Mörkö - Paluu demo II '00

Mörkö - Paluu demo II 2000
1) Mörköperkele
2) Musta surma
3) Totuuden henki

Zippy / Mega

I am late and so decided to further change my schedule. Of which no-one but me knows so it is really irrelevant to you, isn't it? Anyways, here is as promised the Return of the Groke or in case you don't get it the second Mörkö demo discussed back in March. Thank you, once again, to brother Grev for sharing the rip of unknown source (BERC?) he has kept for years. This naturally means we have no cover except for the small Metal Archives image. A proper scan would be neat.

How fares the second coming of Mörkö compared to the quirky first demo? It's a bit more "normal" but by no means polished and nice music. Just not as unhinged and barbaric as its predecessor. The drumming, sadly, isn't as wild either... it sounds a lot like a rehearsal demo so I suppose they recorded everything together this time. First song has riffs that are annoyingly familiar but not quite directly stolen. Second thing you notice is the dual vocal approach, main voice for this being a low bellowing sort of grunt, supported by the high-pitched shrieks in a few places. The second song, which is a slower, ponderous affair, has more of the screamy voice and kind of heralds the change in style to come in later years. Generally this sounds heavier than the grim coldness of the first demo; if that one brought visions of a bleak, wintry landscape this reminds me of trudging through perilous marshlands. Last song, the longest of the bunch, is also on the slow side and features an atmospheric acoustic break. Despite its roughness the first demo did have more such elements and even synths.

I used to favour the debut tape over this on initial listens but it seems to be a grower now that I have it play on repeat and focus better. Well, in the end of the day the debut still wins but by a much smaller margin than before. I assume fans of album-era Mörkö will find this more to their liking than "Mörön maa".

Orion Nightfall - Eye of the Snowstorm demo '07

Orion Nightfall - Eye of the Snowstorm demo V 2007
1) Mankindslayer
2) Hail the Old Hate
3) Wolf of the Wrathmoon
4) Spiritual War
5) Eye of the Snowstorm

Yandex / Zippyshare

I decided to post more Finnish material but cut the re-runs to the previous post for now. This is an unusually fresh cadaver to examine, mere decade old. Fifth demo of the Finnish band Orion Nightfall, released as a CD-R and recorded in August '07. I was handed a copy at the Mayhem gig in Kuopio, same year November I think? They did a little tour of three shows back then, which I recall was a bit challenging experience to the fellow organizing it. Odd venue at Kuopio too, very unusual but sort of nice if you don't mind it being kind of far away from the centre. Our adventuring party fortunately included a driver so it was ok. It was an enjoyable evening though I spent most of it outside smoking and chatting with more or less random people. And didn't really see shit when Mayhem played, barely the top of Attila's head. I'm digressing like crazy. Anyways, ripped from an original copy, covers scanned and included within.

Five tracks for seventeen minutes here, moderately melodic "black" metal (well, I suppose the themes and lyrics are vaguely black metalesque enough if you're lenient but I'd say it falls in dark metal region - then again it's not too dissimilar to various popular Poles who still get counted as black metal) with hints to the bands roots as dark melodeath unit still audible. Quite heavy and dominant guitar sound, though it all blends into an aggressive wall if walls could steamroll all over you - wait, they can and will do that, Final Fantasy VII Demons Gate (Demon Wall) never forget! Back to this, it's not all just in your face aggression, they can slow down a bit too. Vocals are hoarse screams and yells and quite good, at least when set snugly within the fluffy grim dogpile of other instrumentation. I kind of like this now, second time playing through while typing and again wonder how I keep forgetting to dig up their other demos to check out. I noticed some of them have really, really long songs and wonder how they pull those off. That's it for now, next something older again and probably a contribution.

In My Veins - Demo & Rehearsal '95

In My Veins - The Red Sky at Dawn demo 1995
1) Shrouded in Darkness and Despair
2) Black Vault of Heaven
3) The Red Sky at Dawn
4) Snow in My Hand

In My Veins - Rehearsal Track 1995
1) Black Vault of Heaven

In My Veins - Rehearsal 1995
1) Flaring Ground
2) Enwrapped in Thought

Sampo / Sendspace

Another repost?!? Yes, but this was also somewhat justified, seeing that I originally managed to mistitle the first track and the rips themselves were a little lackluster. So once again here's In My Veins, hailing from Pirkkala and they played melodic death metal, ripped anew in... '15 summer already? What have I been doing? For consistency's sake I kept the dark metal tag I had assigned them back in '09 when these were originally posted but I'm not quite sure it's really that relevant as it's essentially very basic Finnish melodeath of the era. The old cover scan included, it's a very simple affair anyways.

