Forgotten Kadath - The Lost Book demo '95

Forgotten Kadath - The Lost Book demo 1995
1) Journey in the Eastern Lands (Intro)
2) The Book
3) Gregorius Philus
4) Via Giugoti
5) Yuggoth
6) Sanitarium (Outro)

Mediafire / Sendspace

Today we're having some Italian doom, courtesy of our comrade Profoundemonium again. Last time he contributed me the Dream Upon Tombs demo and this continues in the tradition of atmospheric and obscure stuff. Thanks for the rip!

As you may see from the cover art from above as well as the band name and song titles this is material inspired by master HPL and thus something young Velkaarn would've been very thrilled of. Well, I still enjoy most things Lovecraftian but not to the same fanboyish fervor anymore. Though I admit I got a strong urge to play Arkham Horror. And to listen to Thergothon which I'm going to put on right after this.

Could you please concentrate on this demo while it's still on thank you? Ok, not a very long one, slightly under fifteen minutes. We've an intro, outro and an interlude (Via Giugioti) each with roughly a minute to their name and three "proper" songs of which Gregorious Philus is an instrumental. Sound is pretty good, kind of obscure and with the guitar a little more distant than usual, with a very clear bass. It's not the muddled sort of obscure, don't get me wrong, more like perceived-through-a-veil-of-mist sort of obnuliated. And I just love the keyboards that come in on the second song The Book, just delightful and now I want to listen to Novalis instead of Thergothon. The effected vocal makes me think of some older Aarni material, or perhaps Umbra Nihil? I should probably check, but I don't really want to do that now. The instrumental G.P.  continues in similar vein and is a bit shorter, yet features some very catchy tunes that however have some sort of strange quality to them. The interlude is somewhat ominous and the last proper track Yuggoth is more guitar driven than The Book was. The vocals have less effect to them and seem a bit more aggressive and menacing instead of the otherworldliness earlier presented. General mood of the song is also more, well, driven and focused than before. The outro is desolate flutes, not quite crazy enough to convoke Azathoth but a nice way to end the tape.

I enjoyed this quite a bit and would really like to hear what little more there is to be found, namely the split/collaboration tape with their black metal side project Atropos (there's a rip of this around so should not be a big challenge to find) and "The Dreamquest of Unknown Kadath" released in '95 when they were known as Kadath and played death metal though that probably isn't of similar style or quality. Recommended if you're into atmospheric (death) doom, a Lovecraft-connoisseur, fan of old Italian underground metal or generally very curious.

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.

Unholy Impaler - Collection of Mephistophilis (2000)

Unholy Impaler - Collection of Mephistophilis compilation tape 2000
1) Symphony of Abazea
2) Blasphemous Torment
3) Lord Impaler
4) Faustus' Last Hour
5) Black Vomit
6) Satan's Speech
7) Supreme Evil Event
8) Old as Death
9) Horror Village
10) Ritual Tribal Practice (Rehearsal)
11) The Horny and the Horned (Impaled Nazarene cover)
12) Black and Violet (Death SS cover)
13) Paranoid (Black Sabbath cover)
14) Dusk of Forgotten Darkness (Enthroned cover)


Mega / 4shared

Full, massive cover scan

Today we have a compilation tape ripped and scanned by Chris the other year, thanks again for your work! Unholy Impaler saw the unlight of the black moon as a side project of the band Infernal Goat, which frankly isn't really a much better known name to your humble scribe, in tribute to the chaotic spirit of bands like old Beherit and Sodom. I am slightly confused by the information within, tracks 1-6 are the first Unholy Impaler recording session 22/08/00 and the rest 2nd session 31/08/00 but then they are supposedly taken from earlier demos? I quote: "All songs recorded and stolen from the 4 witched tapes except track 10" - yet these are recording sessions 1 & 2??? How puzzling!

Let us not tarry gawking flabbergasted for too long, instead a few words about the music: it's raw and primitive black metal with a rehearsal sound, sloppy untight playing and casual tempo. There is a noticeable change between the two recording sessions, most notably the vocals are louder and slightly more abrasive on the second one. Track ten has pronouncedly shoddy rehearsal sound and is dominated by the vocals totally. The four cover songs, which actually offer a surprise or two, were side B of the tape to further distance them from the Original Content. Someone might say the songwriting would do the trick by itself. I enjoy parts of this tape but it's too long for one sitting at almost 40 minutes. If primitive black metal of death is your thing, give this a listen. Perhaps in two parts.

