Tales From The Underground
Tales From The Underground
Artist: StangarigelCountry: SlovakiaLabel: Hexencave ProductionsFormats: LP / Cassette tape / CDYear: 2022 Malokarpatan is the gift that keeps on giving. Not only have they released three excellent albums, the members of the Slovakian band are also active in several side…
Artist: VoidCeremonyCountry: USALabel: 20 Buck SpinFormats: LP / Cassette tape / CDYear: 2023 VoidCeremony has been featured here before and each time I was left amazed. The music always delivered an outstanding experience, a wild and extravagant sort Death Metal…
Artist: Blaze of SorrowCountry: ItalyLabel: Eisenwald, Moonlight Gate ProductionsFormats: Cassette Tape / CDYear: 2023 It was impossible for me not to be drawn to the artwork of the latest Blaze of Sorrow record, 2023’s ‘Vultus Fati’. The imagery of a…
Artist: VerhindererCountry: GermanyLabel: Self-ReleasedFormats: Digital EPYear: 2023 Bettler, the sole member behind this new Black Metal project from Germany, is not only really honest about his musical achievements but very humble too. Maybe not quite self-effacing, but well, blessed are…
Artist: Carpet BombCountry: USALabel: Self-ReleasedFormats: DigitalYear: 2023 Apart from two previously released online singles, ‘Awaken Terror’ is the debut from this Phoenix, Arizona, USA-based Thrash Metal trio. The band doesn’t mince words, with a cover like this one, you pretty…
Artist: RaakimusCountry: FinlandLabel: Self-ReleasedFormats: Digital EPYear: 2023 ‘Tuskien Taival’ is the debut EP of this Finnish duo that blends parts of both Melodic/Symphonic Black with Dungeon Synth. Not quite the first band to do so, but that they might be…
Artist: MithrandirCountry: FinlandLabel: Self-ReleasedFormats: DigitalYear: 2023 The connection between Lord of the Rings and Metal is one that has lasted almost as long as the music genre has been around. Legions of bands including Cirith Ungol, Gorgoroth and Burzum owe…
Artist: Deströyer 666Country: AustraliaLabel: Season Of MistFormats: LP, Cassette Tape, CDYear: 2022 Good morning, y’all. Am I late to the party? Again. Yes, I suppose I am, this new album for Deströyer 666 has been out since early December last…
Artist: Katy ScaryCountry: USALabel: Self-ReleasedFormats: Digital EPYear: 2023 Two demos and this latest EP is the solo output of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA based Katy Scary. With her other band, Klaymore, she has been active in the Heavy Metal/Power Metal spectrum,…
Artist: Dying RemainsCountry: CanadaLabel: Maggot StompFormats: Cassette EPYear: 2023 Although I couldn’t relate much to the positive vibe that was created around Detherous, the Canadian Death/Thrash Metal band, and found their album quite a bit of an underwhelming affair, everything…
Artist: Knüth Country: Russia Label: Self-Released Formats: Digital demo Year: 2023 After quite a steady and impressive working pace, the duo that makes up this Russian Black Metal band fell kind of silent by late 2021. In November of that…
Artist: Moon OracleCountry: FinlandLabel: Bestial Burst / Signal RexFormats: LP / Cassette tape /CDYear: 2023 Ever since the band’s formation Moon Oracle has been a bit of the odd-one out in the current Finnish Black Metal scene. Although the involved…
Artist: Mortem AgmenCountry: GermanyLabel: Self-ReleasedFormats: Digital demoYear: 2023 Although Mortem Agmen is a new band, the German trio behind this act is not exactly inexperienced. Over the past years, the three musicians have gained their experience in a wide range…
Artist: Mithridatum Country: Italy / USA Label: Willowtip Records Formats: LP / Cassette Tape / CD Year: 2023 Mithridatum is a new band, founded last year, of a trio with their origin in both the USA as well as Italy,…