I crammed all the material into one folder and added one previously unreleased item, the rehearsal track which wasn't a new one at all, it was the second song off the demo as you may see. There was no date for it but obviously the rehearsal version is rawer and noisier than the studio take, sounds more aggressive too. I'm thinking it was recorded later but cannot really say that for certain. The rehearsal with the two new songs is the roughest and most in-your-face of the selection. A little unfair, the subdued sound of the demo makes it seem more lethargic than it really is when compared to the rehearsal songs. Nothing groundbreaking here but pretty good, melodic dark/death metal so if you're into that and missed this before grab it now and if you picked it up earlier I still advice to check the new rips out.

Throes of Dawn - With the Northern Wind demo '94 [new rip]

Throes of Dawn - With the Northern Wind demo I 1994
1) Autumn Winds
2) Outburning Sun
3) Silent Throes

Reuploaded - 2022

Looks like I really did a repost today. Let's go back to December 2008 when I first posted a rip of the debut demo of Throes of Dawn, "With the Northern Wind" released in 1994. Or let's not really since that rip was not very good. The bitrate was so-and-so, the rip was a bit too loud and brickwalled and worst of all I managed to do it in mono unintentionally. Well, that is the price of self-taught things. Especially with people who don't bother to read instructions.

I've made the rip from the same tape as last time and yeah, it is little worn but nothing drastic. To elaborate a bit from the old entry, the three tracks presented here are quite long and pretty ambitious for such a young band they were back then. Melodic, at best moments very catchy stuff with fairly complex song structures. You know, plenty of tempo changes and different parts that just barely connect to each other. Like a Lego structure built by an ambitious child, it just narrowly stays together and does not collapse into a mess of caltrops. Well, the clean vocals are still very, very cringeworthy, especially in the last song which altogether feels like least fluent of the constructions with its I'm-gonna-fall-I-can't-stop-now-oh-jesus-why-am-I-going-this-fast-I'm-gonna-die sort of fast, death metally parts and other clunky bits. The first song, which they re-recorded for the debut album "Pakkasherra" is the best of the crop while the rest follow conveniently in descending order.

Throes of Dawn are still active and have released albums in slow and steady pace while changing to a more mellow, atmospheric and somewhat progressive direction, with the most recent one out last August. To my surprise I found myself enjoying the more recent works better than the late 90's/millennium period where I stopped following them. I'm listening to the 2010 album as I type this and it's more like (new) Tiamat than any sort of meloblack or dark metal of their past and at least initially much better than I recall "Binding of the Spirit" was. The clean singing sounding finally good helps a lot I guess. This really had nothing to do with the demo here. If you liked this before, this is a bit better rip so get it. If you haven't heard them before this is a natural starting point. Let's see if next post would be more death/black or something totally different. It won't be a repost. Probably.

Blazing Eternity - Over sorte heder demo '96

Blazing Eternity - Over sorte heder demo I 1996
1) Over sorte heder
2) Towards the Thorns of Melancholy
3) Da håbet blev borte for altid...
4) Enthralled by Sorrow
5) The Romantic Forest Is Darker Than Sadness

Sampo / Zippyshare

Sometimes it really takes me ridiculously long to do things. Like today's item; I ripped the tape this was on five years ago. I wasn't actually going to post it but somehow the previous entry inspired me so here we are. It's been a while since our last visit to Denmark so about time we return to those shores with Blazing Eternity's first demo. Called black metal by some careless individuals this is probably as close as they got to that, doing a few years later a full-Katatonia wimp out. Or so I've been told, I actually never heard the second album but the development certainly seemed to lead to that path. Anyways, on this debut they play dark metal with harsh main vocals (primary reason people labeled this black metal I suppose), plenty of atmospheric breaks and generally quite mellow mood.

The title track is actually the most aggressive of the songs and gives a bit misleading idea of the release. Personally, I think it's the best of the bunch as well. It does have a slow part in the middle too so perhaps not as misleading as I implied. Interestingly, the other song with Danish lyrics, the short middle track When Hope Was Gone Forever is quite aggressive too while the English tracks tend towards slower, even doomy tempos and generally more... oh hell, look at the damned titles! Melancholy thorns, enthrally sorrow, romantic forest sadness!!! Need I really elaborate? I'm for some reason starting to get really annoyed, this demo has an odd habit of being "oh nice, why don't I listen to this more often" on every other listen and "isn't this girly crap going to ever end" on those less favourable moods. I don't really like the clean vocals, he sounds more like a kid trying his hardest which I suppose will appeal to some folks with strong parental instincts but it's not at all having the effect I'm sure he was striving for. Curiously, years ago I liked this demo better than their second one.

Right, enough of content, I'll just mention this is made from a dub and has generally decent quality but it really could be better. And there are no scans, unfortunately, just a cover image I think I picked up from Discogs. It's a pretty nice cover. That font though. This is all for now, if you like romantic sort of dark metal by cute *I don't know if they're really cute, they do wear corpsepaint on the pic!* young Danes pick this up. If you want manly, harsh war black metal stay at least 10' (~3 meters) away from this!

