Torech Ungol / Gates of Azharia - Split 2004

Torech Ungol / Gates of Azharia - Split ...CD(-r?) 2004
Torech Ungol:
1) Le Désastre des Champs d'Iris
2) Le Torture de Hurin
3) Le Serment de Feanor
Gates of Azharia:
4) I
5) II
6) III
7) IV
8) V

Mediafire / 4shared

Let's do a split today. This one was sent to me by brother Emptiness Cycle who had scoured it from somewhere in the murky depths of the inter nets, thanks! From France, Torech Ungol and Gates of Azharia. It's not quite the '04 demo "Nirnaeth Arnoediad" that one of my readers requested a few... damn it, over five years ago! Yeah, but it did sate my curiosity about the band at least and perhaps it'll help unearth that tape too. I'm not sure if this should be considered a split album or rather a split demo released on CDr (I'm guessing the format by the cover, real sharp). Whatever, it was released by Inspire Hate Records, as was the demo too, generally better known for their NS-oriented bands in the early 00's.

Torech Ungol's part is wandering in the misty, ill-mapped realms of "ambient black metal" which generally tends to mean black metal vocals and some (usually artificial) percussion over what otherwise might pass as dungeon synth or dark ambient, perhaps with stringed instruments sitting quietly on the backseat while the keyboards drive and vocals make ruckus on the front seat. Must... not... namedrop... Summoning... oh damn it! Besides the raspy default voice we also have spoken parts on the second song, some silly effect-laden growly spoken parts, all in French and this one is actually more driven by acoustics, said voices and wind-effects. Can't forget the winds, no sir. It's very barely metal, I must say. Third one has more spoken words, synth and drum machines. As the band's name and song titles give away, this is very Tolkien-inspired stuff.

Gates of Azharia's segment is slightly longer and divided into five untitled parts which I insist on labeling with the ol' Roman numerals. How I love those! Their part is clearly more ambient of the two and has somewhat pagan vibe to it, even slightly martial what with the first track's drumming and chanted vocals. Reminds me vaguely of the Emglev stuff I posted earlier. II is folky and somewhat upbeat, III in similar vein but moodier, IV is a melancholic piece characterized by acoustic strumming and features some whispery voices. Last part is similar to the first. I must say I prefer Gates on this split, easily. Grab this if the names dropped ring any bells other than alarm ones.

Eternal Darkness #13 / Canadian Assault #4

Eternal Darkness, issue 13 / Canadian Assault, issue 4 split fanzine (November 1999)
Interviews - Eternal Darkness:
Unpure
Vulpecula / Ares Kingdom
Incubus (old interview)
Nunslaughter
Lust
Order From Chaos (old interview)
+ reviews & Sadistik Exekution live pics
Interviews - Canadian Assault:
Shane's World (porn)
Kaamos
Pagan Records
Immolation
Rites of Thy Degringolade
Damnation Records
+ reviews (including movies & old albums) and assorted filler (rant column, playlists, zine excerpts etc...)

Ulož.to

Here's another scan sent by Pawel, thanks a lot! It's another split 'zine, featuring the 13th issue of the long-runner Eternal Darkness by Keith Dempe and 4th of Canadian Assault made by Dale Roy who had moved to the States circa his 3rd issue. I haven't read that many US 'zines myself, just some black metal ones and a couple of pretty shitty ones I wouldn't really call 'zines the way I understand them, like Grimoire of Exalted Deeds who get a bashing on these pages too. Both editors are old school-enthusiasts and it shows. There aren't that many bands interviewed here if you look at the content above, ED has two re-runs and Chuck Keller is interviewed twice (the second old intie) which sort of makes this feel more like a Order From Chaos / Vulpecula / Ares Kingdom fan club magazine. Well, the editor did run such and released assorted tapes by the bands. Great if you're a fan of the acts. The other interviews are reasonably long too though the Incubus one dating to late 80's wasn't at all my cup of poison. Life metallers to boot. The review section is separate and neat, easy to read like the rest of this side of the 'zine but the high amount of scores over 90 out of 100 really catches my eye. Slightly jarring considering how he writes about other 'zines and the state of the scene in general. From what I gather, his previous issue had been a HUGE two parter which apparently drained him pretty much fully and wasn't that successful in the end.

Canadian Assault side is slightly less tidy and features content I dismiss as filler; playlists taking up a page, rant I didn't bother reading as it was a chunky block of text, a picture collage of Venom, two pages of quotes from 'zines he'd read (though some very quite amusing or interesting, I'll give 'em that!) and so on. There are also loads of reviews which some people don't care about at all and some enjoy, spotting new (well, obviously old) bands to check out so the mileage varies for this content. What irks me is that out of the six interviews here one is the pornstar Shane of "Shane's World" (kids can google it) and two are label interviews which I'm not so keen on. Better still than having other 'zines or distro or such taking the space. Though the Pagan Records one is actually very good and interesting, Tomas being a veteran and relevant. The Damnation Recs one I didn't read. I feel like neither of the editors actually had enough stuff to put up a full issue even together but had agreed on certain amount of pages or something. Despite my bitching, the whole is still above the average and recommendable as 'zines always are to the time travellers, archaeologists and grave-robbers.

 

UPDATE: New upload provided by gratsim, thank you for the assist!

