Order – Void [EP]

Artist: OrderCountry: NorwayLabel: Self-ReleasedFormats: Digital EPYear: 2023 It’s already been a couple of years since the Norwegian band Order released their second album ‘The Gospel’. That record was very much in line with the legendary ‘Deathcrush’ EP by Mayhem, which…

Distrüster – Sic Semper Tyrannis

Artist: DistrüsterCountry: PolandLabel: Ossuary RecordsFormats: CD, Cassette tapeYear: 2022 ‘Sic Semper Tyrannis’ is the debut album for Polish Distrüster, a band that was founded in 2021 by James Stewart (Decapitated and ex-Vader among many others) and two others to mix…

Svraoz – Sacraments Of Evil [EP]

Artist: Svraoz Country: Indonesia Label: Delusive Records Formats: Cassette EP Year: 2023 From Indonesia comes this new Black/Thrash Metal band Svraoz and with ‘Sacraments Of Evil’ they do present their first recordings, a 7-track EP, clocking in at just under…

Leather Brigade – Pray To The Knife [EP]

Artist: Leather Brigade Country: Romania Label: Self-Released Formats: Digital EP Year: 2023 From Romania comes this four-piece that are releasing their 5-track debut EP ‘Pray To The Knife’. I think that a quick look at both the band name/EP title…

Sanguine Relic – Labyrinth Of Nightmares [EP]

Artist: Sanguine Relic Country: USA Label: GoatowaRex / Perverse Homage Formats: 7″ EP / Cassette EP Year: 2023 A few years back, Sanguine Relic became, whether intended or not, one of the faces of the resurgence of the (ultimate) crude…

Rotpit – Let There Be Rot

Artist: Rotpit Country: Germany / Sweden Label: War Anthem Records Formats: LP / CD Year: 2023 After a demo tape and single-track promo, of which a review can be found elsewhere on our VM-Underground pages, the trio that is Rotpit…

Abject Mentor – Abominaciones

Artist: Abject MentorCountry: MexicoLabel: Self-ReleasedFormats: DigitalYear: 2023 From the ancient city of Aguascalientes, once founded by the first Spanish families to settle on the even much older Chichimeca Indian territories, comes this Death Metal band who present us with their…

Evilcult – The Devil Is Always Looking For Souls

Artist: EvilcultCountry: BrazilLabel: Awakening RecordsFormats: CDYear: 2023 When it comes to old school sounding Black/Thrash Metal the country of Brazil has a rich history. Not only because of the obvious relation to that of the early Sepultura records and the…

Raw Vomit – Reh’23 [Demo]

Artist: Raw Vomit Country: Portugal Label: Enfermo Distro Formats: Demo  Tape Year: 2023 From the deepest pits and sewers from Portugal comes Raw Vomit, a band that has absolutely no sense for subtlety or melody. In fact, the soul or…

Unpure – Prophecies Ablaze

Artist: UnpureCountry: SwedenLabel: Invictus ProductionsFormats: LP / CDYear: 2023 Sweden’s Unpure have already well reached their 30th anniversary, the band, formed in 1991, has been around for a while but spent their years somewhat in the dank underground. Although the…

Kommand – Death Age

Artist: Kommand Country: USA Label: 20 Buck Spin Formats: LP / Cassette tape / CD Year: 2023 From the city of angels comes this Death Metal band that spawned a few demos (also compiled as ‘The Demos’ on vinyl and…

Aethyrick – Kolme Veljestä [EP]

Artist: AethyrickCountry: FinlandLabel: The Sinister FlameFormats: 12″ EP / CDYear: 2023 On April 9th, Finland celebrates the Day of the Finnish language. On this day Finland commemorates the death of Mikael Agricola, the father of the Finnish language who is…

Surgical Invasion – Malignant Devastation [EP]

Artist: Surgical Invasion Country: Ukraine Label: Self-Released Formats: Digital EP Year: 2023 This Ukrainian Thrash Metal duo makes no secret of their inspiration. The band name and the cover with this EP give it all away, the whole medicine cabinet…

Schizophrenia – Chants Of The Abyss [EP]

Artist: Schizophrenia Country: Belgium Label: Self-Released Formats: CD EP Year: 2023 Okay, admittedly. I have always kept some distance from this band. I always thought the name was terribly badly chosen. When you choose to name your Thrash Metal band…

Slakter – Warmageddon [EP]

Artist: Slakter Country: Indonesia Label: Delusive Records Formats: Cassette EP Year: 2023 Okay, admittedly, the name of this EP is a bit cheesy and rather simplistic. But then again, it is the first EP from this Indonesian band and despite…

Yskelgroth – Bleeding Of The Hideous

Artist: YskelgrothCountry: SpainLabel: Xtreem MusicFormats: CDYear: 2023 Dave Rotten’s influence and contribution to the (extreme) metal scene is huge, especially in his homeland Spain, his importance is almost without equal. Especially with his label Xtreem Music (and its predecessors, Drowned…

