Tales From The Underground
Tales From The Underground
Artist: WolvëinCountry: USALabel: Self-releasedFormats: Digital demoYear: 2022 Observing the red/black aesthetic of the cover and adding the Dungeon Synth intro, there is really nothing else to expect but Raw Black Metal in the late 90s tradition with a penchant for…
Artist: AzgarathCountry: FranceLabel: ChaoscibelFormats: CD EPYear: 2023 Azgarath’s first EP and debut album were released by France d’Oil Productions, a label run by Dunkel, an active figure in the French Black Metal underground, known among others for Sale Freux, Drakonhail…
Artist: Furnace Country: Sweden Label: Obelisk Polaris Productions Formats: CD Year: 2023 Out of the many Rogga Johansson bands, which are frankly quite a bit too many, I think that Furnace is one of the least impressive ones. Not only…
Artist: VindalfCountry: ChileLabel: Signal RexFormats: CDYear: 2022 After having released a couple of singles/EP’s Vindalf released its debut album in 2021 and sees its return a year later with no less than two albums that saw the dark of night…
Artist: FaithxtractorCountry: USALabel: Redefining Darkness RecordsFormats: LP / CDYear: 2023 With ‘Contempt For A Failed Dimension’ American Death Metal combo Faithxtractor have already arrived at their fourth album. Although each album saw the light of day via a different label…
Artist: Reflet Crépusculaire Country: France Label: Canti Eretici Formats: Cassette Tape Year: 2023 The name says it all, of course, but on ‘The Tormented Wanderer Trilogy’, the three separate chapters from the trilogy of ‘The Tormented Wanderer’ are brought together…
Artist: Mortify Country: Japan Label: Headsplit Records / Horror Pain Gore Death Productions / Obliteration Records / Psychocontrol Records / Red Truth Production / Septic Aroma Of Reeking Stench Formats: CD EP Year: 2022 Mortify’s ‘Grotesque Buzzsaw Defilement’, originally released…
Artist: Ieschure Country: Ukraine Label: Self-Released Formats: Cassette single Year: 2023 Hot on the heels of Ieschure’s ‘The Mystic Fields’ EP from early January of this year, Lilita Arndt treats us with yet another new release. This time it is…
Artist: BurialkultCountry: CanadaLabel: Drakkar ProductionsFormats: LP / CDYear: 2022 It has been over a decade since I first and last heard of the Canadian Black/Death Metal band Burialkult. The band released an EP and full-length album in 2012 and 2013…
Artist: Slugathor Country: Finland Label: Drakkar Records Formats: LP / CD Year: 2022 Slugathor’s latest offering, ‘Crypt Of The Ancient Fire’ was already unleashed just before summer last year, but its vinyl issue only saw the light of day a…
Artist: Profanatica Country: USA Label: Hells Headbangers Records Formats: 7″ EP Year: 2022 When it comes to American Black Metal or Black Metal of the most depraved kind, Profanatica is a band to be reckoned with. Ever since their first…
Artist: Funeral WindsCountry: The NetherlandsLabel: Osmose ProductionsFormats: LP / Cassette tape / CDYear: 2023 One of the most important bands in the development of Dutch Black Metal is without a glimmer of a doubt Funeral Winds. Though now operating out…
Artist: Desolate GraveCountry: SwedenLabel: Grind To Death RecordsFormats: Digital EPYear: 2022 Desolate Grave is the name of this solo-project by David “Pos” Mauritzon, who has also been in a few other bands, of which the oddly named Belarus Beaver, despite…
Artist: Empire of TharaphitaCountry: FinlandLabel: Out Of The DungeonFormats: LPYear: 2022 Before Mooncitadel there was Empire Of Tharaphita. From 2007 until 2014, Finnish instrumentalist and vocalist Stormheit operated under this band name, releasing two demos and a split with Drowning…
Artist: Vengeance HammerCountry: USALabel: Self-releasedFormats: Digital demoYear: 2022 You can just take the band name, Vengeance Hammer, add to that the gruesome cover art, and if you also keep in mind that the lyrics deal with nuclear war, diseases and…
Artist: Defy The CurseCountry: The NetherlandsLabel: Hammerheart RecordsFormats: LP / Cassette tape / CDYear: 2023 This Dutch band, Defy The Curse, is a new collective formed by a couple of scene veterans. With ‘Horrors Of Human Sacrifice’, released on all…