Blasphemy / Beherit / Samael - Live Split (bootleg '92)

Blasphemy / Beherit / Samael - Live Split bootleg tape 1992
Blasphemy (live in Vancouver '89):
1) Intro
2) Weltering in Blood
3) Demoniac
4) War Command
5) Blasphemous Attack
6) Fallen Angel of Doom
7) Goddess of Perversity
8) Nocturnal Slayer
9) Darkness Prevails
10) Desecration
11) Ritual
Beherit (live in Finland '91):
12) Intro
13) The Oath of Black Blood
14) War Command (Blasphemy cover)
15) Intro II
16) Hail Sathanas
17) Satanas (Sarcófago cover)
18) Witchcraft
19) Paradise, of Thy Demonic Host
20) Beast of Damnation
21) Demoniac (Blasphemy cover)
Samael (live in Switzerland '90):
22) Messenger of the Light
23) The Dark
24) Into the Pentagram
25) Knowledge of the Ancient Kingdom
26) Morbid Metal
27) Worship Him

Zippyshare / Mediafire

Looks like I didn't have as much time as I thought to post stuff before the festival - I'm leaving for Helsinki Thursday morning - so this'll be last before I return. Might as well make it another big one, here is a three-way split live bootleg tape released back in 1992. I believe most will recognize the performers here? Blasphemy was obviously the headliner for the first Black Flames of Blasphemy back in '09, there's the connection. Their part was recorded in Vancouver '89 and features most of the songs they did on the demo and debut album. Sounds messy but listenable enough, you can tell what's going on relatively easy. "Goddess of Perversity" is incomplete, there's a dropout unfortunately. The recording sounds a little different from there on, perhaps whoever recorded this moved a bit causing the missing bit?

Beherit have sadly not performed live during their apparently short-lived(?) reunion since the release of Engram in 2009. Their part here was recorded in Finland in '91 at unspecified location, most of their live performances took place that year. Sound is pretty abrasive, much noisier than Blasphemy's part and quite challenging to enjoy. Vocals degenerate especially badly, "Hail Sathanas" sounds just ridiculous. I wonder how people who ordered this tape back in the day for Beherit felt? Samael play nowadays forgettable semi-industrial metal and if their performance the other year at Jalometalli was an indicator, I'm happy they haven't been taking up slots at other events I've attended. However, their black metal era was excellent and this set is no exception. "Messenger of the Light" starts somewhere well into the song, missing more than half. That's more or less the only gripe I have about their part, recording sounds decent enough (especially compared to Beherit) and performance is fine. I should really go to bed so I'm not going to write anything else, grab this if you're a fan of the bands AND fond of bootleg tapes with "special" sound.

Incubus Succubus / Screaming Dead - Sampler Tape 1992

Incubus Succubus / Screaming Dead - Sampler Tape promo (?) 1992
Incubus Succubus:
1) Samhain
2) Vampyres
3) All the Devil's Men
Screaming Dead:
4) Angel of Death
5) Necroaria
6) Western Front

Mediafire / RGhost

I was initially going to post some more black metal now that we got the old engine running, but then decided to bring it to a crashing, creaking, screaming, screeching halt with a quick turn to something different: this sending picked from the things comrade Emptiness Cycle delivered me the other month. Thank you and other choice morsels will be served later! Anyways, to the British shores again and this is a split sampler tape, possibly a label promo, from '92 featuring some more pagan gothic rock by Incubus Succubus aka Inkubus Sukkubus as they are presently known (and about to release a new album this month, see here), teaming up with the fellow UK group, horror/goth punks Screaming Dead whose heyday was already in the early 80's with a short comeback in the late 90's. They were not active around the time of this tape's release so I suppose it might've been in connection to the compilation released in '93. Or just the fact that this was, after all, Tony McKormack's old band. Duh, obvious connection is obvious. No covers so I felt compelled to whip up a placeholder with band logos from '93 and '83 releases and a bat skeleton image I googled.

First version, which looks "colder" but the second accidental one looks more macabre so it won.

Yeah so if you're an Inkubus Sukkubus devotee these three tracks offer you absolutely nothing new as they're from the debut record. Unless you've managed to miss that one somehow, in case you should really get one of the various re-releases. If you're not familiar with the band, these three tracks are not at all a bad place to start, especially one of them being an old fave of mine ("Vampyres" if you must know). I like the stripped down but very clean sound here. Screaming Dead I hadn't heard earlier but am now quite interested to hear more. They've a very vintage 80's sound here, sorta post punk/wave thing going. I think the third song is a bit older than the first two. Why don't I listen to more stuff like this? I think I'm going to get that compilation from somewhere. Recommended for vampires, witches, pagans and other wave creeps.

Black Funeral / Winged - Split EP '95

Black Funeral / Winged - Split EP (format?) 1995
Black Funeral:
1) Armageddon (Lord Sathanas Returns)
Winged:
2) Intro
3) Age of Masterdom
4) Primordial Fear (Instrumental)

Yandex / RGhost

Alright, for today I decided to post an old oddity we discussed with master Fenrirsson in the comments section here. I should've done it sooner, really. So here we go, a strange, possibly bootleg, split EP with Black Funeral everyone knows by now and the much less known Italian Winged. Looks like someone released a compilation with their three demos recently. Ok, not so recently and it seems to be sold out already. But back to this, I have no idea what format this was (supposed to have been) released, vinyl or cassette. It would fit on a 7" but the division is really uneven as the sole BF song is less than three minutes and Winged's bit runs for ten! Naturally the image above is not a real cover, I just wanted to have something to put there. I'd really appreciate any further info on the release.

