Tales From The Underground
Tales From The Underground
Artist: Mánþiel Country: Chile / Germany Label: Inferna Profundus Records Formats: LP Year: 2023 This new Mánþiel (or Mantiel, if you prefer an easier version of their band name) album is one that will only have a vinyl release, done…
Artist: Opiumortem Country: Bulgaria Label: Self-Released Formats: Digital Year: 2023 After two demos, which were recently compiled onto one tape and released through Narbentage Produktionen, Opiumortem now returns with a full-length album. Apparently it was recorded in the span of…
Artist: Opiumortem Country: Bulgaria Label: Narbentage Produktionen Formats: Cassette Tape Year: 2022 Bulgaria’s Opiumortem’s both demos were rather hard to get, in fact, only the first one, entitled ‘Lethargia’ was released on a very small self-released run of cassette tapes.…
Artist: DeviserCountry: GreeceLabel: Hammerheart RecordsFormats: LP / CDYear: 2023 Many of my reviews have started with the remark that there is more to the Greek Black Metal scene than your standard Rotting Christ, Varathron and SepticFlesh. Which, by no means…
Artist: Pale Spektr Country: Germany Label: Amor Fati Productions / Nuclear War Now! Productions Formats: LP / Cassette Tape Year: 2022 Pale Spektre is a new German Black/Death Metal band that seemingly came out of nowhere. Though the four musicians…
Artist: ÄnterbilaCountry: SwedenLabel: Nordvis ProduktionFormats: LP / CDYear: 2022 Some labels release whatever band they like regardless of genre, others focus on a music scene from a certain city, and there’s some that are known for a specific sound. When…
Artist: SlegestCountry: NorwayLabel: Dark Essence RecordsFormats: LP / CDYear: 2023 Slegest was formed by Stig Ese in 2010, a year after he left the Norwegian band Vreid. He released two full-length albums and two EPs as a one-man band before…
Artist: FrostCountry: HungaryLabel: Metal ör Die RecordsFormats: CDYear: 2021 The roots of the Hungarian Black Metal band Frost go back to 1996, although technically they were formed upon the ruins of the shortlived band Prophecy that started even a year…
Artist: VéhémenceCountry: FranceLabel: Antiq RecordsFormats: Cassette tape / CDYear: 2022 Blending metal with folky and medieval elements are almost as old as the metal genre itself, from the very giants of the Heavy Metal genre, including Black Sabbath and Iron…
Artist: AnéantiCountry: BelgiumLabel: Death Prayer RecordsFormats: Cassette EP / CD EPYear: 2023 Formed in Brussels, Belgium in 2020, the Black Metal duo of Anéanti consists of Grafdelver on drums and backing vocals and Woudmeester on vocals, guitars and bass. Their…
Artist: Ritual DeathCountry: NorwayLabel: Shadow RecordsFormats: Cassette tapeYear: 2023 The end of 2022 saw the release of the debut full length album of the Nidrosian Black Metal band Ritual Death. That album followed a number of EPs released between 2016…
Artist: Beyond HelveteCountry: GermanyLabel: Immortal Frost ProductionsFormats: CDYear: 2022 The oddly named one-man Black Metal band Beyond Helvete is the brainchild of Sven ‘Natrgaard’ Krause and was already formed in 2007. Though being able to release two albums and some…
Artist: BeheritCountry: FinlandLabel: Werewolf RecordsFormats: 12″ EP / Cassette EP / CD EPYear: 2023 It always baffles me when I realise that Beherit, as a Black Metal entity, only existed for some 4 years. Their unparalleled and indescribable influence on…
Artist: Nubivagant Country: Italy Label: Amor Fati Productions Formats: LP / CD Year: 2022 It was in 2020 that Gionata “Omega” Potenti (Darvaza, Frostmoon Eclipse, Chaos Invocation, ex-Acherontas, ex-Blut Aus Nord, ex-Fides Inversa a.o.) surprised the world with a stunningly…
Artist: NorrhemCountry: FinlandLabel: Spread Evil ProductionsFormats: CDYear: 2022 Formed in 2017 in Turku, Finland, the then two-piece of Valthor and MA started their journey which led to their first demo. When T also joined the band, Norrhem swiftly finished their…
Artist: Nocturnal Departure Country: Canada Label: Hells Headbangers Records Formats: Split 7″ EP Year: 2022 In the current and ongoing Black Metal rejuvenation, the name of Nocturnal Departure was dropped more than once as one of the genre highlights. The…
Artist: BarbalansCountry: MalaysiaLabel: Goatlordth RecordsFormats: CD EPYear: 2023 Barbalans was undoubtedly one of the earliest Black Metal bands from Malaysia, being formed as early as 1993. Despite releasing a couple of demos and an EP in those early years, the…
