Veles - Studio Rehearsal 1997

Veles - Studio Rehearsal 1997 for "Black Hateful Metal"
1) The Dawn of New Empire
2) The Spirit of Ancient Europe
3) Broken Cross
4) Millennium of Disgrace
5) Black Hateful Metal

Mediafire

Another Polish item I gained from my contributor and another horde with cult reputation, Veles. Presented here is a fragment of their studio rehearsal for "Black Hateful Metal" album from 1997. All tracks are obviously familiar from the album, here in instrumental versions and without most of the keyboard/sound effect interludes. Very good rehearsal sound, as my contributor commented the instruments actually seem to sound better than on the album. Obviously had no cover artwork, included in the folder is just a placeholder I made to amuse myself and confuse people who don't read these things. If you enjoy "Black Hateful Metal" or other Veles material, this is essential. I know I like it.

Selbstmord - Instrumental Rehearsal 2001

Selbstmord (pol) - Instrumental Rehearsal 2001
1) The Forerunner of New Chaos
2) Day of the Murderers
3) On the Fucking Shroud of Madness

Depositfiles

Keeping to Poland, here's another Selbstmord rehearsal I was contributed. Rare for this blog being post millennium too. The tracks appear on "Spectre of Hate" album and these are instrumental versions my contributor (thanks, you know who you are!) received from the band members without a date or tracklisting (the later was figured out however). Obviously there's no cover for it either.

The three tracks have a very good rehearsal sound in my opinion, being instrumental the sound is actually better than on some early official Selbsmord recordings! There'a a little bit of audible tape wear and other minor glitches sprinkled around but nothing really notable. If you enjoy Selbstmord and/or Polish black metal you'll want to check this out. Recommended for others into black metal too as long as you're not scared away by it being an instrumental rehearsal. Your miss if you are.

Forest - The Call of the Forest demo 1995

Forest (pol) - The Call of the Forest demo 1995
1) Intro
2) The Triumph
3) Darkness...
4) Seduced by the Black Moon
5) Outro

Reuploaded

Here is some more black metal from Poland, lesser known band this time with their second demo. I've received this demo, like so many others, through tape trading so no covers available. Metal Archives supplies us with this painfully crappy image:


Unfortunately I've been unable to dig up a better one, so contributions would be welcome. I guess this should apply to the recording too as this isn't the best quality dub around, there are some imperfections of the tape and background hissing. On the other hand, the music presented is raw and straight forward black metal with pretty harsh rehearsal sound so it doesn't really bother me that much. It has certain charm to it. Intro, outro, short instrumental in the middle and two tracks of underground Polish black metal. I could recommend this if you enjoy raw black metal or collect Polish ug-stuff.

Morningstar - Promo 1997

Morningstar (fin) - Promo 1997
1) The King
2) Heavy Metal Heretics
3) Metalstorm

Reuploaded

December 6th, Finnish independence day so I should post something Finnish. Once again, Morningstar stuff. I have almost endless supply if you're wondering. This promo 1997 contains three songs which would appear on their 3rd album "Hell" released in 1999. Cover scan included. The material has by now moved more towards heavy metal from the old school black metal of the early releases. Sound is ok and rip too, the tape hisses a bit but that just adds to the cassette experience, right? Not much more to add, grab it if you're into Morningstar!

Unto A Long Glory...3 - Beverina Compilation (1998)

Various Artists - Unto A Long Glory...3 - Beverina Compilation (1998)
Part 1 Slavonic Glory
1) Thy Repentance - Moon Roots of War
2) Nokturnal Mortum - Lastivka 2
3) Crypthowl - Of Seductress in Obsequal Attire
4) Valhalla - Hour of Battle
5) Miktlantekutly - Cemetary
6) Graal - Grand All Embrace
7) Satarial - The Queen of the Elves' Land
8) Misanthropic Poetry - I'm Screaming in the Raven Hills to Sun Will Never Rise
(non-Slavonic bonus track)
9) Fall of the Leafe - The Celestial Keeper
Part 2 Baltic Glory
10) Manatark - Roosteik
11) Heresiarh - Dragons Domain
12) Thy Lord - Mardus
13) Anubi - Kai Pilnates Akis Uzmirks Mirtis
14) Kalm - Igaveseks Mälestama Moistetud
Part 3 Tears of Stone
15) Forgive-Me-Not- Midnight World
16) Chalice - Holy Water
17) Morgain - About

Depositfiles

A compilation tape, again, I've spent some time ripping these ones recently. It's kind of easy. This particular one is a third of a series by Beverina, I must say I haven't heard any of the previous ones - this was an item I just got in random from a small distro. However, the label Beverina was familiar to me, with loads of Slavic and Baltic bands. Of which a load are obviously featured here. The genres of music and quality vary from artist to another and I have to admit I used to prefer this to several other compilations back when I got it. No longer though, most of the material sounds to me awfully generic if not poor but for select ones - probably this is due my taste having been "evolved" or whatever. Still, there are some very good tracks and many not at all notable ones.

This one is a rip of an original tape, with cover scans included. Sound quality and levels are much better than your average 90's compilation - there's nothing exclusive so I can't really recommend it to anyone already into the bands involved and with all their stuff. The division of the bands is, as you see from the track list, Slavonic (mostly ex-USSR) bands on side A, Baltic (well, they're Baltic) start and go for most of side B with a handful categorised as "Tears of Stone" ending it - these are gothic rock/metal. I don't think I've much more to say about this one, but do pick it up if you're curious. Standout tracks for me include 1, 2, 4, 14 & 16. Oh by the way, Finnish Fall of the Leafe ends side A - even if not a Slavonic band.

