Shadowlore - Embers of Light Dying demo '96

Shadowlore - Embers of Light Dying demo 1996
1) As the Waters Darken
2) Embers of Light Dying

Zippyshare / Mediafire

Today's contribution by master Fenrirsson, thanks for the rip, takes us to United Kingdom which is not really too well known for black metal despite spawning the band that named the whole genre. In the mid 90's you basically had Cradle of Filth, Thus Defiled and Bal-Sagoth, COF starting as death metal and TD black/death, then if you dug a bit deeper you might encounter the likes of Dead Christ, Megiddo, The Fallen, Witchclan, Silence (which I still need to hear for myself, provided they even recorded anything!), Ewigkeit, Ordog and Xaztur. Oh yeah and Hecate Enthroned, never forget! They were really much better known for death and doom metal plus combinations of those. Hmm, where was I? Oh yeah, today's thingy, the only demo from Shadowlore, side project by Thus Defiled Pauls Carter and Foster-Dent. We have featured Thus Defiled extensively enough earlier so let's not go biographing this time. No cover as F was working with a dub so there's just the small image I looted from a crypt somewhere online.

This is the original two song version of the demo, there was also a later re-release by Dark Trinity Productions with two more recent songs on the B-side (which I'd be curious to hear), probably had a different cover too but that's pretty much all I know about that. Both songs are decent length so it lasts a bit over ten minutes. If you're familiar with the first two Thus Defiled albums, between which this was done, you'll recall they were black/death metal with increasing emphasis on melody on the second one as well as keyboards taking more prominence while the demo material was pretty much death metal tinged with black. This recording by the two Pauls is straight up synth black metal with black metal rasps, screams and whispers for vocals and machine percussion support. The sound is not too far away from the TD releases of the era really, the sparse instrumentation just makes it thinner and obviously less heavy. Both songs are divided into intro parts and "song proper" with the rest of the elements (vocals and percussion that is) joining the keyboards. I seem to enjoy this today more than on the previous listen, so perhaps it is again one of those things that grow on you? Can't help wondering how it'd sound with some guitar buzz thrown in. Is that a bass on the second track that I hear? I was under the impression it was just vox and synth, though it could be more keyboards shenanigans. Also, I'd really like to hear the two later bonus tracks so if you have that version please get in touch!

Bal-Sagoth - Rehearsal January 1994

Bal-Sagoth - Rehearsal January 1994
1) Intro
2) Battle for the Topaz Throne
3) Dreaming of Atlantean Spires
4) The Fall of the Gleaming Citadels (Before the Dark Fury of the Elder Gods)
5) Enthroned in the Halls of the Serpent Kings
6) By the Blaze of the Fire Jewels
7) Thus Spake the Silent Halls of Valasia

Mega / RGhost

Today's post completes the gradual shift back to metal and is another thing discovered from the dungeons of our lord Fenrirsson, thank you for the rip! UK's Bal-Sagoth might be a familiar name to some of you, they've churned out six albums over a ten year period, the latest already a decade ago, and a demo back in '93 which got a re-release in 2013. If you've an interest in fantasy metal I'm quite sure you've encountered them before and basically know what to expect from this rehearsal tape. It's surprisingly long, over 36 minutes, but the ambient intro track here is remarkably lengthy, especially when compared to the metal tracks that follow, at seven minutes forty-eight seconds. It's followed, naturally, by the shortest song of the lot which takes slightly less than three minutes. The rest are more in the expected running times of four plus minutes, last one nearly equaling the intro. Pretty clear but not very powerful sound allows necessary elements be observed.

I should mention I've never been much into Bal-Sagoth, my initial experience with "A Black Moon Broods over Lemuria" left me slightly dissappointed and then "Starfire..." went totally over the top with the pomp, silliness, goofy breaks, circus synths and especially the vocals which I really disliked, way too much narration and just aaaargh enough, enough, ENOUGH! Where was I? Yeah, older B-S though sounds slightly more reasonable and ugh, kinda like old Cradle Of Filth I have to say. Bet they love(d) that comparison! Considering how little patience I have for the post-debut B-Sags (though I haven't heard all the albums) this is quite listenable. But enough from me, give it a go if you're thus inclined.

