Secrets of the Moon - Rehearsals '96-'99

Secrets of the Moon - Rehearsals '96-'99
1) Praise the Kaos
2) Day of Doom
3) The Morbid Dying of the Universe
4) Intermezzo
5) Vanitas
6) Idolize Me
7) My Life for Yours
8) Sailà
9) Under a Funeral Moon
10) Through Golden Spheres
11) Fanatica
12) Thrash Song
13) His Fire My Flame
14) Lonesome in Forest at Nightfall
15) Fanatica
16) Orion in the Nightsky
17) Leichengott / Under the Sign
18) Sodomatic Rites
19) Absu Song
20) Possession

 Reuploaded

One last post for a year ending and again me and brother LKS are in Germany, in familiar company too. For the third time, I present you Secrets of the Moon and this time there is A LOT of stuff, a compilation tape (just over 90 minutes) of various rehearsal takes and bits the band had dubbed to some folks back in... I guess 1999 since that's where the last material on it dates. Scan of the tape cover, just a simple handwritten thing, can be seen above and within. Many thanks for sharing this, LKS!

Since you can see the cover right there I'm not going to go track-by-track saying what is recorded when... I wonder why I actually bothered typing the damn tracklisting in the first place? Because you always do that. Right, let's get back on rails, bro LKS sent this ripped as side A & B and I further meddled with it a little, some strategic normalising and a bit of silence cut here and there as I chopped it into separate tracks. Thanks to my troublesome ways, the sound level is considerably more even than in the original dub but does not really differ otherwise. Most of the time they've a good, pretty clear rehearsal sound . Please note that majority of the tape is instrumental! I should probably add it to tags as it's well over half of the content. More like three quarters actually. The two covers are no surprise as versions exist on other tapes. Tracks 12 and 19 have obviously very rough working titles to them and I think both 2 and 3 appeared under different titles on albums later, but can't right off the bat identify 'em. They were probably further processed too. Same with track four I think. Someone better at this game might do us all a favor and identify what became of them for much rejoicing and facepalming.

Ok, I'd love to drone on, seeing how this still is one of my favourite bands, but some of us have work to do tonight and I think I should sleep too. I bid you farewell now and wish you success, prosperity, darkness and perversion for the upcoming year!

Martyrium - Live in Neumagen 17-12-1994

Martyrium - Live in Neumagen, Germany 17th December 1994
1) Intro / Forgotten Spheres
2) Atum's Speech
3) A Living Ba
4) Lucifer Rising
5) Glory of the Raging Storm
6) Into Midnight Silence
7) Winds of Apocalypse

RGhost / 4shared / Mediafire

I missed the truly appropriate window to post this a week ago but better a bit later than to delay any more, as I got this live recording of the German Martyrium at the same time as the one I posted in June. Like the '93 show, this was ripped by brother Grev's associate and edited by me, with the assistance of sister Borderline in fixing the tracklisting. Thanks to all involved parties! Placeholder cover lazily edited from the one I made for the Annaberg live.

The set's duration is almost half an hour and as you see it differs a bit from the '93 one. Sound is also better though by no means polished. All instruments can be generally distinguished without much trouble, even if the busier moments can get somewhat messy. I don't really have a whole lot to say now, it's recommended for all who've enjoyed Martyrium releases so far and vastly easier to approach of the two live tapes.

Malitiae - My Inner Blasphemy promo '96

Malitiae - My Inner Blasphemy promo 1996
1) Goathead (Intro)
2) Förintelsens tron
3) Baphometh

links deleted as it wasn't correct item!

More contributions follow, this is Malitiae from Sweden, loved by a few, dreaded by a couple more and unknown to vast majority. Not devotees of the Coven though! This is the second tape, of which Lord Azazel Djinn himself commented: "About the other tapes, the second one was in many ways worse (though completely different), whereas the two following ones were standard black metal." Thanks for the chance to hear it go to my collaborateur, the man who originally ripped and scanned this, monsieur Ronan of Psychopathological zine and my lovely assistant not doing a magic show my collaboratrice, the good sister Borderline who forwarded the rip to me and acquired permission to feature it here. Merci beaucoup! Hvala vam puno!

Ok, enough banter, let's move to business: three songs, first being an intro and two "regular" ones, total a bit under ten minutes. Good sound but unfortunately Ronan has ripped it at slightly too loud volume so it sounds a bit more abrasive and broken than it should. This is fully intrumental and resembles most fellow Swedes Landscape and actually a bit Emglev too, now that I listen to the second song while typing this. This might pass as metal, ambient/black metal of some sort perhaps, if one is feeling generous, with the percussion and all. Third track not so much, it's basically keyboards on the background and piano that is beaten played like percussion on the forefront. At the end of the day I can't agree with the artist's assessment of this being worse of the two early demos. And now I'm really curious to hear how he progressed on the stardard black metal demos III & IV! Not obviously for everyone but much easier to recommend than the first effort.

UPDATE: Lord Azazel Djinn sent me his rip of this promo and it's not the one I got from Borderline who got it from Ronan!!! Almost same running time but different material! It has vocals and sounds more like a continuation of "Azazel" demo, I'll probably upload it here as soon as I get some sort of clearence what the hell the item Ronan had ripped is then, as he had provided scans I wonder if he somehow managed to do wrong side of the tape or what ever else may have occurred. Damn it! Now I wonder if it could be a Conjured to Baphometh recording, also by L.A.D. and in that vein.

UPDATE II: Yup, it's partial Conjured to Baphometh demo, not "My Inner Blasphemy" and links are removed. I will make a repost with Lord A.D.'s sending, stay tuned! And eventually CtB demo too.

Daemonium Aeturnus #...4? ...6?

Daemonium Aeturnus 'zine, probably issue 4 (1993) - could be even issue 6
Interviews:
Lullaby
Necromantia
Berserk
Thou Art Lord
In the Woods...
Beherit
Necromass
Absurd
Algol
Gorgoroth
(The) Ancients Rebirth
Dark Heresy
Lacerated Gods
Morningstar
Mütiilation
Anubi
Mock
Satanskin
Key of Alocer 'zine
Deinonychus
Demoncy
Two Witches
Inquisitor
Goatwinter
Xaztur
Sylvester's Death (Death SS)
Brotherhood of Balder
The Luciferian Light Group
Temple of the Vampire
Articles:
Asmodeus by Abaaner/KoA
Lilith Abaaner again
"Barbarian tale" by Absurd
Aleister Crowley
Loosening the Soul more Abaaner
Smell of Magick pretty sure Abaaner
De Bokkerijders by Gunther Theys
Eliphas Levi I can't believe it's not Abaaner
+reviews, special on Balder including the interview, another (Inside the Brotherhood of Balder) by Eric Fletcher, Sports Magick - an introduction, Runic Body Work, Coxland Press catalogue, Man-hunt - a training exercise on our expediton and Sleepwalkers Versus the Übermenchen (looong article)

Mediafire

It is time to post a 'zine again and this is another issue of the legendary Daemonium Aeturnus and as before, it's a (half-assed) scan I made of a xeroxed copy brother Kurgan sent me. Thanks for contributing as always! Unfortunately a grim spectre of uncertainity looms above us as we're not really sure which issue this is! The damned cover, originally red I presume, is almost completely illegible and master Unsane didn't see fit to mention such details inside. Well, the border made by Conscicide at least has year, which on the other hand is easy enough to deduce from the contents. I'm making a bold, educated guess and declare this as the 4th issue. It's much, much larger in content, slightly in staff (The Unsane is joined by Count Ildjarn/Gylvarheim which I presume different aliases of the same person and the rather special Rimmon the 4th Antichrist who is enthusiastic if nothing else) and obviously on page count compared to the second issue we earlier featured. Plenty of guest content too, as you may notice from the articles bit up there, many being courtesy of Abaaner Incendium of Key of Alocer fame. Another major clue was the mention of Demoncy having been featured before (Wicked interviewed by Rimmon) and that sure wasn't the 2nd issue so I'm assuming it was on the unseen third issue.

