Tales From The Underground
Tales From The Underground
Artist: Torturer’s LobbyCountry: USALabel: PromulgatorFormats: 7″ EPYear: 2022 Death Metal has a rich history when it comes to themes and musically elaborated concepts. The most well-trodden paths are death and destruction on one side and the anti-Christian on the other.…
Artist: Necrom Country: Ukraine Label: Osmose Productions Formats: LP / Cassette Tape / CD Year: 2022 Ladies and gentlemen, we’ve got ourselves a Nostradamus! VM-Underground’s very own chief editor Ricardo already predicted in May 2019 that Necrom would be picked…
Artist: Corpse DesecrationCountry: USALabel: Self-ReleasedFormats: Demo CDYear: 2022 Corpse Desecration is a Cleveland, Ohio based Death Metal crew and released their first demo only a couple of days ago. Apart from their origin, no further information about the band is…
Artist: Sexmag Country: Poland Label: Dying Victims Productions Formats: 12″ EP / Cassette EP / CD EP Year: 2022 A band with such a name immediately draws attention, add to that this fantastic cover artwork and you have yourself a…
Artist: Anatomia / MorbificCountry: Japan / FinlandLabel: Lycanthropic ChantsFormats: Split 7″ EPYear: 2022 This 7” EP, released by German-based Lycanthropic Chants, is yet another chapter in the ever-expanding discography of Anatomia. This time these prolific Japanese Death Metallers team up…
Artist: Sadistic Drive Country: Finland Label: Headsplit Records / SelfMadeGod Records Formats: Cassette Tape / CD Year: 2022 Anyone who has heard Sadistic Drive’s 2018 ‘Street Cannibal Gluttony’ demo/EP and then also 2020’s first album, ‘Anthropophagy’, has already noticed a…
There is a lot of talk about Russia, especially lately, but it is rarely about the good metal bands that the country has to offer. Recently I heard the great Bitter Loss from Saint-Petersburg and reviewed the well-deserved reissue of Mortem‘s ‘Amputator’ album.…
Artist: WombbathCountry: SwedenLabel: Self-releasedFormats: Digital EPYear: 2022 Pretty soon after the Russian unprovoked invasion of Ukraine last February 24th, many labels and bands expressed their support for Ukraine and its many metal bands. Benefit concerts were organised and special editions…
Artist: Sadistic Drive Country: Finland Label: Blood Harvest / Headsplit Records / La Caverna Records Formats: LP / Cassette Tape / CD Year: 2020 When I was immersing myself in this Finnish Death Metal band for a review for their…
Artist: Strigoi Country: United Kingdom Label: Season Of Mist Formats: LP / CD Year: 2022 If I am sufficiently informed, Vallenfyre was founded by Greg Mackintosh, best known as Paradise Lost guitarist, as a vehicle to help him cope with…
Artist: Oxalate Country: USA Label: Dawnbeed Records Formats: Cassette EP Year: 2022 Originally released in 2019, American Oxalate’s ‘Infatuating Sickness’ EP now sees a re-release on cassette tape via Dutch label Dawnbreed Records. Previously, it had been released digitally by…
Artist: Cryptic DissolutionCountry: RussiaLabel: Dismal Fate RecordsFormats: Cassette tapeYear: 2022 From Moscow, Russia comes this new trio playing Old School and Grinding Death Metal. Their first full-length album (although just clocking over 20 minutes), ‘Morbific Reminiscences In Physical Forms’ will…
Artist: Putrescine Country: Germany Label: Self-Released Formats: Demo Tape Year: 2021 From Berlin, Germany comes this three-piece Death Metal band. In 2020 they released their first demo tape ‘Putrescent Utterance’ through the Italian Unholy Domain label – with an extra…
Artist: DefleshedCountry: SwedenLabel: Regain RecordsFormats: 7″ EPYear: 2021 After a career of almost 15 years, Swedish Death/Thrash band Defleshed threw in the towel in 2005. Up to that point in their existence, the band had released five full-length albums and…
Artist: Human Corpse Abuse Country: USA Label: Caligari Records / Dark Descent Records / Obliteration Records / Selfmadegod Records Formats: Cassette tape / CD Year: 2022 Human Corpse Abuse is a new band hailing from, as they say themselves, the…
Artist: Mortem Country: Russia Label: Coyote Records Formats: Cassette Tape / CD Year: 2022 Reviewing this treasure is a bit of a little party for myself. In the early years of my ‘metal career’, I was lucky enough to buy…