Oh yeah, almost forgot to point out that Chris' original scans were enormous so I decided to upload them separately so those with slower connections and/or no care for cover scans could grab the main course.

Succulento Borchia - Pure Hate & Madness demo 1998

Succulento Borchia - Pure Hate & Madness demo 1998
1) March of Sorrow (allegretto ma non troppo)
2) Nuclear Law
3) Cacca Cola
4) Jubileum
5) (Glorification of) Intestinal Torment
6) Immortal Song
7) Magri Notturni
8) Sadistik Ekstermination
9) Pure Hate & Madness
10) (Glorification of) True Italian Forests
11) Godcrusher
12) Impalato Everywhere
13) Liquefatto in un cumulo di merda (Per-Version)
14) Nerchia (Per-Version)
15) Dancing with Folletti (Outro)

Mediafire / Rusfolder

Cover scans (achtung! very large!)

Back to our contributors, here is one I've forgotten to post earlier though to my defense I had to do a little further work and research into the track division, with the convenient aid of the enclosed lyric sheets our contributor comrade Chris had included (once again, huge scans - I've included them as separate download this time). So thanks to Chris again and sorry for the lateness, this was sent over a year ago after all!

Lots of tracks here but all are very short, varying between 00:49 and 2:34 in time. One would probably expect the music to be fast, thrashing or grindy or whatever but surprisingly enough this is not really the case. It ranges between quite typical black metal fare and just down strange numbers. Well, seeing their thanks list include a section where they pay respects to Marduk, Cannibal Corpse, Dark Funeral, Impaled Nazarene, Brutal Truth, Satyricon, old Carcass, Bathory, Mayhem, Ildjarn, Desekrator, Gehennah & Infernö might be helpful reference. Overall not very serious stuff, I suppose this is one of those fun projects which I can't count among my favourites. See if you're amused by their antics.

Satanel - The Dark Triumphator demo 1996

Satanel - The Dark Triumphator demo 1996
1) Ascent Wisdom
2) Their Blood Shall Be Shed as Dust
3) I Am What You Awaits
4) In Evil and Sin
5) Hail to the Night
6) Diabolical Summoning

Rusfolder / Mega

Back to Europe and one of my tapes for change, I bought this demo by the Italians Satanel simply because it features personnel of Evol (Lord of Sorrow, to be specific) which I am somewhat a fanboy of. Top scientists of our day are still trying to figure out why. Well, whatever, I had no unrealistic expectations for this tape as I read quite unflattering reviews for it and obviously it was going to be quite different from Evol's very, very synth-heavy, half-ambient half-black metal style. As it's ripped from an original tape the sound is as good as it'll get, minor wear however present, and I've included the cover scans for your reading pleasure (there is quite a bit of text and it's somewhat entertaining).

The intro sounds actually like something you might encounter on an Evol recording though they tended to add vocals to these and this is instrumental. First proper track makes the point that this is black metal and of the no-nonsense aggressive sort too very quickly. I was actually slightly surprised at how tradionally metal this sounds, with barely any fruit flavour present. The congregation is still slightly divided whether guitar solos are considered fruity or not, personally I vote nay (ref. Bathord, Slayer etc.) but everyone is entitled their opinion. They're present, whatever the verdict. Vocals are mostly angry sort of gravelly barks except for the last track which opens with tolling bells, percussion and shrieks and howls that harken to Evol's "Sorrow of the Witch" to my great delight, this must be the screams Lord of Sorrow is credited on the covers for. Some unclear spoken passages there too. Aside from the first intro song, the rest are quite compact in their running times, with "I Am..." being shortest at less than two minutes and "In Sin..." and "Their Blood..." longest at nearly four minutes. The band released an EP, a split with Lord of Sorrow's other band Death Dies and two albums, none of which I've heard. Must do so, this has some nice bits. Why don't you have a listen too?

