Skogen 'zine #2

Skogen Magazine, issue 2 (December 1995)
Interviews:
Sorhin
Nåstrond
Gates of Ishtar
Malignant Eternal
Forgotten Woods
Nordlys
Damnation (swe)
Naglfar
Setherial
Vergelmer
Immortal
Mysticum
Strid
Thornium
Gehenna
Fleurety
The Ancients Rebirth
Ablaze My Sorrow
Demonic
In Aeternum
Amon Amarth
Ildjarn
Gorgoroth
Necromicon
Blasphemous
Articles:
Borknagar
Myrkskog
Veles
Evrakon
Athothep
Zephyrous
Enchanted
Hermh
Ever Dark
Moonblood
The Moaning
Astaroth (nor)
Lord Belial
Mastema
Ragnarok
Malice
Mortify / Ildkrig
Covenant / Troll
Skuggmörker / Ondska
+reviews

Reuploaded - 2022

Here is finally the second issue of the Skogen 'zine, again courtesy of Argus Monitor who also scanned issue #3 - very much appreciated! I intended to upload this sooner but the Megaupload debacle kind of messed things around here at Coven. But that's enough about that. The 'zine is pretty much of similar quality to issue 3 though I personally prefer this one, probably partially because I had not read it before and also since I find the bands here more interesting as well. This one has less Norwegians and more Swedes, with a few others thrown in. Very much recommended!

Old Morgul - The Keys of New Realm demo 1998

Old Morgul - The Keys of New Realm demo 1998
1) My Creations in the Past
2) Beyond the Mountains
3) Into the Unknown

Mediafire / Deposit

Request here and more material from brother Grev's bottomless vault, thank you sir! Old Morgul was a Finnish black metal band obviously influenced by the Norwegian 2nd wave bands and they released two demo tapes. This would be the first one, apparently quite hard to find. Grev had traded his copy back in the times when computers filled a whole room and trains ran on coal. Which means no proper cover, just a small (but reasonable) image from Metal Archives.

Ok, so it's influenced by the Norwegian style but is it any good? Yes. Not original or avant garde or whatever else but it works. The clean and quite powerful sound helps and they haven't added annoying extra elements in pursuit of originality, rather sticking to the basics and employing just a (better than average) screamy main vocal. A good, if easy-listening, black metal demo.

Malign - Live in Uppsala 08.11.1999

Malign - Live at Grand, Uppsala Sweden 8th November 1999
1) Fireborn
2) Blod skall flöda
3) Entering Timeless Halls

Depositfiles

A short live tape here and some Swedish cult black metal by Malign who unfortunately seem to be on hold currently. This live recording features both tracks from 1998's "Fireborn" EP and one from the demo and is probably incomplete. If a full recording exists, let me know and preferably share it as well.

UPDATE: I was confirmed that this is the full show; the band and especially Belfagor of Ofermod who was doing the drums for this gig got fed up with the pussy crowd after three songs. See more info in the comments, thanks Ashes And Bloodstench!

The recording itself starts with Fireborn, right from the beginning I think and sounds to me like an audience recording but has a good sound quality. All instruments are audible and sound good to my extremely demanding tastes. Material is obviously good but you'd do well to remember I'm quite the fanboy. Very much recommended and if you have more Malign live recordings for me I'll reward you with gold, spices and slaves.

Lycanthropy - Amduscias demo 1995

Lycanthropy (us) - Amduscias demo II 1995
1) Winds of the Ancient Deep
2) Princes in Black Palaces
3) Twilight Forest (The Winter Souls)
4) Weeping

Mediafire / Depositfiles

I was going to post this (and other stuff) sooner but the recent demise of Megaupload has complicated things a lot as not that long ago my external HD where I had all the stuff already uploaded broke and I had not yet had the time to download everything I lost again, meaning quite a few things are gone. So, I'd appreciate it if those who downloaded the things I had only on Megaupload could pack 'em and upload to Mediafire or something and send me a link - thanks in advance!

