Tales From The Underground
Tales From The Underground
Artist: Sulphur AeonCountry: GermanyLabel: Ván RecordsFormats: LP / CDYear: 2023 The story you are about to read did not come easily. And that starts with memories of Sulphur Aeon. Their debut ‘Swallowed by the Ocean’s Tide’ wasn’t necessarily the first…
Artist: KaikkivaltiasCountry: FinlandLabel: Self-releasedFormats: Digital EPYear: 2023 For those intrigued by the prospect of a mix of Classic/ Progressive Rock, Heavy Metal and Black Metal coming together in a medieval theme, take heed. Kaikkivaltias is the brainchild of the Finn…
One of the most distinctive bands from the Australian extreme metal scene is undoubtedly Tyrannic from Sydney. The band primarily qualifies itself as a Black Metal act but musically has much more than just that to offer. It effortlessly interweaves…
Artist: ChaînesCountry: BelgiumLabel: Amor Fati ProductionsFormats: LPYear: 2023 Just listing the names of the bands that Belgian musician Déhà is involved in would be enough to make for a hefty read, so for the purpose of brevity it suffices to…
Artist: Verhinderer Country: Germany Label: Kvlt Und Kaos Productions Formats: Cassette tape Year: 2023 Hot on the heels of the Black Metal band’s debut album, ‘Der Kettenritter’ from August of this year, the one-man project hat is Verhinderer returns with…
Artist: Cemetery Urn Country: Australia Label: Hells Headbangers Records Formats: LP / Cassette tape / CD Year: 2023 It has always been somewhat of a mystery to me why a band like Cemetery Urn has never received any more attention…
Artist: Akitsa Country: Canada Label: Hospital Productions Formats: LP / Cassette tape / CD Year: 2023 In their almost quarter of a century of existence, the band was formed in 1999, Akitsa have amassed a pretty hefty discography, but given…
Artist: VoidescentCountry: SpainLabel: Avantgarde MusicFormats: LP / CDYear: 2023 While Voidescent (what’s in a name) isn’t exactly a new band, it might be more likely that the previous incarnation of the band is better known. As Andhord, the Spanish quartet…
Artist: Permanent SolutionCountry: FinlandLabel: Misantropia RecordsFormats: CDYear: 2023 There’s a few things that drew me to the album of Permanent Solution. For one, their label Misantropia Records generally releases good, often Kalmankantaja related, Finnish Black Metal. The tracklist of ‘Permanent…
Artist: Hellevaerder / Duindwaler / Schavot / Asgrauw Country: The Netherlands Label: Zwaertgevegt Formats: LP Year: 2023 If the ‘Verloren Vertellingen’ LP proved anything, it is that, even in the deepest caverns of underground Black Metal, you can create some…
Artist: Verhinderer Country: Germany Label: Kvlt Und Kaos Productions Formats: Cassette tape / CD Year: 2023 After three smaller releases, two demo’s and an EP, this German one-man act returns with its first full-length album. Considering these are all done…
Artist: Devil MoonCountry: FinlandLabel: Signal RexFormats: LP / Cassette tape / CDYear: 2023 A sleazy rocking mix of Heavy Metal and Black Metal is what Devil Moon served us on their eponymous first EP. Now they come back with the…
Artist: Gotthammer Country: Canada Label: Forbidden Sonority Formats: Demo Tape Year: 2023 As of late it seems that there is an increasing amount of bands that do seem to worship the sound of the old Black/Death/Grind-sound that was originally brought…
Artist: Luciferian Annihilation Cult Country: Germany Label: Self-Released Formats: Digital Demo Year: 2023 Black and white cover? Check. Red logo? Check. Satanic imagery? Check. Barbarian sounding band name and release title? Check! Even without listening to a single chord of…
Artist: Krieg Country: USA Label: Profound Lore Records Formats: LP / CD Year: 2023 Krieg’s heady musical career is one characterised by an impressive multitude when it comes to both its equally staggering list of (mostly) ex-band members and the…
Artist: On Thorns I Lay Country: Greece Label: Season Of Mist Formats: LP / CD Year: 2023 The career of On Thorns I Lay is typified by the wanderings that led the band past a total of five albums and…
Artist: Strigoic Curse Country: Romania Label: Self-Released Formats: Digital Year: 2023 The phenomenon of “Strigoi” is not quit new to appear in the metal scene, it has been used by quite a few bands, but it is still something that…
Artist: Black ViperCountry: NorwayLabel: Edged Circle ProductionsFormats: 12″ EPYear: 2023 Remember the day when you looked at the band photos on the inner sleeve of an LP, checking the shirts worn by your favourite artists to discover new bands? There’s…
Artist: Liturgy Of Desecration Country: Greece Label: Fallen Temple Formats: Cassette EP Year: 2023 The duo that make up Liturgy Of Desecration are finally back with a new EP, after being silent for a while since the release of 2020’s…
Artist: TaakeCountry: NorwayLabel: Dark Essence RecordsFormats: LP / Cassette tape / CDYear: 2023 Even though the phrase is far too often used to announce the release of a new album, a new Taake album is certainly one of those albums…
Artist: Deathwinds Country: Canada Label: Self-Released Formats: Digital EP Year: 2023 No less than nine years after the band’s last release, Deathwinds returns with a new EP, ‘Ripping Annihilation’. And yes, they have chosen this title very appropriately, this Canadian…
Artist: Miserable Creature Country: Australia Label: Transylvanian Recordings Formats: Demo Tape Year: 2023 Miserable Creature, a duo from Melbourne, Australia is presenting their third mutual effort under the rather uninspired title ‘3’. Just like with the previous two demos, released…
Artist: Luring Country: USA Label: Iron Bonehead Productions / Nithstang Productions Formats: LP / Cassette tape / CD Year: 2023 ‘Triumphant Fall Of The Malignant Christ’ is Luring’s second full-length effort, but other than the band’s debut, which was only…