Altar of Perversion - The Abyss' Gate Re-opens demo 1998

Altar of Perversion - The Abyss' Gate Re-opens demo 1998
1) At the End of Their Slumber
2) Recalling Old Nights...
3) Land of Ancient Evil
4) Black Magickal Suicide

Zippyshare / Mediafire

I have been frustratingly short on time recently. In that light it is strangely appropriate to post a contribution comrade unholydeath sent already last year, this is Altar of Perversion from Italy and they're a quite well known name in certain circles. If you're not in those circles, no, they do not play any sort of goatwarrape metal, cyber sado-grind or anything such the name might bring to your mind. Those in the knowing will associate the band to raw black metal and Order of the Nine Angles. And almost certainly already have the demo. To be honest, most people likely to appreciate it probably possess a copy or rip but since ud shared his good quality rip (and cover scan) I decided to feature it. So, thanks to him.

This is the first AoP release and with four songs for a bit less than twenty minutes looks pretty standard. However, they do sound untypical both to the era it was released and to a lesser degree present as well. Acoustic guitar opens the first track and features quite prominently in it despite the general pace being brisk and rather violent. It is not a gimmick throughout the whole demo though, so if you expect that you're going to be dissappointed. Considering the militant paces, dissonance and raw, hostile atmosphere perhaps it isn't really that inaccurate if one thought about bestial war black metal upon hearing or reading their name. Recommended for people into vicious black metal or Italian bands.

Black Funeral / Winged - Split EP '95

Black Funeral / Winged - Split EP (format?) 1995
Black Funeral:
1) Armageddon (Lord Sathanas Returns)
Winged:
2) Intro
3) Age of Masterdom
4) Primordial Fear (Instrumental)

Yandex / RGhost

Alright, for today I decided to post an old oddity we discussed with master Fenrirsson in the comments section here. I should've done it sooner, really. So here we go, a strange, possibly bootleg, split EP with Black Funeral everyone knows by now and the much less known Italian Winged. Looks like someone released a compilation with their three demos recently. Ok, not so recently and it seems to be sold out already. But back to this, I have no idea what format this was (supposed to have been) released, vinyl or cassette. It would fit on a 7" but the division is really uneven as the sole BF song is less than three minutes and Winged's bit runs for ten! Naturally the image above is not a real cover, I just wanted to have something to put there. I'd really appreciate any further info on the release.

Black Funeral's track is obviously off the famous demo though it does sound a little different to the version I have. The difference I believe is mostly caused by dub/tape/rip quality differences. Though this might also run slightly faster? Whatever, it's the same old classic Baron you love or love to hate. Winged's part is more curious as it would seem the intro and two tracks might be exclusive to this release, though "Age of Masterdom" does appear on their second demo which I now don't have at hand to compare to. The running time seems to be much longer than what's listed on "Oath of Blood" entry on Metal Archives so I'm inclined to believe this is a different version. Or just mistitled. Or M.A. might be wrong. Or all options. Their music has a very obvious vintage Mediterranean sound. Y'know, old Greek and Italian black/death metal with occult keyboards, kinda crispy guitar sound and peculiar percussion, very very clinky on the last track which at times borders on annoying. Vocals are more in the barks and grunts department than screams and howls which also fits with the theme. I actually find this pretty enjoyable nowadays despite the tink-tink-tink-tink bits and generally mucky sound. Great, now I want to track down a copy of the demo compilation. But have a listen if you dig somewhat uneven and obscure split releases. Of blackened metal that is.

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Hellflame #6

Hellflame magazine, issue 6 (1999)
Interviews:
Spear of Longinus
Obtest
Nunslaughter
Moria
Suicidal Winds
Mustan Kuun Lapset
Pagan Winter
Moondance Magazine & Equilibrium Publishings
Thornspawn
Black Witchery
Drakkar Productions
Articles:
Qliphotic Necromancy & 27th Pestilence (by Mezzadurus)
Satanism - the History of the Devil and His Worshippers (by Sadorass)
+ editorial, reviews

Mediafire

I'm going off to Nummirock once again for some midsummer madness after a year's pause, but I thought I'd leave you with something to read for the weekend. Sent by comrade Kurgan (thanks!) and scanned fast and sloppy as usual by me, here is the 6th issue of the Italian 'zine Hellflame, made by Nicola Solieri (of Goatfire & some other projects). Concentrating on this issue, and past ones as well I presume, on black and death metal bands this is a well made, good looking without being too fancy and at least with the brief browse through I've managed yet, also interesting and rather well written. Despite being released right smack middle in the less than stellar period of time I keep dissing. Not very many interviews but most are longer than average and more interesting too, reviews better than average too so I'd recommend this. I must hurry to work and pack my shit in the morning before leaving so farewell and the Coven (hopefully) returns next week.

