Tales From The Underground
Tales From The Underground
Artist: FörgjordCountry: FinlandLabel: Self-releasedFormats: CD EPYear: 2021 The Finnish horde of Förgjord was formed as early as 1995, and has featured a stable lineup consisting of original members Valgrinder (guitar and bass) and Prokustes Thanatos (vocals and until 2017 also…
Artist: Harvest Gulgaltha Country: USA Label: Godz Ov War Productions Formats: Cassette tape / CD Year: 2022 The anonymous American trio that is Harvest Gulgaltha returns with their sophomore effort, five years after their debut. The enigmatic Black/Death Metal combo…
Artist: CryptopsyCountry: CanadaLabel: Xtreem RecordsFormats: 10″ EP / CD EPYear: 2021 ‘Ungentle Exhumation’ is undoubtedly one of the most important demos from the Canadian metal scene. It marked the start not only of Cryptopsy, but actually of a whole tradition…
Artist: Fleshcrawl Country: Germany Label: Xtreem Music Formats: 10″ EP / CD EP Year: 2021 Before the band would become known as Fleshcrawl, one of Germany’s best and longest-running Death Metal bands, they were known as Morgöth and subsequently Suffocation.…
Artist: ToxikCountry: USALabel: Back On BlackFormats: LP / CDYear: 2023 My personal story is actually like so many here in The Netherlands. As a young enthusiast, I became hooked on metal in the late 1990’s, but at the time when Spotify…
Artist: Kamra Country: Slovenia Label: Avantgarde Music / Edged Circle Productions Formats: LP / Cassette tape / CD Year: 2022 After a two-track demo/EP from 2021, this new Slovenian metal band propels itself to new levels with their Avantgarde Music…
Artist: AutopsyCountry: USALabel: Peaceville RecordsFormats: LP / Cassette tape / CDYear: 2022 Introducing Autopsy to a VM-Underground reader is like explaining Star Wars to a sci-fi enthusiast. Useless, then, so we won’t do that. There is, however, no denying of…
Artist: Nigrum Tenebris Country: Germany Label: Sol Records Formats: CD Year: 2021 Nigrum Tenebris comes from the rich Black Metal underground scene of the city of Kassel, over the past two decades this German city has produced many a good…
Artist: AutophagyCountry: USALabel: Necrolatry Records / Pulverised RecordsFormats: LP / Cassette tape / CDYear: 2023 In 2018 the American Death Metal band Autophagy delivered a nice demo that our chief editor Ricardo here at VM-Underground described as a good blend…
Artist: Sacrimonia Country: Poland Label: Self-Released Formats: CD Year: 2022 Sacrimonia is a Melodic/Symphonic Black Metal band from Poland that was founded in 2015 and released a first EP in 2016 but went silent for the following years. It wasn’t…
Artist: Carnal RuinCountry: USALabel: Redefining Darkness RecordsFormats: LP / CDYear: 2022 The nowadays Death Metal scene is getting gradually more bland and actually starts to feel a little jaded. The trends of today tend to flatten out the entire scene, with one part dealing with…
Artist: Putrevore Country: Spain / Sweden Label: Xtreem Music Formats: LP / Cassette Tape / CD Year: 2021 Putrevore is the collaboration of two of Death Metal’s most prolific veterans, Rogga Johansson (Paganizer, Ribspreader, Revolting among many others) and Dave…
Artist: Saram Country: Peru Label: Werewolf Records Formats: LP Year: 2023 Despite being officially formed in 1998 in Lima, Peru, Saram’s history goes back many more years. In 1991, the band Neuroparalya was formed which eventually turned into Saram Scivit…
Artist: Outlaw Country: Brazil Label: Drakkar Productions – South American Division Formats: CD EP Year: 2021 Outlaw is an international band made up of band members from at least Brazil and Finland who, despite this EP being my first introduction…
Artist: Thornspawn / MaledictvsCountry: USA / MexicoLabel: Inhuman Assault Productions / Werewolf RecordsFormats: Split cassette tape / Split CDYear: 2021 A split between Thornspawn and Maledictvs is actually a split featuring two sides of the creative duo of Blackthorn (drums, guitars)…
Artist: Furnace Country: Sweden Label: MDD Records Formats: CD Year: 2022 With Furnace the multi-instrumentalist with too much time Rogga Johansson and Peter Svensson (Void Moon) went for a more melodic sound with their first two albums, ‘Black Stone Church’…
