Infinite Black - Promo MMXIV

Infinite Black - Promo MMXIV promo 2013
1) Trance Like Void
2) Before the Gates
3) Insidious
4) Cloak and Sword
5) Outro

Yandex / 4shared

As promised on the Nefandus 'zine post the other day, here's some music sent by The Unnamed and unusually we start with a practically fresh item, the most recent promo of Infinite Black dating to 2013 and titled "Promo MMXIV" ...or as seen on the M-A entry "Promo 2013" which makes me believe there were two editions of it and this'd probably be the second. Ripped from the original CD I was sent and encouraged to share, scans of the cardboard cover thingy are included.

I actually feel kind of stupid for posting the latest release now but it's too late for regrets. Compared to for example the oldest material ('95 reh/demo) this is of course much better production-, musicianship- and songwriting-wise but still identifiable as same band. While the debut recording was characterized by high banshee-like shrieks supported by grunts this is mainly lead by hoarse half-yell half-roar voice with very variable support vocals and the thin-yet-sort-of-submerged rehearsal sound is replaced by a strong but not overpolished studio production. And while the old songs had a plenty of variation within they had certain clumsiness to it while here similarily complex structures stand firm. Experience shows I suppose. Then again this is naturally not as wild as young lads' playing is but I still think I enjoy (for change!) the more recent Infinite Black material best. The music moves mainly in moderate speeds, with the first song being most aggressive of the bunch. Generally it's very atmospheric and keeps slowing down towards the end of the recording. More of a menacing aura than violent warlike ruckus one might expect from Aussie metal. These four songs plus outro last just under twenty minutes and could easily be released as a minialbum as it is. Good stuff, hopefully there will eventually be an album out!

Waldschrat - Reh'I 1998

Waldschrat - Rehearsal I 1998
1) Werwolf
2) Pesttanz
3) The Gates of Heaven
4) Deathcrush

Sampo / Mediafire

This is an item I was actually planning to post before I came up with the Storm demo before Steelfest '17 (which I as usual attended and it was good times, majestic hails). Another German black metal curio contributed by comrade LKS last year, this is Waldschrat who later ('99) changed name to Irmingot and put out a bunch of mostly cassette releases through Vargulf Productions which was run by the vocalist Astanoth. The final release was a vinyl EP with an amazing cover and I guess they called it a day after that. Thanks to LKS for the rip, he sent also a cover scan but it was for the rehearsal 2 so I used another smallish M-A image. If he ever does send a proper scan I'll update the post.

One look at the tracklisting above should make it obvious this is a rehearsal of cover songs, three out of four being Absurd's best known, most covered tracks and last and least Mayhem's frustratingly overrated and -covered death/black era "hit". Yeah, yeah I admit it's a catchy, memorable song (they all were) but the stupid lyrics give me a severe headache! "De Mysteriis..." > everything else. Focus, you're not in the middle of another drunken debate. Being a rehearsal tape and consisting solely of covers this of course does not tell too much about the band itself. Well, you might suspect they dig Absurd and raw & primitive black metal in general. Which, by the way, is confirmed on the second tape, cover of choice there Burzum's War and their own material, carried over to Irmingot, being quite crude and simple sort. They manage the Absurd tracks somehow though the drummer struggles, but a bit of fumbling should be mandatory when covering these songs don't you think? They have some problems getting Deathcrush started, unsurprisingly, and it gets messy real soon. Perhaps another Absurd song might've been a better choice? Like on Grausamkeit's "Bischmisheiman Pagan Madness" tape which could be seen as some sort of companion piece for this, see sister Borderline's blog here if you need a rip of that one. The sound is kind of weak, with guitars being a bit in the background while drum and voice dominates. The vocalist actually sounds convincing on the Absurd tracks, moreso than B.S.o.D. on his interpretations, but the overall performance has that same fascination to it like observing drunken people trying to cross a frozen town square in winter time. Not for everyone certainly but the right people will be entertained.