Tem Ohp Ab - Rehearsal Track 1995

Tem Ohp Ab - Rehearsal Track 1995
1) Swastika's Occult Origin

Yandex / RGhost

A quickie for tonight. Burn the Crucifix was an Italian black metal band that recorded (at least) two demos and then, I quote Metal Archives, "Anaboth changed the band's name to Tem Ohp Ab and was the only member remaining. One track is known to exist that was spread via tape trading". This is that track. I think he quit the band/project soon afterwards, possibly due there already being an Italian noise/something act Tem Oph Ab which was getting known better. Whatever the case, I got this track from, you guessed it, tape trading and there's no cover or much anything else to go by so I slapped a BtC picture to decorate the post. Hopefully that's the right guy!

UPDATE ! : Sister Borderline dug up an interview (in Polish) with Tem Ohp Ab and a flyer with a proper image! Though looks like they changed the spelling to "Oph" at some point too, just to complicate stuff I bet! Anyways, I now really want to hear the releases mentioned in there, namely the demo of same name as this track and an EP "In Search of North's Spirit" which is a title I'm certain I've seen before! Traderlist, most likely.

The track itself is raw and slightly repetitive slab of black metal. Rehearsal sound so rawness is pretty much given. Drums are almost lost in the grating sawing of the guitar, vocals are very audible and not bad at all. I wouldn't mind hearing more of this, but there probably isn't anything. Oh, despite the word "Swastika" on the title I don't think this is nsbm. If Burn the Crucifix demos sound anything similar I'd love to hear them so get in touch if you have 'em. Recommended for people into obscure and raw black metal.

Nightside - Oneiric Reign demo 1998

Nightside (ita) - Oneiric Reign demo II 1998
1) Sorrow of Remembrances
2) Nocturnal Vision
3) Comet
4) Obliteration of Conscious Ego
5) Destiny
6) Black Tears (Edge of Sanity cover)

Depositfiles / Mediafire (smaller download without scans)

Still in the realms of death, we will now stray a bit from the path of true death with this contribution by Chris, thanks for the rip and (huge!) cover scan. It's not that long a way from Switzerland to Italy but this second demo, third tape by the Italians Nightside (not likely to be mixed with the Finns featured on the blog earlier) is from entirely different continent compared to Coffin's content in the previous post. Somewhat technical and melodic death metal and now that I think about it my "different continent" wording is really off since this is obviously inspired by the Swedish bands who played this style, especially later At the Gates who they covered on their '96 demo.

Five songs of their own here, one of which ("Destiny") is labeled as a bonus track and a cover of Edge of Sanity which I've never really listened to much so no comment about that band's potential influence to their songwriting and sound. Melodic death metal was for me something mostly other people listened to in the 90's so I'm not an authority with all the nuances and probably miss a ton of name dropping chances here, I'll just say if someone had told me this was a Swedish band while playing a track I'd probably believed them. It's not bad, I suppose, their skills seem adequate to task at hand, the songs have some variation to them and the sound quality is suitable for a demo. I think the bonus track sounds a little different, so it seems safe to deduce it was recorded in a later session. Since they practically have to be mentioned when discussing this sort of stuff I'll just say In Flames (earlier, not nowadays!) and Dark Tranquillity here to get done with that and recommend people into bands mentioned so far (well, maybe not fans of Coffin) and similar music to give this a go.

UPDATE: Added a Mediafire link without the enormous cover scans for peasants with sluggish internet.