Speedpussy – Funeral Bells From Hell [EP]

Artist: Speedpussy Country: USA Label: Self-Released Formats: Digital EP Year: 2023 With a band name like this and such an old school cover, it was a no brainer to click play. And, yes, of course I simply got what I…

Yellow Obelisk – Demo

Artist: Yellow ObeliskCountry: United KingdomLabel: Negate EverythingFormats: Digital demoYear: 2023 Hardly anything is known about this act, of which I presume is from the UK, so instead we go and dive directly into their brand of Raw Black Metal. The…

Wight – Wight [EP]

Artist: WightCountry: USALabel: Self-releasedFormats: Cassette EPYear: 2023 Wight from Winchester, Virginia lands on the US Black Metal scene with first release, a self-titled EP. In four tracks, A. Geist (all instruments) and NXH (vocals) take us through their obsession with…

Misery Index – Complete Control

Artist: Misery Index Country: USA Label: Century Media Formats: LP / CD Year: 2022 It is no secret that Misery Index has named themselves after a track of the 1997 released album of one of the best Grindcore bands from…

Diabolical Messiah – Satanic Alpha​-​Omega

Artist: Diabolical MessiahCountry: ChileLabel: Veins Full of Wrath ProductionsFormats: CDYear: 2023 Not counting a handful of split EPs, compilations and a demo, the Chileans of Diabolical Messiah present their third feat with ‘Satanic Alpha-Omega’. On the previous two long-players, the band had already shown they…

Keep Of Kalessin – Katharsis

Artist: Keep Of KalessinCountry: NorwayLabel: Back On BlackFormats: LP / Cassette tape / CDYear: 2023 Keep Of Kalessin caused a bit of a stir with the release of their 2006 album ‘Armada’. Even though their origins dated back to 1993…

Psoglav – Cyrkovni Urodi [Demo]

Artist: Psoglav Country: Bulgaria Label: Diabolic Hate Propaganda Records Formats: Demo Tape Year: 2023 With new works by Todorac, the inspirer behind this new project, it is always worth taking a moment to delve into the background and meaning of…

Hellcrash – Demonic Assassinatiön

Artist: Hellcrash Country: Italy Label: Dying Victims Productions Formats: LP / Cassette tape / CD Year: 2023 In the review for Hellcrash’s debut album, ‘Krvcifix Invertör’ our chief-editor Ricardo got flabbergasted by the sheer Venom-worship of their music, so I…

Proselytism – The Desecration Of Ancient Bones

Artist: Proselytism Country: Norway Label: Duplicate Records Formats: LP / CD Year: 2023 After the 2020 released debut ‘Blood Of The Deceivers’, the Norwegian duo of Proselytism returns with their sophomore album, again through Duplicate Records. Those who have heard…

Outlaw – Reaching Beyond Assiah

Artist: Outlaw Country: Brazil Label: Art Of Propaganda Formats: LP / CD Year: 2023 This Brazilian Black Metal band releases their third full-length with ‘Reaching Beyond Assiah’, but due to the low distribution of their previous works, this album will…

Feeding – Promo 2023

Artist: FeedingCountry: CanadaLabel: Self-ReleasedFormats: Demo tapeYear: 2023 Although this Canadian Death Metal band already released a couple of demos over the past few years, they are relatively unknown, even to such an extent that they haven’t been included on Metal-Archives…

Cemetery Lights – Consumption

Artist: Cemetery LightsCountry: USALabel: Nuclear War Now! ProductionsFormats: Cassette tape / CDYear: 2022 The first and only time Cemetery Lights graced our pages was with their debut EP, ‘Lemuralia’ (2018). In the meantime we are several releases on. This record, ‘Consumption’, is Cemetery…

Deathcircle – Feast Upon the World of Illusions

Artist: DeathcircleCountry: Bosnia and HerzegovinaLabel: Esfinge de la Calavera / Goatowarex / Sinister ShadowFormats: LP / Cassette tape / CDYear: 2022 One of the very first bands to arise from the Black Plague Circle was Deathcircle, which was formed in…

Thromvosis – Proclamation Of The Smegmatic Warcult

Artist: ThromvosisCountry: GreeceLabel: Self-releasedFormats: DigitalYear: 2023 In fact, a review can be very easy, or even unnecessary. The real connoisseur has of course already seen it: the red/black/white artwork, the logo, the band name and its title. Everything about this…

Opaque Blue – Ocean’s Exquisite Mist [Demo]

Artist: Opaque Blue Country: Bosnia And Herzegovina Label: Self-Released Formats: Digital Demo Year: 2023 This new Raw Black Metal band was born as a side-project of Black Stem Rust, an interesting but quirky Black Metal act from Bosnia And Herzegovina.…

CEP – First Tape [Demo]

Artist: CEPCountry: SwedenLabel: Pant Y MeddygonFormats: Demo tapeYear: 2023 It might not come as a total surprise, but ‘First Tape’ is actually this band’s first release. But while this might be the first offering of the band, at least one…

