Cтарые записи

tiistai 19. huhtikuuta 2011

Winterschlacht - Vollstrecker demo 1998

Winterschlacht - Vollstrecker demo 1998
1) Vollstrecker
2) Heterotrophie
3) Urwälder der Entscheidungsschlacht
4) Tod durch Aufhangen
5) Überlegenheit
6) Dunkle Gestalt

Megaupload
This is another contribution I've received, thanks to the person who sent it! Polish black metal from a member of the great Galgenberg, this would seem to be the only demo he released. No cover artwork so I have used an image from Metal Archives. As always, cover scan is welcomed.

This demo contains 6 tracks of quite fast and straight-forward black metal with a raw underground sound, drum machine and a few dashes of synth thrown in the background occasionally. I can't say the final result would be anywhere near Galgenberg stuff. There are some good moments but the overall performance and finish is lacking, I dislike the drum machine (both sound and programming) and the whole thing sounds kind of unfinished. I'm positive this would've come out much better had he worked with someone else on it. Rip quality is very good. I'm certain the maniacs into radical Polish bm will not be disheartened by my dim view of the demo and others into underground black metal might want to check it out as well. Not essential but interesting.

perjantai 15. huhtikuuta 2011

Funerary Bell - Heksakosioi Heksekonta Heks promo 2007

Funerary Bell - Heksakosioi Heksekonta Heks promo 2007
1) Funerary Bell
2) Resurrection
3) XehXheX
- - -
4) Guardian of My Infernal Path (Bonus Track)

Megaupload

Here's a post that's highly unusual to this blog... not as per the content but the fact it's as recent as 2007! Well what can I say, I'm very much into the old schoolish black metal of Finland's Funerary Bell and as I'm in touch with the Invoker (aka Profundiis) who gave his ok to post this tape I decided to go ahead as I think the band deserves more attention. Now that's been covered I might as well mention this is a rip from the tape I got from the band, dubbed with a bonus track which obviously isn't officially part of the promo but recorded soon afterwards. Cover scans included.

This is a pretty short tape, especially the Heksakosioi Heksekonta Heks proper which consists of an intro and two tracks at about 9½ minutes. A word of warning: excluding the intro, the tape is instrumental and unlike later FB material this is only Invoker of the Shadows (on this tape Profundiis) by himself and with a drum machine. Personally I've no problem with this as the songs work for me very well without vocals and the drum machine isn't that distracting. Some might disagree, of course. The bonus track is a band rehearsal, not one man only. The tracks were later included, re-worked and re-titled, on the split with Blood Red Fog. Check out that too and the debut album "The Coven" released on Undercover Rex. Recommended!

PS: I have some more unreleased Funerary Bell material which I might post as well later.

torstai 7. huhtikuuta 2011

Wolfkhan - Wolfkhan demo 1994

Wolfkhan - Wolfkhan demo 1994
1) Wolf's Hosts of War
2) The Eternal Might of Pagan Warriors
3) Wisdom of Old Trees
4) Ancient Mystery of Dark Forest
5) Ritual of Heathen Blood

Megaupload

Another item I was contributed, thanks for this, you know who you are! And again an obscure piece of Polish underground black metal, this was a one-off project by Thy Worshiper's Marcin Gosiorowski who got a little help from Rob Darken whom you probably know. This comes ripped from a dub so no cover scans - as always those would be appreciated if someone has them! Post decorated with an image of Marcin from M.A.

Polish pagan black metal with a typical cold sound and atmosphere but a bit more unusual end result. The first, lenghty track is competent pagan black metal but the second one sounds more unusual with a jangly, folky guitar and very heathen atmosphere topped with raw vocals. Repetitive but works, the synths add majesty to it. Third song is slower piece with just synths and percussion, atmospheric certainly but a bit dull to be honest. Fourth track continues basically the same but adds vocals which sound a bit distant and add up to the proceedings. Last song is an outro by Darken which might be familiar to you from elsewhere. Decent sound for an old underground demo and an ok quality rip with minor audible wear. Even though the 3rd and 4th tracks are less interesting this is definitely recommended for people into the old Polish scene!

