Ordo Equilibrio - Live in Turku 19-09-98

Ordo Equilibrio - Live at TVO, Turku Finland 19th September 1998
1) Phosphorous Ascending / Anthem of Venus
2) Where Happiness Ruled
3) In the Grassy Fields, Where the World Goes to Sleep (We Kissed This World Goodbye) Again
4) Reaping the Fallen. The First Harvest…
5) The Perplexity of Hybris. I Glorify Myself
6) Living by the Sword. Dying by the Sword. The Lustrous Banquet.
7) Nature Seeking Equilibrium / War for the Principal of Balance.
8) Cleansing the Tainted Face of Reason

Mega / Depositfiles

Sunday chill out strikes back with a laidback yet very determined vengeance! Yeah, it is non-metal again and an item contributed to me already in '15, thanks to the sender you know who you are! I don't think we've ever featured a CMI artist before (countless Mortiis 'zine appearances do not count) despite the label's huge importance especially in the 90's. This is Ordo Equilibrio of Sweden, later known as Ordo Rosarius Equilibrio, formed by Tomas Pettersson of Archon Satani fame with his then-girlfriend back in '93. I liked the first album and the "I4I" EP quite a bit but was somehow slightly dissappointed in the second album and even though I still enjoyed it I lost interest after that and haven't really revisited them either. Wonder if I should? I'll ponder that later, what we have here is a live recording of their gig at TVO in Turku, organized by Kuolleen musiikin yhdistys aka KMY. KLV (one more three letter abbreviation and I start screaming) performed also but alas we do not have their part.

Eight songs for 38 minutes so it is not a very long gig but should be complete. Unless the person who recorded this took off and missed an encore or something. Don't believe that, I think I've seen this show mentioned or reviewed somewhere back in... another time and I seem to recall a mention of how short it was. The sound would be good if not for the occasionally amusing (provided you understand Finnish) but mostly just annoying and really distracting babbling of apparently the guy recording this and some oafish mate(s) of his. Oh how I hate it when people have friends when they are supposed to record something! Ordo Equilibrio's performance appears to be rather minimalistic yet ample. This might be a good time to mention they play "apocalyptic folk industrial" as the KMY poster puts it. Or in more words, a mixture of neofolk and martial industrial, some tracks being fully of one sort, others the second and some mix both or divert elsewhere. It's quite easylistening stuff compared to Archon Satani or some other CMI names like say Brighter Death Now or Deutsch Nepal but still too challenging to our audio (well, he could video it for all I know) chronicler's peasant pal. Oh well, if you enjoy Ordo Equilibrio or in general are into CMI bands you might enjoy this live recording provided you can successfully ignore the inane banter. Not understanding the language probably assists in the endeavour.

Vidvandre - Svanesang demo '95

Vidvandre - Svanesang demo 1995
1) Stålet som skjærer
2) Når spurvene danser
3) Trell
4) Svanesang

Sendspace / Mediafire

How about a little bit mellower post? Not that the previous one would've been particularily vicious, mind you, but I need to write something to get myself out the door, on the path and eventually lost in the forest of digression. Which serves as a terrible way to get to the point; this is Vidvandre fra Stavanger, Norge and their one and (apparently) only demo "Svanesang" from 1995. An appropriate name if it indeed is their sole creation. I got a dub of this among other things from brother Grev already over two years ago but it took me this damn long to get off my ass and find more about the band, you see he had the band misspelled "Via Vandre" which produced zero results researching. Luckily my very meager skills in Norwegian language came in handy as I finally sat down to think what the band name really should be and bang, direct hit! Cover image was borrowed from Metal Archives, full scan would be neat.

Obviously reading of my revelation must be fascinating but some might prefer to discuss the music. Fine, three long songs and a shorter instrumental interlude of Norwegian folky doom metal, think bands like early Tristania, The Sins of Thy Beloved and fellow Stavangerites Dismal Euphony and Theatre of Tragedy. Actually, Frank Claessen (guitars) would actually later become a member of ToT. Pretty decent demo sound, though being a dub of a dub of a dub brings the inevitable wear and smudginess. National romantic melodies, melancholic and wistful moods, flutes and female vocal parts spicing up the soup. It's not bad at all (except the silly babbling bits in the last song, why did you do this), makes me wonder if I've actually read a review of the demo from a 'zine once upon a time, making yet another "note to self" to be eventually forgotten? Anyways, we found each other lost in the infinite woods, perhaps you will be drawn in as well. Recommended if you dig melodic death/doom.