Arjen – Lice čovjeka koji je rekao Ne

Artist: ArjenCountry: Bosnia and HerzegovinaLabel: Self-releasedFormats: DigitalYear: 2022 The Black Metal movement originating from Bosnia and Herzegovina called the Black Plague Circle largely owes its existence to the two prolific members O. and H.P. Together, they started the scene in…

Dark Millennium – Ashore The Celestial Burden [Reissue]

Artist: Dark MillenniumCountry: GermanyLabel: Floga RecordsFormats: LPYear: 2023 In the later years of the first Death Metal peak, say, the early 90’s there were bands that were pushing the boundaries of the genre. Into different directions, really. Of course, there…

Kasturn – Rehearsal Promo 23 [Demo]

Artist: Kasturn Country: United Kingdom Label: Death Hymns Formats: Demo tape Year: 2023 Although it is not 1997 anymore, but I could’ve picked any other random bygone year, sometimes a good cover still does the trick. On my daily foray…

Incandescence – Le Coeur de l’homme

Artist: Incandescence Country: Canada Label: Profound Lore Productions Formats: CD Year: 2022 Incandescence, hailing from Montreal, Quebec, Canada hasn’t got much in common with the so-called ‘Metal Noir Quebecois’ movement that has been spawning one great band after another. But,…

Perfide – De Republiek Der Zeven Verenigde Nederlanden

Artist: PerfideCountry: The NetherlandsLabel: ZwaertgevegtFormats: LP / Cassette tapeYear: 2023 ‘De Republiek Der Zeven Verenigde Nederlanden’ (which translates to ‘The Republic of the Seven United Netherlands’) was a confederation that existed from 1588 to 1795 and covered most of what…

Arzhaabat – Forest Tribes Triumphant [Demo]

Artist: ArzhaabatCountry: SwedenLabel: Pant Y MeddygonFormats: Demo tapeYear: 2023 Arzhaabat is a new musical vehicle of the ever-prolific MBN (Chevallier Skrog among other and the person behind the Pant Y Meddygon label). This time, he is once again all alone at the helm, bringing us…

Blau Blut – Cockaigne [Demo]

Artist: Blau BlutCountry: SwedenLabel: Pant Y MeddygonFormats: Demo tapeYear: 2023 Blau Blut is a new band made up of musicians from several countries, including Sweden, Austria and Slovakia. This international company, in which we recognise at least MBN (of Chevallier…

Doomorder – Protocol: Death

Artist: DoomorderCountry: Finland / SpainLabel: Self-ReleasedFormats: DigitalYear: 2022 After a short promo in 2016, which was released as a part of a split 7” (pressed on a clear lathe disc) in 2017 the duo behind Doomorder returns with a self-released digital full-length album. The…

Tëmor – Acid Piss Rain [Demo]

Artist: TëmorCountry: FranceLabel: Croux RecordsFormats: Demo tapeYear: 2023 In the ever-emerging scene that combines the fury of the old early 80’s anarchist Punk with the depraved sort of bareboned Black Metal, comes this Parisian act Tëmor. It is not completely…

Hersir – Hateful Draugar [Demo]

Artist: HersirCountry: SwedenLabel: Self-releasedFormats: Digital DemoYear: 2023 Five songs totalling nearly 21 minutes is what the Swedish band Hersir presents us on their second demo ‘Hateful Draugar’ that saw its release in March 2023. Musically the band’s Black Metal can…

Serement – Deviation From God [EP]

Artist: Serement Country: Greece Label: Theogonia Records Formats: CD EP Year: 2023 ‘Deviation From God’ is the first effort by this new Greek Death Metal band and was self-released digitally at the end of last year, but now gets a…

Carpathian Wrath – Spells From The Cryptic Moon [Demo]

Artist: Carpathian WrathCountry: Puerto RicoLabel: Self-ReleasedFormats: Digital demoYear: 2023 If Puerto Rican Carpathian Wrath have proved anything (besides their own musical prowess, of course), it is how elitist Metal Archives’ arbitrary regime is. Several attempts have apparently been made to include the band…

Maze Of Sothoth – Extirpated Light

Artist: Maze Of Sothoth Country: Italy Label: Everlasting Spew Records Formats: Cassette Tape / CD Year: 2022 With ‘Extirpated Light’, this Italian foursome is on its second album. After a good demo and a successful debut album, expectations are high;…

Cult Of Orpist – Cult Of Orpist

Artist: Cult Of OrpistCountry: GreeceLabel: Theogonia RecordsFormats: CD EPYear: 2023 The combination of the band name of this EP and especially the cover art, I was allured into checking out this band from new metal band. Why? Because everybody loves…

Dragon – Unde Malum

Artist: DragonCountry: PolandLabel: Metal Mind ProductionsFormats: CDYear: 2023 It must have been in the early 00’s that I snatched a batch of vinyl records of eBay (or something similar) and I also grabbed a copy of Dragon’s ‘Horda Goga’. I had never heard of…