Artist: Manticore Country: USA Label: Hells Headbangers Records Formats: Cassette Tape / CD Year: 2022 One of Hells Headbangers earliest releases was Manticore’s debut album, ‘Bowels Of The Holy Anoint Us In Evil’. Together with a few other of those…
When one of the earliest Danish Death Metal bands, formed by two Invocator members, recently reformed and even put out a brand new album, the long-awaited follow-up to 1992’s ‘A Serenade Of Agony’, an album regarded by some as a…
Artist: Purgatory Country: Germany Label: War Anthem Records Formats: LP / Cassette Tape / CD Year: 2022 Nossen, Germany-based Death Metal band Purgatory celebrates its 30th anniversary this year, making it one of the country’s longest-running extreme metal bands. While…
Artist: Lie In Ruins / Graveyard Country: Finland / Spain Label: War Anthem Records Formats: Split 7″ EP Year: 2022 The German label War Anthem Records has spawned a considerable amount of nice Old School Death Metal split 7” EP’s…
Artist: Sigh Country: Japan Label: Peaceville Records / Ward Records Formats: Cassette EP Year: 2022 Last year, Japan’s most enigmatic metal band, Sigh, now signed to the British Peaceville Records label, returned from a five-year silence. Its latest feat, ‘Heir…
Artist: Eggs Of GomorrhCountry: SwitzerlandLabel: Godz Ov War ProductionsFormats: LP / Cassette tape / CDYear: 2022 Of all the bands that uphold the Ross Bay Cult tradition, I have never found Swiss Eggs Of Gomorrh very convincing. Throughout their career,…
Artist: Maceration Country: Denmark Label: Emanzipation Records Formats: LP / CD Year: 2022 Maceration’s sole album ‘A Serenade Of Agony’ is an album that divides Death Metal fans: considered as a true yet forgotten classic of Old School Death Metal…
Last year, Dutch Black Metal band Hellevaerder released their debut album ‘In De Nevel Van Afgunst’ through the prolific purveyors of Dutch Black Metal and since VM-Underground is also based in The Netherlands it was only one thought away to…
Artist: Cult Of EibonCountry: GreeceLabel: Iron Bonehead ProductionsFormats: Split LP / Split CDYear: 2022 At the very end of 2022 Iron Bonehead Productions treats us with one of the label’s best releases of the year. While both bands might not…
Artist: Cult Of EibonCountry: GreeceLabel: Azermedoth Records / Regain RecordsFormats: CDYear: 2022 For those who like Cult Of Eibon, or Greek Black Metal in general, but are not into collecting vinyl, this compilation CD is godsend. Because although the ‘Lycan…
Artist: CruzCountry: SpainLabel: Nuclear Winter RecordsFormats: LP / Cassette tape / CDYear: 2022 Spain has proven to be a good purveyor of Death Metal over the past decade-plus. Whereas at first the scene was a bit limited to Avulsed and…
Artist: Ceremonial TortureCountry: FinlandLabel: Out Of The DungeonFormats: CDYear: 2022 Ceremonial Torture is a rather obscure one-man Black Metal act from Finland which had its work released by labels such as Final Agony Records, Out Of The Dungeon (also responsible…
Artist: Heltekvad Country: Denmark Label: Eisenwald Formats: LP / Cassette tape / CD Year: 2022 Heltekvad is a relatively new Black Metal band from Denmark, formed by Ole Pedersen Luk (of Afsky fame) and two more musicians who happen to…
Artist: Vampyric TyrantCountry: GermanyLabel: Purity Through FireFormats: CD EPYear: 2022 Only a few months after the German Black Metal band’s debut album, released earlier in 2022, Vampyric Tyrant returns with a new EP, ‘Zorn Und Hass’. This new EP was…
Artist: Vampyric TyrantCountry: GermanyLabel: Into Endless Chaos Records / Mortal Rite Records / Purity Through FireFormats: LP / Cassette tape / CDYear: 2022 After the 2021 released ‘Das Schwert der Sterne’ EP, the German Black Metal band Vampyric Tyrant returns,…
Artist: Atomic AggressorCountry: ChileLabel: Xtreem MusicFormats: 10″ EPYear: 2021 Long before the Chilean extreme metal scene would really explode into hundreds of more than interesting Black Metal, Death Metal and Thrash Metal bands, there were a few individuals paving the way for what would…