I tried red-ifying the cover but that didn't help at all.

There is a shitload of reading here, seventy pages and as U mentions on the editorial he had to reduce the size of printing on the interviews to cut the page count which means they're kind of hard on the eyes to squint through. This is where digital scans really come in handy, I'm not going to hunch over a text with a magnifying glass, no thank you! The reduced lettering is a bit messy but nothing you couldn't decipher with a little patience. Simple, gloriously lo-tech yet clear layout. I'm not going to write much longer about this, it's essential read but special mentions must go to having interesting, rather obscure and good interviews such as the Belgian Berserk as well as somewhat silly but equally clandestine and curious ones like Goatwinter who very eagerly agree with almost any topic dropped at them. Oh yeah, Rimmon's reviews are pretty atrocious ("This finish band is absolutely one of the better bands from Finland but there aren't many bands like this in Finland..." it's like he dictated whatever came to his mind to a robot) and his roughly 30 question interviews... well let's say that so many shots fired means some will hit the target. Unsane is more restrained, vastly better writer and notably calmer while the count is somewhere in the middle ground. But enough nagging, once again recommended and someone please verify if this actually is the fourth issue or not!

UPDATE: An anonymous commentor told me the 2nd Key of Alocer issue mentions an interview in the 6th (!) DA which would most likely be this then. Unless Abaaner featured in several issues which isn't totally improbable but seems less likely. Thanks for the clue, further confirmation would still be welcome!

Vacuum - Digest of Dreams demo '94

Vacuum [nor] - Digest of Dreams demo 1994
1) Cosmos
2) Deep in the Sea of Grief
3) Epitomized

Depositfiles / Yandex

Let's do another Norwegian item and in somewhat similar vein to our previous offering. Here, courtesy of the detective work performed by brother Emptiness Cycle, is finally the long-sought 1994 demo "Digest of Dreams" by Vacuum which you may remember from the Sverd Storm II compilation I posted in 2011. I've been after the damned thing for 20 years but not apparently hard enough, considering how easily EC acquired it! Well, not sure if easily but rather quickly anyways. Thanks again for doing the legwork! He had contacted a former member of the band who provided a master rip of the demo (and some other stuff, we return to them at later date) for our nefarious purposes. No cover scans unfortunately but at least the music is at last available.

Three tracks, the second one being already familiar from the compilation tape and all are full "proper" songs. General feeling is a bit more on the trippy and slightly experimental side rather than desolate doom and gloom of many peers worldwide at the time. Sound is good, I'd say and mostly very clear. There is a temporary quality shift on the second song which might be a little disconcerting to more tender listeners, but nothing really drastic. Main voice is the gruff yell familiar from the sampler presentation, much more melodious and singsongy than usual takes one tends to encounter. There are some passages which remind me of what Katatonia was shifting to at the time. Music, not the vocals, mind you. A few slightly silly bits too, like the synth hit around two minutes into the last song, perfect for striking a pose. EDIT: How did I manage to not mention the abrupt ending? Well, I did. So, the last track ends very, very abruptly which brother EC had also noticed and apparently "he's adamant that its how its meant to be" (the contributor that is) so it's an odd artistic choice then. Overall I can't say I'd be dissappointed after my excessive wait, have a listen if Norwegian non-black metal items of the 90's interest you at all!

Vidvandre - Svanesang demo '95

Vidvandre - Svanesang demo 1995
1) Stålet som skjærer
2) Når spurvene danser
3) Trell
4) Svanesang

Sendspace / Mediafire

How about a little bit mellower post? Not that the previous one would've been particularily vicious, mind you, but I need to write something to get myself out the door, on the path and eventually lost in the forest of digression. Which serves as a terrible way to get to the point; this is Vidvandre fra Stavanger, Norge and their one and (apparently) only demo "Svanesang" from 1995. An appropriate name if it indeed is their sole creation. I got a dub of this among other things from brother Grev already over two years ago but it took me this damn long to get off my ass and find more about the band, you see he had the band misspelled "Via Vandre" which produced zero results researching. Luckily my very meager skills in Norwegian language came in handy as I finally sat down to think what the band name really should be and bang, direct hit! Cover image was borrowed from Metal Archives, full scan would be neat.

Obviously reading of my revelation must be fascinating but some might prefer to discuss the music. Fine, three long songs and a shorter instrumental interlude of Norwegian folky doom metal, think bands like early Tristania, The Sins of Thy Beloved and fellow Stavangerites Dismal Euphony and Theatre of Tragedy. Actually, Frank Claessen (guitars) would actually later become a member of ToT. Pretty decent demo sound, though being a dub of a dub of a dub brings the inevitable wear and smudginess. National romantic melodies, melancholic and wistful moods, flutes and female vocal parts spicing up the soup. It's not bad at all (except the silly babbling bits in the last song, why did you do this), makes me wonder if I've actually read a review of the demo from a 'zine once upon a time, making yet another "note to self" to be eventually forgotten? Anyways, we found each other lost in the infinite woods, perhaps you will be drawn in as well. Recommended if you dig melodic death/doom.

Paymon - The Way of Knowledge demo '96

Paymon - The Map Way of Knowledge demo 1996
1) Intro
2) My Eternal Dream
3) Cauterized Soul
4) Scongiurazione a Diana
5) Christ's Death
6) Outro
7) Labyrinth der Einsamkeit

Mega / Rusfolder

Let's do something different from short Finnish rehearsal tapes for change... how about awkward, lo-fi German black metal/ambient? Yes! But only if it is at least album length with a strange and half-assed track division!! And boy, do we deliver. This is Paymon of Germania and their(/his?) only demo, "recorded in a Dirty Black Summer MDCCCCXCVI" as the cover states. Not exactly Danzig-influenced though. Well, maybe if one crossbred "Black Aria" with a mixture of old Mjölnir, Sorg and Siren, perhaps with a pinch of Fulgor thrown in for good measure. Nah, it's not really a good comparison. I've a scan of the charming xerox covers this time, both it and the rip again courtesy of brother LKS. Thank you! The probably inaccurate track division was my fault, I think... this has been sitting in Limbo waiting for quite a while already.

UPDATE: Damn it I thought the name was a bit odd and then finally had a good luck at the cover scan, tilted and what do you know, the accursed title is "The Way of Knowledge" not ...Map...!!! I should know better than trust Metal Archives' half-literate contributors, how can I be so blind?!? Reuploaded with the corrected title, so annoying!

The sound is quite low, both in volume and quality and as I've already hinted the music is kind of haphazard, lumbering slower stuff that I guess should be somewhat generously categorized into black metal. There are both short and loooong tracks but it's pretty hard to accurately say where one bit actually ends and next begins. I really need to get to bed soon so I think I'll stop my writeup here before it too wanders into the murky haze, not to be seen again. Certain parties will enjoy the display while others will add it to the list of obscure German crap best avoided. Have a listen and pick your side!

Moonrise - Rehearsal Track '96

Moonrise - Rehearsal Track 1996
1) Untitled

RGhost / Yandex

Let's do another short instrumental rehearsal thingy from a Finnish band and this is also a partial fulfilment of sister Borderline's wish from spring '15. I finally found the single rehearsal track of Finnish Moonrise, which could rightfully be considered an Unhola sideproject I guess, we discussed in comment section for... Realm of Frost rehearsal track I think? I had no title for this and have not heard either the instrumental rehearsal '95 mentioned on the Archives nor the '96 promo so I can't say if this would be one of the tracks from either. Or actually the '95 recording itself for that matter.

