Tales From The Underground
Tales From The Underground
Artist: AshesCountry: PolandLabel: Malignant VoicesFormats: CDYear: 2022 The tremendous level of musicianship and creativity within the Polish Black Metal scene has been highlighted several times already. This obviously hasn’t gone unnoticed, with foreign labels such as Terratur Possessions, Northern Heritage…
Artist: Soul Grinder Country: Germany Label: Kernkraftritter Records / MDD Records Formats: CD Year: 2022 While we were thrown an EP in the form of ‘Lifeless Obsession’, German Death Metal band Soul Grinder returns with a full-length album two years…
Artist: Severance Country: USA Label: Xtreem Music Formats: 10″ EP / Year: 2021 Xtreem Music offers another dive into the deepest underground Death Metal of the early 90’s with the reissue of Severance’s ‘Afterbirth Of Infamy’ demo from 1991. It…
Artist: Sarcasm Country: Sweden Label: Hammerheart Records Formats: LP / CD Year: 2022 Uppsala, Sweden based Sarcasm is a band with a story. When they started out in 1990 they were basically a rather standard Death Metal band, which, like…
Artist: Forgotten SwordCountry: USALabel: Elderblood ProductionsFormats: Digital DemoYear: 2022 Forgotten Sword is a Dungeon Synth artist from Russia, having released quite a number of releases in that style since 2020. But the ties between Dungeon Synth and Black Metal are…
Artist: Ravenoir Country: Czechia Label: Gothoom Productions Formats: CD Year: 2022 Ravenoir from the Czech Republic was founded in 2020 by two members who were then still part of the legendary Root. Their new band was supposed to fill the…
Artist: Obituary Country: USA Label: Relapse Records Formats: LP / Cassette Tape / CD Year: 2022 Anyone who has ever seen an Obituary live show will agree that these veterans of American Death Metal sure know how to put on…
Artist: Obituary Country: USA Label: Relapse Records Formats: LP / Cassette Tape / CD Year: 2022 Like the simultaneously released ‘Slowly We Rot – Live & Rotting’ live record, this ‘Cause Of Death – Live Infection’ is also a recorded…
Artist: Sax Country: Czechia Label: I Hate Records Formats: CD Year: 2022 Those who dig deeper and look beyond the usual names from the glossy metal magazines will know that in the mid- to late 80’s and early 90’s there…
Artist: Bekëth NexëhmüCountry: SwedenLabel: Amor Fati ProductionsFormats: LP / CDYear: 2021 About a year ago the multi-talented and multi-instrumentalist Swartadauþuz presented a new album with Bekëth Nexëhmü, one of his most prolific projects. And if he does something, he does…
Artist: Bekëth NexëhmüCountry: SwedenLabel: Purity Through FireFormats: LP / CDYear: 2022 The full-length albums of Swedish Black Metal act Bekëth Nexëhmü follow each other in rapid succession. Just after the previous work, the one filled with mostly old demo material,…
Artist: Bekëth NexëhmüCountry: SwedenLabel: Amor Fati ProductionsFormats: LP / CDYear: 2022 With this third chapter in the (closing?) book of Bekëth Nexëhmü, mastermind Swartadauþuz again serves us with an overly long record. This time with a playing time of well…
Artist: Pharmacist Country: Japan Label: Bizarre Leprous Production / Hells Headbangers Records / Sevared Records Formats: LP / Cassette Tape / CD Year: 2022 Formed in 2020, these Japanese Carcass-worshippers have been really prolific, with this second album, ‘Flourishing Extremities…
Artist: Pharmacist Country: Japan Label: Bizarre Leprous Production / Black Hole Productions / Grindfather Productions / Gurgling Gore / Sevared Records Formats: 10″ EP / Cassette EP / CD EP Year: 2022 Over the past two plus decades I have…
Artist: WanklankCountry: The NetherlandsLabel: Heidens Hart RecordsFormats: LPYear: 2021 Put in a plain sleeve, black with only the somewhat scratchy logo on it very large, with no info or extras, this vinyl-only album by the obscure Black Metal band, Wanklank…
Artist: Vital RemainsCountry: USALabel: Xtreem MusicFormats: 10″ EPYear: 2021 One of the most underrated American Death Metal bands might be Vital Remains. Sure, they have a loyal fan base, but I’ve always felt that the band never reached their full…
Artist: ApogeionCountry: FinlandLabel: Northern Heritage RecordsFormats: CDYear: 2022 It’s hard to imagine Finnish Black Metal as we know it without Beherit. But while the pioneering band inspired countless of musicians during the early wave of Black Metal, bands that closely…