Artist: BlodtårCountry: SwedenLabel: Nordvis ProduktionFormats: LP / CDYear: 2023 Off the back of their impressive self-titled EP that my colleague FelixS lauded for its blistering Black Metal onslaught with an almost Pagan-like melodicism comes the debut album of the Swedish…
Artist: IzrodCountry: Bosnia and HerzegovinaLabel: Signal RexFormats: LP / CDYear: 2023 Behind a new name lurks a familiar host of people. Izrod is a continuation of what started as Cave Ritual and took further shape as Void Prayer and contains…
Artist: Morbid DestroyerCountry: USALabel: Nihil Verum Nisi Mors ProductionsFormats: Demo tapeYear: 2023 Morbid Destroyer, a band with a more than appropriate name, releases its first demo with ‘Accursed Summoning’ – not counting the short digital promo from 2022. But despite…
Artist: ÅndutsynCountry: USALabel: Nihtstang ProductionsFormats: Demo tapeYear: 2023 The Black Metal act Åndutsyn is another musical entity run by Sceadugenga, who might be known best for his work with Geheimnisvoll but also has a few other musical endeavours to keep…
Artist: Blood MagicCountry: USALabel: Black Gangrene ProductionsFormats: 7″ EPYear: 2023 After two demos, with the first one released in 2020 and the second in 2022, the US-based Black Metal band Blood Magic comes up with a brand new 7” EP…
Artist: VerzauberCountry: IrelandLabel: Self-ReleasedFormats: DigitalYear: 2023 Although the band name might suggest something else (Verzauber meaning ‘Bewitch’ in English), this is a one-man Black Metal act from Cork, Ireland. With its debut album ‘Frankincense & Vitriol’ the anonymous person who…
Artist: NightsideCountry: FinlandLabel: Purity Through FireFormats: Demo CDYear: 2023 When Nightside was formed in Turku, Finland in 1996, there wasn’t so much of a Finnish Black Metal scene as we know it today. Sure, bands like Beherit, Impaled Nazarene, Archgoat…
Artist: VargravCountry: FinlandLabel: Werewolf RecordsFormats: CD, DigitalYear: 2023 2023 will see the release of the new Vargrav album, baptized ‘The Nighthold’. This third album follows the critically acclaimed debut album ‘Netherstorm’ from 2018 and ‘Reign in Supreme Darkness’ from 2019.…
Artist: Argenthorns Country: Finland Label: Avantgarde Music Formats: LP / CD Year: 2023 Symphonic Black Metal has been on the rise for a few years now, and Finland has certainly made some big contributions to its revival. One of the…
Artist: EntrancementCountry: USALabel: Altare Productions / Perverse HomageFormats: Cassette Tape, CDYear: 2023 After two demos, which also appeared together on a compilation LP by Goatowarex, and a split with the (dreadful) Midnight Betrothed, American Entrancement comes out with the much…
Artist: Savage NecromancyCountry: USALabel: 20 Buck SpinFormats: 12″, Cassette Tape, CDYear: 2022 Originally released in 2021 on CD and in two versions on cassette tape, all three by different labels, the album was also picked up by the much larger…
Artist: Crippling MadnessCountry: PolandLabel: Putrid CultFormats: CDYear: 2023 Polish Thrash Metal of the straightforward and ugly kind, that is what Crippling Madness offers on their sophomore album, ‘Władcy Nocy’. The differences between both albums are scarce, as this new album…
Artist: EstenosisCountry: SpainLabel: Escafismo RecordsFormats: Demo tapeYear: 2023 ‘Orgía Necrofílica’ is Estenosis’ third demo and just like the two preceding tapes, this one has quite an impressive tracklist of no less than 18 tracks. Tracks that are brimming with some…
Artist: Plague BearerCountry: USALabel: Nameless Grave RecordsFormats: LP, CDYear: 2023 Plague Bearer is a band that was formed all the way back to 1992 and released two demos in the first half of the 90’s. Then, in 1994, the band…
Artist: SerpentfyreCountry: FinlandLabel: Altare ProductionsFormats: LP / CDYear: 2022 ‘Baptism of Shadows’ is the second album by the Finnish act Serpentfyre and comes roughly 10 years after the formation of the band. As soon as the gates open with ‘Black…
