Tales From The Underground
Tales From The Underground
Artist: KrolokCountry: SlovakiaLabel: Osmose ProductionsFormats: LP / Cassette Tape / CDYear: 2021 Krolok’s debut album, `Flying Above Ancient Ruins’, was an impressive release of Eastern European Black Metal that left me excited for follow-up material. The Slovakian band, whose members…
Artist: Painsaw Country: Canada Label: Self-Released Formats: Digital EP Year: 2022 Ahh, great! Canadian Thrash Metal. Yes, please! Painsaw hail from Fredericton, New Brunswick and presents their first offering: ‘Infinite Violence’. That promises a nice piece of uncompromising Thrash Metal.…
Artist: Grond Country: Germany Label: Rotting Misery Formats: LP Year: 2021 Originally released on CD in 2000 through Folter Records, this is the long overdue vinyl reissue of a German Black Metal album that can easily be considered overlooked and/or…
Artist: Headless Dawn Country: The Netherlands Label: Into It Records / Meat 5000 Records Formats: Cassette tape / CD Year: 2022 “16 Tearjerkers For The Woke Generation” is what the promo sheet accompanying this EP says. That does not promise…
Artist: Hellevaerder Country: The Netherlands Label: Zwaertgevegt Formats: LP / Cassette tape / CD Year: 2022 ‘Je bent niks waard!’, screams vocalist Miranda Visser in the very first second of this album. It translates to ‘You are worthless’ and sets…
Artist: I, Of The Trees And Wind Country: Sweden / United Kingdom Label: Self-Released Formats: Digital Demo Year: 2022 This oddly named new band is a collaboration of Swedish and British musicians, who put together this 2-track demo of cold…
Artist: Lord Ov Chaos Country: USA Label: Self-Released Formats: Digital EP Year: 2022 Lord Ov Chaos is one of the two solo-projects of this creative creature, Caleb Bernatchez. A musician from Amqui, Quebec, Canada. He uses this vehicle to reflect…
Artist: Sammorra Shadow Country: Ukraine Label: Self-Released Formats: Digital Demo Year: 2022 Ukraine has been a country that has delivered many a great Black Metal band, most of these bands have a rather distinctive and recognizable sound. This Sammorra Shadow…
Artist: Hammer Of Gore Country: Germany Label: Necrolatry Records Formats: Demo tape Year: 2022 Though Hammer Of Gore might be a new band to many, they are around for quite some time already. They formed in 2009 as Infected, changed…
Artist: Gravecrusher Country: Hungary Label: Xtreem Music Formats: CD EP Year: 2022 In 2013 Swedish underground protagonist Blood Harvest Records released two rather devastating 7” EP’s, ‘Eternal Darkness’ by Necrosodomy and ‘Mutilation Ritual’ by Gravecrusher. Although both EP’s were in…
Artist: Hammerdeath Country: The Netherlands Label: Stageblast Records Formats: Digital EP Year: 2022 In the Dutch metal scene in the 90’s it was pretty much impossible to ignore the presence and influence of the Displeased Productions-label. It presented many a…
Artist: DismaCountry: USALabel: Doomentia Records / Necoharmonic RecordsFormats: 12″ EP / CD EPYear: 2022 Over a decade after the Death Metal sledgehammer that was ‘Towards The Megalith’ (2011, Profound Lore Records), Disma are back with this new ‘Earthendium’-EP. After the…
Artist: AbbathCountry: NorwayLabel: Season Of MistFormats: LP, CD, Cassette tapeYear: 2022 After Abbath left ‘his’ Immortal and continued under his own name, a lot has happened. Not only is Abbath already at his third album with this ‘Dread Reaver’, despite…
Artist: Grand Belial’s Key Country: USA Label: Weltenfeid Formats: CD Year: 2022 Vocalist Grimnir Heretik (Richard Mills), who died of an overdose in 2006, abruptly ended Grand Belial’s Key after fourteen years – a band much talked and written about.…
Artist: CadaverousCountry: USALabel: Frozen Screams ImprintFormats: Cassete EPYear: 2022 At the ass-end of last year this American Death Metal band digitally released their first 3-track EP, which was put to cassette tape by Frozen Screams Imprint a few months later…
Artist: Kawir Country: Greece Label: Self-Released Formats: Digital EP Year: 2022 This (so far) digital-only EP was released with a special purpose. Before we dive into the musical content of the EP, it might be good to also pay attention…
Artist: Varathron / UngodCountry: Greece / GermanyLabel: Iron Bonehead ProductionsFormats: Split 7″ EPYear: 2022 Both Greek Varathron and German Ungod have been around for over three decades in the Black Metal scene and each of them have a rich history…