'Til Your Ears Bleed: Vol III European Attack (2000)

Various Artists - 'Til Your Ears Bleed: Vol III European Attack compilation tape (2000)
1) Moonsorrow - Taistelu Pohjolasta
2) Hödur - Unpure Race
3) Tharapitha - Demon's Night
4) Alcoholic Smashing War - Hail to a Long Awaited Alcoholic Victory
5) Eviternity - Cant IV
6) Tangrycan - Immortalize Sacrament
7) Consecrated - The Charming Voice

Rusfolder / Mediafire

Today I've decided to post another compilation tape master Sorvali sent me. Thanks again for the rip and scans to Henri! This is a bit unusual one, though unfortunately does not include extra goodies like the previous one's newsletter. The very non-standard length (a bit less than 38 minutes) is the thing that really puzzles me. Just about every other compilation tape ("A History of Time to Come" would be the first exception that comes to mind) was practically as long as the tape the person used (so either 60 or 90 minutes usually) and seeing as this was divided pretty evenly to two sides makes me wonder if the guy had scored a load of 40 minute tapes somewhere?

Ok, to content. Another thing that I was perplexed by was the timeline presented by the tracks here, four of the seven date to 1997, Tangrycan's track is from '96, Alcoholic Smashing War (jesus what a name!) dates to '98 and Moonsorrow is (again) featured with "Taistelu Pohjolasta" from the '99 demo. Did it really take so long to compile this? Or did he make three volumes and released them simultaneously when finished? And why does he stubbornly misspell Hödur as "Höndur"??? So many questions, so few answers and nobody probably cares. Well, I do so if you have more information, please share. Sound levels here are even and things flow surprisingly well, bands present are interesting enough and almost all play some variation of black/pagan metal (even A.S.W. - to my surprise) with the notable exception of Consecrated's gothic doom. A pretty neat little compilation.

Ugluk - Hveralundr demo 1993

Ugluk - Hveralundr demo I 1993 (1995 version)
1) Ar Var Alda
2) Nam Ekk Upp Runar
3) Moldina ok Blodit

Yandex

Today I'm posting another sending by Henri, thanks for all the hard work and this is the first and only demo by the Italian one-man project, the notorious if not infamous Ugluk. Cover scans are included and this is the Necrotorture 1995 release of the tape. I know there was a vinyl re-release made some (make it ten) years ago with a short extra track but as I haven't heard that one not going to comment.

We're straying from the viking black metal sub-theme a bit, but this is pretty much as Norwegian as an Italian band could get and received certainly a substantial amount of flak for that in the 'zines back in the day. Somewhat unfairly, I might add. Sure, it's an Italian one-man project (by Verminaard of From Depths, as a note) with a name taken from Tolkien that plays pretty much straight norsecore with lyrics in (old) Norwegian. Did I mention the sort of poor sound and slightly vague recording information (supposedly recorded in '93, the most common version was released in '95 and still saw it referred as demo '94 elsewhere)? But who am I to judge? Ok, in all honesty I tend to be very quick in passing sentence and casting stones, but I find myself enjoying this. Original? Surely not, even in its own era unless you count the novelty of Norwegian lyrics as that. Bad sound? Not really, I mean people were giving it crap for poor sound back then as the style of the times was shifting towards clean, produced, professional sound (crazy, wasn't it?) and this is lofi, muffled, imbalanced, repetitive and more "Transilvanian Hunger" than "In the Nightside Eclipse" even though the music itself would be a bit more inspired by Emperor than Darkthrone. Point fingers and laugh at it if you will, or enjoy the trip and embrace the peculiarities, I'm needed elsewhere now. Recommended but with caution.

Hastur - Macabre Execution promo 1997

Hastur (ita) - Macabre Execution promo / advance tape 1997
Unknown Artist:
1) Untitled
Hastur:
2) Dance Macabre
3) The Execution

4shared / Zippyshare

The Coven needs your assistance once more, recently I was approached by comrade Profoundemonium who sent me this rip of the advance tape / promo by the Italian band Hastur, sent by the label Beyond...Productions back in the day. "Macabre Execution" was released in CD format in the same year, featuring the two titled tracks but this tape has one additional song by an unverified artist. It would seem most likely that this would be another track by the band themselves but it sounds quite odd and differs from the other two, so it could be another band on the roster just as well. P. has already explored several of the related artists and came up short. So, if you can identify this track and / or the artist please get in touch!