Artist: QwälenCountry: FinlandLabel: Time To Kill RecordsFormats: LP / Cassette Tape / CDYear: 2023 That Qwälen is a Finnish band becomes immediately clear once the ambient intro track ‘Sairaus’ fades into ‘Kutsu Minua Saatanaksi’. On their sophomore album ‘Syvä Hiljaisuus’…
Artist: SokeusCountry: FinlandLabel: Self-ReleasedFormats: Demo tapeYear: 2023 With ‘Immortal Wisdom’ the Finnish duo behind black metal band Sokeus shove their second demo under our collective noses. The first, ‘Forever Cursed’ saw the light of day last summer and already gave…
Artist: AnarkhonCountry: BrazilLabel: Debemur Morti ProductionsFormats: LP, CDYear: 2023 Although the band has never been much of a standard gory styled Death Metal band, the Brazilians of Anarkhon have come quite a long way. The band was already founded back…
Artist: Peti Nuage NoirCountry: PolandLabel: Planetary King RecordsFormats: Cassette tapeYear: 2023 It would be easy to assume that behind Petit Nuage Noir, which in French means small black cloud, is a band from France, but in fact we are dealing…
Artist: Maelgin / Ancient NorthCountry: USALabel: Self-ReleasedFormats: Digital splitYear: 2023 Maeglin is a relatively new Black Metal act from Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA, but although they have been formed in January 2022, the band already spawned an impressive discography of…
Artist: Cursed ExcruciationCountry: BrazilLabel: Angel of Cemetery Records / Iron Bonehead Productions / Unpure RecordsFormats: Demo tapeYear: 2023 After two demos tapes, released in 2021, Cursed Excruciation’s sole member, Trance Of The Undead, started forging his ancient steel into something…
Artist: Reeking Aura Country: USA Label: Profound Lore Records Formats: LP / CD Year: 2022 After their self-released 2020 EP ‘Beneath The Canopy Of Compost’, it was to be expected that New York-based Death Metal band Reeking Aura would come…
Artist: Order Of NosferatCountry: Finland / GermanyLabel: Purity Through FireFormats: LP, CDYear: 2022 The previous album by this international Black Metal band was a good and organic album in which the loneliness of existence as a vampire clearly shone through.…
Artist: Order Of NosferatCountry: Finland / GermanyLabel: Purity Through FireFormats: LP, CDYear: 2022 When a band chooses a name that leaves so little to the imagination, it can only do its best to fully and completely live up to the…
Artist: Black Offal MessiahCountry: USALabel: Self-ReleasedFormats: 7″ EPYear: 2023 Well, what should you expect from a band calling itself Black Offal Messiah? Add to that the artwork, which is not a little reminiscent of Profanatica, and you can’t really go…
Artist: FlammaeCountry: PolandLabel: Self-ReleasedFormats: DigitalYear: 2023 Formed by the Polish drummer Nekrolyte (currently also in Doomslaughter and formerly Deofel and Okulus Diaboli) and Aahros on guitars and vocals (also active in Petit Nuage Noir), Flammae presented their debut album ‘Ordo’…
Artist: EctospireCountry: USALabel: Transylvanian RecordingsFormats: Demo tapeYear: 2023 Apart from a previously online released song that also appears on this demo cassette, with ‘Formless Horrors’ we are dealing with the first feat of this Death Metal band from Tulsa, Oklahoma,…
Artist: Black LycanthropyCountry: USALabel: Self-ReleasedFormats: Digital demoYear: 2023 After the great self-released digital ‘Through Strength And Victory’ EP from spring last year, Infernal Werewolf, the only soul behind this American Black Metal act, returns with yet another offering of his…
Artist: Denial Of DeathCountry: GermanyLabel: Self-ReleasedFormats: DigitalYear: 2023 The Brazilian born and in Germany residing Glauber “Haereticus” Ataide formed Denial Of Death in 2021 as a solo-project with the ‘Unholy Trinity’ as his first feat. And although it remains a…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…