Night Conquers Day - Last Rehearsal 1999

Night Conquers Day - Last Rehearsal October 17th 1999
1) The Gnostic Interpretations (no vocals)
2) Demiurge (no vocals)
3) Rebellion Is The Art Of Survival
4) Martyrdom Delusions (no vocals)

Mediafire / Deposit

And here's another NCD rehearsal contributed by brother Vaalkoth, many thanks to him again! For further background banter, see the previous post! I'm not going to repeat myself here (much at least) so let's just say another rip from him and no real covers, I just made that up.

Like you might have noticed from the title, this was the last NCD rehearsal, unfortunately as I quite enjoy it. Someone might have spotted the instrumental tag at the bottom of the post, it is there because three out of these four songs have no vocals, I'm guessing it is due the lyrics not have been finished for them. They're also marked on the tracklisting and are the unreleased ones. The sound is a little more muddled and obscure here yet at the same time comes of sounding better balanced than on the previous rehearsal tape I posted. It is listenable in my opinion, better than average or something like that. I grow weary of typing, recommended if you liked the other NCD material and you could give it a shot even if you didn't.

Night Conquers Day - Lammas Eve Rehearsal 1997

Night Conquers Day - July 31st Lammas Eve Rehearsal 1997
1) The First Snowfall
2) Banished From My Eyes
3) Untitled [Weird Guitar Noises]

Depositfiles / Mediafire

Here's a contribution sent by Vaalkoth aka Mikael from US black metal band (and a host of others) Night Conquers Day which you might remember from here. Not long ago he sent me a bunch of links to certain material from his various projects and some of them have been shared elsewhere so I don't think I'm going to repeat those but I think this and a few others haven't been uploaded by our comrades in arms yet. These are his rips, I've just packed the stuff up and uploaded elsewhere, all credit and big thanks to Vaalkoth! Has no real official cover, I just wanted to whip up a quick placeholder.

This one has a very good rehearsal sound and contains two tracks - the third one is just really guitar effects/noise as the guys goof around - which are very lenghty and have been both recorded for the NCD debut album "The First Snowfall" released in 1998. Obviously the rehearsal versions sound rougher than the album material, but this one is quite easy on the ears. NCD material is semi-symphonic sort of black metal with influences of the elders thrown in the mix, so the end result is definitely more metal than keyboard acrobatics and sounds both epic and atmospheric. Be sure to check out the full-lenght albums as well!

Mortal 'zine #3

Mortal 'zine, issue 3 (March 1999)
Interviews:
Nomicon
Deranged (swe)
Headfucker magazine
Lividity
Anasarca
Abramelin (aus)
Brutalized 'zine
Krabathor
Vomitory (swe)
Aurora Borealis (us)
Diabolic
Cenotaph (tur)
Gorge
+reviews, lists, contacts

Depositfiles

Here's the 3rd issue of Mortal 'zine I mentioned when I posted the 2nd one in May. Much what I wrote then applies here, but with the addition of another person to the work and the editor paying attention to feedback much has been improved. The interviewees also seem more interesting to me this time around so overall it's better than the previous one. I'm not sure but this might've been also the last issue of the 'zine, the editorial mentions plans for 4th issue but I'm not sure if it came to be. Nice read if you're into death metal and even if not, I suppose you could browse through it and check out the reviews or something.

Odium - Advance Rough Mix Tracks 1997

Odium (nor) - Advance Rough Mix Tracks 1997
1) Riding the Starwinds
2) Towards the Forest Horizon

Reuploaded

Back to tape traded items, here's a two song advance/rough mix tape from Norwegian symphonic black metal troupe Odium. Both tracks appear on the debut (and only) album "The Sad Realm of the Stars" and naturally sound a bit different, these being the rough mixes. Obviously there's no cover for this one as it's not an official promo really, rather something they dubbed to some contacts (I think).

The tape (and dub too) has a good sound, it's clear and doesn't have much tape wear. Compared to the album sound, well it is a rough mix so it differs, being less polished, stripped down and slighty muffled in comparison. Closer to the demo 1996 actually, so for change there's a genuine difference. It's pretty good and not of the circus music variation of synth bm, more straight ol' norsecore. Worth giving it a try if you enjoy other Odium stuff, Thy Grief, old Emperor, Limbonic Art, and maybe Swedes like Vinterland or Dawn.