Inkubus Sukkubus - In All Our Names live 2003

Inkubus Sukkubus - In All Our Names (live at Gloucester Guildhall Arts Centre, Gloucester UK 10th January 2003)
1) Wytches 2002
2) Smile of Torment
3) The Rape of Maude Bowen
4) I Am the One
5) Take My Hunger
6) Vampyres
7) Away with the Faeries
8) Heart of Lilith
9) We Belong with the Dead
10) Catherine
11) Lucifer Rising
12) Belladonna & Aconite
13) Vampyre Erotica
14) Paint It Black

Mediafire

AUDIO ONLY: Mega

Enough exotics and time for something non-metal as well, this is again Inkubus Sukkubus of UK and an unusual item for the Coven: video of the whole show (separate tracks) shot from the audience by a comrade of brother Emptiness Cycle who kindly contributed this earlier with other related items. Thanks again! The unofficial IS site tells us this was a combined Amnesty / Greenpeace (didn't really foresee typing that split on this blog) benefit gig with unlisted support bands. I felt the urge to make a cover once again so this might look like a proper bootleg.

Like I mentioned right in the start, this is an audience recording and the full set. The fourteen tracks make almost an hour of music and both image and sound quality are decent. Better than average visual I'd say, EC's comrade has positioned himself quite well, slightly to the side but with a good view. I'm not very good at saying much about live videos since I shoot piss poor ones and generally seldom watch them, including the official ones. I do listen to live albums though, but don't often have patience to sit through a live DVD. Thus it might be convenient for others with similar issues that the video is separated unto tracks. I also made an audio-only version which you may download separately if you're so inclined. The main download includes this too. A few words about the gig itself, nice setlist though I am personally most familiar with the oldest albums, instruments sound a little thin but this is goth stuff not metal! And definitely not Mysticum. Candia's voice doesn't really seem to carry through the whole set, not sure if she's feeling a bit under the weather or what but maybe they should've considered having Tony do a song or two. Then again, she manages "Catherine" which is kinda hard, kudos for that but alas, struggles by "Belladonna & Aconite" noticeably which is a bummer. Anyways, I'm hungry and need to stop typing. Recommended for fans of Inkubus Sukkubus and pagan/gothic rock in general.

Confusion Corporation - Purify demo 1995

Confusion Corporation - Purify demo II 1995
1) As the Brass Turns the Wall Green
2) Industrial Intellect
3) World Corruption
4) Contained
5) Forward to Extinction
6) Chains of Simplicity
7) Inorganic Beings

RGhost / Zippyshare

One more UK contribution, this was sent by brother Grev to satify my curiosity sparked by the first Confusion Corporation demo posted here earlier. Thank you and whoever originally ripped this! He did not have cover scans but I found a pretty decent image on the Discogs entry and used that. Decent quality rip at old standard bitrate (192 if you really didn't know).

A piano opens the first track, giving way to strings a bit further in. Intro piece, nice and moody, touch of neoclassical feel here and there. The piano returns to finish and next piece is much heavier then and so seems to be the overall sound, the music continuing quite logically where they left off on the previous demo. Death metal and grindcore elements mix with (sparse) industrial metal tricks and even some punk, resulting in... uh, some sort of cyber punk grind metal? Much of what I wrote last time applies here though there's a bit more of everything, notably Fear Factoryesque clean backing vocals, but it seems somewhat more focused than the previous tape. I recall my initial listen to this after Grev had sent it was somewhat unenthusiastic but hearing it now, side-by-side with the older demo it sounds much better and I'm not sure why I thought the other tape superior and this dissappointing. Now the tables would appear to have been turned. Not that much to add, it'd still fit the old Earache roster, not a big fan of the cover art, slightly better than the first tape (at least right now).