Journey Through The Dark - Screams of Sirens demo 1995

Journey Through The Dark - Screams of Sirens demo 1995
1) Witches from Salem
2) Chant Of Sirens: Leucosia's Last Sortilage
3) Emotions In Black
4) Tears Of Autumn

Link & rip lost! Will be replaced ASAP

Here's a demo from Italy's Journey Through The Dark, known later as Art Inferno. As the band names might give away, we've got some dark and atmospheric stuff here. Or that was their aim I guess. The result on this demo at least (I'm not familiar with the other material, A.I. is supposedly some sort of black metal but this isn't) is a mix of slightly doomy death metal and keyboard atmospherics. From time to time they blend quite well but often it really just sounds like you had pieces of two puzzles thrown into the same box given to a slightly drunken guy to put together. The first song is more direct death metallish stuff, last one is an outroesque instrumental and the two middle ones mix the deathy and atmospheric parts together. Main vocal is grunty death metallish sort and the secondary one is raspy & screamy. They also use some whispers in the early part of the second track, which I like best - there's a feel similar to some Greek bands present. Too bad the whole song isn't as good as the first part, the metal riffing gets too chuggy to my taste.

I got this from a tape trader back in 1996 or so and it's a dub of few generations but pretty good sound nevertheless and no remarkable tape errors as far as I noticed. The sound of the recording itself is also quite decent, with all instruments audible (including bass which does some neat bits on the third track) and pretty balanced. No covers, a M.A. pic was used. There are good moments in the tracks but none of them really work for me as whole, I'll stick to Mortuary Drape but give this a shot, it's common for other people to enjoy stuff I don't. Oh yeah, I'm actually curious to hear the "Among Secrets" mini they released after this one so let me know if you have it!

Black Dawn - Rehearsal Track 1993

Black Dawn (fin) - Rehearsal Track 1993
1) The Mother of All Whores

Mediafire

Here is the last B.D. rehearsal item I got from Grev and it is a single rehearsal track recorded in 1993. It sounds a little more brutal and death metallish than the previous rehearsal posted. It has a nice'n'clear rehearsal sound quality, but unfortunately G. had received the track untitled and I'm too retarded to figure out what song it could be. If you identify the track, get in touch with the track title! Not really much to add, if you've enjoyed the related posts so far, you'll pick this up too.

UPDATE: Wrath has identified the track as "The Mother of All Whores" - if he recalls the title right! Well, he's the best source for this really so I'm using this title & reuploaded the links! Thanks for the info!

Irrlicht - Auf einem Thron aus Blut demo 1996

Irrlicht (ger) - Auf einem Thron aus Blut demo II 1996
1) Intro
2) In Zeiten von Stolz und Ehre
3) Für die Seelen einst gefallener Krieger
4) Stürme aus einer ferner Welt
5) Der Hilfeschrei Gottes
6) Auf einem Thron aus Blut
7) Schatten der Einsamkeit (Winter Version '96)
8) Outro

Depositfiles

German black metal again, this is the second demo of Irrlicht and also their last. I got this one during my tape trading days and unfortunately no covers and this time the Metal Archives' image is even worse than usual. See the fucking stamp up there. So, if you have a decent (or just about anything bigger than the image used above) scan of the covers I'd appreciate if you let me know!

To the content: Intro, outro and 6 tracks of simple and slightly crude black metal are offered, with whispering vocals and rehearsal sound. I'd say it's just the guitar, drums & vocals and M.A. entry seems to confirm as neither of the two guys here are credited for bass. Song lenghts are in the standard 4 minutes-and-something - territory which given the primitivism and song writing skills presented is enough and at times already too much. I don't know, this should actually work for me on paper but it's missing something to fully connect. But feel free to check it out if you're interested in German underground black metal, enjoy raw black metal etc.

Goat Of The Harvest #4

Goat Of The Harvest 'zine, issue #4 
Interviews:
Impaled Nazarene
Malkuth (bra)
Anwyl
Rotting Christ
Bethel
Rare Form
Opus Malefici
Officium Triste
Black Goat 'zine
Anno Daemonicus
Somnus
Articles & shit:Scene Report: Australia
The Terror of Oak Ridge
Scene Report: Egypt
Rood's Vault of Horror
Scene Report: Japan

Depositfiles

Alright, another 'zine, as promised here's finally the one which came with the G.O.T.H. compilation tape, or actually the other way around. But to be frank I think now that the compilation is the one with more value out of these two. Don't get me wrong, it's not like it'd be full of shit, but I'm pretty annoyed by the fact it's 70 pages (72 if you count the front & back) and yet the contents would fit in about 36 or 40 pages done differently. Probably less. I don't know if Rood the editor was aiming for a thick 'zine and had a minimum page count in mind while doing this but the fact is he's wasting huge amounts of space, worst examples being pages consisting of a single (one, uno, ett, ein, один, 1) flyer and the amateurish frame artwork. Or, page 6 with the silly drawing. Or page 10 which is just the Anwyl demo cover. Well, you get the picture.

The interviews are ok, maker being from the States his English is obviously good (well, that's not really granted is it now?). His questions tend to be pretty standard fare which of course gets answers in the same vein. The layout is simple and clear... with lots of room y'know so it's easy to read. Nothing wrong with that though, my eyes aren't getting any younger. All said, it's an ok, quick read with some interesting bands, decent enough reviews and nostalgic flyers. Did I mention wasted space already? Don't let my whining stop you from downloading, it's certainly more entertaining to read than scan.