Midvinter - Midvinternatt demo 1994

Midvinter - Midvinternatt demo 1994
1) Intro
2) De vises hymn
3) Midtro
4) Mitt blod...
5) Outro

Mediafire / Megaupload

Some more Swedish black metal, this one can be found in the inter nets but since I had ripped my dub I decided to upload it. This is the debut and only demo of Midvinter who released an album in 1997, split up and apparently resumed activities in 2006.

I got this demo originally as advance tape for 7"EP which was probably some sort of misunderstanding. Or a change of plans, don't know. Anyways, dubbed for me by one of my pen pals I had no covers for this so I've taken the image from M.A. once again. The quality of the dub & rip is ok and the sound quality of the recording satisfying enough. It's clear enough but obviously demo-ish, all instruments are audible but the guitar sound could use a little extra kick. Competent black metal vocals spitting out lyrics written in Swedish on two compact songs and three intros/interludes spice up the recording. Quite typical stuff for its time but a nice listen anyways. Check out their full-lenght album too, and hopefully they'll release something new soon, the instrumental track from 2009 on their MySpace sounds promising.

tiistai 5. huhtikuuta 2011

The Ancient's Rebirth - Below the Nocturnal Skies promo 1994

The Ancient's Rebirth - Below the Nocturnal Skies promo 1994
1) Mörker och hat
2) As He Rides the Nocturnal Skies

Megaupload

Here is a 2 song promo by the Swedish black metallers The Ancient's Rebirth which I found from the pile of tapes I was given a while ago. Both would be recorded again on their debut album but these versions are obviously quite different sounding. No cover, unfortunately. Not sure if one exists but if it does I'd be interested to get it.

The sound is ok demo level, tape is a little bit worn at places and I've no idea what generation dub this might be but obviously it has passed through a few pairs of hands before ending up on the tape I worked with. Very listenable, don't worry. Music is melodic black metal the Swedish way and sounds good to my ears, it's not too light and fluffy if not filled with malignancy either. Raw black metal voice and some clean bits added for spice. Nothing to write home about I guess but works for me, original or not! Pretty long tracks both, total time is about 12 minutes. Recommended if you like bands like Midvinter, Dissection, Sacramentum, Naglfar, Vinterland... well Swedish 90's black metal to say it shortly.

sunnuntai 3. huhtikuuta 2011

Black Spirit Compilation (1994)

Various Artists - Black Spirit compilation (1994)
Blashemous Side:
1) Desulphurize - Intro / Darkness in the Deep of the Burning Light
2) Sorath (us) - Black Holocaust
3) Thou Art Lord - The Era of Satan Rising
4) Belphegor (us) - Blessed By the Lord of Goat Excrement / Annoint in Jehovah Blood
5) Catacomb (ita) - In The Shade of the Cypresses
6) Katatonia - Intro / Without God
Sacrilegious Side:
7) Twilight (gre) - Intro / In Wisdom of Darkness
8) Gorgoroth - Sexual Bloodgargling
9) Impaled Nazarene - Sadogoat
10) Grand Belial's Key - Shemhamforash
11) Funeral Urn - Prophecy of the Dead
12) Estuary Of Calamity - My Castle
13) Archgoat - Rise of the Black Moon

Megaupload / Mediafire

Time for another compilation, this is the one I mentioned at the Belphegor post. And does feature the "whole" Belphegor demo as one track. Made in Greece by a guy called Kostas who apparently made a 'zine too (the cover - which is included - mentions it) this is a black metal compilation even though it features stuff that's not really black metal like the death doomy bands Italian Catacomb and Greek Desulphurize. Ok, the rest are various forms of bm, ranging from the classic Greek style of Thou Art Lord to the raw usbm of Sorath and the Norwegian 2nd wave defining Gorgoroth. Not to mention Katatonia's essential classic "Without God". Too bad they quit.

Unfortunately this 60 min compilation suffers from its sound. I don't know if its due the tape or the equipment the guy used while making and dubbing these but somewhere along the line it got a little screwy and the volumes fucked. And no, it's not due my rip thank you. I know a bit better what I'm doing by now. Anyways, I cut out most of the extra clicks, snaps, crackles and pops. Didn't do much else with it though, so it still hisses and crackles some. And now that I listen I left quite a few in after all. Fear not, it is still listenable quality and hey, this is authentic feeling! Except you don't have to turn the tape around and all that.

