Tales From The Underground
Tales From The Underground
Artist: Diabolic NightCountry: GermanyLabel: High Roller Records / Mortal Rite RecordsFormats: LP / Cassette tape / CDYear: 2023 The impact of the wave of Teutonic Metal bands from the 80’s can still vividly be felt in today’s metal scene. Not…
Artist: Inquisition Country: Colombia / USA Label: Agonia Records Formats: LP / Cassette Tape / CD Year: 2024 Inquisition has always been a band that was full of exceptionalities and controversy. The international metal press has written relentlessly about the…
Artist: Lore Country: United Kingdom Label: Self-Released / Inferna Profundus Records Formats: Cassette Tape / 12″ EP Year: 2023 Of course, a cover with a winter scene of trees on a mountain is not very unique; ever since Ulver’s debut…
Artist: Reflet Crépusculaire Country: France Label: Self-Released Formats: Digital Year: 2024 Out of the deepest and darkest corners of the French underground Black Metal scene comes Reflet Crépusculaire, one of the acts that has been intriguing me ever since I first…
Artist: Carnal Savagery Country: Sweden Label: Moribund Records Formats: LP / CD Year: 2024 After having released two full-length albums in 2022, the duo that together make for the Swedish Death Metal band Carnal Savagery, more or less took a bit of a…
Artist: Funeral Winds Country: The Netherlands Label: Osmose Productions Formats: LP / CD Year: 2024 Although Funeral Winds never officially stopped it went on some sort of hibernation after the ‘Nexion Xul – The Cursed Bloodline’-album from 2007. Hellchrist Xul…
Artist: Nocturnal Terror Country: Brazil Label: Self-Released Formats: Digital EP Year: 2024 After a couple demos Brazilian Black Metal band Nocturnal Terror self-released their debut album in October of 2023 and for those who heard these first recordings know that…
Artist: Sanctum Sathanas Country: Chile Label: Inferna Profundus Records Formats: LP Year: 2023 In recent years, an increasing proportion of today’s Black Metal scene has come from South American countries, with Chile being the main purveyor. From that country comes…
Artist: Scab Hag Country: USA Label: Self-Released Formats: CD EP Year: 2023 Although Scab Hag’s self-released debut EP from 2021 was reissued on cassette tape by two different labels in the months following up to its original CD release (Cemetery…
Artist: Genocidal Rites Country: USA Label: 18 Is 9 Records And Tapes Formats: Cassette EP Year: 2023 Last year I reviewed ‘Exsanguination Of The Gods’, a tape-only release by Genocidal Rites. It was a short but sweet EP, presented by…
Artist: Malicious Country: Finland Label: Invictus Productions Formats: 12″ EP Year: 2023 Invictus Productions always had a nose for some top notch bands operating on that wavery tipping point between Black Metal and Death Metal. In the past they have…
Artist: Kirous Country: Finland Label: Self-Released Formats: Digital demo Year: 2023 Literally on the very edge of 2023, on December 30th, hard working Finnish one-man force Kirous releases yet another short but sweet digital demo. Like the title already suggests,…
Artist: Wolftower Country: Finland Label: Inferna Profundus Records Formats: LP / Cassette Tape Year: 2023 In the very waning weeks of 2023 Finland’s Wolftower treats us with yet another new release, the twelfth in total but after a lot of…
Artist: Moonlight Sword Country: USA Label: Oakheart Production Formats: Demo Tape Year: 2023 In 2022 the one-woman band Moonlight Sword released two fine digital demos, that both also appeared on cassette tape by the Belgian Rabauw label. Carmilla II Dracul,…
Artist: Arzhaabat Country: Czechia Label: Cosmic Cause Productions Formats: Cassette tape Year: 2023 After a demo and a single, both released on cassette tape in early 2023, the prolific MBN (or Vaérmiyr), who is also known for Blau Blut, Svor, CEP and the…
Artist: Black Lycanthropy Country: USA Label: Self-Released Formats: Digital EP Year: 2024 For those who have delved a little deeper into Black Metal than the interchangeable artists on the Nuclear Blast, Metal Blade, Century Media or even Season Of Mist…