Artist: Sacrifice Country: Canada Label: High Roller Records / Shadow Kingdom Records Formats: LP / Cassette Tape / CD Year: 2022 While Germany had their Big 3 (Sodom, Destruction, Kreator) and the USA had their Big 4 (Slayer, Metallica, Megadeth…
Artist: Sacrifice Country: Canada Label: High Roller Records, Shadow Kingdom Records Formats: LP / Cassette Tape / CD Year: 2022 A much heard criticism upon the release of Canadian Thrash Metal band Sacrifice’s debut album, ‘Torment In Fire’ (1986), was…
Artist: Ruttokosmos Country: Finland Label: Werewolf Records Formats: CD Year: 2021 Finnish Black Metal bands, more often than not, tend to have miraculous sort of stories to tell. Sometimes they were very short lived but with a remarkably big influence…
Artist: Nunslaughter / Fluids Country: USA Label: Hells Headbangers Records Formats: Split 7″ EP / Split Tape EP Year: 2022 A split 7″ EP/cassette tape between two bands to who the concept of sharing a release is not exactly strange:…
Artist: Inferno Requiem Country: Taiwan Label: Elder Blood Productions Formats: CD Year: 2021 Taiwan’s Inferno Requiem began forging a tetralogy with 2019’s ‘Wolf From Onon’ Realm’ EP and finished it with 2021’s ‘Vultures’ EP, now Elderblood Productions scraped all of…
Artist: Inferno Requiem Country: Taiwan Label: Death Kvlt Productions / Death Prayer Records Formats: Cassette EP Year: 2021 Maybe origin plays a role, Taiwanese Black Metal is not something that will be on everyone’s lips right now. But whatever the…
Artist: Niaisny Country: Belarus Label: Medieval Prophecy Records Formats: Demo Tape Year: 2022 The Belarussian band Niaisny released their first demo tape in 2021, just like this second one also through Medieval Prophecy Records. On that first offering they presented…
Artist: Vulture LordCountry: NorwayLabel: Bylec-Tum Productions / Odium RecordsFormats: LP / Cassette tape / CDYear: 2021 Even though the band formed in the mid 90’s, Vulture Lord’s career hasn’t been all too prolific. In fact, apart from a debut album…
Artist: Drowning The LightCountry: AustraliaLabel: Dark Adversary ProductionsFormats: CD EPYear: 2023 Very hot on the heels of Drowning The Light’s latest offering, Azgorh’s seventeenth full-length album with Drowning The Light ‘Haunter Of The Deep’, he returns with the already announced first of a…
Artist: MegaslaughterCountry: SwedenLabel: To The Death RecordsFormats: CDYear: 2022 In the midst of the booming Swedish Death Metal scene, legends were born that colored the early days of the much beloved buzz-saw sound. With one release after another, bands sprouted…
Artist: MegaslaughterCountry: SwedenLabel: To The Death RecordsFormats: Cassette tape / CDYear: 2022 To this day, albums and demos from the early 90’s are still re-released or unearthed from moldy cassette graveyards. Releases of bands that were forgotten, or never quite…
Artist: CoscradhCountry: IrelandLabel: Invictus ProductionsFormats: LPYear: 2022 Earlier in 2022, the Dublin-based Coscradh released their debut album ‘Nahanagan Stadial’ on Invictus Productions. That debut followed closely on the 2021 released 7″ EP ‘Mesradh Machae’. Before that, the Irish had released…
Artist: Necrodeath Country: Italy Label: Time To Kill Records Formats: LP / CD Year: 2023 We’re writing early 2023 and I think we already have a strong contender for the corniest album title of the year. Seriously, what were they…
Artist: Morbid Stench Country: Costa Rica / El Salvador Label: Alkolik Holocaust Records / El Conjuro Records / Nuclear Winter Records / Putrid Cult Formats: LP / Cassette Tape / CD Year: 2022 Morbid Stench is a collaboration of musicians…
Artist: Morbid Stench Country: Costa Rica / El Salvador Label: Ablaze Productions Formats: CD Year: 2022 Just behind the release of Morbid Stench’s second full-length album, the band also comes out with this collector which features all the material they…
Artist: ToughnessCountry: SwedenLabel: Godz Ov War ProductionsFormats: LP / CDYear: 2022 ‘The Prophetic Dawn’ is the first album of a new band from Poland, founded in 2020 by a group of young musicians who were eager to play some Old School…
Artist: Chaos InvocationCountry: GermanyLabel: W.T.C. ProductionsFormats: LP / CDYear: 2022 My first introduction to the music of the German band Chaos Invocation was their 2017 split with fellow W.T.C. Productions label mates Thy Darkened Shade. I remember seeing the excellent…
