Floral of Forever - Ad Infinitum promo 1996

Floral of Forever - Ad Infinitum promo 1996
1) Prologue for My Own Obscure Nature
2) ...As If There Would Be Another Time to Delve
3) The Mysteries of It's Great Floras
4) ...I Am the King of This Isolated Golden Forest
5) ...Ad Infinitum

RGhost / Mega

Sunday night chill out time is here and we continue with obscure things without covers. This is again a contribution, thanks to the sender, and looks like they had these sort of projects going on over in Malaysia as well for that's where tonight's recording hails from. Or so I've been told. This is (hopefully, spelling?) Floral of Forever and a 1996 promo tape and that's pretty much all I know about it. Possibly shares members with the equally obscure The Mystical East. A cover scan and really any information is welcome!  

UPDATES: 1. I was informed that both of FoF and TME are projects by the same person M.D. Aslan and hail from Brunei, not Malaysia! Aslan's other (metal) bands include Rust Sakaraz, Noiratasya and Shadowmirth.
2. Added a picture of Aslan shot for another project of his as a placeholder for this post. Thanks to Eugene for sending it.

Ok, music: almost seventeen minutes of... well, this is kind of a hard one to say! First track is an ambient intro, second is a short ambient bit that also has what sounds like a wind instrument thrown in while the third track gets pretty upbeat, adds percussion and sounds more like darkwave with a slight sugar high. Fourth continues in the same line but with even more obnoxious "drum" sound. And other sounds. It's kind of fascinating while almost disastrous. It's almost like a metal song gone slightly ambient/wave-y. Harsh vocals make an appearance in the end part, further adding to the speculation that this might be a side project by some metal band. The last and longest song is again ambient and a nostalgic, moody one. Actually I'd say it's pretty much dungeon synth and the first tracks might as well be called that too. A really obscure and odd thing, this. Recommended for the usual curio seekers and I'd really like to know more about this!

Occult - Rehearsal 19.06.92

Occult - Rehearsal 19th June 1992
1) Jaws of Satan
2) The Return of the Mystic Demon
3) So It Is Done
4) Dwell Forever in Darkness
5) Myth of Eternal Lies
6) Thou Art Lord

Yandex / Sendspace

Time to complete another cycle, I've posted the two live/demo tapes by the Dutch Occult in roughly half a year intervals and since I'll be in Nummirock the next weekend which would be optimal time to post this (23rd anniversary of the recording, y'know) I thought today is as good an option as any. Not a live tape anymore though, this is a rehearsal tape brother Grev dubbed me last autumn. Thanks as always! No cover for this one and I don't think any were made either.

Right, back in '92 Occult was still firmly black metal and looking at the tracklisting you see the same songs that appeared on the live tapes, including the Sathanas (track 1) and Acheron covers (3, 6) they liked to play. Their original songs are quite short, as are the cover picks so the whole thing is over in sixteen minutes. The fifth songs seems to appear only here, unless they re-worked and -titled it later. A proper scholar would carefully compare it with the other exclusive old songs to see if it was the case but alas, I am too lazy busy to do that now. The sound is pretty good though obviously recorded live in a rehearsal room. Well, I guess I don't have much else to add, if you're a fan of old Occult you'll want this.

Gothony - Hidden Thoughts demo 1997

Gothony - Hidden Thoughts demo 1997
1) Infinity
2) The Temptation Still Remains
3) Crystal Dream

RGhost / Mediafire

I decided to follow up with another Finnish contribution, almost as obscure I suppose but metal this time, sent by master Sorvali, thanks for the scans and rip! This is Gothony of Helsinki and their only demo as far as I know, though the covers do mention a rehearsal tape that they dubbed to people. They played melodic death metal, very popular at the time, you know stuff Napalm Records started to branch into around then (and Nuclear Blast, Century Media and so on and on...). Wait, don't leave yet, look at the pretty coloured cover and stay a bit longer! It has a very good studio sound, too!

Ok, let's move on quickly to the music of which there is fifteen minutes here spread over three tracks. No intros and interludes then, just... uh, "pure" melodeath? Don't think old Gothenburg now, this is Finnish after all. It has plentyof stuff thrown into the mix so I don't know how pure it then really is. You've got your standard (quite amateurish) clean male vocals, female support vocals, some folkish riffs, fast parts, slow parts, raw (quite good!) main vocals and whatnot. Besides the sound already mentioned in the previous paragraph also the musicianship is pretty good. This isn't really my thing, I was initially going to say I don't like it but additional listens seem to improve my opinion a bit. Have a listen for yourself if melodic (death-ish) metal, especially semi-obscure, Finnish and 90's is your thing.

Dianom - Candledance demo 1996

Dianom - Candledance demo I 1996
1) Veil of Woe
2) Candledance
3) King of the Caves
4) Beauty of Withering

Zippyshare / Mediafire

Remember when I used to do atmospheric/ambient/dungeon synth stuff on Sunday evenings? Well, I do and to honour that neglected tradition here is, once again by the grace of brother Grev and his associate, Dianom from Finland and their (or more likely his) first and possibly only demo "Candledance" from '96. Don't let the overwhelmingly artistic vision of the cover fool you, the content isn't quite that bleak. Good sound on this rip despite the low-ish bitrate and a full cover scan is enclosed.

