Tales From The Underground
Tales From The Underground
Artist: The Mist From The MountainsCountry: FinlandLabel: Primitive ReactionFormats: LP / Cassette tape / CDYear: 2022 The Mist From The Mountains is a new band formed in 2020. But the members behind the band have made their marks in Finnish…
Artist: EinherjerCountry: NorwayLabel: Soulseller RecordsFormats: LPYear: 2022 Some ten years ago, the American The Crypt label reissued both of Einherjer’s pre-album recordings onto one nicely packaged vinyl compilation. But like many of those well-crafted The Crypt releases, they were not…
Artist: NoenumCountry: FinlandLabel: Northern Heritage RecordsFormats: CDYear: 2022 Form in the mid to late 90’s, release a sensational demo or EP, and then disappear for a few decades only to come back with an unexpected debut album. It seems to…
Artist: NécropoleCountry: FranceLabel: Northern Heritage RecordsFormats: CDYear: 2022 Nécropole’s star rose to fame with the rather sensational demos ‘Atavisme’ and ‘Ostara’. Both were examples of a rejuvenated style of French Black Metal that hints back at the infamous past of…
Russian Blackdeath have always been a band to keep an eye on, while their music had a very strong foundation in traditional Black Metal, they never shied away from a somewhat distinctive approach. While the basis might be everyday Black…
Artist: Arnaut PavleCountry: FinlandLabel: Amor Fati Productions / MystiskaosFormats: LPYear: 2023 The 2013 demo by the Finnish band Arnaut Pavle was a pretty sensational release, filled with filthy punky Black Metal heavily inspired by Darkthrone. In the following years the…
Artist: Arnaut PavleCountry: FinlandLabel: MystiskaosFormats: LPYear: 2023 Arnaut Pavle, also known as Arnold Paole, was a Serbian Hajduk living in the town of Meduegna. His particular name was remembered as a curious case study documented by two Austrian doctors. In…
Artist: KringaCountry: AustriaLabel: Terratur PossessionsFormats: CDYear: 2023 Kringa’s ‘Total Mental Desecration’ was a pretty sensational EP. Although the band had released some demos since its inception in 2009, it was probably that specific release that gained the band a bit…
Artist: DødsengelCountry: NorwayLabel: Debemur Morti ProductionsFormats: LP / CDYear: 2022 The unorthodox creativity and impenetrable darkness that Dødsengel managed to evoke with their earliest recordings were of a major influence on the revival of Norwegian Black Metal, so near the end of the 00’s.…
Artist: Sacrificium CarmenCountry: FinlandLabel: Purity Through FireFormats: LP / Cassette tape / CDYear: 2021 For the Tampere, Finland based Black Metal band Sacrificium Carmen, ‘Nekrognosis – Avain Varjoihin’ is their third album. Formed in 2009, the band took a few…
Artist: Morbikon Country: USA Label: Tankcrimes Records Formats: LP / CD Year: 2022 That music in general and metal more specifically is something that can bring together the most unlikely people. There are so many great examples of implausible collaborations,…
Artist: Odal Country: Germany Label: Eisenwald Formats: LP Year: 2022 At the tail end of 2022 the German quality label Eisenwald reissued Odal’s debut album ‘Sturmes Brut’ on vinyl. Originally released in 2002 through the Christhunt Productions label, it hasn’t…
Artist: Gouffre Country: Belgium Label: Medieval Prophecy Records Formats: LP Year: 2022 At the very end of 2022 Medieval Prophecy Records released this compilation LP that contains both Gouffre demos, 2019’s ‘1: Grim Spirit’ and ‘Crawling Death’ from 2021. The…
Artist: Half Visible Presence Country: The Netherlands Label: Nuclear Winter Records Formats: 12″ EP Year: 2022 Dutch one-man Black Metal band Half Visible Presence is the brainchild of Arvath, whose musical touch can also be heard in bands like Israthoum,…
Artist: Fleshrot Country: USA Label: Desert Wastelands Productions / Me Saco Un Ojo Formats: LP / Cassette tape / CD Year: 2022 After the band’s eponymous 2020 demo, the Texas Death Metal band Fleshrot returns for their debut album. Those…
Artist: FörgjordCountry: FinlandLabel: Werewolf RecordsFormats: LP / CDYear: 2022 Veterans of the underground Finnish Black Metal scene, Förgjord had undertaken the ambitious project of releasing the ’Ruumissaarna’ trilogy. The songs recorded during these sessions, of which the title translates to…
