Black Dawn - Rehearsal Track 1993

Black Dawn (fin) - Rehearsal Track 1993
1) The Mother of All Whores

Mediafire

Here is the last B.D. rehearsal item I got from Grev and it is a single rehearsal track recorded in 1993. It sounds a little more brutal and death metallish than the previous rehearsal posted. It has a nice'n'clear rehearsal sound quality, but unfortunately G. had received the track untitled and I'm too retarded to figure out what song it could be. If you identify the track, get in touch with the track title! Not really much to add, if you've enjoyed the related posts so far, you'll pick this up too.

UPDATE: Wrath has identified the track as "The Mother of All Whores" - if he recalls the title right! Well, he's the best source for this really so I'm using this title & reuploaded the links! Thanks for the info!

Irrlicht - Auf einem Thron aus Blut demo 1996

Irrlicht (ger) - Auf einem Thron aus Blut demo II 1996
1) Intro
2) In Zeiten von Stolz und Ehre
3) Für die Seelen einst gefallener Krieger
4) Stürme aus einer ferner Welt
5) Der Hilfeschrei Gottes
6) Auf einem Thron aus Blut
7) Schatten der Einsamkeit (Winter Version '96)
8) Outro

Depositfiles

German black metal again, this is the second demo of Irrlicht and also their last. I got this one during my tape trading days and unfortunately no covers and this time the Metal Archives' image is even worse than usual. See the fucking stamp up there. So, if you have a decent (or just about anything bigger than the image used above) scan of the covers I'd appreciate if you let me know!

To the content: Intro, outro and 6 tracks of simple and slightly crude black metal are offered, with whispering vocals and rehearsal sound. I'd say it's just the guitar, drums & vocals and M.A. entry seems to confirm as neither of the two guys here are credited for bass. Song lenghts are in the standard 4 minutes-and-something - territory which given the primitivism and song writing skills presented is enough and at times already too much. I don't know, this should actually work for me on paper but it's missing something to fully connect. But feel free to check it out if you're interested in German underground black metal, enjoy raw black metal etc.

Goat Of The Harvest #4

Goat Of The Harvest 'zine, issue #4 
Interviews:
Impaled Nazarene
Malkuth (bra)
Anwyl
Rotting Christ
Bethel
Rare Form
Opus Malefici
Officium Triste
Black Goat 'zine
Anno Daemonicus
Somnus
Articles & shit:Scene Report: Australia
The Terror of Oak Ridge
Scene Report: Egypt
Rood's Vault of Horror
Scene Report: Japan

Depositfiles

Alright, another 'zine, as promised here's finally the one which came with the G.O.T.H. compilation tape, or actually the other way around. But to be frank I think now that the compilation is the one with more value out of these two. Don't get me wrong, it's not like it'd be full of shit, but I'm pretty annoyed by the fact it's 70 pages (72 if you count the front & back) and yet the contents would fit in about 36 or 40 pages done differently. Probably less. I don't know if Rood the editor was aiming for a thick 'zine and had a minimum page count in mind while doing this but the fact is he's wasting huge amounts of space, worst examples being pages consisting of a single (one, uno, ett, ein, один, 1) flyer and the amateurish frame artwork. Or, page 6 with the silly drawing. Or page 10 which is just the Anwyl demo cover. Well, you get the picture.

The interviews are ok, maker being from the States his English is obviously good (well, that's not really granted is it now?). His questions tend to be pretty standard fare which of course gets answers in the same vein. The layout is simple and clear... with lots of room y'know so it's easy to read. Nothing wrong with that though, my eyes aren't getting any younger. All said, it's an ok, quick read with some interesting bands, decent enough reviews and nostalgic flyers. Did I mention wasted space already? Don't let my whining stop you from downloading, it's certainly more entertaining to read than scan.

Worshipper - Promo 1996

Worshipper (swe) - Promo 1996
1) Goat Warrior
2) Worship Your Children

Reuploaded

Swedish black metal and yet another project featuring F. Söderlund of Puissance, Parnassus, Octinomos and so on. Fortunately, this one is once again very good! Black metal in the vein of Parnassus and Octinomos but less synth this time. Computer drums as usual, but I'm quite used to them so at least me they don't bother. This is supposed to be more direct and in-your-face material I guess, but it's still very melodic. The very audible bass lines are a nice feature. Clear but still raw enough sound.

I got an original tape of this from Stratia not too long ago, so you should check them out if you like this and have a cassette player. The covers (scanned & enclosed) of the promo mention a full-lenght supposed to be released on Secula Delenda in 1997 but unfortunately that didn't happen. Very much recommended!