Mörkö - Mörön maa demo I '00

Mörkö - Mörön maa demo I 2000
1) Prologi
2) Syvälle Pohjolan maille
3) Kurjan tuomio
4) Raivo ei kuole
5) Epilogi

Mega / RGhost

I thought I'd do some more Finnish items. This is a freshly dug corpse, dubbed among the tapes I borrowed and ripped from brother Grev the other week, thanks again! Mörkö was and is a Finnish... I'm not going to call them a black metal band, nowadays they do some sort of experimental / psychedelic post-black metal whatever thing and here they played somewhat crude and straight in-your-face "black" metal or more accurately dark metal, maybe even fantasy metal? See the lyrics at M-A to see what I mean. I've been aware of the band for the longest time but didn't bother to check them out back in the early 00's as I thought they'd be some sort of joke. See, the name Mörkö translates as "boogeyman" (which is not exactly the most kvlt thing ever) as well as being the Finnish name for Tove Jansson's The Groke (who is obviously mvch more kvlt). Then when I finally listened to the 2013 album "Itsensänimeävä" I didn't like it one bit.

Ok, so I was not enthusiastic with the band, why post this demo? Well, I was quite surprised how rough and listenable it was, enjoyable even! The sound is somewhat barbaric, especially the drums and also cold, grim and other such delightful things. The lyrics were entertaining as well (in Finnish, sorry) so even if it were a jest it was a pretty good one. I am actually interested in hearing both the "Paluu" demo, also '00 and the first album "III" ...which is easy to do as it's on their Bandcamp page... I'll be back in a moment... ok seems like they were more black/doom at that phase, quite neatly in the middle ground between the two extremities of this demo and the last album. Instant judgement; this is the best release. Standout track: Raivo ei kuole. Give it a try, it's not as ridiculous as you might think. No really, it's not!

One more thing: cover scans would be nice. Assuming it had a cover in the first place.

Host - Host (2008)

Host - Host CDr 2008
Demo I listopad 2002
1) Ścieżka 1
2) Ścieżka 2
Demo II grudzień 2002
3) Ścieżka 3
4) Ścieżka 4

Depositfiles / Zippyshare

Return to Poland is in schedule, though again with a little twist. Today's post is a contribution by our reader Opiekacz and this is his one man band Host, where he operated using the name Grzechu ("sin") and a 2008 CDr compilation of two demos dating to end of 2002 (November and December). The actual disc was released in pretty limited quantity but he's had the files available elsewhere, so I'm making sort of an exception here. Most links seem dead, so I guess it is justified really. No actual cover scan, but he included a flyer which has almost the same image as the cover had anyways so let's go with that.

You're probably expecting bedroom black metal by now? And yes, that is somewhat justified as the production is quite minimalistic, drums by machine (UPDATE: nope, electronic drums human-played) and generally things have that computerized feeling. Sound is of the clean and clear variety, guitars slightly weaker than vocals and percussion... well, they're actually pretty much on the same level, neither strings nor pounds drown other one out. It's fine, not trying to pass for necro and considering the music fits decently. Voice is raspy and rough, but still quite sing-songy, reminds me a little bit of Master's Hammer actually. The music is, as already hinted, not of the standard sulking in the sleeping chamber variety either, actually it's also closer to "The Jilemnice Occultist" than "A Gate Through Bloodstained Mirrors" as it sounds in places very close to classical inspired heavy metal. Or is it power metal? Well, I guess you know what I mean. The minimalistic naming sense is an interesting decision too, seeing as the songs are titled Path 1 and so on and the demos just by month of release. Or actually the CDr cover just mentioned tracks 1,2 and 3,4 so perhaps he retconned that. Well, whatever the case might be it's different from what one might expect and agreeable in a dose of this size, a bit under half an hour. Have a listen if you don't mind some neoclassical leanings in your black or maybe more accurately dark metal.

Mord Umysłu - Promo '98

Mord Umysłu - Promo tape 1998
1) I
2) II

Rusfolder / Sendspace

Ok, more slightly unusual stuff and again we are in Poland. Looks like a pattern has emerged, I should probably break it as soon as possible before it binds me. But let's not discuss that, let's rather talk about this sending I got already months ago, thanks to the sender, but hesitated to post due lack of information. This is an obscure 1998 recording by Mord Umysłu which roughly translates as murder of mind, or maybe mental murder? Something along those lines anyways. It was a project, most likely an one-shot, by Aro who is best known from Perunwit though he did have a host of other projects as well. Many of them with very limited discography when compared to Perunwit I should mention. There's not really much info about this two song tape on the internets, just passing mentions of the band on Metal Archives and this entry, in Polish, on a blog written by Zuchu666 who used to contribute on the venerated Raf666underground blog. RIP, it strongly seems.

