Svantevith - The Return of the Ancient Slav promo '96

Svantevith - The Return of the Ancient Slav promo 1996
1) Intro
2) Te Svantevith Laudeamus
3) Te Svantevith... /Reprise/
4) 966
5) Smutek i rozpacz
6) Outro

Sendspace / Sampo

...or "Thr Return of the Ancient Slav" as our Slavonic heroes manage to misspell the title in not one but two places. That aside, I know there were rips of this floating in the bleak cybervoid before but at least the one I had saved was not of very stellar master elite quality so when I came across my copy of the tape I decided to rip it and post the result as it turned out ok. "It" being the sole promo tape of the Polish project Svantevith featuring Lord Smrtan of Nirnaeth fame, also responsible for keyboards, programming and similar pursuits in Themgoroth and Eblis. Cover scans included.

Yes, this is a synth project like you probably guessed, and in the particular vein Poles were fond of: bombastic Slavonic pagan ambient with touches of both neoclassical and pagan black metal. Latter mainly represented by the surprisingly savage raw vocals and scarcely deployed guitar. There are certainly some elements of dungeon synth present as well but I think this is quite differently oriented. Adding the tag still as the music may appeal to fans of that category. Side A could be considered the main or title part and consists of a lengthy intro, ten minute plus epos Te Svantevith Laudeamus and a short instrumental reprise piece. Side B opens with the aggressive 966 which is the most metal song of the bunch with constant fervent vocals, martial percussion, abundant background shrieks and occasional electric guitar support. This is a long track, almost seven minutes, but has a lot going on. Smutek i rozpacz which follows has music credited to Azhubham Haani (well, spelled Aazhubham... here). The band? Is this a cover? It's a bleak affair led by the shriekier voice, guitar strumming and quite mellow synth. I don't recognize this as any of the A.H. songs right now, let's leave that to experts. A lonely piano opens the almost five minute outro track that soon adds more elements in and developes epic character. Interesting thing, not quite metal nor purely ambient either. Reminds me a bit of the December's Fire album, though I seem to like this more. Could be due my strong preference of D.F. demos over the full length. I recommend you take a listen if you like dramatic synth stuff and don't mind a Slavonic pagan metal flair to it.

Endoki Forest - Demo '95 + Rehearsal '96

Endoki Forest - An Evil of Nordic Frost demo 1995
1) I
2) II
3) III
4) IV
5) V
6) VI
7) VI
Rehearsal for Upcoming Album '96
1) Advance I
2) Advance II

Mediafire / Depositfiles

More non metal, this is a contribution I actually received quite long ago but it has been a bit troublesome, delaying its time to appear on the altar. This is Endoki Forest from the United States and the (only) demo from 1995 plus a bonus of two rehearsal/advance tracks that were planned to appear on a full length album scheduled for 1996. As far as I know, it was not completed after all. Endoki Forest remains active to this day, or possibly more accurately re-activated a few years ago releasing a compilation also named "An Evil of Nordic Frost" in digital format (only, I think) which was not this demo redone but rather a compilation of material from different years and more recently a full length album "Black Sorcerers Fortress" on Darker Than Black. Unfortunately I can't check the details on the compilation anymore since it appears Bandcamp has either purged Faunus Amadeus Loki out or he has chosen to diminish his online presence. Whatever the case, his former email is not working either so I could not get hold of him to check facts. I could've probably pestered DTB with it but decided against that and just went with what I got.

Why would Bandcamp give master Loki the boot you wonder? Well, he was and is somewhat notorious for his NS associated projects like Berzerker and label of old Black Sorcerers which released tapes around mid-90s... I should actually have a flyer or maybe two somewhere but I didn't find them on my admittedly hasty and careless search. I probably find them the next time I look for something else. DTB has released also a CD from his other, more recent project Herrenvolk which I believe is slightly better known and from what I've heard more in the martial industrial/ambient vein while Endoki Forest falls, in my humble opinion, into the dungeon synth category on the old material and more in dark ambient vein on the new album.

Cover image from Discogs entry!

So much text and quite little on this actual item so far! Right, to the issues I mentioned right in the beginning: first off, no cover or tracklisting. Apparently my contributor had gotten this tape dubbed by F.A.L. and instead of a cover he had sent the pic seen cropped way up there decorating the post and slightly reduced down below in its whole while Discogs entry gives a different sort of cover which you may see above this paragraph but fails to deliver a tracklisting either. So I went with good old Roman numerals, as usual, and divided the rip into what I believe to be seven tracks. Most have easy to spot breaks between them but the last one was a little tricky. Secondly, the rip was unfortunately not very good, being done slightly too loud and then converted to low bitrate as coup de grâce. This leads to a major thing to point out in the download; there are two folders within, one labeled "Scott" and one "Velkaarn" which contain two versions of the demo. Mine is practically unedited, just chopped up into tracks and slightly adjusted the volume while "Scott" is more heavily reworked, courtesy of master Scott, formerly known from December Wolves, later Serpent Eclipse and nowadays an audio editor and a fine sportsman. Thanks for taking time to fiddle with this and the other thing! Scott's version... well, I'll just quote him: "I cleaned up some of the noise where it was distracting from the music, balanced the L/R channels, restored some of the low frequencies, and most importantly I added back some of the dynamics so that the synth has room to breathe." So yes, it has notably less of the brickwall effect of a too loud rip, less hiss and generally sounds more "airy" while retaining the necesssary desolation. Unfortunately the tradeoff is the usual issue with noise reduction causing certain "fraying" of the sound especially on the high end, most audible on the storm sound effects on track... was it 4? You'll notice. But it can't be helped, it's the best we could manage with the material for now.