Four tracks for slightly over seventeen minutes, so we are firmly set in the standards of Finnish 90's demos. The music is dungeon synth, pure and instrumental, atmospheric and mostly rather melancholic and nostalgic. No special effects or samples here which for some is a dissappointment while a relief to others. Piano and keyboards, somewhat neoclassical feel at times while vaguely soundtrackesque at others. Mostly quite simple and pretty, perhaps it could be said it's easy listening synth instead of challenging and evocative but I like it. Now that I more think about it, kind of reminds me of that unreleased Emglev demo at times, not quite as melodramatic but there are similarities. Recommended for dungeon synth enthusiasts, people into calm, purty music and those who love really obscure artists and tapes.

Cultes Des Ghoules - Treading the Darker Paths demo 2007

Cultes Des Ghoules - Treading the Darker Paths demo spring 2007
1) Treading the Darker Paths
2) Supreme Black Illumination
3) Outro

Mega / Yandex

Today I'm posting black metal again, no news there, but deviating from the usual line of the Coven with a relatively "modern" post, this is the second demo by the Polish Cultes Des Ghoules from 2007. I've been a fanboy ever since stumbing into their debut album "Häxan" in 2009, the vile atmosphere and sound of that album reeked of necromancy, medieval devil-worship and old school black metal feeling. Some have complained about the sound and the long songs but for me the murky, bass-heavy sound was a definite charm point, bringing associations to things like Necromantia and old Barathrum to mind and I've always liked lenghty tracks so can't fathom what the problem could be. But enough about that album and back to this demo. I've understood the line-up changed pretty much completely between the debut "Angel of Poison and Death" and this demo, the former personnel concentrating on their original band Bestial Raids. I got a dub of the demo, as well as copies of the covers, from a trader and ripped it a little while ago, the result turned out decent enough.

There are two proper tracks here as well as a quite long outro (3½ minutes) which is unlisted on the cover and was taken from the soundtrack to "The Ninth Gate" so it's by another Pole, the late Wojciech Kilar, known probably best for the Dracula ('92) soundtrack, also widely used for intros and outros. Both original tracks are long, 7+ minutes and the title track is exlusive to this release while "Supreme Black Illumination" re-appeared, re-recorded, on the '07 EP "Odd Spirituality". The sound is a little muffled and the strings somewhat more subdued than on the EP for example but everything is still reasonably audible and Mark of the Devil's vocals are as recognizable and demented as ever. Enjoyable demo if you're into unhealthy, tomb-robbing, infant-sacrificing, devil-invoking black metal. Wojciech Kilar's soundtrack is also recommended, by the way.

Varjosielu - Loitsulaulu demo 2001

Varjosielu - Loitsulaulu demo 2001
1) Sieluton - Preludi
2) Myrskyntuoja
3) Mustan lähteen haltija

Reuploaded

It's time to stray from the Austrian streak and as well from the metal fare of late. So, here we have Varjosielu, formerly known as Wind, again. This is the first recording after the name change which we discussed at the comments section and yes, this is the scene rip sent by brother Grev and it indeed had the track division botched. I've fixed it. Still, thanks to whoever ripped the tape originally, he did otherwise a decent job.

This demo lasts a bit less than twenty minutes and the longest, ten minute plus "Myrskyntuoja" was re-released on the "Kalpea" demo which we featured earlier so less than half of the duration is new stuff. First track serves as an intro due its comparatively short running time, then the afore-mentioned long and bizarre familiar song (which fits better here than on Kalpea) and lastly "Mustan lähteen haltija" that has a very folky feeling and is quite catchy. I don't really have much new input to give, if you've enjoyed the Wind and Varjosielu offerings so far, chances are you'll like this too. Personally I like the last track best here. That's enough for now.

The Call of the Four Gates - Faturek the Wolf demo 1995

The Call of the Four Gates - Faturek the Wolf demo I 1995
1) Condemned to Burn
2) The Spell of Diana
3) I Call Satans Triangle
4) Faturek the Wolf

Mega / Rusfolder

Ok, like the old Finnish saying goes, "there's no two without a third" (yeah, I know that hardly makes sense, many old sayings don't but they do offer decent excuses) let's continue where we left off last week with Austrian demos. This one is a contribution too, sent by a reader already months ago. I'm posting it this late as I was hoping to get at least a bit larger cover scan than the tiny one included but as it's not happening I thought enough delay, let's do this. The rip is fortunately of very high quality.

If you've heard the "Host of Chaos" demo, or early Hyperion material (you probably have since I just posted some) you might have an idea how TCot4G sound like. Except that the music isn't really much like Hyperion here, sound has similarities though. There's only four tracks here, plus unlisted intro and outro which I didn't go separating from the "proper" tracks this time, but just over forty minutes of material so the songs are of epic lengths and you'd better enjoy repetition or go elsewhere / make 3-4 minute radio mixes of the songs. I am staying and find their raw and rather basic black metal at best enjoyable and sort of nostalgic and at worst drawn-out, uninspired and plain boring. The first track can be a little discouraging to sit through, especially if you're on a restless mood but I say persevere and give it at least one full listen. Stand outs for me would probably be "I Call Satans Triangle" and not just because of the amusing name, and the title track which sounds somehow more intense than the early part of the demo. For people who really, really like long and repetitive black metal songs, collect Austrian blackened relics or want to name-drop really obscure bands while monologuing on their listening habits.