Morningstar - Advance Tape 01/1994

Morningstar (fin) - Advance Tape January 1994
1) Pagan Martyrs
2) Surrounded By Strong Wind (Forever Heretic)

Reuploaded

I need to keep up with my Morningstar uploads, there's still a few items left. This short promo/advance tape features two songs that were published on "As the Wolfs Howl..." MCD. These versions sound a little different, but that might just be the dub, in all honesty. But if you're one of those people who must collect everything by a band, then this is for you. Or if you haven't heard the MCD, I suppose.

A History of a Time to Come - Proem I (1996)

Various Artists - A History of a Time to Come - Proem I (1996)
1) Beyond Dawn - Teardance
2) Beyond Dawn - The Penance
3) Landscape - Monument
4) Necromicon - When the Sun Turns Black
5) In The Woods... - Tell de døde
6) Kampfar - Hymne
7) Dark Tranquillity - Midwinter / Beyond Enlightenment
8) Mithotyn - A Whining Winter Wind
9) Necromicon - A Part of the Dark World
10) (Thy) Primordial - Svart Gryning / Black Dawn
11) Helheim - Svart visdom
12) Penitent - Veien

Reuploaded

A compilation tape again, this one is from Bulgary but features only Norwegian and Swedish bands. Not that rare back then with the other extremity being of course compilations that featured only domestic bands. Still, it's a shame the Bulgarian guy who made this didn't include a single local band.

The compilation has a bit unusual running time of 70 minutes instead of the more common 60 and 90 minutes, and the A5 booklet with band infos is also a bit unusual. This has of course been scanned & included. Two of the bands do 2 tracks (Beyond Dawn, whose tracks from the 1994 promo are easy to understand, they blend in together - the other is Necromicon, I guess he liked them) and the others contribute one each... well Dark Tranquillity has an intro+song combo, taken from their 1991 demo which is a bit unexpected choice for a compilation made in late 1995. Styles range from the avant gardeish gloom of Beyond Dawn to the melodic black metal of Necromicon to In The Woods... and Helheim's epic norsecore. Nice compilation with a pretty good flow.

Selbstmord - Rehearsal Track 12.08.1999

Selbstmord (pol) - Rehearsal Track 12th August 1999
1) Untitled

Depositfiles

Back to the rehearsal material, this one was ripped and contributed to the blog by a reader, thank you! He had received this track from Diathyrron as new Selbstmord material, untitled as of then. In the end it didn't appear on any Selbstmord release but years later evolved into the Ohtar track "Elite? Dust (Sometime...)" which was on their 2006 album "Petrified Breath of Hope".

This version is instrumental and naturally differs a little from the version recorded years later for the Ohtar album. The sound is very good for a rehearsal in my opinion (better than many demos and even some albums!), both dub & rip practically flawless and this is a killer track so go ahead and get it already if you're at all into this sort of material!

Belthan - Carpathian Curse demo 1995

Belthan (swe) - Carpathian Curse Demo 1995
1) Transylvanian Shadow
2) Sighsooara 1430
3) The Northern Belongs to Us
4) On Blackened Wings I Fly
5) Carpathian Curse

Reuploaded - 2022

Here is another demo dubbed me by Grev, thanks man! I give you from Sweden, Belthan. Apparently a one-shot project, Belthan released only this demo as far as I know. I saw some requests for this and probably people are interested in this for the same reason I was: the line-up includes Mörk from the great Malign. I've preciously little info on the band beyond that, so any and all information is welcome and cover scans especially so! As you see I'm working with a shitty M.A. image again which in turn seems to be from eBay.

UPDATE: Image changed, comrade SuuretMuinaiset provided me with a cover scan which you can download from the 2nd link above. I didn't bother reuploading the whole thing this time.
UPDATE II: With Megaupload's demise the links were lost. Fortunately I got the rip itself back and it has been uploaded again, but the scan is lost for me.
The sound and rip quality are good and so is the music, good old Swedish black metal of the more raw sort. Pounding and wicked with some melodies too. Reminds me at times of the Throne Of Ahaz debut, old Marduk and Malign. Recommended, nothing more to add really.

Cernunnos Woods - Tears of the Weeping Willow (1994)

Cernunnos Woods - Tears of the Weeping Willow Cass.EP 1994
1) The Autumn Moon
2) Horned Is the Hunter
3) Hymns to the Summerlands
4) Return to Infra-Green
5) Song of Duryfyddiaeth

Link removed as obsolete; DAP has re-released the CW demos, see here:
Forest Anthology
Bandcamp

And now something quite different. Requested by EcoPagan in his blog where he posted the 1996 album, this is the first recording of the US synth project Cernunnos Woods who played some sort of Celtic ritual/ambient music. I'm pretty lousy with these descriptions. Anyways, this tape features five tracks of quite primitive sounding but still charming ritual/ambient/(at times)folk tunes and was released in very, very limited quanitity by Dark Age Produtions in 1994. That label had several other interesting projects (like Akrabu, Dalkhu Zilittu, Equitant, Profane Grace etc...) whose tapes are also quite hard to find. Need I say I'm looking for them? So let me know if you got any info, ok?

