Cain - Child of Cold (1999)

Cain - Child of Cold cassette album 1999
1) Intro (The Rebirth)
2) Return with the Victory
3) Nibelung's Damnation
4) Child of Cold
5) Night Before the Execution
6) Barbaric Ritual
7) Outro (Cain)

Rusfolder / Mediafire

Non-metal material, an item sent by Eugene who runs a Russian dungeon synth VK page, thanks for the contribution! This is Cain, also from Russia, and this 1999 demo which could actually pass well for a cassette album. Seven tracks of which two are an intro and outro for a bit over 43 minutes and printed colour covers with barcodes and all. But since my contributor refers to this as a demo I'll take his word. Cover scans are included. UPDATE: Confirmed as a tape album!

So, do the sounds match the (semi-)pro looks? To a degree, yes. Personally I prefer underground keyboard music like dungeon synth to have a not too polished, sort of out-dated sound and this one does rather well in that department. Excellent, cheesy and casio-like sounds abound! Think of Varg's prison albums. Like Eugene says, this might not be 100% pure dungeon synth, parts of it are more "wintry" atmospheres while some are in almost martial vein like "Return with the Victory", mostly due the percussion. Thankfully there are no vocals to mar the experience, I really prefer my ds instrumental or with very, very sparingly used voices. The easiest name to drop here is, like I actually already did, Burzum circa "Dauði/ Hliðskjálf" which I grew to love from initial dislike/-belief. Like those albums, this starts to sound better after a few listens. Only real complaints are the very brief but still distinct enough mobile phone disturbance on track 5 and track 6 dragging on for a touch too long. Worth checking out if you're into the genre and/or enjoy the synth Burzum.

Putrefied Compilation Tape (1993)

Various Artists - Putrefied Compilation tape (1993)
1) Beyond Dawn - The Underworld / The Mourner
2) Solemn - Beautiful Surroundings
3) Organic Infest - Lust for Flesh
4) Absolution - In Eternal Service
5) Pleuritic - Endless Pleuritic
6) Cradle of Filth - The Raping of Faith
7) Impaled Nazarene - Condemned to Hell
8) Chapel of Rest - Intro / World Graveyard
9) Iconoclast - Apocryphal Sleep Gethsemane
10) Son of Dog - Crucify the Demi-Gorgon
11) Burial - Intro / Impending Writ of the Last Rites
12) Morbid Symphony - Evil Cares for Its Own
13) Cradle of Filth - As Deep as Any Burial / Franternally Yours, 666 (Outro)

Mediafire / Depositfiles

Another contribution today and a compilation tape which haven't been really too plentiful here I think. This was sent again by comrade Ruptured Souls (thank you) and I don't really have that much background info on it, expect that it's from (probably early) 1993, from the UK and features almost an hour of various sorts of death metal by a dozen different bands, most like Solemn, Burial or the rather well-known Cradle of Filth hailing also from the United Kingdom and the rest mostly European, from the Italian Iconoclast to Finland's Pleuritic and ImpNaz, the exceptions being Puerto Rican Organic Infest and US Son of Dog. Well, that's quite international already. I don't recall where RS had dug this up, but thanks to the original uploader. Alas, not much of a cover scan for this but an image is better than nothing. See an edited version above.

I'm not going to go in depth analysis with each track here, considering these are almost all originally demo material the sound quality is decent if a bit uneven, the rip is quite good with a little wear audible but that merely adds character, no? I said earlier this features death metal and that is really most accurate catch-all description here. Some lean a bit towards death/doom while others sound significantly more blackened. Should be a quite interesting listen if you enjoy old compilations and/or death metal.

