Tales From The Underground
Tales From The Underground
Artist: ChaotianCountry: DenmarkLabel: Dark Descent Records / Extremely Rotten Productions / Me Saco un Ojo RecordsFormats: LP / Cassette tape / CDYear: 2022 When I was thrown the demos compilation LP ‘Festering Excarnation’ by VM-Underground’s VincentP, I had quite a…
Artist: VintertodtCountry: USALabel: Fólkvangr Records / Forest SummonerFormats: Cassette tape / CDYear: 2022 From New York, USA, hails the Black Metal band Vintertodt. Formed in 2018, the band soon recorded their first demo which was released in 2019. ‘Pure Fucking…
Artist: Phlebotomized Country: The Netherlands Label: Hammerheart Records / Petrichor Formats: 12″ EP / Cassette EP Year: 2021 Being one of the bands that helped shape the Dutch underground metal scene, many eyes were on Phlebotomized after it was announced…
Artist: Old Castles Country: Chile Label: Inferna Profundus Records Formats: LP / CD Year: 2022 After no less than eight demos and a split release with Moon’s Veneris (yes, Moon’s Veneris, not Mons Veneris), and I am not even counting…
Artist: Katavasia Country: Greece Label: Iron Bonehead Records Formats: 7″ EP Year: 2022 Katavasia was formed in 2014 by Varathron mastermind Stefanos ‘Necroabyssious’ Karasavvas, undoubtedly one of the founding fathers of the famous Hellenic Black Metal sound. And although not…
Artist: Bastard Grave / Graveyard GhoulCountry: Sweden / GermanyLabel: Lycanthropic ChantsFormats: Split 7″ EP Year: 2021 On this split 7”, released by Germany’s great underground label Lycanthropic Chants, Swedish Bastard Grave and Graveyard Ghoul from Germany team up for some…
Artist: AltarsCountry: AustraliaLabel: Everlasting Spew RecordsFormats: LP / CDYear: 2022 Following the bands’ debut album, the great Blood Harvest Records released ‘Paramnesia’ from 2013, Altars mostly lay dormant for about a decade. That means that having the band returned to…
Artist: Mangled Torsos Country: Germany Label: Morbid Classics Formats: LP Year: 2021 Though I was not exactly there at that exact time, because of my age, I always loved the atmosphere and feeling of those early 90’s demo tapes and…
Artist: NihilvmCountry: PolandLabel: Malignant VoicesFormats: CD EPYear: 2022 Poland’s Nihilvm was formed in 2020, but that’s about all the information that’s out there. Well, that and that the band was signed to the highly esteemed Malignant Voices label, which has…
Artist: Eternal Rot / CoffinsCountry: Poland / JapanLabel: Behind The MountainFormats: Split LP / Split cassette tape / Split CDYear: 2021 Coffins should require no introduction, not only have they released a couple of outstanding full-length album, they also left…
Artist: Ceremonial OathCountry: SwedenLabel: Floga RecordsFormats: LPYear: 2022 If you take any old Swedish extreme metal demo, EP or debut album and look at the line-up, list of external contributions or even thank lists, you are basically diving into a…
Artist: Concrete WindsCountry: FinlandLabel: Sepulchral Voice RecordsFormats: LP / CDYear: 2021 At the end of last year Concrete Winds treated us to a new album of extreme violence. I can imagine that you are still recovering from 2019’s ‘Primitive Force’,…
Artist: OcculsedCountry: USALabel: Everlasting Spew RecordsFormats: LP / CDYear: 2021 When I first saw the amazing cover art of ‘Crepitation of Phlegethon’ and the old school red logo of Occulsed, I first thought this was one of those early 90’s…
Artist: Blood LossCountry: USALabel: Self-ReleasedFormats: Digital demoYear: 2022 Not too long ago I was poring over the ‘Visions Of A Darker World’-demo, which came out early this January, and now for the second time this year I have the honour to say a few words…
Artist: Cantique LépreuxCountry: CanadaLabel: EisenwaldFormats: 12″ EP / CD EPYear: 2022 Our loyal readers have already seen many a Canadian Black Metal release pass by, it is a scene that is developing rapidly and producing a good number of, often exceptionally good, acts. In particular,…
Artist: Morbus Grave Country: Italy Label: Chaos Records Formats: CD Year: 2022 After having released a handful of demos and two split releases, the Italian Death Metal band Morbus Grave felt ready for a full-length album, which was recently released…
Artist: Meslamtaea Country: The Netherlands Label: Babylon Doom Cult Records Formats: LP / CD Year: 2022 Formed in 1998, Meslamtaea may be considered one of the longest-running Dutch Black Metal acts, but in that almost quarter-century of its existence, main…
