Absu - Rehearsal 31.03.1994

Absu - Rehearsal 31.03.1994
1) An Involution of Thorns
2) The Sun of Tiphareth
3) Apzu
4) Never Blow Out the Eastern Candle
5) A Quest into the 77th Novel
6) Drum Solo
7) Akhera Goiti - Akhera Beiti (One Black Opalith for Tomorrow)
8) An Evolution of Horns

Rusfolder / Depostifiles

I thought I'd post this rehearsal tape today as it sort of fits well with the previous one, once again we're in the States and this is Absu. As you might recall I posted a rehearsal tape by them, from the same year earlier here. Well, this is another then, slightly different bunch of songs here and again mostly instrumental... let's say it's instrumental as there are vocals only in the intro and outro, plus what Proscriptor says between the songs. Or is it Equitant? From a tape trader comrade of mine and I don't think they had any sort of cover for this so I decided to make another placeholder combining the older (best!) logo and artwork from the second album.

This is quite lenghty at over 52 minutes and has a good rehearsal sound. Dub is mostly of good quality as well, with minor wear. All tracks should be familiar, except if you have only heard the full lenghts. What I wrote on the post for the previous rehearsal tape mostly applies here as well. I like it but not everyone will enjoy it I suppose. Recommended for other fanboys and people who brave 50+ min instrumental rehearsal tapes.

Azazel's Torch - The Profane Realm of Time and Space demo 1994

Azazel's Torch - The Profane Realm of Time and Space demo 1994
1) Key of Sorrow
2) Sandal Wood, Cedar and Jupiter
3) Vacuptor's Sins
4) Mazziqim's Throne
5) Genuflexion of Ca'bas
6) The Ancient Ones
7) Transvection

Depositfiles / Mediafire

Here's another contribution from mr. Drowned, thanks, the probably only demo of the quite obscure US black metal/occult death metal/something band Azazel's Torch, associated with their much better known countrymates Absu. Actually, their logo seen above was drawn by Equitant. Unfortunately no cover scans available.

I hesitated for a while before posting this as I am not very pleased with the sound of this rip. Drowned had to work with a dub of unknown generation which means quite low, muddled sound and plenty of hiss. He tried to clean the sound but that didn't really work out too well. So expect an unclear sound with constant hiss or more like buzz on top of everything. Shame, as the music would be quite interesting, sort of occult black death not too dissimilar to earlier Absu. Varying tempos, some thrashy bits, mystical interludes, interesting themes - this has quite a lot going. I wish someone would re-release this. If someone has an actual copy of this demo I'd really appreciate cover scan and rip of that. Till then have a listen to this if you're not too picky about the sound issues!

Absu - Rehearsal 1994

Absu - Rehearsal 1994
1) Tasseomancy
2) A Quest into the 77th Novel
3) Apzu
4) The Sun of Tiphareth
5) Akhera Goiti-Akhera Beiti (One Black Opalith for Tomorrow)

Yandex / Mediafire

Back to contributions and this one is terribly late, my apologies to brother Fenrirsson who already sent this well over a year ago. The reason I'm posting this rehearsal tape by the US mythological occult metal masters Absu so late is that it had no tracklisting nor a date when Proscriptor had sent it to him back whenever it was. The date is still obviously missing but the tracklisting I finally figured out. I was mostly stuck on the first track and almost gave up, forgetting this in a folder but luckily I remembered their 2CD compilation and sure enough it was one of those tracks. Of course there was no cover for this either so I just made a placeholder with the relevant version of the logo and some Equitant art used on "The Sun of Tiphareth" disc.

This is an instrumental rehearsal tape, with a very good and clear sound which however could be a bit more powerful and a little louder too but everyone can adjust the volume on their devices themselves, can't you? The five songs are all quite lenghty, the tape totals over 35 minutes which is longer than the debut album. Tracks 2 - 4 are from the second album, if you don't know for some reason, 1 was unreleased till the "Mythological Occult Metal" compilation (not sure if same version enhanced) and 5 was the B-side of the 1995 7"EP. It's good material, though if you're used to the thrashing intensity of the 3rd and later albums you might not appreciate the more deliberate and epic approach of the tracks here, especially given the lack of vocals. Fanboys (and -girls?) like me will enjoy this.

Children of Mäani - Demo 1995

Children of Mäani - Demo 1995
1. Tradition; the Birth
2. In the Middle of the Macrocosme - "Those Who Are Called VAO"
3. Tiphareth... And Beams of Malchuth - "After the Five Ones"
4. Tradition; My Birth - "Where Is the Sky of The First?"

Yandex / Depositfiles / RGhost

Today's post is a demo from my rips and continues the sort-of-wasting-everyone's-time -theme. This is the first, and only, demo of the quite short-lived French project Children of Mäani by Vindsval, the Blut Aus Nord man. The time-wasting aspect comes from the fact that the four tracks here were later released as "The Veil of Osiris" MCD. Which I haven't heard so I can't say if they were just pressed onto disc as they were or somehow re-touched, -mastered, -mixed, -whatever. Anyways since I came across a pretty decent dub of the demo from my tapes and bothered ripping it, please bear with me. Of course you can just wait for the next post. I didn't have a cover for this so I borrowed one again from Demo Archives.

