Skumju Akmeņi - Skumju Akmeņi (1996)

Skumju Akmeņi - Skumju Akmeņi Cassette album 1996
1) Skumju akmeņi
2) Krustceles
3) Nav tumša upe lāpas staros
4) Inūtilis
5) Stāsts par meiteni
6) Mums pietrūka smieklu
7) Atlantīda
8) Debess straumes
9) Pēc septiņiem vienatnē gadiem
10) Es vēlos palikt...
11) Pāri ilgām pelēkām dienām
12) Man pieder ceļš
13) Mūžīgā miera iela
14) Mēma zemes skumjā balss

Mediafire

I noticed I've posted quite a bit of black metal recently. So I guess it's about time for a seemingly random "different" post again. Here's a non-metal item for change, a cassette album from Latvian band Skumju Akmeņi I ripped on a whim some months ago. I suppose I call them gothic rock like people at last.fm seem to do... though I guess indie rock would be a closer call? Their vocalist Helēna Kozlova seems to be very well known in her native land as a singer-songwriter. I bought this tape when I happened to see the band live, oddly enough, in a rock bar in my hometown around 1996/97, can't remember exactly when it was. Anyways, I recall enjoying the gig and when I listened to the tape later being quite dissappointed with it. I can't really remember anymore but I guess it was a bit wilder live. Scans of the cover enclosed.

Ripped from an original tape the quality is good, though there is a little wear in some places. Musically they're playing something with touches of gothic rock but I'd say gearing more towards indie rock though it is quite moody and melancholic. Some (very scarce) Baltic folk elements can also be heard. Helēna's vocals remind me of someone I can't seem to name right now... you know those female singer-songwriters, one of 'em. That's going to help. She sounds a bit husky, with a quite low voice and actually does some rough vocals too for spice. As you probably noticed from the tracklisting, all lyrics are in Latvian which is not my strongest language. They gave me an English lyric sheet with the tape but I don't seem to be able to find it now. If I come across it later I'll scan it. I remember the band name meant "sorrowful stones" or something like that. Pretty light stuff with some nice bits but lasting almost 55 minutes it feels too long and in general isn't really my chalice of poison. For open-minded readers, fans of the genre and/or the vocalist.

Amon Sul - Goat Mit Uns demo 1994

Amon Sul - Goat Mit Uns demo 1994
1) War Prophet
2) Even the Sun Is Red
3) Saltus Heathen Toad
4) Goat mit uns

Depositfiles

Here's another item sent me by Fenrirsson, this time black metal from France. "Goat mit uns" was the only demo of Amon Sul who had apparently been playing without a name from 1992 and released only this one demo. Metal Archives seems to have the demo as a 1995 release whereas comrade Fenrirsson dated it to 1994. I'm trusting him on this one. Scans of the cover and insert (with lyrics) are included.

If you're expecting melodic, atmospheric black metal you can forget about it here. You're not exactly getting Les Légions Noires-style rawness either though this certainly has spades that quality to it. "War Prophet" starts off with a curious martial quality to it and maintains a certain aura of... well, mixing martial industrial/ambient with raw lo-fi black metal style through its duration. Must be due the cold production, electronics and mechanical percussion. The second track blasts away without much ado and the frantic buzzing of the guitars strongly reminds me off Norsemen Helheim - The Helheim Society that is, not the norsecore vikings. Things go on similar manner for the rest, slowing down a notch or two for "Saltus Heathen Toad" and picking up again and actually changing the sound a bit for the title track. Somehow this keeps growing on me the more I listen to it, which is almost universally a good sign. Interesting demo, not really for everyone I suppose.

Selbstmord - Rehearsal 21.10.1999

Selbstmord (pol) - Rehearsal 21st October 1999
1) I
2) II
3) III
4) The Sign of Lie

Mediafire

Ok another case of "help needed" here and an item I got already long ago but sort of forgot. I was contributed this recording around the same time as the other Selbstmord rehearsal and similar items but as it had no tracklisting and I'm not familiar enough with the material I decided to wait if the contributor would figure out the rest of it. Well, he did not, time passed and here we finally are. There certainly isn't cover for this, I just made that for my amusement.

This would seem to be four tracks of which the first three are currently unidentified. They are also quite long, between 6:48 and 8:40, and so much longer than the old Selbstmord tracks were. The sound is very good for a rehearsal, I just simply don't know the material well enough to go guessing. As this is a fully instrumental session, the difficulty level for correct identification is somewhat higher. Looking at the durations and comparing them to the lengths of the tracks on the debut demo I can't help but wonder if these actually are medleys of the demo songs? If you are exceptionally talented at recognizing untitled rehearsal tracks please lend me your skill and check this recording out!

Nergal - Live in Greece 7.5.1994

Nergal (gre) - Live in Next Club, Athens Greece 7th May 1994
1) Track I
2) Track II
3) Track III
4) Track IV

Reuploaded

Today's item is something I need help with. One of my traders back in the day dubbed me this recording which is supposed to be the Greek Nergal playing live (probably) in Greece at either 7th May or 5th July - not 100% certain about that either. (Research & comment confirmed it was May). No tracklisting but it's four tracks. I'm not really familiar enough with the old Nergal material to identify them... though they had recorded so far something like four tracks plus intros and whatever was on that 1991 demo Metal Archives mentions, so this ought be most of them and despite lasting only about 14 minutes might be their full set... it seems to start with the first track already in progress so I think it is missing something. As you should be able to guess that up there's not a real cover.