The full picture scaled down, original scan is huge.

To the music itself, half an hour of somewhat cold and grim dungeon synth with that slightly crude sound that fits the music perfectly. It's not fully instrumental, II features some appropriately sinister hisses, whispers and shrieks that actually fit very well so for once I'm not complaining. V has more vocals, this time odd echoing, almost moany "singing" that again sounds surprisingly suitable before metamorphosing to the form familiar from second part. Among top 3 dungeon synth vocals! Aside from that there's the storm and rain samples and if you listen to the unpurified version you can think of the hiss as additional sound effect? The moods the tracks paint vary from witnessing clandestine rituals under the cold full moon to carefully navigating old dungeonscapes of stone, cobwebs and dust to picnic in the Carpathians with the Lamentation crew. Think whatever you will of master Loki's other works, politics, belief systems, orientation and favourite foods, I don't care, this is a good demo and I'd really like to find an original copy of it! Or a good dub would do. I forgot to talk about the bonus tracks! Well, they're similar to the demo material. Recommended for all into old school dungeon synth sounds.

Jääportit - Halki lumisen metsän demo '98

Jääportit - Halki lumisen metsän demo I 1998
1) Kulkue varjojen
2) Vaellus porteille Tuonelan
3) Läpi lumimyrskyn
4) Yömustaa
5) Jään kirous
6) Sade lumen mustan
7) Hänen jäätävä katseensa

Sendspace / Sampo

Alright, let us for change fulfill a request practically immediately, without (much) extra tarrying. Here are some more ambient sounds for you, the debut demo CD-R of Finnish Jääportit who are at least moderately well-known ...I think? It was a request by comrade pagan made a few days ago and as expected, our reliable frater Grev sent me a link to a rip he had burned on a disc before I could even ask him about it! Thank you for you vigilance and generosity. There was a cover image as well, but no full scans which as always are welcome so get in touch if you can provide one.

The rip has a low bitrate (CBR 128) but with this sort of music it's not a big issue. Later Jääportit material sees the sound expanded to various dimensions while this debut is pretty much in the dungeon synth camp though of course with a wintry flair. It still feels more appropriate for the DS label than the tape album that followed in 1999. Suitably down-to-tomb yet grandiose synth sounds, plenty of variation without going overboard, atmospheres ranging from very dark and menacing to almost tribal sleigh ride-esque (more somber than the xmas piece you probably now think of!) and generally that wandering in nocturnal winter forest-feeling. Just add a black robe and some corpse paint. Warm underwear is recommended too. I really really enjoy this but am horribly distracted right now so I can't really come up with more witty banter. Go on and download it already!

Drunemeton - Recital to the Shinning Moon demo '96

Drunemeton - Recital to the Shinning Moon demo '96
1) The Wolves of Winter: Part 1: Chorus During Early Nigth
2) The Wolves of Winter: Part 2: Leaving the Forest
3) The Wolves of Winter: Part 3: The Hurting
4) The Wolves of Winter: Part 4: The Last Breath
5) The Dancing Fost
6) The Hand's Cuting
7) Triumph of the Ice

Zippyshare / Yandex

Today I wanted to do an item that has been bothering me for almost twenty years but finally some weeks ago the matter was lain to rest, thanks to the contribution by comrade Dead Christmas! The bothersome item in question was this '96 demo by "Polish" (so I was told back in the tape trading days) synth project Drunemeton of which I had a very questionable dub. Fortunately DC had acquired the demo during his quest for Nazgul Productions items and judging from the information on the covers I believe this too was a French artist after all. The rip also revealed how hopelessly lacking my dub was. Cover scan is enclosed and I have uploaded a very slightly edited version of the rip; I increased the volume just a notch and cut away a bit of noise after the first song that was not part of the demo.