Artist: FörgjordCountry: FinlandLabel: Self-releasedFormats: CD EPYear: 2021 The Finnish horde of Förgjord was formed as early as 1995, and has featured a stable lineup consisting of original members Valgrinder (guitar and bass) and Prokustes Thanatos (vocals and until 2017 also…
Artist: Harvest Gulgaltha Country: USA Label: Godz Ov War Productions Formats: Cassette tape / CD Year: 2022 The anonymous American trio that is Harvest Gulgaltha returns with their sophomore effort, five years after their debut. The enigmatic Black/Death Metal combo…
Artist: CryptopsyCountry: CanadaLabel: Xtreem RecordsFormats: 10″ EP / CD EPYear: 2021 ‘Ungentle Exhumation’ is undoubtedly one of the most important demos from the Canadian metal scene. It marked the start not only of Cryptopsy, but actually of a whole tradition…
Artist: Fleshcrawl Country: Germany Label: Xtreem Music Formats: 10″ EP / CD EP Year: 2021 Before the band would become known as Fleshcrawl, one of Germany’s best and longest-running Death Metal bands, they were known as Morgöth and subsequently Suffocation.…
Artist: ToxikCountry: USALabel: Back On BlackFormats: LP / CDYear: 2023 My personal story is actually like so many here in The Netherlands. As a young enthusiast, I became hooked on metal in the late 1990’s, but at the time when Spotify…
Artist: Kamra Country: Slovenia Label: Avantgarde Music / Edged Circle Productions Formats: LP / Cassette tape / CD Year: 2022 After a two-track demo/EP from 2021, this new Slovenian metal band propels itself to new levels with their Avantgarde Music…
Artist: AutopsyCountry: USALabel: Peaceville RecordsFormats: LP / Cassette tape / CDYear: 2022 Introducing Autopsy to a VM-Underground reader is like explaining Star Wars to a sci-fi enthusiast. Useless, then, so we won’t do that. There is, however, no denying of…
Artist: Nigrum Tenebris Country: Germany Label: Sol Records Formats: CD Year: 2021 Nigrum Tenebris comes from the rich Black Metal underground scene of the city of Kassel, over the past two decades this German city has produced many a good…
Artist: AutophagyCountry: USALabel: Necrolatry Records / Pulverised RecordsFormats: LP / Cassette tape / CDYear: 2023 In 2018 the American Death Metal band Autophagy delivered a nice demo that our chief editor Ricardo here at VM-Underground described as a good blend…
Artist: Sacrimonia Country: Poland Label: Self-Released Formats: CD Year: 2022 Sacrimonia is a Melodic/Symphonic Black Metal band from Poland that was founded in 2015 and released a first EP in 2016 but went silent for the following years. It wasn’t…
Artist: Carnal RuinCountry: USALabel: Redefining Darkness RecordsFormats: LP / CDYear: 2022 The nowadays Death Metal scene is getting gradually more bland and actually starts to feel a little jaded. The trends of today tend to flatten out the entire scene, with one part dealing with…
Artist: Putrevore Country: Spain / Sweden Label: Xtreem Music Formats: LP / Cassette Tape / CD Year: 2021 Putrevore is the collaboration of two of Death Metal’s most prolific veterans, Rogga Johansson (Paganizer, Ribspreader, Revolting among many others) and Dave…
Artist: Saram Country: Peru Label: Werewolf Records Formats: LP Year: 2023 Despite being officially formed in 1998 in Lima, Peru, Saram’s history goes back many more years. In 1991, the band Neuroparalya was formed which eventually turned into Saram Scivit…
Artist: Outlaw Country: Brazil Label: Drakkar Productions – South American Division Formats: CD EP Year: 2021 Outlaw is an international band made up of band members from at least Brazil and Finland who, despite this EP being my first introduction…
Artist: Thornspawn / MaledictvsCountry: USA / MexicoLabel: Inhuman Assault Productions / Werewolf RecordsFormats: Split cassette tape / Split CDYear: 2021 A split between Thornspawn and Maledictvs is actually a split featuring two sides of the creative duo of Blackthorn (drums, guitars)…
Artist: Furnace Country: Sweden Label: MDD Records Formats: CD Year: 2022 With Furnace the multi-instrumentalist with too much time Rogga Johansson and Peter Svensson (Void Moon) went for a more melodic sound with their first two albums, ‘Black Stone Church’…
Artist: Manticore Country: USA Label: Hells Headbangers Records Formats: Cassette Tape / CD Year: 2022 One of Hells Headbangers earliest releases was Manticore’s debut album, ‘Bowels Of The Holy Anoint Us In Evil’. Together with a few other of those…