Back to the actual point of this post, this here is the second demo of USBM unit Lycanthropy, sent to me by Seth aka Baalberith, who also scanned the covers and provided me with helpful information. Thank you good sir, much appreciated! There were three covers made for this demo and two different recording sessions. The two covers associated with this second recording session here are enclosed in the .rar - the band was not very happy with the first recording and it ended up being sent to about ten people. Musically and pretty much soundwise as well this continues from where the first demo left off. It still sounds raw, in a good way and all the instruments are audible. This has a little downside as well as the drum machine sounds more obvious here, so if you're bothered by that consider yourself warned. Others dive right in.

Neverwood - Grown demo 1997

Neverwood (fin - Lahti) - Grown demo 1997
1) Murder in the Kindergarten. Pt2
2) Headless
3) Grown
4) All Good Children

Reuploaded

This is again a bit different post and something I wasn't expecting either as I asked Grev to dub me this demo. You see, I thought it might be another demo by this Neverwood but turned out this was a completely different band. Even though there is a slight similarity as this one plays some sort of electro-industrial metal which reminds me of The Kovenant and Diablerie to drop some names quick. So naturally I was a bit dissappointed. Grev sent scans of the covers as well, much appreciated brother!

Like I said above, this reminds me a bit of few later 90's bands working in this area, but as this was not really my shot of vodka even back them I'm not too familar with many projects of this kind. The main issue was that they were too light and this demo isn't very heavy and neither is it very dark. However, if you approach it more from an electronic/industrial music angle than metal it works much better. I personally prefer the less metallic but gloomier atmospheres of the last track. Check it out, you know you're curious now!

666 'zine #1

666 'zine, issue 1 (1999)
Interviews:
Sadorass/The True Frost
Heretic
Carnage (us)
Maniac Butcher
Abattoir of Love
Adorior
Hyperion
HateSpawn 'zine
Drakkar Productions
Winter Funeral
Funeral Procession
Nachtkaiser
Grand Belial's Key [in French!]
Botulistum
Altar of Perversion
Frostdemonstorm
Evil
Celestia
Helwetti
Conqueror
Arkham
Prophecy (fra)
Noctis (fra)
Forge (fra) [in French!]
Puritas Virginum
Katharsis
Summum Malum
Nåstrond
+articles (some again in French), bios and flyers.

Reuploaded

Another contribution, this one was sent by comrade Kurgan and originally scanned by Vlad/Arma Satanica - thank you! 666 was a French black metal fanzine made by Sad and Spica who used to be members of S.V.E.S.T. and Cantus Bestiae together and individually were/are involved with a number of bands like Asmodee, Chemin de Haine and Drastus. A couple of features are taken from elsewhere but most is made by the two.

The foreword sets up a lofty goal for our authors, unfortunately they are only partially successful as this issue (like most first ones do) has a number of flaws and many of the interviews end up more shallow than the editors hoped for. This is natural and happens with every 'zine. However, some of the interviews are very informative, entertaining or both. I'd mention as highlights the interviews with Nachtkaiser, Altar of Perversion, Katharsis and Nåstrond. As for the flaws, they go a bit overboard experimenting with different fonts which combined with the uneven copy quality makes some parts barely readable. Next and much more annoying is having a few interviews/articles written in French. I'm strongly against mixing languages in one 'zine, it should be English OR your language (whatever it might be) not a combination of both. But enough of my rantings, you'll want to read this if you're into underground black metal.

Death - Rehearsal 1987

Death - Rehearsal 1987
1) Left to Die
2) Open Casket
3) Pull the Plug
4) Choke on It
5) Born Dead
6) Forgotten Past

Depositfiles

Today I'm taking a page out of Yappy's book and post some really old school stuff, namely this rehearsal tape by legendary Death. I was never a fan of Schuldiner's later material but the demos and first albums were great. I got this tape from one of my traders back whenever and I don't think it had covers.

Like the tracklisting tells you, this rehearsal has most of the second album "Leprosy" missing only the title track and "Primitive Ways". I'm not sure if this is same as the release "Leprosy Demos" listed on the archives, however that one is missing the sixth track. The recording sounds obviously like an old rehearsal tape, the sound was quite low (I upped it a bit) and there's a fair amount of hissing, wear and other imperfections. It's still ok sounding and definitely not among the worst sounding of the old Death tapes I've heard. Oddly I don't remember seeing this on the various Death bootlegs I've seen. Recommended whether you're a fan of the band or the music style.