Artist: Obsidian Grave Country: USA Label: Dark Adversary Productions Formats: CD Year: 2023 Over the roughly half decade of their existence, American Obsidian Grave have released their music through labels such as Atrocity Altar, Hatework, Perverse Homage and Death Hymns,…
Artist: Feeble Deity Country: USA Label: Dark Adversary Productions / Forbidden Sonority Formats: CD / Cassette tape Year: 2023 That the Dark Adversary Productions label not only releases the own material of label-owner Azgorh (Drowning The Light, among others) is…
Artist: Drowning The Light Country: Australia Label: Dark Adversary Productions Formats: CD EP Year: 2023 Hot on the heels on the in August released two EP’s, Australia’s most prolific Black Metal band, Drowning The Light, returns with a yet another…
Artist: IncantationCountry: USALabel: Relapse RecordsFormats: LP / Cassette tape / CDYear: 2023 When a new Incantation album drops you just know you’re in for a treat. The musical formula of the band hasn’t drastically changed over the past decades, and why…
Artist: ValravnCountry: FinlandLabel: Primitive ReactionFormats: LP / CDYear: 2023 According to Danish folkore the valravn, or raven of the slain, is a supernatural raven that consumed either the hearts of kings or children, to do great evil or to seek…
Artist: HagatizCountry: GermanyLabel: Amor Fati ProductionsFormats: LP / CDYear: 2023 Hagatiz is a new name to the Black Metal block and ‘Cursed to the Night’ is their very first record. But this fresh entry to the scene can appear deceptive,…
When you are caught off guard by a new album from a band that has more or less fallen off the radar since 2006, it is not only enough for a set of puzzled eyes, but more importantly for sparking…
Recently I came across the first EP, released on cassette tape, of Italian Death Metal band Necrogore and although it was only the band’s debut I was pretty convinced. While there are so many bands that follow the path of…
Artist: Disguised Malignance Country: Finland Label: Prosthetic Records / Rotted Life Records Formats: LP / Cassette tape / CD Year: 2023 Not too long ago I reviewed these Finn’s second demo, released earlier this year. ‘Unearthly Death’ was a demo…
Artist: Vesthangarth Country: Chile Label: Consumed By The Flames Productions Formats: Digital Year: 2023 In the summer of 2022 I reviewed Vesthangarth’s demo, which was a surprisingly great affair of Scandinavian sounding Black Metal and I concluded that this band…
Artist: Runespell Country: Australia Label: Iron Bonehead Productions Formats: LP / CD Year: 2023 Formed in 2017, Australian outfit Runespell has impressed not only with its hefty work rate, which in those seven years has yielded no fewer than five…
Whatever label you want to file this band under, ever since their formation during the turn of the millennium, Pantheist has kept Doom Metal aficionados spellbound. In that quarter-century of darkness, the band surrounding founder and vocalist/keyboardist Kostas Panagiotou released…
Artist: AtonementCountry: SwedenLabel: Dying Victims ProductionsFormat: LP / CDYear: 2023 With an album cover like that of ‘Sadistic Invaders’ you sort of know what you’re going to get. Well at least, a band like Deathhammer pops into my mind, and…
Artist: Wolves In The Throne Room Country: USA Label: Relapse Records / Century Media Formats: 12″ EP / CD EP Year: 2023 As with many bands that are dealt with a certain hype in their careers this phenomenon comes with…
From the deepest bowels of Dutch Black Metal recently awoke the dreaded beast: Botulistum. Out of nowhere, the vicious outfit came out with their self-titled debut album. That album, which you thought would never come, still manages to surprise even…
Artist: Baxaxaxa Country: Germany Label: The Sinister Flame Formats: LP / Cassette tape / CD Year: 2023 German Black Metal has always been something that has had difficulties to get recognition from other parts of the world. Whether it were…
Artist: ÜbelkeitCountry: ChileLabel: Self-releasedFormats: Digital EPYear: 2023 A German word for a band name that translates to Nausea: you are forgiven if you didn’t guess that the entity behind the name Übelkeit hails from Chile and plays dissonant Black Metal. …
Artist: OerheksCountry: BelgiumLabel: Amor Fati Productions / Babylon Doom Cult RecordsFormats: 12″ Demo / Demo tapeYear: 2023 Soaring, high above the tree lines, carried by the thermals, observing all that transpires far beneath. With ‘Valkengebed’, Oerheks takes us once more to…
Artist: Guts Country: Finland Label: Morbid Chapel Records / Rotten Tomb Records / Vargheist Records Formats: CD Year: 2023 Lately, I have been mostly impressed by Death Metal bands from the more technical or avant-garde range, not because that is…
Artist: Tenebro Country: Italy Label: Seven Metal Inches Records Formats: 7″ EP Year: 2023 To celebrate the band’s first ever live appearance on this year’s edition of the NRW Deathfest in Germany, Tenebro joined forces (again) with Seven Metal Inches…
Artist: Rapid Country: Finland Label: Dying Victims Productions Formats: 12″ EP / Cassette EP / CD EP Year: 2023 Finnish Speed Metal combo Rapid came to my attention through their 2017 released 7” single (Svart Records) that my partner in…
Chaos; complete disorder, utter confusion, the property of a complex system whose behaviour is so unpredictable, it appears random. It will cause people to stop and look in fascination or run away in fear. There are those that are terrified…
Artist: Necrogore Country: Italy Label: Wrong Disk Records Formats: Cassette EP Year: 2023 Necrogore from Italy is a new band on the block of its country’s Death Metal scene, but while the band might be a new acquisition to the…