Symbtomy – Demo #2

Artist: Symbtomy Country: Czechia / United Kingdom Label: Souls Of Underworld Records Formats: Demo Tape / Demo CD Year: 2022 With a logo in which a guitar pedal is depicted and above which it reads ‘Old School HM-2 Death Metal’,…

Necrotum – Hanging Above The Deadpool [EP]

Artist: Necrotum Country: Romania Label: Dark Recollections Productions / Gutless Productions Formats: Cassette EP / CD EP Year: 2022 Earlier this year the Romanian Death Metal combo Necrotum released another chapter of Old School and moldly sounding Death Metal with…

Deathhammer – Electric Warfare

Artist: DeathhammerCountry: NorwayLabel: Hells Headbangers RecordsFormats: LP / Cassette tape / CDYear: 2022 Norway’s Deathhammer have taken the Metal world by storm, crushing the masses with their intense Thrash/Speed Metal mix that blends in some of their Norwegian Black Metal…

Reveler / Necrotum – Officium Mortuorum [Split]

Artist: Reveler / Necrotum Country: Romania/USA / Romania Label: Brutal Insanity Records / Morbid Chapel Records Formats: Split Tape / Split CD Year: 2022 In the ever-growing discography of Romanian Death Metal band Necrotum, we now add this split release…

Weregoat – The Devil’s Lust [EP]

Artist: Weregoat Country: USA Label: Iron Bonehead Productions Formats: 12″ EP / Cassette EP / CD EP Year: 2022 Upon seeing this new EP, put in a subtle cover by Sadistik Exekution’s Rok, I had dived into my own collection.…

Blood Loss – Visions Of A Darker World [Demo]

Artist: Blood LossCountry: USALabel: Self-ReleasedFormats: Demo CDYear: 2022 With only their 2021 demo and a 1-track promo (an Asphyx cover) under their belts, this young American squad is already coming up with a new demo, ‘Visions Of A Darker World’. This was my first introduction…

Gärgäntuäh – Dödenlicht [Demo / Reissue]

Artist: GärgäntuähCountry: The NetherlandsLabels: GoatowaRex / New Era Productions / Tour de GardeFormats: 12″ Demo / Demo tapeYear: 2021 This first demo by Dutch band Gärgäntuäh has already been released back in 2020 by the highly revered labels of New…

Svor – Demo I

Artist: Svor Country: Czechia / United Kingdom Label: Legion Blotan / Pant Y Meddygon Formats: Demo Tape Year: 2022 Svor is a new international band by G.P. (George Proctor) from the UK and MBN from the Czech Republic but residing…

Pukewraith – Returned Through Bile [EP]

Artist: Pukewraith Country: Canada Label: Gurgling Gore Formats: Cassette EP Year: 2021 Pukewraith is the solo Death Metal project of Brendan Dean, who is active in various other bands and projects, with Fumes and Gutvoid being the best known. The…

Phobophilic – Enveloping Absurdity

Artist: Phobophilic Country: USA Label: Prosthetic Records / Rotted Life Records Formats: LP / Cassette Tape / CD Year: 2022 People who have read the reviews for Phobophilic’s split 7” EP with Sedimentum and their ‘Undimensioned Identities’ EP on our…

Father Befouled / Exaugurate – Purging Holiness [Split EP]

Artist: Father Befouled / ExaugurateCountry: USALabel: Rotted Life RecordsFormats: Split 7″ EPYear: 2021 While preparing for the review for Father Befouled’s most recent album, ‘Crowned In Veneficum’ (Everlasting Spew Records), I noticed that I had missed out on a split…

Goat Torment – Forked Tongues

Artist: Goat TormentCountry: BelgiumLabel: Season Of Mist Underground ActivistsFormats: LP / CDYear: 2021 I still vividly remember the first time I saw Goat Torment live. It was 2016, when a small one-time Black Metal festival called Odium Nostrum was held…