Near Dark #4 / Goetia #3

Near Dark, issue 4 / Goetia, issue 3 split-magazine (1996)
Interviews - Near Dark:
Bathory
Opeth
The Darksend
Mefisto
Headbangers Against Disco
A Mind Confused
Lake of Tears
Ungod
+ reviews and "Bizarre" page of film reviews
Interviews - Goetia:
Pentacle
Bifrost
Revelation
Therion
Temperance
The Marble Icon
The Moaning
Evoken
Misanthropy Records
Tomas Nyqvist (Putrefaction 'zine / No Fashion recs)
+ reviews

Reuploaded

It is time to do some contributions again and also about time to post a 'zine. This one was sent to me by comrade Kurgan, thank you for your offer to the Coven and is quite a rare sight, a split 'zine! Featured are the fourth effort of Near Dark, also the only one I've seen and probably will and the third Goetia, you might remember that one from this post. The split totals 52 pages, if you count the covers, and features some waste of space on the ND side with full-page flyers and distrolist, Goetia side is similar to previous issue so efficient use of space and more content for the allocated page count. Overall, like with split albums both sides end up a bit short of a "full" fanzine.

Like already said, this is my first touch with Near Dark 'zine and I'm not very much into their side here. With the exception of German Ungod their pick of interviewees is all Swedish, which in itself is not necessarily very bad and I haven't actually seen these names that often in the 'zines I've been reading. Well, except for Bathory, whom I could never see enough even though the inties from the same era tend to be a little repetitive and Opeth whom I have seen often enough both in print and stage. Ironically the only foreigner featured here falls also into read 'em a hundred times category but at least the Ungod inties tend to be decent reads. The overall style of the ND editors is humorous, which doesn't really work for me in most 'zines, and embracing the hard-drinkin' hard-rockin' metalhead type which also is annoying, being sort of a semi-trend in Sverige back then. Makes us serious devil-worshipping monks frown in our dimly lit reading chambers. It isn't a black metal 'zine so I have to cut them slack I guess.

Goetia side pleases me more, especially since Niclas uses the same, cozy, familiar and safe lay-out. Better organized this time, I must mention, no more interviews continued at random parts of the 'zine. My only gripe is his growingly hostile approach to black metal and complete lack of such interviewees. Oh well, at least his picks, mostly in death, doom and death/doom genres are rather interesting. Misanthropy Records are also featured, probably the most often interviewed label in 'zines due having boobs and Burzum in my blunt opinion (the others most interviewed in my totally unscientific top 3 are Osmose and Avantgarde, because the latter being usually also MonumentuM interviews at the same time) and Tomas Nyqvist, infamous for his No Fashion Records and not nearly as often remembered as editor of Putrefaction 'zine, for which he is officially interviewed here for. I've never read an issue of that one either, would be curious to see a scan though so feel free to send me a link. Enought text from me, read what these people wrote instead.

Runemagic - Eternal War demo 1993

Runemagic - Eternal War demo 1993 (unreleased?)
1) Funeral Summoning
2) Semen of Sathanas
3) Eternal War
4) Behead the White Hordes
5) Entering the Land of the Moon God + Outro (cuts)

Yandex / Rusfolder

Here is another obscure metal post with which I could use some help with. This is, or should be, a 1993 demo by the Swedish band Runemagic, better known as Runemagick after their 1997 return. Unfortunately no discographies nor biographies mention this tape which I got from a tape trader circa '97. He was usually reliable so I'm sure he at least believed this to be Runemagic. Obviously there's no cover for this either so I made a placeholder using the logo from their 1992 "Fullmoon Sodomy" demo.

The music on this demo is slow to midtempo, quite melodic old-schoolish black (/death) metal so at least the style ought to match with older Runemagic material. I'd love to compare this with "Fullmoon Sodomy" but looks like I can't find that demo right now. The sound is very demoish and slightly muffled yet quite clean. A noticeable synth accompanies the music for most of the time but it's not overbearing enough to be distracting, well at least to my taste it isn't, it lends an occult aura similar to many mediterranean bands to the music. The main voice is not really a scream nor a growl but goes well with the music. Good stuff that makes me anxious to find the 1992 demo to see if it was similar. Not probably that interesting if you prefer the death metal Runemagick, but if you like the later doomy stuff this might please you as well.