Torech Ungol / Gates of Azharia - Split 2004

Torech Ungol / Gates of Azharia - Split ...CD(-r?) 2004
Torech Ungol:
1) Le Désastre des Champs d'Iris
2) Le Torture de Hurin
3) Le Serment de Feanor
Gates of Azharia:
4) I
5) II
6) III
7) IV
8) V

Mediafire / 4shared

Let's do a split today. This one was sent to me by brother Emptiness Cycle who had scoured it from somewhere in the murky depths of the inter nets, thanks! From France, Torech Ungol and Gates of Azharia. It's not quite the '04 demo "Nirnaeth Arnoediad" that one of my readers requested a few... damn it, over five years ago! Yeah, but it did sate my curiosity about the band at least and perhaps it'll help unearth that tape too. I'm not sure if this should be considered a split album or rather a split demo released on CDr (I'm guessing the format by the cover, real sharp). Whatever, it was released by Inspire Hate Records, as was the demo too, generally better known for their NS-oriented bands in the early 00's.

Torech Ungol's part is wandering in the misty, ill-mapped realms of "ambient black metal" which generally tends to mean black metal vocals and some (usually artificial) percussion over what otherwise might pass as dungeon synth or dark ambient, perhaps with stringed instruments sitting quietly on the backseat while the keyboards drive and vocals make ruckus on the front seat. Must... not... namedrop... Summoning... oh damn it! Besides the raspy default voice we also have spoken parts on the second song, some silly effect-laden growly spoken parts, all in French and this one is actually more driven by acoustics, said voices and wind-effects. Can't forget the winds, no sir. It's very barely metal, I must say. Third one has more spoken words, synth and drum machines. As the band's name and song titles give away, this is very Tolkien-inspired stuff.

Gates of Azharia's segment is slightly longer and divided into five untitled parts which I insist on labeling with the ol' Roman numerals. How I love those! Their part is clearly more ambient of the two and has somewhat pagan vibe to it, even slightly martial what with the first track's drumming and chanted vocals. Reminds me vaguely of the Emglev stuff I posted earlier. II is folky and somewhat upbeat, III in similar vein but moodier, IV is a melancholic piece characterized by acoustic strumming and features some whispery voices. Last part is similar to the first. I must say I prefer Gates on this split, easily. Grab this if the names dropped ring any bells other than alarm ones.

Jarowit - Za dawne dni demo 1996

Jarowit - Za dawne dni demo 1996
1) Zew umarłych legend
2) Płomień
3) Za krew naszych przodków
4) Wicher

4shared / Yandex

Let's do some non-metal material again, this is a contribution, from the same source as the Brunei stuff posted earlier - thanks you know who you are - and a rather obscure project from Poland called Jarowit with a four song demo released in 1996. As far as we know, that is. Seems legit, considering that quite a few similar projects appeared around that time in Poland. Most likely inspired by Perunwit who were among the first to pioneer a sort of mix between (neo-)folk, ambient and some metal elements with a pagan and often nationalistic ideology. Well yeah Lord Wind obviously did something similar too but I feel it's a bit different from what most of these sort of projects put out. Sadly no covers nor is there anything online that my extremely lazy and half-hearted search would've discovered.

You might've noticed I approached describing the music herein somewhat cautiously but I suppose best short description might be low-fi pagan folk/ambient. This is a pretty long demo, that is it feels kinda long running 23+ minutes spread over the four parts here. First song consists of quite monotonous and slightly erratic guitar strumming and tape hiss for almost five minutes. Second one features more guitar, slightly muted clean-ish singing, some sort of percussion (he might be drumming on his guitar case with his hands for all I know) so there's more going on there. It's still kind of sparse and most likely performed "live" or "rehearsal" so to say, whatever he (they? but it's probably, almost certainly, one guy) used to record this just set up running and capturing the result on tape. Third track seems to follow in same vein but has variation by adding what I guess is supposed to be a wolf howling (I'm almost certain it's the artist himself) as well as harsh black metal rasps for more aggressive parts. Those moments make me imagine this as some sort of extremely stripped down pagan metal solo performance in street corner or small square in less-than-presentable part of town. If this was properly recorded in a studio it would have none of the oddly compelling charm present in this forme, though it's a very trying listen, mostly overstaying its welcome and demanding a certain amount of patience from the listener. I'm not really sure whether to recommend this or not as my own reactions seem to vary from one listen to another. I suppose if you're into old Perunwit, Svantevith, Nirnaeth, or other of the several similar projects I can't seem to recall now when I'd need to you'll want to check this one out too. Though those are really not very good name drops as they're so much more, um, refined? This is closer to Messier than December's Fire, to offer some perspective.

Acirema - Unpatriotic Banners demo 1999

Acirema - Unpatriotic Banners demo 1999
1) America's Last Breath
2) Acireman National Anthem
3) Vinlandia Lost (Pagan Dream Gone)
4) Battle Hymn of the Apocalypse
5) The Aryan Hunter's Dream

Mediafire / Zippyshare

Today, the 4th of July, is the US Independence Day as most people would already know. To commemorate the event I decided to post this contribution which I found perversely fitting. It's Acirema, a project by Pantheon's Rubeus XIII, again, and the second demo released in '99. Thanks to the sender! No covers, unfortunately, so we make do with Metal Archives stock again. I just had to post the promo pic up there instead of the rather poor image of the tape someone picked up from eBay which you may see below. Oh, and if you somehow missed it by the picture and song titles it's NS-stuff.

