Endermic - The Darkest Cloud demo 1994

Endermic - The Darkest Cloud demo II 1994
1) The Darkest Cloud
2) Under the Benevolent
3) Magical Things
4) Land of Beholder

Reuploaded

Here's an item requested by Grindfreak who contributes to the awesome RAF666underground. I got this one from brother Grev this week and ripped it ASAP so I haven't really had a chance to listen to it, just checked out if it came out all right and it did. No covers, sorry, so another sad image someone found on eBay and posted on Metal Archives is used. Would appreciate a cover scan.

I suppose I should try to say something about it. Well, this is their second demo, has a good demo sound and lasts about 17 minutes. Music is quite melodic but not the Gothenburg sort. And it's death metal. That's enough, download it and listen for yourself!

Cradle Of Filth - Live in Berlin 11.06.1995

Cradle Of Filth - Live at Knaack Club, Berlin Germany 11th June 1995
1) Intro / The Principle of Evil Made Flesh
2) The Forest Whispers My Name
3) A Gothic Romance
4) To Eve the Art of Witchcraft
5) Dusk and Her Embrace
6) Of Mist And Midnight Skies
7) A Dream of Wolves in the Snow
8) Summer Dying Fast
9) Nocturnal Supremacy
10) The Black Goddess Rises / Outro

Depositfiles (Lesbian Vampyrism version covers included)

Bet you didn't expect to see this name here, did you? Well, I happen to like old COF so shut up. I noticed I haven't posted much live tapes lately so I decided to get off my ass and post this one I ripped already months ago. I know this gig has also been released as a bootleg CD (name of which evades me) but this is a tape recording I had here - I doubt the bootleg CD has much better sound quality anyways.

UPDATE: Grev sent me scans of the covers from the version released by Lesbian Vampyrism Records. Thanks mate!

The sound is very good and clear, it does shift a bit from left to right every now and then but that's not an issue. As you see the setlist is pretty nice, mostly "Principle..." stuff and three early versions of "Dusk..." tracks. The dub quality was satisfactory as well so the rip is good. Assuming you're an old school bootleg-listening grumpy old bastard like me you'll be ok with the sound. If you're one of those darn kids complaining about the "poor sound" on modern, studio-enchanced official live albums, move along and pretty damn fast. So, if you're into older COF you'll want to check this out.

Troll - Studio Rehearsal 23.05.1995

Troll (nor, Aafjord) - Studio Rehearsal 23rd May 1995
1) Naar Trollet Sprekker

Reuploaded

A quick one today, once again an item from Grev, this is a single track rehearsal recording by the other and less-known Troll from Norway, the Aafjord band. Unlike Nagash's project which was basically guaranteed a deal these guys just made a demo in 1994 (which is quite original sounding "troll/forest metal" or whatever, recommended listening anyways), recorded this track, probably rehearsed a couple of times in between, before and afterwards, and then just dissappeared. Which is a shame since at least I would've liked to hear more.

This song is in style similar to the 1994 demo, meaning melodic Norwegian black (well, not very "black" really) metal with folky touches. Very catchy and "trollish" stuff. Unfortunately it suffers a bit from the weak sound quality, manifesting mostly on the very low sound levels, the recording itself is quite clear if lacking in power. The demo sounded a bit messier and more powerful. They use some clean vocals here which aren't the best around but manage their job. Recommended if you liked the demo.

Ravenstorm - Demo 1997

Ravenstorm - Demo I 1997
1) Night
2) Hatred Is a Memory Made
3) Of Dust and Stone

Depositfiles

More contributions from the near-endless vaults of brother Grev, this is an item I got already last year but it took me a little while to get around posting it. Mostly due difficulty in figuring out how the tracklisting should come out as it lists three tracks yet it has just two distinct ones, the clear enough "Night" and a 8+ mins one which I presume divides into two parts. I picked up a spot where I assumed it changed over and went with that. If I'm incorrect feel free to let me know. Since brother Grev didn't have an original copy either we have no cover to check, maybe it's really supposed to be just two tracks with the latter being a long one titled "Hatred Is a Memory Made of Dust and Stone" which would actually make sense. If this proves out to be the case, I do have it as one track too so it'd be easy to correct. Yeah, so if you got an original copy please get in touch!