Technical details aside, this is a pretty cool tape. The mixture of bands is interesting enough, with some very well known (I.N., Katatonia, T.A.L.) and some obscure (Funeral Urn, Estuary of Calamity, I guess Twilight too) names included and styles ranging from the atmospheric and doomy (Katatonia, Catacomb) to the raw black (Twilight, Sorath) and still onto grindy punishment (Belphegor, Archgoat). It must be mentioned almost all of the "proper" black metal here is on the raw side, which is of course fine by me! Many very good, even excellent tracks, included like my old faves 3, 6, 8 & 10. Actually the only ones I don't like are the Belphegor and Estuary Of Calamity contributions. First is shit and second doesn't seem to connect with me... though I like the slow part. Maybe it'll grow on me, I need to try their demo out. But you check out this compilation already, I don't think you came here to read.

lauantai 2. huhtikuuta 2011

Impaled Nazarene - Live in Paltamo 1992

Impaled Nazarene - Live in Paltamo, Finland 14th November 1992
1) Goat Perversion
2) Sadogoat / After the Perversion
3) Conned Thru Life
4) In the Name of Satan / I Al Purg Vonpo
5) The Crucified
6) Hoath - Darbs Lucifero
7) Mortification Blood Red Razor Blade

Megaupload

Here is another Impaled Nazarene gig from 1992 and a little different set as you notice. Sadogoat 7" was the upcoming item back then and coincidentally the B-side of the (much) later Satanic Masowhore 7", Extreme Noise Terror's "Conned Thru Life" is also played, though this is just a cover version (with some Finnish thrown in) instead of "Diabolic Penis Mix". That was one crappy B-side of a way too short EP. Anyways, very short gig again and entertaining as ever, Luttinen really despised the location/-ls and doesn't hesitate to show it. Amusingly the feeling seems to be mutual, probably due the high quality speeches he gives. Personally I was delighted with "Hoath - Darbs Lucifero" being in the set as well as "Mortification..." which here is a "special" version. Just wait till the later part. Though it's in Finnish which might diminish the value.

This time the show seems to be right from the beginning with the starting screams of "Goat Perversion" hitting the ears. The sound quality is as good as you dare to expect from an old recording like this, slightly less clear than the previous I.N. live I posted little while ago. The leads vocals are rather dominant but you can definitely make out everything the band plays, as well as the support vocals. I'm pretty certain this is also originally a video recording. Recommended, like the other one was! Continue listening with the "Live in the Name of Satan" bootleg which features two gigs from 1993 or early 1994, found for example here.

torstai 24. maaliskuuta 2011

Inferus Vobiscum - In the Shadow of the Winter Trees demo 1994

Inferus Vobiscum - In the Shadow of the Winter Trees demo I 1994
1) Intro
2) Holocaust Storms
3) Thy Throne of Ice
4) Lord of Rising Snow
5) Funeral Path

Megaupload

German black metal, one of the demos I got from J. Unfortunately he didn't have a cover so the poor quality image from the M.A. entry is enclosed in the download and even crappier edit is seen above. Sorry. As usual, better version of the cover is wanted. This was, as far as I've gathered, basically a one-man effort with session members... or two-man as I'm not sure deciphering the cover pic if it's Nocturnal on Dark Voice of Blasphemy and Deathcrush-guitar OR Nocturnal on Dark Voice & Deathcrush on guitar. Feel free to enlighten me if you know better.

Ok to music, this is a brief and stormy experience in 11+ mins. Things are started off with a very familiar intro ("Ave Satani" as heard in intro use for about the bazillionth time) but the music that followed caught me slightly off guard - it's brutal, fast black metal with rumbly, obscure rehearsal-quality sound with very prominent bass guitar sound (for change). The sound gets very murky at times and the tolling bells effect used in the middle of "Thy Throne of Ice" creates a hilarious contrast as it sounds suddenly crystal clear with no hint of the black metal and then it cuts back to the muddled blasting. The overall effect is more barbaric and bestial than raw and cold most of the time and the vocalist does use some death grunts in addition to his usual shrieking. I'm getting an impression this would be somewhere between Archgoat and Morke demos in the sound, so not recommended for the feint of heart (or ear). German underground demo maniacs will grab it happily as will others into obscure brutality. I'm curious to hear the second demo so let me know if you have it!