The sound quality is not much to write home about and there is a considerable amount off hiss present to boot. "Considerable" as in "China has a considerably large population" or another similar example. It's still listenable enough. The five tracks are all variations of the same theme, it's guitar-based neofolk with some ambient overtones/moments and Rubeus' voice which is mostly sort of chanting or spoken word rather than singing. Once again the parts where he shuts up tend to be better as he doesn't sound very convincing much of the time. Some pretty lazy Sieg Heils there. Without going much deeper this time (there's beer to be drunk) I'll just say I'm not very impressed with this one, though some of the instrumental parts are quite nice. Judge for yourself.

Finntroll - Rivfader promo 1998

Finntroll - Rivfader promo 1998
1) Intro (Hoterop)
2) Vätteanda
3) Rivfader (Pt. 1)
4) Den svarta älgens blot
5) Midnattens vidunder
6) Outro (Stigen)

Zippyshare / Depositfiles

I decided to post another of Henri's sendings that kinda fits a Friday night, this is by now (in)famous Finntroll and their '98 tape "Rivfader" which you may note I have here labeled as promo. This is because the covers mention the first demo coming soon so I presume this was considered a promo tape at the time of release. It ended up being their only cassette after all since Spinefarm signed them right after this was released. Or soon after, I can't remember. Thanks to Henu for the rip and cover scan!

I suppose almost everyone, well at least everyone Finnish and familiar with Finnish metal, has some sort of idea and/or opinion of Finntroll and their music but on this demo they (the late Somnium and Herra Sysi as duo) perform music that might be best called pagan black metal with folk touches, the infamous humppa-parts are really present mostly on the title track (pt. 1) and the outro while the rest is pretty typical pagan/forest/folky black metal and at times actually quite grim. I think originally the more noticeable gimmick was the all-Swedish lyrics rather than the humppa-thing (which did attract attention too, for sure). So even if you are allergic to their later antics and popularity you might want check out this demo. Unless you hate this sort of metal in general with passion in which case I guess you need to wait for the next post. Others may party on in the woods with drunken trolls, spirits and if in Finland, mosquitoes. Me, I'm off to work.

Dark Fire Dancing III (1998)

Various Artists - Dark Fire Dancing III ...it's only just begun Baltic Heathen Darkwave Compilation double tape (1998)

Sword Part (tape I)
1) Zpoan Vtenz - Jos brolis in Karelį
2) Tharaphita - Merekurat
3) Skyforger - Night of the Winter Solstice
4) Anubi - Kranklys
5) Ha Lela - Išjojo Bernelis
6) Manatark - Roosteitk
7) Maze of Cako Torments - The Shaft
8) Dissimulation - Mūšis Rūke
9) Menhyr - Amžinas Priešas
10) Winter Night Overture - Abysmal Winter Sky
11) Smolder - Ašarom Skausmo
12) Poccolus - Ir Aš Nueisiu su Tamsa...
13) Forgotten Sunrise - Blizzard

Amulet Part (tape II)
1) Girnų Giesmės - Veidrodis III
2) Skyforger - Sen dzirdēju, nu ieraugu
3) Laumė - Kur ėjo ji
4) Zpoan Vtenz - Voi ūžkit gauskit
5) King Lear's Convulsions - Mirror into Mirror
6) Siela - Šviečia.Kviečia.Šaukia.Laukia
7) Monkmort - Mother
8) Sala - live excerpt
9) Wejdas - 'Wejdas' excerpt
10) Sovijus - Liūdnas ir Didingas
11) Donis - Ateičiai
12) Akys - Nutolimas

Rusfolder / Mediafire

Today's post is a repost, which is kind of unusual, but people have been asking me for these compilations so I thought I'd post what I have here too, thanks to whoever originally ripped this double cassette and sister Borderline for reuploading it the other month! I fixed some of the tracklisting and stole the top image from Discogs. Sadly, the scans that came with the rip had only the covers for both covers, lacking the booklet with further information on the artists and the big cover itself. Then again, it's kind of fair since we did not buy this compilation, after all. Perhaps I'll get a copy some day.