At roughly 42½ minutes this easily reaches album length and is divided into two halves so to say, first twenty minutes consisting of the epic The Wolves of Winter parts 1-4. Instrumental, somewhat neoclassical sounding dungeon synth mixing (I'm taking this from the covers directly) Akai, Oberheim and Roland synthesizers with grand piano and some flutes. I've cut each part into individual tracks as the tracklisting gives them separate running times and they divided easily enough. The second half is made of three tracks with slightly more individual character to each of them. The Dancing Fost (I'm pretty sure this is supposed to be ...Frost but I didn't go and correct the titles, like I always say it is Necromansy and that's it!) starts almost harshly and proceeds to change to more introspective moods before slowly picking momentum again, only for it to drop while approaching the end. Synthesizer sounds rather than piano dominate The Hand's Cuting (again, should be ...Cutting but no correcsies!) giving it an aura of menace that changes to desolation as the instrumentation gets scarcer and more minimalistic, developing to a trippy dark ambient end. Last song Triumph of the Ice is the longest of the lot and reprises some of the moods from the first parts while featuring a very distinct classical guitar part in the middle before a long build up to a slow but triumphant ending with percussive elements and orchestra hits. Wintry, melancholic and rather nostalgic stuff, decent enough sound though not by any means polished. Reminds me at times of Emglev (again!) and in places even Lamentation. Few places. And just a little. But much more Emg than Lam. Recommended for fans of French synth projects, dungeon explorers and Nazgul Productions enthusiasts.

Blutkrieg - Resurgence of Atavism demo '00

Blutkrieg - Resurgence of Atavism demo '00
1) Resurgent Atavism
- a) Journey into Pagan Battlefields
- b) Battle of the Blutkrieg
- c) Eternal Victory / Journey Home
- d) Celebration Across the Planes of Midgard 
2) The Crossing of Bifrost to the Halls of Asgard
3) March of the Blutkrieg

Mediafire / RGhost

Here's some non-metal material again and a post I was supposed to do already long ago but it was left in a sorting-out limbo for some... let's say months. Years are made of months after all. Here's Blutkrieg who hail from the US of A and the 2000 demo which was sent to me by a certain contributor burned on a disc. Thanks, you know who you are! It seems like they re-released the demo material, re-titled and split differently unto tracks on a split with Acirema whom you might remember? I'm not sure if anything else was done to it, remastering or anything like that, probably not. The crappy cover image was taken from Discogs who also try to pass this as another project with Rubeus XIII while it's actually by a fellow called Vautrin.

I was debating with myself if I should adjust the tracklisting a bit but decided against meddling with it. The split has first track consist of three parts, followed by three titles more. The above tracklisting implies it has four parts but the fourth part is actually (as far as I can tell) in the beginning of the second track The Crossing of Bifrost... - it's highly similar to it, moreso than the preceeding fifteen minutes. There's a clear break which makes me think it could be two different tracks that just sound kinda similar. Maybe the artist thought same and did exactly what I'm contemplating above for the "second edition" of it?

I've mentioned Acirema and all sorts of other stuff but not really discussed what this sounds like! Well, not at all like A. This is dungeon synth, with um, Odalistic themes? It's not really apparent when you listen to the music though, there are some vocals on the first track but they're quite hard to make out as they get buried in the billowing clouds of synths. Despite having parts that have to do with battle, victory and such the first track is not very dynamic, it's as if we were distant from the battlefield so the din of warfare really does not reach us. I suppose the narrations would describe the events if one could make out what is said. Second track is different in mood and very active with bouncy percussion and general sense of motion. Last one, March of the Blutkrieg, brings again heavy associations to old 80's CRPGs to my mind, and it's not really much like a march so the re-title to Hall of Valhalla on the split feels very justified. Overall the sound is good enough, suitably lo-fi and archaic feeling, no samples or silly effects added. Note that a healthy dose of tape hiss is included. Not great art or neoclassic masterpiece but I find it enjoyable. Perhaps you should give it a go too?

Conjured to Baphometh Bandcamp

Conjured to Baphometh - The Spawn of the Lilioth demo I 1995
1) Intro
2) Flowing Through Crystal Lakes and Mountains
3) Dance du Diablo
4) Thus Spoke Lilith
5) The New Age

Bandcamp page

Conjured to Baphometh - ...Wonder? demo II 1996
1) Disturbed Fulfillment
2) Bitumen Journey
3) Within Caverns
4) Behind
5) Flowing Through Crystal Lakes and Mountains (Epic Remix)
6) Evolution - Progress
7) Tribes
8) Behold! (Collision)
9) Chromatic Postludium

Bandcamp page

Sorry the long pause but uncle Velkaarn has been absent in spirit if not in body. Anyways, this post is not of the usual download links and inane babbling sort, though the latter is probably included. Rather, consider it a public service announcement.

Master Lord Azazel Djinn aka L.A.D. which sounds too much like a rapper so maybe Lord A.D. would be better stay on topic old fool has set up a bandcamp page with both Conjured to Baphometh releases, links found above. Some of you lot have already heard half of the demo I as it was mistakenly posted as the second Malitiae tape in the big mix up scandal of December '16, never forget. Now available in full five song glory and more balanced volume, we discover the last two songs continue in similar vein to the first half and indeed fit in the dungeon synth niche.