Artist: EucharistCountry: SwedenLabel: Regain RecordsFormats: LP / Cassette tape / CDYear: 2022 While some bands in the Swedish Death Metal scene seemed to be fighting for the title of who was the hardest, heaviest, nastiest, most vicious… Eucharist was already…
Artist: WombbathCountry: SwedenLabel: Transcending Obscurity RecordsFormats: LP / CDYear: 2021 When Wombbath announced their return in 2014, a sense of enthusiasm was my first emotion. Then quickly followed by scepticism. How many of the ‘old masters’ who returned years or…
Artist: WombbathCountry: SwedenLabel: Transcending Obscurity RecordsFormats: LP / CDYear: 2020 In their persuit for the desired sound and place in the Old School (Swedish) Death Metal scene, Wombbath released ‘Tales Of Madness’ by the end of 2020 – actually their…
Artist: Repulsive Mass Country: Sweden Label: Brutal Cave Productions / Noise Horde Productions Formats: Demo Tape / Demo CD Year: 2021 Patrik Tegnander, the man behind this one-man Death Metal act we have featured on the pages of VM-Underground before…
Artist: UnanimatedCountry: SwedenLabel: Century MediaFormats: LP / CDYear: 2021 With their demos, `In the Forest of the Dreaming Dead’ and `Ancient God of Evil’, Unanimated became one of the pioneers of the Swedish melodic Death/Black Metal scene that arose in the…
Artist: EntrenchedCountry: PolandLabel: Self-ReleasedFormats: Demo CDYear: 2022 At the end of last year, our VM-Underground chief-editor Ricardo was very enthusiastic about the first demo of this Polish one-man Death Metal act. I know he loves that specific Boss HM-2 sound,…
Artist: Skinless BrideCountry: The NetherlandsLabel: Brutal Insanity RecordsFormats: Cassette EPYear: 2022 Skinless Bride sounds like a mix of Skinless and My Dying Bride… no, musically they don’t actually sound like that at all, but I guess that would be an…
Artist: Imperishable Country: Sweden Label: Self-Released Formats: Digital demo Year: 2021 Recently, I reviewed a compilation by a forgotten band from the Swedish Death Metal scene. In doing so, I argued that we still reap all the tasty fruits of…
Artist: VilespawnCountry: ChileLabel: Noxious RuinFormats: Demo tapeYear: 2022 This new two-piece Death Metal band from Chile released their first three track-demo last summer independently via their digital platforms. Now it also got a physical release through the American-based Noxious Ruin…
Artist: Bitter LossCountry: RussiaLabel: Self-ReleasedFormats: Digital EPYear: 2022 From St. Petersburg, Russia, comes this five-piece Death Metal band. Last year they spawned a first EP, ‘Oblivion in Ceremonial Void’, which they released on CD themselves and got a cassette tape…
Artist: Incarnated Country: Sweden Label: Graveless Souls Records / Grind To Death Records Formats: Cassette tape / CD Year: 2021 From a world as vital, innovative and musically creative as the early Swedish Death Metal scene have sprung many bands…
Artist: Soulburn Country: The Netherlands Label: Century Media Formats: LP / CD Year: 2020 I’ll spare everyone the confusing history of Soulburn in which it’s kind of a shuffle with Ashphyx, I assume that when you read this you already…
Artist: Proclamation Country: Spain Label: Nuclear War Now! Productions / Ross Bay Cult Formats: LP / CD Year: 2020 After the break-up of Proclamation, the band members formed a new band, Sacrificio, that leans a bit more towards Black Metal…
Artist: Proclamation Country: Spain Label: Nuclear War Now! Productions / Ross Bay Cult Formats: LP / CD Year: 2020 While bands like Blasphemy, Beherit and in a lesser extent Sarfcófago defined a viciously suffocating brutal sound in the late 80’s…
Artist: Proclamation Country: Spain Label: Nuclear War Now! Productions / Ross Bay Cult Formats: LP / CD Year: 2020 Whether it is due to the limitations of the Blasphemy-based Black/Death Metal or simply to the unbridled commitment of these Spaniards,…
Artist: Proclamation Country: Spain Label: Nuclear War Now! Productions / Ross Bay Cult Formats: LP / CD Year: 2020 As a reviewer, you are happy if you can write something about a good band or a nice release. People who…
Artist: Rottrevore Country: USA Label: Xtreem Music Formats: 12″ EP / Cassette EP / CD EP Year: 2022 Originally self-released by the band as a digital EP and later as a limited CDR in 2012 (released as ‘Blind Sided Attack’)…