There's a lot of stuff here so I am not going to go through them artist by artist, track by track. The total running times are kind of funny as the first tape totals a bit over 75 minutes, would roughly fit on a CD, and the second just under an hour. In case you didn't guess it by the tracklistings already, tape I, Sword Part, is metal and Amulet Part is ambient, darkwave and folkish material. Artists hail from all three Baltic countries and represent some of the best known names (Skyforger, Poccolus, Anubi, Wejdas etc) as well as some more obscure ones (well,at least to me, like Sala, Menhyr, Smolder and King Lear's Convulsions). Personally, the non-metal side is the more interesting here, even if the metal part does offer some great Baltic (heathen) metal and is somewhat more consistent. Most of the tracks have been featured on other releases by now, but at the time many were taken from upcoming albums, there's a bunch of live tracks as well as an exclusive track (well, the non-metal one is a remix) on both tapes.

Unfortunately there's a big fail on one of the tracks, most likely the fault of the ripped cassettes owner, hard to belive Dangus would've messed up that big: there's a stretch of silence in the middle of the Sala live excerpt, it even has the telltale noise of recording starting and ending. Other than that the rip would be good. I think I really need to find myself an actual copy of this. Oh and that's again a reminder of one more reason why I've always hated the tape format, I've managed to accidentally dub over a cassette myself back in the day. But enough words, even with the faults a great compilation if you're at all into the old Baltic scene.

Chronicles of Elven Witchcraft - Scroll One: Through the Dragon's Orb (1998)

Various Artists - Chronicles of Elven Witchcraft - Scroll One: Through the Dragon's Orb (1998)
Side Lion:
1) Utumno - Orkferd
2) Keep Of Kalessin - Skygger av Sorg II
3) Hypnos - A Lost Piece Through the Mist of Time
4) Zavorash - Return from Grace
5) Valar - At the Gates of Mordor
6) Warloghe - Witch-Song
7) Enid - An Myrrddhinn
8) Raventhrone - The Three-Faced King of Dominion One
9) Maze Of Cako Torments - Kalakiai Opiumis Sizmarshi
10) Horna - Outro
Side Unicorn:
11) Cernunnos - Dasos Ton Tragopodaron Daimonon
12) Heresiarh - The Cruel Bard
13) Slovisha - В лecy
14) Azaghal - Tuonelan porteilla
15) Rakoth - Return of the Nameless
16) Skyforger - Virsaitis Nameisis
17) Svartalfheim - Well of the Highest Knowledge
18) Urospuu - The Black Forest, Part II - Evil Nazgul
19) Kharadrai - My Void Is No More
20) Across The Scarlet Moat - Gold Elvish Tea
21) Trolltjern - Efterord

4shared / Mega

Ok, let's start this year off with yet another compilation tape, but this might be again a bit more interesting as it is the first Elven Witchcraft compilation (though released on the sublabel Engwar) which was sent to me by comrade Eugene who would like us to know this is available due to efforts of two Discogs users, from Finland and Lithuania. So thanks to these people! Cover scans are included. And yes, I recall I promised vile oozing black muck this year but all in good time!

We've come across Elven Witchcraft already several times here in the Coven, usually in connection with fantasy-inspired metal and dungeon synth. Obviously the compilation contains both as well as folky tunes, emphasis more on metal though a few of the metal bands (three to be accurate, Utumno, Horna and Cernunnos) contribute ambient tracks (intros/outros). The music ranges from rather pure black metal (Warloghe, Zavorash - who sound really like Immortal here) to more bombastic fantasy metal stuff (Enid, Rakoth) to folkish/heathen sounds (Hypnos, Slovisha) to pure ambient/synth (Kharadrai, Trolltjern). And as an oddity Urospuu's black/grind. Standouts include Trolltjern's still excellent closer, Zavorash and Cernunnos (I want that cassette album) from the good and the ever-awful Svartalfheim plus Heresiarh (which I used to like but nowadays their female vocals grate my nerves really badly) from the bad. Across The Scarlet Moat suffers from having much lower volume than the rest of the stuff, otherwise the volumes are fine enough and things flow rather well together. Recommendable compilation even though most of the material might be familiar to long time devotees.

Hin Onde - Ahti's Depths demo 1999

Hin Onde - Ahti's Depths demo 1999
1) Dawn of Ragnarok
2) Fimbulwinter
3) God of Thunder
4) Behind Oceans and Times
5) Towards Mimir
6) Well of the Highest Knowledge

Zippy / Mediafire

And here we go again, I decided to get this out of the way right away. See previous post. Thank you Henri again for the rip and scans!

Short info for those too lazy to go read the previous entry, more of the same which in this case is Finnish viking metal of folky sort. Though first of the returning tracks "Dawn of Ragnarok" still sounds kinda RACish. This is the first release under the monicker Hin Onde and to be honest I understand and approve of the name change here, if not for anything else then to take distance to the dismally poor Svartalfheim demo. This sounds much better, is played better and is almost voluntarily listenable without any sort of chemical or other choice artificial encouragement(s). I might actually even like it were it not for the specter of the previous attempt looming over my shoulder, whispering into my ear discouraging, maddening words and making mind wander to unwanted paths. The third track kinda stands out and sounds cool. Almost makes me want to hear the albums now. Still in the end of the day not really my favourite sort of music, especially with vocal performance ranging from terrible to bearable and so on, but if you wanted to like "Well of the Highest Knowledge" but couldn't, stop trying and listen to this instead.