Black Funeral's track is obviously off the famous demo though it does sound a little different to the version I have. The difference I believe is mostly caused by dub/tape/rip quality differences. Though this might also run slightly faster? Whatever, it's the same old classic Baron you love or love to hate. Winged's part is more curious as it would seem the intro and two tracks might be exclusive to this release, though "Age of Masterdom" does appear on their second demo which I now don't have at hand to compare to. The running time seems to be much longer than what's listed on "Oath of Blood" entry on Metal Archives so I'm inclined to believe this is a different version. Or just mistitled. Or M.A. might be wrong. Or all options. Their music has a very obvious vintage Mediterranean sound. Y'know, old Greek and Italian black/death metal with occult keyboards, kinda crispy guitar sound and peculiar percussion, very very clinky on the last track which at times borders on annoying. Vocals are more in the barks and grunts department than screams and howls which also fits with the theme. I actually find this pretty enjoyable nowadays despite the tink-tink-tink-tink bits and generally mucky sound. Great, now I want to track down a copy of the demo compilation. But have a listen if you dig somewhat uneven and obscure split releases. Of blackened metal that is.

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Antichrist / Mjölnir - Split demo 1997

Antichrist / Mjölnir - Split demo 1997
Antichrist:
1) Heimdallr
2) I Am the Diabolical Eclipse
3) Black War
4) Totentanz / Naglfar
5) Legion of Fucking Skeletons
6) In the Forest of Evil
7) Hades erwacht
8) In Ancient Hate (live)
Mjölnir:
9) Ring aus Stein
10) Altes Götterreich
11) Trollherz (live)
12) Das Sonnenrad
13) Der Übermensch
14) The Hour of... (1. demo)

Depositfiles / Rusfolder

It's Mother's Day, bitc... people, and to commemorate that I decided it prudent to post some more raw German black metal as mothers generally are women and we have already established earlier they like that. So there. It's Mjölnir again, this time teamed up with fellow Germans Antichrist. I've ripped my dub of the demo and scanned the covers I got with it, result should be decent enough soundwise.

As usual, this was another pain to figure out, not because of Mjölnir's contribution, for change, but Antichrist was tricky after the first few tracks. In the end I decided Totentanz / Naglfar being welded together and went with that. The division might still be incorrect. Antichrist is pretty chaotic stuff at times and somewhat over the place if not all and demo-Mjölnir is as expected. Unless you haven't heard it before, obviously. A track from the first demo reappears and both feature a live track too which makes me wonder if anyone happens to be sitting on some live recordings of Mjölnir and why not Antichrist too. I'm in a bit of hurry so I'll check out with this now, grab it if you were into the previous Mjölnir posts and/or vintage German bm!

Hades / Mock - Live in Oslo '94

Hades / Mock - Live in Oslo '94 split live tape
Hades:
1) Pagan Triumph
2) Hecate (Queen of Hades)
3) The Spirit of an Ancient Past
4) ...Again Shall Be
5) Unholy Congregation
6) Pagan Triumph
Mock:
7) Thy Sorrow of Åsgard
8) Call Thy Eternal Winter
9) Bonded by Thy Blood

Mediafire / Zippyshare

Let us not sit idle but move on to another neighbouring country and yes, it is Norway's turn to be featured. Again a contribution by a certain person, thanks alot for this one, for change a split recording and a live tape to boot. This was recorded in 1994 at an unknown venue in Oslo and features relatively short sets by Hades and Mock, perhaps it was some sort of festival environment so the time was limited? Annoyingly, I'm certain I've read something about either this tape or the event itself in a 'zine but can't recall which one it was or when, not to mention any further details on the show. I'm not sure if this tape was released as sort of semi-official thing by either band or people associated with them, or was it just a bootleg. There's a cover scan but it's not overtly informative and actually didn't even have tracklisting for Mock's part.

No titles for Mock!

To the music, both bands play black metal in Norwegian style but with different twists. Hades' material is generally mid-tempo, somewhat epic and lyrically influenced by various mythologies and pagan faiths while Mock is more in the Norsecore style viking black metal. Six tracks in roughly 26 minutes for Hades, though first and last are the same instrumental song, album opener "Pagan Triumph", performed as intro and outro. Which on paper might look a bit silly but works wonderfully. A cool idea. Sound is a little rough and somewhat messy but everything can be heard well enough. Same thing with Mock's portion which consists of three tracks in slightly over 16 minutes. Note that each title has "thy" in it, can't help wondering if they actually understood the word or thought it as a cool way to write "the". Whatever, they do a decent job also and there's a little bit more variation to their three songs than Hades' material. Hades still wins and I'd really like more recordings like this. Recommended for fans of either band, provided they can stomach the sound and collectors of old live tapes and/or Norwegian black metal.