Sound is very good, less bass-heavy than some of the Unhola material and it's more Norsecore than mid-90's typical Finnish. It sounds very familiar too, I thought for a moment that this might be a Burzum cover but nope, it's a bit different and faster than the track I was thinking about. Knowing the accursed cassette media it could run at wrong speed though. Oh well, anyways it's a brisk midpace song with an urgent drive to it and quite straightforward nature. Would really love to hear the '96 promo and see what variation of vocals Margoath used for this project.

Gorgoroth - Rehearsal Tape '93

Gorgoroth [fin] - Rehearsal tape 1993 (probably)
1) Trapped in Icy City
2) Mournfull Gathering
3) Mournfull Gathering (pitkä versio)

Zippyshare / Yandex

Sorry, it's not the better known Norwegian Gorgoroth but the quite obscure Finnish one. As usual, I'm posting a Finnish item for the 6th December which, in case you've forgotten, is the independence day of Finland. So yeah, this is actually obscure enough for both me and brother Suuret Muinaiset, who dubbed me this and some other things some time ago, to not know what year it is from. Or that's how I remember it, I seem to have misplaced brother SM's letter that came with the tape (a letter is like an email written on a sheet of paper, possibly manually, and sent via the postal services, kids) but I'm almost certain he couldn't recall it anymore. Anyways, it's early 90's and I've seen it before on some trading list or another but fail to recall if it had a year listed or just "9x" or perhaps "9?" instead. I'm thinking '91 or '92, '93 at the very latest. Brother Grev, have you heard about this? Got any clues? Anyone?
UPDATE: As expected, Grev replied quickly and thinks this is '93. Let's go with that until proven otherwise and thanks to both SM & G

Obviously no cover for this, I believe they just dubbed it to some people like was a common practice at the time. All the three songs are instrumental and as you probably notice, the third one is just a longer version of the second track. And yes, I know it's misspelled, but if that's how they did it so do we! After all, it's "Necromansy" and "In Conspirasy with Satan" (though some heretics go "correct" the latter) and that's it! Everything is instrumental and music is sort of black/death metal hybrid, the reason we're calling it black in the first place is that I'm under the impression they considered themselves that. Rehearsal sound is a little messy for the bass, especially on faster parts (typical), but generally clear enough to distinguish all the necessary details. Kind of booming and echo-y. The last song's sound differs a little from the first two, being a bit more subdued. Another take with equipment slightly moved I suppose. The music isn't as crude and simple as you might expect, it's actually pretty melodic, more on the melancholic side rather than brutal and actually interesting enough for me to wonder how they would've sounded on a proper demo.

Well, that we're probably never going to know, unless somebody appears with another recording, perhaps done under a different monicker. I don't expect that to happen so let us just enjoy this for what it is. Or not, if you dislike instrumental stuff with rehearsal sound. Personally I like instrumental recordings better than ones with bad vocals so I can go ahead and give this a seal of Approval, Recommendation, Support and Excellence. "Excellence" might be going a bit far but I'm on a jovial mood today.

Holocaust #8

Holocaust 'zine, issue 8 (1995)
Interviews:
Ancient Rites
Moonspell
Gorgoroth
Absu / Equimanthorn
Hades
Behemoth
Altar
Trelldom
Mortiis / Vond
Misanthrope
Bård Faust
Accursed
Immortal
Sabbat
Amon
Grand Belial's Key
Alastis
Esoteric
Chris Moyen
Nightfall
Isengard ('89)
Necromantia
Graveland
Sadistic Intent
Sephiroth
Ancient
The Whores of Babylon
Black Funeral
Mortuary Drape
Unpure
Vlad Tepes
Infernum
Bethlehem
Different State
Marduk
+ reviews, articles on Balder, Mastiphal and B.R.S.A., art pages with illustrations by Dark Arts, "poems" by Nethor and... things by Wicca Graphics

Depositfiles

Here is the 8th Holocaust issue, as hinted at in the post of the seventh coming and much if not most of what was written there applies here as well. Though I must say first thing that came to my mind when I saw the cover for this was "why is Blackie Lawless hiding under a trio of sixes?" which might not be the original intent. Let's not that distract us from the fact that this is a very good 'zine. A great selection of interviewees, even with slight repeat from previous issue and a couple of "usual suspects" inevitably pop up (Behemoth fitting both categories, arguably Graveland too and then there's Mortiis). Tomasz has a bit more contributors this time around (which explains certain repeats) and the characteristic article/reviews hybrids are this time replaced by more typical reviews.

Highlights include the Gorgoroth interview by Nethor with an enthusiastic if not outright gushing introduction that is longer than the interview itself, Rob Darken & Capricornus writing about topics Tomasz gave them and Trelldom interview with Gaahl, again by Nethor. Does not feel fair to pick out just a few though, as this is full of great reading and interesting statements.

I should also mention that I botched up the scan a bit and as a result there's an extra single page of the aforementione Trelldom interview which I was supposed to remove before packing up and uploading. Oops. Well, you can delete it yourselves. Definitely recommended.

Blackthorn - Instrumental Rehearsal 95

Blackthorn - Empire of the Ancient Time instrumental rehearsal tape 1995
I
II
III
IV
V
VI
VII
VIII
IX

Rusfolder / Mediafire

Another lengthy one for today, let's return to Poland with the last of the Blackthorn releases sent to me by LKS. Thanks for the contributions! This is a 40+ minutes instrumental rehearsal tape from 1995, most likely post-"Ancient" material and lacking a tracklisting. It might be the same as the one featured on the 2010 compilation tape listen on Metal Archives as "Empire of the Ancient Time" though that one lists only seven songs. But just how many instrumental rehearsal tapes did they record and dub people in '95? Well, it's actually quite possible the answer may be "a lot" as we've certainly seen examples of that. Unless I come across a rip, or a physical copy, of the "Empire of the Ancient Time" compilation we remain uncertain.
UPDATE:
A reader verified it's the same recording, the version on the compilation is a bit cleaned up and tracks  I & II (the aborted takes) were left off it.

Alright, like a proper scholar I started to write and upload once again before taking a refresher listen to the item in question and now I must say I'm almost certain this is the "Empire..." rehearsal as tracks I & II are merely "false starts" for III and I must assume the compilation's tracklisting lumps them all together. Not going to meddle with this anymore so we go with it as it is!

The sound is quite easy on the ears even for a novice, drums get buried to a muffled rumble leaving guitar dominant. It's a slightly messy yet pleasant sort of buzz which is nice seeing this is a rather stripped down effort as fully instrumental recording. I was going to write a bit longer entry for this but a brief yet annoying episode with my inter nets browser made me want to get done with this quickly. If you like old Polish black metal, especially the other Blackthron releases, you'll want to check this out.

Demogorgon - Henen-A Em Amsu demo II '95

Demogorgon - Henen-A Em Amsu demo II 1995
1) Threshold of Hell
2) Crucify
3) Ridiculed Beliefs
4) I Fell for All
5) Hopeful Victory
6) Black Clouds of Death
7) Putrifying Thoughts
8) My Black Innerself
9) Hordes of the Black Circle
10) Buried Soul
11) Eternal Hate to the False

Sendspace / Yandex

...or "Henen-Å Em Åmsu" if you want to stick to the odd spelling on the side panel! So it is time for music (finally) and this is another, somewhat overdue, sending by our brother Wehrwolf and again it is Australian material. Thank you for the rip & scans! Here we have what appears to be the second demo by Demogorgon from Victoria, not to be mixed with the scores of others who use and/or have used the name, best known (well at least in my opinion) being the Greek one, mostly due to connections to other Hellenic cults.

