Tales From The Underground
Tales From The Underground
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…
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…
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: 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: 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: 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…
Not all too long ago I stumbled upon a great demo tape that blended all of those tasty elements of both Hellhammer and Isengard. It was a no-brainer to imediately order this first Dungeon Keeper demo and while reviewing it…
Artist: MotherwoodCountry: Brazil, GermanyLabel: Low Noise ProductionsFormats: Cassette TapeYear: 2023 The origins of Motherwood lie in Brazil, where both of its band members, Yuri Camargo and Guilherme Malosso, originate from. Somewhere after their self-titled debut album saw its release in…
Artist: VerhindererCountry: GermanyLabel: Self-ReleasedFormats: Digital EPYear: 2023 Bettler, the sole member behind this new Black Metal project from Germany, is not only really honest about his musical achievements but very humble too. Maybe not quite self-effacing, but well, blessed are…
Artist: Mortem AgmenCountry: GermanyLabel: Self-ReleasedFormats: Digital demoYear: 2023 Although Mortem Agmen is a new band, the German trio behind this act is not exactly inexperienced. Over the past years, the three musicians have gained their experience in a wide range…
Artist: Order Of NosferatCountry: Finland / GermanyLabel: Purity Through FireFormats: LP, CDYear: 2022 The previous album by this international Black Metal band was a good and organic album in which the loneliness of existence as a vampire clearly shone through.…
Artist: Order Of NosferatCountry: Finland / GermanyLabel: Purity Through FireFormats: LP, CDYear: 2022 When a band chooses a name that leaves so little to the imagination, it can only do its best to fully and completely live up to the…
Artist: Denial Of DeathCountry: GermanyLabel: Self-ReleasedFormats: DigitalYear: 2023 The Brazilian born and in Germany residing Glauber “Haereticus” Ataide formed Denial Of Death in 2021 as a solo-project with the ‘Unholy Trinity’ as his first feat. And although it remains a…
Artist: Rotpit Country: Germany / Sweden Label: War Anthem Records Formats: LP / CD Year: 2023 After a demo tape and single-track promo, of which a review can be found elsewhere on our VM-Underground pages, the trio that is Rotpit…
Artist: Dark MillenniumCountry: GermanyLabel: Floga RecordsFormats: LPYear: 2023 In the later years of the first Death Metal peak, say, the early 90’s there were bands that were pushing the boundaries of the genre. Into different directions, really. Of course, there…
Artist: Mystic Circle Country: Germany Label: Fireflash Records Formats: LP / CD Year: 2023 Actually, only just recovered from the shock of Mystic Circle’s unexpected return and, subsequently, their first feat in sixteen years, the German duo is already back…
Artist: AtomwinterCountry: GermanyLabel: Trollzorn RecordsFormats: LP / CDYear: 2023 Ever since the band’s inception, the warmachine that is Atomwinter rolls on, now, in 2023, arriving at their fourth full-length album, ‘Sakrileg’. And just with every diesel-fuelled heavy piece of artillery, it starts slow but…
Artist: AzaxulCountry: GermanyLabel: Misanthrophia DiscosFormats: LP / CDYear: 2022 Despite both bands having also existed simultaneously and side-by-side for a brief moment, Azaxul only really came to life when Moonblood was carried to its grave in 1999. Only then Azaxul…
Artist: Steingrab Country: Germany Label: Astral Nightmare Productions Formats: CD Year: 2022 ‘Fluch Der Ruhelosigkeit’ is Steingrab’s sixth album (not counting, the live and compilation album, nor the first demo), making this one-man quite a prolific one. Though it was…
Artist: Øde Country: Germany Label: Self-Released Formats: Digital Year: 2023 This new band, which emerged from the German Black Metal scene in 2022, is formed by a pair who have already gained some experience in a number of other Black…
Artist: WiltCountry: GermanyLabel: Self-releasedFormats: LP / CDYear: 2023 Just like the band’s 2018’s debut album ‘Faces Of The Grave’, Wilt took things in their own hands. That means that this sophomore album, ‘Into Nothingness’, is again a self-released product, available…
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: Spectral WhisperCountry: GermanyLabel: Astral Nightmare ProductionsFormats: CDYear: 2023 Spectral Whisper was a band from Germany that was formed in 2017 and featured at least one member in the shape of Frater Noxathra. In 2020 the band name was changed…