The second recording, which I had not heard before, features more songs and is... different. Let's keep it at that, a little suspense should do you good and I need to listen to it again in order to make sense. As if I'd let that stop me from writing before, but for now I'm just asking you to check them out and support L.A.Djinn, as well as offer my thanks for making the stuff available!

Mantar - The Wrath of Hornuk the Great demo '98

Mantar (fra) - The Wrath of Hornuk the Great demo I 1998
1) The Woods Are Our Temple
2) Sodomized for the Cult
3) Unholy Conquest
4) Cult of the Witchdemon

Yandex / Depositfiles

Mantar - The Wrath of Hornuk the Great remaster 2005
1) The Woods Are Our Temple
2) Sodomized for the Cult
3) Gathering of Vicious Souls
4) Unholy Conquest
5) Feast on Satan's Cunt
6) The Wrath of Hornuk the Great
7) Cult of the Witchdemon (The Second Coming)

Mega

How about a non-metal contribution today, just for change? This here thing was sent by our comrade zargonath a few months ago and it's (according to the note included) Mantar from France, not to be mixed with the reasonably well-known current German one. Our subject was formed by two men in 1996 who went by the nom de guerres Lord Tenebro Maleficium and Lord Silvins Mortificus, made this demo and disbanded in '99. Lord Tenebro killed himself a year later so slight scent of cult may be detected melding into the usual gravestench and tombmusk. Judging from the cover my educated guess would be that this was released as a CDr but I might be mistaken (remaster was, original was on tape so 50/50).

The first track starts with an odd glitchy sound which I'm certain is not part of the experience before moving unto soft tolling sounds followed by an extremely familiar bit which is stolen borrowed sampled(?) from somewhere very well known but I can't remember it now damn this is frustrating!!! Help me out someone less demented and I'll edit this later (it was Dimmu Borgir's Master of Disharmony, 1996 EP version! Thanks Eugene!). Right, it goes on for quite long, repetitive as expected, but effective despite the nagging familiarity (is it from a soundtrack? I know this damn it!) with some additional elements tossed in like slightly pompous sounding accented voices. The second track goes on with the same dramatic, soundtrackesque dungeon synth feel and most likely as a residual trauma from the first track I find myself wondering if I've encountered these sounds somewhere before. Third song, surprisingly... uh, mellow, despite its name allows me to shake of the mental shackle and enjoy the cheese. Last song re-introduces the vocals, one a normal spoken voice and the other a malicious black metal style hiss. My initial frown quickly softens as the voices are used very sparingly and well enough. To my surprise the track suddenly ends, almost prematurely and the demo itself with it, leaving me feeling a mite peckish. This is actually better than I remembered from the original, extensive two playthroughs session back whenever. Apparently another one that is best listened to at least twice in row. Standout track: number three.

UPDATE: It appears this might be incomplete which would explain how it felt too short. Comrade Eugene sent me a full version of seven tracks with an inlay, appearently the cover is from a 2005 remastered version. I wonder if it is expanded also or was the copy zargonath had just weirdly incomplete. Priests are now investigating, please wait warmly... 

UPDATE II: After a brief yet vigorous inquisition it appears the remastered seven song version sent by Eugene does sound a bit different and the songs seem slightly longer. Perhaps the speed is a wee bit different (it was a brief and vigorous not thorough inquisiton after all!). It is still uncertain to me if the original demo was really just four songs and the remaster is an expanded version or if it actually managed to miss three songs scattered in between the rest! For now I've decided to have both available, personally I like the fuzzier, more dungeony original sound better and haven't really had time to properly listen to the additional new content, so to say. Oh yeah, apparently the bio crap I picked up elsewhere (U-tube) was a pile of pig entrails as the remaster cover's linear notes seem to contradict them (ol' Tenebro's passing was not of the permanent sort for starters and he hogs all credit there, no mention of Silvins in sight). Odour of kvlt turns to sour reek of falsehood.

Wolfhord - Realm of Pagan Storms demo '98

Wolfhord - Realm of Pagan Storms demo 12/97 (1998)
1) Winds of Battle
2) In the Forest of the Nightwolfs
3) Southern Holocaust
4) Pagan Blood
5) Ancient War Spirit

RGhost / Mediafire

Our usual Sunday chill turns south with even more Southern material bringing the heat, courtesy of comrade unholydeath again. Thanks for the rip & scan! Continuing fluently where we left off at the end of last month this is Wolfhord, another side project by Herr Wolf, here known as Warlord von Ravenclaw. Non-metal material this time, "battle stuff" as the cover says seems a neatly vague description. This is the first demo, strangely referred to as demo tape 12/97 when it was partially recorded in January '98.

