only one of the releases to follow can be described as metal, though they all dabble in extremities in different senses. Continue reading »

BLOG BREAK

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Jul 132024
 

Yesterday I took that photo up there from the window of a Cessna prop-plane that was flying me and a handful of other passengers from Seattle to Orcas Island in the San Juan Islands of Washington State. I made the trip to be at the Orcas wedding of a friend that will happen later today.

It’s just as beautiful here on the ground as it is from the air. There was a hell of a pre-wedding party last night on a shorefront. There’s a photo of the view from that location after the jump.

The point of this isn’t to cause jealousy among readers, but to explain why I haven’t pulled together a Saturday roundup of new music and videos, and probably won’t be compiling a Shades of Black column for tomorrow either. Continue reading »

BLOG BREAK

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Sep 292023
 

Today the three oldest of old-timers around here (Andy Synn, DGR, and myself) will be making our way toward the California coast to attend a wedding on Sunday of some dear friends, one of whom used to write for NCS. As a consequence, we have nothing planned for the site today, and it’s unlikely I will write the usual weekend columns either.

In a certain demographic at the wedding, including the bride and groom, there will be a lot of metalheads. In the other demographic groups, probably not so much. The entrance and exit music at the ceremony probably won’t include Slayer or Metallica. Probably little or no metal at the wedding reception either, even if someone could find metal that people could dance to. Mosh pits or a wall of death would be fun to see but that probably ain’t happening.

I did look for live music in the area on Saturday night, which we will have to ourselves. I found a karaoke night at an American Legion hall. But hell, it will be better to shoot the shit with friends anyway, lubricated by a few adult beverages. Continue reading »

A WRETCHED PAUSE

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Jun 252022
 

 

Off and on all day, every day, I read the news of the world. Every day I come across reports that make me feel varying mixtures of sorrow, disgust, anger, and frustration (because there’s not a damned thing I can do about any of it). A person concerned for their mental health would get a clue and stop doing this. Why I continue, I don’t know.

Most days I still forge ahead with what I do for NCS without uttering a syllable about the news that happens to be upsetting me; I know that no one comes here to see me whine. But sometimes what happens in the outer world is so bad that it becomes very difficult for me to concentrate on music, so bad that music barely seems relevant, or no longer functions very well as an escape, much less a treatment for my mental turmoil. This is one of those days. Continue reading »

MEMORIAL DAY METAL?

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May 312021
 

 

In the United States, today is Memorial Day, a national holiday. Here, it marks the unofficial beginning of summer and is typically a time of social gathering and celebration. This year its celebratory aspects are even greater, because many of the pandemic-related restrictions on social activity have been lifted. People are traveling by air and car at levels not seen since March of last year. Bars and restaurants are packed. So are parks and beaches.

I don’t want to pour cold water on any of this, but the Memorial Day holiday was not established as a day of celebration. It was created as a day of remembrance and mourning of American military personnel who died in the performance of their duties. In its earliest incarnation after the Civil War, it was called “Decoration Day”, because mourners honored the Civil War dead by decorating their graves with flowers.

Nowadays, there are still solemn remembrances, but those are usually overshadowed by all the fun-loving activities, and by politicians and businesses who use the day as an excuse to engage in flag-waving glorification of the military. Many of those are the same people who hypocritically do nothing to help military personnel once they’re out of uniform, but badly need help because of physical or mental injuries suffered during their service. Trying to survive apparently doesn’t count nearly as much as dying. Continue reading »

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