Cradle Of Filth - A Pungent and Sexual Miasma Split 1992

Cradle Of Filth - A Pungent and Sexual Miasma ½ Split tape 1992
1) So Violently Sick (From Demo 2)
2) Funereal (Ipswich 13-03-92)
3) Dawn of Eternity (Reh 03-03-92)
4) Circle of Perversion (From Demo 1)
5) Chewing on Your Guts (Reh 03-03-92)
6) Loathsome Christ (Ipswich 13-03-92)
7) Darkly Erotic (From Demo 2)
8) This Fetid Dank Oasis (Ipswich 13-03-92)
9) Our Father Which Art in Earth (actually "Foul Winds Threaten" from Demo 2)

Mediafire

Here's some more old COF sent by comrade Ruptured Souls, thank you. Unfortunately this is only a half of the "A Pungent..." tape, side B being Malediction's part which he did not have. I don't think I've ever heard Malediction so I can't say if we're missing much but it's a matter of principle so if you have their part of the tape please get in touch! The folder includes various images of the covers so that's covered.

As you may see from the notes, COF's tracks are compiled from the first two demos and from a live show and a rehearsal from March '92. Malediction's part would've been compiled from a live show and a rehearsal from '91 so in essence this split was a compilation. Death metal era COF so fans of their black metal or symphonic extreme metal periods might not be too enthusiastic listening to the content. On the other hand, those who can't stand later stuff and love more brutal and crude metal might enjoy this. The sound ranges from the good demo sound to slightly messier but still listenable live to crude yet (barely) audible rehearsal. Nothing sounds utterly horrible, at least if you're a seasoned listener of old tapes. Material itself ranges from good to pretty boring, I'm no death metal specialist after all. Cautiously recommended to those who think they like old COF.

Golden Dawn / Apeiron - Split demo 1995

Golden Dawn / Apeiron - Split demo 1995
Golden Dawn:
1) The Spirit Lives One
2) Until We Meet Again
3) Leben in Nebel
4) The Revelation
5) The Seven Gates of Dreaming
6) Enigma
7) As Above so Below (Act I)
Apeiron:
8) Where Mountains Touch the Sky
9) My Realm Is Not of This World
10) Hymn to the Glorious Dead

Bandcamp

I haven't had much time to attend to the Coven recently so here's a bit bigger post to make up, the 1995 split demo by Austrian projects Golden Dawn and Apeiron mentioned in this post here. Soon after the post I actually got two separate rips of this and I decided to post the one brother Grev's acquaintance had made for him. Thanks to all involved! A scan of the cover sheet is included.

I said a bigger post and this sure is quite a lot for one sitting, the demo takes up a whole 90 minute tape (children, back when we used cassette tapes the most common ones sold in shops were either 60 or 90 minute ones) with GD on side A and the three Apeiron tracks filling side B. And yes, two of them are very long while the third one narrowly missing three minute mark. No, it's not a radio friendly pop song. Golden Dawn continues pretty much from "Lullaby" though with less viking black metal tendencies and lyrics as well as a generic feel closer to the debut album's esoteric black and dark metal experiments. Production is slightly better than on the debut demo, if you've heard the tracks on the A.B.M.S. compilation it's comparable to that. The third track "Leben in Nebel" sounds somewhat awkward compared to others around it, possibly having to do with the vocal style chosen as well as the songwriting. "The Revelation" picks things up again and the GD part maintains a reasonable momentum to its end, even if there are some odd side steps in every other track none stumble as much again.

Apeiron's part opens up sounding very much like an intro to Golden Dawn song would except that it just goes on and on. Ambient y'know. "Where Mountains Touch the Sky" has a running time of almost 19 minutes and sounds for much of its duration more spacey, cosmic and astral sort of ambient than dark, ritualistic or occult. Keyboards and some sound effects are the main components but some electric guitars eventually make an appearence approximately half way into song. Things take, in my opinion, a more dungeon synth-esque turn from there on. Vocals enter the mix and with the quickened tempo and the guitars the song basically becomes metal which is a little confusing when you were expecting ambient. Especially after the drums entered the mix. Quite an odd epos. "My Realm..." starts again with tingling keys, all ambiance which is slightly more dungeon than astral this time, but now you're already cautious and won't be fooled by Dreamlord's shenanigans. Except he doesn't repeat the previous formula. This time the ambient soars into cosmos around third of the track in and strongly effected vocals are added, reminding me of the Black Orchid demo. Or that was the first thing that came to mind. Eventually some guitars are again added in, but they seem to fit better this time and it doesn't sound "just" metal. There are several fade outs and restarts in the latter part of the track with the parts differing a bit from each other while maintaining a uniform overall feel. Unfortunately towards the very end he somehow slips into full on metal again which I really think isn't appropriate here. The contrast is jarring especially for being such a short part in an epic length track. The last short track features so-and-so cleanish vocals and sounds really more like it should've been an outro part for a Golden Dawn demo. I understand Stefan is working on remixing and possibly doing something else to some of the Apeiron material which will be interesting to hear. Recommended to check out if you've enjoyed his other work and for the novelty of me wishing something to be less metal for the Apeiron bits.

UPDATE: Has been released on vinyl (hmph!) by Seed Stock and on Stefan's Bandcamp (yay!) so get it ...somewhere!

