Tales From The Underground
Tales From The Underground
Artist: MorbificCountry: FinlandLabel: Headsplit Records / Me Saco un Ojo Records / Memento MoriFormats: LP / Cassette tape / CDYear: 2022 Morbific scored high with its first demos and debut album, “Ominous Seep Of Putridity”. The Death Metal with Autopsy…
Artist: Daemoniac EcstasyCountry: USALabel: Self-ReleasedFormats: Demo tapeYear: 2022 Having been quite impressed by the ‘Crescendos Of Ululation’ demo-tape from earlier this year, I now throw myself at this 1-track promo, simply christened ‘Promo MMXXII’. This promo was released in an…
Artist: TundraCountry: ItalyLabel: Staring Into DarknessFormats: Cassette EPYear: 2022 It might be the COVID-19 pandemic, or maybe something else, but for the Italian Black Metallers of Tundra 2021 was a striking prolific year, with no less than seven singles and…
Artist: Barbarity / PaganizerCountry: Russia / SwedenLabel: Coyote RecordsFormats: Split 7″ EPYear: 2021 On this split 7″ EP we find a collaboration between Russia’s Barbarity and the Swedish workaholics of Paganizer. Both bands each contribute a song on this EP…
Artist: Opiumortem Country: Bulgaria Label: Self-Released Formats: Demo Tape Year: 2022 This self-titled demo is the follow-up of the ‘Lethargia’-demo tape that was released last summer. That short little demo had three tracks of interesting and dismal Lo-Fi Black Metal…
Artist: Smyrtonos Country: Bulgaria Label: Narbentage Produktionen Formats: Demo Tape Year: 2022 ‘Endless Fury’ is Smyrtonos’ swansong as it was released posthumously after the project’s disbanding last summer. At least, Todorac had it released digitally only 4 days prior throwing…
Artist: Necromutilator Country: Italy Label: Osmose Productions Formats: LP / Cassette Tape / CD Year: 2022 In the 1968 Hammer Horror movie ‘The Devil Rides Out’, Duc Richleau tries to rescue his late friend’s son and his girlfriend from the…
Artist: BokkerijdersCountry: BelgiumLabel: Babylon Doom Cult RecordsFormats: Demo tapeYear: 2022 For the Dutch and Belgians, the name ‘Bokkerijders’ is something that still evokes some magic. It is best translated as ‘Goatriders’. In folk belief, these were figures who rode through…
Artist: Opiumortem Country: Bulgaria Label: Self-Released Formats: Demo Tape Year: 2022 From Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria comes this one-man act Opiumortem, run by someone who goes under the name of Todorac who is also active in a few other…
Artist: Poisonous Country: Brazil Label: Ablaze Productions / Morbid Ways To Die Formats: Cassette EP / CD EP Year: 2022 The Brazilians of Poisonous may be toxic, but it is a slow-acting poison. After their 2010 debut, ‘Perdition’s Den’, Poisonous…
Artist: Void ColumnCountry: CanadaLabel: Mouth Of Madness / Nihil ProductionsFormats: Cassette EP / CD EPYear: 2022 Early this year the anonymous Canadian entity of Void Column returned with another demo under the name of ‘Quiescence (Demo II)’, which was a…
Artist: Daemoniac EcstasyCountry: USALabel: Realm And RitualFormats: Demo tapeYear: 2022 What we have here is another fantasy-drive one-man act from the USA, Pennsylvania in this case. It is astonishing to realise that I am reviewing multiple American one-man acts each…
Artist: Szmej Country: Czechia Label: Pant Y Meddygon Formats: Demo Tape Year: 2022 The Pant Y Meddygon-stables only produce intriguing acts, in which the musical boundaries fade somewhat and actually turn out to be of little importance. Several releases from…
Artist: WildhelmCountry: FranceLabel: Death Eternal / Drakkar ProductionsFormats: Cassette tape / CDYear: 2022 Windhelm is the solo project of Aldric, who is also active in Grimdusk and Kaldt Helvete. And under this moniker Aldric has already built up a respectable…
Artist: Forbidden Temple Country: Belgium Label: Self-Released Formats: Cassette tape Year: 2022 Last month the Belgium Black Metal horde of Forbidden Temple released yet another chapter in their ever-growing discography. The band has a tradition of releasing raw rehearsals and…
Artist: Embrace Of ThornsCountry: GreeceLabel: Nuclear Winter RecordsFormats: LP / Cassette tape / CDYear: 2022 It was at the German Doom Shall Rise festival (of all places), sometime in the mid-00’s, that I first heard of Embrace Of Thorns. Walking…
Artist: Grafskymf Country: Sweden Label: His Wounds / Nihilistic Noise Propaganda/ Nithstang Productions Formats: LP / Cassette tape / CD Year: 2020 In October 2020, Afskum, the only soul behind this Swedish Black Metal project, wrote and recorded this first…