Svartalfheim - Well of the Highest Knowledge demo 1998

Svartalfheim - Well of the Highest Knowledge demo 1998
1) The One with the Ravens
2) Dawn of Ragnarok
3) Well of the Highest Knowledge
4) Norder reser sig igen
5) Väinämöinen and Joukahainen
6) Two Ravens

RGhost / Mega

The previous two posts were examples of what I consider good sort of viking black metal. Unfortunately as we today move to Finnish soil the case isn't so and I know this item can quite readily be found on the inter nets, but since Henu sent me a good rip of it I couldn't resist ending my little -heim trilogy here. I suppose I could've picked a different, more ascending sort of order for it, though. This is Svartalfheim, from Finland (which historically isn't known for vikings), a project of Azaghal leader Narqath and comrades Wind & Kalma who have been recently featured with other projects here. This is the first and only demo released under this name, they started as Calm, changed to this and then swapped for Hin Onde around 1999 and kept that till the end. I suppose it is safe to assume they called it quits as the last release is from 2003. Cover scans included and this tape was released on Elven Witchcraft's sub-label Engwar Creations.

The more keen readers might have already picked from the previous paragraph that I'm not very impressed with Svartalfheim. And that is indeed the case, I've never liked them. I still don't, which considering history might seem odd, seeing that I liked Perkele's "Pohjola" demo for example. It's just that this sort of viking metal got old really soon and by the time I heard this it had already done so. Having a song about Kalevala heroes Väinämöinen and Joukahainen just makes all the other viking content stick out even more. The first proper track "Dawn of Ragnarok" actually reminds me of some RAC song by its end. This might be a sales point for some people but leaves me still quite cold. The sound isn't very powerful either, vocals are poor and amateurish, musician's performance at times struggling and, and... I realise there have been demos here where the points I've mentioned have actually been positive things but I just don't like this, ok?! Awful, awful stuff. So bad it's horrible. Makes me want to listen to Siren instead. However, feel free to enjoy this and disagree with me, I won't judge you.

Samain - An Leanábh Naomh (Bríste) demo 1994

Samain - An Leanábh Naomh (Bríste) demo 1994
1) A'Cruinneachadh NanUan
2) Stormclouds Gather
3) A Pagan Funeral
4) The Watchword of Evil Is Darkness
5) Drunk on Holy Blood
6) The Red Field

Yandex

Ok, still some more contributions and about time we move on, right? This one was sent a few months ago by brother Wehrwolf and it was a rip of thing that was supposed to appear on a compilation but as far as I've understood that never happenend and since it'd be a bleeding shame his work ripping the demo and scanning the covers would've gone to waste I'm publishing it here. And if you got curious please check out the actual re-relase of Samain's stuff.

 Speaking of which, the older among you might be surprised/disappointed by the fact that this is not Sadistik Exekution / Bestial Warlust / Spear Of Longinus - vein brutal ass war holocaust winds howling in the depths of abyss swirling with cycles of piss across the sullen face of Kalki. Rather, this is more like the classic pagan black metal sort of music, not the Polish vein, but an uncouth, almost silly down under version. Some, nay, most of the six tracks overstay their welcome but on the other hand does this not just add to the 90's charm of the end result? Sound is fair enough and the music isn't really so embarassing so I'm not sure why they won't add this to the retrospective I've understood is in the works. Good sound, not at all the typical OZ era feel so give 'em a go and buy... whatever the release is/will be if you like folky/"celtic" 90's metal.

Holocaust - Our Kingdom demo 1997

Holocaust (pol) - Our Kingdom demo IV 1997
1) Witch / Intro    
2) Kingdom    
3) Wizard
4) The Gate Among the Stars
5) The Final Battle / The Return of Tyrant
6) Storm

Yandex


UPDATE! I got a better rip of this which you can find here.


Back to the 90's and the murky dungeons of Poland, here's the (I think) fourth demo of the black metal band Holocaust which was a much fancier affair than the earlier tapes, being more or less professionally released by Drakkar. Or that's what I gather looking at the image provided by Metal Archives, my copy is a dub I got from comrade Triv already a while ago (thanks, Triv!) and unfortunately I haven't found decent scans of the covers. Assistance required there again.

