Nattvindens Gråt - Där svanar flyger MLP '95

Nattvindens Gråt - Där svanar flyger cassette mini-album 1995
1) En avlägsen stjärna
2) I tysthetens kalla rike
3) Fjälldalen
4) Där svanar flyger
5) 66,5° N

Depositfiles / Mediafire

The Fennoscandian tour returns to Finland and here's a post somewhat similar to other recent ones in spirit; it's an item I originally didn't think I'd post as rips exist online already, but having ripped it for my own use in early '15 I decided to upload it here as well. In the end Nattvindens Gråt isn't as well known as I thought and especially not their earlier style of... of... uh, let's call it atmospheric Nordic metal? Our good old fallback term "dark metal" fails today as this isn't really that dark. Not at least in my opinion... then again some of the things people do call dark metal aren't so dark at all. Oh leave it already and move on! We could vote on it? No, I'm not setting up a poll for that. Cover scans included and they ended up a bit larger than I meant, sorry!

Right, as you see from the title line there this is a (a horrible term follows brace yourselves) 'cassette mini-album', which is something you don't really encounter that often. I guess it's a bit long to be called an EP and too short for a full album, plus it was never intended to be one. Sound is much, much more refined than on the promo track I posted earlier. Waaaay earlier. Wow, that's almost eight years ago! Then again this was recorded in the well-known Astia Studio and features a full line-up instead of a solitary Teemu like on that promo. Including a certain Tuomas on keyboards. Other familiar names to pop up are Nattfursth of Sorhin who helped with the lyrics (they're in Swedish if you did not notice) and the logo artist whom we know by a different name herein the Coven.

The recording runs for roughly 31 minutes and is divided into four longer "proper" tracks and one slightly shorter instrumental that ends it. The longest of the bunch is the already familiar En avlägsen stjärna (remember, small letters apart from the first for Swedish titles!) which kicks the album off and shares the A-side with I tysthetens kalla rike, a somewhat similar song moodwise. Both are mostly in slower midtempo, with slight variations, feature a plenty of synth (well everything does) and are led by Teemu's croaky main vocals. They have a certain epic feel to them. B-side starter Fjälldalen is slightly different as it feels somewhat more aggressive and also the voice is different here, sounds a bit more forced, barky and violent even. Many traditional heavy metal riffs. I think it's been equally audible all the way through, but here I paid extra attention to the very clearly distinguishable bass. Title track is slower again and more melancholic and features an extremely unprofessional male angel choir which I somehow don't find extremely disruptive today?! I recall cringing and fearing I grind away all the precious enamel in most earlier listens but now it's sort of endearing. I must be growing soft. If we don't count the hit-and-miss nature of the clean vocals I think this might be my second favourite from the songs here. The final song is a synth instrumental and very nice. Winter synth. Ok, so if you like melodic, moody, not-exactly-dark-but-almost... dim? wan? obtuse? metal with that certain northern feeling this might be for you. And listening to the advance tape for the first album now directly after this I must say the music does not change that much between them, main thing must be the vocals which on the album are... let's leave that for another time, I was so close to end this write up, dammit! And I do end here, just try and stop me!

Lamented Souls - Demo '95

Lamented Souls - Demo 1995
1) Var
2) Eternal Existence
3) Nemesis
4) Hybris

Yandex / Sendspace

Bandcamp (compilation)

Did you think it would be something non-metal today? Too bad, it's more doom as we traverse from one land of Vikings to another. And it's also another item that's been sitting idle for five years. This is Lamented Souls fra Norge and to be honest kind of pointless entry as this demo '95 was released as part of the compilation CD 2004 "The Origins of Misery" on Duplicate Records, a label run by Einar Sjursjø whom you may remember from Beyond Dawn, a few other bands and his Dawnrazor 'zine. Hmm, now I kind of want to see issues of that, I don't think I've ever read one? I was thinking about ordering a copy back in the dark ages but didn't as I recall it was pretty expensive like Norwegian 'zines tended to be. I guess they printed those on baby seal skin with oil or something like that. Anyways, the CD version at least has this too, not sure about the digital version on Bandcamp as it looks like it's missing 4 tracks? You may consider this a preview, the CD can be ordered via the Bandcamp page. /commercial messages

Ok back to topic, Lamented Souls is probably mostly known as the former band of Simen Hestnæs aka ICS Vortex whom you might recognize from a bunch of Norwegian bands like Penthouse Petz (I'd really like to hear that) and Artisan as well as being married to the cartoonist Lise Myhre whom I presume to be the "Lise" credited for the cover art on this demo. The line-up also included Ole Jørgen Moe aka Apollyon of Aura Noir and Dødheimsgard fame, among others, and finally Olav Knutsen aka Bestial Tormentor of Infernö who shared the bass duties with Hestnæs here. As an aside, Sjursjø joined later to play drums while Apollyon switched to guitar which has really nothing to do with this demo. Or sort of does, as that line-up re-recorded two of the songs here on their 1997 session which was finally released as the first half of the compilation.