Artist: Hail Conjurer Country: Finland Label: Bestial Burst Formats: Cassette Tape / CD Year: 2024 One of the most intriguing Finnish Black Metal bands definitely is Hail Conjurer, the band’s otherworldly take on Black Metal has already resulted in a…
Artist: Wolftower Country: Finland Label: Narbentage Produktionen Formats: Cassette EP Year: 2023 Ever since the early 20’s Finnish one-man band Wolftower have been firing away one release after the other, yet none of them ever featured on these pages. Strange…
Artist: Ribspreader Country: Sweden Label: Xtreem Music Formats: CD Year: 2024 Although having come across the name before, I first really heard about Ribspreader with their 2007 ‘The Monolith’ 7” EP by Blood Harvest, a label that I religiously followed…
Artist: Haan Valar Country: USA Label: Mamzer Records Formats: Demo Tape Year: 2024 Apart from the big commercial success of Rotting Christ, that mythical sound of Greek Black Metal has always been loved, it was mostly appreciated by a small…
Artist: The True Werwolf / Commander Agares Country: Finland Label: Inferna Profundus Records Formats: Split 7″ EP Year: 2024 In a long tradition of splitting EP’s, The True Werwolf returns with two new split 7” EP’s in the first month…
Artist: Nekromanteion Country: Bolivia Label: Iron Bonehead Productions Formats: Cassette EP Year: 2024 Nekromanteion from Bolivia came to my path with their split 7” EP with Nebiros (2014) and the following ‘Cosmic Horrors’ 7” EP from 2015, both released by…
Artist: Master Country: USA Label: Hammerheart Records Formats: LP / Cassette Tape / CD Year: 2024 It has been more than 20 two decades since I have reviewed my first Master release, at the time I started with ‘Unreleased 1985…
Artist: Upon Stone Country: USA Label: Century Media Formats: LP / CD Year: 2024 The early 90’s were the domain of Swedish Death Metal in its most primal form, following the path first paved by Nihilist and giving way to…
Artist: Funeral Vomit Country: Colombia Label: Xtreem Music Formats: LP / Cassette Tape / CD Year: 2023 Founded not too long ago, in 2020, this Colombian Death Metal band unleashed some first recordings in the form of two split EP’s,…
Artist: Gravemoon Country: Puerto Rico Label: Self-Released Formats: Digital Demo Year: 2024 Not so much is known about this Black Metal band from Puerto Rico, yet it is around for at least a year as this second demo, ‘Glare Of…
Artist: Mortuary Ghoul Country: USA Label: Dismal Fate Records Formats: Cassette Tape / CD Year: 2023 After some first small releases, an EP and a split EP, Matt N. (also active in a whole slew of other bands), the godfather…
Artist: Moon Oracle Country: Finland Label: Bestial Burst Formats: CD Single Year: 2023 After the band’s second full-length, ‘Ophidian Glare’, released earlier in 2023, Moon Oracle already returns with a 2-track single, also released by the great Bestial Burst label.…
Artist: Abysmal Grief Country: Italy Label: Avantgarde Music Formats: LP Year: 2023 In March 2023 Abysmal Grief and Avantgarde Music releases a vinyl-only compilation LP to celebrate the start of their collaboration, it was also meant as a run up…
Artist: Flesher Country: USA Label: Redefining Darkness Records Formats: LP / CD Year: 2023 Admitted, on more than one occasion I have labelled Redefining Darkness Records as a thoroughly mediocre label spawning huge amounts of interchangeable Death Metal records of…
Artist: Ancient North Country: USA Label: Wulfhere Productions Formats: CD Year: 2024 If one-man Black Metal band Ancient North has proven one thing over the course of two years (and three full-length albums, an EP and a split release) is…
Artist: Cruciamentum Country: United Kingdom / USA Label: Profound Lore Records Formats: LP / Cassette Tape / CD Year: 2023 Six long years since the band’s last sign of life and even eight years after the release of the debut…
Artist: Black Funeral Country: USA Label: Dark Adversary Productions Formats: CD EP Year: 2024 Over the course of its expansive career, spanning over three decades, Black Funeral have proven itself as one of the most elusive Black Metal bands ever…