Artist: Mortuary Country: Serbia Label: Darzamadicus Records / Grom Records / Necrovoid Records Formats: CD Year: 2021 Extreme underground metal has been forged in the most unlikely places of earth, even in the early days of the genre. Yet, many…
Artist: AbythicCountry: GermanyLabel: Iron Bonehead ProductionsFormats: 12″ EP / CD EP / Cassette EPYear: 2022 Abythic’s three albums have all been released by a different label, and certainly not the least. In chronological order, Blood Harvest Records, Xtreem Music and…
Artist: Larvae Country: Romania Label: Dawnbreed Records / Sacred Tomb Records / Unholy Domain Records Formats: 7″ EP / Cassette EP Year: 2022 For me, this ‘Acid Horror Cult’-EP was my first introduction to the Romanian/Italian Larvae, but I wouldn’t…
Artist: Outre-Tombe Country: Canada Label: Temple of Mystery Records / Timeworn Records / Triumph ov Death Formats: LP / CD Year: 2021 I think every Death Metal fan has imagined a ‘what if’ situation surrounding Chuck Schuldiner’s stay in Canada…
Artist: Scorching Tomb Country: Canada Label: Dismal Fate Records Formats: Cassette EP Year: 2022 Canadian Death Metal will mainly evoke associations with the mainly technical flank of the genre, bands like Cryptopsy, Gorguts, the more modern Archspire or maybe even…
Artist: CentinexCountry: SwedenLabel: Agonia RecordsFormats: 12″ EP / Cassette EP / CD EPYear: 2022 You can accuse the Swedes of Centinex of anything, except a lack of underground aesthetics. Despite taking a few years off (from 2006 to 2014), they have been tenacious…
Artist: AnathemaCountry: UKLabel: Peaceville RecordsFormats: LP / CDYear: 2022 When Anathema embarked on their 1996 tour supporting their then new ‘The Silent Enigma’ record they were captured live in Krakow, Poland. That footage ended up at the VHS which was…
Artist: Severe Torture Country: The Netherlands Label: Season Of Mist Formats: CD EP Year: 2022 Dutch Death Metal is mainly linked to the more classic bands from around the 90’s. Of course, bands like Pestilence, Sinister and Gorefest have been…
Artist: Fall Of SeraphsCountry: FranceLabel: Memento MoriFormats: CDYear: 2022 The first thing I thought of when I saw the band name was the Mayhem song from their 1997 ‘Wolf’s Lair Abyss’ mini LP, but clear enough, this French Death Metal…
Artist: BelphegorCountry: AustriaLabel: Nuclear BlastFormats: LP / Cassette tape / CDYear: 2022 Admittedly, I had lost sight of Belphegor for a while. After the 2000 release of ‘Necrodaemon Terrorsathan’, I somewhat lost interest in the band. I did hear some…
Artist: Worm Altar Country: USA Label: Self-Released Formats: Digital demo Year: 2022 When I think of the state of Maine (USA), which I have never visited, my thoughts mainly consist of the imaginary and gloomy images I have acquired while…
Artist: Norfulthing Country: Finland Label: Frozen Screams Imprint Formats: Demo Tape Year: 2022 Helsinki based Death Metal band Norfulthing released two digital single tracks before this same-titled full demo, of which the revenues are donated to a charity that focusses…
Artist: ExhumationCountry: SpainLabel: Pesta Negra RecordsFormats: Demo tapeYear: 2022 For many listening to a Funeral Doom Metal record is, and fair enough, a gruelling ride; it may even seem a form of self-flagellation. To fully grasp the painfully slow music,…
Artist: Diabolical OathCountry: USALabel: Sentient Ruin LaboratoriesFormats: 12″ EP / Cassette EP / CD EPYear: 2022 After Shroud Of The Heretic went on a indefinite hiatus by the end of the 10’s some members went on to form this Diabolic…
Artist: Anal VomitCountry: PeruLabel: Black Legion RecordsFormats: Demo tapeYear: 2022 It was about 17 years ago when I reviewed Anal Vomit’s ‘Demonic Flagellations’ (From Beyond Productions) for VM-Underground’s predecessor and also conducted an interview with the band about these early…
Artist: Frozen Blood Country: Chile Label: Self-Released Formats: Digital single Year: 2022 Frozen Blood is a new Old School Death Metal duo from Chile who will be releasing their debut demo tape by the end of this year through Diabolical…
Artist: Ribspreader Country: Sweden Label: Xtreem Music Formats: LP / Cassette Tape / CD Year: 2022 Writing an introduction to Ribspreader is actually not all that easy. There is a lot and at the very same time pretty little to…