Artist: Re-Buried Country: USA Label: Translation Loss Records Formats: LP / Cassette Tape / CD Year: 2023 With artwork as beautiful as it is gruesome, attention is drawn to this latest work from Seattle, USA-based Death Metal quintet Re-Buried. After…
Artist: Sonic Poison Country: Finland Label: Caligari Records / Me Saco un Ojo Records / Pulverised Records Formats: LP / Cassette Tape / CD Year: 2023 When can argue that life is a bitch, life can be difficult, a struggle…
Artist: Feral HowlCountry: NorwayLabel: Breath Of Pestilence / Night Rhythms RecordingsFormats: Demo tape / Demo CDYear: 2023 Feral Howl is a relatively new Black Metal act from Norway of which quite little is known. It seems to be a one-man…
Artist: Krusifoitu Country: Finland Label: Self-Released Formats: Digital Demo Year: 2023 With ‘Demo ‘23’ the four-piece Death Metal band from the Finnish capitol of Helsinki brings forth their first recording. The six tracks clock in at a total playing time…
Artist: BræCountry: Belgium / SwedenLabel: Amor Fati ProductionsFormats: LPYear: 2023 The debut album of Bræ entitled ‘A Thousand Ways to End it all’ was released in 2021 without any background information about the band. For the follow-up ‘Av Vålnader Bortom…
Artist: BræCountry: Belgium / SwedenLabel: Amor Fati ProductionsFormats: LPYear: 2021 When the new Bræ album caught my eye, the boss of VM Underground was kind enough to point out that the review material of their debut album ‘A Thousand Ways…
Artist: Sigils Of Ruin Country: Indonesia Label: Self-Released Formats: Demo Tape Year: 2023 This four-piece Death Metal band from Indonesia offers their first demo tape, aptly titled ‘Demo I’ at the very start of February of this year. Yet, while…
Artist: Bastard GraveCountry: SwedenLabel: Pulverised RecordsFormats: LP / Cassette tape / CDYear: 2023 With ‘Vortex Of Disgust’ the Old School Swedish Death Metal combo of Bastard Grave delivers their third album. And anyone who has heard some of the band’s…
Artist: Haunting Figure Country: USA Label: Primitive Propaganda Formats: Demo tape Year: 2023 Haunting Figure is a new band from Providence, Rhode Island, USA. That is pretty much all the information available about this act, otherwise it shrouds itself in…
Artist: Sulphuric NightCountry: Bosnia and HerzegovinaLabel: Black Gangrene ProductionsFormats: 7″ EPYear: 2023 Evil is stirring in the country of Bosnia and Herzegovina. A Black Metal community called the Black Plague Circle has been surfacing over the last few years, releasing…
Artist: Stench Collector / Seep Country: USA Label: Gurgling Gore Formats: Split Cassette Year: 2023 This very short split EP, released on cassette tape, is the latest offering of both Stench Collector and Seep. Two bands haunting the gurgling and…
Artist: Vital SpiritCountry: CanadaLabel: Hidden Tribe / Vendetta RecordsFormats: LP / Cassette tape / CDYear: 2022 Canadian Black Metal is getting more and more popular, and rightfully so, as their quite sophisticated approach to the genre is offering the listener…
Artist: ArborCountry: USALabel: Self-ReleasedFormats: Demo tapeYear: 2023 ‘In Starless Night… We Follow A River Of Blood’ is the fifth demo of Arbor, a one-man Black Metal act from New York, USA which is helmed by Taurus, who is also active in Fellwinter and Gauntlet Ring.…
Artist: KiiraCountry: FinlandLabel: Amor Fati Productions / Out Of The DungeonFormats: LP / CDYear: 2023 With the release of their debut album ‘Tulkoon Yö / Talviyö’, Kiira performed a work based on the contemplation of Bláinn, who was perceived as…
Artist: Kiira / SvartsejdCountry: Finland / SwedenLabel: AvgrundsklangerFormats: Split cassette tape Year: 2022 The bands Svartsejd and Kiira are far from strangers from each other. Although they were formed separately in 2010 and 2011 respectively and even originate from different…
Artist: Dungeon KeeperCountry: GermanyLabel: Kellerassel RecordsFormats: Demo tapeYear: 2023 I remember when I first got into extreme metal and starting jamming out the tunes of Hellhammer’s ‘Apocalyptic Raids’ somewhere at the end of the 90’s, my two younger brothers were playing video games. One of…