Suicidal Solitude – Život Nikdy Nebol [Demo]

Artist: Suicidal Solitude Country: Slovakia Label: Pant Y Meddygon Formats: Demo Tape Year: 2022 With a band name like Suicidal Solitude you might not expect the brightest and most uplifting music. And… guess what, you are right. Although I am…

Stench Collector – Effluviatorium Du Jour [EP]

Artist: Stench Collector Country: USA Label: Redefining Darkness Records Formats: 12″ EP / Cassette EP / CD EP Year: 2021 The artwork for ‘Effluviatorium Du Jour’ gives away what you’re about to get into before you even press the play…

Stench Collector – Dislimbification [Single]

Artist: Stench Collector Country: USA Label: Self-Released Formats: Digital Single Year: 2022 After last year’s ‘Effluvatorium Du Jour’ EP, released via Redefining Darkness Records, Stench Collector returned this February with this 1-track EP The previous EP showed the band as…

Ofermod – Mysterium Iniquitatis

Artist: OfermodCountry: SwedenLabel: Shadow RecordsFormats: LP / CDYear: 2021 In the review for ‘Pentagrammaton’ on our pages, my colleague already spent a few words on Ofermod. It is hard to introduce a band with such a valuable legacy, but the…

Plaguefever – Crude Implements [EP]

Artist: Plaguefever Country: USA Label: Elvte Kvlt Recvrds Formats: 12″ / Cassette EP / CD EP Year: 2021 This trio from Richmond, Virginia, USA released their debut EP late last year and was picked up not long after by Elvte…

Father Befouled – Crowned In Veneficum

Artist: Father BefouledCountry: USALabel: Everlasting Spew RecordsFormats: LP / Cassette tape / CDYear: 2022 When it comes to Old School Death Metal there are hardly any bands that turned out to be more influential to the genre than Incantation. Especially…

Lore Liege – Dreams Of A Forgotten Curse [EP]

Artist: Lore Liege Country: USA Label: Fólkvangr Records Formats: Cassette EP Year: 2022 When bands sound very much like their great examples, it always generates debate. Is it worship or copycat? Or, in some cases, even scavenging? In all styles…

Bestiarius – Bestiarius [EP]

Artist: BestiariusCountry: PeruLabel: Self-ReleasedFormats: Digital EP Year: 2022 Fresh out of Lima, Peru comes this new EP from Bestiarius. Which is the follow-up to the 2020 demo tape and digitally released by the band itself. With their all-consuming mix of…

Imprecation – In Nomine Diaboli

Artist: ImprecationCountry: USALabel: Dark Descent RecordsFormats: LP / Cassette tape / CDYear: 2022 Although Imprecation’s history goes all the way back to the heyday of (American) Death Metal of the early 90’s, the band has always remained a bit more in the background. An underground…

Druid Lord – Relics Of The Dead

Artist: Druid LordCountry: USALabel: Hells Headbangers RecordsFormats: LP / Cassette tape / CDYear: 2022 When Druid Lord first hit the scene around 2010 with quite a few releases in only a span of like three years, it was expected that the guys would…

Ceremoniële Walging – Ingekankerd

Artist: Ceremoniële WalgingCountry: The NetherlandsLabel: Babylon Doom Cult RecordsFormats: Cassette tapeYear: 2022 After last year’s scorching ‘Vergeet De Eeuwenoude Haat Nooit’ demo (which was also released on cassette tape by Babylon Doom Cult Records early this year), the anonymous Ceremoniële…

Weathered Crest – Dust Vessel [EP]

Artist: Weathered CrestCountry: AustriaLabel: Fallow FieldFormats: Cassette tape EPYear: 2022 On their first EP and debut album, we were already introduced to Weathered Crest, a Raw Black Metal band from Austria that sprung from the brain of Vritra of Kringa…