tiistai 22. maaliskuuta 2011

Enkil - Demo 1995

Enkil - Demo 1995
1) Annointed in Blood
2) ...And the Blood God Awaits...
3) Palace of the Vampire
4) Mine King and Queen are Dead
5) Akasha

Megaupload

Some USBM this time, here is the only demo (and release, as far as I know) from Enkil which was a two-man project featuring Magnus Thorne and Mikai Tepesh, latter known to some from Anwyl and Nephilim. There were two pressings of this demo and my copy was of the first press which featured xeroxed covers and regular tapes. The second pressing had professional, glossy covers. Scans included. Like the song titles probably tell you, this, like about half of the USBM bands of the 90's seemed to be, is vampiric black metal. Vampires were a popular theme in the 90's everywhere, I guess the 1992 version of Dracula and the Anne Rice books were large part of the reason. The USBM interest in vampires might owe more to Michael Ford's aka Baron von Abaddon's influence. But that's enough about that.

What we got here is pretty raw black metal, in the quite typical 90's USBM sound. The tape was a little worn in places which leads to inevitable flaws, but fortunately nothing severe. I failed to mention that the US take on vampiric black metal tends to be less romantic and goth-fluffy than say CoF's version, if you've listened to Black Funeral you probably know this. So it's quite cold and cruel sounding, not as esoteric and sinister as Ford's stuff but not sparkly Twilighty shit either. I meant the girls' series, not the "all-star" band there. I'm not 100% sure what to make of this one-off, it's not bad and has much of that cool, easily recognizable 90's Stateside sound to it, yet on the other hand it leaves me wanting something more. The almost constant breakneck speed combined with the thin, razorsharp guitars makes me wish they'd slow down every now and then. Oh well, I've listened to worse. Grab this if you're into underground black metal, USBM or vampires.

keskiviikko 16. maaliskuuta 2011

Thor's Hammer - Rehearsal 2001

Thor's Hammer (pol) - "Studio" Rehearsal 2001 for "The Fate Worse Than Death"
1) The Fate Worse Than Death
2) When the Towers Fall
3) Fuck Off And Die
4) Grand Isolation
5) Endless War
6) Young Blood

Megaupload

Another item I received as a contribution, thanks to the person and I'm sorry I'm posting this so late. Thor's Hammer is another notorious, non-PC Polish cult band. We had slight problems at first identifying this tape correctly as my contributor had gotten this on the same tape with the Selbstmord rehearsal posted elsewhere and it did not contain a tracklisting - actually it didn't even mention that one side had Selbstmord and the other Thor's Hammer.

This time I've figured out the tracklisting all by myself. Which was not really that hard as this contains the whole "The Fate Worse Than Death" album minus the outro contributed by Darken and in different order. And these are again instrumental versions (they do feature synths in case you wondered) so you've been warned. This has a good rehearsal sound. The rip was quite low on volume when I got it so I upped it a little bit but there's not much else I could do to it, so it's not squicky clean sounding. However, much that was said of the Veles & Selbstmord rehearsals and their sound applies here. The material is very good and I find myself enjoying the instrumental versions quite a bit. I think you know by now if you want to download this or not.

tiistai 15. maaliskuuta 2011

Dark Funeral - Live in Manchester 29.04.1999

Dark Funeral (swe) - Live in Manchester UK 29th April 1999
1) Bloodfrozen
2) Thy Legions Come
3) Open the Gates
4) Ravenna Strigoi Morti
5) Secrets of the Black Arts
6) Dead Skin Mask (Slayer cover)
7) My Dark Desires
8) Vobiscum Satanas

Megaupload

To celebrate two weekends with gigs I decided to upload some lives here as well. First some more Swedish black metal and this should be a pretty familiar name to most. Dark Funeral is a band I've had slight problems taking seriously, but they've done some decent material in the Swedish 90's melodic style and their blatantly Satanic lyrics are endearing so I find myself returning to their albums in regular basis.