Artist: Masticated Cadaver Country: Canada Label: Self-Released Formats: Digital Year: 2024 Almost exactly a year ago I reviewed the first demo tape of this Canadian one-man Death Metal act, ‘Necrotic Mutation’ specifically appealed to me because of its thoroughly authentic…
Artist: Aberration / Diabolic Oath Country: USA Label: Sentient Ruin Laboratories Formats: Split 7″ EP Year: 2024 Ever since I started to get into extreme music, split 7” EP’s have intrigued me. Through many of them I discovered a lot…
Artist: Nartvind Country: Belgium Label: Medieval Prophecy Records Formats: LP / CD Year: 2023 Nartvind is not quite the band that is firing away releases at Drowning The Light-speed, but when they do have something new for you, you can…
Artist: Gouffre Country: Belgium Label: Medieval Prophecy Records Formats: Demo Tape Year: 2023 After two great demo tapes released in 2019 and 2021 and the 2022-released split 7” EP with their compatriots of Phlegethon’s Majesty the band returned to the…
Artist: Varathron Country: Greece Label: Agonia Records Formats: LP / Cassette Tape / CD Year: 2023 For the lovers of the Hellenic sound, Varathron will always remain something that sparks a feeling of magical enthusiasm. Not only were they amongst the very…
Artist: Venusberg Cardinal Country: Canada Label: Nuclear War Now! Productions Formats: LP / CD Year: 2023 Admittedly, I am arriving a bit late to the party with my review for the one and only release of the gritty sounding Canadian…
Artist: Bloedmaan Country: Belgium Label: Immortal Frost Productions Formats: LP / CD Year: 2023 From the increasingly interesting Belgian Black Metal scene comes this latest addition, Bloedmaan (Blood Moon when translated from Dutch). Named after the scarlet red colour of…
Artist: Efraah Enhsikaah Country: United Kingdom Label: Osmose Productions Formats: LP / CD Year: 2023 Seemingly like a bolt from the blue came this new Black Metal act from the UK, the anonymous musician behind it goes under the same…
Artist: Demoncy Country: USA Label: Hells Headbangers Records Formats: 12″ / Cassette EP / CD EP Year: 2023 Hot on the heals off the band’s sixth full length album, Demoncy also releases this new 12” EP (also released on cassette…
Artist: Demoncy Country: USA Label: Dark Descent Records Formats: LP / Cassette Tape / CD Year: 2023 If anything, Demoncy is a band that seems to work in short and unexpected outbursts of creativity. In their early days since their…
Artist: Tenebro Country: Italy Label: Xtreem Music Formats: Digital EP Year: 2023 Just five weeks after the release of the band’s second full-length album, Italian gore lords Tenebro are back with another (digital only) EP, their fourth in total. This…
Artist: Blood Loss Country: USA Label: Self-Released / Tape Eater Records Formats: Demo Tape Year: 2023 The award of Best Death Metal Demo of 2022 definitely went to the youngsters of Blood Loss. ‘The Order Of Malevolence’ blew me right off my socks with…
Artist: SammaleCountry: FinlandLabel: Naturmacht ProductionsFormats: Cassette tape / CDYear: 2023 In languages, Finno-Ugric is a grouping of all languages in the Uralic family except the Samoyedic languages. The three most common of these languages are Hungarian, Finnish, and Estonian. A…
Artist: Ringarë Country: USA Label: Avantgarde Music Formats: LP / CD Year: 2023 The story of Ringarë began all the way back in 2004 when this US-based Black Metal band recorded two demos in the following years but eventually more or…
Artist: KorgonthurusCountry: FinlandLabel: Woodcut RecordsFormats: LP / Cassette tape / CDYear: 2023 Despite a history marred by periods of inactivity and break ups, Korgonthurus managed to create one of the most enthralling records in Finnish Black Metal with 2009’s ‘Marras’.…
Artist: Hellmoon Country: Canada Label: Forbidden Keep Records Formats: 7″ EP Year: 2024 The Canadian Black Metal musician known as Plääg (although his mother knows him as Cavan Rian Hoover) is quite a busy man, not only is he active…
Artist: Infernathan / Necro Ritus Country: Finland Label: Unpure Records Formats: Split CD Year: 2023 The ones in the knowing that when a band like Infernathan teams up with the Polish Unpure Records label, that certainly you are in for a treat.…