But let's concentrate on this effort. It's a long tape, full album length even if some of the songs are quite brief. And to be honest, it's a bit longer than necessary too. Seeing this is Australian and black metal I suppose folks may expect some form of wild, relentless burst of violence and warfare noise. Not this time. Sure, it does combine some death metal traits with black metal and is of certainly active nature but it'd put it closer to Anatomy than SadEx. Or perhaps more Baltak than Bestial Warlust? The sound comes off initially as messy but either one gets used to it or it actually improves as the recording proceeds. Quick field test indicates that the groovy (strangely almost Spear Of Longinus-ish) "Hordes of the Black Circle" not only sounds better but actually does have a superior sonic quality to the opener "Threshold of Hell". My opinions seem to fluctuate quite a bit while this plays so I suppose you should pay it attention even if the first tracks might seem discouraging. Or put it on shuffle? Anyways, with a bit of pruning this would be a very good demo. Maybe. Recommended to those who enthuse for things down under and those who endlessly seek more mid-90's relics.

One more thing, the third song "Ridiculed Beliefs" sounds extremely familiar, what in the Abyss does it resemble?

Holocaust #7

Holocaust 'zine, issue 7 (1994)
Interviews:
Acheron
Emperor
Godsend
Schizo
Mutilated
Graveland
Mass Psychosis
Mayhem
Ceremonial Oath
Supuration
Beherit
Funeral Winds
Crucifier
Asphyx
Nun Slaughter
Behemoth
Thou Art Lord
Dark Tranquillity
Pitch Shifter
Malediction
Burzum
As Serenity Fades
Exmortis
+ articles "Speak with the Tongue of Serpents" & "Magick" by Anubis Press, South African scene report and a ton (88 by a quick tally) of short article/bio/review hybrids as well as a separate Polish section and an album/EP review section

Mega

We return with what we departed with; another 'zine post. This one though is a request by our comrade Kurgan and in essence a repost as raf-sempai had already posted scans of almost all issues of Poland's classic Holocaust 'zine in his RAF666underground blog. I had somehow managed to miss the more recent ones and ended up requesting two of the issues (this one and the following) among the 'zines I borrowed from comrade passetiermes the other year, scanned 'em, noticed they were already up for grabs and there was much lamentation. Seeing how raf's blog seems to be dead and abandoned I thought it'd be fine to make the issues available to interested parties again. Not to mention scanning 'zines is a pain in the ass so I'd really not prefer my time and efforts to go waste.

Ok so in case you don't know yet, Holocaust was a famous Polish black/death metal 'zine - though the editor, Pagan Records mainman Tomasz Krajewski, did not exclude other styles those were clearly most dominant. 60 pages and over 110 bands covered within the 23 interviews and 88 article/review hybrids is a lot to read and while either the interviews or the articlettes might not be epic length they're generally well written, informative and entertaining enough to read even if you might not be too much into band in question. The unlisted 88 bands range from the well known (Gorgoroth, The 3rd and the Mortal, Grand Belial's Key) to very obscure (Naephragorious, The Cross, Mototronko). Clearly well above average 'zine, classic status fairly deserved in my opinion and mandatory reading recommended to all ages. Maybe not children. Most ages then.

Dark Summoning #1

Dark Summoning 'zine, issue 1 (1994)
Interviews:
Ancient
Decortication
Rotting Christ
Sorhin
Necromancy
Dragon Rouge / Therion
In the Woods...
Beherit
Entity
Deinonychus
Articles:
Manitou
"The Discovery of the Pentagram"
Denial of God
Dion Fortune
Moaning Wind
Discorge
Order of the Evil Eye
+ reviews, drawings, flyers...

Mega

Back to golden oldies again, bet you thought it'd be ambient or something like that today? Too bad, it's finally time for another 'zine post! Let's get it said right away, I've a hopelessly soft, squishy spot for Dark Summoning 'zine of Sweden, nostalgia being a major component as this was one of the first 'zines me and my comrade (who got this and earlier this summer contributed it to me, thanks again!) ordered for ourselves in 1994. It's also a very sympathetic DIY-effort with clear enthusiasm poured into the making. Sure, many... well most to be honest, of the interviews are on the short side, errors dot the text and layout is mostly primitive but it still should be a pretty good read for even people who might approach it more critically than me. I don't think the editor Sara completed another issue but I've been wrong before so if such exists I'd love to see it. Ride the time machine once again, for a fleeting moment.

Loathsomeness - Rehearsals Sep.2014

Loathsomeness - Rehearsals September 2014
1) Torn Apart
2) Make Them Die Slowly
3) Throat Vomica
4) Deity of Death
5) Coffins Stench
6) Strangled Barbedwire Suicide
7) Naturom Demento
8) Necrophilic Dismemberment
9) Outro - Cannibal Holocaust (Main Theme)

Depositfiles / RGhost

Ok, for tonight I've another deviation from the norm and an item that actually delayed the whole blog schedule a bit. In the end we (I did, pathetic fictional division of responsibility) went with the idea of silence gives consent which I do not generally recommend as a guideline to follow in your daily lives. Anyways, this recording by the short-lived project by certain black/death metal luminaries called Loathsomeness is a release from the recenties. Mind you it sounds like a thing unearthed from the era of late 80's / early 90's of death metal underground. Not my most comfy nor familiar scene of operations, to be honest. Nevertheless, master Suuret Muinaiset who sent me the tape is an expert and should be consulted for further references of old death metal and especially obscure and possibly not healthy heavy metal.

Right, let's get back on topic - what we have here is a set of several short but brutal and filthy death metal tracks of crude and grindy sort. Sound quality is what you may expect from a rehearsal recording. I actually find it a bit hard to say anything reasonably smart about it, can't say I'd be big fan of this kind of gory death metal. But still, the recordings provide a slightly uncomfortable, perhaps a little dumb, journey until the unlisted outro part which is from a movie far more mean spirited than the tape hopes to be. I've been told a few more tracks were recorded but apparently not much came out of them. Enough banter, you'll pick this up if interested and otherwise may await the next post.

Goatfire - The Fifth Fulmination 7"EP '99

Goatfire - The Fifth Fulmination 7"EP 1999
1) Petrified in Darkness
2) The Fifth Fulmination

Mediafire / RGhost

Remember Hellflame 'zine? Of course you do. This is the band of the editor Nicola and a release from the middle of their lifespan, a 7"EP released on Satanic Terror Productions ending their demo era of five tapes. I should probably point out it's a "proper" band and not a one (or two) man throw away project. Contributed by our brother Fenrirsson, this is not a vinyl rip but made from a tape he got from Nicola. There was a compilation of old Goatfire material a few years ago, but that was the demonology and did not include the EPs. No cover scans, the image is as usual from M.A.

Two songs and both run in the quasi-standard slightly-over-four-minutes formula. The sound is just a touch on the crude side of things but very clear as you can easily make out all elements, even the bass. It doesn't sound very powerful or raw, somehow slightly... um, flat is not really what I'm after, nor is frail. Oh well, you'll notice when you listen to it. Above the usual demo quality though. It might have to do with the first song itself too, which generally runs in the vague almost-fast not-midtempo-anymore no man's land. The title track sounds better but I'm not certain if this is an illusion caused by the fact I find it superior of the two. Anyways, this is no-frills true-to-the-roots sort of black metal with a touch of the melodicism I associate generally with Italian black metal.

Host - Host (2008)

Host - Host CDr 2008
Demo I listopad 2002
1) Ścieżka 1
2) Ścieżka 2
Demo II grudzień 2002
3) Ścieżka 3
4) Ścieżka 4

Depositfiles / Zippyshare

Return to Poland is in schedule, though again with a little twist. Today's post is a contribution by our reader Opiekacz and this is his one man band Host, where he operated using the name Grzechu ("sin") and a 2008 CDr compilation of two demos dating to end of 2002 (November and December). The actual disc was released in pretty limited quantity but he's had the files available elsewhere, so I'm making sort of an exception here. Most links seem dead, so I guess it is justified really. No actual cover scan, but he included a flyer which has almost the same image as the cover had anyways so let's go with that.