Like I mention above, we had no covers for this nor was I able to find a Ravenstorm image so I scanned and used what I found, namely the anti-Ravenstorm flyer seen above. The band was quite controversial in the Finnish scene after appearing on the youth program "Jyrki" where they gave an interesting interview and played one song. I'm not going to focus on their notoriety any further, let's get to the music for now shall we? Melodic/symphonic black metal with a quite good sound it's certainly typical to its time. "Night" is a fast piece with synths and some female vocals thrown in, "Hatred..." starts fast before slowing to a very pleasant atmospheric part which I genuinely enjoy. It gets then faster and adds vocals. "Of Dust..." starts with a synth bit (or the same track continues if the "just two tracks" theory is correct) and continues in brisk midtempo. I haven't heard their material recorded as Wayreth (yet, Grev has their demo) so no comparisons. The dub has some wear to it which might annoy the most sensitive listeners but that can't be helped. Not much so don't panic. If you enjoy symphonic black metal you'll want to give this a listen.

In Articulo Mortis - Sombre Mélancolie demo 1995

In Articulo Mortis (fra) - Sombre Mélancolie demo I 1995
1) My Underwater Queen
2) By Moonless Night
3) Sombre Mélancolie
4) La Rose et le Marbre
5) Succubus

Reuploaded

Some French material this time and another tape traded item, the debut demo by In Articulo Mortis who would proceed to release two more tapes before disappearing. It is rumoured they had recorded a full-lenght album too but that was never released - if it was finished in the first place! Anyways, traded item like I said so no covers, there's only the image above which someone took from eBay. Cover scan would be appreciated.

The sound of this demo is somewhat muffled, could be partly due it being a dub of who knows what generation but I think the original sound wasn't that clear either. Instruments are audible still, including the bass guitar. But you're definitely not going to mistake this for a studio album. Musically this is somewhere in between melodic black metal, dark metal and at places gothic metal. Main vocal is harsh but he also does clean vocals which are stronger on the emotional part and less so in the technical if you know what I mean. They're not really bad sounding in the context. I think I actually enjoy this as it's not too sugary, the instrumental title track for example is very simple but efficiently melancholic. Nice one, I'll need to try to find the other demos.

Lullaby - Lucifer 7"EP 1992

Lullaby - Lucifer 7"EP 1992
1) Lucifer
2) In the Name of the Devil
3) Supreme Majesty
4) Symphony of the Death
5) Lilith

Reuploaded

Here's a bit unusual item, a vinyl EP by Brazil's Lullaby, essentially a one-woman show that gained some fame and notoriety in the early 90s. Most of it, as you might guess, by being a black metal (ok sort of) project by a woman. I didn't have an original copy but my dub was of pretty good quality so I ripped it with something else from the same tape. As I thought the end result might interest some readers I decided to post it. Image courtesy of... M.A. or Discogs, can't remember which one this time.

Good sound in a way, it's very clear but lacking in the heaviness department. The music is some kind of doomy proto-black metal soundalike with a very prominent bass. The vocals are sort of coarse, almost growly whispering. Somehow I'm reminded of old Death SS, as well as old Greek bands. All the songs are very short, ranging from 1:03 to 2:38. It sounds quite unique, I'll give it that. Recommended if you're very curious or feeling adventurous.

Trolltjern - Hymner fra Trolltjern demo 1995

Trolltjern - Hymner fra Trolltjern demo 1995
1) Introduksjon
2) Sagnet om Trolltjern I - Drømmen
3) Sagnet om Trolltjern II - Vandring
4) Sagnet om Trolltjern III - Fjellet
5) Sagnet om Trolltjern IV - Trolltjern
6) Efterord

Depositfiles

Another requested item finally posted, once again courtesy of brother Grev - thank you, this is the Norwegians Trolltjern and their only demo from 1995. Despite what some incompetent inter nets sage claims on their M.A. entry, this most definitely isn't black metal, not even close. This is atmospheric wintry music, dungeon synth, a term coined by comrade Andrew on his blog. Grev had an original tape and has kindly scanned the covers which are included within the download.

As mentioned above, not metal, but atmospheric synth music consisting of an intro- and outroduction as well as the main piece "Sagnet om Trolltjern" divided unto four parts. I decided to split all the parts into separate tracks as you see from the tracklisting right up there at the very beginning of this post, rather than have all as a huge 15+ minutes lump. They did divide easily enough. The tracklisting on the cover is like this:
Introduksjon

Sagnet om Trolltjern
- Drømmen
- Vandring
- Fjellet
- Trolltjern

Efterord

You might notice the Metal Archives poster failed that one too. Enough about that, I just wanted to quickly explain myself there, back to the music itself. So it's mostly keyboards and wind effects and some guitar strumming and whispered + spoken vocals and so on. The atmosphere is somewhere in the company of old Mortiis, Ulver's "Kveldssanger" and Wongraven. This is good stuff, not at all tedious or pretentious. Odd how these narrations come out better almost every time in Norwegian than Finnish or in English. Very good sound quality I think and rip came out just fine so if you're into this kind of music I see no reason to not grab this demo right away.