About the music then, the currently unidentified track is pretty short (might actually cut) and kind of jazzy, progressive piece. Somewhat unique and odd, but it has a definite metal base. Sounds somehow Italian to me and I would not disclose the possibility that it is the same band as later. One name that sprung to my mind now is Forgotten Silence from Czech Rep, need to dig up their stuff and see. To the verified material, these two tracks are pretty long, making the EP last over 11 minutes which was fair enough. Music could be described as technical black/death metal with both thrash and progressive bits in it. Synths add atmosphere to the music and it again has that certain Italian vibe to it. There is some tape wear to be heard in places but it's not too disruptive. Ok stuff but not really my preferred streak of sickness. Give it a try, it seems to grow on me with repeat listens too.

Flyer for the EP

Ghoul - ...And Obscurity Returned on Earth demo 1998

Ghoul (ita) - ...And Obscurity Returned on Earth demo II (?)1998
1) Dying Man
2) Dark Countessa Came
3) Haunted Palace
4) Romantic Death

Mediafire / Rusfolder

Today's post is another of my random pick ups so bear with me. This is yet another user of the name Ghoul, Italian lads who play vampiric black/death metal and released at least two demo tapes (of which this is the second) and an album. I've only heard this one myself, having bought it from someone selling old tapes maybe two years ago. Which obviously means a cover scan is included. Where was that cover art stolen from, some old Call of Cthulhu booklet?

You might read between the lines from the first paragraph my lack of enthusiasm and might also think: "Vampiric black/death from an Italian band, from the late 90's... why am I still reading this?" and I wouldn't really blame you for deciding to come back another day. Those who remain, be it either from morbid curiosity, special tastes or some strange sense of loyalty will find out this is a pretty long tape, almost 27 minutes, meaning long songs. Thinking COF, are you yet? Interesting enough 'Filth aren't mentioned on their thanks list, but Ancient (Jesus Christ! and... that is), Mortuary Drape, Dimmu Borgir, Sadist & Opera IX are. I can't say I'd hear much Sadist in their sound but the others, yeah, some as more redeeming qualities than others. I was going to say I was also reminded of Hecate Enthroned when I started to listen to this but that's a bit inaccurate since it's been probably ten years since I last heard that band and don't really recall what they sound like. Never forget the video though. I seem to write whatever comes to my mind instead of actually speaking of the content. Ok, the sound is fine, main vocals bearable, female support vocals as awful as usual and it's not my goblet of wine at all. But why don't you try it, you know you want to.

Koito #7

Koito 'zine, issue 7 "The Seventh Seal" (1997)
Interviews:
Blood Stained Host
Paradigma
Enslaved
My Dying Bride
Malevolence
Lux Occulta
In the Woods...
Windham Hell
Absu
Night in Gales
Retalliation
Sinister Footwear
Mortiis
Journey Through the Dark
+ reviews

Mediafire

It's been a while since I last posted a 'zine and the cover for this one seemed fitting for a Saturday morning - it has cleavage and the way she's holding her head brings hangover to mind. Also, I was supposed to do this one much earlier. Remember Koito #6 here? I had hidden this issue quite well but eventually found and scanned it. Also this one has an editorial (first for the 'zine?) and therein we discover the main editors were Max Cocco and Seb Leoni, assisted by Emidio Tribolati & Luca Di Matteo. Much of what I wrote concerning the previous issue applies here as well, the look is improved, review sections separated into various segments like European, videos, US & R.O.W., Little Italy, compilations etc. The background graphics are still there but this time they're not as disruptive to reading as in the previous issue. Due to a little mishap the Mortiis interview starts on page 56, continues on 60 and ends on 58. Likewise Journey Through the Dark interview starts on 58, continues through 59 to end at 57. Pages mixed up obviously, wonder why they could just fix it? That aside, still quite a good read like the previous issue and can be recommended.

Embodiment - The Forgotten Gates demo 1994

Embodiment (ita) - The Forgotten Gates demo I 1994
1) Dark Aeon
2) Dreaming of the Forgotten Gates
3) Override of the Overture (Dismember cover)
4) Rotting Graves / Deformed Creation

Yandex / RGhost

This month is coming to an end soon and this has been a slow period for the Coven. Next month should be more active again. Anyways, today's post is death metal for change and a rather random choice which I asked brother Grev to dub for me. Thanks bro! Picking a demo based on its name and being vague enough not to be recognized brings back memories for sure. No covers as Grev had a dub too so a Metal Archives image was used.