You're probably expecting bedroom black metal by now? And yes, that is somewhat justified as the production is quite minimalistic, drums by machine (UPDATE: nope, electronic drums human-played) and generally things have that computerized feeling. Sound is of the clean and clear variety, guitars slightly weaker than vocals and percussion... well, they're actually pretty much on the same level, neither strings nor pounds drown other one out. It's fine, not trying to pass for necro and considering the music fits decently. Voice is raspy and rough, but still quite sing-songy, reminds me a little bit of Master's Hammer actually. The music is, as already hinted, not of the standard sulking in the sleeping chamber variety either, actually it's also closer to "The Jilemnice Occultist" than "A Gate Through Bloodstained Mirrors" as it sounds in places very close to classical inspired heavy metal. Or is it power metal? Well, I guess you know what I mean. The minimalistic naming sense is an interesting decision too, seeing as the songs are titled Path 1 and so on and the demos just by month of release. Or actually the CDr cover just mentioned tracks 1,2 and 3,4 so perhaps he retconned that. Well, whatever the case might be it's different from what one might expect and agreeable in a dose of this size, a bit under half an hour. Have a listen if you don't mind some neoclassical leanings in your black or maybe more accurately dark metal.

Sorg - Journey to Planet Satan demo III '96

Sorg - Journey to Planet Satan demo III 1996
1) Intro
2) Qual
3) Sathanas
4) Tod I
5) Tod II
6) Vacuumized
7) Journey to Planet Satan
8) Outro - Hail Satan

4shared / Mega

Let's post something quite disastrous today, here, as requested, is the third demo by German project Sorg which was mentioned on the entry for the first one. The second demo is still missing and the Coven would be very pleased to receive a copy, rip or a dub of it. Thank you. Right, this was in conspiracy with LKS again, thanks for the music and cover scans and as the title might tell you Astaroth must've been into Mysticum. Alas, this is not so apparent in the music.

What does that mean? Well, it is not industrial unhuman black metal for starters, nor is it the occasionally weird, other times moody and morose ambient/black metal mix of the first demo. It's mostly kind of annoying to be honest. More electronic and artificial sounding in general, with plenty of effects, wobbles and warbles and bad quasi-futuristic (think late 70's / early 80's lowest budget worst taste scifi-futuristic) instrumentation. I'd really love to hear the second demo and see how this development took course. It's probably meant to sound like a drugged out, nightmarish trip beyond the earthly sphere but I can't say that's the foremost vibe I get. It's not this bad all the way through, I admit, the less out of hand dark ambient parts like Tod I work better... until it starts to get silly again. Tod II would be pretty nice too if not for the utterly dumb voice bits, same pattern follows on Vacuumized. In general the later part of the demo is more agreeable. With appropriate substance abuse this might come across better, but so far I haven't managed to discover the genius here. If you feel bold, by all means take a trip to Planet Satan though I must refer the Norwegian travel service to be superior in all aspects.

Funeral Frost - Studio Tape 14.10.95

Funeral Frost - Studio Tape 14th October 1995
1) Far Beyond the Raven Star
2) Queen of Frost

Yandex / RGhost

Happy Cirno day everyone! I had originally planned to do another thing but as that got delayed I decided to delay it further and post instead something more appropriate to the date (more musicwise than numerically this time) and turns out it is again Swedish material; here's Funeral Frost with a very short and pretty obscure recording from fall '95. Brother Grev had gotten this from who knows where (well, he might) back in tape trading days and eventually dubbed it to me already two years ago. Sheesh, time flies! Recorded between their Demo 2 (early summer '95) and the only album "Queen of Frost" (January '96 - that cover art!) I suppose this thing was dubbed to people they were in touch with to showcase new material. I've no idea if there was a cover or not, most likely the latter option. There was an "official advance tape" of four songs from the album sessions sent around in early '96 which had one but then again it was sent as a promo to various 'zines and such.

Let's discuss the content, as mentioned both songs are (ok, were) new and would later be recorded for the album as well. Far Beyond the Raven Star is the longer one, and actually the longest on the album's black metal part too, at just over four minutes while the future title track is a short under two minute mark burst. The sound is good, definitely more of a demo sound than rehearsal, not as cold and raw as the album version and as the percussion is lower some elements like the synth are actually more audible. Musically these two tracks cover pretty much their whole repertoire as ...Raven Star is a slower, more atmospheric piece while Queen... represents the fast, ferocious and brief segment though it does have a slow atmospheric break too. If you're into old, cold and northern black metal but not familiar with Funeral Frost by now this might be a decent place to start with. At least it does not take too much of your time! Those in the knowing should also check out these versions as they sound different enough to merit the effort.

Bewitched - Hellspell demo '95

Bewitched - Hellspell demo I 1995
1) Triumph of Evil
2) Deathspell
3) The Witches Plague
4) Burnin' Heaven

Zippyshare / Mediafire

Let's kick off this week with some energetic black/thrash metal fra Sverige, sent by our brother Fenrirsson along with other rips months ago. Bewitched should be a familiar name to people into blackened thrash metal or explorers of Osmose's back catalogue. They started out as a side project by folks from bands like Throne of Ahaz, Ancient Wisdom, Naglfar and Katatonia, eventually changing members and outliving some of the parent bands (well, Throne of Ahaz mainly but I'm pretty salty about that) with five albums and some EPs released over a ten year period. Let's not forget they nicked the band name from the older, already established Chilean band who in the end outdid them in longevity and number of releases. Can't comment on the quality as I'm not familiar with full discographies of either. Where was I? Right, this was the only demo and as F's rip was made from a dub we make do with cover images found on the net, mainly M.A. and Demo Archives.

Even though the band got progressively sillier (and me more and more fed up with bands picking up the retro "old school" sound in the mid-late 90s) this demo is quite raw, old style black metal mixed with thrash rather than just straight up black/thrash. The guitar sound is razor sharp, clear and biting, cold even and vocals harsh shrieks and screams. It's more like old Bathory rather than say, Destruction or Slayer which I'm fine with. Drums are again buried in the background but it's fine as the guitars are the spotlight here. All four songs wound up re-recorded on the '96 debut album, which is pretty good too. I think I'll have to give it a listen next. Give this demo a go even if you've heard the later Bewitched albums and disliked them, it's a different beast. Not like lion versus alligator different, more like... a dingo vs wolf different?

Mord Umysłu - Promo '98

Mord Umysłu - Promo tape 1998
1) I
2) II

Rusfolder / Sendspace

Ok, more slightly unusual stuff and again we are in Poland. Looks like a pattern has emerged, I should probably break it as soon as possible before it binds me. But let's not discuss that, let's rather talk about this sending I got already months ago, thanks to the sender, but hesitated to post due lack of information. This is an obscure 1998 recording by Mord Umysłu which roughly translates as murder of mind, or maybe mental murder? Something along those lines anyways. It was a project, most likely an one-shot, by Aro who is best known from Perunwit though he did have a host of other projects as well. Many of them with very limited discography when compared to Perunwit I should mention. There's not really much info about this two song tape on the internets, just passing mentions of the band on Metal Archives and this entry, in Polish, on a blog written by Zuchu666 who used to contribute on the venerated Raf666underground blog. RIP, it strongly seems.