Vergelmer - Rehearsal 10/1993

Vergelmer - Rehearsal October 1993
1) Shrine Blood
2) Purifying

Reuploaded

More from brother Grev's vault, a two song rehearsal recording from Sweden's Vergelmer who were one of the more obscure names in the Swedish scene. They released a couple of tapes and a full-lenght in 1997, apparently spiltting up soon afterwards. I'm looking for the demos and rehearsal tapes so get it touch if you have them.

This one (probably) didn't have a proper cover so I've used an old logo from another 1993 rehearsal tape. Grev's dub was of ok quality and this being a rehearsal, don't expect crystal clear sound. It has a surprisingly strong amount of low end and combined with the almost doomy pace the recording sounds heavier than most bm demos and rehearsals of the era. Good stuff and recommended, even if you weren't at all impressed with their album.

Necrospiritual - Promo-Demo -94

Necrospiritual - Promo-Demo 1994
1) Fantasy In My Omen
2) Winter Clouds
3) Awakening God

Reuploaded

Another Finnish demo and this one is again donated by brother SuuretMuinaiset, thanks for the rip & scans! Necrospiritual, formerly known as Catatonia, was a surprisingly obscure band active in the early-mid 90's and released two tapes, I guess, source is the ever-reliable Metal Archives and my even less reliable memory, under this name. Why surprisingly obscure you might ask? Well, because I remember seeing their flyers quite a lot at some point and remember several distro and trader lists carrying their demos, yet it took me until SM's contribution here to actually hear the band. Why so long? Mainly because the music was described as grind/death with black metal elements which wasn't my thing back at the day, I simply skipped them.

So is the description accurate? Yeah pretty much, though it's not that grindy. Quite good sound, though at a low volume, SM ripped this from an original tape. Two short and one "normal" lenght songs, simple & catchy stuff. I'd recommend this to people into black/death and obviously the gotta catch 'em all-collectors and seekers of obscurity. Not much more to add.

Enchanted By Dawn - Promo Tape 4/1996

Enchanted By Dawn - Rehearsal/Promo Tape 4/1996
1) Through the Time and Space
2) When the Signs Have Filled

Mediafire

More Finnish obscurity dubbed me by comrade Grev. So thanks to him for this tape which appears to be the only release of this band from Kajaani. He didn't have a cover so I've used an image from Metal Archives, as always I'm interested in a full scan so get in touch if you have this.

Tape traded item so it's probably been dubbed a couple of times before ending up with me, but that doesn't sound much. On the other hand, this is a rehearsal recording which you do notice as the music is melodic black metal with some fairly ambitious ideas that would've benefitted from a more... produced sound, I suppose. I must say this is a pretty good rehearsal sound anyways, clear and audible enough. The vocalist uses a variety of styles which work out mostly ok, the whispering voice he uses at the beginning of the second track is a nice touch even if it drowns a bit. His clean vocals sound a bit clumsy so here the rehearsal sound is a blessing as they are also somewhat drowned among the instruments. Would've been interesting to hear more stuff from them, but as this seems to be the only recording I guess that's not happening. Unless they changed name or something. Recommended for collectors of Finnish rarities and those who enjoy both melodic black metal and rehearsal sounds.

Summoning - Promo 1994

Summoning - Promo/demo III 1994
1) Intro
2) The Valley of the Fallen Kingdom
3) Lord from the Shadow Realm
4) Where Winters Cry Forever
5) Der Sieben die Schlüssel

Reuploaded

Here's a bit more interesting post. Summoning from Austria is among my favourite bands, especially from "Minas Morgul" onwards but I also like their debut album which is stylistically closer to their comrades Abigor's old sound. So is this promo recorded before "Lugburz" which was sent to me by brother Grev, once again. Big thanks for this one! No covers and I'm not sure if there even was one in the first place. Would love a scan if it exists.

The sound is a bit on the crappy side but still listenable if you're not expecting polished sophisticated black art. I'd say it's comparable to the old Abigor demos. Everything is audible enough but the volume is kind of low and the growly sort vocals used at times are a bit overbearing, bleeding over the rest of the music. Other than that it's fine, if a bit thin and raw. The intro and five tracks, like mentioned above, are in the same vein as the debut album and actually most were on it as different versions. Obviously mandatory for a fan of Summoning and/or Austrian bm and probably interesting to other freaks into 90's underground black metal. Just don't expect epics in the vein of the later albums!