Where was I? Yeah, that entry, it had a download link too but that's expired so I've been unable to compare. It seems extremely unlikely these would not be same recording though different rips certainly. The recording itself consists of two untitled (probably, no-one at least seems to know the titles!) tracks and runs for a bit over ten minutes. Music is... pretty hard to describe with a simple neat term, let's try dark ambient metal, how's that? Way more ambient than metal, mind you. While Perunwit is very folky stuff this isn't that sort of thing at all. The sound is good, quite mellow and floaty, better than on older Perunwit tapes so it might be a studio recording. Most likely just a result of better equipment and experience. Vocals are in Polish and gravelly sort of half-singing half-snarling with slight variation thrown in. Keys and effects are omnipresent and it has a slightly dreamlike quality to it, whatever-wave touches. To toss a very misleading comparison, let's say My Angel-era Arcturus meets late-90s Christ Agony. No, it's not really like that, I had a better one in mind but it got away. Still, an interesting tape, I should ask Zuchu to reupload that other rip so I could compare quality. Oh yeah, no cover as this probably didn't have one, Z speculated it was never "properly" released, just dubbed to people.

...and Oceans - Mare Liberum demo 1997

...And Oceans - Mare Liberum demo II 1997
1) Trollfan
2) September (När hjärtat blöder)
3) Uråldrig saga och sång
4) Som öppna böcker

Rusfolder / Depositfiles

Tapping into the vaults again and among old bones, cobwebs and dust we unearth another of master Sorvali's sendings from almost two years ago, this is the second demo of Vaasa's ...and Oceans who'd later change name to Havoc Unit. And yes, I know this demo is not exactly hard to come by, which is the reason I didn't post it among the original patch of contributions late '14 / early '15. I decided to feature it anyway since Henu went through the trouble and it also came out rather well, which is not the case with some of the older rips I've encountered. Cover scan is enclosed.

If you've not encountered ...and Oceans before you should know they got more and more experimental as time went on, adding machines, gadgets, contraptions and appliances, sound clips, samples, snippets... well I guess you get where I'm aiming at. Anyways, in the old days they played pretty straight up melo/sympho black metal, or "black metal" as subject matter does not quite make the cut, let's just say dark metal, not atypical to the sound of the times. The most notable detail was probably their use of Swedish for lyrics, which wasn't very common around then. All four tracks were re-recorded for the debut album which I'm not in the mood to dig up for comparisons right now. Let's make it to the end quickly, sound is good, studio level and everything proficient enough. I remember this got mostly quite positive reviews back in the day, the detractors mainly thinking it was too mellow or Dimmu-clone or something like that. No wonder they got a deal after this. It's okay, but as mentioned I'm not in this sort of mood now. Recommended if you like the 90's symphonic/melodic stuff.

Alastaro über alles (bootleg compilation)

Various Artists - Alastaro über alles bootleg compilation "2014" (CD-R 199? / 200?)
M.O.T.U. - Exclusive Tracks:
1) Maxillofacial Ultrabrutalectomy
2) Discodeath
3) Osteoporotic Tissue Fragmentation
4) Jazz Club Saturnus
5) My First Riff
6) Endotracheal Thrombophlebitis
7) Hopeinen kuu
8) Improvisaatio
Orvonton - Demo I 1997:
9) Intro
10) Hyperkrist - Kirkebrannens natt
11) Drep de falske
12) 'S.R.201'
Sacrilegeous - Exclusive Unreleased & Demo Tracks:
13) Haunted Mental Hospital
14) Ereht Tuo Si Hturt Eht
15) Naar skyggene vandrar over Hornafjörður
16) Blaspherious to Evil
17) Sacrilegeous Suicide
18) Into Evigheten
19) Død kalm
20) This Is Who We Are
Evil0 - Exclusive Unreleased Tracks:
21) G.B.H.
22) Scifi
Gothmog [fin] - Exclusive unreleased track:
23) Sathanas der Shoppe Bok Bok

Mediafire / 4shared

It was Father's Day today in Finland as well as in several other northern countries and I decided to commemorate it with another big post... actually originally I was going to do a non-metal item but then thought it was high time I'd post this contribution sent last year by brother Grev, who also happens to be a father so merry Father's Day G and thanks! So, certain portion of my readers love Sacrilegeous and I think we already mentioned this compilation in one of the discussions somewhere in the comment sections, note that it actually has no name: Alastaro über alles is just something Grev decided to call it when he sent the lot to me and I kind of went on with it. To the extent of making a phony cover for it. Yes, the "symbols" around Baphomet are this. Sometimes I really spend my time in dumb ways. Right, so it's sort of a bootleg yet kind of semi-official as it is ripped from a CD-R Grev got from master Necrodesecrator when he ordered a copy of the Nordic Landscapes of Hessdalen EP and asked if older material was available. He did not mention when this was and I've forgotten to ask so we remain uncertain until he eventually tells us. Because just asking him would be too simple.