Worshipper - Promo 1996

Worshipper (swe) - Promo 1996
1) Goat Warrior
2) Worship Your Children

Reuploaded

Swedish black metal and yet another project featuring F. Söderlund of Puissance, Parnassus, Octinomos and so on. Fortunately, this one is once again very good! Black metal in the vein of Parnassus and Octinomos but less synth this time. Computer drums as usual, but I'm quite used to them so at least me they don't bother. This is supposed to be more direct and in-your-face material I guess, but it's still very melodic. The very audible bass lines are a nice feature. Clear but still raw enough sound.

I got an original tape of this from Stratia not too long ago, so you should check them out if you like this and have a cassette player. The covers (scanned & enclosed) of the promo mention a full-lenght supposed to be released on Secula Delenda in 1997 but unfortunately that didn't happen. Very much recommended!

Morningstar - Advance Tape 01/1994

Morningstar (fin) - Advance Tape January 1994
1) Pagan Martyrs
2) Surrounded By Strong Wind (Forever Heretic)

Reuploaded

I need to keep up with my Morningstar uploads, there's still a few items left. This short promo/advance tape features two songs that were published on "As the Wolfs Howl..." MCD. These versions sound a little different, but that might just be the dub, in all honesty. But if you're one of those people who must collect everything by a band, then this is for you. Or if you haven't heard the MCD, I suppose.

A History of a Time to Come - Proem I (1996)

Various Artists - A History of a Time to Come - Proem I (1996)
1) Beyond Dawn - Teardance
2) Beyond Dawn - The Penance
3) Landscape - Monument
4) Necromicon - When the Sun Turns Black
5) In The Woods... - Tell de døde
6) Kampfar - Hymne
7) Dark Tranquillity - Midwinter / Beyond Enlightenment
8) Mithotyn - A Whining Winter Wind
9) Necromicon - A Part of the Dark World
10) (Thy) Primordial - Svart Gryning / Black Dawn
11) Helheim - Svart visdom
12) Penitent - Veien

Reuploaded

A compilation tape again, this one is from Bulgary but features only Norwegian and Swedish bands. Not that rare back then with the other extremity being of course compilations that featured only domestic bands. Still, it's a shame the Bulgarian guy who made this didn't include a single local band.

The compilation has a bit unusual running time of 70 minutes instead of the more common 60 and 90 minutes, and the A5 booklet with band infos is also a bit unusual. This has of course been scanned & included. Two of the bands do 2 tracks (Beyond Dawn, whose tracks from the 1994 promo are easy to understand, they blend in together - the other is Necromicon, I guess he liked them) and the others contribute one each... well Dark Tranquillity has an intro+song combo, taken from their 1991 demo which is a bit unexpected choice for a compilation made in late 1995. Styles range from the avant gardeish gloom of Beyond Dawn to the melodic black metal of Necromicon to In The Woods... and Helheim's epic norsecore. Nice compilation with a pretty good flow.

Selbstmord - Rehearsal Track 12.08.1999

Selbstmord (pol) - Rehearsal Track 12th August 1999
1) Untitled

Depositfiles

Back to the rehearsal material, this one was ripped and contributed to the blog by a reader, thank you! He had received this track from Diathyrron as new Selbstmord material, untitled as of then. In the end it didn't appear on any Selbstmord release but years later evolved into the Ohtar track "Elite? Dust (Sometime...)" which was on their 2006 album "Petrified Breath of Hope".

This version is instrumental and naturally differs a little from the version recorded years later for the Ohtar album. The sound is very good for a rehearsal in my opinion (better than many demos and even some albums!), both dub & rip practically flawless and this is a killer track so go ahead and get it already if you're at all into this sort of material!

Belthan - Carpathian Curse demo 1995

Belthan (swe) - Carpathian Curse Demo 1995
1) Transylvanian Shadow
2) Sighsooara 1430
3) The Northern Belongs to Us
4) On Blackened Wings I Fly
5) Carpathian Curse

Reuploaded - 2022

Here is another demo dubbed me by Grev, thanks man! I give you from Sweden, Belthan. Apparently a one-shot project, Belthan released only this demo as far as I know. I saw some requests for this and probably people are interested in this for the same reason I was: the line-up includes Mörk from the great Malign. I've preciously little info on the band beyond that, so any and all information is welcome and cover scans especially so! As you see I'm working with a shitty M.A. image again which in turn seems to be from eBay.

UPDATE: Image changed, comrade SuuretMuinaiset provided me with a cover scan which you can download from the 2nd link above. I didn't bother reuploading the whole thing this time.
UPDATE II: With Megaupload's demise the links were lost. Fortunately I got the rip itself back and it has been uploaded again, but the scan is lost for me.
The sound and rip quality are good and so is the music, good old Swedish black metal of the more raw sort. Pounding and wicked with some melodies too. Reminds me at times of the Throne Of Ahaz debut, old Marduk and Malign. Recommended, nothing more to add really.

Cernunnos Woods - Tears of the Weeping Willow (1994)

Cernunnos Woods - Tears of the Weeping Willow Cass.EP 1994
1) The Autumn Moon
2) Horned Is the Hunter
3) Hymns to the Summerlands
4) Return to Infra-Green
5) Song of Duryfyddiaeth

Link removed as obsolete; DAP has re-released the CW demos, see here:
Forest Anthology
Bandcamp

And now something quite different. Requested by EcoPagan in his blog where he posted the 1996 album, this is the first recording of the US synth project Cernunnos Woods who played some sort of Celtic ritual/ambient music. I'm pretty lousy with these descriptions. Anyways, this tape features five tracks of quite primitive sounding but still charming ritual/ambient/(at times)folk tunes and was released in very, very limited quanitity by Dark Age Produtions in 1994. That label had several other interesting projects (like Akrabu, Dalkhu Zilittu, Equitant, Profane Grace etc...) whose tapes are also quite hard to find. Need I say I'm looking for them? So let me know if you got any info, ok?