Artist: Necrogod Country: Costa Rica / Sweden Label: Transcending Obscurity Records Formats: LP / CD Year: 2021 A few years ago Swedish jack-of-all-trades Rogga Johansson and Costa Rican Ronald Jimenez (also known as ‘The Master Butcher’) of bands like Morbid…
Artist: FelvumCountry: UkraineLabel: Out Of SeasonFormats: Cassette EPYear: 2022 Founded at the very beginning of 2022, the Ukranian Black Metal band Felvum was already able to spawn its first EP, ‘Fullmoon Mysticism’, in early April. The current status of the…
Artist: CatacombsCountry: ColombiaLabel: War March RecordsFormats: CDYear: 2022 After a promo CDR that the band spread around at the very end of 2021, the Colombian Death Metal band Catacombs were able to strike a deal with War March Records for a release of…
Artist: Muert Country: Spain Label: Immortal Frost Productions Formats: CD Year: 2022 Though most people know the Spanish Canary Islands only from their nice sunny holidays, the islands too have a very dark side. Its unpredictable and evil, volcanic character…
Artist: HouleCountry: FranceLabel: Les Acteurs de l’Ombre ProductionsFormats: 12″ EP / CD EPYear: 2022 From Paris, France hails the five-piece Black Metal band Houle. Formed in 2021, the band soon found their debut EP ‘Houle’ released on the esteemed label…
Artist: Aurora BorealisCountry: USALabel: Hammerheart RecordsFormats: LP / CDYear: 2022 Some bands just tend to never get going. I am sure everyone reading this have some of those in their collections. Bands that, despite their musical efforts being decent enough to at least attract…
Artist: Vas SatanasCountry: FinlandLabel: Werewolf RecordsFormats: Demo tapeYear: 2022 Vas Satanas is a Finnish band consisting of Exxxiler (Morgal and Bergilmir) on drums and Vorr (Daemonlust, Nefarious Rites, Nocturnal Sorcery and Persekution) on vocals and guitars. Their self-titled demo was…
Artist: Abysmal LordCountry: USALabel: Hells Headbangers RecordsFormats: LP / Cassette tape / CDYear: 2022 Do you remember those years when it was your birthday and that you sneaked down the stairs very early to see the decorated living room and,…
Artist: Heads For The Dead Country: International Label: Transcending Obscurity Records Formats: LP / Cassette tape / CD Year: 2022 For those who missed the previous two full-length albums (and EP) of Heads For The Dead, it is yet another…
Artist: Drowning The LightCountry: AustraliaLabel: Dark Adversary ProductionsFormats: CDYear: 2023 As a fan of Australian Black Metal act Drowning The Light, it is not hard to get spoilt, in fact, you only have to blink a few times or Azgorh already has something…
Artist: MalignamentCountry: FinlandLabel: Primitive ReactionFormats: LP / CDYear: 2021 Formed in 2019 by Grond of White Death and P.J. of Morgal and ex-Armour, Finland’s Malignament released their first demo in the same year. Most reviews, including the one on this…
Artist: AssumptionCountry: ItalyLabel: Everlasting Spew RecordsFormats: LP, CDYear: 2022 The 2018 released album ‘Absconditus’ from the Italian Doom/Death Metal band Assumption was described by a VM-Underground colleague as Doom/Death effort that has a lot to offer and compared it to bands like diSEMBOWELMENT, Winter and…
Artist: XeperCountry: ItalyLabel: Soulseller RecordsFormats: LP / CDYear: 2021 Xeper, now operating out of Stavanger, Norway, but originally founded in Italy, released their fourth album last year through Dutch Soulseller Records. Though ‘Ad Numen Satanae’ is indeed the band’s fourth…
Artist: Gorgasm Country: USA Label: Brutal Mind Formats: CD Year: 2022 When it comes to the more brutal sort of Death Metal with a distinct technical slant, there are very few bands that come close to the ingenuity of Gorgasm…
Artist: SubOrbital Country: Germany Label: War Anthem Records Formats: CD Year: 2022 Besides those classic gory and anti-religious themes, there’s more and more bands choosing a different path. Cosmic-themed Death Metal is no longer something that can be considered a…
Artist: Graveater Country: Estonia Label: Filth Junkies Records / Headsplit Records Formats: Cassette EP Year: 2022 Graveater is a new band from Estonia consisting of two members that gained their experience in bands such as Sküllfükk SS, Degeneratör and Ziegenhorn.…