Incubus Succubus / Screaming Dead - Sampler Tape 1992

Incubus Succubus / Screaming Dead - Sampler Tape promo (?) 1992
Incubus Succubus:
1) Samhain
2) Vampyres
3) All the Devil's Men
Screaming Dead:
4) Angel of Death
5) Necroaria
6) Western Front

Mediafire / RGhost

I was initially going to post some more black metal now that we got the old engine running, but then decided to bring it to a crashing, creaking, screaming, screeching halt with a quick turn to something different: this sending picked from the things comrade Emptiness Cycle delivered me the other month. Thank you and other choice morsels will be served later! Anyways, to the British shores again and this is a split sampler tape, possibly a label promo, from '92 featuring some more pagan gothic rock by Incubus Succubus aka Inkubus Sukkubus as they are presently known (and about to release a new album this month, see here), teaming up with the fellow UK group, horror/goth punks Screaming Dead whose heyday was already in the early 80's with a short comeback in the late 90's. They were not active around the time of this tape's release so I suppose it might've been in connection to the compilation released in '93. Or just the fact that this was, after all, Tony McKormack's old band. Duh, obvious connection is obvious. No covers so I felt compelled to whip up a placeholder with band logos from '93 and '83 releases and a bat skeleton image I googled.

First version, which looks "colder" but the second accidental one looks more macabre so it won.

Yeah so if you're an Inkubus Sukkubus devotee these three tracks offer you absolutely nothing new as they're from the debut record. Unless you've managed to miss that one somehow, in case you should really get one of the various re-releases. If you're not familiar with the band, these three tracks are not at all a bad place to start, especially one of them being an old fave of mine ("Vampyres" if you must know). I like the stripped down but very clean sound here. Screaming Dead I hadn't heard earlier but am now quite interested to hear more. They've a very vintage 80's sound here, sorta post punk/wave thing going. I think the third song is a bit older than the first two. Why don't I listen to more stuff like this? I think I'm going to get that compilation from somewhere. Recommended for vampires, witches, pagans and other wave creeps.

Confusion Corporation - Confusion Begins demo 1994

Confusion Corporation - Confusion Begins demo I 1994
1) An Absence of Colour
2) Confuse
3) Rust Coloured Skies
4) Compassion
5) Intensified Tribulation
6) Existence

RGhost / Mediafire

I wanted to do some contributions again, this was sent by comrade grindfreak, thanks for your donations! Confusion Corporation hail from UK and made a bunch of demos which I haven't heard except for this one. And here they're performing in a genre not most familiar to me, death metal mixed with grindcore, reminding me of stuff Earache used to release. And probably still do? There are also bits and actually a general overall feeling to this that brings to mind early industrial metal acts, also from the same roster, such as Pitchshifter and Godflesh. It really moves quite a plenty around the yard instead of sitting just in the swing or making a castle in the sandbox, slow doomy moments, fast bursts, growling, screamy voice, clean vocals and other condiments aplenty. Quite interesting really, maybe I should try to get a hold of the other demos too.

Good sound, I suppose grindfreak had an original tape but for some reason included only a partial scan of the cover, judging from the Metal Archives image I compared it to. There's a little shift in sound quality on the fifth track, to better though, but in general it's good. Like I already said, it's interesting and I wouldn't mind hearing the other demos too. Not too sure how it would fare in larger portions but as a snack it's nice. Recommended for people into the umm, associated genres, other open-minded readers and the generally curious.

Incubus Succubus - Corn King cassEP 1994

Incubus Succubus - Corn King cassette EP 1994
1) Welcome to the Underworld
2) Prince of Shadows
3) Corn King
4) Witchunt (Fly Sister, Fly)
5) Dance (In the Fire of Love)

Mega

More 'different' stuff follows and now I'm quite pissed, I thought I had already posted this last night before leaving for work but something went wrong and all I found was just a title and nothing else in unfinished texts. Great.

I'm not going to bother with all the crap I typed for a second time, you can find the bio for Incubus Succubus, later spelled Inkubus Sukkubus on their website. Cassette EP, two songs appear on "Heartbeat of the Earth" album (UPDATE: actually all of them do but some were retitled and all are quite different versions), pagan/gothic rock with female main vocals, male backing. Mostly pretty catchy tunes, an old guilty pleasure of mine. Ripped from a dub I got tapetrading in the 90's. That is all.