I was quite surprised after listening to this after many years as it sounded different than what I had remembered. To be honest, it sounds a lot like Blut Aus Nord used to do in the mid-90's, though it's a little bit more intricate and technical than the BAN stuff of the time was and obviously the lyrical topics are different. The sound of the recording is a little muffled and demo-ish yet very listenable and pretty balanced to my tastes. I like this. Why don't I have the MCD? Anyways, if you liked the old BAN, not the later post-whatever-avantgarde-artsiness, and atmospheric early-to-mid-90's black metal with mythological occult touch (no, it still doesn't sound like Absu) give this a listen.

Absu - Live in Rotterdam 05.04.1997

Absu - Live at the Baroeg, Rotterdam Holland 5th April 1997
1) Apzu
2) Highland Tyrant Attack
3) Swords and Leather
4) The Winter Zephyr (...Within Kingdoms of Mist)
5) Morbid Scream (Morbid Scream cover)
6) Fantasizing to the Third of the Pagan Vision / ...of Celtic Fire, We Are Born / Terminus (...in the Eyes of Ioldánach)
7) The Coming of War (Morbid Scream cover)
8) Drum Solo
9) The Gold Torques of Uláid
10) ...and Shineth Unto the Cold Cometh...

Depostifiles

I could not resist uploading this tape today, especially since I'm going to go see some live music later. As I'm going to see a local thrash band, Unhoped, an Absu live show from 1997 fits quite well. By this time their mythological occult metal was dominated by thrash influences and (unfortunately in my opinion) the lyrical focus on the then current, very good, album "The Third of Cythraul" had shifted more into Celtic (and Scottish) realms of their heritage.

This is a tape traded item and an audience recording again, unfortunately not complete as the it starts with the first track "Apzu" already blasting ahead. Don't know if it's missing anything else except the first minutes of the track, probably an intro of some sort. Let me know if you happen to know better. Overall sound is ok for this sort of an recording. Some dickwad talking is inevitable but of the music everything can be heard decently enough. There's a bit of an pause between tracks 2 and 3, don't know if the person had to take a break for some reason and whether something is missing from there. Setlist is pretty good for the time, though I'd like more Absu instead of playing both Morbid Scream covers. Not sure of the live line-up of the time, I'll wager it was Mezzadurus of Blood Storm and the core trio. Proscriptor does some of the vocals which has always amazed me, considering the drums in Absu tracks. I'm not going to write more, I need to hurry to grab some beer, a good live show for fans of Absu and/or black/thrash metal!

Absu - Pagan Ritual bootleg 1995

Absu (us) - Pagan Ritual bootleg 1995
1) Intro
2) Cyntefyn's Fountain
3) Apzu
4) Feis Mor Tir Na N'og (Across the Northern Sea to Visnech)
5) Never Blow Out the Eastern Candle

Mediafire

Another tape traded bootleg tape, this one though a bit more interesting as it is a 1995 (don't know the date and venue though!) live show from my old faves Absu. I think this is the complete performance, not very lenghty covering just a bit over half an hour. Unfortunately missing a cover as well, so if you have it a scan would be very welcome!

Like pretty much all the 1995 Absu live tapes I've managed to dig up, this has a great setlist which leaves me hungry for more. This one even more than some of the other ones as it has only four proper tracks along with a pretty long intro. Fortunately all songs are good even if I'm still longing for "The Sun of Tiphareth" and "A Quest into the 77th Novel" - probably they didn't play those back then. The recording has a quite good live sound, better than the average bootleg I dare say. Quality of the dub is rather good as well. Solid performance, with plenty of vocals from Proscriptor too this time. Very much recommended.

Absu - Live in Rotterdam, 22.04.1995

Absu - Live at the Baroeg, Rotterdam 22nd April 1995
1) Intro
2) Cyntefyn's Fountain
3) Feis Mor Tir Na N'Og
4) ...And Shineth Unto The Cold Cometh...
5) The Thrice Is Greatest To Ninnigal
6) The Coming Of War
7) Never Blow Out The Eastern Candle

Reuploaded

Absu is one of my favourite US bands, so naturally I've picked up some bootlegs of their live shows as well. Unfortunately, I had most on VHS. Here's one of the few I got on tape, another gig at the Baroeg and promoting "The Sun Of Tiphareth" album & the "...And Shineth..." 7"EP released the same year. Good set, I would've only switched "The Coming Of War" with "The Sun Of Tiphareth" or "A Quest Unto The 77th Novel" or preferably added them and a song or two from "Barathrum.: V.I.T.R.I.O.L." but can't have everything, I know. Especially pleased with them including "Cyntefyn's Fountain" - they better still do that live if they ever finally wander up to Finland!

Enough babbling, back to business. The sound of the recording is pretty good for a Baroeg gig. Nothing's really too loud, though this time I could have the drums louder. Biggest gripe with this one is probably the way too long and tedious intro bit, but I decided to remain faithful to the original dub and not shorten it. At least you can skip it, unlike me when I listened to it on cassette. Recommended to all who bother with these live bootlegs in the first place and Absu fans of course.