Five parts, roughly 18 minutes and this "battle stuff" of his is basically somewhat lofi, but very loud and messy mind you, ambient reminiscent of LLN projects (not that much really but got your attention now) and more importantly the various folk/pagan/etc/ambient projects hailing from Poland. The first long track is basically wind samples, synth and a voice groaning/croaking a few passages over it, all in noisy, gritty texture. Second one is more winds but this time dominated by electric guitar which is joined by percussion at times, very folky or should we say volkisch melodies. This pattern repeats for the rest of the demo, all tied together by the slightly over-the-top wind noises. I must dash off now so let's wrap this up quickly; if you dig the old Polish material in similar vein or are in general a lofi dark/pagan ambient enthusiast, dungeon synth connoisseurs included, you might want to give this a shot. Be cautious of the sound though!

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.

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.

Blackthorn - The Black Vision of Northern Kingdom promo '94

Blackthorn - The Black Vision of Northern Kingdom promo I 1994
1) Winds
2) In Moonlight
3) Gate to the Stars
4) Gloomy Forest of Sadness

Mediafire / Zippyshare

Polish black metal. This is the Blackthorn I was referring to in the Chors post here. We discussed the connections already in that post so I am not going to delve deeper into the mire. Sent by LKS around the same time as the Chors demo, thank you again! Cover image borrowed from the Metal Archives and as usual, full scans would be very welcome.

Old Polish TTF black metal made by two men, I suppose you know what to expect? Raw and crude, yet melodic and atmospheric stuff with obvious influences from their peers and the Norse senpais (read: Vikernes). Sound is a little on the thin side but fits this better than a "good" production would. It's a bit odd, unusual thing really if you consider there is only one "proper" track, the longest of the bunch In Moonlight. First track is an intro with the omnipresent winds sounds, third is a shortish instrumental and last one dungeon synth/outro. I find it more fascinating now than on previous listen a few months ago and recommend it heartily. That is all for now.

Satanis Nocturne - Essence of the Dark Age demo 1998

Satanis Nocturne - Essence of the Dark Age demo 1998
1) Transcendental Overture
2) Unholy Ground
3) Desolate Aeons
4) The Conjuring
5) Passage into Shadows

4shared / Yandex

Sunday twilight chillout zone Mother's Day edition with an obscure US project contributed by our comrade master Fenrirsson, many thanks for this interesting treat! We don't have much information on Satanis Nocturne but apparently it was a project of someone involved with Anwyl and it was released by Nicola of Hellflame whom F contacted prior to us uploading this. Unfortunately he's lost his copy of the tape also years ago so no cover but at least we got his blessing for this necromancy. If you happen to possess an original copy please get in touch with scans!

This is neoclassical Satanic dark ambient music, fully instrumental (yayness!) and with touches of darkwave and dungeon synth. Very soundtrack-like also, quite easy to listen to for a neophyte but pleasing enough for a grizzled veteran. Or at least for me. I speculated with Fenrirsson if this could be another project of Mikai Tepesh, he was with Anwyl and was credited among other instruments for synth on the Nephilim cover. The uncertainity is driving me nuts, confirm, confirm, CONFIRM! For now, enjoy this if you like cinematic keyboard music with a flair for dramatic and an affiliation with the Devil, I must rush off to work.

Lunar Womb - The Sleeping Green demo III 1999

Lunar Womb - The Sleeping Green unreleased demo III 1999
1) The Sleeping
2) The Awakening
3) Through Ages
4) Öinen matkaaja
5) Vaipuminen

Yandex / Sendspace
Bandcamp

Alright, I promised a special post and here it finally is, after ~17 years, the third Lunar Womb demo. Master Sorvali sent me this just a few days ago after I once again pestered encouraged him to get it finished. Well, all he really had left was to do last touches to the covers, if you can speak of such with a digital release, so it was (surprisingly) quickly completed. Thank you again for agreeing to share this recording with us! It should be vigorously emphasized that everything was made in '98 - '99 and remastered last year, so I'll repeat Henri's words from the cover:

"The Sleeping Green was originally intended to be released as a cassette demo in 1999, but due to personal and artistic reasons it was never published.

It describes my deepest respect for the nature, the Finnish vast landscapes and beliefs age-old wrapped into a musical form.

The recordings were found from my personal archives in 2015 and carefully remastered from the original tracks afterwards. All the song-titles and artwork was inteded for the original release and while nothing in this release is matching the quality standards of 2016, I hope the music will take you where it took me over fifteen years ago as well... where I still dwell."

Illustrations for each of the tracks, art by Rudolf Koivu.

As you see, this one has the most songs out of the three but they're generally shorter (compared to the other demos, that is!) so the total running time is slightly over 34 minutes. The music here is more consistent than on the preceeding demos and clearly a concept work instead of a compilation of tracks, while the individual songs still have their own character. Compared to "The Astral Grief" the sound is more refined, part due the remastering I assume and music is generally more varying, complex and sophisticated. It has, depending on the track, both soundtrack-like and neoclassical qualities as well as trollish dungeon synth moments surrounded by an overall folkloric, national romantic feel. Fits very well with the artwork borrowed from Rudolf Koivu. Some sound effects and vocals are used, first one more liberally but not overbearingly and second one very sparingly which matches my policy and tastes.