The Dead Sea #2

The Dead Sea 'zine, issue 2 (early 1997)
Interviews:
Necropsy (uk)
Ancient
Smear
Abigail
Valle Crucis
Marduk
Gehenna
Mysticum
Rich Brown (Flashpoint Recordings / Wishwood Music)
Desaster
Der Untermensch
Summoning (Silenius)
The Marble Icon
Laibach
Bethzaida
Violent Dissorder
Nightfall
Abigor
Theatre of Tragedy
Ewigkeit
Beyond Dawn
Samael
Krabathor
Mortiis
Cradle of Filth
Kampfar
Hybernoid
Primordial
Iron Rainbow
Retalliation
Varathron
Doomflight
Sad Entheus
+ Articles (Yukio Mishima, Elend, "Satanism from a Pagan Point of View"), reviews & poems

Mediafire

Here's another 'zine for you to browse. I'm sick so I'm not going to write a novel here. This is an English 'zine, the second and probably last issue, made by a man called Nick Moberly and a league of contributors: roughly half of the interviews were sent by other people, a few were made face-to-face after concerts, some were meant for another 'zine originally and so on. This also results in quite varied quality. At least the questions won't get too repetitive this way. Most of them tend to concentrate on more musical side of things instead of anything ideological. Layout is neat and readable, even if he does fall into the unfortunate habit of playing with fonts.

A definite plus on this 'zine is the attention given to the domestic, smaller bands, most of which are completely unknown to me. I wish more 'zines had had this sort of attitude instead of sending the same questions in different order to the same old "famous" bands. Not that this wouldn't have it's share of often seen names (Mortiis anyone?). But enough crap from me, read this for now.

Cradle Of Filth - A Pungent and Sexual Miasma Split 1992

Cradle Of Filth - A Pungent and Sexual Miasma ½ Split tape 1992
1) So Violently Sick (From Demo 2)
2) Funereal (Ipswich 13-03-92)
3) Dawn of Eternity (Reh 03-03-92)
4) Circle of Perversion (From Demo 1)
5) Chewing on Your Guts (Reh 03-03-92)
6) Loathsome Christ (Ipswich 13-03-92)
7) Darkly Erotic (From Demo 2)
8) This Fetid Dank Oasis (Ipswich 13-03-92)
9) Our Father Which Art in Earth (actually "Foul Winds Threaten" from Demo 2)

Mediafire

Here's some more old COF sent by comrade Ruptured Souls, thank you. Unfortunately this is only a half of the "A Pungent..." tape, side B being Malediction's part which he did not have. I don't think I've ever heard Malediction so I can't say if we're missing much but it's a matter of principle so if you have their part of the tape please get in touch! The folder includes various images of the covers so that's covered.

As you may see from the notes, COF's tracks are compiled from the first two demos and from a live show and a rehearsal from March '92. Malediction's part would've been compiled from a live show and a rehearsal from '91 so in essence this split was a compilation. Death metal era COF so fans of their black metal or symphonic extreme metal periods might not be too enthusiastic listening to the content. On the other hand, those who can't stand later stuff and love more brutal and crude metal might enjoy this. The sound ranges from the good demo sound to slightly messier but still listenable live to crude yet (barely) audible rehearsal. Nothing sounds utterly horrible, at least if you're a seasoned listener of old tapes. Material itself ranges from good to pretty boring, I'm no death metal specialist after all. Cautiously recommended to those who think they like old COF.

Thus Defiled - Enchanted by the Dark One demo 1993

Thus Defiled - Enchanted by the Dark One demo II 1993
1) Enchanted by the Dark One
2) Eternal Demonomancy
3) Primordial Darkness (Returning...)

Depositfiles

Today's upload completes another cycle and is again a reader contribution, sent along with a bunch of other items by comrade Ruptured Souls, this is the second demo by UK black/death group Thus Defiled. You may find the first demo here and a bit later rehearsal tape here. I don't know who made this rip originally, it might be quite old, however the quality is decent enough so thanks to whoever it was. No cover scans were included so I've again sto - borrowed images from Discogs, these are included in the folder.