Artist: Graveland / Commander Agares Country: Poland / Finland Label: Inferna Profundus Records Formats: Split LP / Split cassette / Split CD Year: 2022 About a year after Graveland’s latest opus, ‘Hour of Ragnarok’ (Inferna Profundus Records, 2021) they return…
Artist: DecayedCountry: PortugalLabel: Lusitanian MusicFormats: Cassette tape / CDYear: 2021 The veterans of the Portuguese Black Metal scene, Decayed, are back from never having been away. This is their 14th album from an otherwise bulging discography and with that it…
Artist: Mournful Congregation Country: Australia Label: Osmose Productions / 20 Buck Spin Formats: 12″ EP / Cassette EP / CD EP Year: 2022 The extreme Doom Metal scene has always been a small one, since the first notes ever sounded…
Artist: Wömit AngelCountry: FinlandLabel: Godz Ov War ProductionsFormats: Cassette tape / CDYear: 2022 With ‘Sadopunk Finland’, the Finnish (d’oh) Wömit Angel, which was formed in 2010, already delivers their fifth album. So although the band already has a reasonable track…
Artist: TrolldomCountry: Iron Bonehead ProductionsLabel: Iron Bonehead ProductionsFormats: 12″ LP / CDYear: 2022 The sole member of Trolldom is the illustrious figure of Swartadauþuz. Anyone delving into the extreme (Black) metal scene of today will at least stumbled once upon…
Artist: TrolldomCountry: Iron Bonehead ProductionsLabel: Iron Bonehead ProductionsFormats: 12″ LP / CDYear: 2022 One of the two albums that got released at the very same time by Swedish Trolldom, the brainchild of Swartadauþuz. One of the brainchilderen, actually. As this…
Artist: EpitapheCountry: FranceLabel: Aesthetic Death / Gurgling GoreFormats: LP / Cassette tape / CDYear: 2022 Like their first-born, this second opus from France’s Epitaphe is wrapped in a beautiful cover. A magnificently crafted but ferocious scene of a mountain landscape…
Artist: CandelabrumCountry: PortugalLabel: Hells Headbangers RecordsFormats: LP / Cassette tape / CDYear: 2022 When the mid-10’s were rocked by an unexpected resurgence of raw, primitive and often quite low-fi Black Metal, introduced mainly by a handful of bands from an equally unexpected corner of the…
Artist: Hats Barn Country: France Label: Osmose Productions Formats: LP / CD Year: 2022 Although they have been around for 17 years now, it could very well be that the Black Metallers of Hats Barn from Lille, France, is a…
Artist: Morrigan Country: Germany Label: Werewolf Records Formats: LP / CD Year: 2022 By the turn of the century, the German (cult) metal band Mayhemic Truth folded and out of its ashes rose Morrigan. It depends on what source you…
Artist: Nattehimmel Country: Norway Label: Hammerheart Records Formats: Demo tape Year: 2022 Although Nattehimmel is a new band, none of its members are newbees, so to speak. Both Botteri brothers are involved, both were co-founders of In The Woods… and…
Artist: Coffin LurkerCountry: The NetherlandsLabel: Sentient Ruin LaboratoriesFormats: LP / Cassette tapeYear: 2022 Coffin Lurker is yet another brainchild of Maurice de Jong, an important figure in the Dutch underground metal scene responsible for a hell of a lot bands…
Artist: Lord BelialCountry: SwedenLabel: Hammerheart RecordsFormats: LP / CDYear: 2022 A somewhat unexpected return. After no less than fourteen years Swedish Lord Belial is back with a new album. With this year marking their 30th anniversary (though quiting and reforming…
Artist: DodenmisCountry: BelgiumLabel: Self-ReleasedFormats: Digital demoYear: 2022 Although being in the making for quite some time, Belgian’s Dodenmis finally materialized in 2021 and now comes up with its first demo, simply called ‘Demo 1’. Sprung out of the mind of LQW, known for past and…
Artist: CorpsessedCountry: FinlandLabel: Dark Descent RecordsFormats: LP / Cassette tape / CDYear: 2022 With Death Metal bands like Abhorrence, Amorphis, Demilich, Demigod, Purtenance, Funebre and Convulse the Finns do have quite a legacy, but around the turn of 2010 a…
Artist: ArmageddaCountry: SwedenLabel: Nordvis ProduktionFormats: LP, CDYear: 2019 It was 18 years ago when I reviewed Armagedda’s ‘Ond Spiritism…’ for Vampire-Magazine (this zine’s predecessor) and while that is half a life ago, it still feels like it has been only recently that I heard this…
