Resistencia 88 - A Nova Ordem demo '97

Resistencia 88 - A Nova Ordem demo 1997
1) Hino Ao Führer (Intro)
2) Ziklon-B
3) Orgasm of War
4) Império Facista
5) Junto a Longa Glória (Outro)

Depositfiles / Zippyshare

Once again I've overcome the madness of midsummer celebrations and it is time to resume posting. In the spirit of summer heat I decided to continue the southern contributions with another one by comrade unholydeath. Thanks as always! This one is a bit different from the previous, though the language remains same, for here we have Resistencia 88 heiling from Brazil with their only demo from 1997. They, or more accurately he (yes, another solo project), changed name to Command and released more demos and an album between '99 and '04. Our man Herr Wolf is probably best known from Evil but also plays in Ritualmurder and Hammergoat which I'm personally not familiar with.

Ok, no doubts about the ideological direction on this one as a single look at the cover art tells and the intro, a typical march sample, verifies it. The three proper tracks that follow are all raw and quite short, especially as "Orgasm of War" devotes almost a third of its running time to, you probably guessed it, a Hitler sample. Pretty sure it's him. "Império Facista" has another sample, though that's not Adolf this time I think? Anyways, that leaves the song proper at same two minutes time as the previous one. Outro is a short hymnic sample. I like the sound, it's raw and cavernous, but not at all a mess. The second track "Ziklon-B" is easily best of the bunch, having most meat around the bones and no sample attached, followed by "Império..." which is enjoyably frantic and aggressive. I don't seem to remember if I've heard any Command material or not but better fix that, this is quite good! Recommended for people into raw (ns) black metal, provided you can stand the ol' samples. I know I could do without them.

Exstinctio Sensus #2

Exstinctio Sensus fanzine, issue 2 (1996)
Interviews:
Solistitium Records
Ildfrost
Nattvindens Gråt
Penitent
Einherjum magazine
Funerary Call
Wintergods
Windir
Inherit
Perunwit
Fimbul
Melek Taus
Dimmu Borgir
Kampfar
Gehenna
Dead Christ Commune
Covenant
Helheim
Near Dark mag & prod.
Hefeystos
December's Fire
Empyrium
Skogen magazine
Forgotten Woods
Articles/Bios/Featurettes:
Silence
Blazing Eternity
The Lord
Dagor
Theatres des Vampires
Apolokia
Prophecy
Beseech
Vladimir
+ lyric/poem "Lethalspell" and a page of reviews, English translations for Nattvindens Gråt lyrics

Mega

I'm going to travel to Nummirock for usual midsummer hijinks already tomorrow morning so I thought I'd leave you with some reading. Remember Exstinctio Sensus issue 1? Well, here is the second issue! Thanks to our comrade Kurgan for contributing this to me, much appreciated. Scan quality can be blamed again on me.

The second issue features a bigger number of interviews as seen above, despite being a solo effort this time, except for some art contributions. I must say with regret that the 'zine follows the typical patters of the time; where the first issue was clearly a black metal fanzine made with certain enthusiasm and drive the second one goes on to expand onto non-metal music (not a bad thing itself, good to see someone other than Mortiis represented) and the editor is all jaded and fed up with the commercial and trendy scene. It's amusing how the editor explains his idea to include non-band interviews (which I think is a bad idea as most are not at all interesting) to do "a more interesting range" and "not counting typical inties with Metalion, Osmose..." and then he has Solistitium which appeared in every other 'zine at the time (nothing against Carsten but enough is enough), possibly more than Herve & Osmose did, and Odinn of Einherjum. I'm rolling my eyes so hard it takes effort to remain seated. And he also goes on about commercialism, popularization of black metal and money-hungry bands (avoiding name dropping though) and then has both Dimmu Borgir and Covenant, how ironic is that?

Despite all my kvetching this is still well above average 'zine, nice and clear (non-computer) layout, actually interesting bands featured among the usual publicity hunters (for example Wintergods and Funerary Call make a "proper" appearance here after being featured with articles in the previous issue). Of the non-band interviews D.C.C. and Sascha of Skogen are most interesting. The band articles are a bit on the short side but at least not just copied bios. Wintergods interview made me want to hear the three tracks that were supposed to be on the EP, apparently they sent it out as advance tape/promo. But enough from me, I must resume packing.

Dethroned - In the Sign of the Pentagram demo '97

Dethroned - In the Sign of the Pentagram demo V 1997
1) Hoffnunslosigkeit
2) Resnu Retav
3) Ereschkigal
4) In the Sign of Pentagram
5) Hymn to My Horned Leades
6) Die Schlacht in Hredvard
7) The Final War

Mediafire / Zippyshare

I wanted to do another German item, this time black metal and it is an old sending courtesy of brother Baldemar which I meddled a little with, thank you for the original rip and scan! I know this fifth tape, fourth demo (one was a promo tape) of Dethroned is kind of unnecessary as it was included complete on the compilation CD of the same name released by Dominance of Darkness back in 2008, but I just happen to like it a lot and this is a good opportunity to request the other, older tapes which were not featured on that disc. I still strongly encourage you to support DoD and pick up the compilation, either physical or from Bandcamp.