Deathroom - Violate the New Born demo 1993

Deathroom - Violate the New Born demo 1993
1) Destrudo
2) Jeffrey Dahmer
3) Adsiz
4) Intro / The Pervert
5) Nature's Been Raped
6) Blood
7) Impotent Minds
8) Violate the New Born
9) Holliday Erectus

Reuploaded

Back to metal and my "Turkish death metal" - series, here's another demo I got from the same trader, the 1st version of Deathroom's 1993 demo. Comes with a xeroxed cover and has slightly different tracklisting compared to the 2nd edition, see below for that cover (taken from the MySpace):


Music is grinding death metal, basically quite old schoolish but with some interesting bits thrown in like the melodic part on "Destrudo" and the instrumentals. Good, clear demo sound. I find myself liking this quite a bit, despite some of the lyrics being more life metal than necessary. Check it out if you're into death metal.

Plastic Sampler vol. 1 (1996)

Various Artists - Plastic Sampler volume 1 (1996)
1) Two Witches - Dreamworld '94
2) Sad Parade - Ten Million Virgins
3) Dreamtime - Servants
4) Sepulcrum Mentis - Salto Cum Diabolo (Demo Version)
5) Hundred Million Martians - Hollow (Demo Version)
6) Exedra - Waltz
7) This Empty Flow - Of Blossom And Decay
8) Advanced Art - I Am the Labyrinth (Special Remix)
9) Shade Factory - Her Last Shore ('93 Demo Version)
10) Timothy Moldray - Image of Reality
11) NYX - Siberian
12) Neverwood - First Try (Failure)
13) Scoutgape - Apology (Special Remix)
14) [Active] Media Disease - This Room (Demo Version)

Reuploaded! - Cover scans+images

Ok, time for another "And now something completely different" - post and this one is very, very different from the usual stuff here. Well, not that different if you think back to Oberon, Landscape & Shadow Dancers which I suppose would be closest comparisons to the material on this apparently uncommon compilation tape made in 1996 by Plastic Passion. I got it from one of my traders who did not provide me with a copy of the covers nor have I ever seen them so no image(s) this time. As always, I'd be happy to get a scan.

UPDATE: Got the scans from Grev, thanks man! Uploaded the scans (+ some pics of the package) as a separate file, link above.

The bands presented on this tape are mostly within the genres of gothic rock and dark electro and with a few (German) exceptions Finnish. Sound is quite good, I don't know if my dub was made from an original tape, could've been. Probably the largest threshold here to cross for my readers is the genres presented. Well, I guess you know by now if you want to check this out or not. Personally I found some of the artists pretty good and actually have further material in this vein in case you're interested. Maybe I post some later but next one will be metal again, I promise.

Skuggmörker - Härskare av den svarta natten demo 1995

Skuggmörker - Härskare av den svarta natten demo II 1995
1) I nordens maktiga sal
2) Härskare av den svarta natten
3) Nifelhel
4) Aldrig från stillheten
5) The Dark Empire
6) En stig till helvete

Reuploaded

Here's another Swedish demo I got from brother Grev, Skuggmörker released two demos before falling further into obscurity (or splitting up, don't know) and shared members with Lysefall, Ondska and Evrakon - the last being only one I've heard of these as brother The Deceased was looking for their demos some time ago and found one. Being the ever-curious freak that I am, I'd be interested in hearing material of the other mentioned bands so let me know if you happen to have their stuff. Grev's dub was gotten by tape trading so he did not have the demo cover for me, I'd be interested in a scan if you happen to have it.

The dub is not of perfect quality, the tape goes nutty at the beginning of the first track briefly but fortunately runs correctly for the rest of the 25+ mins. It also sounds worn which combined with less than crystal clear demo sound makes this feel like an unearthed relic from the past, still partially covered in dirt, chipped there and cracked here. Other than the wear, hissing and the slight muffling (is that a word?) the sound is actually pretty decent and listenable. Even if it's not very clear you can easily make out the different instruments and nothing drowns anything out. The drums are a bit lost in the background but you can hear them too. Music is mostly midtempo black metal that drops to slow occasionally and has a mysterious, obscure aura to it. Voice is mostly a rough, echoing shout/half scream with some spoken voice added from track 3 onwards. Some synths are used every now and then for a good effect. The songwriting and musicianship might not be anything to write home about but I find myself enjoying this from time to time. Recommended for seekers of obscure demos and collectors of Swedish underground black metal.