Artist: GrieveCountry: FinlandLabel: Werewolf RecordsFormats: CDYear: 2023 In 2022, Grieve appeared to have drawn their last breath. The band, consisting of Finnish Black Metal icons Werwolf (Satanic Warmaster and many more) and v-Khaoz (Vargrav and numerous others) had announced that…
Artist: TetrasigilCountry: FinlandLabel: Amor Fati Productions / KuunpalvelusFormats: LP / CDYear: 2023 When Luxixul Sumering Auter put an end to Cosmic Church in 2017 it opened room for him to focus on some of his other projects. Frozen Graves released…
Artist: MistcavernCountry: HungaryLabel: A Fine Day To Die Records, Iron Bonehead ProductionsFormats: 12″ EP / Cassette EP / CD EPYear: 2022 The Hungarian four-piece band Mistcavern was formed in 2019, and straight away released a pretty phenomenal demo called ‘Winds…
Artist: BjesCountry: Czech RepublicLabel: Self-releasedFormats: Digital EPYear: 2023 For the Czech band Bjes, the self-released EP ‘Prázdnota’ is their first release. With a release title that translates to ‘Emptiness’ you might be tempted to think the tone of the band’s…
Artist: Genocidal Rites Country: USA Label: Hells Headbangers Records Formats: Cassette EP Year: 2023 With one demo and one EP, both originally only released digitally by the band themselves and the latter one also been issued on cassette tape by…
Artist: DeiphageCountry: USALabel: Propagator PropagandaFormats: Cassette EP / CD EPYear: 2023 When I first encountered this band I though, for a very brief moment, that the band name was spelled wrong and that this was new material of the Hells…
Artist: Burning LordCountry: USALabel: Tribe Dream RecordsFormats: Demo tapeYear: 2022 Burning Lord is a band from Boston, Massachusetts, USA and is founded by a bunch of Hardcore Punks. At least, that’s what I presume, as their Hardcore influences seep through…
Artist: Scourge LairCountry: FinlandLabel: Nuclear War Now! ProductionsFormats: LPYear: 2022 Scourge Lair caught the attention of the esteemed Nuclear War Now! Productions with the release of their 2019 demo ‘One Hundred Eyes One Hundred Arms’. That demo was the second…
Artist: Ründgard Country: Chile Label: Inferna Profundus Records Formats: LP Year: 2023 Multi-instrumentalist and ultimate blackaholic Lord Valtgryftåke has released quite an impressing slew of releases over the last couple of months. Amongst his latest offerings we do find the…
Artist: Paranoiac Country: USA Label: Self-Released Formats: Demo Tape Year: 2022 From Los Angeles, USA comes this relatively new band, Paranoiac. A Thrash Metal band that last summer self-released their 3-track demo tape ‘Morbid Psycho’. In less than 10 minutes,…
Artist: Spectral WhisperCountry: GermanyLabel: Astral Nightmare ProductionsFormats: CDYear: 2023 Spectral Whisper was a band from Germany that was formed in 2017 and featured at least one member in the shape of Frater Noxathra. In 2020 the band name was changed…
Artist: Seven Doors Country: United Kingdom Label: Redefining Darkness Records, Formats: LP / CD Year: 2023 After an EP, a digital split and a few singles, Ryan Wills felt he was ready recording and releasing his first full-length album with…
Artist: CentinexCountry: SwedenLabel: Diabolical Summoning RecordsFormats: Cassette tapeYear: 2022 Centinex has never been a band that made it big in the Swedish Death Metal scene. Instead they always kind of got stuck behind the biggest bands or even the ones that followed, making…
Artist: ChroniclesCountry: BangladeshLabel: Hellprod RecordsFormats: Demo tapeYear: 2022 From Bangladesh comes this five piece Death Metal band Chronicles. With ‘Chaos Cosmogony’ they present their second demo and third release in total (their first offering being an EP), it was released…
Artist: InsiktCountry: SwedenLabel: Amor Fati Productions / Mysticism ProductionsFormats: LP / CDYear: 2022 Insikt is one of the many vessels of Swedish Black Metal mastermind Swartadauþuz, of which the first and thus far only release ‘Wanderings Through a Cursed Mind’…
Artist: GreveCountry: SwedenLabel: Mysticism Productions / Purity Through FireFormats: LP / CDYear: 2022 Those with a weak spot for Black Metal will undoubtedly have heard one or more bands featuring the Swedish multi-instrumentalist Swartadauþuz, who also runs Ancient Records and Mysticism Productions.…