UPDATE: I've removed the download links as obsolete as DAP has re-released the old CW demos on a compilation "Forest Anthology" that comes as cassette, CD and digital download. Head over to their site if interested. There's Akhkharu coming soon too! And perhaps more with time?

This is, once again, a rip of an unknown generation dub I got from one of my tape traders back when winters were colder, summers warm, everything tasted better and cost less. However the quality should be ok, the tape doesn't have bad glitches or anything. The sound quality of the original apparently wasn't too stellar, typical demo level of the era, even though they chose to call this a cassette EP. Obviously I have no covers for it so a pic I found on the 'nets is used. Other than the last tracks silly-sounding samples of Carmina Burana and whatever else there was I find myself enjoying this tape on occasional listens. Not certainly for everyone, but give it a try if you enjoy the 90's atmospheric projects!

Black Dawn - Dead Metal rehearsal 1996

Black Dawn (fin) - Dead Metal Rehearsal Tape 1996
1) Cursed Mother
2) Scythe Swinging Blues
3) I Vomit on You
4) Deathdance
5) Finale: The Hammer of Misanthropy Has Spoken

Reuploaded

The rehearsal tape madness never stops! This is again an item I received from comrade Grev and the band should be pretty familiar by now. So let us not waste more time with introductions but move onto the item at hand.

The dub I received from Grev was of quite good quality and I didn't fuck up the rip so the end result ought to be as good as a rehearsal tape can be expected to be. I don't think this ever had a proper cover art (I think the old pic of Wrath on B.D. site for this release is just a placeholder) so I slapped the last band logo there. Black Dawn's music on this recording has already evolved a bit, adding some synth to their black/death metal hybrid. I'm thinking I might hear some influence of that other band on these songs but that could be just me. Anyways, it's not as brutal as "Blood for Satan" and of course not as outlandish as the later developments. If you enjoy the other Black Dawn material, I'm pretty sure you'll like this one too. If you don't like other Black Dawn material, there's still a chance you might like this recording so give it a try in any case. And if you don't like black/death metal at all, why the hell are you reading this blog?

Fullmoon - Rehearsals 95 & 97

Fullmoon - Instrumental Rehearsals 1995 & 1997
1) The Pagan Mountain
2) Blood for Immortality
3) Luciferian Supreme Darkness
4) Warcrimer (Guitar only)
5) Warcrimer (Guitar only - Different version)
6) Warcrimer

Depositfiles

More rehearsal material, this one contributed by another old maniac who has been going through his tape collection, ripping certain items and has kindly donated me a bunch of them. We'll start with the legendary Fullmoon, famous in certain circles and infamous in others. Do not let your political correctness make you shy away from this band, because you'll miss some of the best Polish black metal. This tape contains rehearsal material from 1995 & 1997, some of it probably familiar from other rips but some of the material is exclusive to this. As far as we know, the guitar only versions of Warcrimer haven't been available previously.

The sound differs quite a bit as the tracks were recorded at different times. The first two tracks I presume were the 1995 recordings and unfortunately the sound is concentrated almost fully to the left speaker. Which is kind of ironic. The rest are in better balance. The track 5 seems to run slowed down for part of the duration and there is a small amount of background noise throughout the entire tape, clearest evident during the first two tracks. Other than those issues, the rehearsals have a good sound and the songs are obviously brilliant. It's a shame Fullmoon never made an album. Recommended for collectors of Polish black metal, nsbm-enthusiasts, Fullmoon fans and other maniacs.

Thy Serpent - Rehearsal 1992

Thy Serpent - Rehearsal 1992
1) Untitled I
2) Untitled II
3) Untitled III

Replaced!

Staying in Finland but moving from one Serpent to another and switching genres on the way, here's a quite rare VERY early rehearsal tape from Thy Serpent which I had actually ripped already long time ago but forgotten on my external HD. Well, better a bit later than not at all I guess. I got this one also from Sami sometime in 1995/1996 and these are tracks recorded actually before the band had a name, if I recall correctly. The songs didn't have names either.

Three very short songs here, obviously cruder than the later Thy Serpent material and more black metal (you can hear the occasional Satan and Lucifer and yes there are vocals) yet still there are details already pointing to what direction the music would progress. The sound isn't bad at all and the rip is quite good too. Obvious historical value aside, this is recommendable for people into early Finnish bm scene, Thy Serpent fans and collectors of rehearsal tapes.

UPDATE: I've ripped this again, download replaced with the latest rip. Higher bitrate, generally a little better than the previous version.

Goat Serpent - Trident demo 1994

Goat Serpent (fin) - Trident demo 1994
1) A Trident in Blue
2) Griefblown
3) Lost Servant in Misery
4) Fields of Wrath

Depositfiles

We stay with death metal for a while longer, this time we've the only demo of Finland's Goat Serpent which I received (once again) from brother Grev so I'll need to thank him for the dub and cover scan first. Thanks!

Ok, to music: four tracks of Finnish death metal, mostly in midtempo so a little step forward from the death/doom of previous posts one might say. Not a big step though as the tempo is kind of slow midtempo to not very fast midtempo. Well, works for me! The sound is a mixture of elements of Finnish and Swedish early 90's death metal and some keyboards are used. Very little, don't worry. The Swedish influences would be more Entombed than Gothenburg melo-style and I find this preferable. Recommended!