Where was I? Yeah, that entry, it had a download link too but that's expired so I've been unable to compare. It seems extremely unlikely these would not be same recording though different rips certainly. The recording itself consists of two untitled (probably, no-one at least seems to know the titles!) tracks and runs for a bit over ten minutes. Music is... pretty hard to describe with a simple neat term, let's try dark ambient metal, how's that? Way more ambient than metal, mind you. While Perunwit is very folky stuff this isn't that sort of thing at all. The sound is good, quite mellow and floaty, better than on older Perunwit tapes so it might be a studio recording. Most likely just a result of better equipment and experience. Vocals are in Polish and gravelly sort of half-singing half-snarling with slight variation thrown in. Keys and effects are omnipresent and it has a slightly dreamlike quality to it, whatever-wave touches. To toss a very misleading comparison, let's say My Angel-era Arcturus meets late-90s Christ Agony. No, it's not really like that, I had a better one in mind but it got away. Still, an interesting tape, I should ask Zuchu to reupload that other rip so I could compare quality. Oh yeah, no cover as this probably didn't have one, Z speculated it was never "properly" released, just dubbed to people.

Mantar - The Wrath of Hornuk the Great demo '98

Mantar (fra) - The Wrath of Hornuk the Great demo I 1998
1) The Woods Are Our Temple
2) Sodomized for the Cult
3) Unholy Conquest
4) Cult of the Witchdemon

Yandex / Depositfiles

Mantar - The Wrath of Hornuk the Great remaster 2005
1) The Woods Are Our Temple
2) Sodomized for the Cult
3) Gathering of Vicious Souls
4) Unholy Conquest
5) Feast on Satan's Cunt
6) The Wrath of Hornuk the Great
7) Cult of the Witchdemon (The Second Coming)

Mega

How about a non-metal contribution today, just for change? This here thing was sent by our comrade zargonath a few months ago and it's (according to the note included) Mantar from France, not to be mixed with the reasonably well-known current German one. Our subject was formed by two men in 1996 who went by the nom de guerres Lord Tenebro Maleficium and Lord Silvins Mortificus, made this demo and disbanded in '99. Lord Tenebro killed himself a year later so slight scent of cult may be detected melding into the usual gravestench and tombmusk. Judging from the cover my educated guess would be that this was released as a CDr but I might be mistaken (remaster was, original was on tape so 50/50).

The first track starts with an odd glitchy sound which I'm certain is not part of the experience before moving unto soft tolling sounds followed by an extremely familiar bit which is stolen borrowed sampled(?) from somewhere very well known but I can't remember it now damn this is frustrating!!! Help me out someone less demented and I'll edit this later (it was Dimmu Borgir's Master of Disharmony, 1996 EP version! Thanks Eugene!). Right, it goes on for quite long, repetitive as expected, but effective despite the nagging familiarity (is it from a soundtrack? I know this damn it!) with some additional elements tossed in like slightly pompous sounding accented voices. The second track goes on with the same dramatic, soundtrackesque dungeon synth feel and most likely as a residual trauma from the first track I find myself wondering if I've encountered these sounds somewhere before. Third song, surprisingly... uh, mellow, despite its name allows me to shake of the mental shackle and enjoy the cheese. Last song re-introduces the vocals, one a normal spoken voice and the other a malicious black metal style hiss. My initial frown quickly softens as the voices are used very sparingly and well enough. To my surprise the track suddenly ends, almost prematurely and the demo itself with it, leaving me feeling a mite peckish. This is actually better than I remembered from the original, extensive two playthroughs session back whenever. Apparently another one that is best listened to at least twice in row. Standout track: number three.

UPDATE: It appears this might be incomplete which would explain how it felt too short. Comrade Eugene sent me a full version of seven tracks with an inlay, appearently the cover is from a 2005 remastered version. I wonder if it is expanded also or was the copy zargonath had just weirdly incomplete. Priests are now investigating, please wait warmly... 

UPDATE II: After a brief yet vigorous inquisition it appears the remastered seven song version sent by Eugene does sound a bit different and the songs seem slightly longer. Perhaps the speed is a wee bit different (it was a brief and vigorous not thorough inquisiton after all!). It is still uncertain to me if the original demo was really just four songs and the remaster is an expanded version or if it actually managed to miss three songs scattered in between the rest! For now I've decided to have both available, personally I like the fuzzier, more dungeony original sound better and haven't really had time to properly listen to the additional new content, so to say. Oh yeah, apparently the bio crap I picked up elsewhere (U-tube) was a pile of pig entrails as the remaster cover's linear notes seem to contradict them (ol' Tenebro's passing was not of the permanent sort for starters and he hogs all credit there, no mention of Silvins in sight). Odour of kvlt turns to sour reek of falsehood.

Sirrah - Acme demo '95

Sirrah - Acme demo II 1995
1) Acme
2) Passover 1944
3) On the Verge
4) A.U.Tomb
5) Iridium
6) Pillbox Impressions
7) Panacea
8) Bitter Seas

RGhost / Mediafire

Some of you might not be too impressed with today's post, sure, it's not a TTF-relic dug from a sealed tomb but hey, at least we're in Poland again! Yup, it's melodic death/doom with touches of gothic, think stuff like earlier Paradise Lost (not "Lost Paradise" or demos early!) or perhaps more accurately bands inspired by their "Gothic" album? Anyways, Sirrah from Poland released two demos, two albums (first of which was a re-recording/-arrangement of this demo) and an EP on their few years of activity around the mid-90s, to apparently re-emerge in 2013 with two new songs released so far. And this is the demo II, though I think I saw it referred as cassette album too. The running time would allow it to qualify and sound is not at all bad either. Much better than certain economically produced albums. Some of the songs date back to the first demo from '93 already so they've taken their time to refine 'em.

I haven't actually even heard the re-recorded album version, though it did catch some attention being released by Music for Nations. Or actually I might've heard it whilst drinking at certain associate's place, pretty sure he had it. Well, whatever, I wasn't really into them after all back then, I had originally come across this tape while looking for replacements for Paradise Lost, My Dying Bride and Tiamat whom I considered to have wimped out, become all girly and/or sold out, to differing degrees. This must've been early '96 or so. I already knew several more or less exotic alternatives such as Dissolving of Prodigy, Silent Stream of Godless Elegy and Love History to mention a few Czech examples but sought more. For various reasons I didn't like this tape, possibly something as seemingly trivial as the odd song titles, can't be certain anymore. Now it doesn't sound bad at all, even the always difficult clean vocals work ok. The song Iridium is a bit annoying though. Too modern-metallish if you know what I mean. Might be about time I gave their albums a chance too. If you enjoy the bands mentioned so far you could do worse than giving this a listen. The rip was made from a traded copy so imperfections are inevitable. Pretty good overall and it features tasteful, artistic nudity on the cover so obviously it has a redeeming quality even if gothic doom isn't your bag.

Naked Whipper - Sado Grind Metal (2000)

Naked Whipper - Sado Grind Metal compilation tape 2000
Naked Whipper 7"EP 1993
1) Pagan Pussy Gore Intruder
2) Hyperincest
3) Anal Queen
Moloch: Acid Orgy 12"MLP 1995
4) Enjoy the Act of Sodomy
5) Gorelash (Make the Women Whores)
6) Mass Excess (The Experience in Excrements)
7) Mushrooms
8) Enchristianization
9) Rape 'n Ride

Zippyshare / Yandex

Something different today, here's an unofficial tape compilation by Germany's Naked Whipper, considered a cult band by some and crap by others, released by... well, someone, around 2000. Ripped by yours truly from a dub I got the other year. I was supplied with a fancy colour print of the covers as well so scanned that too. They've a neat logo, always liked that. This tape compiles the '93 self-titled seven inch EP, all five minutes of it, and the mini-album released in '95 and limited to 300 copies, which was also the last Naked Whipper release. Now if you dig up a copy of the "Painstreaks" album you have the full discography for your pain/pleasure. Painsure? Pleain?