Rise And Shine / Gehennah - Split 7"EP 1998

Rise And Shine / Gehennah - Rise And Shine And Gehennah split 7"EP 1998
Rise And Shine:
1) Deadringer (For Love)
Gehennah:
2) Jackson

RGhost / Yandex

Let's do something different for today. This is still marginally metal but very different anyways, a split EP featuring two Swedish bands is no news to anyone but when the concept is covers of classic (or "classic") duets things get interesting. Or at least untypical. Here we have Gehennah, known for their alcohol-fueled Venom-worshipping proto-black/thrash/hardrock and Rise And Shine, possibly much less known band playing psychedelic traditonal doom metal/rock on their proper releases. Or so I am told. On this EP, however, they do covers with vocalists dueting and if I've understood, the bands playing each their own bit. R&S do Meat Loaf's "Dead Ringer for Love" from his 3rd album (1981) which was performed as a duet with Cher and you've probably heard it even if you don't realise it. At least if you're a grown up. Gehennah go crazy with a country classic which has been recorded probably around million times, including at least one version in Finnish, "Jackson" - best known from the two 1967 recordings, a more pop version by Lee Hazlewood & Nancy Sinatra (which they apparently referenced here) and Johnny Cash & June Carter country version you haven't managed to avoid no matter where you have been hiding. Note that I ripped this from a cassette dub on a whim, not vinyl! Cover image from Discogs, and probably the most colourful thing I've had on this blog.

The sound is quite unpolished but clear enough and fits with the bands involved and goes actually surprisingly well with the tracks themselves. Like mentioned both tracks feature Mr Violence and Josabeth Leidi dueting and to be honest, neither is exactly my favourite or ideal vocalist. But at least the outcome is personal. Gehennah's side sound a little more muddled than Rise And Shine and that's all I'm going to comment as I can't stand that song in any of the versions I've heard. Ok, not much more to say except have a listen if you want something different. Next post will be either a 'zine or something horrible and vile sounding.

Near Dark #4 / Goetia #3

Near Dark, issue 4 / Goetia, issue 3 split-magazine (1996)
Interviews - Near Dark:
Bathory
Opeth
The Darksend
Mefisto
Headbangers Against Disco
A Mind Confused
Lake of Tears
Ungod
+ reviews and "Bizarre" page of film reviews
Interviews - Goetia:
Pentacle
Bifrost
Revelation
Therion
Temperance
The Marble Icon
The Moaning
Evoken
Misanthropy Records
Tomas Nyqvist (Putrefaction 'zine / No Fashion recs)
+ reviews

Reuploaded

It is time to do some contributions again and also about time to post a 'zine. This one was sent to me by comrade Kurgan, thank you for your offer to the Coven and is quite a rare sight, a split 'zine! Featured are the fourth effort of Near Dark, also the only one I've seen and probably will and the third Goetia, you might remember that one from this post. The split totals 52 pages, if you count the covers, and features some waste of space on the ND side with full-page flyers and distrolist, Goetia side is similar to previous issue so efficient use of space and more content for the allocated page count. Overall, like with split albums both sides end up a bit short of a "full" fanzine.

Like already said, this is my first touch with Near Dark 'zine and I'm not very much into their side here. With the exception of German Ungod their pick of interviewees is all Swedish, which in itself is not necessarily very bad and I haven't actually seen these names that often in the 'zines I've been reading. Well, except for Bathory, whom I could never see enough even though the inties from the same era tend to be a little repetitive and Opeth whom I have seen often enough both in print and stage. Ironically the only foreigner featured here falls also into read 'em a hundred times category but at least the Ungod inties tend to be decent reads. The overall style of the ND editors is humorous, which doesn't really work for me in most 'zines, and embracing the hard-drinkin' hard-rockin' metalhead type which also is annoying, being sort of a semi-trend in Sverige back then. Makes us serious devil-worshipping monks frown in our dimly lit reading chambers. It isn't a black metal 'zine so I have to cut them slack I guess.

Goetia side pleases me more, especially since Niclas uses the same, cozy, familiar and safe lay-out. Better organized this time, I must mention, no more interviews continued at random parts of the 'zine. My only gripe is his growingly hostile approach to black metal and complete lack of such interviewees. Oh well, at least his picks, mostly in death, doom and death/doom genres are rather interesting. Misanthropy Records are also featured, probably the most often interviewed label in 'zines due having boobs and Burzum in my blunt opinion (the others most interviewed in my totally unscientific top 3 are Osmose and Avantgarde, because the latter being usually also MonumentuM interviews at the same time) and Tomas Nyqvist, infamous for his No Fashion Records and not nearly as often remembered as editor of Putrefaction 'zine, for which he is officially interviewed here for. I've never read an issue of that one either, would be curious to see a scan though so feel free to send me a link. Enought text from me, read what these people wrote instead.

Mayhem / Zyklon-B - Split 7"EP 1999

Mayhem / Zyklon-B - Necrolust / Total Warfare Split 7"EP 1999
Mayhem:
1) Necrolust (Unreleased Studio Version)
Zyklon-B:
2) Total Warfare (Sea Serpent Remix)

Yandex / Depositfiles

I decided to upload yet another of these 7" splits, this one pretty pointless since several rips have been floating around for the longest time. But since I came across a tape where I had dubbed my copy of this vinyl back in the old days and ripped it I thought I might just as well post it too. So here we have a pair of well-known Norwegian names doing what Norwegians do very well, cashing in. Scans of both sides included, there was no cover or sheet with this.