When one of the earliest Danish Death Metal bands, formed by two Invocator members, recently reformed and even put out a brand new album, the long-awaited follow-up to 1992’s ‘A Serenade Of Agony’, an album regarded by some as a…
Artist: Purgatory Country: Germany Label: War Anthem Records Formats: LP / Cassette Tape / CD Year: 2022 Nossen, Germany-based Death Metal band Purgatory celebrates its 30th anniversary this year, making it one of the country’s longest-running extreme metal bands. While…
Artist: Lie In Ruins / Graveyard Country: Finland / Spain Label: War Anthem Records Formats: Split 7″ EP Year: 2022 The German label War Anthem Records has spawned a considerable amount of nice Old School Death Metal split 7” EP’s…
Artist: Sigh Country: Japan Label: Peaceville Records / Ward Records Formats: Cassette EP Year: 2022 Last year, Japan’s most enigmatic metal band, Sigh, now signed to the British Peaceville Records label, returned from a five-year silence. Its latest feat, ‘Heir…
Artist: Eggs Of GomorrhCountry: SwitzerlandLabel: Godz Ov War ProductionsFormats: LP / Cassette tape / CDYear: 2022 Of all the bands that uphold the Ross Bay Cult tradition, I have never found Swiss Eggs Of Gomorrh very convincing. Throughout their career,…
Artist: Maceration Country: Denmark Label: Emanzipation Records Formats: LP / CD Year: 2022 Maceration’s sole album ‘A Serenade Of Agony’ is an album that divides Death Metal fans: considered as a true yet forgotten classic of Old School Death Metal…
Last year, Dutch Black Metal band Hellevaerder released their debut album ‘In De Nevel Van Afgunst’ through the prolific purveyors of Dutch Black Metal and since VM-Underground is also based in The Netherlands it was only one thought away to…
Artist: Cult Of EibonCountry: GreeceLabel: Iron Bonehead ProductionsFormats: Split LP / Split CDYear: 2022 At the very end of 2022 Iron Bonehead Productions treats us with one of the label’s best releases of the year. While both bands might not…
Artist: Cult Of EibonCountry: GreeceLabel: Azermedoth Records / Regain RecordsFormats: CDYear: 2022 For those who like Cult Of Eibon, or Greek Black Metal in general, but are not into collecting vinyl, this compilation CD is godsend. Because although the ‘Lycan…
Artist: CruzCountry: SpainLabel: Nuclear Winter RecordsFormats: LP / Cassette tape / CDYear: 2022 Spain has proven to be a good purveyor of Death Metal over the past decade-plus. Whereas at first the scene was a bit limited to Avulsed and…
Artist: Ceremonial TortureCountry: FinlandLabel: Out Of The DungeonFormats: CDYear: 2022 Ceremonial Torture is a rather obscure one-man Black Metal act from Finland which had its work released by labels such as Final Agony Records, Out Of The Dungeon (also responsible…
Artist: Heltekvad Country: Denmark Label: Eisenwald Formats: LP / Cassette tape / CD Year: 2022 Heltekvad is a relatively new Black Metal band from Denmark, formed by Ole Pedersen Luk (of Afsky fame) and two more musicians who happen to…
Artist: Vampyric TyrantCountry: GermanyLabel: Purity Through FireFormats: CD EPYear: 2022 Only a few months after the German Black Metal band’s debut album, released earlier in 2022, Vampyric Tyrant returns with a new EP, ‘Zorn Und Hass’. This new EP was…
Artist: Vampyric TyrantCountry: GermanyLabel: Into Endless Chaos Records / Mortal Rite Records / Purity Through FireFormats: LP / Cassette tape / CDYear: 2022 After the 2021 released ‘Das Schwert der Sterne’ EP, the German Black Metal band Vampyric Tyrant returns,…
Artist: Atomic AggressorCountry: ChileLabel: Xtreem MusicFormats: 10″ EPYear: 2021 Long before the Chilean extreme metal scene would really explode into hundreds of more than interesting Black Metal, Death Metal and Thrash Metal bands, there were a few individuals paving the way for what would…
Artist: Thorn / Body Asphyxiation ScienceCountry: USA / United KingdomLabel: Gurgling GoreFormats: Split cassette tapeYear: 2022 Gurgling Gore, with their 50th release, brings you a short playing split tape between Thorn and Body Asphyxiation Science, that kicks right off after a…
Artist: Iku-Turso / Standvast Country: Finland-The Netherlands / The Netherlands Label: Wolfspell Records Formats: Split 7″ EP Year: 2022 The Finnish/Dutch Black Metal band Iku-Turso shared a piece of vinyl with Kalmankantaja and Goats Of Doom before, so they are…