NICOLAS CAGE FIGHTER - I Watched You Burn album reviewed by Mark Jenkins. Unforgiving, uncompromising, and utterly devastating.

NICOLAS CAGE FIGHTER - I Watched You Burn album reviewed by Mark Jenkins.

Label:  Bleeding Art Collective and Blood Blast Distribution (Nuclear Blast Records/ Believe)

Genre: Metallic Hardcore/Deathcore  

Rating: 10/10

Nicolas Cage Fighter delivers exactly what their name promises – unhinged brutality with zero compromise. Their latest offering, I Watched You Burn, is ten tracks of relentless metallic hardcore that sounds like it was forged in the same fires that created the underground's most punishing releases.

Opening with the crushing title track, NCF immediately establishes their territory: the brutal intersection where Unearth's technical precision meets The Acacia Strain's bone-crushing heaviness. Vocalist Nick alternates between guttural death growls and throat-shredding screams, delivering each line with the kind of conviction that separates the real from the posers.

The production hits that sweet spot between clarity and devastation. Guitar tones are sharp enough to cut while maintaining the crushing weight needed for maximum breakdown impact. The rhythm section locks in with military precision, creating the foundation for some seriously punishing metalcore.

Valley of Agony showcases the band's ability to build genuine tension before unleashing chaos. The track moves from technical tremolo-picked sections reminiscent of Darkest Hour's most vicious moments into breakdowns that hit with Coffin Feeder-level brutality. The Executioner finds the quartet channelling the kind of old-school deathcore savagery that made bands like Pyrexia legends in the underground.

What sets NCF apart is their commitment to actual songwriting over mindless chug-worship. Godforsaken Silence could easily sit between tracks from Hidden Hands of a Sadist Nation and Wormwood, which speaks volumes about their understanding of what made metalcore devastating before it got sanitised.

The real test comes with tracks like Tempest and Garden of the Grieving Mother, where the band proves they can maintain crushing heaviness across an entire album without resorting to formulaic breakdowns. These songs breathe with the kind of organic brutality that separates legitimate heaviness from manufactured aggression.

By the time Tarnished Remains delivers its final crushing blow, you'll understand why NCF represents everything right about underground metalcore. I Watched You Burn isn't just another deathcore release – it's a statement that heavy music can still crush without compromise.

This is metallic hardcore as it should be: unforgiving, uncompromising, and utterly devastating.

FFO: The Acacia Strain, Unearth, Darkest Hour, Coffin Feeder, Pyrexia

Available on limited vinyl and digital. Catch them live if you value your hearing less than your integrity.

OUT NOW:

https://ncf.bfan.link/i-watched-you-burn-1

ANTISOCIAL ABUSE:

https://allmylinks.com/nicolascagefighter3350

https://www.facebook.com/NICOLASCAGEFIGHTER/

https://www.instagram.com/nicolascagefighter/

Reviewed by Mark Jenkins for Devil's Horns Zine. "Bringing you the music your parents warned you about since 2018 " 

 PLEASE REMEMBER, SUPPORT THE ARTISTS (AND US) BY SPREADING THE WORD, FOLLOWING US ON SOCIAL MEDIA AND REPOSTING OUR WORKS...SUPPORT THE UNDERGROUND AND OUR COMMUNITY. THERE ARE NO COMMERCIAL GAINS.

It’s like if you want to use this music purely as agro, then fine, because it is very fucking violent, aggressive music. It’s just that the common misconception is that I wanna go out there, or this music is made to go out there and fucking damage people. That’s the misconception. (Justin Broadrick, Godflesh)