To content, this is almost half an hour recording with the first and last tracks being intro and outro, both rather long and the tracks proper each clock between 4:05 and 5:48. The sound is very stripped down but clean enough. Odd guitar sound is somewhere between Veles' "Black Hateful Metal", Graveland's "Following..." and Countess' first album. Or was it the second? Percussion and vocals are the most noticeable and dominant elements. The main voice is an almost hysteric shriek which also brings Countess to mind and percussion is just barely on board. Some clean-ish singing vocals are used, fortunately briefly and they're not that bad in such small dose. There's a folkish feel to the demo, partially due the guitar almost sounding like a Jew's harp. Tempo is mostly in the mid range, from the more leisurely first proper track to the almost urgent parts of "Wizard" which does have slower parts too. I had something more in mind but now I need to get into kitchen and rescue my food from the oven so I'll just leave you to listen to this. Recommended for collectors of Polish demonology, people into odd guitar sounds and sloppy drumming and to whoever it was who requested this band's material in the first place!

Messier - Rõõmurikkuja demo 1998

Messier - Rõõmurikkuja demo 1998
1) Rõõmurikkuja
2) Hani
3) Keskaja kaitseks
4) Vahepala
5) Enne hommikut
6) Hoge jage
7) Kui nad olid...
8) Lõpu lugu

Mediafire / RGhost

Ok, time for the last part of the Messier saga, which you might remember from the earlier months and kinda sorta keeping with the semi-mellow direction of the blog recently. This is the second demo, more professional thing than the material posted so far and also kindly contributed by Mihkel, thanks once again! With cover scans.

Like on the first demo, plenty of tracks again but this time around it's a more consistent effort and some of them are quite long at 5+ mins for a total time of over half an hour. Pretty nice demo sound, but still quite lo-fi, worry not. Longer tracks which are a little less adventurous than the things happening on earlier recordings but they still make sure to comb the bushes and backroads of Estonian wilderness and folkscape. Possibly a bit of a dissappointment to the people expecting the wackiness of previous recordings but still not the most easy-listening chewed up ready for consumption folk stuff. If you liked the previous ones check this out too. If you didn't... well quite possibly you won't like this either.

Messier - Unreleased Tracks 1997/98

Messier - Unreleased Tracks 1997/98
1) Vaateleivad
2) Seal surm neile kel kõrv
3) Suur valaskala. Katkend

RGhost / Mediafire

Here's a little more Messier, you remember them from last month I presume? As before, contributed by Mihkel Kleis, thank you! This recording is 2½ unreleased tracks, he wasn't sure when these were recorded but definitely before the second demo (which was done in autumn 1998) so circa 1997/98 anyways. Obviously no cover for these. Track 2 is familiar from older recordings, here again little different.

These have a decent sound, recorded probably in rehearsal conditions, but so was the material on the first demo too so it's entirely comparable. The recording of the first track sounds a little different so it might be from another session, no idea of the truth. Last track would appear to cut a little, unless it was an actual choice to fade it away like it does. Not much more to add really, if you liked the previous recordings you might enjoy this too.

Messier - Live at Võit Cinema, 4.4.1997

Messier - Live at Võit Cinema, Nõmme, Tallinn Estonia 4th April 1997
1) Ohverdus hingekopsude toojale
2) Kopsud ja valu ja saatuse raskus
3) Surm neile kel kõrv
4) Püha osmidus armastab loomi
5) Iisraeli rahva kõlbeline laostumine

RGhost / Yandex

Following the previous post I decided to upload right away another Messier item, this is a live recording, also from 1997. The line-up for the gig was same as for the first demo, minus Pallisõber (I think) and added our contributor Mihkel Kleis playing the synth. Mihkel recalls Messier performed live only two times. The venue was in a suburb of Tallinn and was quite popular for rock and metal concerts at that time. No cover, the pic up there is the Messier guys sans Känd hanging around at Harju Mägi, Tallinn - there was a record market every Sunday. Mihkal in the middle, Noka to the left and Lauri on the right.

The five song performance lasts a little below 17 minutes and has a pretty good sound in my opinion. Vocals are a little high on the mix but this might have to do also with the nature of the instrumentation. Some of the tracks don't seem to appear elsewhere, including the first one which sounds quite like progressive rock with the synth and guitar doing what they do. The second and third track are among the more bizarre and noisy sort and live especially so. An interesting performance for sure. I had something else I was going to write but now I'm kind of in a hurry so just download it. Or don't.

Messier - Tagasi Egiptuse lihapottide juurde demo 1997

Messier - Tagasi Egiptuse lihapottide juurde demo 1997
1) Tagasi Egiptuse lihapottide juurde
2) Infixus sum est in limo profundi et non est substantsia
3) The Stones, Where the Haft Rotted
4) Ja kopsud ja valu ja saatuse raskus
5) Seal surm on neile kel kõrv
6) Jotros poemas ja teisi luuletus
7) Sõja mõttetusest
8) Kui käib lahingulaine
9) Hodina u rak polesu
10) Õnnis, kui taevased, neistki õndsam veel Catullus

Rusfolder / Mediafire

Contributions again and quite recent one for change plus it's yet another "different" item. This is the rare first demo by the Estonian folk/something band Messier, sent to me by Mihkel Kleis, thank you, and I presume it is ripped from his tape. Scans were also provided so we're all good here. He wasn't sure how many copies were made but estimates roughly ten(!).