So I'd appreciate if I could get following things:
A) confirm it actually is Nergal (though it does sound awful lot like them) - Done, it is Nergal, playing with Rotting Christ and Samael
B) confirm the date and venue - Did research, confirmed venue, reuploaded with corrected date, confirmed by an eyewitness source too
C) last but certainly not least, tracklisting

The recording itself has a very decent sound, it's clear and you can clearly make out all the instruments. Music is mostly quite slow definitely Greek style black metal with emphasis on atmosphere and abundant synth presence. Vocals are a combination of harsh black metal growls, clear half-spoken ones and whispers. The third track is almost fully instrumental and basically just percussion and synths, quite ritualistic and sounds actually more than a little improvised. This is probably an audience recording, there's some babbling in what might be Greek but as I'm by no means an expert it could just as well be Portuguese as it's not that loud or clear and the person recording seems to have enough sense to shut the hell up. It's quite good if you like old, atmospheric Southern style black metal and even better if I get the info I need!

PS: After my research I would like to get the rest of the event as well, that is Rotting Christ's and Samael's sets. RC should be about 30 minutes. Let me know if you got them!

Vama Marg - Initiation of the Dark Path demo 1992

Vama Marg - Initiation of the Dark Path demo 1992
1) Evokation, the Poet (Intro)
2) Initiation of the Dark Path
3) Iron Justice

Mediafire / Depositfiles

We stick to the letter "V" and Finnish black metal for one more post, the other day I was contacted by comrade Drowned of old Lockjaw fame and he sent me this obscure demo. He had ripped the tape at the request of an old band member willing to hear it again and this gives us the opportunity to do so as well. Thanks! No covers, or pretty much anything of the sort and not sure if one exists in the first place. UPDATE: A cover does exist as Drowned was asked if he had a copy. So if anyone reading happens to have it, get in touch (as usual)!

Like Drowned warned me in his email, the sound is very raw due this having been recorded on a 4 tracker in their rehearsal room. It's crude, barbaric, murky and filthy. There is background hissy noise present throughout the rip (coming from trying to clean the sound I suppose) and you can barely tell anything apart. Combined with the sluggish pace of the first proper track the effect is wonderfully demented and at times brings old Beherit and from more recent times Ride For Revenge to mind. I don't know really anything about the band apart from what D mentioned so I can't say if they have recorded anything else than this short (less than nine minutes) outburst of blasphemy but if they have I would be very interested to hear it. I can't really recommend this to all the readers but madmen into brutally crude sounding black metal should brave this. Delightfully horrid!

Vornat - Gjotnejm demo 1996

Vornat - Gjotnejm demo II 1996
1) Prelude for Hate
2) Into the Nightly Sky
3) Sword of a Thousand Funerals
4) Grim

Mediafire

Breath of Pestilence

The second Vornat demo, courtesy of unholydeath like mentioned in the previous post. Thank you! With cover scan included again and a vastly superior rip compared to the 128 kbps version that's been around since forever.

For this demo Vornat had diminished down to two men, though the bassist Behemoth was already written over as ex-member on the 1st demo cover (at least on some copies) and the previous vocalist Ahriman had also left sometime earlier the same year and he would follow the freezing moon next year. Remaining members Shadow and Thauknifur share the vocals here to a good effect and have managed to improve on just about all fields; the raw sound has more power, the songs are more memorable and so on. Some synths are used to tasteful effect. Enough typing, have a listen yourself.

UPDATE: Breath of Pestilence has released a remastered version of this, demo '94 and '02 sessions on CD, I've added a link up there and very much recommend getting that one. There's also a double vinyl version by Darker Than Black if you must have kvlt vynil. I would recommend the CD version anyways, I was told the mastering is better on that. Naturally you could go for both.

Vornat - The Flame of Satan demo 1994

Vornat - The Flame of Satan demo I 1994
1) Korppi
2) Azagthoth
3) Self-Mayhem
4) The Flame of Satan
5) The Eighteenth Key

Mediafire

Breath of Pestilence

More Finnish black metal and an item I know well has been around the inter nets for some time but I was recently sent rips of both Vornat demos by comrade unholydeath and as his rips were strictly superior to the ones that have been floating about I decided I'd post them here in the Coven. Not to mention Vornat is good stuff and worth the attention. There have been plans to release a compilation with all (? not sure about this) their material so far so look forward to that if it ever becomes reality. Includes a cover scan.

UPDATE: The compilation came through and was released late '16 by Breath of Pestilence. It has a remastered version of this, demo '95 and '02 sessions, I've added a link above and very much recommend getting it. There's also a double vinyl version by Darker Than Black if you must have kvlt vynil. I would recommend the CD version anyways, I was told the mastering is better on that.

I remember this debut demo gaining quite harsh critique in the 'zines at the time and not having been very impressed by it upon first listen - an opinion possibly influenced by all the bad press. Now that I listen to it, I still agree the sound leaves certainly something to be desired but apparently I'm too jaded by now as I can't call it bad. It's most certainly a demo recording, you can tell that right off the start, a little on the murky side but decent enough to be able make out all the instruments (yes, even the bass can be heard). Ahriman's (who killed himself in 1997) vocals are quite basic black metal screams though they too have a semi-hysteric, urgent edge to them which would be more prominent on the second demo where the remaining two members would share the vocal duties. Very much influenced by their Norwegian peers it's not a celebration of originality but that's hardly an issue for me. I'd compare this to older Horna material. Recommended listening if you're into 90's black metal.