A note with the tracklisting.

Enough backstory, to the contents. There's a bit over an hour of material, most of time going to M.O.T.U. (21:34) and Sacrilegeous (31:22) parts, while Orvonton and Evil0 both get their roughly six minutes of spotlight and Gothmog the Finnish version represents for 1½ minutes. Not very even division but considering those are his main projects it is to be expected. M.O.T.U. is a mixed bag, starting with an instrumental metal-lish song that wouldn't sound too much out of place on a Sacrilegeous demo, continues with techno-industrial, more almost jazzy and groovy metallic stuff, with and without bizarre robot vox to a schlager classic cover and improvisation. Orvonton starts with an "intro" of static noise, thankfully short, followed by fast and quite harsh (industrial) black metal with obvious and dominant drum machine. It's no Mysticum but interesting nevertheless. Sacrilegeous part here is in the somewhat calmer and more atmospheric vein, with the familiar sound. Mostly instrumental too. Contrary to what one might guess by the song titles, "Blaspherious to Evil" and "Sacrilegeous Suicide" are NOT thinly disguised Deicide covers, first is a synth track and second in the more usual Sacrilegeous metal track style. And so on, you know S. well enough by now. Evil0 is techno/industrial, mostly instrumental if you don't count some quite annoying voice samples. That's enough about that. Gothmog, perhaps surprisingly, is brutal and bestial black metal with unhuman machine drumming and sounds something like Havohej / Profanatica combined with Corneus / Grausamkeit, to make a really crude comparison. Or maybe not. But perhaps that gives some kind of an idea. Recommended obviously to all fans of Necrodesecrator's work as well as those constantly on the look for curiosities of the Finnish underground.

Sacrilegeous - Coven of the XIII. Majestic Ones demo IV '95

Sacrilegeous - Coven of the XIII. Majestic Ones demo IV 1995
1) Over the Fields of the Serpent Sign
2) T.M.H.
3) The Mystery of Intermeditary Life

Sendspace / Mediafire

Ok the people have spoken, or a few have, and Sacrilegeous won so have at thee! I got a dub of this from brother Grev last autumn if my memory serves right (thanks!) and he had no covers for this, not sure if one was actually ever made. I think Grev used to be in touch with master Necrodesecrator back in the day so I assume he'd included one if there was one? UPDATE: Well, he got this one from a trader so the cover hunt is on!

Musicwise these three tracks are in the lengthier range of Sacrilegeous creations and the third track is also familiar from the still very obscure "I.O.T. 666th K" demo (spelling?!?) where it was titled slightly differently ("intermeditary" is a misspelling but I don't know if it's intentional or not?). The first track which is also the longest is an instrumental and starts like one of those older coffee commercials in a relaxed and nostalgic mood. It does get more Sacrilegeousious later on but not really as over the top as many probably expect. Sound and instrumentation is the same as ever, perhaps from the cleaner end of the spectrum. Second track is then trademark Sacrilegeous black metal with the harshness upped and lethargy dismissed. Coarse barks and rasps familiar from other releases appear to serve as vocals. The structure is coherent but gets very frantic and slightly haphazard again in the middle and to the end it collapses to space oddity. The last song, like mentioned, is already familiar from another recording and is almost exactly the same, though a bit more refrained and maybe even tame? If you've enjoyed the other releases you'll want to listen to this too and if you're not yet familiar with the project this might be a decent place to start.

Angizia - Kissarna demo 1995

Angizia - Kissarna demo 1995
1) Ein Scheidelied
2) Heidedamm
3) Im Abendland
4) Schlehdorn einer Schattenwelt
5) Der Walstat Blüte wegen

Mediafire / 4shared

Let's do quickly another Austrian item, this time a contribution sent by comrade RunningWild, thanks! This is the '95 demo by Angizia, another part of the Napalm roster in the label's heyday and while technically this is really the second demo in practice it's the first and only as the March '95 demo "Nordheim" was unreleased. Wonder if anyone has it anyways? That was a subtle hint. Right, Angizia remain active and have released seven albums and a split with Amestigon which is where I heard them first and apparently have continued to progress to even further into avant-garde strangeness. I can't really say much about that as I've only heard some of the 90's albums and promptly decided it's not my sort of circus.