Artist: Thorn / Body Asphyxiation ScienceCountry: USA / United KingdomLabel: Gurgling GoreFormats: Split cassette tapeYear: 2022 Gurgling Gore, with their 50th release, brings you a short playing split tape between Thorn and Body Asphyxiation Science, that kicks right off after a…
Artist: Iku-Turso / Standvast Country: Finland-The Netherlands / The Netherlands Label: Wolfspell Records Formats: Split 7″ EP Year: 2022 The Finnish/Dutch Black Metal band Iku-Turso shared a piece of vinyl with Kalmankantaja and Goats Of Doom before, so they are…
Artist: Sex Messiah Country: Japan Label: Austral Holocaust Records / Nuclear War Now! Productions / Sex Desire Records Formats: 12″ EP / Cassette EP / CD EP Year: 2022 I once read an article that Japanese would be the most…
Artist: EschatologyCountry: Poland / SwedenLabel: Shadow RecordsFormats: 12″ EP / CD EPYear: 2022 Music brings people from all over the world together. In the case of Eschatology, this unites a Swedish Black Metal guitar player, a fellow countryman that earned…
Artist: Leper Colony Country: Germany / Sweden Label: Transcending Obscurity Records Formats: CD Year: 2023 While this is the band’s first release and Leper Colony is a new band on the Death Metal front, the musicians are far from rookies.…
Artist: Fleshgrind Country: USA Label: Burning Dogma Records / Corpse Gristle Records Formats: LP / Cassette Tape Year: 2022 After the release of the demos compilation CD and cassette tape, both Burning Dogma Records and Corpse Gristle Records teamed up…
Artist: Fleshgrind Country: USA Label: Burning Dogma Records / Corpse Gristle Records Formats: Cassette Tape / CD Year: 2021 Before Fleshgrind became an established name in the Death Metal/Grindcore scene, the band released two demo tapes, ‘Holy Pedophile’ (1993) and…
Artist: Misþyrming Country: Iceland Label: Non Serviam Records Formats: LP / Cassette Tape / CD Year: 2022 When the Icelandic Black Metal band Misþyrming first hit the Black Metal scene in 2015, their name was incredibly hyped through the now…
Artist: Pestilent HexCountry: FinlandLabel: Debemur Morti ProductionsFormats: LP / CDYear: 2022 The debut album of Finland’s Pestilent Hex has been in the works for some years. In 2017, Convocation, Desolate Shrine and Ordinance multi-instrumentalist L.L. and Corpsessed, Profetus and Tyranny…
Artist: Macabre End Country: Sweden Label: Xtreem Music Formats: 10″ EP Year: 2021 The only Macabre End recordings are the three tracks from the 1990 ‘Consumed By Darkness’ demo tape, released a year later by Corpse Grinder Records on a…
Artist: Veter DemonazCountry: RussiaLabel: Osmose ProductionsFormats: LP / CDYear: 2022 Sometimes, as a metal fan, it is a bit difficult to keep track of everything properly. The releases come by at a breakneck pace and then it ends up being…
Artist: AegrusCountry: FinlandLabel: Osmose ProductionsFormats: 10″ EP / Cassette EP / CD EPYear: 2022 It’s not an uncommon thing for Finnish bands. They start off, release a slew of demos, but the fans have to patiently wait for that debut…
Artist: BezweringCountry: The NetherlandsLabel: Ván RecordsFormats: CDYear: 2022 I have regarded Bezwering’s debut album, ‘Aan De Wormen Overgeleverd’, as one of the better Dutch Black Metal albums of recent years and a more than worthy successor to Wederganger, on which…
Artist: VeljessurmaCountry: FinlandLabel: Naturmacht ProductionsFormats: Cassette EP / CD EPYear: 2022 Veljessurma hails from the Finnish capital of Helsinki, and their first EP follows the 2020-released demo ‘Ritual of Cain’. On ‘Noidansolmu’ Veljessurma blends a raw Black Metal rhythm guitar…
Artist: Necrophile Country: Japan Label: Xtreem Music Formats: 10″ EP Year: 2021 The Japanese extreme metal scene has always been rather limited in the amount of bands, but they always tended to bring something different to the table. The Japanese…
Artist: Roots Of The Old Oak Country: United Kingdom Label: Hammerheart Records Formats: Demo Tape Year: 2022 Roots Of The Old Oak is a Doom/Death Metal trio from the UK, that released their first four-track demo tape last summer through…