Tales From The Underground
Tales From The Underground
Artist: Moonlight Sorcery Country: Finland Label: Avantgarde Music Formats: 7″ EP Year: 2023 Admittedly, I felt a little let down by Moonlight Sorcery’s second EP, ‘Nightwind: The Conqueror From The Stars’ from December 2022. Although having largely the same ingredients…
Artist: Sól Án VarmaCountry: IcelandLabel: Ván RecordsFormats: LP / CDYear: 2023 I’m not sure if anyone, including the bands themselves and the label behind their first albums, saw it coming that the debut albums of the Icelandic bands Svartidauði, Misþyrming…
Artist: TsjuderCountry: NorwayLabel: Season Of MistFormats: LP / Cassette tape / CDYear: 2023 Even though the band has existed since 1993, right at the peak years of the second wave of Black Metal, Tsjuder’s sound came to fruition a little…
Artist: RuïmCountry: Norway / PortugalLabel: Peaceville RecordsFormats: LP / CDYear: 2023 Mayhem has left Black Metal fans divided for decades. Still followed and revered by legions, there are plenty that swear the band died with the murder of Øystein “Euronymous”…
Artist: KvadCountry: NorwayLabel: Purity Through FireFormats: CDYear: 2023 A raw and suffocating type of Black Metal with a cold atmosphere that mixed classic American Black Metal with an Eastern European sound. That is the description that my writing partner in…
Despite leaving behind only a very modest discography, the German band Old managed to leave a solid impression in the Black/Thrash Metal scene. So much so that the band’s only full-length album, 17 years on, is widely regarded as a…
Artist: SarvekasCountry: FinlandLabel: Soulseller RecordsFormats: LP / CDYear: 2023 On the debut of Sarvekas, melodies with an epic undertone combined with a crushing rhythm guitar sound and overall pace made up the majority of the material. Comparisons with both Finnish…
Artist: EneveldeCountry: NorwayLabel: Terratur PossessionsFormats: LP / CDYear: 2023 The flow of creativity streaming through the veins of B. Kråbøl seems endless. While his work with Misotheist has left a deep impression upon the admirers of the Black Metal brewing in the…
The actually ever-productive Azaghal unexpectedly was very silent for several years; after ‘Valo Pohjoisesta’, released in 2018, it was years of waiting for a follow-up to this solid album. But in 2022, some digital singles arrived there. These turned out…
Artist: Nattehimmel Country: Norway Label: Hammerheart Records Formats: LP / CD Year: 2023 From the ever-fertile and imaginative soil of Norway, many bands emerged at the beginning of the 1990s that gave colour and new impetus to the Black Metal…
This year marks the 20th anniversary of Australia-based Denouncement Pyre, a band that I feel does not always get the credit it does deserve based on its music. Last year, the band released their fourth album with ‘Forever Burning’ through…
Artist: DioneCountry: PolandLabel: Self-releasedFormats: 10″ EP / CD EPYear: 2023 The seeds of Dione, a Polish one-man project consisting of Krystian Łukaszewicz, must have been sown some time ago. It almost has to be, to pull of an EP of…
Artist: ImmortalCountry: NorwayLabel: Nuclear Blast RecordsFormats: LP / CDYear: 2023 With ‘War Against All’ the Norwegian Black Metal institute Immortal brings forth its 10th instalment. A new album alone is enough to revisit this monumental band, but a tenth album…
Artist: Perdition windsCountry: FinlandLabel: Hellthrasher ProductionsFormats: LP / CDYear: 2023 ‘Transcendent Emptiness’, the second record by the Finnish Black Metal band Perdition Winds, was a ripper of a record. But maybe that wasn’t all that surprising, as the band features…
Contrary to the usually otherwise quite chauvinistic proud nature of the French people, the French Black Metal scene has remained quite modest when it comes to their influence on the overall genre. OK, that about the chauvinism might be a…
Artist: Spirit Possession Country: USA Label: Profound Lore Records Formats: LP / CD Year: 2023 Take Black Metal with a strong Heavy Metal riff base that features a cacophony of sliding and tapping guitar notes best known to Black Metal…
Artist: SkuggeheimCountry: NorwayLabel: Terratur PossessionsFormats: LP / CDYear: 2023 After the explosive 90’s of Norwegian Black Metal, not much of that bustling prolific and high-quality scene was still intact by the mid 2000’s. Sure, bands like Mayhem, Darkthrone, Satyricon and…
