Blazing Eternity - Over sorte heder demo '96

Blazing Eternity - Over sorte heder demo I 1996
1) Over sorte heder
2) Towards the Thorns of Melancholy
3) Da håbet blev borte for altid...
4) Enthralled by Sorrow
5) The Romantic Forest Is Darker Than Sadness

Sampo / Zippyshare

Sometimes it really takes me ridiculously long to do things. Like today's item; I ripped the tape this was on five years ago. I wasn't actually going to post it but somehow the previous entry inspired me so here we are. It's been a while since our last visit to Denmark so about time we return to those shores with Blazing Eternity's first demo. Called black metal by some careless individuals this is probably as close as they got to that, doing a few years later a full-Katatonia wimp out. Or so I've been told, I actually never heard the second album but the development certainly seemed to lead to that path. Anyways, on this debut they play dark metal with harsh main vocals (primary reason people labeled this black metal I suppose), plenty of atmospheric breaks and generally quite mellow mood.

The title track is actually the most aggressive of the songs and gives a bit misleading idea of the release. Personally, I think it's the best of the bunch as well. It does have a slow part in the middle too so perhaps not as misleading as I implied. Interestingly, the other song with Danish lyrics, the short middle track When Hope Was Gone Forever is quite aggressive too while the English tracks tend towards slower, even doomy tempos and generally more... oh hell, look at the damned titles! Melancholy thorns, enthrally sorrow, romantic forest sadness!!! Need I really elaborate? I'm for some reason starting to get really annoyed, this demo has an odd habit of being "oh nice, why don't I listen to this more often" on every other listen and "isn't this girly crap going to ever end" on those less favourable moods. I don't really like the clean vocals, he sounds more like a kid trying his hardest which I suppose will appeal to some folks with strong parental instincts but it's not at all having the effect I'm sure he was striving for. Curiously, years ago I liked this demo better than their second one.

Right, enough of content, I'll just mention this is made from a dub and has generally decent quality but it really could be better. And there are no scans, unfortunately, just a cover image I think I picked up from Discogs. It's a pretty nice cover. That font though. This is all for now, if you like romantic sort of dark metal by cute *I don't know if they're really cute, they do wear corpsepaint on the pic!* young Danes pick this up. If you want manly, harsh war black metal stay at least 10' (~3 meters) away from this!

Tristitia - Reminiscences of a Mourner demo '94

Tristitia - Reminiscences of the Mourner demo II January 1994
1) Envy the Dead
2) Reminiscences of the Mourner
3) Ashes of the Witch
4) Mark My Words

4shared / Mediafire

I was going to post another Finnish item but ran into a minor problem which I need to tackle first. So instead let's do some Swedish doom and a contribution that had also waited a while to be finished - not that there was much to do than slightly adjust volume and convert it to mp3. This is Tristitia and the second demo from the very beginning of '94. If you're acquainted with the earlier releases of the French label Holy Records you've probably encountered Tristitia, the '95 debut got a fair bit of attention back then for the blend of Candlemass-style classic doom, gothic elements and (very slight) black metal influence. To be honest, the black metal influence was really just some vocals used here and there in addition to the deeper, traditional doom singing. But I'd label this more directly under traditional or possibly gothic doom. Not an expert, feel free to argue if necessary. A large cover scan was also sent, thanks again to the contributor!

Four songs that run for almost 25 minutes, the two middle ones re-recorded for the debut album and the other two appeared on the second so nothing new really if you're familiar with both albums. If not, this is not a bad place to start. Very good sound, pretty covers and melancholic, in places sinister even, doom metal performed at appropriatele speeds. I'm not really sure what to say about the vocals, I'm notoriously picky with clean voices but on the other hand I've gotten accustomed to this fellow's voice in the last twenty years so I'm hard pressed to say how good a singer he actually might be. The Swedish accent still occasionally jars in my ears but otherwise he does fine I suppose. Can't really come up with anything sensible to write, if you dig doom metal in the classic vein try this and don't buy that "blackened doom" crap at M-A! Unholy was black doom, this is barely grey!