Good demo sound, recorded in some sort of studio in two days, usual doomy slow tempo that speeds up a little but never goes beyond careful mid pace. Well, maybe a little on the groovy ending track Hybris. Their doom is of very traditional sort, even moreso than Tristitia featured recently. Closer to Black Sabbath, Godsend and say Saint Vitus than anything deathly. I must say due to vocals it brings flashbacks of certain grungy stuff to mind like Alice in Chains. Poorly qualified to discuss that so let's not go further. I think that's enough for now, I strongly suggest getting the compilation if you enjoyed this and if you were here for dungeon synth or black metal I guess you were dissappointed. Next time, probably.

Tristitia - Reminiscences of a Mourner demo '94

Tristitia - Reminiscences of the Mourner demo II January 1994
1) Envy the Dead
2) Reminiscences of the Mourner
3) Ashes of the Witch
4) Mark My Words

4shared / Mediafire

I was going to post another Finnish item but ran into a minor problem which I need to tackle first. So instead let's do some Swedish doom and a contribution that had also waited a while to be finished - not that there was much to do than slightly adjust volume and convert it to mp3. This is Tristitia and the second demo from the very beginning of '94. If you're acquainted with the earlier releases of the French label Holy Records you've probably encountered Tristitia, the '95 debut got a fair bit of attention back then for the blend of Candlemass-style classic doom, gothic elements and (very slight) black metal influence. To be honest, the black metal influence was really just some vocals used here and there in addition to the deeper, traditional doom singing. But I'd label this more directly under traditional or possibly gothic doom. Not an expert, feel free to argue if necessary. A large cover scan was also sent, thanks again to the contributor!

Four songs that run for almost 25 minutes, the two middle ones re-recorded for the debut album and the other two appeared on the second so nothing new really if you're familiar with both albums. If not, this is not a bad place to start. Very good sound, pretty covers and melancholic, in places sinister even, doom metal performed at appropriatele speeds. I'm not really sure what to say about the vocals, I'm notoriously picky with clean voices but on the other hand I've gotten accustomed to this fellow's voice in the last twenty years so I'm hard pressed to say how good a singer he actually might be. The Swedish accent still occasionally jars in my ears but otherwise he does fine I suppose. Can't really come up with anything sensible to write, if you dig doom metal in the classic vein try this and don't buy that "blackened doom" crap at M-A! Unholy was black doom, this is barely grey!

Forgotten Kadath - The Lost Book demo '95

Forgotten Kadath - The Lost Book demo 1995
1) Journey in the Eastern Lands (Intro)
2) The Book
3) Gregorius Philus
4) Via Giugoti
5) Yuggoth
6) Sanitarium (Outro)

Mediafire / Sendspace

Today we're having some Italian doom, courtesy of our comrade Profoundemonium again. Last time he contributed me the Dream Upon Tombs demo and this continues in the tradition of atmospheric and obscure stuff. Thanks for the rip!

As you may see from the cover art from above as well as the band name and song titles this is material inspired by master HPL and thus something young Velkaarn would've been very thrilled of. Well, I still enjoy most things Lovecraftian but not to the same fanboyish fervor anymore. Though I admit I got a strong urge to play Arkham Horror. And to listen to Thergothon which I'm going to put on right after this.

Could you please concentrate on this demo while it's still on thank you? Ok, not a very long one, slightly under fifteen minutes. We've an intro, outro and an interlude (Via Giugioti) each with roughly a minute to their name and three "proper" songs of which Gregorious Philus is an instrumental. Sound is pretty good, kind of obscure and with the guitar a little more distant than usual, with a very clear bass. It's not the muddled sort of obscure, don't get me wrong, more like perceived-through-a-veil-of-mist sort of obnuliated. And I just love the keyboards that come in on the second song The Book, just delightful and now I want to listen to Novalis instead of Thergothon. The effected vocal makes me think of some older Aarni material, or perhaps Umbra Nihil? I should probably check, but I don't really want to do that now. The instrumental G.P.  continues in similar vein and is a bit shorter, yet features some very catchy tunes that however have some sort of strange quality to them. The interlude is somewhat ominous and the last proper track Yuggoth is more guitar driven than The Book was. The vocals have less effect to them and seem a bit more aggressive and menacing instead of the otherworldliness earlier presented. General mood of the song is also more, well, driven and focused than before. The outro is desolate flutes, not quite crazy enough to convoke Azathoth but a nice way to end the tape.