Artist: Embrace Of ThornsCountry: GreeceLabel: Self-ReleasedFormats: DigitalYear: 2022 Right in between ‘The Pantheon I’ 7″ EP (Iron Bonehead Productions) and the just released new album, ‘Entropy Dynamics’ (Nuclear Winter Records), Embrace Of Thorns came up with a self-released studio rehearsal…
Artist: Altar / CartilageCountry: Sweden / FinlandLabel: Xtreem MusicFormats: Split LP /Split cassette tape / Split CDYear: 2022 Despite the fact that the original material from this cult split LP had already been reissued by Xtreem Music in 2015, it…
Artist: BrotthoggCountry: NorwayLabel: Self-ReleasedFormats: DigitalYear: 2022 Back in 2020 one of my colleagues here at VM-Underground labelled Brotthogg as the most promising newcomers out of the Norwegian metal scene. That is quite a bold statement and one that might put…
Artist: Beyond ManCountry: NorwayLabel: The Sinister FlameFormats: LP / Cassette tape / CDYear: 2021 From the ashes of Vordrinn arose Beyond Man, a constellation consisting of members of the Trondheim Black Metal scene. But the band members soon turned their…
Artist: I Am The NightCountry: FinlandLabel: Svart RecordsFormats: LP / CDYear: 2022 In the mid 90’s, Markus Vanhala (Insomnium, Omnium Gatherum) and Janne Markkanen (ex-Omnium Gatherum) dreamt of once starting a melodic Black Metal project. In the end, that never…
Artist: EncryptmentCountry: SwedenLabel: Nuclear Winter RecordsFormats: Cassette tape / CDYear: 2022 Those already familiar with Encryptment via their 2015 EP ‘Suktar Efter Luft’ and the subsequent 2019 ‘Mangel Från Söderort’-demo have been able to hear the intention with which the…
Artist: Rotpit Country: Germany / Sweden Label: Self-Released Formats: Digital Single/Demo Year: 2022 The German/Swedish band Rotpit, with Jonny Pettersson (of Wombbath fame, amongst many others) and Henrik Poisingis and Ralf Hauber (both of Revel In Flesh), returns with a…
Artist: TotholzCountry: GermanyLabel: Self-releasedFormats: Demo tapeYear: 2021 Wow, this is quite a trip down memory lane. I am not sure whether the two in this German Black Metal band actually meant their title (which translates to ‘Wake-up call to old…
Artist: Embryonic SlumberCountry: FinlandLabel: Werewolf RecordsFormats: LP / CDYear: 2021 When doing background research for the review of the Olio Tähtien Takana album ‘Spectral Katharsis’ I stumbled upon the band Embryonic Slumber. Like Olio Tähtien Takana, Embryonic Slumber consists of…
Artist: Ninkharsag Country: United Kingdom Label: Vendetta Records Formats: LP / Cassette Tape / CD Year: 2021 The UK Black Metal band Ninkharsag was founded by Paul Armitstead in 2009, after his former band Unsanctum was carried to its grave.…
Artist: Gorgon Vomit Country: United Kingdom Label: Self-Released Formats: Digital Demo Year: 2022 This ugly creature crawled straight out of the London Dungeons and calls itself Gorgon Vomit. Named after the vomit of the gorgons, the three daughters (of which…
Artist: Void ColumnCountry: CanadaLabel: Mouth Of MadnessFormats: Demo tapeYear: 2022 Last year our VM-Underground Chief Editor Ricardo was very excited about Void Column’s first demo tape, ‘The Chasmic Death’. Now this anonymous entity returns with its second demo tape, ‘Quiescence…
Artist: FertilizerCountry: CanadaLabel: Self-ReleasedFormats: Digital demoYear: 2022 As of late Canadian Black Metal is best known for the somewhat more refined and at the same time furious Black Metal scene, bands like Sorcier Des Glaces, Forteresse, Cantique Lepreux, Monarque and…
Artist: DjevelCountry: NorwayLabel: Aftermath Music / Impure Wedding Productions / Tour de GardeFormats: LP / Cassette tape / CDYear: 2021 With our apologies, this review comes to you somewhat late, but I should also add right away that I was…
Artist: AtaraxyCountry: SpainLabel: Dark Descent Records / Me Saco un Ojo Records Formats: LP / CDYear: 2022 Anyone who has followed the development of this Spanish Death Metal band will speak confidently of a particularly successful transformation. On 2010’s 5-track ‘Rotten Shit’ demo, the band…
Artist: Ultra SilvamCountry: SwedenLabel: Shadow RecordsFormats: LP / Cassette tape / CDYear: 2022 That Ultra Silvam was a band to watch out for was immediately clear after first hearing their self-titled demo. The band effortlessly combined a ferocious untamed Black Metal…