Atanatos - Ancient Blood demo 1995

Atanatos - Ancient Blood demo 1995
1) The Truth
2) Dark Age
3) Pagan Punishment
4) Transmigration
5) Gate of Darkness
6) Heir of an Ancient Blood

Depositfiles / RGhost

Tomorrow is the fourth Black Flames of Blasphemy event in Helsinki which I'm going to attend so I thought I should post metal before I leave. Also, I have to catch up my quota of German demo posts so here's the first and only demo of Atanatos who are more or less active to this date with a trio of albums and a couple of other releases out. To be honest I haven't been really keeping up with them since 1998 so I can't say much of their later stuff. Atanatos was one of the bands signed on the infamous Last Episode label which wasn't exactly known for quality and were never that well known I suppose. My copy of the demo is an unknown generation traded dub but the sound and tape quality was decent enough so that's not an issue. No covers so stuck with a Metal Archives image again.

Six tracks might seem like a lot but as half of them are shorter than average it keeps the total duration at reasonable 22+ minutes. The music is basically black metal but with strong basic and thrash metal tendencies, I also get some Greek style vibes from this demo. Sound is okay if a little muffled and not very strong. Unfortunately this hasn't aged that well or my taste has shifted as I don't seem to like this nearly as much as I did back in the day. It's not really bad but neither is it very exciting. Collectors of German demos, underground enthusiasts and the curious should give it a try anyways.

Wejdas - Saulei tekant demo 1994

Wejdas - Saulei tekant demo II 1994
1) Saulėtekis Žalčių Duobėje - intro
2) Nešventinta Kova
3) Dvasregis
4) Čia Nebus Saulės (Istic)
5) Nuogas Tarp Vilkų
6) Paukštei...
7) Žemės Širdy - outro

Rusfolder / Mediafire

Some non-metal music for today, this is the (I think) second demo of Lithuanian Wejdas which you might remember from before. Considering the length of the release, more than 45 minutes, it could easily be called a cassette album, but fortunately the cover helpfully says demo '94 ending that debate. Like the first demo this one was sent to me by a reader, thank you for the contribution! Includes scans of the covers as well.

Much of what I wrote concerning the first demo applies here, though there's more of dungeon synth vibe to certain parts of this recording, like for example the second track. The third track again taking a different approach and the fourth one yet another, it's quite hard again to categorize this to a single subcategory of music. The melancholic 5th track with the guitar strumming meshes neofolk vibes with ambient and again dungeon synth-esque moods. Some of the tracks feature spoken vocals which work ok (for change), partly probably due them being in Lithuanian which I don't understand. Anyways, I like this demo and recommend you to check it out if you liked the previous one or enjoy dark ambient, dungeon synth or just atmospheric stuff in general.

Sorath - Horns of the Goat 7"EP 1994

Sorath (us) - Horns of the Goat 7"EP 1994
1) Flame of the Goat
2) The Moonlight Glittered Upon the Snow

Yandex / Mediafire

More Friday night filler follows, this time I'm posting black metal and the 7"EP by the US Sorath which often is considered to be a sort of pre-Black Funeral even though the Baron has disagreed on that in some interviews and both projects existed simultaneously for a time. But that's enough background banter... no it isn't, I should mention this is ripped from a cassette, not vinyl! Again. Cover images were sto...borrowed from Discogs.

As expected of 7"EP's, this release features only two tracks and is quite short, just over eight minutes. Which is quite average for two metal songs. Both tracks also appear on rehersal/demo 1994 but I'm not sure if they're from the same session or not as I don't have that one. The EP says these were recorded in October 1993 while rehearsal/demo only mentions winter 1993. The sound is quite rough and raw so these could easily be from that rehearsal session. There are some death metallish riffs present in Sorath's music which I have no problem with and the pace is either fast or slow, heavy midtempo. The Baron's vocals are the raspy shrieks and screams you remember from old Black Funeral but also added are some low growls which works. Thankfully brief narration also to start the second track. A good EP, would be nice to see a compilation of the Sorath material. Meanwhile try this if you like raw 90's black metal, usbm and so on.

