Sodom - Live at Metallysee Festival 28-12-85

Sodom - Live at Metallysee Festival, Zaal Jachthoorn, Denderhoutem Belgium 28th December 1985 (received as Live 21.02.85 - it's different recording from 28.12.85 live in Aalst (?) released on Black Equinox bootleg CD which has odd tracklisting in general)
1) Outbreak of Evil
2) Witching Metal
3) Burst Command til War
4) Obsessed by Cruelty
5) Blasphemer (horribly cuts, only beginning!)

RGhost / Depositfiles

I felt, for some strange reason, like doing another thrash item and coupled with a long overdue live attendance this upcoming weekend I decided to post this horribly incomplete but ever-so-entertaining Sodom live tape from '85. I got this years and years ago from a tape trader as filler, unfortunately cut right when Blasphemer is about to kick off and being only 13+minutes long in must be even more incomplete than that. Then again, like this it could be crammed onto a 7"EP. Anyways, it was also misdated to 21st February while comparison and quick research determines this to be another recording of the Metallysee Festival gig and interestingly Setlist.fm gives the same tracklisting as my dub had! Don't know much about the event itself but apparently Blind Fury, Iron Angel and Kreator also performed.

I mentioned comparing this to something and that was the "Black Equinox" bootleg, made by the infamously inaccurate Omerta in 2004 (not 2001 like Discogs suggests, it reads on the damn cover), which I got back a few years ago from Lockjaw blog (RIP). The bootleg's tracklisting contains no less than nine tracks:
1. Outbreak of Evil
2. Deathlike Silence
3. Blasphemer
4. Equinox
5. Witching Metal
6. Burst Command til War
7. Obsessed by Cruelty
8. Witchhammer
9. Sepulchral Voice
It's also clearly a different recording, with much more audience noise and as you see the track order is either for some bizarre reason switched or it actually manages to be a different gig which just happens to have exactly same speeches in between the songs. Oh and it gives same date but as venue Aalst. It's easy to hear the order on my dub is unchanged as I chopped it into tracks without cuts so all flows together while the "Black Equinox" has very subtle cuts in between songs.

Whatever may the case be, this is classic first wave black metal Teutonic thrash hammer and extremely enjoyable despite ending way too soon. The sound is clean, songs great (including my current favourite Obsessed by Cruelty) so if you like German vintage thrash and old dirty proto black metal this is a no-brainer.

Demise - ...Thrashed!!! demo '96

Demise (grc) - ...Thrashed!!! demo 1996
1) God Forbid
2) You Can Lie (But Cannot Hide)
3) Maneating Warhorse
4) Never Coming Back
5) Demise

Mediafire / Sendspace

Let's kick this week off with something different from our usual fares. This is the Greek Demise (yeah there are again something like 6000-7000 bands with the same name and most seem to be death metal and I don't think I remember a single one of them), of which I know not much more than M-A and the covers tell. I think this is an earlier version of the '96 "...Thrashed..." tape which featured some songs from the '95 demo III "...Thrashed!!!" - yeah, this has the same name but tracklisting is same as on "...Thrashed..." tape. Confused yet? I am a little. Well, it is recorded in April '96 so that supports my theory. I don't recall where exactly I got this tape, but I'm pretty sure I got it from a trade with a bunch of other tapes not really falling into my field of expertise. Xerox cover which I scanned and a generic 46 min TDK cassette.

Ok so there are five songs here and three of them are re-recordings from the previous demo, while Demise and the amazingly named Maneating Warhorse are new for this version. Total playing time is 21 minutes and the sound is just a little stuffy, not really that good for a studio recording, in my humble opinion. Well, it's the cymbals that aggravate me, they sound sort of frayed, broken and keep distracting me from the rest of content. If I really, really force myself to ignore them it's otherwise fine. I guess. The high end generally seems to be slightly askew. And this whining from a man who generally prefers ancient primitive Teutonic thrash to any sort of technical prowess and polished sound. I can't claim to know much of thrash in general despite it being somewhat mandatory part of growing up in the 80's, like Iron Maiden and Kiss were practically part of elementary school curriculum, I like some of the elders but can't say I'd be qualified to judge entries to the genre properly. Still, this is pretty good, there are parts that remind me of Kreator, older Death Angel and uh... stuff. The aforementioned ....Warhorse has synths that are suitably spicy. Give up already, you're not going anywhere with this. True, so I recommend this if you like Greek metal and thrash in general and I should really acquire the compilation of Macabre Operetta demos, which was the black metal band some of these guys played in.