Mörkö - Paluu demo II '00

Mörkö - Paluu demo II 2000
1) Mörköperkele
2) Musta surma
3) Totuuden henki

Zippy / Mega

I am late and so decided to further change my schedule. Of which no-one but me knows so it is really irrelevant to you, isn't it? Anyways, here is as promised the Return of the Groke or in case you don't get it the second Mörkö demo discussed back in March. Thank you, once again, to brother Grev for sharing the rip of unknown source (BERC?) he has kept for years. This naturally means we have no cover except for the small Metal Archives image. A proper scan would be neat.

How fares the second coming of Mörkö compared to the quirky first demo? It's a bit more "normal" but by no means polished and nice music. Just not as unhinged and barbaric as its predecessor. The drumming, sadly, isn't as wild either... it sounds a lot like a rehearsal demo so I suppose they recorded everything together this time. First song has riffs that are annoyingly familiar but not quite directly stolen. Second thing you notice is the dual vocal approach, main voice for this being a low bellowing sort of grunt, supported by the high-pitched shrieks in a few places. The second song, which is a slower, ponderous affair, has more of the screamy voice and kind of heralds the change in style to come in later years. Generally this sounds heavier than the grim coldness of the first demo; if that one brought visions of a bleak, wintry landscape this reminds me of trudging through perilous marshlands. Last song, the longest of the bunch, is also on the slow side and features an atmospheric acoustic break. Despite its roughness the first demo did have more such elements and even synths.

I used to favour the debut tape over this on initial listens but it seems to be a grower now that I have it play on repeat and focus better. Well, in the end of the day the debut still wins but by a much smaller margin than before. I assume fans of album-era Mörkö will find this more to their liking than "Mörön maa".

Storm - Wintermoon demo '93

Storm - Wintermoon demo I 1993
1) Underworld
2) Desecrator
3) Encomium

Sendspace / 4shared

I was going to post something utterly different but then a comment left yesterday caught my attention; it simply said "Happy Syttende Mai!" and I thought to myself: "Damn it you old fool, had you noticed this before it would've been a great time to post Norwegian... something". That kept nagging in the back of my skull which is really exasperating so I gave in and decided to upload this. Yeah, it's pretty old hat and most of you have probably encountered this debut and only demo by Stavanger's Storm while looking for the better-known but equally short-lived Oslo Storm (Fenriz, Kari & Satyr if you manage not to know). Done from a dubbed tape, no surprise there, so it's also rather poor quality soundwise but at least I got it to slightly more listenable levels than the extremely muffled rips I've encountered online before. Can't help but wonder how all copies, both dub and rip I've encountered managed to have such a terrible sound seeing how it was recorded in Soundsuite studio with Terje Refnes. Did they lose the master and dubbed everything from a copy accidentally made to a cheap, worn old tape?

Alright, in the rare case you might not actually be familiar with this demo I'll start by saying it's short. Slightly less than eight minutes and last, short instrumental song probably qualifies as outro. For such a brief demonstation, however, it manages to be remarkably all over the place. First track, which is also the longest, plods away at slow midtempo at first before sweeping synths speed it up to a temporary flight. Some of the riffs sound like they were borrowed directly from (old) Thorns and the vocals remind me of old Ancient and Gehenna, hoarse, growly sort instead of screams, shrieks or screeches. It's later, but the Kvist album actually comes to mind as well. Nice and atmospheric, curious piece. Then the second track kics in and what the hell, it's full HD old school black metal worship, first album Bathord meets Venom sort of thing that every other band would start to do a few years later when the mid-90's retro boom hit. So I guess they were really ahead of their peers and time. And last song is an instrumental, calling back the first proper track. Would have been interesting to hear another recording by these fellows but they split up and went to various other bands. So, happy, late syttende mai I suppose!

Orion Nightfall - Eye of the Snowstorm demo '07

Orion Nightfall - Eye of the Snowstorm demo V 2007
1) Mankindslayer
2) Hail the Old Hate
3) Wolf of the Wrathmoon
4) Spiritual War
5) Eye of the Snowstorm

Yandex / Zippyshare

I decided to post more Finnish material but cut the re-runs to the previous post for now. This is an unusually fresh cadaver to examine, mere decade old. Fifth demo of the Finnish band Orion Nightfall, released as a CD-R and recorded in August '07. I was handed a copy at the Mayhem gig in Kuopio, same year November I think? They did a little tour of three shows back then, which I recall was a bit challenging experience to the fellow organizing it. Odd venue at Kuopio too, very unusual but sort of nice if you don't mind it being kind of far away from the centre. Our adventuring party fortunately included a driver so it was ok. It was an enjoyable evening though I spent most of it outside smoking and chatting with more or less random people. And didn't really see shit when Mayhem played, barely the top of Attila's head. I'm digressing like crazy. Anyways, ripped from an original copy, covers scanned and included within.

