Fimbulwinter - Rehearsal 1991 (or 1992)

Fimbulwinter - Rehearsal 1991
1) The Watchtower
2) Buried In Ice I Died
3) Once I Lived On Lakes

Reuploaded

Fimbulwinter was an early Norwegian band probably best known for featuring Skoll of Ulver, Ved Buens Ende & Arcturus on bass and Shagrath of Dimmu Borgir on lead guitar & keyboard. I got this rehearsal tape from a Norwegian friend of mine in late 1994 or so, I think, and he informed me that this was a 1991 rehearsal, not 1992 like Metal Archives says. I'm not really sure which one to trust here as he was usually a reliable source of information, but so is MA supposed to be as well - even though there are incorrect entries from time to time. So far I've gone by my friend's word and think this is 1991.

Enough babbling about the backgrounds, what does it sound like then? It sounds like very early 90's extreme metal does, old school influenced and a little murky. The sound is certainly audible enough for a rehearsal tape I think, a little bass heavy and Necronos' low vocal style adds to it. There is plenty of Celtic Frost vibe here. Note that the first two tracks differ a bit in sound from the last one, so they probably recorded this is two sessions. I like it. Recommended for old school metalheads, Norwegian metal enthusiastics, history-oriented Dimmu fans and other curious people. Death metal folks might like it too.

Eclipse (fin) - Nocturnal Embrace Amidst The Frozen Heavens

Eclipse - Nocturnal Embrace Amidst The Frozen Heavens demo 1997
1) The Son Of The Morning Glow
2) Born In Ice
3) Thunderthrone
4) Black Delirium
5) A Cold Current To Eternity
6) Through The Steel Gates Of The North
7) Nocturnal Embrace

Reuploaded

More melodic "black" metal, this time a two-man band from Finland and again using a unique, creative choice for a band name. There were only about dozen other Eclipses around that time. Oh well. What about the music you may ask? It's in quite typical post-1995 melodic style, more in the Old Man's Child/Dimmu Borgir vein of melodic than, say, Gorgoroth. Sound is quite clear and playing competent enough. Lyrical themes are a hodgepodge of themes, ranging from antichristian to Nordic themes to confused demonology to forlorn poetry. This isn't at all my cup of black coffee so I can't really recommend it. Try it out yourself, maybe it'll work for you.

Wings - The Sun promo 1994 + cover track 1994

Wings - The Sun promo 1994
1) Equidistant
2) Austere

Wings - Cover track 1994
1) Refuse/Resist (Sepultura cover)

Reuploaded, both in same folder

Remember when I long ago (that'd be November, see here) wrote about Victor's old project Wings? Well, here's finally the promo tape I mentioned in that post. I included a cover track recorded probably at the same sessions in the .rar - I don't either know where or if it was released, or have forgotten any such knowledge. The music could probably be described as atmospheric death metal, quite quirky and darkened. The rip came out ok, but the cover scan is not very good as I could've taken better care of it, it's a little torn and has an annoying greasy finger print. Like anyone else cared.

I'll probably upload the rest of the things Gabriel kindly recorded on my tapes (assuming he's got nothing against it) soon, as I found myself enjoying the Wings material more than I remembered. Recommended to all into melodic deathly metal and of course Enochian Crescent-fans. Almost forgot to mention that mr. Kai Hahto, quite well-known these days, plays the drums here.

Curse (Fin)/Asakku - Split Tape 1995

Curse (Finland) & Asakku - Split Tape 1995
Curse:
1) Blasphemous Incantation
2) Chalice Of Ecstasy
3) Infant Jesus Dead (Ecstasy Version)
Asakku:
4) The Winter Of Mayhem
5) The Silent Forests
6) The Flaming Sword

No link.

I know Toni is releasing the remastered Curse material on CD soon (6th June actually) but as far as I know, he's not including Asakku's bit. So since I had ripped this tape a while ago I decided to upload it anyways. Decent quality rip, good rehearsal sound for both bands.

This split was supposed to be released already in 1994 and the other band changed several times until Stefan finally ended up choosing Asakku. I think originally Nema was supposed to share the tape with Curse, then... Ever Dark? Not sure anymore, but it was a lot of fuss and changes. Not much inter nets back then. Blasphemous black/death meets cold mid-tempo black metal.

EDIT: Official re-release date for "Demons Appear" (contains all Curse material) is indeed 6th June and as it is released in co-operation with Werewolf Records you should inquire from there.

Prophecy (fra) - Gorsedd demo 1995

Prophecy (fra) - Gorsedd demo IV 1995
1) Ceremonial March of the Immortals (Intro)
2) A Great Day to Die
3) Transylvanian Oration (Prelude)
4) The Mountain of the Farthest Midnight
5) Primordial Quest
6) Funeral Poetry

Reuploaded

This is one of the two thousand artists named "Prophecy" and this one is the Frenchmen who started with speed metal in the late 80's and evolved via death metal into this, their 4th demo presenting us with quite atmospheric (and very cliché-laden) pagan black metal. The theme seems to be mostly heathen, which makes one wonder why they had to include the "Transylvanian Oration" prelude there. Quasi-gothic spoken word passages have never been a big hit for me, especially when delivered with a thick, inappropriate accent. Oh well, if one looks past that, the rest of the demo is quite listenable if not exactly unique work of genius.

I got my copy by sending the band a tape around mid-1995, it appears they released one more demo in 1997 and probably then called it a day. I'm actually curious to hear that last demo too so leave me a note if you have it.

UPDATE: I have a copy of the "Jadis" demo but the sound quality is quite poor. However, I will post it anyway.

Master's Hammer - Radio Session 1991

Master's Hammer - Radio Session 1991
1) Zapálili Jsme Onen Svet
2) Geniové

Reuploaded

Here's one of my absolute faves, legendary Master's Hammer from Czech Republic. The item at hand is a radio session from 1991 and that's basically all I know about it. However, both tracks featured are excellent and these versions are killer too. All further knowledge will be welcome. Good quality, ripped by some unknown soul at unknown time.

Shadow Dancers - 1995 Recordings

Shadow Dancers - Promo 1995
1) Blacker than Better Between
2) The Wasp

Shadow Dancers - My Fate demo 1995
1) My Fate

Reuploaded

And now for something completely different to quote Monty Python - this time two recordings by the Norwegian gothic rockers Shadow Dancers, best known for including in their ranks Stian "Occultus" Johansen, known from Thyabhorrent & Perdition Hearse & a brief stint as the vocalist for Mayhem, Rym & Jontho of Ragnarok and 2 other guys. There is only 3 (short) songs on these two recordings and I think "My Fate" is a cover from another gothic band. I got these from one of my tape traders and decided to rip them out of curiosity to see how they sounded. Result is quite gloomy sounding ok gothic rock, vocals are not as annoying as they often are in the genre so even I can listen to them. Check it out if you like Ragnarok, gothic rock or are just morbidly curious.