Mörkö - Mörön maa demo I '00

Mörkö - Mörön maa demo I 2000
1) Prologi
2) Syvälle Pohjolan maille
3) Kurjan tuomio
4) Raivo ei kuole
5) Epilogi

Mega / RGhost

I thought I'd do some more Finnish items. This is a freshly dug corpse, dubbed among the tapes I borrowed and ripped from brother Grev the other week, thanks again! Mörkö was and is a Finnish... I'm not going to call them a black metal band, nowadays they do some sort of experimental / psychedelic post-black metal whatever thing and here they played somewhat crude and straight in-your-face "black" metal or more accurately dark metal, maybe even fantasy metal? See the lyrics at M-A to see what I mean. I've been aware of the band for the longest time but didn't bother to check them out back in the early 00's as I thought they'd be some sort of joke. See, the name Mörkö translates as "boogeyman" (which is not exactly the most kvlt thing ever) as well as being the Finnish name for Tove Jansson's The Groke (who is obviously mvch more kvlt). Then when I finally listened to the 2013 album "Itsensänimeävä" I didn't like it one bit.

Ok, so I was not enthusiastic with the band, why post this demo? Well, I was quite surprised how rough and listenable it was, enjoyable even! The sound is somewhat barbaric, especially the drums and also cold, grim and other such delightful things. The lyrics were entertaining as well (in Finnish, sorry) so even if it were a jest it was a pretty good one. I am actually interested in hearing both the "Paluu" demo, also '00 and the first album "III" ...which is easy to do as it's on their Bandcamp page... I'll be back in a moment... ok seems like they were more black/doom at that phase, quite neatly in the middle ground between the two extremities of this demo and the last album. Instant judgement; this is the best release. Standout track: Raivo ei kuole. Give it a try, it's not as ridiculous as you might think. No really, it's not!

One more thing: cover scans would be nice. Assuming it had a cover in the first place.

Jääportit - Halki lumisen metsän demo '98

Jääportit - Halki lumisen metsän demo I 1998
1) Kulkue varjojen
2) Vaellus porteille Tuonelan
3) Läpi lumimyrskyn
4) Yömustaa
5) Jään kirous
6) Sade lumen mustan
7) Hänen jäätävä katseensa

Sendspace / Sampo

Alright, let us for change fulfill a request practically immediately, without (much) extra tarrying. Here are some more ambient sounds for you, the debut demo CD-R of Finnish Jääportit who are at least moderately well-known ...I think? It was a request by comrade pagan made a few days ago and as expected, our reliable frater Grev sent me a link to a rip he had burned on a disc before I could even ask him about it! Thank you for you vigilance and generosity. There was a cover image as well, but no full scans which as always are welcome so get in touch if you can provide one.

The rip has a low bitrate (CBR 128) but with this sort of music it's not a big issue. Later Jääportit material sees the sound expanded to various dimensions while this debut is pretty much in the dungeon synth camp though of course with a wintry flair. It still feels more appropriate for the DS label than the tape album that followed in 1999. Suitably down-to-tomb yet grandiose synth sounds, plenty of variation without going overboard, atmospheres ranging from very dark and menacing to almost tribal sleigh ride-esque (more somber than the xmas piece you probably now think of!) and generally that wandering in nocturnal winter forest-feeling. Just add a black robe and some corpse paint. Warm underwear is recommended too. I really really enjoy this but am horribly distracted right now so I can't really come up with more witty banter. Go on and download it already!

Drunemeton - Recital to the Shinning Moon demo '96

Drunemeton - Recital to the Shinning Moon demo '96
1) The Wolves of Winter: Part 1: Chorus During Early Nigth
2) The Wolves of Winter: Part 2: Leaving the Forest
3) The Wolves of Winter: Part 3: The Hurting
4) The Wolves of Winter: Part 4: The Last Breath
5) The Dancing Fost
6) The Hand's Cuting
7) Triumph of the Ice

Zippyshare / Yandex

Today I wanted to do an item that has been bothering me for almost twenty years but finally some weeks ago the matter was lain to rest, thanks to the contribution by comrade Dead Christmas! The bothersome item in question was this '96 demo by "Polish" (so I was told back in the tape trading days) synth project Drunemeton of which I had a very questionable dub. Fortunately DC had acquired the demo during his quest for Nazgul Productions items and judging from the information on the covers I believe this too was a French artist after all. The rip also revealed how hopelessly lacking my dub was. Cover scan is enclosed and I have uploaded a very slightly edited version of the rip; I increased the volume just a notch and cut away a bit of noise after the first song that was not part of the demo.

