Tales From The Underground
Tales From The Underground
Artist: Nights Horn Country: France Label: Self-Released Formats: Demo tape Year: 2023 Of course, it is nonsensical to write an essay on Dissection’s far-reaching influence on today’s extreme metal scene. Almost weekly, we are treated to bands that (sometimes more…
Artist: Ritual Hammer Country: USA Label: Self-Released Formats: Digital Demo Year: 2023 There is little background information to give you any guidance before you turn on ‘Demo 2023’ by Ritual Hammer. But this demo, so far only available as a…
Artist: Verhinderer Country: Germany Label: Self-Released Formats: Digital demo Year: 2023 With ‘Groschenroman’, we already have Verhinderer’s third demo/EP in our hands, and that in less than a few months, as the band was only started in 2023. This one-man…
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: 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: 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: Knüth Country: Russia Label: Self-Released Formats: Digital demo Year: 2023 After quite a steady and impressive working pace, the duo that makes up this Russian Black Metal band fell kind of silent by late 2021. In November of that…
Artist: NightsideCountry: FinlandLabel: Purity Through FireFormats: Demo CDYear: 2023 When Nightside was formed in Turku, Finland in 1996, there wasn’t so much of a Finnish Black Metal scene as we know it today. Sure, bands like Beherit, Impaled Nazarene, Archgoat…
Artist: SokeusCountry: FinlandLabel: Self-ReleasedFormats: Demo tapeYear: 2023 With ‘Immortal Wisdom’ the Finnish duo behind black metal band Sokeus shove their second demo under our collective noses. The first, ‘Forever Cursed’ saw the light of day last summer and already gave…
Artist: Hospital Bomber Country: USA Label: Self-Released Formats: Digital Demo Year: 2023 ‘Demonstration Of Two Songs’ is the first demo of this New York, USA based Death Metal band. And, believe it or not, it is indeed a demo containing,…
Artist: Yellow ObeliskCountry: United KingdomLabel: Negate EverythingFormats: Digital demoYear: 2023 Hardly anything is known about this act, of which I presume is from the UK, so instead we go and dive directly into their brand of Raw Black Metal. The…
Artist: Psoglav Country: Bulgaria Label: Diabolic Hate Propaganda Records Formats: Demo Tape Year: 2023 With new works by Todorac, the inspirer behind this new project, it is always worth taking a moment to delve into the background and meaning of…
Artist: FeedingCountry: CanadaLabel: Self-ReleasedFormats: Demo tapeYear: 2023 Although this Canadian Death Metal band already released a couple of demos over the past few years, they are relatively unknown, even to such an extent that they haven’t been included on Metal-Archives…
Artist: Opaque Blue Country: Bosnia And Herzegovina Label: Self-Released Formats: Digital Demo Year: 2023 This new Raw Black Metal band was born as a side-project of Black Stem Rust, an interesting but quirky Black Metal act from Bosnia And Herzegovina.…
Artist: CEPCountry: SwedenLabel: Pant Y MeddygonFormats: Demo tapeYear: 2023 It might not come as a total surprise, but ‘First Tape’ is actually this band’s first release. But while this might be the first offering of the band, at least one…
Artist: Kasturn Country: United Kingdom Label: Death Hymns Formats: Demo tape Year: 2023 Although it is not 1997 anymore, but I could’ve picked any other random bygone year, sometimes a good cover still does the trick. On my daily foray…
Artist: ArzhaabatCountry: SwedenLabel: Pant Y MeddygonFormats: Demo tapeYear: 2023 Arzhaabat is a new musical vehicle of the ever-prolific MBN (Chevallier Skrog among other and the person behind the Pant Y Meddygon label). This time, he is once again all alone at the helm, bringing us…
Artist: Blau BlutCountry: SwedenLabel: Pant Y MeddygonFormats: Demo tapeYear: 2023 Blau Blut is a new band made up of musicians from several countries, including Sweden, Austria and Slovakia. This international company, in which we recognise at least MBN (of Chevallier…
Artist: TëmorCountry: FranceLabel: Croux RecordsFormats: Demo tapeYear: 2023 In the ever-emerging scene that combines the fury of the old early 80’s anarchist Punk with the depraved sort of bareboned Black Metal, comes this Parisian act Tëmor. It is not completely…
Artist: HersirCountry: SwedenLabel: Self-releasedFormats: Digital DemoYear: 2023 Five songs totalling nearly 21 minutes is what the Swedish band Hersir presents us on their second demo ‘Hateful Draugar’ that saw its release in March 2023. Musically the band’s Black Metal can…
Artist: Carpathian WrathCountry: Puerto RicoLabel: Self-ReleasedFormats: Digital demoYear: 2023 If Puerto Rican Carpathian Wrath have proved anything (besides their own musical prowess, of course), it is how elitist Metal Archives’ arbitrary regime is. Several attempts have apparently been made to include the band…