The content is quite simple and direct old fashioned death metal, no frills stuff. Sound is a bit on the poor side as it sounds like it was recorded in a barrel or something though this probably is partially due this being ripped from a dub of unknown generation. The vocals bellow on top of everything else. After a while you either get used to the sound and it doesn't bother you anymore, you might actually enjoy the cavernous, subterranean feel or you've had enough and put something else on. Nothing new really here but if you like your death metal barbaric, crude and lo-fi you might want to check this out.

Everlasting Reign - Obscuritatis Terram Dominat demo 1996

Everlasting Reign - Obscuritatis Terram Dominat demo 1996
1) Intro - Something to Follow
2) Chaotic Eclipse
3) Inner Eternity
4) Doors of Perception
5) No Sense
6) Symphony of Agony

Mediafire / Rusfolder

More death metal music follows, this one representing a subgenre not very often seen in the Coven's vaults: melodic death metal. This is the apparently only demo by the Italian band Everlasting Reign which, according to Metal Archives entry, featured two young men Francisco and Cesar Zavattari - my educated guess is that they're brothers - who later would form a thrash band called Aghast Insane with a couple of other fellows. No, I haven't heard that one either. I got this dub from one of my traders basically on a whim, the demo title was pretty cool, but wasn't too wild of it to be honest. He didn't send me covers and there don't seem to be any around the internet so unless someone contributes we have no decoration for this post.

Like I already mentioned this is melodic death metal. Think certain 90's Gothenburg bands, or old Children of Bodom and such, but played by two young guys with a drum machine. Yeah. The sound isn't bad and they got some pretty good bits and whatever but this isn't my chalice of poison. So I'm not going to spend any more time making vague comparisons, give it a listen if you're really curious, morbidly obsessive about melodeath or absolutely must hear every obscure 90's metal demo.

Vampiria #3

Vampiria 'zine, issue 3 (late 1998/early 1999)
Interviews:
Primordial
Opera IX
Aeternus
Abhor
Depresy
Tenhi
Negură Bunget
Paragon Of Beauty
Angryon
...And Oceans
Krabathor
Nomicon
Ensoph
God Dethroned
Ataraxia
Abyssos
Baltak
Furthest Shore
Burning Inside
Ebonylake
Darkside
+ Cold Meat Industry special, reviews

Reuploaded

Here's another 'zine post, issue 3 of Italian Vampiria 'zine. You won't find issues 1 & 2 if you search for them under this monicker however, as this used to be called Savage Garden. I've uploaded the 2nd issue here in case you've missed it and now suddenly got an urge to read it first. Much what I wrote about the second issue applies here, except that this time there are no articles (except the CMI special) and less non-musical stuff included. All the reviews, which are quite good and reasonably informative, are lumped in the end of the 'zine which is convenient as well as the very brief news/upcoming releases section - I find it best to keep these short as they inevitably were hopelessly outdated in just about every 'zine ever. Layout is simple and clean enough, though there are frames and such but happily no messing around with fonts and making pages unreadable with graphics under text. Has some interesting content and is easy enough to read so I'm not going to babble further, your download is probably finished by now.

Northern Darkness Records Advance - Promo 1996

Various Artists - Northern Darkness Records advance-promo (1996)
1) Godfuck 93 - Tomb Desecration XXX 192
2) Godfuck 93 - 172: Whore Remix (Heroin Control)
3) Entirety - Intro
4) Entirety - Monolith
5) Entirety - Deserts of Vast Eternity
6) Handful Of Hate - Prophecy of a New Assiah's Supremacy
7) Handful Of Hate - Undicies Ah-Qlipha
8) Love History - Intro - From Bohemia's Woods and Fields
9) Love History - Labyrinth of Love
10) Love History - Desires
11) Novgorod - Through the Seven Gates of Kur
12) Novgorod - From the Flesh He Was Created

Depositfiles / Mediafire

Looks like it's been a bit over year since I last posted a compilation tape, time to remedy that I suppose. This item here is actually probably more correctly called a sampler as it was a promotional/advance tape sent around by the Italian underground label Northern Darkness Records in 1996 for free, mostly to distros, 'zines, other labels and people who ordered stuff from them. Came with a xeroxed cover and an ordinary tape with stickers on them. Scanned the cover, not the tape itself. Side A is called "...the Northern Side" and contains advance tracks, unmixed raw versions and side B is "...the Darkness Side" and has tracks from two preceeding releases, Love History MCD and Novgorod demo.