Ripped from a dub of an original EP it sounds good and both are studio efforts so no worries in that department. The I used tape seemed to have been pretty new too, no wear and tear that I'd notice. Mayhem gives us a re-recording of Necrolust from "Deathcrush" - says here unreleased studio version but wasn't this already on the (well, very limited) 1997 EP "Ancient Skin"? Or am I supposed to believe they re-recorded the same track again at a later session? Well, I know the return era Mayhem had an unhealthy obsession with the old stuff (was tempted to use another word there), skipping DMDS but that would be ridiculous. The track? If you like Maniac and "Wolf's Lair Abyss" you'll like this version. Zyklon-B's track is just a remix of the track from mini, adding some samples and effects mostly from what I hear. This doesn't make it radically different nor really better or worse. Worth a listen but I wouldn't cough up cash for this unless you're a really, really fanatic vinyl collector.

Wintergods / Funebre Inferi - Strigoi / DeathCult 96

Wintergods / Funebre Inferi - Strigoi / DeathCult 96 Split Cassette 1997
Wintergods:
1) Ancient Temple In Carpathian Mountains
2) Ritual Of The Black Priest (Panselinos)
3) ...At The Age Before The Heaven
Funebre Inferi:
4) Marching In Graveyards / Haunted Skull Of The Profanated Grave
5) Lost Sorcerers In The Pyre

Depositfiles / Mediafire

I'm fulfilling a request today. Unusually fast too. Comrade Zomvkiv Vlhorvnel asked for this split in the recent Wintergods compilation track post and I told him I'd see if I found a download link for him. My quick search found only dead links so I thought I might as well upload someones rip I have here. Unfortunately and unsurprisingly the rip did not include cover scans nor could I find a good one online so I used someone's picture of the cassette, I think I grabbed this from some distro's list (it was sold out but still on the list). At least it has the right proportions, unlike the one that usually passes for this cover.

Something about the content. You're already most likely familiar with about 60% of the content if you've downloaded the stuff here and here. Only difference in the Funebre Inferi part is that this version has intro "Marching..." and "Haunted Skull..." (apparently spelling fixed from "scull" used on the demo itself!) as single track and the rip of course is different. I don't think anything was done to the recording, at the most the master tape was more worn by the time they did this split. In the odd chance you haven't heard FI before, they (or more like him) played black metal in the Hellenic underground way, see the old posts for further details. Wintergods' first track differs only a little in sound (and title) from the compilation version and this is due dub or rip, most likely former. Second track "Ritual..." features prominent piano backed by synth and accompanied by the vocals shifting from whispering (approved) to clear, spoken sort (okay) and supported by effect-laden whispers half way to black metal croak (not sure if want). Nice piece. Third on starts dramatic and unfortunately with more croaky effect-filtered voices. If they had just normal whispers or nothing instead this would be at least 125% better! There are spoken bits later but it's mostly this. The track is still good but those vocals really distract me. Similar to my issue with the 3rd Lamentation demo which is essentially ruined by the use of vocals. Oh well, enough writing, start downloading and see if you enjoy these sounds.

Isacaarum / Sorath - Split 7"EP 1997

Isacaarum / Sorath (cze) - Meditations in Dark Green / Enlightenment Split 7"EP 1997
Isacaarum:
1) Isamaháparinibbánasuttam
2) Siddharthah's Pond / Jade Verses
Sorath:
3) Enlightenment
4) Torment

Reuploaded

Suddenly, another vinyl EP ripped from a tape dub. I wasn't sure if I'd upload this one but then it was requested and the end result was satisfactory so I thought why not? There's a bunch of these on this blog already. Enough expository babbling, the EP features two Czech black metal bands, Sorath some of you will remember from the split with Unclean posted ages ago here and Isacaarum is an interesting case as they started off with a piss-poor (or so I recall it was) black/death metal demo, made an album (more or less black metal) that was all over the place with mainly German lyrics but also songs about Finland, Sweden and Norway (lyrics?) on it and then they decided to become a pornogrind band or something like that. These two tracks of theirs are quite interesting as they seem to deal with Buddhism which is certainly not something you see everyday. Sorath's part is more basic straight ahead pounding black metal with death metal touches. Their second track is more interesting of the two with bouncy bass parts. Nothing too remarkable but a decent listen for people into black/death metal and those who are curious of the Czech scene.

Mightiest / Depressive Silence - Split Demo 1995

Mightiest / Depressive Silence - The Recreation of the Shadowlands / Depressive Silence split demo 1995
Mightiest:
1) The Enfold Shadows of Mighty Gates
2) My Time to Come
3) Silence
4) Lord of Darkness
5) Eternal Past
6) Depression
Depressive Silence:
7) Medieval Demons
8) Dark Side
9) Düsterwald

Depositfiles

I think it is time to post some German material again and we start with another split release and like the previous one of this nature (the EP here) this treads the line whether it's appropriate to be uploaded here in the Coven or not. You see, part of this has been re-released on CD the other year and the Depressive Silence material has been floating around the inter nets for some time already (though at low bitrate and possibly mistitled, at least one rip has track 3 as 1st). Then I thought, what the hell, a proper rip of this tape is necessary. So here we have Mightiest and Depressive Silence who should be familiar to the readers, or at least those into dungeon synth, both from Germany and at this point sharing members. Ripped from an original copy and includes scan of the xerox cover. Which doesn't really look like the image above, I just combined both bands' covers to one.