Five tracks for seventeen minutes here, moderately melodic "black" metal (well, I suppose the themes and lyrics are vaguely black metalesque enough if you're lenient but I'd say it falls in dark metal region - then again it's not too dissimilar to various popular Poles who still get counted as black metal) with hints to the bands roots as dark melodeath unit still audible. Quite heavy and dominant guitar sound, though it all blends into an aggressive wall if walls could steamroll all over you - wait, they can and will do that, Final Fantasy VII Demons Gate (Demon Wall) never forget! Back to this, it's not all just in your face aggression, they can slow down a bit too. Vocals are hoarse screams and yells and quite good, at least when set snugly within the fluffy grim dogpile of other instrumentation. I kind of like this now, second time playing through while typing and again wonder how I keep forgetting to dig up their other demos to check out. I noticed some of them have really, really long songs and wonder how they pull those off. That's it for now, next something older again and probably a contribution.

Bathagor - Die Spuren des Krieges demo '02

Bathagor - Die Spuren des Krieges demo 2002
1) Leidenträger
2) Schattenzorn
3) Blutsturm
4) Die Spuren des Krieges
5) Nachtgedanken
6) Wege die Misanthropie
7) Rosetränen
8) Bathagor (Kaltes Licht)

Mega / RGhost

I decided to stick to black metal contributions for now. Sort of, for this tape by Germany's Bathagor is quite unusual after all. Rip and scans sent by LKS, thanks as always, and further processed (I think I just separated it into tracks) by me. What is so special about this then? Is it the cool sword-stuck-in-snow cover? No, though I like the neat simplicity of it, it's the line-up of the band. Or more like what they do, as this consists of a fellow doing vocals and lyrics who calls himself Daron and another guy called Dima who does guitar. And that's it. They're not using any other instrumentation besides the aforementioned guitar and (mainly harsh) vocals. And this tape runs for more than 45 minutes! It's pretty much since this is essentially stripped down raw black metal. Of course you can imagine a steady lifeless cold ticking of a cheap drum machine to back this up but it's just not the same thing as actually having it there!

Sound is decent for what it is, the guitar tone is pretty strong and rough, not thin razor sharp or cold and wispy like some forms of raw black metal prefer it. The primary black metal voice is a hoarse croak, not too dissimilar from Abbath's actually. There are attempts at melody so it's not just monotonous raspy gargling. Only mostly. The riffing is varied enough to not bore listener to tears but album length is still too much. I can't help missing a bit more ingredients, but it works better than I remembered and does not lead to scurvy, merely slight malnourishment. Pack something more well-rounded for your ocean voyages but feel free to sample this while on port. Minimalists and eccentrics rejoice, as well as gatherers of German obscurities.

Maniac Butcher - Live in Annaberg '97

Maniac Butcher - Live in Annaberg 22nd March 1997
1) Zrada / Treachery
2) Půlnočni říše / Midnight Empire
3) Lučané / Lučans
4) Žatecký hrad / Castle of Saaz
5) Poslední bitva / The Last Battle
6) Soudný den / The Judgement Day
7) Jáma pekel (cover from Master's Hammer)

Depositfiles / Zippyshare

A black metal sending this time, courtesy of our reader PaganiusI, thanks for the rip and cover scan! This is the venerable Maniac Butcher from Czech Republic and their performance from Annaberg one month (and twenty years) ago which was released as official live cassette on Barbarüd's Pussy God Records. It's not at all hard to acquire, as at least recently B. was selling copies of the covers with a master CDr to underground distros so you should be able to get a copy cheaply should you feel like wanting one after listening.

