Neglected Fields - Sansara demo 1996

Neglected Fields - Sansara demo I 1996
1) Sphere's Rhapsody
2) Eschatological
3) Sansara
4) Living Structures

Mediafire / RGhost

Looks this is going to be the last post for this year, thanks to all supporters and contributors and let us keep reaping the tombs next year as well. Today's offering is again by Henri and it is the first demo of the Latvian Neglected Fields who played progressive and technical death metal. No, I don't think they sound like Opeth. Or do they? I'm by no means an expert here. Cover scans are included and these are unusually colourful, which is kind of neat for change. Festive and all that.

This is not the sort of music I am personally very familiar with, nor do I really much care for technical sort of metal in general, but this is staying within fairly reasonable bounds instead of full-blown instrumenstrual orgy and I kind of like their Orientally flavoured esoteric concept, at least in small doses such as the rather standard seventeen minutes this demo runs for. I haven't heard any of their three albums, or any other later output either but as these tracks seem to reappear on the debut I'd assume at least that one is in similar vein to this tape. Progressively technical but still rather agreeable "death" metal, not at all brutal despite the vocalist exclusively utilizing his grunts yet quite interesting and not too fluffy. I'm not sure if I could really stomach a full album of this stuff but a little snack is fine occasionally. Hear for yourself and next year I promise to post more moist, rotten filth scraped off the sacrophagi long forgotten in the dreariest catacombs.

Nightside - Oneiric Reign demo 1998

Nightside (ita) - Oneiric Reign demo II 1998
1) Sorrow of Remembrances
2) Nocturnal Vision
3) Comet
4) Obliteration of Conscious Ego
5) Destiny
6) Black Tears (Edge of Sanity cover)

Depositfiles / Mediafire (smaller download without scans)

Still in the realms of death, we will now stray a bit from the path of true death with this contribution by Chris, thanks for the rip and (huge!) cover scan. It's not that long a way from Switzerland to Italy but this second demo, third tape by the Italians Nightside (not likely to be mixed with the Finns featured on the blog earlier) is from entirely different continent compared to Coffin's content in the previous post. Somewhat technical and melodic death metal and now that I think about it my "different continent" wording is really off since this is obviously inspired by the Swedish bands who played this style, especially later At the Gates who they covered on their '96 demo.

Five songs of their own here, one of which ("Destiny") is labeled as a bonus track and a cover of Edge of Sanity which I've never really listened to much so no comment about that band's potential influence to their songwriting and sound. Melodic death metal was for me something mostly other people listened to in the 90's so I'm not an authority with all the nuances and probably miss a ton of name dropping chances here, I'll just say if someone had told me this was a Swedish band while playing a track I'd probably believed them. It's not bad, I suppose, their skills seem adequate to task at hand, the songs have some variation to them and the sound quality is suitable for a demo. I think the bonus track sounds a little different, so it seems safe to deduce it was recorded in a later session. Since they practically have to be mentioned when discussing this sort of stuff I'll just say In Flames (earlier, not nowadays!) and Dark Tranquillity here to get done with that and recommend people into bands mentioned so far (well, maybe not fans of Coffin) and similar music to give this a go.

UPDATE: Added a Mediafire link without the enormous cover scans for peasants with sluggish internet.

Hastur - Macabre Execution promo 1997

Hastur (ita) - Macabre Execution promo / advance tape 1997
Unknown Artist:
1) Untitled
Hastur:
2) Dance Macabre
3) The Execution

4shared / Zippyshare

The Coven needs your assistance once more, recently I was approached by comrade Profoundemonium who sent me this rip of the advance tape / promo by the Italian band Hastur, sent by the label Beyond...Productions back in the day. "Macabre Execution" was released in CD format in the same year, featuring the two titled tracks but this tape has one additional song by an unverified artist. It would seem most likely that this would be another track by the band themselves but it sounds quite odd and differs from the other two, so it could be another band on the roster just as well. P. has already explored several of the related artists and came up short. So, if you can identify this track and / or the artist please get in touch!

About the music then, the currently unidentified track is pretty short (might actually cut) and kind of jazzy, progressive piece. Somewhat unique and odd, but it has a definite metal base. Sounds somehow Italian to me and I would not disclose the possibility that it is the same band as later. One name that sprung to my mind now is Forgotten Silence from Czech Rep, need to dig up their stuff and see. To the verified material, these two tracks are pretty long, making the EP last over 11 minutes which was fair enough. Music could be described as technical black/death metal with both thrash and progressive bits in it. Synths add atmosphere to the music and it again has that certain Italian vibe to it. There is some tape wear to be heard in places but it's not too disruptive. Ok stuff but not really my preferred streak of sickness. Give it a try, it seems to grow on me with repeat listens too.