Weathered Crest – Blossoming Of The Paths

Artist: Weathered CrestCountry: AustriaLabel: Into Endless Chaos Records / Tour de GardeFormats: LP / Cassette tape / CDYear: 2021 Earlier in 2021, Weathered Crest, the project started by Vritra from Brånd and Kringa, released the ‘Broken Column’ debut EP. Which…

Weathered Crest – Broken Column [EP]

Artist: Weathered CrestCountry: AustriaLabel: Födweg / Into Endless Chaos RecordsFormats: 7″ EPYear: 2021 Early last year, the world saw Weathered Crest’s first born, the ‘Broken Column’ EP. Weathered Crest is a side-project of Vritra who continues to kill his time…

Morbific – Squirm Beyond The Mortal Realm

Artist: MorbificCountry: FinlandLabel: Headsplit Records / Me Saco un Ojo Records / Memento MoriFormats: LP / Cassette tape / CDYear: 2022 Morbific scored high with its first demos and debut album, “Ominous Seep Of Putridity”. The Death Metal with Autopsy…

Daemoniac Ecstasy – Promo MMXXII [Demo]

Artist: Daemoniac EcstasyCountry: USALabel: Self-ReleasedFormats: Demo tapeYear: 2022 Having been quite impressed by the ‘Crescendos Of Ululation’ demo-tape from earlier this year, I now throw myself at this 1-track promo, simply christened ‘Promo MMXXII’. This promo was released in an…

Tundra – Eclipse Of Blood [EP]

Artist: TundraCountry: ItalyLabel: Staring Into DarknessFormats: Cassette EPYear: 2022 It might be the COVID-19 pandemic, or maybe something else, but for the Italian Black Metallers of Tundra 2021 was a striking prolific year, with no less than seven singles and…

Barbarity / Paganizer – Split 7″ EP

Artist: Barbarity / PaganizerCountry: Russia / SwedenLabel: Coyote RecordsFormats: Split 7″ EPYear: 2021 On this split 7″ EP we find a collaboration between Russia’s Barbarity and the Swedish workaholics of Paganizer. Both bands each contribute a song on this EP…

Opiumortem – Opiumortem [Demo]

Artist: Opiumortem Country: Bulgaria Label: Self-Released Formats: Demo Tape Year: 2022 This self-titled demo is the follow-up of the ‘Lethargia’-demo tape that was released last summer. That short little demo had three tracks of interesting and dismal Lo-Fi Black Metal…

Smyrtonos – Endless Fury [Demo]

Artist: Smyrtonos Country: Bulgaria Label: Narbentage Produktionen Formats: Demo Tape Year: 2022 ‘Endless Fury’ is Smyrtonos’ swansong as it was released posthumously after the project’s disbanding last summer. At least, Todorac had it released digitally only 4 days prior throwing…

Necromutilator – Oath Of Abhorrence

Artist: Necromutilator Country: Italy Label: Osmose Productions Formats: LP / Cassette Tape / CD Year: 2022 In the 1968 Hammer Horror movie ‘The Devil Rides Out’, Duc Richleau tries to rescue his late friend’s son and his girlfriend from the…

Bokkerijders – Bokkerijders [Demo]

Artist: BokkerijdersCountry: BelgiumLabel: Babylon Doom Cult RecordsFormats: Demo tapeYear: 2022 For the Dutch and Belgians, the name ‘Bokkerijders’ is something that still evokes some magic. It is best translated as ‘Goatriders’. In folk belief, these were figures who rode through…

Opiumortem – Lethargia [Demo]

Artist: Opiumortem Country: Bulgaria Label: Self-Released Formats: Demo Tape Year: 2022 From Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria comes this one-man act Opiumortem, run by someone who goes under the name of Todorac who is also active in a few other…

Poisonous – Doomed Pillars [EP]

Artist: Poisonous Country: Brazil Label: Ablaze Productions / Morbid Ways To Die Formats: Cassette EP / CD EP Year: 2022 The Brazilians of Poisonous may be toxic, but it is a slow-acting poison. After their 2010 debut, ‘Perdition’s Den’, Poisonous…