This tape looks quite professional if one would judge a book by its cover and printed cassette and I do seem to recall this being called a cassette EP somewhere. Of course I don't have a reference at hand so I'm not going to champion that argument and just call it a demo like everyone else does. The sound is quite comparable to the debut demo, a little more clear and less echo-y. Unfortunately it also sounds less dark as a result, more death than black or black/death metal this time. There's just about the same amount of metal as on the first effort (a bit over ten minutes spread over three tracks) but less evenly divided as the title track hogs over half of the duration and side A of the tape, supporting the EP feeling I get from this. Despite the title track's extra length, all three follow the same basic patterns of slower, heavy and doomy parts alternating with fast, grinding aggressive sections. Vocals are guttural and brutal growls. I feel like I don't have really much more to say about this now, check it out if you like death metal and/or black/death metal, enjoy the other Thus Defiled stuff or happen to collect UK demos.

Putrefied Compilation Tape (1993)

Various Artists - Putrefied Compilation tape (1993)
1) Beyond Dawn - The Underworld / The Mourner
2) Solemn - Beautiful Surroundings
3) Organic Infest - Lust for Flesh
4) Absolution - In Eternal Service
5) Pleuritic - Endless Pleuritic
6) Cradle of Filth - The Raping of Faith
7) Impaled Nazarene - Condemned to Hell
8) Chapel of Rest - Intro / World Graveyard
9) Iconoclast - Apocryphal Sleep Gethsemane
10) Son of Dog - Crucify the Demi-Gorgon
11) Burial - Intro / Impending Writ of the Last Rites
12) Morbid Symphony - Evil Cares for Its Own
13) Cradle of Filth - As Deep as Any Burial / Franternally Yours, 666 (Outro)

Mediafire / Depositfiles

Another contribution today and a compilation tape which haven't been really too plentiful here I think. This was sent again by comrade Ruptured Souls (thank you) and I don't really have that much background info on it, expect that it's from (probably early) 1993, from the UK and features almost an hour of various sorts of death metal by a dozen different bands, most like Solemn, Burial or the rather well-known Cradle of Filth hailing also from the United Kingdom and the rest mostly European, from the Italian Iconoclast to Finland's Pleuritic and ImpNaz, the exceptions being Puerto Rican Organic Infest and US Son of Dog. Well, that's quite international already. I don't recall where RS had dug this up, but thanks to the original uploader. Alas, not much of a cover scan for this but an image is better than nothing. See an edited version above.

I'm not going to go in depth analysis with each track here, considering these are almost all originally demo material the sound quality is decent if a bit uneven, the rip is quite good with a little wear audible but that merely adds character, no? I said earlier this features death metal and that is really most accurate catch-all description here. Some lean a bit towards death/doom while others sound significantly more blackened. Should be a quite interesting listen if you enjoy old compilations and/or death metal.

Cradle Of Filth - Rehearsal 11.01.1993

Cradle Of Filth - Rehearsal, 11.01.1993
1) Unbridled at Dusk
2) The Black Goddess Rises
3) The Raping of Faith
4) This Fetid Dank Oasis

Depositfiles / Yandex

Another rehearsal today, this is one of the items sent me by comrade Ruptured Souls a little while ago. I am sure you've heard of Cradle Of Filth and should not be very surprised to encounter them here, yet once again. Some of you also know that COF started out as a death metal band (stop to think about the band name for a while, won't you?) before becoming a black metal band and later extreme gothic metal or however you might wish to refer to their later style. This recording, like the third demo, is already in black metal field while still having quite a few death metal touches, as well as nuances from the members' past punk endeauvors, which would still be quite audible on their debut album as well. Quite good and clear enough rehearsal sound, with pleasant roughness around the edges as it should have. There is already a notable keyboard presence here, nothing overwhelming though. There was no real cover art for this, it was as far as I can guess just dubbed to people on ordinary tapes, I used the old logo as it seemed to fit better here.