Horna / Musta Surma - Split 7"EP 2000

Horna / Musta Surma - Split 7"EP 2000
Horna:
1) Noidanloitsu
2) Uhrivalkea
Musta Surma:
3) Kuolonmyrsky
4) Miekka ja Krusifiksi

Depositfiles

...And here's another one from the same tape. See the previous post for a disclaimer and kind of explanation for this waste of time. I'm not going to repeat myself here. Much. "Vihan Vuodet" CD released in 2005 by Grievantee (and by Moribund in 2007 for our comrades overseas) contains this material, as well as the demos which were released as split LP in 2002 so I would strongly recommend you to buy that.

As for the content, both bands featured two tracks which at the time of the release were not featured elsewhere ("Noidanloitsu" was re-recorded for "Sudentaival") and I find the content enjoyable. Horna's part sounds raw, like their EP material tends to, but clear. Vocals are more on top this time and Nazgul aka Werwolf performs a little over the top in places, mostly on "Noidanloitsu" yet I still find myself approving of his antics. I personally like the often maligned "Sudentaival" quite much so it is not unexpected that I'm into this recording as well. Musta Surma is great as always, if you are not yet familiar with their material this would be a good time to start doing that. Grim and melancholic on the first track, majestic and spirited on the second one. Very much recommended but you should really get "Vihan Vuodet" instead.

Horna / Fog - Split 7"EP 1999

Horna / Fog - Perimä Vihassa ja Verikostossa & Whispered Myths Split 7''EP 1999
Horna:
1) Perimä Vihassa ja Verikostossa
Fog:
2) Whispered Myths (Of Ancient Times)

Depositfiles

 It might be well worthwhile to argue this post is kind of waste of time both for you and me as this EP certainly has been available on the inter nets for the longest time and Horna's track has been released on the CD version of "Perimä Vihassa ja Verikostossa" done in 2010 by Frostscald recs. So yeah, I really have no better reason to post this (and a couple of more) than that I recently ripped an old tape where a comrade of mine had dubbed a bunch of seven inches he had bought in late 90's/early 00's and as the result turned out good I thought I might as well share.

Should you actually have missed this, the Horna track is from the same session as the "Perimä Vihassa ja Verikostossa" 10" was recorded, it was an interesting choice to not have the title track on that release but on a split 7". Some people have criticized the sound of this session but personally I've always enjoyed the raw clarity of the production and everyone's performance. The track is quite lenghty and mostly midtempo, not perhaps the most exciting thing they've done but quite satisfying and epic nevertheless. Fog's track also appears on their full-lenght album, I'm not sure if it's the same recording or a different one as I can't remember when I've listened to it the last time, but in keeping in the spirit of wasting time let's assume it's the same thing here & there. It's proficient black metal in the Nordic vein, quite fast and varied. I'm not really impressed but they do ok. So there, if you for some reason don't have this yet go ahead and download. And I recommend you to check out the "Perimä..." 2010 CD version.

Medium - Rehearsal 1996

Medium (col) - Rehearsal 1996
1) Evil Emperor

Mediafire / Depositfiles

Quick one today and another pretty obscure piece from good old tape trading days. Here's a rehearsal by Colombian black metal band Medium, consisting of a single untitled track. Untitled as in I didn't get a title from my trader, don't know if the track had one or not. Don't know much else about Medium either, I think they had a demo or two (and/or rehearsal tapes) out in the 90's and then quit. Metal Archives mentions some of the band members later formed Abaddon which I haven't heard but appears to be black metal. Further info, track title, band pics/logo and other recordings would be welcome!

About the content: we've got one quite long (over 6½ minutes) track with decent rehearsal quality. The sound is slightly bassier than expected and could pass for a demo (well, rehearsal demo at least). Main voice is almost hysteric shriek and the music is nice, old schoolish in the South America tradition and gets almost bouncy at times. It's for the majority of time midtempo but you got both your slow parts and fast bits, so plenty going on for one track. I'd like to hear more from them, check this out if you enjoy old school style black metal recorded lo-fi, South American hordes or collect obscurities.

UPDATE: I've been informed the song title is "Evil Emperor" - I will re-upload with the corrected title ASAP! - Done now.