Over the past decade, the Black Metal genre has, once again, renewed, deepened and broadened. This can be largely credited to a number of Icelandic and Norwegian bands (always those Norwegians!), whose recordings often have been released under the watchful…
Artist: StutyrCountry: FinlandLabel: Wolfspell RecordsFormats: Cassette EP / CD EPYear: 2023 One of my favorite demos of 2022 was the first release by the Finnish Herugrim, whose ‘Demo XXMMII’ featured a stunning mix of raw Black metal with epic Heavy Metal…
Artist: ThulcandraCountry: GermanyLabel: Napalm RecordsFormats: LP / CDYear: 2023 Admittedly, I only got hooked on the Thulcandra phenomenon quite recently. In the past, I had heard some individual songs, but then ultimately chose not to delve further into it. Reason?…
Artist: Devil MoonCountry: FinlandLabel: Signal Rex / Old Forest ProductionFormats: Cassette EP / CD EPYear: 2022 A bondage ritual on the front cover, a pentagram in the band logo and a member of Morgal in the line-up: Devil Moon ticks…
Artist: DeimhalCountry: FinlandLabel: Self-releasedFormats: Digital EPYear: 2023 In a time where melodic Dissection-inspired Black Metal and symphonic Black Metal were at the height of their popularity, bands like the Finnish Catamenia fit right in. Perhaps never the most original or…
Artist: NoirceurCountry: FranceLabel: Self-ReleasedFormats: Digital demoYear: 2023 Anyone with any interest in the underground Black Metal of the 1990’s must undoubtedly have stumbled across one of the bands from the illustrious Les Legions Noires at least once. This collective comprised…
Artist: ManiakCountry: SwedenLabel: Self-ReleasedFormats: Digital EPYear: 2023 Maniak, not to be confused with the Filipino band of the same name (and even a somewhat similar logo), releases their debut EP with ‘Speed Metal Terrorist’, a more than fitting follow-up to…
Artist: Norrhem / SielunvihollinenCountry: FinlandLabel: Hammer Of Hate RecordsFormats: Split CDYear: 2023 Norrhem and Sielunvihollinen have a bit of history together. Not only are they both from Finland, Sielunvihollinen mastermind Ruttokieli was part of the live lineup of Norrhem and…
Artist: Gärgäntuäh / KastijderCountry: The NetherlandsLabel: New Era ProductionsFormats: Split LPYear: 2023 With the demos ‘Dödenlicht’ and ‘Kastijder’, New Era Productions had released two gems from the Dutch Black Metal underground courtesy of the bands Gärgäntuäh and Kastijder respectively. Both…
Artist: ProfeciCountry: PolandLabel: Godz Ov War ProductionsFormats: LP / Cassette tape / CDYear: 2023 When the previous Profeci album ‘Aporia’ was recommended to me a few years ago, it didn’t take long to see what had gotten my referrer excited…
Artist: Niteris / КрюкокрестCountry: Bosnia and Herzegovina / RussiaLabel: New Era Productions / Horrible RoomFormats: Split LP / Split cassette tape / Split CDYear: 2022 The Black Plague Circle versus the Pleskau Brethren, or more precisely, Niteris from Bosnia and…
Artist: GrotCountry: USALabel: Self-releasedFormats: CDYear: 2023 Seemingly inspired by forest, woodlands, and nature as a whole, US Black Metal band Grot gained quite some positive feedback for their 2021 released ‘Hymns of the Woodland’ EP. And for a good reason.…
Artist: Anal BlasphemyCountry: FinlandLabel: Spread Evil ProductionsFormats: 7″ EP / CD EPYear: 2023 With ‘Lust Of The Evil Witches’ Finland’s finest, Anal Blasphemy, makes its return after what ultimately turned out to be a five-year hiatus. After the Iron Bonehead Productions released ‘Western Decadence’-album from…
When Imprecation announce a new album, you can unquestionably count on the fact that we will be dealing with another monumental piece of Blackened Death Metal. And, yes, with ‘In Nomine Diaboli’, the Texas veterans once again fulfil all expectations.…
Artist: The KryptikCountry: BrazilLabel: Purity Through FireFormats: CDYear: 2023 In a genre where nostalgia reign supreme, bold statements can set things off on the wrong foot. It’s at the very least a striking claim to suggest an album might be…
Artist: ZiminiarCountry: UnknownLabel: Azermedoth Records / Bitter Misery Records / Victims Of FateFormats: LP / Cassette tape / CDYear: 2023 When literally nothing is known about a band and their origins it all comes down to the bare musical essence.…
