Root - The Black Storm of Root live 1990

Root - The Black Storm of Root live 1990
1) Intro I
2) Intro II
3) Výslech
4) Upálení
5) Píseň pro Satana
6) 666
7) Satan's March [short version]
8) 7 černých Jezdců / Král Dogra
9) Cesta zkázy
10) Hřbitov

Rusfolder / Mediafire

The Darkness Festival V is held now on Friday 30th, as part of Denial Of God's Finnish tour. To celebrate me attending this event I decided to upload another live recording scavenged from my traded tapes, this is again Root from Czech Republic and another live from 1990. The setlist is a bit different compared to the previous one I from the same year I posted, don't know which one is earlier, or venue or much else to be honest. Didn't have a tracklisting either but at least that I managed to figure out. I'm pretty sure this was released on VHS, whether it was a bootleg or some sort of actual release I haven't a clue but no discographies list it so I'm leaning to unofficial here. Naturally no cover could be found so I made my own borrowing the border/frame from the 1990 7"EP, artwork on that was credited to mr. František Štorm of Master's Hammer, so I suppose I should credit him too.

If we leave the intros out, this set has roughly the same duration as the "Festival Death & Fire Explosion" gig. The sound is different this time around, I suppose "worse" might be a correct description as while the "Festival..." sounded pretty much like a soundboard recording this is obviously an audience recording, with fuzzier guitars and generally sounding less clean and sort of distant. But on the other hand there's more rawness and echo to it, making it a slightly more vicious. Clean enough to enjoy if you like old Root and shame on you if you don't!

Eldrich Palmer IV

Eldrich Palmer 'zine, issue 4 (1995)
Interviews:
Into The Abyss
Release
Crack Up
Venus Fly Trap
Amor Committed Suicide
Metalmorphosis
Die Verbannten Kinder Evas
Slave One
General Bomb Machine
Elbereth
Darkside
Desultory
Immolation
+ article on Gorkon Recordings, news, reviews

Reuploaded

I wanted to post another 'zine and I don't think most of you have ever heard of this little (32 A5 pages) Polish fanzine? I got from somewhere two issues of this and on whim scanned them one boring summer night at work. It was made by a fellow called Krzysztof Sadza and had a run of at least five issues (I've IV & V), this one and possibly the previous ones too being still quite metal-centered but with some gothic and darkwave thrown in. Being a fanboy I was obviously delighted to spot a DVKE interview here. The following issue sails right off the waters charted by the Coven navy but might still be interesting to some readers. More about that when I post it, back to this one. Very underground, old school 'zine look, written with a typewriter, cut-and-paste layout and xeroxed at questionable quality. Tästä minä nautin! So no fancy background images under text, dozen different fonts, clean and professional printing on expensive paper or anything like that. Consider that both a warning and a recommendation. Funny how I find myself enjoying 'zines like this and for example Blokong or Pure Fucking Hell much more than the more polished, fancier efforts. Ok, the xerox quality makes some pages hard to read. Recommended reading if you happen to like the bands featured and/or like old fashioned fanzines.

Mayhem / Zyklon-B - Split 7"EP 1999

Mayhem / Zyklon-B - Necrolust / Total Warfare Split 7"EP 1999
Mayhem:
1) Necrolust (Unreleased Studio Version)
Zyklon-B:
2) Total Warfare (Sea Serpent Remix)

Yandex / Depositfiles

I decided to upload yet another of these 7" splits, this one pretty pointless since several rips have been floating around for the longest time. But since I came across a tape where I had dubbed my copy of this vinyl back in the old days and ripped it I thought I might just as well post it too. So here we have a pair of well-known Norwegian names doing what Norwegians do very well, cashing in. Scans of both sides included, there was no cover or sheet with this.

Ripped from a dub of an original EP it sounds good and both are studio efforts so no worries in that department. The I used tape seemed to have been pretty new too, no wear and tear that I'd notice. Mayhem gives us a re-recording of Necrolust from "Deathcrush" - says here unreleased studio version but wasn't this already on the (well, very limited) 1997 EP "Ancient Skin"? Or am I supposed to believe they re-recorded the same track again at a later session? Well, I know the return era Mayhem had an unhealthy obsession with the old stuff (was tempted to use another word there), skipping DMDS but that would be ridiculous. The track? If you like Maniac and "Wolf's Lair Abyss" you'll like this version. Zyklon-B's track is just a remix of the track from mini, adding some samples and effects mostly from what I hear. This doesn't make it radically different nor really better or worse. Worth a listen but I wouldn't cough up cash for this unless you're a really, really fanatic vinyl collector.