I enjoyed this quite a bit and would really like to hear what little more there is to be found, namely the split/collaboration tape with their black metal side project Atropos (there's a rip of this around so should not be a big challenge to find) and "The Dreamquest of Unknown Kadath" released in '95 when they were known as Kadath and played death metal though that probably isn't of similar style or quality. Recommended if you're into atmospheric (death) doom, a Lovecraft-connoisseur, fan of old Italian underground metal or generally very curious.

Vidvandre - Svanesang demo '95

Vidvandre - Svanesang demo 1995
1) Stålet som skjærer
2) Når spurvene danser
3) Trell
4) Svanesang

Sendspace / Mediafire

How about a little bit mellower post? Not that the previous one would've been particularily vicious, mind you, but I need to write something to get myself out the door, on the path and eventually lost in the forest of digression. Which serves as a terrible way to get to the point; this is Vidvandre fra Stavanger, Norge and their one and (apparently) only demo "Svanesang" from 1995. An appropriate name if it indeed is their sole creation. I got a dub of this among other things from brother Grev already over two years ago but it took me this damn long to get off my ass and find more about the band, you see he had the band misspelled "Via Vandre" which produced zero results researching. Luckily my very meager skills in Norwegian language came in handy as I finally sat down to think what the band name really should be and bang, direct hit! Cover image was borrowed from Metal Archives, full scan would be neat.

Obviously reading of my revelation must be fascinating but some might prefer to discuss the music. Fine, three long songs and a shorter instrumental interlude of Norwegian folky doom metal, think bands like early Tristania, The Sins of Thy Beloved and fellow Stavangerites Dismal Euphony and Theatre of Tragedy. Actually, Frank Claessen (guitars) would actually later become a member of ToT. Pretty decent demo sound, though being a dub of a dub of a dub brings the inevitable wear and smudginess. National romantic melodies, melancholic and wistful moods, flutes and female vocal parts spicing up the soup. It's not bad at all (except the silly babbling bits in the last song, why did you do this), makes me wonder if I've actually read a review of the demo from a 'zine once upon a time, making yet another "note to self" to be eventually forgotten? Anyways, we found each other lost in the infinite woods, perhaps you will be drawn in as well. Recommended if you dig melodic death/doom.

Sirrah - Acme demo '95

Sirrah - Acme demo II 1995
1) Acme
2) Passover 1944
3) On the Verge
4) A.U.Tomb
5) Iridium
6) Pillbox Impressions
7) Panacea
8) Bitter Seas

RGhost / Mediafire

Some of you might not be too impressed with today's post, sure, it's not a TTF-relic dug from a sealed tomb but hey, at least we're in Poland again! Yup, it's melodic death/doom with touches of gothic, think stuff like earlier Paradise Lost (not "Lost Paradise" or demos early!) or perhaps more accurately bands inspired by their "Gothic" album? Anyways, Sirrah from Poland released two demos, two albums (first of which was a re-recording/-arrangement of this demo) and an EP on their few years of activity around the mid-90s, to apparently re-emerge in 2013 with two new songs released so far. And this is the demo II, though I think I saw it referred as cassette album too. The running time would allow it to qualify and sound is not at all bad either. Much better than certain economically produced albums. Some of the songs date back to the first demo from '93 already so they've taken their time to refine 'em.

I haven't actually even heard the re-recorded album version, though it did catch some attention being released by Music for Nations. Or actually I might've heard it whilst drinking at certain associate's place, pretty sure he had it. Well, whatever, I wasn't really into them after all back then, I had originally come across this tape while looking for replacements for Paradise Lost, My Dying Bride and Tiamat whom I considered to have wimped out, become all girly and/or sold out, to differing degrees. This must've been early '96 or so. I already knew several more or less exotic alternatives such as Dissolving of Prodigy, Silent Stream of Godless Elegy and Love History to mention a few Czech examples but sought more. For various reasons I didn't like this tape, possibly something as seemingly trivial as the odd song titles, can't be certain anymore. Now it doesn't sound bad at all, even the always difficult clean vocals work ok. The song Iridium is a bit annoying though. Too modern-metallish if you know what I mean. Might be about time I gave their albums a chance too. If you enjoy the bands mentioned so far you could do worse than giving this a listen. The rip was made from a traded copy so imperfections are inevitable. Pretty good overall and it features tasteful, artistic nudity on the cover so obviously it has a redeeming quality even if gothic doom isn't your bag.