The sound on this live is quite violent and in your face, the rather loud rip further enforcing the fact. Then again, Maniac Butcher isn't exactly subtle and gentle kind of music to start with so it's appropriate enough. The recording, which I assume to be the full show, runs for a bit under 40 minutes which is above average for Maniac Butcher albums and features all the songs from "Lučan - antikrist" album, the most recent release that time, including a cover version of Master's Hammer classic Jáma pekel. Not much more to say here, it's raw no frills, bells whistles keyboards or female vocals black metal, but by no means mindless dull warlike pounding like too many "stripped down" raw war hordes tend to be. Next might be about time to do some non-metal music again, what do you think?

Blood Chalice - Journey Through Shadowlands demo '00

Blood Chalice - Journey Through Shadowlands demo 2000
1) I Am... The Adversarial One
2) In Hunt for the Blood of Jesus (Christ Hunting)
3) Mesmerizing Zephyr, Tantalising Death
4) The Dagger and the Chalice of Blood

Mediafire / 4shared

Here's something more from the exotic side of the globe and probably one of the worst sounding demos/rips featured on the blog. Blood Chalice of Singapore, who seem to be obscure enough to not be on Metal Archives (though I trust they soon will be) with their 2000 demo which may or may not be also their only one, sent by comrade Nefarious back with other items already long ago. Thanks again for contributing! A cover scan is enclosed.

Four songs but they are quite long so the playing time is a challenging 25+ minutes. Challenge mostly due the unpleasant sound I already mentioned on the first paragraph. How bad can it be then, to irk me? Well, you see the main issue is the weird bass drum sound much of the time burying almost everything else underneath. Like suffocating someone with a pillow while they try to recite The Oath, you can make out what it's supposed to be but it's kinda hard to enjoy it. Or like poor Shouta-kun sleeping in the 8th episode of Kobayashi-san Chi no Maid Dragon ...now I'm starting to digress so far I won't be able to find my way back if I'm not careful. Let's see, it's worst in the very beginning (of course, the all-important first impression!) but gets less drastic eventually and with enough exposure I guess one would get used to it. A pity since the music isn't that bad by itself, kind of raw and old schoolish black metal. I'm not really associating it with their own slogan of cold nihilistic ultra black metal, the warm, asphyxiating mass of wobbly bass marshmallow hell contradicts coldness pretty severely. If anyone can provide me with a better rip (assuming the problem is with that) I'd be very happy to receive it, no matter the bitrate. For sound extremists, seekers of endless obscurity and the purely perverted. Feel free to enjoy if you can, I won't judge!

Acheron - Rehearsal '89

Acheron - Rehearsal 1989
1) Jaws of Satan (Sathanas cover)
2) Dethroned Emperor (Celtic Frost cover)
3) Raise the Dead (Bathory cover)

Sampo / Depositfiles

Here's an early Acheron rehearsal, featuring three tracks which are all in essence covers, though the first one is Jaws of Satan by Sathanas, which split into Acheron and Bathym back in '88 (and reformed around '91/'92 again), so it's essentially their own song performed by their new band. In case you don't know, Acheron was and/or is a well-known and quite influential US Satanic death metal band. Or black/death, depending on the era. Ripped from a tape I traded back in the 90's, I don't think it ever had a cover as it was most likely just dubbed to some contacts.

At slightly over ten minutes this is a compact package of vintage black/death/thrash metal. The two "proper" covers are of course classic picks and they play them with vigor and enthusiasm. Quite a poor release to get to know Acheron, admittedly, as their own material does not resemble this recording much. It's still a fun listen, the sound is okay for rehearsal and packs even a bit of punch. Not much to add really, except that I actually wish it was longer, maybe add a few Death, Venom, 'Fate, Slayer etc. numbers. Now I feel like listening to old 'Frost or maybe Hellhammer.

Curse - Rehearsal 14/05/94

Curse (fin) - Rehearsal 14th May 1994
1) Infant Jesus Dead
2) Blasphemous Incantation
3) Demons Appear
4) Blasphemy
5) Ferocia Animi

4shared / Yandex

Aaaand here's the rest of the botched Curse entry, the last five tracks which actually date to 1994. This way the tracklisting starts to make sense, there are now three "new" (for the time) tracks and two familiar from the "Satanic Dominion" demo. But I've already discussed these too in the old entry so I don't feel like repeating myself all over again. Took the opportunity to adjust/update the white-on-black alternative cover I did for the '93 rehearsal to serve as placeholder for this one.