Penitent - Demo 1995

Penitent - Demo 1995
1) Intro
2) Stille
3) Veien
4) I det uendelige
5) Victory
6) Outro

RGhost / Mediafire

Today's item is non-metal material for change, once again a contribution by brother Wehrwolf, thank you! Norway's Penitent could be a familiar name to at least some of you, having released a bunch of albums between 1996 and 2007. This here is their 1995 demo, of which I know at least one rip has been around but since this is a rip directly from an original tape I decided to feature it. There were apparently (at least) two different versions of the demo, with minor variations to the cover and some (this one) came with a lyrics booklet. I don't think they sound different though. Full scans included.

I remember not liking Penitent too much back in the late 90's and haven't really listened to their later material either. There was something annoying about them back then and I'm not too keen on spoken vocals over keyboard music either but now that I listen to this demo after a long time (I had a dub of this myself but haven't seen that tape around for a while) I seem to enjoy it a lot more than what I recall. Darkwave/ambient with gothic and neoclassical feel and like mentioned, spoken voices on top of it. Somehow it might distract me less as almost all the lyrics here are in Norwegian. I suppose I need to give their albums another shot, why don't you try this demo if interested in this sort of music?

Maze Of Cako Torments - The Demonic Songs of Yellow Water demo 1997

Maze Of Cako Torments - The Demonic Songs of Yellow Waters demo III (?) 1997
1) The Seaweeds
2) Possessed by Smog
3) The Shaft
4) Kalaki opiumis sizmarshi (1996)
5) Whisper of Grass
6) Niavi gavs cechls (1996)
7) Dance of the Frozen Fingers

Mediafire / Depositfiles

Here is another contribution sent me by the same person who ripped the Occult live tape. Thanks again to him for his efforts to the cause. Maze Of Cako Torments was a rather obscure band/project by a Russian fellow Sergei Sushkov who lived(/s?) in Latvia and apparently released three tapes, this being the third and last one. As far as we know, that is. I've been wanting to hear the demos for years since I first spotted the band name on... wherever it was but circa 1997 I think! I actually heard the music for the first time on Tales of Ancient Lakes compilation which I got... between 1998 - 2000 probably, which featured a remix of the sixth track from this demo, and it took me until this year to finally score this demo here. About time I'd say. No cover scans, sadly, but I borrowed the cover image seen above from M.A. and a more or less full cover scan from Demo Archives, included in the download.

So what is it like, other than elusive? Well, since both of the already familiar compilation tracks are from this demo you might have an idea - atmospheric opening part leads to heavier main body characterized by the very obviously programmed drums, varying harsh vocals sometimes accompanied by extra voice(s), sometimes not, all sounding somewhat odd and a little off. Not all tracks follow that pattern, for example the third and fourth are very different. I've seen this categorized as industrial black metal but I wouldn't label it so based on just drum computer and the occasional effects used on vocals but naturally opinions may differ. I suppose experimental black metal isn't completely correct either but hits close to the mark as this is rather unorthodox stuff. By the way, I'm not sure if the cover has a typo or not, seeing as the second track is titled here "Possessed by Smog" while on the Beverina compilation (released before this tape) it was "...by Smaug - the Dragon" or was it perhaps changed for some reason? Considering the mention of Sauron in the lyrics and "Smog" written with capital letter (as a name would be) and other words with small I'm led to believe it was supposed to be "Smaug" here too.

The rip isn't from an original but a dub which fortunately is pretty good quality. The volume is rather low, I should have adjusted it a little. The demo itself sounds a bit murky but not disturbingly so, it kind of adds to the atmosphere in my opinion. I've managed to score the second demo from 1996 too, will post that in near future, so now I only need the 1995 "Dabalibula" to be in peace with myself over this. Recommended if you enjoy unusual and somewhat experimental black metal based stuff with some crudeness to it.

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.

Immanis - Aegri Somnia CassEP 1996

Immanis - Aegri Somnia cassette EP 1996
1) Wraiths of Sorrow
2) The Wanderer of Night
3) Piękno gotyckiej ruiny
4) Dreams of Insane One
5) Luna i wrzask
6) A Passage
7) A Mummified Key to Outer Worlds of...