Artist: Diabolique Nocturne MagickaCountry: USALabel: Self-ReleasedFormats: Demo tapeYear: 2022 One-man Black Metal band Diabolique Nocturne Magicka is run by the anonymous figure of Graf Kaalveg S. A. Starnesii, who self-released his project’s first offering, the ‘Aufklärung’ EP on a nice…
Artist: PanychidaCountry: Czech RepublicLabel: Folter RecordsFormats: CD EPYear: 2022 The release of the ‘Gabreta Aeterna’ album in 2020 marked the fifth full-length in the history of the Czech band Panychida. Having taken three to four years between each album so…
Artist: PanychidaCountry: Czech RepublicLabel: Evil Horn Records / Folter Records / Nasphyr RecordsFormats: LP / Cassette tape / CDYear: 2020 Ever since 2004, the Czech band Panychida have been spreading their Pagan Metal to the world. The creative core of…
Artist: VonülfsrëichCountry: FinlandLabel: Fallen TempleFormats: DigitalYear: 2022 That the music of Vonülfsrëich has been changing from one release to the other was clear from their slew of EPs released since the band was born. This was possibly in part due…
Artist: VonülfsrëichCountry: FinlandLabel: Fallen TempleFormats: CDYear: 2022 After its inception in 2012, the Finnish band Vonülfsrëich have released numerous releases, of which most were EPs. And on these EPs, the musical direction wasn’t always the same as the releases that…
Artist: VonülfsrëichCountry: FinlandLabel: Fallen TempleFormats: CDYear: 2021 The Oulu, Finland based band Vonülfsrëich was formed by Fogg in 2012. In the early days Fogg was joined by bass player and vocalist Lempo, who passed away in 2015. However, the band’s…
Artist: Moenen Of Xezbeth Country: Belgium Label: Medieval Prophecy Records Formats: 12″ EP Year: 2023 Hot on the heals of the band’s debut 7” EP, ‘Forever Rotting Winter’ in 2017, Moenen Of Xezbeth also released this 5-track demo tape (including…
Artist: Ieschure Country: Ukraine Label: Ars Funebris Records / Old Metal Rites Formats: Cassette EP / CD EP Year: 2023 Ever since the inception of Ieschure, back in 2015, this Rivne-based Ukrainian Black Metal act has been on the top…
Artist: YrrCountry: FinlandLabel: Korpituli Productions / The Oath / White Wolf ProductionsFormats: Cassette EP / CD EPYear: 2022 After a decent first demo in early 2022, the Finnish band Yrr continued to work on their first EP. Initially started by…
Artist: YrrCountry: FinlandLabel: Self-releasedFormats: Digital DemoYear: 2022 Yrr is a project formed in Finland. It was formed by the sole band member, also called YRR, who had previously contributed to the bands Yrrthorn and Grimsvötn. On the first demo of the…
Artist: EnthronedCountry: BelgiumLabel: Medieval Prophecy RecordsFormats: LPYear: 2021 Enthroned is without a glimmer of a doubt one of the most important bands of the Belgian extreme metal scene. Though being formed back in 1993, in those very thriving formative years…
Artist: Serpents Oath Country: Belgium Label: Soulseller Records Formats: LP / CD Year: 2022 The Belgian Black Metal band Serpents Oath released their second album halfway last year, again through the Dutch Soulseller Records label. Though the band might not…
Artist: OhydaCountry: PolandLabel: Wolfspell RecordsFormats: CD EPYear: 2022 On the back of their excellent first EP, Ohyda started working on new material. Once more released by Wolfspell Records, the Polish band again brings us an EP filled with raw Black…
Artist: OhydaCountry: PolandLabel: Wolfspell RecordsFormats: CD EPYear: 2022 In 2021, the trio of Diabolizer, Bloodwhip and Necheshetrion, together representing the Polish scene in numerous bands, banded together in a new entity called Ohyda. This has so far led to the…
Artist: VeneficesCountry: PolandLabel: Nuclear War Now! ProductionsFormats: Vinyl EP / Cassette EPYear: 2023 The Polish war machine of Venefices was formed in 2019 by Desolator (member of Medico Peste and ex-Bestial Raids) on drums and Sadist (currently in Doombringer and…
Artist: StervelingCountry: The NetherlandsLabel: Self-releasedFormats: Demo tapeYear: 2022 Sterveling is the brainchild of M.vdW, who is or was active in the Avant-garde Metal band Prospectors, Black Metal band Weltschmerz, the Death Metal band Iron Harvest and the dissonant Black Metal…
Artist: KalmankantajaCountry: FinlandLabel: Korpituli Productions / Wolfspell RecordsFormats: Cassette tape / CDYear: 2022 Although the name was very familiar to me, Kalmakantaja from Finland was the sort of band that I never paid much attention to. But when I randomly…