Flyer for the EP

Deface - Tears demo 1995

Deface (spa) - Tears advance tape for demo 1995
1) Absorbed by Homesickness
2) Unforgettable Moments
3) Inextricable Memories (Part I)
4) The Field of Glory
5) Inextricable Memories (Part II)

Mediafire

Time to post another a bit older contribution. I'm not 100% if I simply forgot this one to sit in my download folder or had Mikael aka Vaalkoth posted this in their short-lived blog, whatever the reason may be it was left there for quite some time. Anyways, this is an advance version of Spanish death metal band Deface's only (?) demo from 1995 which Mikael had gotten from them and ripped and sent to yours truly along with some other items. Includes a pic of the cover, which is unfortunately not a scan but a digicam pic. You can see what needs to be seen on that too. Thanks for sharing!

Mikael's rip had tracks 3 & 4 together, I separated them. Otherwise I haven't meddled with his work here, it's a little lower bitrate than I usually go for (CBR 160) but it sounds ok. Note that of the 5 tracks here, roughly 15 minutes of music, only tracks 2 and 4 might be what we call "proper" tracks as the others are intro and interlude sort of pieces. The sound is kinda weak, or more like unpowerful and the music is not certainly the average sort of death metal you might've expected from Spain early 90's - it's kind of complicated mix of technical death metal with gothic influences, rather than death/doom which might seem more likely when you look at the titles here. In a way the sound supports their complex, serpentine meanderings as a heavier, cavernous or a dirty, muddled production would make them a complete mess. Vocals are death growls, gothic moans and assorted less used sounds. I don't like this. Well, the instrumental interludes are ok. Other than that the main dish is too complex and twisty for my palate, most of the time it just makes me sort of annoyed. But you have to note I'm not into Ved Buens Ende and the like either so you might find this fascinating and actually enjoy it. After all, some people enjoy eating things which make me grimace and spit them into a napkin for stealth disposal at first opportunity... I better quit now and prepare some food.

Innominandum - From the Cradle to the Grave demo 1992

Innominandum - From the Cradle to the Grave demo 1992
1) From the Cradle to the Grave
2) Sleeping with the Past
3) Solitude
4) Shadow of the Holy Script

Mediafire

Here's another death metal demo, this time from Germany and the first one released by the band as Innominandum, they were formerly called Dandruff. I'd say the name change was a good idea. Apparently this would also be their only more serious death metal release as they changed their style to death'n'roll which was a very typical thing to do in the 90's - if not going all the way rock or grunge - and annoyed me to no small extent. I haven't heard anything else from them so I can't really give any first hand comments on how successful their turn was.

This is another tape traded item, no covers I'm afraid, but at least the dub was quite good. The sound on the demo itself is ok, not the best I've heard if not the shittiest either. It comes off a little unclear at times as the music is not exactly straight forward sort, crude and simple hammering (which I personally prefer to technical wankfests) but more complex. I'm not really sure what more to say of this, it's not really my favourite sort of death metal but it has good parts and if you're a death metal fan you should try this out for yourself.

Crystal Age - Promo 1994

Crystal Age - Promotion Tape January 1994
1) Far Beyond Divine Horizons
2) Star Destroyer
3) Retaliations

 Reuploaded

Technical melodic death metal of the NWOSDM-school isn't really my favourite type of metal, but here's anyway a lesser known band representing the genre and this time actually from Sweden too. Crystal Age released a full-lenght album in 1995 and personnel involved could be found in the line-ups of bands ranging from Ceremonial Oath to Hammerfall. I've received this one from one of my traders so I've no covers except for the image Metal Archives had.

Three songs, which would also appear on the album, probably sounding slightly different. They were recorded in Studio Fredman and have a good sound. The dub has some slight faults but these should not be critical. Music is obviously very melodic and technical, without going overboard but clearly treading the fine line. There's quite a bit of aggression found and their concept appears to be sci-fi related. I suppose I leave it at that. You should know by now if you want to try it.

Pragwald - s/t 7"EP 1991

Pragwald - Pragwald 7"EP 1991
1) In Nomine
2) Temple of Sadness
3) Just a Question... Why?
4) Pragwald Blues (Outro)

MediaFire

An unusual item for this time, a 7"EP from a technical, almost progressive death metal band Pragwald from then-Yugoslavia, today's Slovenia. Quite original stuff with some bits of funk and blues (well, the outro) thrown in. Not really my preferred sort of poison, but it's an entertaining listen once a while. Picked this from one of my tape traders out of curiosity back in the 90's. Sound and rip quality are quite good so check this out if you're equally curious or fan of the style.