But back to this: five tracks of which three are short ones and the second and third long. Music at this point is still clearly rooted in the black/dark metal tradition and could be categorized either as black/gothic/doom metal or perhaps neoclassical dark metal. Raw black metal rasps and howls are the main voice. At times kinda reminds me of their countrymates Korova but less avantgardishly bizarre at this time. Many of the songs sound straight like classical music with black/dark metal vocals added with extra instrumentation. Not bad really, I should give their albums another go though I remember not being too much into the split the last time I took a listen. I'd love to write more but I must hurry so pick this up if you got curious and/or collect Austrian demonology.

Gloomy Grim - Friendship Is Friendship, War Is War! demo 1997

Gloomy Grim - Friendship Is Friendship, War Is War! demo II 1997
1) War
2) Ashes
3) Blood
4) Reign

RGhost / Depositfiles

Back to metal, sort of at least, and yet another sending of master Sorvali's, this is Agathon's (in)famous Gloomy Grim and the second demo Friendship Is Friendship, War Is War! Geez, his naming sense did not improve by the tape, wonder what he'd called the third demo if one would've ever been made (note: there was actually a third demo, going by the rather pedestrian name "Grimoire" and released just last year!)? Gloomy Grim belonged to the same bunch of bands/projects as Soulgrind, Nomicon, Walhalla etc. and Agathon has also been a member of somewhat better known bands like Barathrum and Thy Serpent. All the name dropping and connections won't change the fact I could never take this seriously though, Agathon's naming tendencies combined with whatever track I initially heard back in '96/'97 plus the weariness I started to feel with the so-called circus synth "black" metal bands made me avoid them for the next ten years or so. Cover scans are included, as expected of Henu! Thanks for your work again.

So what sort of music does the notorious GG perform? Synth-based "black" or really dark metal which had some sort of horror concept, though that is not at all apparent on the lyrics which are really pretty straight forward antichristian dark metal, or black metal even. The horror feeling is more conveyed by the synths and music in general. A mean person might say the whole listening experience is the true source of horror but it's not as bad as my young self decided right away back in the day. Some bits are actually kind of cool but I still can't get over the certain (wrong sort of) uneasiness this tends to cause me. Agathon's voice really doesn't help either, always sounded really forced and clumsy to my ears. The programmed drums might be an issue to some as well and the synths can start to grate on larger doses. The bass sounds nice. In the end of the day it's still not coming back on my menu but perhaps there are connoisseurs of cheese who will enjoy this among the readers. Handle with care and store properly.

Dream Upon Tombs - Dream Upon Tombs demo 1997

Dream Upon Tombs - Dream Upon Tombs demo 1997
1) Black Tears Run From Crystal Eyes
2) Tamora, Moonlight Bride
3) On Tombs Borne Timeless Dreams

Mega / RGhost

Another contribution today, this Australian demo that seems quite unknown was sent to me by comrade Profoundemonium already a while ago, thank you for the contribution! Dream Upon Tombs was a two-man project by Jarrod Taylor and someone called David. P included cover scans that come with lyrics and some information.

Three songs of which two are a bit longer and the last, shortest one an instrumental. Musically I suppose this might be called romantic black metal, based on the lyrics and to a degree the rather atmospheric and melodic music. Or it might be better to just go with dark metal. The ye Olde English lyrics of the first song and the more romantic second one's would suggest fantasy themes so I guess some description monstrosity like "dark, romantic fantasy metal" could be fitting? Unfortunately the source tape seems to be a bit worn and crappy as the sound is somewhat unsteady, teetering from side to side in the beginning of the first track. Fortunately it gets better quite soon and isn't the worst example we have faced. Still bothersome. Otherwise a decent demo sound. If the description and flawy rip didn't scare you away, you might find this a quite interesting listen if you're into melodic stuff. The last instrumental song is a keyboard piece and makes me wonder if either of these guys ever had a neo-classical or dungeon synth project?

Ordo Draconis - When the Cycle Ends demo 1997

Ordo Draconis - When the Cycle Ends demo I 1997
1) A Crimson Dawn
2) Fading Daylight
3) The Gloaming of the Haunted Eve
4) The Nightwanderer

Mediafire

This demo is another of master Sorvali's sendings so thanks to him for the rip + scans and it's the first tape of the Dutch band Ordo Draconis, often seen labeled as black metal but that's not really right as this is straight out fantasy metal with dark/black metal sound. This is also one of those tapes I keep thinking was released by Elven Witchcraft but nope, it was distributed by EW (among others) and released by the band themselves.

The demo consists of four tracks, of which the second one is a short instrumental. Sound is quite good, strong and mostly clear though it does get a bit clogged at the faster bits with vocals on. According to the covers the music was recorded live which certainly contributes to the energy of the performance. Melodic, at times symphonic even, dark fantasy metal, I suppose you know the sort, with atmospheric slower breaks, guitar leads, raspy black metal vocals and some female voices provided by Femke from Gandillion. The main vocalist/bassist Moloch apparently is nowadays in Hell Militia, as a side note. This is quite well performed and I remember liking this back when it was released but it's not really my cup of coffee these days. Though like tea it's not really that repelling or anything, a bit is fine every now and then, but I prefer more bitter, black beverage. Give them a listen if you're into melodic and atmospheric metal or interested in EW-associated material, I'm off to get me some coffee.