Mightiest on side A performs on this recording atmospheric yet raw sounding black metal and this is their best release in my opinion. The sound is of demo quality with buzzing guitars dominant and distant, cold feel to it overall. It is not crystal clear but certainly more audible than various Moonblood tapes for example. The main vocals are echoing screams, bass non-existent and drums definitely there but taking the back seat. Elements like synths and female vocals are used but quite tastefully, the guitars being the main focus. Ok, some of the tracks have a lot of keyboards but it's still more like "S/T" than "In the Nightside Eclipse". There are two pure synth tracks Silence and Depression which were not included on the compilation "Bloodyssey 1994-2003" released by Cyclonic Empire, shame on them. Both of them are quite long, over four minutes, so it doesn't feel right to consider them as merely an interlude and an outro. Rather they're fully fledged dungeon synth pieces. I must say I really enjoy Mightiest's part and recommend it to people into atmospheric black metal or with a general interest in the 90's German bm scene.

Depressive Silence on side B has only three tracks but these have a combined duration of over 33 minutes, beating Mightiest's half an hour with half the songs. I am not 100% sure of the track division but this is how it seemed to me, the first one is an epic length multi-part one at 16+ minutes and the two others clock 8+ minutes each. But it is better to listen to this as a whole anyways, is it not? I'm not going to waste time typing more, this is awesome and if you enjoy dungeon synth you should be listening to this already.

Macabre Omen / Godblood - Split 7"1997

Macabre Omen / Godblood - Split 7" EP 1997
Macabre Omen:
1) The Waltz of the Nereids, of the Dryads, of the Nymphs
Godblood:
2) A Funeral

Reuploaded

Today I decided to post another EP which in a way is also waste of time as it's been already available on the internet for quite some time. But nevermind that, I ripped a dub of this recently and as it came out ok I decided to share it here anyways. I also get to tag something "cypriot" again. This split 7" was released by Greek Daimonion Productions in 1997 and side A features the great Macabre Omen, from Greece and side B has Godblood from Cyprus, remember the demo posted earlier? Be warned that this is again a cassette rip, but if I remember right I was dubbed this by a guy who had the vinyl. Cover image is from Metal Archives, just rearranged sideways and additional images seen below from Macabre Omen fanpage on MySpace.

This is what it actually looks like. I have them the other way around.

Both bands have a quite typical 90's Greek style sound on this recording, MO working more in the atmospheric black metal realm with quite a lot of synths added and with a rather epic feel to the track. His screaming is also quite distinct, almost hysteric and high pitched whereas many of his Greek peers would go for a growlier style. Godblood continues straight from where they left on their demo, the riffing on this is very dynamic and obviously Hellenic with some heavy metal thrown in. The vocalist does a half screaming, half barking raspy growl, the bass is very audible and at times even prominent and all said it's a catchy number. Memorable enough to be re-recorded for their debut album it seems. Unfortunately it seems the dub is authentic enough to a vinyl experience to have the needle jump in a few places, this happened either twice or three times. I forgot already.

Here's the inside of the cover.

Enough babbling, download it if you enjoy 90's Hellenic sound and don't forget to check out the other Macabre Omen material, the album is available at criminally low prices the last time I checked so get that at least. The Godblood album should be quite readily found as well, for example at Primitive Reaction.

Horna / Musta Surma - Split 7"EP 2000

Horna / Musta Surma - Split 7"EP 2000
Horna:
1) Noidanloitsu
2) Uhrivalkea
Musta Surma:
3) Kuolonmyrsky
4) Miekka ja Krusifiksi

Depositfiles

...And here's another one from the same tape. See the previous post for a disclaimer and kind of explanation for this waste of time. I'm not going to repeat myself here. Much. "Vihan Vuodet" CD released in 2005 by Grievantee (and by Moribund in 2007 for our comrades overseas) contains this material, as well as the demos which were released as split LP in 2002 so I would strongly recommend you to buy that.

As for the content, both bands featured two tracks which at the time of the release were not featured elsewhere ("Noidanloitsu" was re-recorded for "Sudentaival") and I find the content enjoyable. Horna's part sounds raw, like their EP material tends to, but clear. Vocals are more on top this time and Nazgul aka Werwolf performs a little over the top in places, mostly on "Noidanloitsu" yet I still find myself approving of his antics. I personally like the often maligned "Sudentaival" quite much so it is not unexpected that I'm into this recording as well. Musta Surma is great as always, if you are not yet familiar with their material this would be a good time to start doing that. Grim and melancholic on the first track, majestic and spirited on the second one. Very much recommended but you should really get "Vihan Vuodet" instead.