Artist: KalmankantajaCountry: FinlandLabel: Hammerbund / Korpituli ProductionsFormats: Cassette EP / CD EPYear: 2022 On November 30, 1939, three months after World War II had started, the Soviet Union invaded Finland. Three and a half months later on March 13th, 1940…
Artist: KalmankantajaCountry: FinlandLabel: Misantropia RecordsFormats: CDYear: 2022 ‘Ahdistus’ was originally the fourth full-length album by the Finnish Kalmankantaja, which saw a release in 2014 courtesy of War Against Yourself Records. At that time, vocalist Nagh was still part of the…
Artist: KalmankantajaCountry: FinlandLabel: Korpituli Productions / Wolfspell RecordsFormats: LP / Cassette tape / CDYear: 2022 The first full-length album that Kalmankantaja released in 2022 was the, by my count, 20th in the history of the band. Quite a feat considering…
Artist: WitchcraftCountry: FinlandLabel: Down With The Most HighFormats: Demo tapeYear: 2022 ‘Sodomythic Temple’ marks the third and last chapter of a series of demo/rehearsal tapes that Witchcraft released independently somewhere halfway last year and which were reissued by Down With…
Artist: Nihil Invocation Country: USA Label: Nuclear War Now! Productions Formats: LP / Cassette tape Year: 2022 Although the cassette tape version of Nihil Invocation’s fourth album was already released about a year earlier, the vinyl edition only appeared a…
Artist: Chao AbyssiCountry: PolandLabel: Black Death ProductionFormats: CD EPYear: 2023 The Polish label Black Death Promotion presents us with the debut release of their countrymen, Chao Abyssi. This first EP titled ‘Spiritual Essence’ of the otherwise mysterious act comes at…
Artist: WolfpathCountry: PolandLabel: Self-releasedFormats: Digital EPYear: 2023 From the Pagan Vastlands of Warsaw, Poland comes Wolfpath, a new unity in which multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Void is joined by current Acherontas and former Inferno drummer Marcello. After having formed in 2021,…
Artist: WitchcraftCountry: FinlandLabel: Down With The Most HighFormats: Demo tapeYear: 2022 Out of a series of three reissues demo/rehearsal tapes of one of Finland’s best kept secrets, Witchcraft, comes this second tape: ‘Ghastly Demonolatria’. Which was, just like the other…
Artist: NachtgnawerCountry: FinlandLabel: Self-releasedFormats: Digital DemoYear: 2022 Straight from the chasms of the Finnish underground comes Nachtgnawer, a new Black Metal band consisting of two members of Licht Des Urteils, as well as Advorsvs of Sacrificium Carmen, Riivaus, Wömit Angel…
Artist: Strychnos Country: Denmark Label: Dark Descent Records Formats: LP / Cassette Tape / CD Year: 2022 Honestly, Danish Black/Death Metal band Strychnos never really did much to me with the bands’ early (and sparse) releases over the course of…
Artist: WitchcraftCountry: FinlandLabel: Down With The Most HighFormats: Demo tapeYear: 2022 Originally released in only a handful of copies and spread early on in 2022, this rehearsal demo is the first of three of such demos that were reissued by…
Artist: SiniestralCountry: ChileLabel: Self-releasedFormats: Digital DemoYear: 2023 Siniestral is the brainchild of the Chilean multi-instrumentalist Victor L. Zamarca, who had previously released Thrash Metal recordings with his other bands Deathrone and Ectoplasma. With this entity he threads into new territories,…
Artist: Funeral MassCountry: PolandLabel: Marquee RecordsFormats: CDYear: 2022 The Polish Black Metal act Funeral Mass was formed in 2018 by three members of the Blackened Thrash Metal band Deafness. Their first release was the ‘Cold Winds of Desolation’ EP released…
Artist: VargrikeCountry: Hungary / USALabel: Self-releasedFormats: DigitalYear: 2022 Not long after the release of their debut EP, the American/Hungarian duo of Vargrike commenced work on their first full-length album. What exactly determines the line between an EP and full-length is…
Artist: VargrikeCountry: Hungary / USALabel: Self-releasedFormats: CD EPYear: 2021 How the international Black Metal duo came together is unknown, but in today’s day and age it allowed the union of the San Diego, USA based Velsingard and the Budapest, Hungary…
Artist: Nächtlich Country: Canada Label: Inferna Profundus Records Formats: CD EP Year: 2022 Canadian Nächtlich was one of the bands that helped shape the current revival of the (ultimate) Raw or even Lo-Fi Black Metal movement. The band that already…