Chained And Desperate - Greaving for the Lost Sun demo 1994

Chained And Desperate - Greaving for the Lost Sun demo 1994
1) Intro: Hopeless / Chained And Desperate
2) Waterfalls
3) Greaving for the Lost Sun
4) The Eternal Darkness of Happiness

Mediafire

More death/doom and a demo I spent quite a long time searching for: the second demo (and I'd say first proper) of Chained And Desperate, whose later material I've already posted in the blog. Notice that this demo is quite different from their later (and current, I presume) material which is pagan metal close to the classic Greek black metal sound, while this one is closer to old Nightfall than Rotting Christ. Earlier this year I finally happened to find a copy of this demo, to my delight and relief since it had been eluding me for about 15 years already and this here is now a rip of that tape, naturally with cover scans. Notice that the image in the post is not the tape cover, but the cover image of the little booklet included. I was merely feeling artsy and inverted the colors and posterised it. Below is the actual cover image for the cassette.


Ok enough of my inane ramblings, is it any good and more notably worth obsessing 15 years for? Well, yes and no: it's a pretty good demo of very Greek-sounding death/doom in its own and certainly a great progression from the preceeding effort but I must honestly say I prefer the material that followed this. But I'm still very happy I managed to find this tape. I'd say the first track and the title track work best for me. Oh yeah, the sound quality is fairly good - the tape is in good shape but the sound of the demo itself is not exactly perfect. But it does well enough and of course the sound has its own charm. Recommended for fans of the band, Greek metal collectors and death/doom listeners who can stomach underground demo sound. Note also that the band has completed the recordings of their 2nd album - I'm certainly curious to hear that!

Asafated - Kaybolmuş Masumiyet (1995)

Asafated - Kaybolmuş Masumiyet CassLP 1995
1) Lost Innocense
2) Lonely
3) Violent Desires
4) Humanity Landscape
5) Goner
6) Divine Suffocation
7) 7

Reuploaded

Ok, let's do some death/doom for change: first here's the only full-lenght by the Turkish Asafated whose demo I posted earlier here. This album was released (as far as I know) only on cassette and my dub is probably from an original, courtesy of a tape trading. No covers then, so once again a M.A. image is used.

The sound is pretty good and so is the rip quality if you don't count a little flaw in the first track. The album contains the demo songs re-recorded and 3 new ones. Music is basically death metal, some tracks with doomy touches and generally more in the midtempo region. Lyrics would seem to be more at home in the death/doom category than true death metal if you know what I mean. Not a bad little album, give it a try if you liked the demo.

Black Dawn - Rehearsal 1993

Black Dawn (fin) - Eläköön Saatana! Rehearsal Tape 1993
1) Gates of Wisdom
2) Eläköön Saatana!
3) Enter the Eternal Night
4) Forever Rotting Nazarene
5) Ave Satanas
6) 13 Candles (Bathory cover)

Reuploaded

Here's an old rehearsal tape of Finnish Black Dawn, known these days as The True Black Dawn. But I've told you about them before, so let's get to the point. I got a dub of this tape, for which "Eläköön Saatana!" is an unofficial title, from comrade Grev so thanks to him again. This rehearsal tape dates somewhere between the name change (from Nocturnal Feast, not the "The True..." edit) and the "War Against Christians" demo, from which songs are present too. Style is obviously same as on the demos, sound naturally rougher as it is a rehearsal tape and some of the tracks are played differently. Interestingly a cover of Bathory's 13 Candles is included - the vocalist Cindergrin (aka Wrath)'s better known other band would also do this cover later.

Grev was worried about the sound quality of his ancient, moldy and cobweb-covered tape but I think it turned out fine. Rehearsal tapes aren't famed for crystal clear sounds in the first place and there isn't much blemish on the tape so I'd say it sounds quite good. Recommended for fans, collectors and all not too wimpy to listen to rehearsal tapes.

Strigoi Mort - Promo/demo 1996

Strigoi Mort (fin) - Promo/demo I 1996
1) Chapter One (Darkness & Despair)
2) Chapter Two (Witchcraft, Lady Lilith)

Reuploaded

Strigoi Mort was a short-lived project by Kyprian's Circle mastermind Kyprian Nurmi and as far as I know released only this one tape. Which I received, with cover scans, from comrade Grev. Thanks once again! Dubbed from his original tape to me, the sound and dub quality are good. However, the low sound volume of the original tape is quite notable. I decided against upping the volume too much as this amplifies the hissing and other "tape ambiance" too much.

Music on this short (just over 8 minutes) demo is slow and atmospheric metal, different enough from his main band to justify a separate project. The percussion is provided by a session member, other instruments and the clean-ish vocals are performed by Kyprian himself. The vocals are not the best I've heard but they do their job and the style fits the music. Recommended for fans of Kyprian's Circle and atmospheric music.

Cruachan - Live in Cork 26.03.1994

Cruachan - Live in Cork, Ireland 26th March 1994
1) Fall of Gondolin
2) Maeves' March
3) (Unknown)
4) The First Battle of Moytura
5) Scéal Na Fienna
6) Cúchulainn
7) Tir No Bréagah

Reuploaded

I'm off to see live music tonight and to celebrate that I'm posting a recording of Cruachan's 1994 gig. This performance dates between the release of their "Celtica" demo and the signing with Nazgul's Eyrie Productions who then released the debut album "Tuatha Na Gael" in Beltaine 1995. An audience recording which I got from one of my tape traders, the sound is as you might guess less than stellar. It's a bit messy at times and especially Keith's more extreme vocals bleed all over the place in some of the songs. Yet I think it's still clear enough to be enjoyed if you're a fan of early Cruachan. Dub & rip quality are as good as can be with the source material.