This demo is in a sense a compilation as it gathers recordings from 1993 - 1997, all home-recorded with a tape recorder for extremely bad, amateurish sound quality. Though I've heard worst and so have you if you've read this blog long enough. Line-up for this tape was Indrek Pauls aka "Noka" - vocals, flute & guitar; Lauri Õunapuu (now in Metsatöll) - guitar & vocals; Känd - percussion. Apparently a guy called Pallisõber participated in the band, but Mihkel had no idea exactly what he played or how he contributed. Music here is... uh, I guess it's best described as some sort of Baltic folk/neofolk, very lo-fi and as underground as such comes. Main voice is kind deep chanting one, while another voice is a bit lighter and more... ehh proper singing? Singsongy? I don't seem to be on my best descriptive edge today. Anyways, those are later expanded to spoken word and frantic, very punky sort of vocals which are surprising and cool. Instrumentation is acoustic guitars, flute(s - possibly various kinds but I understand preciously little of such!) and percussion, which you of course could already tell from the line-up I wrote earlier. Some of the songs are very traditional kind of folk while others have more of a neofolk character and yet others are plain silly/very eccentric. Listening through the tape leaves me a little confused and undecided to what make out of it. It's not very long, just over 24 minutes, despite containing ten tracks, most of them are quite short. In the end of the day I find this strangely fascinating at parts, I clearly need to give it more attention as it seems to grow on you with further listens. Or maybe I'm finally losing it. Recommeded for the more adventurous and open minded readers.

Unto A Long Glory...2 - Beverina Compilation (1997)

Various Artists - Unto A Long Glory...2 - Beverina Compilation (1997)
1) Dissimulation - Intro / Būk Prakeiktas
2) Apraxia - Freedom
3) Dawn of Gehenna - Dark Side of the Earth
4) Nokturnal Mortum - Perun's Celestial Silver
5) Tharaphita - All Pool Lund Ja Jaad
6) Skyforger - Old Semigallian Warsong
7) Vicious Crusade - Land of Lakes
8) Sunchariot - Voroni
9) Tangrycan - Immortalize Sacrament
10) Mental Home - Into the Realms of Marena
11) Blizzard - Possessed by Hate
12) Alkonost - Shadows of Dark Days

Mediafire

We depart from the realms of NZ death, but if you wish more I suggest you check out raf's with the recent Eviscerate & Mutilated Entrails posts. Our destination today is again the Balkan lands and the surrounding Slavonic domains with the second Beverina compilation, sent by Juris (thanks!) and ripped by me. Cover scans enclosed.

Much of what I wrote on the post for the first Beverina compilation applies here too, the main focus still being on pagan black metal but this time the Slavs outnumber the Balts seven to five. Also, there are no non-metal tracks, unfortunately for some and possibly fortunately for others. Unless you count Skyforger's live folk track. The musical line is a bit more focused on (folk) pagan black metal here but exceptions can be found in the death/doom by Dawn of Gehenna & Mental Home. Note that the covers misspell Estonian Tharaphita as Tharapitha - an error present in the upload, sorry I noticed that too late. Fix it manually. What more I should say about this? Well, it's a very interesting compilation if you enjoy Slavonic/Baltic heathen black metal with atmospheric and/or folky touches. Personally I enjoy most tracks 4, 5, 7, 11 and of course 12 - old Alkonost is a big long time favourite of mine! Least enjoyable would be Tangrycan whose vocals I can't seem to get into, not very keen on the drum machine either. This tape was in very good condition so there's not much in the glitch and impurity department - naturally some wear in inevitable. Not sure whether the first one or this is better but both are nonetheless recommendable.

Unto A Long Glory... Beverina Compilation I (1996)

Various Artists - Unto A Long Glory... Beverina Compilation I (1996)
1) Monkmort - Brown Power Ritual
2) Gods Tower - Seven Rains of Fire
3) Winter Night Overture - The Inner Endless Darkness
4) Zpoan Vtenz - Jos Brolis in Karelį
5) Postmortem - Farewell Melody
6) Ha Lela - Išjojo Bernelis
7) Alfheim - Quintessence
8) Skyforger - Night of the Winter Solstice
9) Maze Of Cako Torments - Possessed by Smaug - the Dragon
10) Poccolus - Rudens Miško Šnabždesiai

Depositfiles / Mediafire

Let us post a compilation tape for change, this is the first Beverina compilation featuring again Baltic and Slavonic bands... well, this time Baltic bands only with the exception of the Belarussian gods Gods Tower. You may remember I posted the 3rd in the series back in 2010. Well, some months ago Juris of Beverina contacted me and kindly borrowed me his master copies of these compilation tapes and this rip, including cover scan, is the first fruit of that co-operation. So, thanks again Juris!