Was it worth the wait then? Yes. The moods are generally more light, wistful and nostalgic rather than dark, moody or warlike and there is a certain sense of wonder present. Beautiful stuff and essential to any fan of Henri's work and generally recommended if this sort of music appeals to you at all.

UPDATE: Henri has also made it available at "name-your-price" option, lossless files, at his bandcamp page. So if you feel like supporting, scurry over there and throw your currency at screen when prompted!

Mimir - Like a Dark Night of Winter demo '97

Mimir - Like a Dark Night of Winter demo 1997
1) Intro
2) Words of Wisdom Part 1
3) Like a Dark Night of Winter
4) Words of Wisdom Part 2
5) Written Chronicles of the Wood
6) Words of Wisdom Part 3
7) Battle Behind the Mountain of Frost
8) Words of Wisdom Part 4
9) Secrate Clouds Over the Temple of Ice
10) Outro

RGhost / Sendspace

Let's stray from the black metal path again for a bit, but not too far. Into the dungeons again, here is Mimir of Deutschland with their demo recorded at Pagan Art Studio in the February of 1997. Thanks to our brother LKS again for sending me the rip, which I separated into tracks, and cover scan. Mimir was a musical project of three men Astanoth, Octan and Nicron, which is slightly unusual, and very much connected to the black metal scene. This tape was also the first release of Fog of the Apokalypse which I presume to be the same entity as the still active label Fog of the Apocalypse. But that's enough speculation.

Half an hour of music is divided into ten parts, an intro, outro and four "Words of Wisdom" interludes, leaving four longer "proper" songs. Syntherizer sounds combine with live percussion, stringed instrument, some samples, sound effects, perhaps even actual field recordings and spoken black metal-esque voice, last notably only during the Words-parts. Reminds me of Olgerd a bit. It's generally more "foresty" and slightly folky than broodingly minimalistic and tomblike. I remember being initially more enthusiastic about this than today, but I am quite tired so I won't go further. Just grab this if old synth/atmospheric projects pluck your strings and ring the bells.

Annwn - Promo-tape 1995

Annwn - Promo-Tape 1995
1) The Canticle - Part I (In a Forest of Shadows)
2) Midnight Ellapse
3) One Night on Raven Wings
4) The Dead Are Just... Sleeping!!!
5) In Cold Winter Darkness

Reuploaded

I have a bit of catching up to do so without further ado, this is Annwn of Portugal whom the Metal Archives labels as "atmospheric doom/black metal" which at least on this tape is poppycock. The music is dark ambient/dungeon synth with some sparingly used vocals, reminds me actually quite a bit of the Balam/Laïlheb ‎ demos, especially the last track though generally not as obscure and morbidly tenebrous. Despite the name, not Celtic or in general folky either! Thanks to the contributor who sent me the rip, no covers though so we must make do with pitiful MA image.

Five tracks for 22+ minutes, so on the average quite typical metal song playtimes and nothing drags on for too long or ends abruptly. Sound is good and instrumentation is keyboards, guitar, possibly bass and like mentioned, some voices. It's a bit on the fence but I'll go ahead and call it dungeon synth rather than say black ambient which it does resemble too, it's obviously more about moods, atmospheres and such like things rather than rituals, invocations, séance or celebration of evil, though the last track begs to differ. I had forgotten about it, but looks like the hilariously titled The Dead Are Just... Sleeping!!! (which is also another standout track) was featured on the "Southern Assault vol.1" compilation CD. Though the running time listed on the cover there does not match what I have here at all... must examine further, perhaps it's a shorter version? Enough of that, this is pretty good and I wonder if the second (?) demo "The Canticle - part II" mentioned on the Archives page would be metal or more in the same vein. As usual, if you find yourself in possession of that tape get in touch with me!

Winter Moon - Into the Dragon's Dark Dominion demo 1995

Winter Moon - Into the Dragon's Dark Dominion demo I 1995
1) Into the Dragon's Dark Dominion (Part I)
2) Into the Dragon's Dark Dominion (Part II)
3) Beyond the Silence of Ancient Winter

Yandex / RGhost

It's been a while since last post that could honestly be called dungeon synth. We remedy that tonight with this contribution sent with a bunch of other things earlier this year, thank you to the sender again! Winter Moon of Sweden, more specific Linköping, was as usual a solo project and apparently on the second demo turned black metal. It was done by one Frederik H. Karlsson whose name I imagine to recognize from somewhere but then again it is sort of a typical Swedish name so I might be mistaken. Unlike the Finnish Wintermoon (who also went black metal on their second demo) whose "dark winter music" was borderline metal this is purely synth stuff. Unfortunately no cover sent nor found so I'd appreciate one!