So if you have any of the '95 - '96 tapes let me know, here they are for your reference:
'95: "Finsternis"
'96: "Corpus Dei", "Dungeons of Darkness" and Promotape '96
'98: "Christentod" could just as well request this one too.

Ok, back to the contents. Seven songs but they're all very compact, ranging from less than two minutes to just over three and half. All are very catchy and melodic sort of black metal with plenty of straight up heavy metal riffs included which this time around is pretty awesome since they just seem to blend there so naturally instead of all the bad retro amalgam crap. Take a listen to the start of the (almost) title track, it's practically NWOBHM! Some of you might be interested knowing the band included Corneus of Grausamkeit and ton of side projects infame in its line up. That's enough, I like this a lot and recommend it if you like raw(-ish) black metal with underground production and can stomach melodic, heavy metal parts. Must have more.

Alviss - Fafnir demo I '96 (?)

Alviss - Fafnir demo I 1995 or 1996?
1) Eternal Forest
2) Aura
3) Übermensch

RGhost / Sendspace

It's already Sunday again, time passes faster than necessary. Let us chill then with some German dungeon synth contributed by, once again, brother LKS. Thank you! This is the first demo by the rather obscure Alviss of which I know practically nothing about and the covers aren't helping much. Just the band name, demo title, "demo I" and tracklisting. And some "borrowed" Tolkien art for cover and a sunwheel symbol inside. I was supposed to post this already long, long ago but had issues dividing it into tracks.

This is a very short demo, a bit less than eight minutes for the three tracks which also again blend into each other except where they don't; there's an unfortunate cassette-related fail on the second song "Aura" with the sound dropping out for almost two seconds. I included a "fixed" version with simply the blank bit removed but that does not sound right either. Blessed tapes, have I cursed them often enough already? So unless the artist originally managed to botch up all the demos I'd appreciate a rip with unblemished audio.

Music itself is minimalistic, simple and purely instrumental dungeon synth. That probably does not read as a very exciting description but once I got over the track division issues and the audiofail on "Aura" I've found myself enjoying this probably more than I should. Why not try it if you like minimalist one-man forest ambient?

UPDATE: I've been told that the Alviss material is to be re-released this year so look forward to that! I will return with further info once I learn more about it.

Twilight - The Melancholy of Northern Landscapes demo '95

Twilight (swe) - The Melancholy of Northern Landscapes demo II 1995
1) The Spirit
2) Wings Turn to Ashes
3) My Final Rest
4) A Dream of Winter...Dying
5) The Dragon Legions
6) Outro

4shared / Mega

Time for some Swedish/Finnish melodic slightly blackened death metal, what do you say? Well, it doesn't matter since that's what we're having now, here is another (already old) collaboration between yours truly and brother Grev who dubbed me this second demo of Swedish Twilight, later Unbound and still later Deathbound. The nationality thing is a bit tricky, seeing that it was formed in Sweden by Finns, ok well they did have Swedes in the band too and eventually relocated to Finland after the second name change. Better not stick to that, let's just call this a Swedish-Finnish joint effort. Grev had a traded dub of this so we've no cover art, just another stamp size pathetic excuse of an image from the Metal Archives. A proper one would be nice, though you can see from that the correct title, M.A. and another old rip that was in the nets had that wrong.

Should I bitch about the generic band name or just move into the music? I'll just mention that Twilight always brings to my mind the Greek black metal one by Odes from Absu & cohorts which apparently is still/again active. Ok, ok to the music here finally: five songs and an outro, fair demo sound with decent balance. Most songs are quite fast and melodic in that mid-90's technical way. Nice harsh vocals, closer to screams than growls as is my preference. I haven't heard the other two Twilight demos, nor the later apparently quite different material released under the other names (not much of a death metal fan you know) so can't compare but this is nice enough to make me want to hear at least the other old materials. Nothing really stands out much, but perhaps the slightly shorter songs hit the mark a bit better? Recommended if you're into old Swedish melodeath with very minor touches of svart.