RGhost / Yandex

Oh boy, Friday night with Polish vodka and Polish black metal blazing in the speakers made me feel like posting something of the sort here. As no-one cares to look at pictures of vodka bottles and the content can't (yet) be ripped to digital form I guess I'm stuck with music. Unfortunately I don't have that many rips of exciting Polish material at hand and I don't post new stuff like Plaga, Cultes Des Ghoules or Mgła so I suppose we'll settle for this cassette EP from Immanis who were one of the lesser known 90's bands and not exactly a TTF favourite if I recall right. Tape trader stuff, so no covers. One image is from M.A. and the one below elsewhere, don't remember where.

Seven tracks might seem like a lot but there's "only" a bit over 18 minutes of music here as three of them are intros/interludes and the rest vary between 02:37 to 05:01 in duration. The second image displays a pretty professional looking release but soundwise this is (like often is the case with tape EPs) close to a demo recording. Some of it probably has to do with the dub quality as well, unfortunately. All instruments are audible enough, including keyboards and bass but something annoys me. It's probably the drum sound. Vocalist does kind of shouty version of bm vocals and I'm not sure if I dislike it, seem to be bothered by him on some bits while elsewhere he sounds ok. The music is melodic, not overtly sugar-coated so and has some of that pagan black metal vibe to it too, the riff on the second track sounds similar to something from either an Ohtar or Selbstmord song, can't remember which one it was now. Might be the vodka screwing with me too. Better than I remembered and seems to improve as it plays on but you'd better listen for yourself as I'm not very trustworthy witness right now.

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!

Syphilis Newsletter #2 & #3

Syphilis newsletter, issue 2 (late 1994?)
Interview:
Sigh
Articles:
Ancient
Drogheda
"The Italian Assault" scene report 1994
+ (old) news, reviews

Syphilis newsletter, issue 3 (November 1995)
Interview:
Thy Serpent
Articles:
Crystal Age
Mortal Agony
Callenish Circle
+ more old news, reviews

Yandex

Let's do something different for today. Ok, not that different really. Here's two issues of Finnish Syphilis newsletter which I came across while looking for some 'zine or another and decided to scan them along with some proper 'zines. "Uncle, what are newsletters?" are the younger readers probably asking now. Well, they were like little 'zines, ranging between 1 to 10 pages, most typically in the 2-6 pages range I think, supposed to be released more often or quicker than 'zines and usually contained news, that to be frank tended to be getting old even back then, some reviews and interview(s) or article(s) or both. You see, back then not everyone and their mother had high speed internet access so things like these were at least somewhat valid sources of (mis)information and news. These ones are four pages for #2 and six for #3.

I never actually had any issues of the Syphilis 'zine, sadly, and am not sure how I got these newsletters. Probably ordered them from him after seeing a flyer or something, you could typically get these with a return stamp or something like that back then. Or people might add these to whatever they were sending you in the first place, like flyers. I got some like that. As for the content, the articles are ok, mostly expanded bios really. The scene report is made by Max of Eternal Rest Promotion and is death metal oriented, giving some details of a bunch of bands while just name dropping some more (including several which really seemed worth more attention to me). Reviews and interviews are ok if not highest peaks of journalism. But I've written enough, read 'em for yourself if you're interested. And I wouldn't mind scans of the actual Syphilis 'zine.

Kulukhai - Promo Tape '93

Kulukhai - Promo Tape '93
1) Guided by the True Lord... Satan!
2) Following the Light into the Artificial Horizon

Yandex / RGhost

Today we've another contribution, this one from a reader who prefers to remain anonymous. Thanks for ripping this tape and scanning the cover, much appreciated! Danish black metal scene was always rather limited, being basically Denial Of God and a bunch of others, usually quite short-lived bands or projects. This is one of those and as far as I know Kulukhai (at last a name no-one else used!) released only this very short promo tape before vanishing from the radar.

As for the content, like you can see above it's two tracks and both are short, for a playtime of less than five minutes. Music is of the crude, raw and barbaric sort with a primitive yet very clear sound. Quite bass heavy, percussion mostly drowning behind the strings and dual vocals, sounds slightly like a mixture of old Barathrum, Bestial Summoning, Impaled Nazarene and uh... very early Absurd? Or similar lo-fi Germans. As an interesting detail, the bands' instrumentalits Lord Evil and Gnosis Seuaton switch duties between the tracks, which you can actually hear from the performance. Ugly, obscure, barbaric and almost grotesque little tape. Obviously necessary listening for all into primitive black metal.