Next post should probably be something different. Or more black/death... then again I could make a few more reposts with better rips of old things?

Curse - Rehearsal 09/08/93

Curse (fin) - Rehearsal 9th August 1993
1) Infant Jesus Dead
2) Satanic Dominion
3) Disciples of Mockery

RGhost / Mediafire

Let's do this again. See the previous entry for a long description of the music, source and all that crap.

Now this makes much more sense. Three tracks, two of which appear on the debut demo recorded two months later the same year and the last one apparently only here. Oh yeah, I checked and could not find a song of that name at least on the M-A so I guess it's not a cover. Still sounds a lot like Deicide. That is all, please either download again or adjust your tags thank you~

Curse - Rehearsal 09/08/93 [incorrect!]

Curse (fin) - Rehearsal 9th August 1993
1) Infant Jesus Dead
2) Satanic Dominion
3) Disciples of Mockery
4) Infant Jesus Dead
5) Blasphemous Incantation
6) Demons Appear
7) Blasphemy
8) Ferocia Animi

Links removed as entry is incorrect.

More vintage Finnish black/death metal, or brutal black metal if you prefer, this is Curse of Finland and a rehearsal recording predating the first demo "Satanic Dominion" sent by brother Baldemar years ago, finally laid on the altar as black candles glow and the shadows crawl. I suppose he got it via trading back in the day and it has probably travelled through several decks and dwelt on multiple cassettes before ending up in B's hands. Yeah, there is tape wear and other associated flaws, but it's not too bad. There was no proper cover, or I so I think, yet I felt like whipping up a placeholder in the vein of the first demo. And then I could not decide if I should have it black on white or reversed. Went with first option to follow the look of the demos.

At first I wanted to go with this so it'd look better on the blog.

As I mentioned earlier there is wear and tear here, most notably present on the first track. It gets a bit better and generally it's a pretty good rehearsal sound. I can't help thinking this is actually two separate sessions instead of one as the sound changes quite a bit at the fourth track. Would explain why they do Infant Jesus Dead twice. Though it was something of a signature song. Maybe they took a break and adjusted the stuff to make the sound heavier and decided to re-do that song and then proceed? Anyways, this contains all three songs from "Satanic Dominion", Blasphemous Incantation which would appear on the split tape and two songs out of four from "The Black Horde" cassette EP. Disciples of Mockery would seem to be unreleased, maybe they dropped it because it sounds so much like Deicide? I think I've written enough about Curse here over the years so I'll cut this here. Recommended for fans of Curse (obviously) and old Finnish deathly black metal in general.

UPDATE: Well, brother Grev informed me that this is actually two separate rehearsals, which I kind of suspected already. First three tracks are the '93 session and the rest are from May '94. I'll make a repost with the corrected information. Yay.

Kraina Wiecznego Mrozu - Ziemia ojców demo I '98

Kraina Wiecznego Mrozu - Ziemia ojców demo I 1998
1) Pruskie leśne królestwo
2) Nigdy mu się nie poddam
3) Wojna
4) Ziemia ojców

RGhost / Yandex

I think I owe you folks some black metal and this item is a bit overdue, I was supposed to post it pretty much right after me and sister Borderline finished the discussion over at her blog. If you actually took time to skim through the conversation in the comments and the update note on the write up, excellent - you know what's going on and why! If not, I suppose I'll tl;dr even though I really don't want to: this is an early version/first edition of Polish pagan black metal band Kraina Wiecznego Mrozu's demo "Ziemia ojców" which was re-released, possibly remastered or mixed or something but at least expanded (sound effects, acoustics et all added) by Reakcjonista Magazine in 1999. That is the version you see on M-A and has also been ripped and posted on Dorosłe Dzieci blog. The split by Werewolf Promotion was also based on this version of the recording but he messed the tracklisting up as told by sis B. I've not added a cover image for this since I do not have it and I'm not sure if it had one different from the '99 version. Would obviously appreciate a scan. Interestingly the title of the second track comes in two variations: Nigdy mu się nie poddam and Nigdy mu się nie poddać and both can be correct as first one translates "I will never give up" and second flavour "Never give up" so one is more of a statement while second one would be advice. I went with the version on the tracklisting I got.