Artist: SarvekasCountry: FinlandLabel: Soulseller RecordsFormats: 12″ EP / CD EPYear: 2020 AA and JL formed Sarvekas in late 2018 and at the dusk of 2020 their first EP release ‘Of Atavistic Fury and Visions’ saw the light through the Dutch…
Artist: Khold Country: Norway Label: Soulseller Records Formats: LP / CD Year: 2022 It is strange how some things get into a certain position or context without a logical reason or string of events. Like these Norwegian Black Metallers Khold,…
Artist: TherionCountry: SwedenLabel: Hammerheart RecordsFormats: LP / CDYear: 2022 The second part of Hammerheart Records’ Therion reissues, after the great ‘Time Shall Tell’ 12” EP, is the bands’ second album ‘Beyond Sanctorum’. Indeed, skipping their great debut LP ‘Of Darkness…’…
Artist: TherionCountry: SwedenLabel: Hammerheart RecordsFormats: LP / CDYear: 2022 The musical voyage of Therion, that led them from a pure, but atypical Death Metal band to a multi-layered and creative musical chameleon has been spread over four albums, with each…
Artist: TherionCountry: SwedenLabel: Hammerheart RecordsFormats: LP / CDYear: 2022 With the bands’ 1992 album, ‘Beyond Sanctorum’, Therion proved not quite to be a band to play Death Metal-by-numbers. On the contrary. They already pushed the boundaries of the genre and…
Artist: TherionCountry: SwedenLabel: Hammerheart RecordsFormats: 12″ EPYear: 2022 Introducing a band like Therion seems a little pointless as they are among the most successful bands on the Nuclear Blast roster – for a quarter of a century now. Much of…
Artist: Master Country: USA Label: Xtreem Music Formats: 10″ EP Year: 2020 It is almost impossible and perhaps even morally wrong to leave Master’s legendary 1985 demo-tape out of a series that is called ’10 Inches Of Deathcult’, in which…
Artist: Tenebro Country: Italy Label: Xtreem Music Formats: LP / Cassette tape / CD Year: 2022 After a demo tape (reissued on 7” vinyl by Seven Metal Inches) and a 3-track debut EP which was initially only released on cassette…
Artist: Fides InversaCountry: ItalyLabel: World Terror CommitteeFormats: LP / CDYear: 2020 The Italian Black Metal band Fides Inversa doesn’t exactly work at a high pace, but they have consistently improved their craft since the formation in 2006. Their first album…
Artist: AdramelechCountry: FinlandLabel: Xtreem MusicFormats: 10″ EPYear: 2020 Finnish Death Metal, or ‘Finndeath’ as they like to call it, always had something special compared to bands from other countries who had a lively Death Metal scene. They often had a…
Artist: Deathspell OmegaCountry: SwedenLabel: Norma Evangelium DiaboliFormats: LP / CDYear: 2022 You can safely say that Deathspell Omega is one of the most prolific bands in the current Black Metal scene. Initially releasing more standard, but very good, Black Metal…
Artist: Paganizer Country: Sweden Label: Transcending Obscurity Records Formats: LP / Cassette Tape / CD Year: 2022 Ah! Rogga Johansson again found some time to record yet another album, this time with Paganizer. It sometimes just puzzles me how some…
Artist: Dark FuneralCountry: SwedenLabel: Century MediaFormats: LP / CDYear: 2022 What is the point in introducing Dark Funeral? No, there is none. A band that has drawn as much praise as it received rejection. Rejection because the band isn’t matching…
Artist: Black Fucking CancerCountry: USALabel: Sentient Ruin LaboratoriesFormats: LP / Cassette tape / CDYear: 2022 After having released their debut album in 2016 through Osmose Productions, this subtly named power trio from California found a new home at Sentient Ruin…
Artist: Incantation Country: USA Label: Xtreem Music Formats: 10″ EP Year: 2020 What can be said about Incantation’s debut demo from 1990 that hasn’t been said before? It has not only been tape traded a zillion times back in the…
Artist: ThanatosCountry: The NetherlandsLabel: Xtreem MusicFormats: 10″ EPYear: 2020 A series that is called ’10 Inches Of Deathcult’ would not be complete without Hollands’ self-proclaimed initiators of Dutch Death Metal. Though the band was already founded as early as 1984…
Artist: Supremative Country: Spain Label: Crimson Tide Productions Formats: LP Year: 2022 Although I already picked up the reissue of Supremative’s first demo on 7”, which was released by Blood Harvest Records back in 2016, I still had to check…