UPDATE: I've removed the download links as obsolete as DAP has re-released the old CW demos on a compilation "Forest Anthology" that comes as cassette, CD and digital download. Head over to their site if interested. There's Akhkharu coming soon too! And perhaps more with time?

This is, once again, a rip of an unknown generation dub I got from one of my tape traders back when winters were colder, summers warm, everything tasted better and cost less. However the quality should be ok, the tape doesn't have bad glitches or anything. The sound quality of the original apparently wasn't too stellar, typical demo level of the era, even though they chose to call this a cassette EP. Obviously I have no covers for it so a pic I found on the 'nets is used. Other than the last tracks silly-sounding samples of Carmina Burana and whatever else there was I find myself enjoying this tape on occasional listens. Not certainly for everyone, but give it a try if you enjoy the 90's atmospheric projects!

Black Dawn - Dead Metal rehearsal 1996

Black Dawn (fin) - Dead Metal Rehearsal Tape 1996
1) Cursed Mother
2) Scythe Swinging Blues
3) I Vomit on You
4) Deathdance
5) Finale: The Hammer of Misanthropy Has Spoken

Reuploaded

The rehearsal tape madness never stops! This is again an item I received from comrade Grev and the band should be pretty familiar by now. So let us not waste more time with introductions but move onto the item at hand.

The dub I received from Grev was of quite good quality and I didn't fuck up the rip so the end result ought to be as good as a rehearsal tape can be expected to be. I don't think this ever had a proper cover art (I think the old pic of Wrath on B.D. site for this release is just a placeholder) so I slapped the last band logo there. Black Dawn's music on this recording has already evolved a bit, adding some synth to their black/death metal hybrid. I'm thinking I might hear some influence of that other band on these songs but that could be just me. Anyways, it's not as brutal as "Blood for Satan" and of course not as outlandish as the later developments. If you enjoy the other Black Dawn material, I'm pretty sure you'll like this one too. If you don't like other Black Dawn material, there's still a chance you might like this recording so give it a try in any case. And if you don't like black/death metal at all, why the hell are you reading this blog?

Fullmoon - Rehearsals 95 & 97

Fullmoon - Instrumental Rehearsals 1995 & 1997
1) The Pagan Mountain
2) Blood for Immortality
3) Luciferian Supreme Darkness
4) Warcrimer (Guitar only)
5) Warcrimer (Guitar only - Different version)
6) Warcrimer

Depositfiles

More rehearsal material, this one contributed by another old maniac who has been going through his tape collection, ripping certain items and has kindly donated me a bunch of them. We'll start with the legendary Fullmoon, famous in certain circles and infamous in others. Do not let your political correctness make you shy away from this band, because you'll miss some of the best Polish black metal. This tape contains rehearsal material from 1995 & 1997, some of it probably familiar from other rips but some of the material is exclusive to this. As far as we know, the guitar only versions of Warcrimer haven't been available previously.

The sound differs quite a bit as the tracks were recorded at different times. The first two tracks I presume were the 1995 recordings and unfortunately the sound is concentrated almost fully to the left speaker. Which is kind of ironic. The rest are in better balance. The track 5 seems to run slowed down for part of the duration and there is a small amount of background noise throughout the entire tape, clearest evident during the first two tracks. Other than those issues, the rehearsals have a good sound and the songs are obviously brilliant. It's a shame Fullmoon never made an album. Recommended for collectors of Polish black metal, nsbm-enthusiasts, Fullmoon fans and other maniacs.

Thy Serpent - Rehearsal 1992

Thy Serpent - Rehearsal 1992
1) Untitled I
2) Untitled II
3) Untitled III

Replaced!

Staying in Finland but moving from one Serpent to another and switching genres on the way, here's a quite rare VERY early rehearsal tape from Thy Serpent which I had actually ripped already long time ago but forgotten on my external HD. Well, better a bit later than not at all I guess. I got this one also from Sami sometime in 1995/1996 and these are tracks recorded actually before the band had a name, if I recall correctly. The songs didn't have names either.

Three very short songs here, obviously cruder than the later Thy Serpent material and more black metal (you can hear the occasional Satan and Lucifer and yes there are vocals) yet still there are details already pointing to what direction the music would progress. The sound isn't bad at all and the rip is quite good too. Obvious historical value aside, this is recommendable for people into early Finnish bm scene, Thy Serpent fans and collectors of rehearsal tapes.

UPDATE: I've ripped this again, download replaced with the latest rip. Higher bitrate, generally a little better than the previous version.