The name of the compilation pretty much sums N.W. up. I used to think of them as sort of poor man's (early) Impaled Nazarene back in the day, which depending on various factors may or may not do them justice. To be honest, old Beherit or Blasphemy is a closer comparison. I'm actually reminded of their country mates Lacerated Gods too, both by the black'n'grind sound and the vague misogyny presented by certain song titles. To the music: the first three tracks are all fast and short numbers that put more emphasis on the grind part of their formula, the second one being probably the best of the lot with most variation and cool Beheritic whispering voices tossed in. The 1995 part starts with a number borrowed from Peter Jackson's "Meet the Feebles" (1989) followed by the original content. Sound is slightly cleaner and pace not as frantic as on the EP tracks. This part also sounds more like I.N. (circa "Sadogoat"/"Ugra-Karma") than Blasphemy/Tireheb. Must say now as I listen to through it repeatedly that it's not as intense and the longest song Mass Excess sounds a bit dragged out. Now I want to give "Painstreaks" a go next, I'm off to do that and you may judge this for yourselves.

Blackthorn - Ancient demo '94

Blackthorn - Ancient rehearsal demo II 1994
1) Ponad krainą cieni
2) Rogaty wojownik
3) Gniew
4) Ponad krainą cieni (rehearsal)
5) Rogaty wojownik (rehearsal)
6) Gniew (rehearsal)

Mega / Rusfolder

Black metal from Poland once again and here we continue, with the assistance of comrade LKS who provided the rip, from where we left off in May. This is Blackthorn's second tape and it is a rehearsal demo also dating to 1994. Interestingly, this version features the same tracks as, uh, rehearsal versions. On a rehearsal demo. Yo dawg... no, not going there. No cover scans so as usual an image from the Metal Archives was used. See the entry for the first demo for more background on Blackthorn. Or the Chors post.

Three songs, with titles and lyrics this time in their native tongue, offered and they're all quite long (over 5½ minutes) while the first demo had both various short numbers and a longer black metal song. The alternative rehearsal takes that follow are all much longer still. Sound is kind of thin and sharp, with no discernible bass and distant, faraway percussion. No synths either. Bloodfreezing shrieks add to the cold atmosphere, tempo varies from frantic pace to slow and contemplative within each song. It's essentially a very simple and tried formula but nevertheless enjoyable and I like this sort of "poor" sound personally. I'm not saying this would sound like Burzum but... I guess I already kind of did by dropping the name, didn't I? Not to mention the write-up to the first demo. The third song Gniew has a shift in sound, to kind of worse as it heavily shifts to favour one side, as well as in vocals which are dominated by even sharper, hysterical screams. It also has a riff in the beginning that sounds extremely familiar. Translating the song titles we see the topics would seem to fit the TTF formula well  ("Above the Land of Shadows", "Horned Warrior" and "Anger" if you've not heard of Google translator) and continue from the first demo.

The alternative rehearsal takes actually have a slightly fuller and more balanced sound, with more audible drumming. They also feature false starts and all sorts of unedited glorious mishaps. Hard to say which I prefer more, the desolate chill of the "demo" tracks has its own charm for sure, but why choose when we have both? Recommended for those who enjoyed the first demo, Chors and old Polish black metal in general.

Moonstruck - Under Her Burning Wings demo '96

Moonstruck - Under Her Burning Wings demo III 1996
1) Under Her Burning Wings
2) Falling Through Silent Skies
3) Where Hope Lies Dying

Sendspace / Mediafire

Melodic death metal from Sweden,  mid-90s. Hey, come back, we're not done yet! Ok, in case someone stayed let's continue. Moonstruck were a less known death metal band hailing from Bjärred, apparently formed back in '93 and this is their third demo, recorded in October '96 and released... somehow I'm thinking it was actually released early '97 but the present public opinion seems to favour 1996 so let's just go with that. Anyways, I got this while tape-trading in the olden days and can't really remember why I picked it, seeing as I wasn't into melodic death metal at that time (either). Probably liked the name or some similar well established and researched reason. No cover, I've borrowed the small image from their Metal Archives entry. Released by Supremacy Records, which I suspect was their own label, the cover was all shiny and fancy. Or so I recall from a flyer I had (possibly still have).

Besides the quasi-professional look, the sound is also quite polished. Compared to the average German rehearsal room recording of the era at least. Anyways, it still sounds obviously like a demo recording while you can hear they have some experience under their belts by this time. Music is, uh, melodic death metal. Made by Swedes. In Sweden. So you know, it sounds like that. Though I do imagine hearing traces of more Finnish sort of melodeath on the first track now as I listen to it through second time today. Slightly folky tones, don't make me drop the obvious name. Still active, name starts with an 'A'... Right, this isn't going to lead anywhere; it has become a well known fact that I can't say anything clever when it's melodeath, but I know there's an audience for this material and I was quite surprised not to find a rip of this at higher bitrates. They made an album too in '99 so pick that up if you like this demo. Not that I'd actually heard it, but they did record all of these songs for it too so I presume it continues in similar vein.

Realm - Dark Winds of Asuras demo '97

Realm - Dark Winds of Asuras demo I August 1997
1) Fallen Skies
2) Blood of the Imperial Night
3) Kingdom of Nightfall
4) Master of Centuries Black

4shared / Yandex

I thought I'd start August off with something slightly more exotic again and I must say I love that yellow cover! So sunny and summerlike feeling! Maybe it's quite inappropriate for a black metal band's demo, but one must admit it is very striking. And it's not even any sort of druggy wanna-be-industrial sort of thing, no, this is Realm of Singapore who play pure & honest black metal. This was again contributed by our easternmost cohort Morbid Chanter, rip and cover. It seems like this was the only demo released under this monicker as the mastermind of the project Night changed the name to Netherealm quite soon after the demo was released and the recording line-up fell apart.

Pretty good, loud sound. Not very clear perhaps, but it's not a negative thing. Pound-pound-pounding drums that sound almost tribal at times, grating and ever-so-slightly buzzy guitar, bass very much audible but firmly on the sidelines and good, raw vocals almost "properly" sung and supported by slightly dirtier, lewd screams and raspy howls plus a smattering of clean (spoken) session vocals on the final song. Acoustic passages and atmospheric breaks mix things up. This is one of those pieces that are somewhat more metal than black while remaining black metal if you know what I mean? And they manage it naturally, not sounding retro-this or old school-that for the sake of hooking up with Osmose or who had you back then releasing all that neothrash. It's quite long for a four song demo, over 25 minutes, much of which is taken by the epic last track. I like this, more than the split made with Austrian Seraph that followed, as Netherealm. That one suffered from the lack of a full line-up I believe. Recommended even if you can't stand yellow!

Nietzschean Reprisal - The Great Hopelessness demo 2005

Nietzschean Reprisal - The Great Hopelessness demo 2005
1) Discipline and the Revisionist
2) Throatsaw
3) The Knife-Chaser Narratives
4) Irrational Hope
5) The Great Hopelessness
6) Promise Keepers' Collapse
7) Depression (Black Flag cover)

Depositfiles / Zippyshare

Another atypical post today, here's another of our comrade Chris's sendings from that bunch sent quite a while ago. The unusualification herein is the relative recentness of this release, dating to 2005 which is mere eleven years ago. This is the first and only demo by Canadian band Nietzschean Reprisal who play raw, noisy sort of black metal that sounds influenced by punk, industrial and, well, noise. Not that sort of straight up white noise several artists have been keen on putting out on tapes in the recent years, mind you. Ok sound though the guitars are kind of subdued in favour of very clear and almost funky (not really, don't get too excited) bass. Vocals are sort of strangled sounding shriek ran through some filter or effect. The music's not full steam ahead rush, tempo shifts abound and there are calmer bits in the ruckus strewn aboot. Again it seems my opinion about this varies greatly depending when I'm listening to it. Presently, coming to it already somewhat angry and irritated it surprisingly sounds better than on the last listen a few months ago. There's a slight resemblance to Diamatregon, which I'm very much into, in places. Not as good as D, no sir, but a few acres of common ground at least.