Hoarfrost - Simony demo 1996

Hoarfrost (uk) - Simony demo 1996
1) Intro. Lindisfarne
2) On the Shores of Slain Images
3) The Unearthly Flesh
4) Infinite Mists
5) Simony
6) Outro. Hermetic Paths

Mediafire / Rusfolder

More UK black metal and another obscure unit, apparently a one-demo-wonder again, Hoarfrost from Abingdon. Or Oxon, not very good with the UK addresses. Well, wherever, this is their late 1996 demo and ripped from a dub my trader chum sent and unfortunately I don't have a proper cover scan, just a scan of the xerox I got from him. The original cover is in colour, from what I could make out of the M.A. image. 

This is another of those album length demos with a playtime of over 42 minutes and looking at the tracklisting you might have noticed it's six tracks, two out of which are an intro and outro so the actual songs are long, between 8½ to 9½ minutes each. It manages to sound quite epic and crude at the same time, thanks to programmed drums and demo sound. More Thy Repentance than Caladan Brood, so to say. I didn't listen to this much back then but now that I'm giving it (almost) all of my attention again I have to say it sounds better than I remembered. Still not something I'd rush to repress on CD and vinyl or spam forums with but listenable. Right, I'm going to give them another chance, why don't you try it too?

Dusk - Where Dreams Bleed promo 1998

Dusk (pak) - Where Dreams Bleed promo 1998
1) Await Thy Doom
2) Mass Grave

Rusfolder / Yandex

Here's something slightly more exotic: death/doom metal from Pakistan. That's one country not really known for its extreme metal scene. Unfortunately their band name is again far from unique but at least there's not like 5 or 10 countrymates to mix them up with. These guys are still around, I believe, though their music has evolved from the death/doom of earlier releases to more progressive metal and apparently most recently gotten thrashier vibe to it. Even though I've only heard their doomy sounds and possibly a track or two of the more progressive stuff. But this promo tape I ordered from the band back in 1998 or maybe early 1999 after spotting their flyer, mainly because it seemed so exotic, I'll be first to admit. So ripped from an original copy and with a cover scan.

Two tracks for a little over eleven minutes of death/doom metal with a quite primitive demo sound which however is very... uh, audible and airy but kinda lacking in the heaviness department. But it sort of fits with the music and the whispering vocals they employ besides the death metal belches. It's not right away bringing anyone to my mind but I'm sure I'll read a few accurate comparisons in the comments very soon to snap my fingers whilst frowning with annoyance "how didn't I think of them?" - you know the drill. Oh, earlier Anathema might be a name to drop now that I've sat here for a while. But I got things to do and food to cook so enough typing, download it already.

Thus Defiled - Blasphemous Coven demo 1993

Thus Defiled - Blasphemous Coven demo I 1993
1) Intro
2) Invocation
3) Desolation of Twilight
4) Ascend...

Yandex

Here's something I very seldom do, a repost of something from another blog, this is the first Thus Defiled demo ripped by Matt Witchclan and originally posted on The Woodman's Axe here. As it seems Matt's not active at the moment I thought I'd help comrade Ruptured Souls out and post the demo here. So thanks to Witchclan again for the original rip and cover scan!

Thus Defiled, name taken from a line in Venom lyrics, started by playing a mixture of death and black metal before evolving to a more black metal oriented sound on second album or so, I'll check that later and edit this. This demo consist of a very long intro (over 6 minutes of the little less than 17 min playing time!) and three tracks of mostly quite brutal black/death metal but it does have some breaks and tempo changes too so it's not just all in your face. The rip is good but the sound volume could be a bit higher. Well, check it out if you like their other material and/or old schoolish black(/death) metal.

Arca Funebris - Inhuman (2000)

Arca Funebris - Inhuman cassette album 2000
1) Dark Ivory Shining
2) The Flamekeeper
3) One Single Light
4) The Portal
5) Near Aldebaran
6) Future Looks Black

Mediafire / Depositfiles

I think it is time I post some non-metal material again and here's another contribution by brother Wehrwolf, the other project of Mikołaj Żentara from Kriegsmachine and Mgła, Arca Funebris. Ripped from his tape and with a cover scan. Thanks again for the contribution!

Some of you probably remember the other project Leichenhalle by the same gentleman, posted here. Well this one is more of dark ambient/black industrial sort of material, "isolationist black industrial" he refers to it on the cassette inlay. Brooding and dark soundscapes, quite minimalistic and slow, lenghty tracks. It feels more ambient than industrial even though the hum of the industries of inferno is ever present. Sinister, but not for the impatient folks I suppose, worth checking out if you're into dark ambient.