This tape and the second one were dubbed on 60 min tapes and like on the following compilations the main focus is on pagan or heathen forms of atmospheric metal, ranging from the doom/folk/heavy hybrid of Gods Tower to black metal dirges of Poccolus and also including Baltic melodeath from Postmortem, straight black metal by Winter Night Overture, ritualistic dark ambient of Monkmort and slightly dungeon synthesque material with Alfheim whose nationality the covers do not mention (had a look, they were a Latvian black metal band!). Not to forget another slightly experimental, atmospheric track from Maze Of Cako Torments whose demos I am still desperately after! Despite this being ripped from Juris' own tape, there are some unfortunate flaws present - whether these are the result of simple tape wear or already present on the dubs Juris received I don't know but one can hear them in several tracks. Fortunately nothing major and as usual it'll give you a more authentic listening experience. I feel like I enjoy this compilation more than the 3rd part as it's a bit more compact, feels slightly more consistent and the material in general is superior. Personal highlights are 1, 2, 4, 9 and 10. Recommended!

Volkh - Alla Pohjolan Moukarin demo 1996

Volkh (fin) - Alla Pohjolan Moukarin demo I 1996
1) Intro / Genital Grinder (Carcass cover)
2) Alla Pohjolan Moukarin
3) Musta Sateenkaari
4) Outro / Revontulet

Reuploaded

Here's another tape I got from brother Grev and another band I know preciously little about. It's most likely a one-shot project by member(s) of some Finnish band impressed by Storm's album and Fenriz' Isengard, perhaps the Finnish Perkele too. Grev did not have the covers for this one and I was unable to dig them up from the inter nets so nothing of the sort included and if you have them let me know!

This is a very short demo, only a bit over six minutes in lenght and none of the tracks crosses the two minute mark. The starter track, a cover of an old Carcass track, is an unexpected way to begin a folk/pagan metal demo but it fits in quite well after all. Sound quality is not the best possible, first of the source tape seems a bit worn, especially right in the beginning and the recording itself is rehearsal quality. The instruments and vocals are audible but not certainly crystal clear. Musically this is, as stated above, similar to Storm, Isengard and Perkele. I'm not sure if this is a "serious" project or just made for the heck of it. M.A. mentions another self-titled 3 song demo which I'd be curious to hear, if such exists. Give it a listen if you're a fan of the name-dropped bands or looking for a brief, entertaining musical curio.

Equitant - The Circle of Agurak promo 1993

Equitant - The Circle of Agurak promo/demo I 1993
1) The Fallen Walls of Agurak
2) The Finrir Wolf
3) De Occulta Philosophia
4) Castle of Töprak-Kale (Among Them)
5) ('Iss) Er 'Arbörkr
6) Under the Sasaian King Yezdenian III
7) The Goddess Astghik (Sea of Glasya)
8) Hofa Hilmir, ok Valhallar Visi

Reuploaded

Non-metal post, featuring Equitant's, formerly remembered from Absu and nowadays a maker of electronic music, debut release as a solo artist. Even though this recording features also his bandmates Proscriptor (flute) and Shaftiel (voice) and Black Mass Prayer aka Black Massith (while in Absu) helped him with the synths, it's mostly a solo effort. If you are familiar with the man's current and, well basically all solo work since late 90's you might be well-adviced the first two tapes are quite different from his EBM/techno/electronic releases. This one would mostly fit into the dark ambient/dungeon music category with some folky bits included. The folky parts seem mostly Celtic-influenced while the ambient parts divide roughly into half instrumental and half with spoken vocals included. The lyrics would seem to be more in the fantasy vein (concerning Agurak mentioned in the title) than mythology/occult Absu is known for. Equitant would seem to mix Celtic, Scandinavian and Howard-school sword & sorcery influences. This is judging from the track titles and narration, lyrics are not included. I got a copy of this and the 2nd demo from eBay some time ago, so a scan of the fold-out cover is included.

The sound and rip quality are good, the tape was not badly worn despite being just dubbed onto a regular old cassette. Some wear is occasionally heard but this can't be avoided. Moods presented are mostly quite solemn and gloomy with the synths dominant for majority of the time and the spoken vocals usually remain in the background. Which I find preferable. The folk bits I mentioned earlier are restricted to the intro and outro, track 6 features some distorted guitars which brings a nice refreshing change and Proscriptor's flute gives character to the 7th track. At the end of the day a good effort, recommended if you enjoy these kinds of works.