Artist: VârcolacCountry: RomaniaLabel: Self-releasedFormats: Digital demoYear: 2023 ‘Demo II’ marks the return of this, seemingly, one-man Black Metal act from Romania, Vârcolac. Early 2022 saw the release of the band’s debut full-length album, which was digitally released by the band…
Artist: UnohdusCountry: FinlandLabel: Self-releasedFormats: Demo tapeYear: 2023 With two tracks spanning a total of 8 minutes, Finland’s Unohdus’ arrival on the Black Metal scene is short but sweet. The atmospheric Black Metal in these two songs shows the one-man band…
Artist: Ceremonial Crypt DesecrationCountry: AustraliaLabel: Banner Of BloodFormats: Digital demoYear: 2023 This Australian one-man Black Metal band has been featured on our VM-Underground pages a couple of times, it well seems this album will be the last one ever to…
Artist: Vitriolic GloomCountry: UkraineLabel: Deepswarming BloodmagikFormats: Digital demoYear: 2023 The aptly titled ‘Transcending The Suffocative Light’-demo is the first offering from this one-man act from Kremenchuk, Ukraine. On this (so far) digital only demo Yehor “Gnom” Mutylin serves us with…
Artist: Dawn’s ReflectionCountry: USALabel: Cryptic Shield VaultFormats: Demo tapeYear: 2023 ‘Demo MMXXIII’ is not only the first demo of this Richmond, Virginia, USA based Black Metal band, but also for its label, Cryptic Shield Vault. Of both entities there is…
Artist: VoidhandCountry: UnknownLabel: Self-releasedFormats: Digital demoYear: 2023 There is exactly nothing at all on the internet about this new Black Metal act. It is completely unknown where it comes from and its musical origins. What is clear though, given the…
Artist: Mystic Veil Country: USA Label: Self-Released Formats: Digital Demo Year: 2022 With ‘What Misery Thou Art Fallen’ the duo behind the American Raw Black Metal band Mystic Veil reveal their first offering, a one-track demo with a total playing…
Artist: Paimon Gate Country: USA Label: Nuclear War Now! Productions Formats: LP / Cassette Tape Year: 2022 Last year the debut EP for Paimon Gate was released through Nuclear War Now! Productions on the three most popular physical formats, showing…
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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: Putridarium Country: Germany Label: Headsplit Records Formats: Demo Tape Year: 2023 At the very edge of 2022 the German Death Metal band Putridarium unleashed their third demo tape through their partners in crime since their very inception, Headsplit Records.…
Artist: Carpathian WrathCountry: Puerto RicoLabel: Self-ReleasedFormats: Digital demoYear: 2023 Carpathian Wrath is a three-piece Black Metal band from Puerto Rico. Probably not quite the place you that you will come up with when you think of classic 90’s “Vampyric Black Metal”. It also…
Artist: Phlegmesis Country: USA Label: Self-Released Formats: Digital Demo Year: 2023 Second demo for this one-man Death Metal act that has little to do with sophisticated soundscapes or technical wizardry. Instead, Phlegmesis goes deep into the most rancid sewers of…
Artist: VergewaltigerCountry: USALabel: Self-releasedFormats: Digital demoYear: 2023 Although the band had a demo, a one-track single and a split EP before, the music of Vergewaltiger never reached my ears before. Due to a recommendation I stumbled upon them and the…
Artist: Black HurstCountry: USALabel: Into The PentagramFormats: Demo tapeYear: 2023 This eponymous demo tape is the first offering of the New York, USA based Black Hurst. The band profiles itself with a term of ‘Pagan Black Metal Mysticism’ and with…
Artist: WormfaceCountry: USALabel: Self-releasedFormats: Digital demoYear: 2023 What does a reviewer have to add when pretty much all the grass has already been cut from under his feet by the band themselves? With a band name like this and a…
Artist: GoatScrote Country: Canada Label: Self-Released Formats: Demo Tape Year: 2023 Besides one full-length album the Canadian pervs of GoatScrote have released a handful of demos and EP’s as well, this new one, ‘Humanity Must Be Destroyed’, being their fifth.…
Artist: Ghostwound Country: Indonesia Label: Self-Released Formats: Digital Demo Year: 2023 Ghostwound is a new Dungeon Synth-heavy Black Metal act that is most likely the product of one anonymous figure, I guess the one depicted on the cover, from Indonesia.…
Artist: Pestis Country: Canada Label: Self-Released Formats: Demo Tape Year: 2023 With a title like this, it is not hard to guess that we are dealing here with a first demo by a new band. Indeed, the Canadian Death Metal…
Artist: Eternal DarknessCountry: SwedenLabel: Xtreem MusicFormats: 10″ EPYear: 2021 Some of the Swedish Death Metal bands from the early 90’s gained huge amounts of fame, some of which still live on, and others just had too little to offer (or…