Horna / Fog - Split 7"EP 1999

Horna / Fog - Perimä Vihassa ja Verikostossa & Whispered Myths Split 7''EP 1999
Horna:
1) Perimä Vihassa ja Verikostossa
Fog:
2) Whispered Myths (Of Ancient Times)

Depositfiles

 It might be well worthwhile to argue this post is kind of waste of time both for you and me as this EP certainly has been available on the inter nets for the longest time and Horna's track has been released on the CD version of "Perimä Vihassa ja Verikostossa" done in 2010 by Frostscald recs. So yeah, I really have no better reason to post this (and a couple of more) than that I recently ripped an old tape where a comrade of mine had dubbed a bunch of seven inches he had bought in late 90's/early 00's and as the result turned out good I thought I might as well share.

Should you actually have missed this, the Horna track is from the same session as the "Perimä Vihassa ja Verikostossa" 10" was recorded, it was an interesting choice to not have the title track on that release but on a split 7". Some people have criticized the sound of this session but personally I've always enjoyed the raw clarity of the production and everyone's performance. The track is quite lenghty and mostly midtempo, not perhaps the most exciting thing they've done but quite satisfying and epic nevertheless. Fog's track also appears on their full-lenght album, I'm not sure if it's the same recording or a different one as I can't remember when I've listened to it the last time, but in keeping in the spirit of wasting time let's assume it's the same thing here & there. It's proficient black metal in the Nordic vein, quite fast and varied. I'm not really impressed but they do ok. So there, if you for some reason don't have this yet go ahead and download. And I recommend you to check out the "Perimä..." 2010 CD version.

The Eerie Sampler (1999)

Various Artists - The Eerie Sampler CD 1999
Wizzard:
1) I Am the King
2) The Night Darkness Rose
3) My Unholy Witch
4) Valley of the Stone Horns
Gravferd:
5) Jeg fornekter jesu' ord
6) Når kristendom er en saga blott
7) Av hedensk blod
8) De tapte sjelers hevnere
9) La oss slakte guds lam
Raven:
10) Quiet These Paintings Are
11) Outro
Darkwoods My Betrothed:
12) Enter My Black Dreams
13) Whispers
14) Dark Aureoles Gathering
15) The Diabolical Eve of the Nocturnal Holocaust

Reuploaded

It's not everyday the Coven fills requests, especially as "fast" as here, but these things happen so do not hesitate to try. This compilation, or sampler as they chose to call it, was pleaded for by one of my readers, comrade pagan and since it's been long sold-out and apparently not readily found I thought I might as well rip it from my CD. I had scanned the covers earlier for the Discogs site and included those images (reduced to about 600x600 size) in the archive.

The CD compiles two Eerie Productions releases, the Wizzard (actually still Wizard when the demo was released but the label went with the changed name for the disc) and Gravferd demos and adds two other demos, the already here posted Raven promo 1998 and Darkwoods My Betrothed (ex-Virgin's Cunt) classic demo II from 1994. I'm not sure how the Eerie guy came to pick the Raven and DMB demos to this compilation, probably out of preference and agreement with the artists, but they certainly are good picks and deserve to be released on CD form too. Wizzard's (or Wizard's really) demo I is also great, dirty blackened heavy metal and definitely worth checking out. Actually the odd one out of the four, the Norwegian Gravferd ends up as the least interesting one with their quite standard Norwegian black metal. It's not bad really, just nothing that special. DMB demo arouses so much nostalgia in me that I can't evaluate it in objective manner anyways. A cool compilation/split/sampler/whatever you prefer to call it.

Asmodeus/Thule - Split demo 1997

Asmodeus (Iceland)/Thule (Iceland) - Split demo 1997
Side Asmodeus:
1) Beneath the Burning Sky
2) Satan's Insignia
3) Goat Baphomet
4) The Darkened Moonstruck Night
5) Sorcerer's Spell
6) The Book of Leviathan (The Black cover)
7) Invocation to the Demons and Infernal God (+Outro)
Side Thule:
8) Inn Í Eilífðina
9) Guð Er Lýgi
10) Þegar Tunglið Er Fullt
11) Í Röngum Heimi
12) Ætt Úlfa
13) Trúfrelsi
14) Rottur
15) Myrkviður - Víg Mitt
16) Blackfog - Fire

Updated.

About time to post some more black metal, this time from Iceland. Another tape I bought from one of the distros in late 90's. This split demo is more like a compilation of both bands' work, with Asmodeus' songs 1-3 recorded live in June 1997 and remixed in Studio Hemra in November 1997 during the recordings of tracks 4-6. 7th track is again live, from April 1997 and remixed in May. Thule's part is studio, songs 1-3 recorded in Teppaturninn in May 1997, 4 & 5 in August 1996 in Hellirinn and tracks 6 & 7 September 1995 in Studio Stef. The bonus tracks by Myrkviður & Blackfog were supposed to be teasers from their upcoming demos but as far as I know they were not released or were mega-über limited and distributed only in Iceland or something. I presume they were projects by either bands' members. Thule's songs have been released on a CD by Blackmetal.com so you should probably check that release out. They eventually evolved into Potentiam.

The music presented is black metal, raw and underground with a distinct Scandinavian feel to it. Asmodeus sounds slightly more brutal while Thule is cold and atmospheric. Myrkviður's song is slow in tempo and lenghty while Blackfog's is shorter, faster and generally more necro. Personally I prefer the Thule material here. Recommended and get the Thule "Anthology"!