Three songs over eighteen minutes and running in the order of longest to shortest. First song starts a little abruptly, while the last one ends similarily which makes me wonder if the demo was originally like that or if slight cutting occured somewhere along the chain of trades and dubs. The sound is ok, quite loud and booming. Main instrument sounds like a slightly distorted organ. The music has some sort of archaic simplicity to it and, yet again, brings old Ultima and CRPG soundtracks to my mind. Which I suppose is some sort of sign of bona fide dungeon synth to me. Somewhat repetitive and monotonous, as expected, but quite enjoyably "pure" and fully instrumental as well as devoid of samples and special effects. First and second Lamentation demos come to mind, maybe the promo track too. Will bore many and bring nostalgic feels of pleasure to some.

Azag-Thotch - Ritual demo 2002

Azag-Thotch - Ritual demo 2002
1) Прелюдия ночи
2) Cult of Death
3) Порывы холодного ветра
4) Преждевременное погребение
5) Реквием

Reuploaded

Recent posts have been very metal, haven't they? Let's have some belarussian dark ambient to balance that. I bought this tape pretty much on a whim and it does have sort of cool cover drawing too, does it not? Could be a black metal demo! I know little about the performers Belphegor and Sobnack, or label Wauckalack Prod., which seems to have released before this black metal; two demos by the still active Wackhanalija and a split tape of the nsbm bands Totenkopf and Hebrewdead. And a video (!) titled "The Forest" which I admit makes me very curious. At least Belphegor plays also in W and H, Sobnack probably too, under a different alias. I had to do a slight edit to the rip as the third track had a sudden burst of noise which I believe was not supposed to be there, most likely a screw up at some point of dubbing the tape, whatever the case I eliminated it. There are still some brief blippy noises in the last two tracks which I apparently did not prune off. Try to bear with them.

This is a pretty long tape, easily passing into album length. The first three tracks are in the standard 4-5 minute comfort zone while the last two are long and longer. The insert, which also provided most of what I know about Wauckalack prod's roster, describes this as dark ambient and I suppose this is the label I'll put this under. There are plenty of vocals too, as well as elements like percussion that give it a much more active nature than what most might expect from dark ambient releases. Closer to darkwave stuff at times really and some parts come close enough to dungeon synth to justify tagging that too. And to make people look. No but really, the afore-mentioned third track has that vibe aplenty and just listen to the state-of-the-art synth sound! I mentioned vocals, they're mostly whispers and black metal rasps which I find acceptable choices for this sort of music too. I'm not so wild about the first two faster and shorter bits (though the somewhat erratic pounding bits in "Cult of Death" are neat) but the dreary slower ones are more to my liking. It's another of those tapes that's both awful and awesome; terrific and terrible; ...I can't come up with a third similar pair of words... well, you know what I mean, almost equal mix of both components. Should be an interesting listen to at least part of the congregation. By the way, the first Wacky demo has quite similar sound to this, now that I've got it playing.

Capri Sancti - The Witches' Sabbath Land demo 1995

Capri Sancti - The Witches' Sabbath Land demo rehearsal IV 1995
1) Welcome to My World
2) Forgotten Song to the Fullmoon
3) Dociledo Vampire
4) Aiwlys Chim (In the Name of Witch)
5) The Black Barrel Organ
6) In the Sign of the Funeral Flower
7) Diabolic Moonlight
8) Call from the Bare Mountain

Mediafire / 4shared

It has been a while but again the signs are favourable for the Coven's return. Without further ado we start with a contribution sent by comrade LKS and while both Capri Sancti (later Vim Patior) and this demo "The Witches' Sabbath Land" might be familiar names to the people interested in Polish scene I decided to seize the opportunity to get a better, full rip of this demo as the ones I've encountered so far have been lacking in various equally dissappointing ways. Including the old dub I had which apparently was missing no less than two of the admittedly short songs at the end. LKS included a very decent cover scan too which was especially welcome. Not perfect but few things are, thank you again for your offering!

I had actually all but forgotten about Capri Sancti but they popped up in a discourse I had with sister Borderline some many months ago and I resolved to gather as much of their more obscure old recordings as possible, while also getting proper versions of the better known demos (this and "Under a Dying Sun..."). So far this project has had very little success but perhaps the old tapes will eventually be excavated from one tomb or another.

That's all very fascinating but what is this like? Well, dark ambient dungeon synth parts mix merrily with raw and crispy lofi melodic black metal served with noteworthy amounts of cheese and really generous helpings of keyboards. I'd say roughly 1/4 metal and 3/4 synths. So if you're not a fan of cheap 90's keysounds you might prefer to avoid this and pick up instead... Hödur maybe? Then again if you're at all into this sort of stuff you'll probably love this. I find it absolutely delightful though some parts overstay their welcome a bit and eventually some of the initial charm wears off or it might be just me today. Anyways, recommended to certain scholars among the flock and I'd really like the three tapes recorded prior to this!