Golden Dawn - Rehearsal 08/94

Golden Dawn - Rehearsal August 1994
1) Golden Dawn

Mega / Depositfiles

I decided to continue with the Golden Dawn operation and this is actually also the last item I had stashed away unless something more pops up. Might look like another Friday Night Filler when you look at the tracklisting but this old and obscure rehearsal (though it sounds just like all the older GD demos do) recording is actually longer than the previous '96 one! I found this on one of my dubbed tapes while looking for something else and don't really have much more information on it. I presume the "08" refers to August here. Obviously no covers for this one and I wasn't feeling like making one up. UPDATE: Image used sent by reader Running Wild who wanted to make placeholder images for this and the other rehearsal, thanks!

A single track running for over fourteen minutes and even though I got this labeled as rehearsal, there is really no difference at all soundwise to the demos. Yeah, I know I said that already but it's worth mentioning again in case someone feels pussy reluctant to check it out because of the rehearsal title. Looking at the Golden Dawn / Apeiron split tape cover shows the first four tracks there were recorded in summer '94 so perhaps this was from the same session and left unreleased. Though I doubt that, with the slight difference in sound and execution, this might be a later separate session that found no home for itself. That's all really interesting but how about a few words of the actual music, finally?! Slow and quite calm track, almost completely sung with clean vocals, a generally mellow atmosphere all around. Synths are ever-present but not very dominant. Feels a bit different from the other old material yet instantly recognizable. That's enough, download if you're into Dreamlord's other stuff or atmospheric, slightly fluffy material in general.

Golden Dawn - Rehearsal Tape 1996

Golden Dawn - Rehearsal Tape 1996
1) Call from the Grave (Bathory cover)
2) Inwards Leads the Mythic Death
3) A Message [cuts!]

Reuploaded

I was going to post another synth kind of an item today but then on a whim, possibly influenced by the other rehearsal tapes recently posted, I decided to resume my awfully slow Golden Dawn project with this rehearsal tape from '96 ripped by Grev's comrade. Thanks again, gentlemen! No covers exist for this one, at least that's what I think. UPDATE: Image used sent by reader Running Wild who wanted to make placeholder images for this and the other rehearsal, thanks!

No more time to waste, to the music: first song should be familiar to all, a cover of Bathory classic "Call from the Grave" which does have some personal touches thanks to the synth bits that appear in the later part of the song. Decent rehearsal sound quality, not that far from the '95 demos really. Musically not too far removed either, it's getting a little bit more complex with more synth parts, quite obviously as this sits between "Way of the Sorcerer" and the debut album. Or that's what I think, neither of the original titles appear elsewhere, unless they were renamed and I don't right now recognize either being an album track. Then again, it's been a while since I last listened to "The Art of Dreaming" so I might be wrong. Unfortunately the last track cuts, I've no idea how much. If you have a complete version of this recording it would be very welcome. Until then, this would be recommended to fans of Golden Dawn and collectors of Austrian recordings, as well as people into synth-heavy, somewhat avant-gardish dark/black metal.

Shamharoth - Spheres Ablaze demo 1995

Shamharoth - Spheres Ablaze demo 1995
1) The Birth
2) Snowbound
3) Among Demons

Depositfiles / Yandex

The Coven's Baltic Sea tour nears its end, today we visit Sweden and let's do some metal of death for change, how about it? Hopefully "yes" because that's what we're having, here's Shamharoth and their probably only demo. Another fruit of co-operation between me and brother Grev, he dubbed me the recording and scanned the covers, I ripped it and uploaded here. Thanks as always! There's not too much info on the band available, I do remember seeing some reviews for this and it was on trader lists and the cover lists the three band members' first names, instruments they play, addresses in Stenhamra and mentions the demo having been recorded in "a nameless studio" in March '95.

What do the three tracks made by three Swedish guys sound like? Death metal. From Sweden, not of the melodic sort, though there are melodies present here as well. The nameless studio has provided a decent enough sound, rather clear and reasonably heavy. The vocals are quite high on the mix, they're growled and brutal enough even if not just barked and grunted, more like sung you know? Music is mostly midtempoish and has a bit of groove to it actually. In a sense it's very traditional sort of (slightly) blackened death metal. Syphilis newsletter's review mentioned their flyer calling the music "dark metal" but I'd really just go with death metal here, even if it is quite dark, certainly darker than many rather fruity things that fall under the monicker. Most memorable song personally would be the last one, which is also probably the most melodic and features guitar leads and all. The notable lack of name-dropping here is due my very limited expertise in this genre. Overall I'm feeling quite positively about this, the first song could be a bit shorter though. Certainly worth a try and I wonder was this really the only thing they recorded?