I didn't receive a tracklisting with this so I was forced to try to figure out the titles all by myself. Despite my valiant efforts I couldn't figure out what track 3 is - even with him introducing it after Maeves' March! I just don't understand what he says. Any corrections and identification of the third track are welcomed!

Mustan Kuun Lapset - Varjomaa demo II 1997

Mustan Kuun Lapset - Varjomaa demo II 1997
1) Intro: Isfri
2) Tuonela
3) The Dream About Dying Angel
4) I Shall Wither
5) Valkoiseen

Mediafire

Here is the second demo of the Finnish dark metal band Mustan Kuun Lapset, now unfortunately disbanded. Another dub courtesy of Grev (thanks!) and he also scanned the covers. Which didn't really come out too clear, to be honest. Well, that can't be helped, it's the music that counts anyway!

Dubbed to me from an original tape, the quality is good and so is the sound on the demo itself. The music has some black metal influences but I'd really call this dark metal or even melodic death metal. Somehow this sounds more similar to the full-lenght albums than the MCD and split that followed. I guess they sounded more black metal. Recommended if you like other MKL stuff!

Ritual (us) - Advance Tracks 1995

Ritual (us) - Rough Mix Advance Tracks 1995
1) Visions of Souls Once Lost
2) Pagan Warfare (No vocals)

Reuploaded - 2022

Here's another band with a name used by bazillion others, Ritual from California USA play black metal influenced by the Scandinavian style on these two rough mix advance tracks for their debut album. Old Black Funeral comes to my mind as well, probably due the US-origin and the Scandinavian influence. I've received these from a tape trader friend so I don't have that much info as to how much the tracks were spread or so on. I don't think they would've made any sort of cover for this.

The sound is decent, considering it is a rough mix, it's a little bit... rough. Very well audible however and sounds different enough from the album versions to merit a listen. Not the most original of usbm around, not even back then, but I still have kind of a soft spot for this little tape

Pure Fucking Hell 'zine #2

Pure Fucking Hell Issue 2 (1994)
Interviews:
Order From Chaos
Beherit
Merciless
Sigh
Varathron
Ancient Rites
No Fashion Records
Emperor
Mortuary Drape
Pungent Stench
Deranged
Occult
Enslaved
Articles/Bios:
Calvary
Torched Records
Tormentor (hun)
Dismember
Astaroth (us)


Depositfiles

Another 'zine for change, this one is Finnish Pure Fucking Hell #2, released in March 1994. The editor is Pete of Sigillum Diaboli, currently known as Diaboli. This has a plenty of nostalgic value for me, but it should be an entertaining read for anyone into black/death metal. Simple xerox 'zine of 40 pages with short and often to the point interviews and a basic but very readable layout. I actually like this approach better than fancy pics under text and experimental fonts and what not. Pete released another issue after this one and then quit the 'zine. I'm interested in seeing the first & third issue so let me know if you come across them!

Darkstyle - Return to the Shadow demo 1993

Darkstyle - Return to the Shadow promo-demo I 1993
1) Behind the Rainbow
2) From the Other Side
3) Return to the Shadow

Reuploaded

This one is for Sasha aka Posao, sorry it took this long! And thanks to comrade Grev again who sent me a dub of an original tape and cover scans, much appreciated. This is the first promo/demo by Darkstyle, atmospheric black/dark metal. Hypnotic and repetitive, with whispery vocals. Good stuff! Sound and quality are good. Two out of three tracks have appeared on later releases but this should still be interesting to Darkstyle fans. Recommended.

From Depths - Adv.Tape '94

From Depths - "Adv. Tape '94" promo 1994
1) Dark Maze
2) When the Death Call
3) Illusions

Reuploaded

Here is the 1994 advance tape I received from Verminaard along with the 1993 live (see previous post). Unfortunately no cover so it's Metal Archives image again. The first song on the tape was recorded for a compilation and is of better sound quality than the two other tracks, which I'm told were recorded in a garage. However they still have pretty good sound... actually I might even prefer their as the bass is nicely audible.

The music is now closer to what they played on the 12" but somehow sounds more Italian than the EP - I must be getting Mortuary Drape associations from the bass on "When the Death Call"! The vocalists use both death growls and shrieks. Recommended and you might also want to check out the 1997 album uploaded on comrade Raf's blog here. Thanks again to Verminaard for these two!

From Depths - Live in Angri 1993

From Depths - Live in Angri 1993
1) Tales of Creation
2) Light in the Dark (But Perhaps it's Only a Dream) - Electrocution cover
3) Unholy Blasphemies - Morbid Angel cover
4) The Door of Time
5) Pull the Plug - Death cover
6) Dark Maze
7) All in the Name of God - Electrocution cover

Reuploaded

Remember "The Burning Ice" EP by From Depths I posted a little while back? Well, in March, but anyways, I was contacted by Verminaard - the ex vocalist/guitarist of From Depths and a member of Apolokia - who kindly promised to dig up the old tapes for me. He found the 1994 tape but not the 1993 promo, however he found and sent me this old & rare live tape from which the songs on the promo were taken in the first place. Unfortunately neither he nor Stormanger could remember the tracklisting! So I've named the tracks, really working with my imagination here, I - VIII. If someone is able to provide me with a full tracklisting, I'd be very grateful!

EDIT: Stop the press! An old friend of the band remembered the titles and gave them to Verminaard who contacted me, so now I'm updating and correcting this & reuploading. So you might want to download it again to get the titles and stuff corrected!