Pretty much out of the blue, two releases from a new German Black Metal band came out in the space of just a handful of days. Verhinderer is the brainchild of Bettler, the lone soul behind this project, who seems…
Artist: Acid MassCountry: USALabel: Self-ReleasedFormats: Digital EPYear: 2023 Acid Mass is a new one-man band from Cincinatti, Ohio, USA that throws its first feat on the table with ‘Lust For Violence’. There are records that through a well-chosen title and…
Artist: BotulistumCountry: The NetherlandsLabel: New Era RecordsFormats: LP / Cassette tape / CDYear: 2023 It has taken a while, but this band, founded in 1998, has finally arrived at its debut album in 2023. Like some kind of nocturnal animal…
Artist: WilczycaCountry: PolandLabel: Godz Ov War ProductionsFormats: LP / Cassette tape / CDYear: 2023 “When the Lamb broke the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, “Come.” I looked, and behold, a pale horse; and…
Artist: UnhallowedCountry: GermanyLabel: Folter RecordsFormats: CDYear: 2023 One should never judge a book by its cover, but it’s hard not to think of Dissection when a band is named after one of their many iconic songs. Even putting this name…
Artist: Burning WindsCountry: USALabel: Heidens HartFormats: Demo tapeYear: 2023 Aside from a sporadic release as a demo CDR, a split LP, a compilation LP and a split 7″, Burning Winds’ entire (impressive) output has been released on cassette tape, so…
Artist: NethermancyCountry: PortugalLabel: Helldprod RecordsFormats: CDYear: 2023 The roots of Nethermancy dig deep into the Portuguese Black Metal scene, having been formed over 25 years ago and with some of its members commited to the local Black Metal scene since…
Artist: OhydaCountry: PolandLabel: Wolfspell RecordsFormats: CD EPYear: 2023 Following two praiseworthy EPs released in 2022, this year brings us the third EP in the discography of Poland’s Ohyda. After guitar, bass and keyboard player Bloodwhip had graced the cover of…
Artist: OerheksCountry: BelgiumLabel: Amor Fati Productions / Babylon Doom Cult RecordsFormats: 12″ Demo / Demo tapeYear: 2023 In the region of Cagghenvinna (currently known as Kaggevinne) in Belgium, a forest called the Prinsenbos once stood proud. Victim to the greed…
Artist: VerhindererCountry: GermanyLabel: Self-ReleasedFormats: Digital demoYear: 2023 Very hot on the heels, only three weeks after the release of the band’s debut EP ‘Ruhepol’, Verhinderer already presents its second feat with this new digital demo. ‘Ruhepol’ appealed to me not…
Artist: SieluhaaskaCountry: FinlandLabel: Purity Through FireFormats: CD EPYear: 2023 A melancholic piercing riff, an ever so subtle background hum of the keyboards, rumbling bass and raspy cries upon a midpace drum rhythm: Sieluhaaska doesn’t waste time to introduce what they…
Artist: AutrestCountry: BrazilLabel: Northern Silence ProductionsFormats: Digital / CDYear: 2023 A view from a snowclad forest, with mountainsides reaching beyond where the eye can see. Hardly a scenery that you associate with the country Brazil, but this is exactly the…
Artist: ArzhaabatCountry: SwedenLabel: Cosmic Cause ProductionsFormats: Cassette single / Demo tapeYear: 2023 Taking the inhumane working pace of multi-instrumentalist and overall musical wizard MBN in consideration, it might not surprise that he already returns with a follow-up to Arzhaabat’s great ‘Forest Tribes Triumphant’ demo tape,…
Artist: AaraCountry: SwitzerlandLabel: Debemur Morti ProductionsFormats: LP / CDYear: 2023 In 1820 the Irish playwright finished his gothic novel ‘Melmoth the Wanderer’. In this tale, the lead character Melmoth is a scholar who sells his soul to the devil in…
Artist: OldCountry: GermanyLabel: Unsilent Tombs RecordsFormats: LP / CDYear: 2023 German Black/Thrash Metal band Old is the owner of a modest back catalogue which was realised around the mid 00’s. The authenticity of the offered material gained them a bit…
Artist: Satanic WarmasterCountry: FinlandLabel: Werewolf RecordsFormats: LP / Cassette tape / CDYear: 2022 Despite coming somewhat later to the party after formation in 1998, the mark of Satanic Warmaster on the Finnish Black Metal scene is considerable. With albums such…
Artist: Vulture LordCountry: NorwayLabel: Masters of Kaos ProductionsFormats: Double 7″ EPYear: 2023 The Norwegian Black/Thrash Metal act Vulture Lord has been in existence since 1995, although its origins date back even further to as early as 1990. To honour these…