Heresiarh - Dragons of War demo 1998

Heresiarh - Dragons of War demo 1998
1) Horns of War
2) The Cruel Bard
3) Lamenting Shield-maid
4) Dragons Domain
5) Wolfghosts (In Winter)
6) Ælfwine
7) Hidden Live Track

Zippyshare / Mega

South of Estonia lies Latvia, our next stop with this contribution picked from the seemingly inexhaustible supply of rips Henri sent me. Strangely enough, I had also ripped my copy already long time ago but it got stuck in the unfinished items folder, so thanks for saving me the trouble! Though I had to work a bit on my audio to add the seventh, untitled "hidden" bonus live song master Sorvali had either forgotten or left off for some reason. But back to business, this is Heresiarh, Elven Witchcraft's Morgueldar Dragonseye's own band with their one and only demo. Scans of the quite fancy covers are included.

Heresiarh labels themselves as "dragon metal" which on this release means melodic metal based on dark/black metal with vague touches of gothic and folk to it. Vocals are divided between the roars and growls of Morgueldar and the female voice provided by Rasa which has a strange divisive quality to it; I remember I used to like the vocals back when I got this tape originally, then much later returning to it I could not stand them. Now I'm somewhere on the fence, but still can't say I'd enjoy this demo like in my youthful days. In theory the sound is good for a demo, but also there something bothers me. Would be interesting to hear this as an instrumental version, or with vocals mixed lower or something. The additional live track sounds frustratingly familiar but I can't remember what it is, I'm pretty sure it's either a cover or some traditional piece that has also been used by someone else. The great Skyforger pops to mind but not any particular song that'd fit timeframe. As usual, if you have knowledge do share. Interestingly, I also enjoy this performance more than the studio recording. I guess that's not really a surprise to people who know me by now. Nice screams by Rasa. Recommended for people driven to collect all Elven Witchcraft releases, fantasy metal enthusiasts and, uh, people who enjoy epic sort of melodic metal I suppose. It just doesn't click with me these days like it used to, though I'm likely to eventually change my mind again.

Neohellist: True Black Metal Compilation (2000)

Various Artists - Neohellist: True Black Metal Compilation tape (2000)
1) Crusade - Camella's Glare Upon Candleflames
2) Impiety - Sodomythical Frostgoats
3) Santhet - The True Witcraft
4) Cryogenic - Fimbulwinter
5) Armageddon Holocaust - The Seven Churches of Apokalypse
6) Unseen Darkness - Glorifications on My Sign Existance
7) Autumn Verses - The October Land
8) Perish - Burning Soul With a Winter Shadow
9) Vaakevandring - Some Day
10) Borgomil - Inferno Resonance
11) Behemoth - Satan's Sword (I Have Become)
12) Neurotic of Gods - Terbuai Mimpi Di Laut Duka
13) Kekal - Embrace the Dead
14) Mortality - Abandonment Unto Our Lady the Infinite
15) Gorbalrog - Sternengriff
16) Mystical - Evil Spells
17) Moonsorrow - Luopion veri
18) Hellgods - Ahl Sohn Bar
19) Maelstrom - The Darkest Winter

Depositfiles / Mega

This is the last of the compilation tapes Henri Sorvali sent me amongst the legion of other rips, well that's not entirely accurate as he sent also two of the Beverina compilations (#2 and #3) which I'd already ripped and posted. I'll still need to compare the quality of our rips to see if I'll replace mine with his rips. But back to today's item, this is a "true black metal" compilation made by Extreme Souls Production from Indonesia. I find it hard to take them and their "true" and "pure" black metal seriously when they start their thanks list hailing "GOD" but perhaps I'm missing something here. Let's not tarry on the label's possible poser status, it should not affect the content of the compilation nor is it the bands' fault.

A good thing about this compilation is that it has a large selection of Indonesian bands which I'm not very well familiar with, making it more interesting than a standard selection of Nordic bands with a token local band tossed in seen too often. The first band Crusade starts with a rather COF-esque track of quasi-symphonic black metal which isn't terrible but not very interesting either. Fortunately the next two bands keep it more real and especially another local Santhet manages to sound quite raw. The compilation goes on alternating between differing takes on black(-ened) metal and manages to maintain a somewhat uniform sound volume- and qualitywise while having enough variation to not get too dull. No major lapses, except maybe Borgomil who sound like their track was recorded in a can, not that it would be an issue. The covers have some errors, Hellgods is spelled "Hell Gods" and Moonsorrow is listed with wrong track. Overall better than average compilation tape, unless you for some reason hate Indonesian bands, and recommendable.