Ok, so if you're already familiar with the other version it's the same four tracks but in different order and slightly more stripped down, the interludes and special effects are missing as well as some acoustics. This is roughly two minutes shorter in all. If you are new to the band, good since it's probably better to first hear this rougher take and then the extended one. Generally the sound here is rawer and somewhat more clear and audible than on the split. Music is Polish pagan black metal, of the slightly crude and almost primitive sort with patriotic flair. It's quite METAL too, just check out the very heavy metal break on the second song, halfway through or a little later. It's one of those things that on certain days you dislike and on others adore. Today is strongly the latter. I like the honest enthusiasm you can clearly feel (especially on this version) complimenting the earnest and frantic playing style. Recommended for folks into Polish black metal, pagan black metal and raw screaming coupled with youthfully eager musicianship. Next time again something Finnish. Unless you absolutely want something else, then it will probably be old US stuff. Or a 'zine.

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.

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.

Mjölnir - Mjölnir demo II '96

Mjölnir - Mjölnir demo II 1996
1) Intro / Schwertzeit, Wolfszeit, Blutzeit
2) Heilige Macht der Flamme
3) Die Kunde aus ferner Zeit
4) Schwertzeit, Windzeit, Wolfszeit
5) Intro / Ihm
6) Dein ist der Thron König des Waldes
7) In der Halle der Wölwa

Mega / Sampo

Let us finally complete the Mjölnir saga of the Coven with this post dedicated to sister Borderline, congrats! I say complete which in a way is not entirely true, "Walpurgisfeuer" demo will be skipped as it was released as part of the excellent "Hinweg über die Tore der Zeit" re-release done by Darker Than Black which is highly recommended. This is the second demo, nevermind the Metal Archives disinformation claiming this to be 1st, we've already established that "The Hour of Lemegeton" was the debut demo and released in '95. I do not remember anymore how I came to set this to '96 but I'm sure I had a good reason. The little cover scan is not very helpful on the matter.

I received this demo from the same contributor that delivered the first demo and unfortunately this had a bit questionable track division too. I would've posted the rip much earlier had I found the drive to delve into yet another Mjölnir riddle sooner. But enough moaning, it should be done now and I've taken a very different approach to it than for example the M-A submitter. I went with the theory that the Intro / title combos were not an intro plus a song but rather than that intro and its name. That made the tracklisting easier to wrestle and yields now a shortish intro, a long track, a VERY long track of three quite distinct parts, an instrumental track, another intro of brief sort, again a long track and a bit longer instrumental track. The lyrics, as they can be heard, seem to fit too. I must mention the rip might be slightly incomplete as both instrumental tracks seem to end quite abruptly, I'm quite sure the last one is just missing a few seconds more of fade out but can't be very confident of Schwertzeit, Windzeit, Wolfzeit that ends the A... oh pardon me, Hugin side.

Another slight issue is the lowish bitrate of the rip, so I would still appreciate an original copy or a very good dub of the demo. Sound itself is comparable to other Mjölnir demos, maybe a bit better than the average. The band is here also a three-piece, with Bölthorn standing beside Arkthorn and Grimmiger Frost. Perhaps his presence on the percussion adds strength to the proceedings or maybe it is my elation getting this damned thing finally done, but right now I feel like this is my favourite Mjölnir demo. Some highlights include: the long, long Die Kunde... which manages to be entirely great and the steady pound, pound, pound of Dein ist der Thron... Gotta love that! I won't go further into details, this is highly recommended for Mjölnir fans, trawlers of the murky depths of German UG and people who enjoy ambient instrumentals featuring nature sounds such as wind, bubbling water and wolves.