Sanatorium - Necrologue demo '98

Sanatorium - Necrologue demo III 1998
1) Necrologue Written in Forest
2) Bloody Wounds
3) Desolated Areas of the Forgotten Pain
4) Cemetery of Memories
5) Rivers of the Black Sun
6) Č. Č. K. Č. Č

 Zippyshare / 4shared

Death metal for change. Ok, today's item is not really that exciting as there have been rips of it available online since people started digitizing tapes I guess, but I still decided to upload mine as it came out pretty okay and I had bothered to make it in the first place! Not really purposefully though, this third tape recording of the Slovakian death metal band Sanatorium was the second item on a tape I was ripping in ...late '13 apparently! You can also pick up a copy quite cheaply on Discogs or somewhere and if you do, scan the covers for me.

Right, enough of your piteous attempts at justifying today's post, just get on with the program. As said, third release of Sanatorium and last before their debut album which was also the last in their old style of... ugh I hate trying to subcategorize death metal with my poor grasp of its nuances, well someone said thrash/grind mixture with touches of black/death metal so let's go with that! This incarnation of Sanatorium was notable for the atmospheric parts and melodic bits amidst all the technical wankery prowess and that stop-and-go zigzag stuff... breaks.. whatever as well as the lyrics being more on the if not poetic at least introspective and gloomy vein. On the second album and the subsequent ones, all released post-millennium, they went full-retard gore-soaked juvenile misogynic dumb brutal death metal which as you might guess I do not think very highly of. Not that I'd actually heard anything after "Internal Womb Cannibalism" but I possess just enough mental agility to at least leap very nimbly into conclusions. I must admit the indecipherable sewer gurgle vocals are amusing in scarce doses, now that I revisit IWC but it's still not my thing.

Back to what we have here, six tracks in ye olde 17ish minutes playtime which was oddly common among demos, meaning some of the tracks are quite short and actually I see the last two marked as bonuses, Rivers... being from the first demo "Subcultures" which I haven't heard and Č. Č. K. Č. Č is... special. The sound is quite good, very airy even returning to this after crawling through the mucky sewer tube of IWC, a bit light but that gives more room of the instruments to do their thing and fits the more melodic moments better. The ample fast parts also do not sound cluttered and messy which is a bonus. I must admit it goes a bit more bouncy and Primus than I really care for from time to time. And beginning of Desolated... is pure Maiden until it isn't. And then again it is, if Iron Maiden used raspy black metallish vocals mind you. Gallop gallop gallop. Now that I think about it more, this is actually pretty cheery when it's not too complex or melancholic. Schizophrenic and all over the place? Enough rambling, have a listen if all that made you curious. I don't know whom to recommend it really but I guess various kinds of people may get something out of it. What a horrible way to end a post.

Chronic Anguish - I Was Heard from Within adv.demo '95

Chronic Anguish - I Was Heard from Within advance tape for demo 1995
1) Corpse, Blood, Swords and Victory
2) Violence
3) Killing for Pleasure

RGhost / Depositfiles

Another Swedish advance tape, this is Chronic Anguish of whom I know really nothing apart from the Metal Archives entry and what I guess would be an advance tape for their second demo. Swedish, advance demo '95 and tracklisting is all the info I had. Not sure if the demo was even released in the end, if you know more feel free to share the information! Obviously no cover, took the logo from the '94 demo to decorate the post. Apparently this was a side project of the members from death metal band Measureless, possibly not very serious at all so the grimmest warriors may leave for now.

Three songs, the one with the longest name being the shortest, a brief and fast piece that still manages to have two distinct parts. It opens with what sounds awfully like one of those falsetto yells some thrash bands were terribly fond off and further vocals keep sounding more like thrash than black metal though some proper screams are present. The second half is suddenly... uh, dark ambient I suppose, with ominous keyboards and various more or less demonic sounds. Odd and somewhat unexpected! Second track is the longest one and most close to traditional black metal sound. The vocals sound more in genre here, with deep support growls adding to the old schoolish aura and main screams bordering on hysterical at times. Third song sports a familiar melody I don't right now identify, possibly a ...xmas tune? Growly vocals start and the black metal ones carry the portion where it gets more "normal" though that certainly does not stick ...this is starting to sound confusing and now I really want to hear the '94 demo. Strange nine or so minutes but not without merit. Recommended for those fascinated by odd things and/or obsessed with the old Swedish underground.

Milkweed - Ubi Bene Ibi Patria demo 1998

Milkweed - Ubi Bene Ibi Patria demo III 1998
1) Every Devil Off the Bridge
2) Secluded Life
3) Heads or Tails

RGhost / Mediafire

And now something different for change. Well, not so radically different, it's still metal, Finnish and a contribution by Henri Sorvali so that's already three things in common with quite a few recent posts. However this is thrash which I don't post too often. Or death/thrash/alternative/crossover/something suchlike, this is not my area of expertise, it's actually a few steps away from my comfort zone. Third demo by this Helsinki band, whatever their genre be, and cover (which is kind of misleading, would fit better something Arska played in) scans as usual included, ripped from an original tape after all.