The Mystickal East - Herbz Niszra Nisa-Inranna II demo 1996

The Mystickal East - Herbz Niszra Nisa-Inranna II demo II 1996
1) The Arrival of Niszra's Hearse (Intro) / Crystal Jewel Zhevana
2) Blissful Void to Janna
3) Sharna Naruntila
4) Enigmaxur's New Hell
5) Eht Herbz, Way Down to the East
6) Rejoice in the Light... Sadness and Despair

RGhost / Yandex

The people voted for the Orient this time so let's do another contribution, this is The Mystickal East I was already referring to in this post and their 1996 demo "Herbz Niszra Nisa-Inranna II" which also might be the only release too. Me and my contributor have no more information on this project than Floral of Forever so anything you can tell is welcome. We suspect these projects might be by same people as there are similarities in sound. No cover obviously either so any image you can provide is welcomed. UPDATE: I was informed that both of FoF and TME are projects by the same person MD Aslan and hail from Brunei, not Malaysia! Aslan's other bands include(d) Rust Sakaraz, Noiratasya and Shadowmirth. Active fellow! UPDATE II: This interview and other sources indicate the name is spelled with a "k" so I've reuploaded it, corrected. I bet the song titles aren't correct either but those can't be verified without the covers.

The rip is slightly poorer quality than FoF, mainly notable on the first track where the sound fails a bit but gets better eventually. Musically this is most similar to the darkwavey parts of the FoF demo (tracks 3 and 4) though a metal influence feels more prominent here, the first track proper could almost be tagged black metal with the harsh voice and percussion. An intro starts the demo in a rather peaceful tone, it has a very nostalgic dungeon synthic feel to it. I should've really separated it from the main track now that I think of it again. Dammit. The tape fail I was referring to manifests in slightly muffled and wonky sound that suddenly gets better and clearer, as if someone had been dubbing this from behind a closed door and then finally gets the bright idea to open the door and enter the room. "Crystal Jewel Zhevana" part of the track is practically black metal, more Summoning that darkwave. Three shorter tracks follow, first more like an interlude and second a short instrumental and quite metal with the percussion. The melody there sounds annoyingly familiar but can't quite put my finger on it. Third one is gloomy, dramatic and more ambientish/dungeon synth, unfortunately a bit messy sounding too, most notably when the vocals are present. The fifth song continues similar to the fourth but is much longer and has more variation with percussion and tempo changes added. It changes more metalesque somewhere before half way. Last track is the longest of the lot and similarily slower tempo but more metal. This is pretty hard to put into a single, simple category. Recommended for people into mixtures of ambient, wave, ds and synth-black metal, collectors of Eastern demonology and the generally curious.

Caduceus - Middle Ages demo 1995

Caduceus - Middle Ages demo 1995
1) Intro (Legends Fall)
2) Middle Ages Part 1
3) Middle Ages Part 2
4) Middle Ages Part 3
5) Outro (Seeds of Desire)
---
(Unknown):
6) Untitled (bonus/advance track?)

Mega / 4shared

Since there were requests (well, one by comrade kingpossum) for dungeon synth in the recent vote I thought I'd post that next. This another sending by the same person who contributed the Daoine Sidhe rip. Thank you! Any and all extra information on Daione Sidhe would still be welcome, by the way. This one fortunately had a bit more informative cover, it's a project by a Lithuanian fellow who called himself Lord Caduceus Xul and according to Discogs has at least one more tape released under this banner. He has also been involved with a few other projects performing electronic, industrial and ambient sorts of music, including Drama with the late Lord Ominous of Anubi fame. (Large) cover scans are included.

There's five tracks of the demo proper plus an untitled track which is not mentioned on the covers and which we're not even sure if it's the same project or not. Could be a bonus track, advance of upcoming material or whatnot. It's a bit different from the demo material, more in... uh, pure ambient mode? I'm actually somehow envisioning some sort of 80's action film or TV show in my head while hearing this? Not the car chase with explosions and jumping over collapsed bridges bit, mind you. Still the overall sound is similar enough to believe it'd be from the same source. Would really like further info on this. The actual "Middle Ages" consists of intro and outro tracks and three parts of divided quite unevenly as the third part runs for over eleven minutes. But the durations are on the booklet so it's no mistake. Completely instrumental, very soundtrack-like (as in game soundtracks rather than movie) and obviously keyboardic sounds, no real attempts to masquerade as harpsichords, lutes, violins, horns or what have you. It does have an almost neoclassical feel to it at some moments but mostly it's rather upbeat pseudomedieval synth music fit for old game soundtrack from a person with connections and influences from the 90's black metal scene as a quick look at the thanks list reveals. Not bad, especially if you grew up with old computer games there is extra nostalgy involved. If you're looking for refined, dramatic soundscapes this will not be your serving of enemies' blood in their own skulls. Others might want to study this item a bit further, I seem to find myself enjoying the demo more on repeat listens.