Carpathian Forest - Rehearsal '92

Carpathian Forest - Rehearsal 1992
1) Carpathian Forest
2) Call from the Grave (Bathory cover)
3) Bloodlust and Perversion
4) In the Circle of Ravens
5) Warhead (Venom cover)
6) Return of the Freezing Winds

4shared / Yandex

Here's something of an oddity, I am posting this thing today as a sort of reply, a little late one as usual, to sister Borderline's entry here. She also discusses what this is in quite length which boils down to this: this is the full '92 Carpathian Forest rehearsal session from which the "Rehearsal Outtake", also featured on "Bloodlust and Perversion" compilation, was taken off. Or as full as they dubbed to people I guess. Anyways, I got a rip of this from brother Baldemar already years ago, titled as "Rehearsal 1993" which interestingly thenecromancer's tape sent to Borderline was marked as well. So apparently the recording travelled among tape traders slightly mistitled. And tracklisted, I recall I had to figure out the true titles some time after I had gotten this and I am quite sure I did research and comparison to the Outtake version. There's no cover for this, obviously, I just wanted to post a bit more than just the logo. A line of text added: "more than just the logo" woohoo.

Well, as usual I did a quick last minute comparison and yup, same recording but B&P versions differ a bit due fade-ins and -outs, the self-titled track missing completely the adorable durdling in the beginning present here. Sound on it is also more subdued and slightly muffled compared to the clean-and-loud rawness of this rip and thus brother B's dub as well. I wonder if the fades were present on the Outtake tape as I have not heard that as "true version" - the only rip I've picked up was just lifted off the CD.

Do we need to discuss the music too? Is there someone who does not know CF? No, not Celtic Frost even though old 'Forest is very Frost-influenced, just listen to Return of the Freezing Winds. If you are only familiar with the last Carpathian Forest albums I recommend taking a plunge into old end of the pool which is much less stale than the silly late efforts, Nattefrost/Nordavind all the way. No, i-it's not like I ship them, baka! It's simply an established fact that the best 'Forest is the one with both of them or in other words which still contains material by Nordavind, up to and including "Strange Old Brew"... maybe "Morbid Fascination..." too on a good day. And best "album" is the mini. Source: I said so. Anyways, I'm starting to write whatever pops into my mind without hesitation so it's high time to stop, you cannot really go wrong with this if you appreciate vintage Norwegian black metal or generally like your black metal raw'n'rough yet groovy. Essential classicks materpiece theatre series.

Nocturnal Evil - Seven Rituals of Hell demo '08

Nocturnal Evil - Seven Rituals of Hell demo #4 2008
1) Prelude (The Sinister Apparition)
2) Black Past
3) Child Sacrifice
4) Necronomicon Exmortes
5) Dark Ascention
6) Necrofetish
7) Entering the Occult Dimention

Yandex / Sampo

The people who know me might be aware of my fondness to complete cycles, patterns and such as much as I can. Which leads us to today's suspiciously modern release (2008! that was practically yesterday!), another demo by the Argentinian bestial Beherit-metal unit Nocturnal Evil. I posted the previous effort here, same source et al. Four years passed between this and the third demo, a surprisingly long time actually. A glance at the covers is already telling even the casual layman observer that not much seems to have changed in that time. Same primitive look, same sort of jaggedy scripting, disarmingly crude artwork. The demo is dedicated to master Conscicide who had followed the freezing moon in August the same year, so it is similarily quasi-topical as the last post where the old Dutch scene was mentioned.

Are we to expect Bestial Summoning-worship then this time? Naaah, not really though one might argue some shades could be seen if you squeeze your eyes tight and believe real hard, with all your heart! It's in similar elder Tireheb-praising way as the demo #3 but with better, or at least louder, sound. All songs are very compact again so the total of Seven Rituals barely crosses the ten minute mark. No cover songs this time, or if there are I've missed them. Oh and Prelude... is an intro, Necronomicon Exmortes sort of interlude (Evil Dead sample as expected) and Entering... the outro. I find myself enjoying the proceedings much better this time around, is it the improvement overall or the old different day, different mood - issue remains to be seen. Similar recommendations as on the entry for the previous demo but a bit more enthusiastically! Do your best, Nocturnal-kun! Everyone, let's support Nocturnal Evil~♥ ...ok not that much enthusiasm. I think I need some sleep.