The stuff they play here is quite different from the later black metal material, they do some Electrocution songs (pre-From Depths, thrash influenced by the Teutonic godz Sodom, Kreator etc.), two covers (Morbid Angel's "Unholy Blasphemies" and Death's "Pull the Plug") and the then new From Depths tracks, at that point very much influenced by Katatonia, Rotting Christ, Paradise Lost and so on, kind of death/black/doom mixture. The recording has a good, clear live sound and the rip quality is very good too, so nothing to complain in that department. Check this out to observe the evolution of the band - or if you're an old school UG-maniac into this kind of material!

Goat Of The Harvest Compilation Vol.4

Various Artists - Goat of the Harvest Compilation vol.4: Autumn/Winter 1997/98 c.e.
1) Rood - An Ode to the Mighty North (Intro)
2) Utgard - Forgotten Heathen Woods
3) Judas Iscariot - From His Woven Darkness Above
4) Inner Hell - Misanthromaniac
5) Rare Form - Fata Morgana
6) Keep Of Kalessin - Skygger av Sorg I
7) Flauros - The Legend of Werewolf
8) Inhumate - Piece of Meat
9) Anwyl - Realm of Blasphemy
10) Anno Daemonicus - Chaos Overshadows the Valkyrian Castle
11) Bethel - Aye Inferno... / Wandering in the Lands of Dark and Frost
12) Helgrindr - A Raven... Left to Christ
13) Nomicon - Down Below
14) Deathfog - Sailing to the Great North Seas
15) Bastardized - Purest of Innocence
16) Ghoul Vault - Hypnotic Way
17) Funeral Rites - Moonlight December
18) Malkuth - Além dos Jardins Nosferáticos
19) Pagan Funeral - A Journey Through Carpathia

Reuploaded

I wrote I'd post more compilations. Well, here's another compilation tape, this one is from the USA and came with the 4th issue of the 'zine of same name, Goat Of The Harvest, which I probably will scan later as soon as I remember where I put it. Until then, we have the contents of the cassette here. The covers of course were not very informative as the 'zine had most of the info on these bands within and actually interviewed most of them, so until I manage to dig it up from somewhere I've not too much to tell about them. Well, it did have tracklisting and contact addresses so that's really what you expect from a compilation.

The line-up is international, with bands from the US, Finland, Japan, Brasil and Norway to mention few. Styles range from black metal to death metal to synth-based stuff and bands from the well-known (Judas Iscariot) to not-so-well-known (Funeral Rites) to totally obscure (Pagan Funeral). I probably should mention the first artist "Rood" is the guy who made the 'zine & compilation. As the cassette compilations were back then, the sound levels tend to shift track to track, often quite much. I didn't bother too much with this, just adjusted a few of the most extreme bits. Sounds more authentic and so on. That's all for now, give it a try if you're into black & death metal.

Dies Irae (nor) - Circle of Leth demo 1994

Dies Irae (nor) - Circle of Leth demo 1994
1) Andante passione attacca: Allegretto con vivacita - Allegro
2) Molto Presto - Intermezzo tranquillamente con dolore - attacca: Cantus con affizione
3) Andante maestoso attacca: Molto Presto forza - Quasi moderato grave - Molto Presto forza
4) Allegro con moto - Molto Presto - Largo passione - Allegro con vivacita - Lento passione
5) Finale tranquillamente: Cantus pro defunctis

Reuploaded

As you might guess from the catchy track titles listed above, here's something quite different: the only demo of the avantgarde/experimental/neoclassical/post-black metal (or just come up with your own description!) band/project Dies Irae fra Norge. This sounds so unique there's no danger of mixing them up with the other dozen or so Dies Iraes. I got my copy dubbed from the band, I don't remember anymore where I came across their address - most likely a 'zine. Anyways, I got a copy of the cover sheet too, scans of which are enclosed. It's a two-sided fold-out thingy. See below for the inside bit.


The music is based on classical stuff with (black) metal parts thrown in. Heavily echoing vocal recites unintelligible (well, for me) lyrics in the more metal tracks (the middle ones). The last track is an outro-type piece which really overstays its welcome at almost 13 minutes of mostly tolling bells. Other than that it's quite good and definitely a very interesting demo. I know there are other rips around but as I ripped this to my own use I thought I might as well upload it too.
Grab it if you're into symphonic black metal, post-/avantgarde/experimental/progressive/whatever "black" metal or just very very curious.

Parnassus - Demo 2 1995

Parnassus (swe) - Demo II 1995
1) Intro
2) Desolate of Joy
3) Blind I Wander
4) Desire No Earthly Thing

Reuploaded

And here is the second Parnassus demo. For more information, see the post below. Cover scan included here as well. There is a small blemish around 3:12 into "Desolate of Joy" but this appeared also on another rip I have from olden days so I guess it's on the master tape as well and it's really minor. Other than that good sound and quality. Recommended, especially if you liked the other demo.

Parnassus - Recieve My Dying Spirit demo I 1995

Parnassus (swe) - Recieve My Dying Spirit demo I 1995
1) Bar All Light From Me
2) Mark Me to Endless Pain
3) Recieve My Dying Spirit
4) Let Me Living Die

Reuploaded

I know this and the other Parnassus demo are by no means rare items and can be found in the inter nets with ease. I recently got copies of both Parnassus demos along with some related material and ripped them for my use. As the quality was better than the rip I previously had found I decided to upload it. Cover scan included.