At roughly 42½ minutes this easily reaches album length and is divided into two halves so to say, first twenty minutes consisting of the epic The Wolves of Winter parts 1-4. Instrumental, somewhat neoclassical sounding dungeon synth mixing (I'm taking this from the covers directly) Akai, Oberheim and Roland synthesizers with grand piano and some flutes. I've cut each part into individual tracks as the tracklisting gives them separate running times and they divided easily enough. The second half is made of three tracks with slightly more individual character to each of them. The Dancing Fost (I'm pretty sure this is supposed to be ...Frost but I didn't go and correct the titles, like I always say it is Necromansy and that's it!) starts almost harshly and proceeds to change to more introspective moods before slowly picking momentum again, only for it to drop while approaching the end. Synthesizer sounds rather than piano dominate The Hand's Cuting (again, should be ...Cutting but no correcsies!) giving it an aura of menace that changes to desolation as the instrumentation gets scarcer and more minimalistic, developing to a trippy dark ambient end. Last song Triumph of the Ice is the longest of the lot and reprises some of the moods from the first parts while featuring a very distinct classical guitar part in the middle before a long build up to a slow but triumphant ending with percussive elements and orchestra hits. Wintry, melancholic and rather nostalgic stuff, decent enough sound though not by any means polished. Reminds me at times of Emglev (again!) and in places even Lamentation. Few places. And just a little. But much more Emg than Lam. Recommended for fans of French synth projects, dungeon explorers and Nazgul Productions enthusiasts.

Charontaphos #1

Charontaphos zine, issue 1 (early 1993)
Interviews:
Sentenced
Absu
Malefic Oath
Necropsy
Cartilage
Gorgon
Ceremonial Oath
Decayed
Burzum
Dark Tranquillity
Belphegor (Dutch)
Nembrionic Hammerdeath
Monumentum
Spina Bifida
Nuclear Death
Apator
Pyrexia
Katatonia
Nightfall
Gorement
Abigail
Mordor
Sigh
Witches
Sathanas
Inverted
Wombbath
Throne of Ahaz
Elbereth
Belial
D.A.B.
+ Norwegian scene report by Amnizu, reviews

Mediafire

Apologies for the unintended absence but I have been busy. Some of that will even be beneficial to the Coven so it was not in vain. Alright, it's already March and we start this month with another 'zine contribution by our comrade Pawel, thanks once again! He has scanned and merged to single .pdf the first issue of the Dutch classic Charontaphos 'zine, made in the late '92 / early '93 (when it was released as well) by a group of five people... in theory, in practice Mahakala, Ndizi Na Nyama and Al Daimonaero did most of the work while the duo of Asmodeus and Nemesis contributed only one interview due schedule issues. Sounds like typical school group work to me! I haven't seen later issues of Charontaphos so I don't know if the work was distributed more evenly on those or if they thinned the ranks a bit.

A lot of bands as you can see and I must say that for a first issue they did an outstanding job! The layout is simple and traditional, but very clear and easy to read. Just as I like. The interviews are also very good and mostly they've even received decent answers (well, Sathanas was pretty bad and Abigail barely knew English) so it worked out nicely. The roster is mostly death and black metal as the names may reveal and not too many seen-everywhere-staples. Well, Sigh does appear on a lot of 'zines even on this site and Burzum is always popular, but at least this one is a classic, filled with highly quotable pearls by Greven. "Dead did not have a life to take, only an existance to end" must be one of my favourites. Among top 3 Burzum interviews for sure! Overall a highly recommendable 'zine.

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.