Ancestral Goetia - We, the Tribute to Lust demo '94

Ancestral Goetia - We, the Tribute to Lust demo V 1994
1) The Celestial Prostitute
2) Banished Impurity
3) In Darkness I Shall Dwell
4) The Penitence of Illusion
5) The Unknown Circle of Lust
6) Beautiful Princess of Their Tears
7) Enchanting Lands of Perdition
8) Het Lustful Incest
9) Deathcrush

Sendspace / Mega

As the last item of January I'd like to present a fruit of an international conspiracy, the fifth (and probably last) demo tape of the French cult Ancestral Goetia, making the uneven numbers fully represented at the Coven. An ancient entity who should not be named contributed the rip and it was divided unto tracks by sister Borderline's daemon familiar. Thank you to all parties involved! A cover scan would be smashing so please get in touch if you have it.

Ancestral Goetia demos II "Mortal Tears of Desolation" and IV "Satan's Jester" are still needed, feel free to contact the Coven for any clues to their whereabouts. Stregoica tapes remain in like obscurity and must be tracked down. Various rewards await successful explorers, treasure hunters, grave robbers and other adventurers. Rewards may be spiritual in nature.

Let us concetrate on what we have at hand, this tape is very likely the longest of the lot, reaching full album length easily. The Metal Archives entry listed ten tracks, last called Ein Reich, ein Volk, ein Necrodoom which is curious enough but it was not on the recording delivered unto me. Perhaps it wasn't supposed to be there anyways as it would (quite obviously) seem a better match for a Necrodoom title, which also starred Stregoica 'zine staff. Where was I? Yes, so this ends with the (extremely predictable) Mayhem cover. The sound is still cavernous and very necro though guitar and well everything really is a bit more prominent, stronger and generally audible. Unfortunately due the imperfection of the rip it frays a bit along the edge. Music is mostly in the same vein as the previous demos so it is safe to say if you enjoyed them you're going to dig this too. Tempos vary from the rather brisk pace of the opener to the wallowing murkiness of the short second track and there's heavy metal gallop and almost standstill dooom to be encountered later. As before some synth is used to warp the atmospheres even further and small amounts of female vocals have been added to spice the brew. Works surprisingly well as it's subtle enough, more of an eerie background element than a presentation of random girlfriend-of-the-week's singing "talent" so often encountered on demos. On the earlier entries I dropped names left and right but seemed to forget to compare this to the Dutch bands of the era, you know stuff like Malefic Oath, 13 Candles, old Occult, Bestial Summoning, Hordes, Deinonychus et cetera? I think Ancestral Goetia is closer to them and the old Swiss bands in style and sound than the Nordics, or Mediterraneans for that matter. There's food for thought, I'm off to gather some for the corpus. Recommended for maniacs into slow and poisonous, unhealthy sounds.

Dark Creation - Campaign in the Sign of Evil demo '98

Dark Creation - Campaign in the Sign of Evil demo I 1998
1) Dark Creation
2) Crosses Fire with Light
3) Sacrifice
4) Dark Horizon
5) Mighty, the Other Belief
6) Master of the Dark Eternity
7) Standing on the Steps of Hell
8) The Final Battle
9) Troops of Doom (Sepultura cover)

Yandex / RGhost

Right, we're yet again in Germany and this is one my random investments, Dark Creation and their first demo from '98 which was released by certain Iron Bonehead productions. I hadn't heard their second demo, just picked this on a whim from someone selling old tapes the other year. Cover scans are enclosed and according to them they play "witching metal" so it's safe to assume the band holds ancient Sodom in high esteem. The band, not the city.

As you can see from the tracklisting, this is an album length demo, roughly 38 minutes to be more precise. Sound is on the less-than-stellar, rough side and music is old school-ish brew of black METAL and thrash blending into traditional heavy, mostly moving in a moderate midtempo. As obligatory namedrops let's say it sounds a bit like a mix of Desaster (middle-era music with demo production) and Usurper (all eras). No, not that good really but it's a decent enough start for your imagination. Vocals mix rather poor death grunts and somewhat better harsh half-shriek/shouts. And if you enjoy shirtless, muscular men the cover pics deliver. I suppose that is enough for now, recommended if you're into this sort of ...thing. I really, really need to get some sleep.