As you notice, there are four songs, three of which would also appear on the "Total Fucking Darkness" demo III and the fourth one not elsewhere except for some live recordings, like on "A Pungent and Sexual Miasma". There was also a fifth track (also not appearing elsewhere) included with the folder RS sent and he was quite certain it would be part of this rehearsal and not an advance track for the cancelled original debut album "Goetia" but listening to it I find myself disagreeing as these four songs have a very similar sound, obviously from the same session and the fifth one "Spattered in Faeces" just sounds different. Not really like an album track, more like a demo recording yes, but it's supposed to be unmixed anyways. Please have a listen for yourselves:

Cradle Of Filth - Unmixed LP Track 1993
1) Spattered in Faeces

Yandex / Mediafire

As you note, there was an image included which lables it as an unmixed album track, but obviously that sort of picture is not much of a proof, is it? You see, back when I was young just about everyone knew how to write with a pen, instead of using keyboard/phone/whatever sci-fi device kids these days use. So yeah... but I think it sounds different enough to be an advance track and at least not being from the same recording as the rehearsal above. But if you disagree, feel free to tag it as part of the rehearsal and add it to that. Also if you actually know the truth, please share with us! But that's enough for now, have a listen if you enjoy old COF and thanks to RS for sending the items!

Hoarfrost - Simony demo 1996

Hoarfrost (uk) - Simony demo 1996
1) Intro. Lindisfarne
2) On the Shores of Slain Images
3) The Unearthly Flesh
4) Infinite Mists
5) Simony
6) Outro. Hermetic Paths

Mediafire / Rusfolder

More UK black metal and another obscure unit, apparently a one-demo-wonder again, Hoarfrost from Abingdon. Or Oxon, not very good with the UK addresses. Well, wherever, this is their late 1996 demo and ripped from a dub my trader chum sent and unfortunately I don't have a proper cover scan, just a scan of the xerox I got from him. The original cover is in colour, from what I could make out of the M.A. image. 

This is another of those album length demos with a playtime of over 42 minutes and looking at the tracklisting you might have noticed it's six tracks, two out of which are an intro and outro so the actual songs are long, between 8½ to 9½ minutes each. It manages to sound quite epic and crude at the same time, thanks to programmed drums and demo sound. More Thy Repentance than Caladan Brood, so to say. I didn't listen to this much back then but now that I'm giving it (almost) all of my attention again I have to say it sounds better than I remembered. Still not something I'd rush to repress on CD and vinyl or spam forums with but listenable. Right, I'm going to give them another chance, why don't you try it too?

Thus Defiled - Blasphemous Coven demo 1993

Thus Defiled - Blasphemous Coven demo I 1993
1) Intro
2) Invocation
3) Desolation of Twilight
4) Ascend...

Yandex

Here's something I very seldom do, a repost of something from another blog, this is the first Thus Defiled demo ripped by Matt Witchclan and originally posted on The Woodman's Axe here. As it seems Matt's not active at the moment I thought I'd help comrade Ruptured Souls out and post the demo here. So thanks to Witchclan again for the original rip and cover scan!

Thus Defiled, name taken from a line in Venom lyrics, started by playing a mixture of death and black metal before evolving to a more black metal oriented sound on second album or so, I'll check that later and edit this. This demo consist of a very long intro (over 6 minutes of the little less than 17 min playing time!) and three tracks of mostly quite brutal black/death metal but it does have some breaks and tempo changes too so it's not just all in your face. The rip is good but the sound volume could be a bit higher. Well, check it out if you like their other material and/or old schoolish black(/death) metal.

Cradle Of Filth - Live in Garatejo 10.11.1994

Cradle Of Filth - Live in Garatejo, Portugal 10th November 1994
1) Darkness Our Bride (Jugular Wedding)
2) To Eve the Art of Witchcraft
3) Nocturnal Supremacy
4) In Dusk and Her Embrace
5) The Principle of Evil Made Flesh

Narod / Deposit

I saw COF live again the night before Black Flames of Blasphemy III, though I mainly went to see Rotting Christ (and to check out God Seed) and sort of inspired by that I decided to finally upload this old live that I had forgotten in some dank, musty corner of my hard drive. Dubbed by one of my tape traders long ago, naturally no cover existed as it was just another audience recording. However, I made one out of a picture by Aly Fell which I came across looking for an image with a vampire chick. The artist has some pretty neat images so go have a look.