Artist: Blood Of The WolfCountry: USALabel: Horror Pain Gore Death ProductionsFormats: CDYear: 2022 The title of ‘IV: The Declaration Of War Eternal’ implies that there were (at least) three chapter preceding this latest album by American Death Metallers Blood Of The Wolf. And while I…
Artist: HelwettiCountry: FinlandLabel: Northern Heritage RecordsFormats: CDYear: 2022 It was quite a surprise that 2021 saw the release of the debut album of the Finnish band Helwetti. Outside some involvement in (live) activities of the cult band Warloghe, the members…
Artist: ConsumptionCountry: SwedenLabel: Hammerheart RecordsFormats: LP / CDYear: 2022 Consumption is a band that was formed two years ago by Håkan Stuvemark of Wombbath fame and two fellow musicians with experience in a wide range of different bands. They didn’t…
Artist: Blood / IncantationCountry: Germany / USALabel: Hells Headbangers Records / VIC RecordsFormats: Split LP / Split CDYear: 2022 This is a split that you knew that would happen one day. Both bands never made a secret for their mutual…
Artist: Godsend Country: Norway / Sweden Label: Petrichor Formats: LP / CD Year: 2020 Though officially formed in Norway, Godsend is definitely best known to feature multi-instrumentalist and jack of all trades Dan Swanö. The band released demo tapes before…
Artist: Necromaniac Country: United Kingdom Label: Invictus Productions Formats: Demo Tape Year: 2021 Originally released in 2015 by Me Saco Un Ojo Records (and already reissued a year later) Invictus Productions thought it was about time to give this demo…
Artist: Last Retch Country: Canada Label: CDN Records Formats: CD Year: 2022 Following the bands’ demo, simply named ‘Demo’, released last year, these Canadian Death Metallers return with their first full-length album that was brought to us by the long-running…
Artist: BloodCountry: GermanyLabel: VIC RecordsFormats: CDYear: 2022 When talking about Blood, you are talking about German cult metal. I remember collecting all of their 7” EP during the late 90’s and early 00’s, digging through distros and mailing lists to…
Artist: Drawn And QuarteredCountry: USALabel: Krucyator Productions / Nameless Grave RecordsFormats: LP / Cassette tape / CDYear: 2021 You know them. Those bands that you’re always surprised they still exist when they release a new album. Actually always good, but which somehow mysteriously…
Artist: HerugrimCountry: FinlandLabel: Escafismo RecordsFormats: Demo tapeYear: 2022 “This might be something for you to review”, said TWD’s own FelixS when he forwarded me the first demo of the Finnish band Herugrim. He’s right, if it’s Black Metal and comes…
Artist: AteiggärCountry: SwitzerlandLabel: EisenwaldFormats: LP / CDYear: 2022 With the band’s first offering, the ‘Us d’r Höll Chunnt Nume Zyt’ EP from 2019, Switzerland’s Ateiggär surprised us with a fiery brand of Black Metal with its roots firmly in the Norwegian scene from the mid…
Artist: ApostasyCountry: ChileLabel: Hammerheart Records / Sentient Ruin LaboratoriesFormats: LP, CDYear: 2022 First appeared in 2021 on both cassette tape and CD formats (by Cabalist Records and Fallen Temple respectively), this third album by Chilean cult thrashers got another run of releases in 2022 by…
Artist: A Different CloudCountry: PolandLabel: Self-releasedFormats: DigitalYear: 2022 A Different Cloud is the solo project of the Polish artist Demian, but other than that not much is known about the band. What is known is that with ‘Sult’, the first…
Artist: Rogga Johansson Country: Sweden Label: Iron, Blood and Death Corporation Formats: CD Year: 2022 Unbelievable. I said it before and I probably will say it again (many times), but how in Satan’s name is it possible that Rogga Johansson,…
Artist: Last Retch Country: Canada Label: Self-Released Formats: Demo Tape / Demo CD Year: 2021 Last Retch is a Hamilton, Ontario, Canada based Death Metal band consisting of five people that have no big or noteworthy history in other bands,…
Artist: Departure ChandelierCountry: CanadaLabel: Nuclear War Now! Productions / Obliteration RecordsFormats: 10″ EP / CD EPYear: 2022 Originally an independently released demo, ‘Dripping Papal Blood’ got a proper CD release earlier this year through USA’s top purveyors of all things…