Goat Serpent - Trident demo 1994

Goat Serpent (fin) - Trident demo 1994
1) A Trident in Blue
2) Griefblown
3) Lost Servant in Misery
4) Fields of Wrath

Depositfiles

We stay with death metal for a while longer, this time we've the only demo of Finland's Goat Serpent which I received (once again) from brother Grev so I'll need to thank him for the dub and cover scan first. Thanks!

Ok, to music: four tracks of Finnish death metal, mostly in midtempo so a little step forward from the death/doom of previous posts one might say. Not a big step though as the tempo is kind of slow midtempo to not very fast midtempo. Well, works for me! The sound is a mixture of elements of Finnish and Swedish early 90's death metal and some keyboards are used. Very little, don't worry. The Swedish influences would be more Entombed than Gothenburg melo-style and I find this preferable. Recommended!

Chained And Desperate - Greaving for the Lost Sun demo 1994

Chained And Desperate - Greaving for the Lost Sun demo 1994
1) Intro: Hopeless / Chained And Desperate
2) Waterfalls
3) Greaving for the Lost Sun
4) The Eternal Darkness of Happiness

Mediafire

More death/doom and a demo I spent quite a long time searching for: the second demo (and I'd say first proper) of Chained And Desperate, whose later material I've already posted in the blog. Notice that this demo is quite different from their later (and current, I presume) material which is pagan metal close to the classic Greek black metal sound, while this one is closer to old Nightfall than Rotting Christ. Earlier this year I finally happened to find a copy of this demo, to my delight and relief since it had been eluding me for about 15 years already and this here is now a rip of that tape, naturally with cover scans. Notice that the image in the post is not the tape cover, but the cover image of the little booklet included. I was merely feeling artsy and inverted the colors and posterised it. Below is the actual cover image for the cassette.


Ok enough of my inane ramblings, is it any good and more notably worth obsessing 15 years for? Well, yes and no: it's a pretty good demo of very Greek-sounding death/doom in its own and certainly a great progression from the preceeding effort but I must honestly say I prefer the material that followed this. But I'm still very happy I managed to find this tape. I'd say the first track and the title track work best for me. Oh yeah, the sound quality is fairly good - the tape is in good shape but the sound of the demo itself is not exactly perfect. But it does well enough and of course the sound has its own charm. Recommended for fans of the band, Greek metal collectors and death/doom listeners who can stomach underground demo sound. Note also that the band has completed the recordings of their 2nd album - I'm certainly curious to hear that!

Asafated - Kaybolmuş Masumiyet (1995)

Asafated - Kaybolmuş Masumiyet CassLP 1995
1) Lost Innocense
2) Lonely
3) Violent Desires
4) Humanity Landscape
5) Goner
6) Divine Suffocation
7) 7

Reuploaded

Ok, let's do some death/doom for change: first here's the only full-lenght by the Turkish Asafated whose demo I posted earlier here. This album was released (as far as I know) only on cassette and my dub is probably from an original, courtesy of a tape trading. No covers then, so once again a M.A. image is used.

The sound is pretty good and so is the rip quality if you don't count a little flaw in the first track. The album contains the demo songs re-recorded and 3 new ones. Music is basically death metal, some tracks with doomy touches and generally more in the midtempo region. Lyrics would seem to be more at home in the death/doom category than true death metal if you know what I mean. Not a bad little album, give it a try if you liked the demo.

Black Dawn - Rehearsal 1993

Black Dawn (fin) - Eläköön Saatana! Rehearsal Tape 1993
1) Gates of Wisdom
2) Eläköön Saatana!
3) Enter the Eternal Night
4) Forever Rotting Nazarene
5) Ave Satanas
6) 13 Candles (Bathory cover)

Reuploaded

Here's an old rehearsal tape of Finnish Black Dawn, known these days as The True Black Dawn. But I've told you about them before, so let's get to the point. I got a dub of this tape, for which "Eläköön Saatana!" is an unofficial title, from comrade Grev so thanks to him again. This rehearsal tape dates somewhere between the name change (from Nocturnal Feast, not the "The True..." edit) and the "War Against Christians" demo, from which songs are present too. Style is obviously same as on the demos, sound naturally rougher as it is a rehearsal tape and some of the tracks are played differently. Interestingly a cover of Bathory's 13 Candles is included - the vocalist Cindergrin (aka Wrath)'s better known other band would also do this cover later.

Grev was worried about the sound quality of his ancient, moldy and cobweb-covered tape but I think it turned out fine. Rehearsal tapes aren't famed for crystal clear sounds in the first place and there isn't much blemish on the tape so I'd say it sounds quite good. Recommended for fans, collectors and all not too wimpy to listen to rehearsal tapes.