Now that we've established this lies somewhere in my discomfort zone, what is it like? The sound of the demo is fair enough, music is annoyingly modern-sounding (well, for 90's) chuggy sort of blending of thrash, death (really just for the rougher vocals), alternative and stuff. Think Suicidal Tendencies etc. kinda thrash, not old Sodom sort. And Rage Against the Machine, new Sepultura, Waltari and generally stuff where you jump around a lot. Yeah, I don't like this and am running out of patience trying to come up with something sensible to write. Feel free to check 'em out if you got curious or are into things I haphazardly name-bombed there. I'm done.

Slayer - Live at Monsters of Rock 1992

Slayer - Live at Monsters of Rock, Donington Park UK 22nd August 1992
1) Hell Awaits
2) The Antichrist
3) South of Heaven
4) Silent Scream
5) Dead Skin Mask
6) Seasons in the Abyss
7) War Ensemble
8) Mandatory Suicide
9) Raining Blood
10) Angel of Death

Yandex / Depositfiles

I'm off to the first festival this summer, Steelfest Open Air, around midday Friday with master Nupponen of Maveth/Cryptborn and to celebrate this merry event I thought I'd finally post this bootleg of another band that should not need introductions. I say finally because I had ripped the tape containing this already back in 2009 but wasn't sure if I'd post it here or not. Decided to go ahead and do it even though there's a bootleg CD (at least one) out containing this. So, here's Slayer, 1992, excellent set, good sound and nothing else really to say. Well, this: in memoriam: Jeff Hanneman 1964 - 2013.

Celtic Frost - 1984 fukkin RAW Rehearsals (bootleg)

Celtic Frost - 1984 fukkin RAW Rehearsals bootleg 2012(?)
1) Messiah
2) Visions of Mortality
3) Procreation of the Wicked
4) Morbid Tales
5) Dethroned Emperor
6) Return to the Eve

Depositfiles / Rusfolder

If this band needs an introduction I'm quite sure you're reading the wrong blog. Actually you shouldn't even be on the internet. Or this planet. Now that's been taken care of, back to the item: here's another tape ripped by the contributor mentioned on the previous post, thank you good sir, and a quite rare wandering off the usual 90's (ok sometimes 00's too) fare of the blog. But Celtic Frost are awesome enough to cause exceptions to happen... and if this bootleg tape actually was released last year or so, the average comes within the usual range of the Coven. Rejoice! To be honest I'd wander more often to the 80's except that I don't have really anything that wouldn't have been bootlegged or uploaded elsewhere a hundred times already. But that's enough about that. Includes a scan of the cover, which has preciously little information but enough for a bootleg I suppose.

The title describes the content quite accurately enough, though it's not that raw, certainly rough compared to album sound but not so raw as to merit all caps. If you've heard (of course you have!) Hellhammer demos and enjoy them (how could you not?!?) you'll be just fine with the sound here. Automatic recommendation and no need to write anything else, start downloading.

Bifrost - Western Magick promo 1993

Bifrost - Western Magick promo 1993
1) Intro: 12 O'Clock
2) Fimbulwinter: A Tale Of Hate
3) My Ancestor, Now A Dark Woodspirit
4) Battlelord Odinn (Father Of Victories)
5) The Widdershins Jig (Skyclad cover)
6) Outro: Sword Of Orion

Reuploaded

Something little different today, but not too far ideologically or really musically either from the generic fare of this blog: Bifrost from the Netherlands and their second (? - I think) tape from 1993, sent to me some time ago by Vaalkoth. Thanks! Bifrost played a quite unusual sort of pagan thrash metal, with probably closest references being Sabbat (UK) and Skyclad. As the cover art might tell to more enlightened readers, Bifrost was connected with Bælder. Personally I always thought of Bifrost as "that Guido's band" (see these Hordes posts) and to be honest never really listened to them that much as I preferred the more obviously black metal members of Holland's peculiar scene. I've no proper scan of the covers, just the Metal Archives image and a pic Vaalkoth took with his camera of the cover which unfortunately isn't very clear.

UPDATE: Full cover scan sent by Fenrirsson, thanks once again! Depositfiles upload updated with it.
UPDATE II: Ignore the second line above, I've reuploaded it with the scan.

All of the band's three proper own tracks appeared on their debut album "Pagan Reality" so if you have heard it you basically know what to expect, though of course this being a demo recording the sound is different. Not bad at all, in a twisted way it sounds better than I remember the album doing - raw and barbaric, unrefined and "alive". The vocals are mostly either a brutal yell, slightly effected, sounding both crude and convincing or an almost narrated style which reveals the vocalist's limitations as a singer, though he does a bit of "clean" singing as well, thankfully choosing not to dwell too long on it. I'm not really sure to whom I'd recommend this, but give it a try if you got curious, maybe its rough charm will work on you.