Artist: NyrakCountry: BelgiumLabel: Self-releasedFormats: CDYear: 2022 Featuring members that are involved in bands such as Gotmoor, Serpent’s Oath, Wound Collector and Scarificator, the Belgian band Nyrak formed in 2021. Within a year they were ready to release their first release,…
Artist: Casket GrinderCountry: ColombiaLabel: Awakening RecordsFormats: CDYear: 2022 Before listening to ‘Sepulchral Trip’ I had never heard of Casket Grinder, but I was intrigued by the album cover, the band name and the band picture in which the band members are wearing shirts…
Artist: Morbus Grave Country: Italy Label: Self-Released Formats: Demo Tape Year: 2021 At VM-Underground we already shined our light on Morbus Grave’s compilation of two of the band’s early demos (‘Throne Of Disgust’ from 2016 and ‘Awakening Of The Dead’…
Artist: Hammer Of Gore Country: Germany Label: Brutal Insanity Records Formats: Demo tape Year: 2022 About a year after the release of their ‘Mutilated And Forgotten’-demo, German Death Metal combo Hammer Of Gore returns with a new demo. This 3-tracker…
Artist: Abysmal LordCountry: USALabel: Blackseed Productions / Serpents Head ReprisalFormats: 7″ EP, Cassette EPYear: 2020 In 2019 we at VM-Underground reviewed Abysmal Lord’s second album, ‘Exaltation Of The Infernal Cabal’ and claimed that the band was able to stand shoulder…
Artist: Hellish Country: Chile Label: Self-Released Formats: Digital EP Year: 2022 As an appetizer for their upcoming album, ‘The Dance of the Four Elemental Serpents’ which is set for a release on December 16th of this year through Dying Victims Records,…
Artist: MooncitadelCountry: FinlandLabel: Out Of The DungeonFormats: 12″ EP / CD EPYear: 2021 Quite soon after the release of their debut album ‘Night’s Scarlet Symphonies’, the Finnish Black Metal band Mooncitadel were ready to strike again with a new release.…
Artist: MooncitadelCountry: FinlandLabel: Werewolf RecordsFormats: LPYear: 2020 The origins of Mooncitadel date back to 2007, when multi-intrumentalist and vocalist Stormheist formed the band Empire of Tharaphita. After two demos and a split with Drowning the Light, Stormheit decided to change…
Artist: Ritual DeathCountry: NorwayLabel: Shadow RecordsFormats: LP / Cassette tape / CDYear: 2022 The first years of Ritual Death were quite productive. The band was formed in 2016 as yet another product of the phenomenal Trondheim Black Metal scene by…
Artist: DaevaCountry: USALabel: 20 Buck SpinFormats: LP / Cassette tape / CDYear: 2022 Back in 2019, our chief-editor reviewed Daeva’s first EP, and although he appreciated the offering, it wasn’t all too special for him. Now, a few years ahead…
Artist: Der TrauerschwanCountry: SwedenLabel: Soulseller RecordsFormats: LP / CDYear: 2022 When the Chilean band Hetroertzen relocated to the Swedish town of Västerås, they quickly recruited members from the local scene to complement their live line-up. One of the members that…
Artist: Deus MortemCountry: PolandLabel: Malignant Voices / Terratur PossessionsFormats: 12″ EP / CD EPYear: 2020 Although both Malignant Voices and Terratur Possessions usually are pretty much the epitome of quality Black Metal, the Polish Deus Mortem had not quite fully…
Artist: Kawir Country: Greece Label: Pagan Records Formats: LP / CD Year: 2022 When talking about Greek Black Metal, the conversations will most likely be first about Rotting Christ, Varathron, Septicflesh, Thou Art Lord and Necromantia, only then about the…
Artist: ConvulsiveCountry: BrazilLabel: Self-ReleasedFormats: Digital EPYear: 2022 The Brazilian four-piece of Convulsive released a pretty convincing Death Metal album at the very start of this year, but already returns this fall with a self-released digital demo. If I am correctly…
Artist: Tenebro Country: Italy Label: Xtreem Music Formats: Digital EP Year: 2022 About six months after this Italian horror-drenched Death Metal combo released their debut full-length, they return with a new digital EP. While I did like that first album…
Artist: Sépulcre Country: France Label: Invictus Productions Formats: CD EP Year: 2022 Not long after having their name changed from Demonic Oath to Sépulcre, this four-piece came out with their first demo, ‘Ascent Through Morbid Transcendence’, which grabbed the attention…
Artist: AdaestuoCountry: USALabel: W.T.C. ProductionsFormats: CD EPYear: 2022 Formed in 2014, this three-piece band with bandmembers living on different places on earth (Finland, Poland and the USA), surprised with their first EP in 2016 through W.T.C. Productions, which they followed…