This live show from England is an audience recording with a pretty good sound, though especially in the beginning it's kind of low and the performance occasionally drowns in the noises made by nearby humans. Other than that the sound quality is good and the setlist too. It's kind of brief at a little over 38 minutes so I guess they were not headlining that night. Enjoyable live recording, recommended if you don't hate DF (and/or black metal but why would you read this blog then) with all your might!

tiistai 8. maaliskuuta 2011

Immemoreal - The Age Nocturne demo 1998

Immemoreal - The Age Nocturne demo 1998
1) Lh-won
2) Blazing Glory
3) The Age Nocturne

Megaupload

Swedish black metal. I think this is their 2nd demo. Received from a trader comrade and it has a little bit muffled yet good sound - I don't think it was a crystal clear recording to begin with. No covers so I've enclosed the M.A. image in the upload (see below).


Three tracks of which the title track appeared again on their 1999 demo and 2nd one on their sole 2001 album "Temple of Retribution" as an instrumental version. At least M.A. says so, I haven't heard it. This is quite typically Swedish black metal, it's melodic and has some melodeath elements here and there, tempo varies between fast (first & third track) and mid (appropriate enough, the middle track) and the sound is a little bit off muffled but not at all bad if you know what I mean. Since I'm not making much sense today I'll quit trying and instead urge you to try it for yourselves.

sunnuntai 6. maaliskuuta 2011

The Fallen - Rebirth of the Ancients demo 1993

The Fallen - Rebirth of the Ancients demo 1993
1) Disciple of Fire
2) Zahgurim
3) Blackmetal Holocaust
4) I Burn
5) Sombre Tolling of Funeral Bells

Megaupload

Another repost, you may remember how I uploaded the traded version I had here? Well, I was contacted by Arcturo who was a member of the band back in the ages long gone who informed me that the recording played at wrong speed and promised to deliver me a proper speed copy of the tape. After a bit he did so, dubbed from his copy of the tape and sent with the covers (which I scanned and included in the folder here). I should have posted it already long ago, sorry for anyone who might've been waiting and thanks again to Arcturo for sending me the tape & cover!

So much of what was written on the earlier post still applies, it's still the same sort of more old fashioned black metal, there's no longer the annoying flaw on the first track and it plays at the speed it was meant to (a little slower than the dub I had). This dub and so also rip is not without its own minor faults though, there's a bit of extra noise carried over to the tape which is most notable during the quiet bits. Can't be helped and it's not that bad. Recommended demo of early ukbm!

torstai 17. helmikuuta 2011

Thromdarr - Winter of Flames demo 1993

Thromdarr - Winter of Flames demo 1993
1) Northstorm Arrives
2) Path Leads Over the Stone Bridge
3) Forest of the Black Diamonds
4) By Thy Arrows
5) Rainbow in a Red Desert
6) Winter of Flames

Megaupload / Mediafire / Full cover here!

After posting their 1992 debut demo recently I was approached by Mika of Thromdarr who has provided me with the rest of the Thromdarr demonology and insights into the band history, big thank you for that! So now I'm posting the 2nd demo "Winter of Flames" which I had as a very incomplete version before (first three tracks with the third one cut!). Unfortunately he didn't find the cover for this, but if he does I'll upload it, till then we'll make do with the logo.

Alas, this is still not the "perfect version" of the demo - but it's just about the only one at the moment, the last track cuts a little due the inattentiveness of the drummer who was supposed to dub it and apparently couldn't be arsed to dub the track in full on side B. There's also some imperfection at the start of the first (intro) track. This is very brief however. Overall the sound is a bit muffled but clear enough. It comes of a bit strong on the low end in comparison to the guitars, which then serves to enhance the pounding nature of the old schoolish black/death metal they play on this tape. Some synths make brief appearances to spice things up a little bit which is a tasteful way to use them. If you have heard the other demos I posted you should know what to expect as this one was released right between them. Definite standout track is the third track "Forest of the Black Diamonds" which is also the longest at 7+ minutes. For the majority of its duration it hammers on like a freight train without brakes headed towards a victim bound on railway tracks. There's an atmospheric break about four minutes into the song but that is but a brief respite before the doomtrain is again set on motion. Great song, I wish they'd re-record it in the future!

The band still has the original reels of the demos and will hopefully convert them to useful format and possibly unto vinyl/CD format in the future, but for now we'll settle for these versions. I'd recommend this demo if you like the other Thromdarr material, obviously, and it's also a good starting point if you haven't heard any yet but enjoy old 90's Finnish black/death material like Barathrum, Belial, Curse und so weiter.