Aeternum Maleficium - The Sons of the Sun demo 1995

Aeternum Maleficium - The Sons of the Sun demo 1995
1) The Magnificent Magnitude of the Night Body (Parts I, II, III)
2) Chant to a Star

Zippyshare / Yandex

Let us chill out once again, but today's items comes with a twist: a plea for assistance. You might've noticed this name appearing on my want list and still remaining there despite the fact I'm posting the demo right here, right now. You see, me and especially the donor of the tape this '95 demo of überobscure Brazilian project Aeternum Maleficium was dubbed on are very keen on finding someone with, preferably but not absolutely necessarily, an original copy of this or failing that, a better dub than the one we (well, mostly me) were working with. The contributed tape was not terribly worn itself but the dub is of nth generation and leaves its mark. We've no cover or any other illustration to offer either so that would be really appreciated too. A band pic/logo would do also.

To the content: there are only two tracks which I hope to have divided correctly. The first one is way longer of the two which is fitting as it should contain three parts. The second one runs in usual metal song duration. Dark ambient with somewhat otherworldly feeling to it, most of the time just synths floating around in the gentle waves of tape hiss, occasionally obscured by clouds of wear and buffeted by winds of tear. Some voices appear in the first track but they're scarce enough. And percussion, used also very sparingly and effectively. The sound forces my hand to add the dungeon synth tag too, this seems deserving. It's quite simple but pleasant and pretty relaxing, not at all harsh or threatening. The second track especially appeals to me today and makes me wish there was more. Somehow personally I've grown accustomed and even fond off of the challenges and limitations presented by the dub reminiscent of an ancient scroll, stained and nearly crumbling apart whenever you pursue to study the contents. I fear a pristine copy might lack the aura of mystery and otherness this has, but still, get in touch if you have an original tape. Meanwhile this is recommended for fellow scholars with a fondness for imperfect visions.

Filii Nigrantium Infernalium - Os Métodos do Pentagrama demo 1993

Filii Nigrantium Infernalium - Os Métodos do Pentagrama demo 1993
1) Madonna Negra / A Feiticeira e o Pentagrama
2) A Lagoa de Pazuzu: Stygia, Águas da Serpente Tiamat
3) Retorno ao Ritual
4) O Gelo

Mediafire / Depositfiles

A cool, almost chilling wind blows outside as is expected of June in Finland. Summer always makes me think of Southern black metal so this is a good opportunity to welcome the season with a contribution by our comrade unholydeath. We stay in 1993 and this is the first and only demo released under the name of Filii Nigrantium Infernalium, formerly ('89-'92) Bactherion, a still surviving Portuguese cult band with rather scarce discography. Unholydeath included enormous cover scans for your reversed reading displeasure, thanks again for that and the rip!

Right, I know several rips have floated in the cyberspace since the beginning of virtual reality but since this is a good rip and the demo is a classic with plenty of character I wanted to feature it. In case you're not familiar with it yet, there are three long (seven minutes and more) songs and a shorter, interlude-like one of mostly slow tempo black metal sung in Portuguese. Calling it black/doom would not be out of place. Actually it was quite unique for its time but didn't get much attention. I remember people were talking (read: bitching) more about the reversed writing and logo than the music. Clear sound with prominent bass and vocals which sound like tormentous shrieks forced out of a possession victim. Much of the time dual which adds to the effect. Gotta love that messed up "solo" bit in the late part of "Retorno..." they don't make music like this anymore! Early Samael might be a reasonable name drop once again, Necromantia could be another. But I have mass to attend so enough words. Recommended and I really wish I'd find their old live tape I know I have somewhere!

Martyrium - Live in Annaberg 20/11/1993

Martyrium - Live in Annaberg, Germany 20th November 1993
1) Enuma Elish
2) Lucifer Rising
3) Forgotten Spheres
4) A Living Ba
5) Under a Funeral Moon
6) Glory of the Raging Storm
7) Winds of Apocalypse

Mega / RGhost

It has been a while, again. But here we are and this is the post I meant to do before leaving for Steelfest last month but ran out of time. Better late than never and all that, Martyrium from Germania return with a live recording dating to late '93 courtesy of brother Grev's archives. Thank you as always! This was ripped by his comrade, edited by G and still further meddled by yours truly. I must warn you the sound quality remains quite poor. Of course there was no cover but I felt inspired to whip up a placeholder image as seen above. And below you see the other version which I was originally going to go with but reversing the colours ended up looking so neat I chose that for main image.

Original white version of the "cover"

Very cute images for sure but let's move onto music. Like I mentioned the sound quality is not the best among live bootlegs I've uploaded here but clean enough to hear and comprehend, at least. Six songs of their own and a Darkthrone cover performed and all appeared on their album and, with the exception of "Glory of the Raging Storm", also on the demo tapes. If you're unfamiliar with Martyrium, this recording might not be the best place to start with due the slightly challenging sound quality. It's not as bad as that '97 Horna live, but very echoing, kind of distant and at times messy affair. Very energetic performance though, with that world famous trademarked Martyrium percussion many envy and admire. Despite its flaws has that warped charm again and is recommended for fans of their other works.