Parnassus was one of the many projects F. Söderlund of Puissance fame was involved in around the early/mid 90's. His other black metal project Octinomos might seem similar, but Parnassus' approach is more symphonic with plenty of keyboards. I enjoy it as the keyboards don't have the carnival approach many other sympho stuff does, it's more in the haunting and gloomy vein. Well, that's what I think of it, have a listen if you like his other projects. Check out Stratia if you have a tape deck, they should still have copies available!

Pragwald - s/t 7"EP 1991

Pragwald - Pragwald 7"EP 1991
1) In Nomine
2) Temple of Sadness
3) Just a Question... Why?
4) Pragwald Blues (Outro)

MediaFire

An unusual item for this time, a 7"EP from a technical, almost progressive death metal band Pragwald from then-Yugoslavia, today's Slovenia. Quite original stuff with some bits of funk and blues (well, the outro) thrown in. Not really my preferred sort of poison, but it's an entertaining listen once a while. Picked this from one of my tape traders out of curiosity back in the 90's. Sound and rip quality are quite good so check this out if you're equally curious or fan of the style.

Funebre Inferi - Deathcult demo 1996

Funebre Inferi - Deathcult demo 1996
1) Marching in Graveyards (Intro)
2) Haunted Scull of a Profanated Grave
3) Lost Sorcerers in the Pyre

Depositfiles

Remember Hieronym Inferiorum? Well, this is H.I. post-name change and it's still Luczebeus doing everything by himself... though this time the result is more slightly more refined. Fear not, it is still far from polished mainstreamish black metal and much of what I said about H.I. still applies here. The musicianship and sound have improved, though the sound is now a little on the thin side and due less murkiness loses a bit of the special aura the H.I. demo had. I got this tape just this year along with some other original tapes and it was in very good shape.

As I mentioned on the old post, this seems to be the only recording of Funebre Inferi and apparently last recording by Luczebeus himself as well. If you know better, let me know as I'm quite curious to hear if he ever made anything else. Recommened for the people who enjoyed the "Worship to Asmodeus" demo and this time people into Greek black metal in general due more accessible sound.

Carnage (fin) - Dreaming In Crypt reh/demo 1993

Carnage (fin) - Dreaming in Crypt rehearsal/demo 1993
1) Undead Mind
2) Dreaming in Crypt
3) Affection to Damnation
4) Raped
5) Lunatic of God's Creation (Deicide cover)
6) Sacrificial Suicide (Deicide cover)

Reuploaded

Ok, moving back closer to home, here's an obscure death metal rehearsal demo from 1993. As far as I know this is the only release (and possibly recording) of Finland's Carnage, not to be mixed with the famous Swedes... or the two dozen other bands of the same name. A friend of mine who knew the people in the band recorded me this demo in the early 90's, I don't know if it ever had a proper cover but being a rehearsal demo it seems unlikely. The band changed name to Desmodus later and continued for a while under that monicker.

The dub is ok but unfortunately the songs have been recorded with problems with the ancient equipment that carried over to the overall volume and sound of the following tracks, the first one being superior, and so differ in quality. The majority of the demo has a decent rehearsal sound still, don't worry. Music is in-your-face death metal, very enjoyable. Recommended for underground enthusiasts and fans of Nordic death metal. I might get a better version of this so stay tuned.

Baalberith (nor) - Whispering Shadows reh/demo 1995

Baalberith (nor) - Whispering Shadows rehersal demo 1995
1) In Iconium
2) Through the Golden Gate
3) Shadows of My Horn
4) Dream

Depositfiles

Norwegian black metal from an obscure project whose members moved on to form or join several other less well-known bands like Infernal, Belfagor, Kharon, Excelsis, Con Anima and Drephjard, which is still active. Sounds promising? Well, maybe not but you might still want to give this curious rehearsal/demo tape a listen, at least if you're into unusual black metal. I got this from a trader friend and have no cover (if there was one in the first place) and the track listing I received differed a bit from M.A.'s version.

Featuring a raw sound, as expected from a rehearsal recording, this release features four songs that all combine black metal with atmospheric elements, ranging from ambient to gothic/darkwave. The black metal parts sound quite odd too, with whispery vocals. If you enjoy MoonLore (nor) and... uh similar bands (yeah I can't think of any right now) you should try this.

Leviatan (fin) - Demo 1999

Leviatan (Finland) - Demo 1999
1) Perkeleen Poika (peto ja lohikäärme)
2) Rivers Flowing Blood
3) Cold Breath of Midnight Breeze
4) Angel Eyes Torn by Time

Deposit

Double post to make up a little for the inactivity of late, here's a demo released by Dark Moon: Finland's Leviatan, not to be mixed up with the 1 000 000 other bands with the same/similar name. A short lived side-project with Ranta and Koponen from Faerghail (and separately from Forever Winter, Northcrown and Vordven) this tape seems to be their only release. I got myself a copy some months ago and I was at first a little dissappointed with the content as my expectations were different. Anyways, it's grown on me now that I've listened to it a few more times. I personally enjoy the last track most.

The music is melodic black/dark metal, if you are familiar with the guys' other projects you might have an idea what to expect (if you're not, the Faerghail page has their promo 2006 available for download). Mostly moving in a frisky midtempo, the music is atmospheric and quite simple and catchy. The songs are on the long side, with first two a little over 5 minutes each and the other two over 7, but they don't yet overstay their welcome. The first track is a little trying with it's silly "spoken" parts forced through some awful effect. There's also female backing vocals and plenty of keyboards so beware if you're allergic to these elements. Good, clear sound and you're even able to hear the bass guitar. Recommended to fans of the guys' other bands as well as those who enjoy bands like Thy Serpent, Draugnim, Moonsorrow and Battlelore. Necro black metal maniacs are probably not going to enjoy this.