UPDATE: Mika found & scanned the covers for me! Uploading them to Mediafire and a cut version to decorate the post.

maanantai 14. helmikuuta 2011

Impaled Nazarene - Live in Riihimäki 1992

Impaled Nazarene - Live in Urheilutalo, Riihimäki Finland 9th May 1992
1) Goat Perversion
2) (Intermission)
3) The Black Vomit
4) Condemned to Hell
5) The Crucified
6) In the Name of Satan
7) Damnation (Raping the Angels)

Megaupload

I don't think Impaled Nazarene needs much introductions. They've released an album "Road to the Octagon" last November which makes them topical in a way and apparently are in killer form live. This however is the old, still black metal Impaled Nazarene performing in Riihimäki. I'm not sure of the venue but could be Kino Sampo? - UPDATE: Venue verified by Mika of Thromdarr (who also played there) as Urheilutalo. Thanks Mika!

The quality is very good, this was probably originally recorded with a video camera. It appears slightly incomplete as the start of "Goat Perversion" is missing, I don't know if they played anything before that - being as early as this is the gigs were pretty short. 2nd track Intermission is just Luttinen speaking to the crowd & the start of the track screwed up as someone blunders onto their equipment, detaching some of the cords which pisses Luttinen off. Things proceed onward with track 3. Impaled Nazarene are always enterteining live and this is no exception. Recommended.

perjantai 11. helmikuuta 2011

Emperor - Rehearsal Track 1994

Emperor - Instrumental Rehearsal Track 1994 with Hellhammer
1) Moon Over Kara-Shehr

Mediafire / Megaupload

I believe you guys know both Emperor and Hellhammer (the drummer guy) quite well. This one is a just one track instrumental rehearsal bit with (unknown) Emperor staff rehearsing with Hellhammer on drums. As you might guess the sound is not hifi shit. However the track in question is great, one of my faves from the demo and sounds good to me. I don't really have anything to add here. You know if you want this or not, I can't remember it being published officially, most likely on some bootleg.

Hödur - The Majesty demo 1995

Hödur - The Majesty demo 1995
1) The Shadows
2) Master
3) Eternal Night
4) Wilczyca z SS

Megaupload

Now some long time readers are probably wondering "What the hell, didn't he post this on already in Dec 2008?!?" and yeah so I did. However, last year I got full scans for this demo and also made a superior quality rip off my tape so I thought I'd reupload the better, improved version and make it a new post instead of just slapping a new link to the old & moldy post. After all this is one of my fave demos so I think it deserves a little extra attention that way. It's my damn blog anyways.

Their cassette album was released on vinyl titled "Salve Sathanas", remastered and with new intro so that way Hödur are actually quite topical. Too bad their label can't spell the band name correctly. Extremely recommended if you enjoy raw black metal!

keskiviikko 9. helmikuuta 2011

Nebiros (col) - Rehearsal 08/1995

Nebiros (Colombia) - Rehearsal August 1995
1) Misa Negra
2) Reconocimiento, Repudio y Aceptación
3) Nebiros
4) Undressed (Tiamat cover)
5) Fgmenth, Thy Gift (Rotting Christ cover)

Megaupload

It was my birthday, so to sort of celebrate I'll post several things, rejoice. First we have the Colombian black metal cult Nebiros, not to be mixed with Polish/German band, the French one-man band (their split demo is quite good - and I want the rehearsals mentioned on the M.A. page!!!) or the UK black/noise one-man wonder. I'm not going to start debating about which one is the true/best Nebiros since I haven't even heard all of them, let's just concentrate on this one for now.

This is a rehearsal tape I got in my tape trading years and it has a quite good sound, featuring first three tracks familiar from their "Guerreros de Lucifer" album (1995, re-released 2005, buy it) and then two quite interesting covers. I'm assuming the 08 meant August, not 8th rehearsal, but not sure about that. Obviously as it is a rehearsal the sound is raw and primitive but it works well for me and I've heard plenty of demos with less listenable sound. Nebiros' black metal is more of the old school sort, taking occasionally influences from old heavy metal as well as their peers. Mostly mid paced and quite simple, I've always found it very satisfying, but as seen from the pussy review on M.A. not all will agree. Decide for yourselves and check it out. The band has also a more recent album (2008) out and released a 7"EP last year so be sure to check them out too!