Exitus - Statutum Est Hominibus Mori demo 1990

Exitus - Statutum Est Hominibus Mori demo 1990
1) The Metamorphosis / Black Heritage
2) Reprobate
3) A Light in the Darkness
4) Tears of Despair / Hymn to Sorrow
5) Thanatos

Rusfolder / Depositfiles

One more contribution, this one from brother SuuretMuinaiset, thanks alot for the rip! And yes, I know Svart Records just recently re-released a remastered version of this demo on vinyl but since brother SM went through the trouble of ripping me his copy I decided to post it anyways. Plus it's a pretty awesome demo if you like doom metal which is a little underrepresented genre here in the Coven is it not? Exitus was a pioneering Finnish band active around 1989 - 90 who played doom metal with touches of death and thrash, think Celtic Frost, Winter early Cathedral and so on, but leaning a bit more to the classic doom side. Ripped from an original tape, which I already mentioned but no cover scan as SM has no access to scanner at the moment, he did include a pic of the cover though, see below for a smaller version.

Very good sound, quite powerful but "airy" enough to sound really more like proper doom than death metal. I'm honestly not sure if remastering is even necessary but on the other hand I haven't heard the LP so let's not go there. Long tracks, as befits a doom band except for number 3 which is a brief, one minute interlude and as you might notice from the tracklisting, there are two more instrumentals that blend in with "proper" tracks and we didn't separate them here. I don't really have much to say here except that this is a pretty damn good demo and surely worth the re-release. Check it out if you like doom and if you have a vinyl player and won't get bankrupt by madly expensive postal charges buy the Svart release too!

Dysangelium - Demo I 1995

Dysangelium - Demo I 1995
1) Palace of Death
2) Unohdettu
3) Yksinäinen susi

Not available, get the better version here instead


Another contribution and an item that was sought for a fair time, 1st demo of Finnish project Dysangelium. And will remain sought as, let's get this right out of the way, this is terribly poor quality. Ok, not the rip itself which was sent by a contributor, thanks, but the dubbed tape was in awful condition. Passed through an unknown but larger than I'd prefer number of traders' hands the tape is worn and features the most annoying sort of imperfection in the form of wavy, warped sound caused by the stretched tape. There's probably a term for it in English which I'm too frustrated to search for. This goes on in the first track for over a minute after which it transforms more even, now only plagued by imperfections and occasional shifts in channel volume. The second track, which is basically a dungeon synth instrumental, suffers also from the choppy sound. Third one which I suppose was originally on B-side of the tape gets the whole works again meaning the first minute (a bit less here, actually) gets the wavy undulating annoyance before settling to the choppiness. So beware and if you have a better quality dub, rip or Satan forbid, an original copy get in touch as soon as possible!!! UPDATE: I have gotten a better version, this one is discontinued!

Now that I've moaned, whined and lamented about the horrible quality of the source tape I suppose I should say something about the actual content itself. Three long tracks of raw Finnish black metal... well let's just call it nsbm, it's pretty obvious looking at the cover isn't it? Not so obvious just listening to it though as it's not littered with samples of marches, speeches, panzers, Stukas, generic warfare noise or the usual quotees' one-liners. Sounds quite similar to Pervogoat, which was a related project and so an extremely easy name to drop. Like I actually already let slip in the first paragraph, the middle track is instrumental and could pass as dungeon synth. This would be a good listen if not for the piss-poor quality. However, interested parties will probably still want to check this out and join me in a teeth gritting listening experience.

Eldrich Palmer #5

Eldrich Palmer 'zine, issue 5 (June 1996)
Interviews:
Tenebris
de Volanges
Attrition
Omnivorous
En Garde
Oberon
If, Bwana
Inner Thought
Articles:
Raw Novembre / Aggressive Records
Into the Abyss
Black Flames Productions
+reviews

Mediafire

Today's post is the second issue of the Polish fanzine Eldrich Palmer I have, though it certainly isn't the second but fifth issue editor Krzysztof Sadza released. Like the fourth issue here, this is A5 (which is a size I enjoy both for compact feel and easiness of scanning) xeroxed, cut-and-paste layout, typewriter written and still very underground looking. And I still love 'zines like this. The roster is again on the odd side and this time with even less known names. Probably. See the post on the fourth issue for further background babbling if you need, otherwise download and read this. Or wait for the next entry.