Artist: Necrohammer Country: Mexico Label: Self-Released Formats: Digital EP Year: 2022 Old School bestial Blackened Speed Metal fans of the world, rejoice! After a 2020 demo tape and a split CD (Bestial Possession, Profanación Sepulcral and Goatslaught) a year later,…
Artist: Rotpit Country: Germany / Sweden Label: Selfmadegod Records / Seven Inches Of Metal Records Formats: 7″ EP / Cassette EP Year: 2021 Rotpit is one of the many projects led by Jonny Pettersson, best known for his work in…
Artist: VampirblutCountry: USALabel: Self-releasedFormats: Digital demo, SingleYear: 2022 American one-man Black Metal act Vampirblut releases one demo and single/EP after another with dizzying speed. So many that even Metal-Archives is struggling to give a complete picture, various demos are circulating…
Artist: BlackdeathCountry: RussiaLabel: End All Life ProductionsFormats: LP / CDYear: 2021 With their roots as deep as 1995, Blackdeath went through several name changes and an impressive discography to develop into one of Russia’s longest running and most valuable underground…
Artist: IncantationCountry: USALabel: Relapse RecordsFormats: LP / CDYear: 2022 What is dead may never die. Sometimes it feels like yesterday that Death Metal arose from the graves of the underground to take the world by storm. But of course, the…
Artist: Dracul’s GraspCountry: CanadaLabel: Extinctionist RecordsFormats: Demo tapeYear: 2022 Dracul’s Grasp is one of the latest outings of the illustrious figure of Darghul, who also goes under the name of Extinctionist and runs the Extinctionist Records label and has well over 20 active bands…
Artist: Grimdusk Country: France Label: Self-Released Formats: Digital EP Year: 2022 Out of the wild and dark French forests comes this Black Metal duo that goes under the name of Grimdusk. They are a part of a local Black Metal…
Artist: Infester Country: USA Label: Nuclear Winter Records Formats: LP / CD Year: 2022 Infester is one of the ‘hidden gems’ from the underground American Death Metal scene. They achieved a certain cult status with relatively little materialised legacy. 1992’s…
Artist: CalufraxCountry: CanadaLabel: Self-ReleasedFormats: Digital demoYear: 2022 Calufrax is quite a mysterious Black Metal act from Toronto, Canada. It is led by someone who goes under the name of Peon and released some demos and one full-length in the past,…
Artist: KorgonthurusCountry: FinlandLabel: Woodcut RecordsFormats: 12″ EP / CD EPYear: 2021 The origin of Korgonthurus goes back to 2000, with the band releasing two demos before splitting up in 2001. It wouldn’t take long before the two core band members,…
Artist: Chevallier Skrog / Dracul’s GraspCountry: Sweden / CanadaLabel: Pant Y MeddygonFormats: Cassette split tapeYear: 2022 The fairly large flow of releases indicates the healthy work ethics of the Czech/Swedish Chevallier Skrog. We have covered this intriguing one-man act before…
Artist: Fumes Country: Mexico Label: MVIRecs / Sentenced In Hellfire Records Formats: Cassette EP Year: 2022 From Mexico City comes this new four-piece Death/Black Metal band who are releasing their first EP with ‘Stellar Murders Upwards’. However, the four musicians…
Artist: Dwellers Of The Twilight VoidCountry: USALabel: PromulgatorFormats: Demo tapeYear: 2022 This three-pieces Death Metal act from Tampa, Florida is presenting their first demo to the world, which you might’ve guessed by the title of this three-tracker. But when listening these songs, it doesn’t sound…
Artist: VampirblutCountry: USALabel: Self-releasedFormats: Digital EPYear: 2022 When I think of Black Metal Punk, my thoughts automatically turn to the Darkthrone records of a few years ago. Not all fans were equally happy with those albums, for that matter, some…
Artist: TheotoxinCountry: AustriaLabel: Art Of PropagandaFormats: LP / CDYear: 2022 After some changes in their sound on the first few albums, Theotoxin seemingly found their style of Black Metal on the album ‘Fragment : Erhabenheit’. Eager to bring this to…
Artist: TheotoxinCountry: AustriaLabel: Art Of PropagandaFormats: LP / CDYear: 2020 Austria’s Theotoxin have upheld a steady pace of releasing albums since its formation in 2016. The sound varied a bit from one album to the other, however. On the 2017…
Artist: Sexmag Country: Poland Label: Dying Victims Productions Formats: Demo Tape Year: 2022 After their “tasteful” debut EP ‘Sex Metal’ from 2021, these Poles returned last summer with this new demo tape, which, like the EP, was also released by…