This is a short gig, just over 23 minutes, and I'm not sure if it is incomplete or not as another live from the same tour (?) I have is also just over 23 minutes and has also intro and four songs. I suppose they were a warm-up for some bigger name and given a very short slot. Notice that Dusk... was still in this early stage called In Dusk and Her Embrace (...or it might've been a mistake by my trader but I'm sticking to it). Another "new" track Nocturnal Supremacy has also been featured on the other old 'Filth releases posted on the blog and I still haven't compared the versions side-to-side. Then to the inevitable: this is an old audience recording so the sound, as expected, is not very good. It is clear and audible enough, at least if you're used to the quality of bootlegs, but somewhat uneven and there seem to be some glitches to it too, not sure but seems like it cuts a little on To Eve... It certainly is better than I remembered and surprisingly balanced as nothing's overpowering, the guitars are once again too low but you can still hear 'em and Dani's vocals sound actually pretty good here and are on reasonable level. Recommendable if you like old COF and are a seasoned listener of lo-fi recordings and live bootlegs.

Ewigkeit - Beyond Realms Unknown demo 1996

Ewigkeit - Beyond Realms Unknown demo 1996
1) The Enchantment...
2) Christendom Falls
3) Jewel of My Empire
4) O Elbereth

Mediafire / Depositfiles

Inspired by the recent discussion of oddities in the comments, today's post is Ewigkeit from the UK with their '96 demo. Though this isn't that odd yet really, the project would turn stranger a bit later. I got this dubbed from one of my traders who sent me a xerox of the cover as well which I've scanned and included in the download. The dub is of unknown generation and some tape wear and hiss is present, consider yourself fairly warned. Otherwise the demo has a pretty standard not-pro-studio sound of the era.

At this point Ewigkeit's music had not yet turned to the more experimental paths, this second demo (and I presume first one too - haven't heard it) is more in the vein of atmospheric (black) metal with synths and drum machine... well it sounds a lot like Summoning. Not as epic though, this is a quite short demo at roughly eleven minutes. Actually due that comparison some of the songs feel like they end up too soon, without proper build up. Well, to be honest it's not so alike as this is more guitar-oriented, in the end of the day I suppose it sounds like a cross between some German demo band doing atmospheric bm crossed with an early 90's Greek sound... and a little bit of Summoning. Ugh, listen for yourself and come up with a better description. I'm not going to compare this with the albums and other later stuff as I haven't heard anything more recent for years - I vaguely recall disliking whatever one it was that I heard and avoided the rest. But this one is okay, maybe I should give them another go.

Cradle Of Filth - Promo 1994

Cradle Of Filth - Promo 1994
1) A Gothic Romance
2) Nocturnal Supremacy

Mediafire

Don't look so surprised, I've posted old COF earlier, look here. Here's a quite obscure tape, as in not listed in Metal Archives, with two early versions of songs that'd end up on "Vempire" and "Dusk...". As you look at the 1995 live I posted, the setlist also featured these songs and I read somewhere a mention that this would've been recorded in November 1994 but can't confirm that. No idea if a proper cover exists, at least I don't have it as I got this from a tape trader contact around early 1995. If you know better and/or can supply a cover scan please do so, the one seen above is what I made to just entertain myself using an image from an old COF shirt + the logo.

The tracks here differ a bit from the album versions, but mainly in the performance and (naturally) sound quality department - the song structures and such seem pretty much same, though I admit I haven't listened them right next to the album versions. The dub quality could be better, as there is some clearly audible wear to be heard in places. Could be worse, though. Sound quality itself isn't that bad for what would appear to be rehearsal demo recording. If you like older COF and can stomach rough demo sounds check this out, it's not bad at all.