Void Column – Admonition Of Clarity [EP]

Artist: Void ColumnCountry: CanadaLabel: Mouth Of Madness / Nihil ProductionsFormats: Cassette EP / CD EPYear: 2022 Early this year the anonymous Canadian entity of Void Column returned with another demo under the name of ‘Quiescence (Demo II)’, which was a…

Daemoniac Ecstasy – Crescendos Of Ululation [Demo]

Artist: Daemoniac EcstasyCountry: USALabel: Realm And RitualFormats: Demo tapeYear: 2022 What we have here is another fantasy-drive one-man act from the USA, Pennsylvania in this case. It is astonishing to realise that I am reviewing multiple American one-man acts each…

Szmej – Ormkull I [Demo]

Artist: Szmej Country: Czechia Label: Pant Y Meddygon Formats: Demo Tape Year: 2022 The Pant Y Meddygon-stables only produce intriguing acts, in which the musical boundaries fade somewhat and actually turn out to be of little importance. Several releases from…

Windhelm – Au Crépuscule de l’existence

Artist: WildhelmCountry: FranceLabel: Death Eternal / Drakkar ProductionsFormats: Cassette tape / CDYear: 2022 Windhelm is the solo project of Aldric, who is also active in Grimdusk and Kaldt Helvete. And under this moniker Aldric has already built up a respectable…

Forbidden Temple – Baphohearsals [Demo]

Artist: Forbidden Temple Country: Belgium Label: Self-Released Formats: Cassette tape Year: 2022 Last month the Belgium Black Metal horde of Forbidden Temple released yet another chapter in their ever-growing discography. The band has a tradition of releasing raw rehearsals and…

Embrace Of Thorns – Entropy Dynamics

Artist: Embrace Of ThornsCountry: GreeceLabel: Nuclear Winter RecordsFormats: LP / Cassette tape / CDYear: 2022 It was at the German Doom Shall Rise festival (of all places), sometime in the mid-00’s, that I first heard of Embrace Of Thorns. Walking…

Grafskymf – Dräpt Af Myrens Rå [Demo / Re-Release]

Artist: Grafskymf Country: Sweden Label: His Wounds / Nihilistic Noise Propaganda/ Nithstang Productions Formats: LP / Cassette tape / CD Year: 2020 In October 2020, Afskum, the only soul behind this Swedish Black Metal project, wrote and recorded this first…

Embrace Of Thorns – A Night Of Promethean Blasphemy

Artist: Embrace Of ThornsCountry: GreeceLabel: Self-ReleasedFormats: DigitalYear: 2022 Right in between ‘The Pantheon I’ 7″ EP (Iron Bonehead Productions) and the just released new album, ‘Entropy Dynamics’ (Nuclear Winter Records), Embrace Of Thorns came up with a self-released studio rehearsal…

Brotthogg – Epicinium

Artist: BrotthoggCountry: NorwayLabel: Self-ReleasedFormats: DigitalYear: 2022 Back in 2020 one of my colleagues here at VM-Underground labelled Brotthogg as the most promising newcomers out of the Norwegian metal scene. That is quite a bold statement and one that might put…

Beyond Man – Beyond Man

Artist: Beyond ManCountry: NorwayLabel: The Sinister FlameFormats: LP / Cassette tape / CDYear: 2021 From the ashes of Vordrinn arose Beyond Man, a constellation consisting of members of the Trondheim Black Metal scene. But the band members soon turned their…

I Am The Night – While the Gods are Sleeping

Artist: I Am The NightCountry: FinlandLabel: Svart RecordsFormats: LP / CDYear: 2022 In the mid 90’s, Markus Vanhala (Insomnium, Omnium Gatherum) and Janne Markkanen (ex-Omnium Gatherum) dreamt of once starting a melodic Black Metal project. In the end, that never…