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: Mánþiel / Wampyric Rites Country: Chile / Germany / Ecuador Label: Inferna Profundus Records Formats: Split LP Year: 2023 With ‘Ensomhet (Shattered Memories From A Distant Past)’ the admired Lithuanian Black Metal label Inferna Profundus Productions present two of…
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: 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: 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: Jade Country: Germany / Spain Label: Pulverised Records Formats: LP / CD Year: 2022 The German/Spanish Melodic Death Metal band released a demo in 2018 but went silent afterwards, it wasn’t until the very end of 2022 that the…
Artist: BloodCountry: GermanyLabel: Diablos RecordsFormats: CDYear: 2022 With a discography as extensive as the one of Germany’s Death Metal/Grindcore veterans, it makes perfect sense to see a compilation album like this one surface. In fact, it surprised me quite a…
Artist: Odal Country: Germany Label: Eisenwald Formats: LP Year: 2022 At the tail end of 2022 the German quality label Eisenwald reissued Odal’s debut album ‘Sturmes Brut’ on vinyl. Originally released in 2002 through the Christhunt Productions label, it hasn’t…
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: 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: 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: 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: 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: Mystic Circle Country: Germany Label: Atomic Fire Formats: LP Year: 2023 Time is a wonderful thing, it tends to heal wounds and make one think more mildly of things that happened in the past. When we listen to today’s…
Artist: LaereCountry: GermanyLabel: Self-releasedFormats: 7″ EPYear: 2022 Laere’s first EP ‘Solve’ was a great entry into the musical world of the German band, presenting a well-performed rendition of Icelandic Black Metal. I would have expected that the band would be…
Artist: LaereCountry: GermanyLabel: Self-releasedFormats: 7″ EPYear: 2020 The band name Laere represents a combination of the German word for empty, leer, and the Norwegian word Laere, which means to teach or learn. Empty learning: the unison of two meanings of…
That a demo tape does not always have to be spectacular in the sense of originality or extremely good musicianship, German Black Metal band Totholz proved with their only demo tape from 2021. I reviewed that demo tape earlier last…
Artist: Soul Grinder Country: Germany Label: Kernkraftritter Records / MDD Records Formats: CD Year: 2022 While we were thrown an EP in the form of ‘Lifeless Obsession’, German Death Metal band Soul Grinder returns with a full-length album two years…
Artist: Chaos InvocationCountry: GermanyLabel: W.T.C. ProductionsFormats: LP / CDYear: 2022 My first introduction to the music of the German band Chaos Invocation was their 2017 split with fellow W.T.C. Productions label mates Thy Darkened Shade. I remember seeing the excellent…
Artist: Nocturnis Country: Greece Label: Black Sunset Formats: CD Year: 2022 After an independently released EP in 2020, the young German band Nocturnis returns with a full-length album released through Black Sunset, a division of the German MDD Records label.…
Artist: Protector Country: Germany Label: High Roller Records Formats: LP / Cassette Tape / CD Year: 2022 The history of Protector is a rather messy one, with lots of band members getting in and out of the band and also…
Artist: Imha TarikatCountry: GermanyLabel: Lupus LoungeFormats: LP / CDYear: 2022 In the review for ‘Sternenberster’, the previous Imha Tarikat album, from 2020 I already explained that I had the feeling the band never really got the attention the band deserves.…
Artist: Blood / IncantationCountry: Germany / USALabel: Hells Headbangers RecordsFormats: Split 7″ EPYear: 2022 This is the sort of split EP that you knew was coming, I can imagine the chuckle the label and bands had when working out the…
Artist: AgathodaimonCountry: GermanyLabel: Napalm RecordsFormats: LP / CDYear: 2022 From the mid 90’s to the first few years of the new millennium, the German Melodic (or Symphonic, if you prefer) Black Metal band released some decent albums, of which especially…
Artist: GeistlichtCountry: GermanyLabel: Self-releasedFormats: DigitalYear: 2022 In September of 2022, Geistlicht’s debut release ‘Hidden in the Mists’ pleasantly surprised me with beautiful artwork but most of all, a great album filled with atmospheric Black Metal. Possibly equally surprising, the band…
Artist: Disgusting PerversionCountry: GermanyLabel: Black SunsetFormats: CDYear: 2022 Judging by the album title you’d almost expect an album in some mid 90’s Doom or Gothic Metal style, but you couldn’t be more wrong. Disgusting Perversion brings you unadulterated Old School…