There have been other rips on the nets and I haven't compared Chris's version to them, but if nothing else sets this apart at least the supermassive cover scans do. I didn't bother separating them to a different download this time so be forewarned the .rar is large and almost half of it would be the scans. The seven tracks of music run for a bit over twenty six minutes, ranging from very short (less than two minutes) to surprisingly long opener (almost seven). That's enough from me, being as distracted as I am now I should not tarry. Grab this if you got curious or have a thing for Canadian sounds.

Burning Northshore #3

Burning Northshore information booklet, volume 3 (autumn 1996)
Article on Bloodsword, some reviews, addresses and info on editor's other projects

Mega

Ok, today we're doing another of these newsletter posts and this is the third volume of the Burning Northshore information booklet, which translates to a six-page newsletter, plus covers. I haven't seen the other volumes and this one too got passed to me from a trader I think... or did I get it from somewhere with an order of something or other? Not sure, but it was anyways one of those random things people used to add besides flyers, biosheets, logo stickers and whathaveyou.

The content here deals pretty exclusively with the editor's stuff; Den, Superior, Bloodsword, Galdrastafur 305 and The Meniscus Plains. As far as I've understood, it's mostly odinistic ambient sort of music, except for Superior whose '96 demo was recently... well, not very long ago, re-released and who sound very much like old Polish black metal. I heard a sample of Den somewhere and it was quite interesting too, I believe at least some of that material was going to be released again as well. Or has been, I haven't checked. Must do so after I'm done here. Right, let's wrap this up: it's curious stuff and probably not of interest to many, but maybe it will have some audience.

Shadowlore - Embers of Light Dying demo '96

Shadowlore - Embers of Light Dying demo 1996
1) As the Waters Darken
2) Embers of Light Dying

Zippyshare / Mediafire

Today's contribution by master Fenrirsson, thanks for the rip, takes us to United Kingdom which is not really too well known for black metal despite spawning the band that named the whole genre. In the mid 90's you basically had Cradle of Filth, Thus Defiled and Bal-Sagoth, COF starting as death metal and TD black/death, then if you dug a bit deeper you might encounter the likes of Dead Christ, Megiddo, The Fallen, Witchclan, Silence (which I still need to hear for myself, provided they even recorded anything!), Ewigkeit, Ordog and Xaztur. Oh yeah and Hecate Enthroned, never forget! They were really much better known for death and doom metal plus combinations of those. Hmm, where was I? Oh yeah, today's thingy, the only demo from Shadowlore, side project by Thus Defiled Pauls Carter and Foster-Dent. We have featured Thus Defiled extensively enough earlier so let's not go biographing this time. No cover as F was working with a dub so there's just the small image I looted from a crypt somewhere online.

This is the original two song version of the demo, there was also a later re-release by Dark Trinity Productions with two more recent songs on the B-side (which I'd be curious to hear), probably had a different cover too but that's pretty much all I know about that. Both songs are decent length so it lasts a bit over ten minutes. If you're familiar with the first two Thus Defiled albums, between which this was done, you'll recall they were black/death metal with increasing emphasis on melody on the second one as well as keyboards taking more prominence while the demo material was pretty much death metal tinged with black. This recording by the two Pauls is straight up synth black metal with black metal rasps, screams and whispers for vocals and machine percussion support. The sound is not too far away from the TD releases of the era really, the sparse instrumentation just makes it thinner and obviously less heavy. Both songs are divided into intro parts and "song proper" with the rest of the elements (vocals and percussion that is) joining the keyboards. I seem to enjoy this today more than on the previous listen, so perhaps it is again one of those things that grow on you? Can't help wondering how it'd sound with some guitar buzz thrown in. Is that a bass on the second track that I hear? I was under the impression it was just vox and synth, though it could be more keyboards shenanigans. Also, I'd really like to hear the two later bonus tracks so if you have that version please get in touch!

Hecatomb - Hecatomb demo '91

Hecatomb - Hecatomb demo I 1991
1) Never Ending Terror
2) Mask Over the Sun
3) Excretion Feast
4) Eye Among the Blind
5) One by One

Rusfolder / Yandex

Isn't it about time to do some death metal again? We move another year into the past, to 1991 and travel down under with this sending by our brother Wehrwolf, further meddled with by yours truly. Hecatomb, one of the dozen or so to use the name, but only one to feature Shane Rout of Abyssic Hate fame on drums. And Brad Johnston on bass (and vocals) whom you might've encountered with Blood Duster, Samsara or Mindsnare. No? How about Mysterium I posted back in '13? That was his solo project. Anyways, this is the first demo from '91, apparently by consensus self-titled. Cover scans are also included, thanks to W.

Two... no actually three, Excretion Feast just shortened to Feast, reappear on the second demo "Deep Sleep Therapy" and as I'm just listening to it I can say they're not too different from the original versions. Sound is somewhat (not that much but the rip I'm listening is partly to blame) more refined and consistent which leads to my meddling with Wehrwolf's rip. It's not drastic, really, I just hit normalize on it and another time for the last two tracks which had disturbingly lower volume. The sound quality also changes a bit, I guess the tracks were recorded at different sessions. Doesn't say on the covers. Other than that, which has been sort of fixed, I've no issue with the quality, sound- or rip-wise. Metal Archives has this marked as Death/Black/Thrash Metal which seems a bit overkill to me, I'd just call it death metal and that's it. Tempo varies from the almost doomy opener to the short and grindy Excretion Feast, thrashy parts pop up here and there but overall it sounds heavy and cavernous. At times smothering even. I'm not really picking up much black metal emanations here and lyrics seem to range from medical horror to more abstract dark fare. Recommended for folks into good ol' fashion death metal, explorers on southern(most) voyages and archaeologists not frightened by huge spiders, crocs, bushfires, nasty heat, traps and other poisonous things.

Bonehill Blues - Risin' Thunder demo '92

Bonehill Blues - Risin' Thunder demo I 1992
1) Son of a Gun
2) In My Heart
3) Born to Raise a Hell
4) Risin' Thunder

Sendspace / Mega

And now, something completely different. Very much so and way outside our usual line of Necromancy, I've exhumed a bit more personal skeleton from the tombs. No, it's not my old band, not THAT personal. It was my schoolmates' band and I felt this sort of stuff kinda fits summer don't you think? Bunch of kids playing a (slightly confusing/-sed) mess mixture of hard rock, grunge (hell forbid!), alternative and other influences, generally falling under the rock umbrella. This was their first demo tape recorded in the late fall/early winter of 1992. I don't remember when exactly but the date on my dub says 20.11.92 and I think I got it pretty soon after it was finished. See below for a scan. There wasn't a real cover for the demo either, just a pencil doodle my younger self did on a notepad. The image above is a slightly cropped and edited version I whipped up to decorate the post. Just had to use Comic Sans for the text.

Whoa! It's a TDK, amazing! So kvlt.

Four tracks of... ugh, let's call it hard rock for now, I suppose? First one is an uptempo affair, second almost falls to ballad/slow song department and is the longest of the litter, third one is more uptempo again and actually reminds me a touch of old Alice Cooper (the band era-old) stuff, at least in the beginning, the chorus is more 90's... I'm actually thinking Rolling Stones too now when the verse kicked in again. Rock music is really not my expertise I suppose. As for the title track, first thing that comes to mind is AC/DC meets CCR. Sound is pretty good, all instruments easily audible. Playing is on the expected level. Cool vocals. There's some tape wear which is unfortunate but can't be helped. I had a tape somewhere with a full live gig which I can't seem to be able to locate. Haven't actually seen it for a long time, wonder if I've loaned it to someone... That's enough for now, next time we'll welter in nostalgy, obviously, but probably with something more in line with the Coven's usual focus.