Thus Defiled - Rehearsal 28.04.1994

Thus Defiled - Rehearsal 28th April 1994
1) Darkness Rape the Tranquil Shore of Eternity
2) The Final Sunrise

Re-reuploaded

Another rehearsal, this one was contributed by brother Grev, thank you! Thus Defiled is one of the UK's longest running 2nd wave black metal bands yet has always remained somewhat unknown, at least compared to certain landmates of theirs. Here are two rehearsal tracks, first of which appeared on their debut album "Through the Impure Veil of Dawn" and second... nowhere, unless they changed the name later (likely). I'm personally more familiar with the older Thus Defiled material, but not intimate so I don't recognize it as something else. No cover for this one, I used the 2nd demo era logo here.

The recording has a pretty good rehearsal sound, though I have to say the (growling) vocals bleed unto everything quite a bit. Or actually they sort of sink into everything else and kind of mingle... well listen for yourselves, I found my ear adjusting to this rather quickly. Other than that I'd say it sounds better than many rehearsal demos. And better than several demos too. The first track is melodic and quite melancholic, while the second one starts a bit more bombastic and turns fast and ferocious, brutal even. Now I feel like listening to more Thus Defiled and writing less so end here. Recommended for both black and death metal listeners.

Cradle Of Filth - Live in Berlin 11.06.1995

Cradle Of Filth - Live at Knaack Club, Berlin Germany 11th June 1995
1) Intro / The Principle of Evil Made Flesh
2) The Forest Whispers My Name
3) A Gothic Romance
4) To Eve the Art of Witchcraft
5) Dusk and Her Embrace
6) Of Mist And Midnight Skies
7) A Dream of Wolves in the Snow
8) Summer Dying Fast
9) Nocturnal Supremacy
10) The Black Goddess Rises / Outro

Depositfiles (Lesbian Vampyrism version covers included)

Bet you didn't expect to see this name here, did you? Well, I happen to like old COF so shut up. I noticed I haven't posted much live tapes lately so I decided to get off my ass and post this one I ripped already months ago. I know this gig has also been released as a bootleg CD (name of which evades me) but this is a tape recording I had here - I doubt the bootleg CD has much better sound quality anyways.

UPDATE: Grev sent me scans of the covers from the version released by Lesbian Vampyrism Records. Thanks mate!

The sound is very good and clear, it does shift a bit from left to right every now and then but that's not an issue. As you see the setlist is pretty nice, mostly "Principle..." stuff and three early versions of "Dusk..." tracks. The dub quality was satisfactory as well so the rip is good. Assuming you're an old school bootleg-listening grumpy old bastard like me you'll be ok with the sound. If you're one of those darn kids complaining about the "poor sound" on modern, studio-enchanced official live albums, move along and pretty damn fast. So, if you're into older COF you'll want to check this out.

Anathema - Live in London 23.06.1995

Anathema (uk) - Live in Camden Underworld, London UK 23rd June 1995

1) The Silent Enigma
2) Mine Is Yours to Drown In (Ours Is the New Tribe)
3) Sleepless
4) Under a Veil (of Black Lace)
5) We, the Gods
6) 666

Mediafire

A live tape and from a little different genre for change. You're probably familiar with Anathema from England? This is an old show I got from a trader and as you can tell with minimal research, it is dated between their "Pentecost III" mini and the second full album "The Silent Enigma" which means they still play doom/death metal at this era, well with very little death at this point to be honest, but still metal you know. I guess people call them atmospheric/progressive rock or whatever in the later stages of their career.

The sound is pretty good, though it could really be a little stronger. The vocalist isn't really in his prime I'd say, he sounds pretty feeble occasionally when trying to do the more growly strong parts. The gothy moanier bits naturally come easier, you know the half spoken, half clean vocal he does. And My Dying Bride did/does too. Well, whatever. Moving on. I'm not sure if this is a complete recording of the gig, more likely not since it's only about 37 minutes and I find it hard to believe they would've had only that to play. More likely is that this recording is missing something from the beginning. If you were there that day maybe you could tell how much is missing? Till then, give it a go if you like their old stuff!