The first two tracks are sort of industrial black metal by Godfuck 93, an Italian project featuring the Necromass vocalist at the time whose name is not mentioned on the cover but I presume it'd be Charles Blasphemy. The music on these two tracks is still mostly pretty straight black metal with drum machine, samples, effects and such. Though the second track has some almost danceable beats, guess later Samael meets Aborym wouldn't be a too far-fetched comparison. I remember being quite intrigued and even excited by this back then. Entirety are also Italian and have a bit cleaner sound than Gf93... for their intro, once the metal kicks in it gets rather muddled and strangely quiet compared to the nice intro bit. Well, like the cover says material on this side of the tape is raw recordings without editing & mastering. Music is melodeath with ample background synths. Think about the Swedes in the 90's. Last on this side of the tape is Handful of Hate, Italian black metal band who are still active and released an album this year. Much clearer sound here, quite fast black metal with typically Italian occult touch and some tempo changes and atmospheric breaks, fortunately. The line-up for the album credits a J.M. for drums but this sounds like a machine here. Might be the sound. This sounds better than I remembered, I guess I have to take another listen to their albums. And that demo.

Side B opens with the intro of the only non-Italian group here, Czech Rep's Love History who play atmospheric death/doom with dramatic touches and different kinds of vocals; whispers, growls, spoken bits and so on. You're thinking My Dying Bride, aren't you? Well, fortunately they've got something of their own going there too, some slightly folksy, Slavonic-sounding (though I suppose these should be Bohemian) melodies for example which sound very nice, reminding me of Gods Tower. The cover doesn't mention their second "proper" track at all, probably due oversight. It's an instrumental piece with almost jazzy parts, showing again another side. They also sound better than I remembered, I recall preferring their country mates Dissolving of Prodigy as if I couldn't listen to both. That's a second band here I need to listen more to. Last is, wait for it, Italian Novgorod with two long tracks taken from their demo. Synth-driven gothic sort of black(ish) metal with a slightly low sound. Not very impressed with them, the songs are a bit too long for their own good and some of the transitions and playing sound very awkward and not in the good way. Annoying as there are some pretty cool moments too. The total duration of the sampler is a bit over 47 minutes and I've written enough about it, I'm hungry.

Koito #6

Koito 'zine, issue #6 (1996)
Interviews:
Orphanage
Hybris
Septic Flesh
Katatonia
Kari Rueslåtten
Apolokia
Opera IX
Cruachan
Immolation
Thy Sinister Bloom
Sceptocrypt
Beseech
Dew-Scented
Forgotten Silence
Articles on En Garde & Prophecy (fra) + reviews

Reuploaded - 2022

I decided to post a 'zine again today, this is the 6th issue of the Italian Koito who had a quite long run from early 90's to... I don't know for how long as I only have this and the 7th myself. At least this issue was a group effort, it seems to have three people making the reviews and interviews plus the Kari Rueslåtten one contributed by Russ Smith. Kinda hard to say more as the editors appear only with single initial and there's no editorial whatsoever to this issue. Don't know whether it was a conscious choice to omit it or if it was more or less forgotten. As I don't happen to have the 7th issue at hand right now I can't check that one for more info. But whatever the case, this is a pretty neat printed 'zine, more oriented to sort of atmospheric metal I suppose than one or few specific styles.

The lay-out is ok, only major gripe I have is with the goddamned background text on their "tales from the thousand tapes" sections of demo reviews, it doesn't make them unreadable but is annoying still! And they also go for a little bit of font experimentation but fortunately it stays within bounds of common sense and taste. Not to mention readability. Their English is good, not too many typos, reviews well written, informative even and not of the (quite common) annoying and pretentious sort I've grit my teeth reading through way too often. Their interviews are above average as well, clearly experienced editors. I'm actually now curious to see their earlier efforts, I remember having been interested in issue 4 based on some flyer or ad so scans would be cool. I'll do the seventh issue too once I remember where the hell I've shoved it. Read and bear with my slightly sloppy (as in crooked pages) scans.