The Equinox Ov The Gods - Watch the Shadows Dance demo 1993

The Equinox Ov The Gods - Watch the Shadows Dance demo II 1993
1) Resurrected
2) Thanatos
3) Angel of Death
4) The Waiting
5) N.L.S.
6) Where Roses Never Dies

Depositfiles

Here's another item sent by grindfreak at the same time as the previous post, this is again The Equinox Ov The Gods from Sweden with their second demo from '93. Thanks for the rip & scan! I presume he ripped this from an original tape so better than the dub of demo III I posted.

Demo II has a lot in common with its follower, both musically and in structure. Almost half an hour of material, starts with an ominous intro which this time isn't a separate track and turns into the same sort of gothic/doom/heavy metal as the demo III did. Well, a little slower here, maybe. Though they do speed up in some songs so nah, not really that either. Going to keep this short, if you liked the demo III you'll probably enjoy this as well. And vice versa. Oh yeah, Chopin's "Marche funèbre" is yet again borrowed in the last track.

Whispering Forest - Darkest Side demo III 1997

 Whispering Forest - Darkest Side demo III 1997
1) Curse
2) The Doomed
3) Untitled
4) Darkest Side
5) Green Eyes
6) I Shall Return
7) Last Sunset
8) Path of the Dead
9) Shine of Lethe
10) Black Orchid

Mediafire / Rusfolder

I thought I'd stay in the neighbouring countries and this time we're going south of the border. No, that's not Mexico, for us Finns it is a few hours on a boat (getting drunk is optional) and we arrive in Estonia from where hails this atmospheric death/doom band, the late Whispering Forest. They made (at least) four demo tapes, an album (released twice) and a demo or a self-released EP in 2001 before calling it a day. I got this rip, as well as some other Estonian items burned on a disc from comrade Veiko last year in Steelfest, thanks again! And yes, I took my sweet time getting to post this but I had a very decent excuse for at least part of the delay. Sadly I've no covers for this (if I had, things would be different!) so scans would be very much appreciated. I made a (pretty nice) placeholder "cover" for this too, but decided against posting it in case I get the actual cover scan later.

So what took so long? Simple, the tracklisting was incorrect and it's a real pain trying to figure it out with a band you're not very familiar with. Unsurprisingly, Metal Archives' entry didn't match either and Estonian Metal's was just copied from M.A. so no help there. Looks like that tracklisting completely ignored the intro/interlude tracks but it also had the songs in wrong (or different?) order. Fortunately most songs reappeared on the debut album and had lyrics available so once I got to work it wasn't as impossible as it seemed. And some of the others which did not reappear fortunately included the song title in the lyrics so it was pretty easy to guess those out. Anyways, I was still left with one untitled track, the third one which is a just below minute long interlude sort of bit. I toyed with the idea of just adding it to the title track as intro but then again the other two similar tracks were named and identified so I just left it untitled and separate in hopes of someone with a scan or at least more accurate knowledge appearing. The band's email address was naturally a dead end after all this time.

But enough of me whining about how hard I have it, let's talk about the music. It's atmospheric death/doom with gothic touches. Can I go now? Maybe a few words more, the obvious name drop is always My Dying Bride but instead of the UK folks I'm thinking about the various Czech bands like Dissolving of Prodigy, Silent Stream of Godless Elegy, Love History and what have you. Also the Norwegians The Sins of Thy Beloved comes to mind. Main voice alternates between bellowing death grunts and black metal-esque rasping croaks which is cool. The additional female vocals are, as expected, clear and ethereal and bring someone to my mind yet frustratingly I can't remember who right now!!! They're quite good, whoever it is I'm trying to think. There are some gothic touches overall but they get an extremely prominent front stage role on "Shine of Lethe" which is practically gothic metal/rock hybrid with vocals to match, unlike the album version they're male and the song is generally faster and a little "lighter" so to say. In general the versions here are refreshingly different from the later ones and the more I listen to this, the better I like it. Recommeded, especially if you enjoy atmospheric death/doom and related material. Now I want to hear the older demos too.

Cemetery Fading - As Thy Fullmoon Dies... demo 1996

Cemetery Fading - As Thy Fullmoon Dies... demo I 1996
1) Candle Dawn
2) The Final Symphony
3) Angel of the Woods
4) As Thy Fullmoon Dies...

Zippyshare / Yandex

Despite the title featuring both "thy" and "fullmoon" today's post is not black metal. Instead we have doom metal performed by a one-man project with what sounds like drum machine and to up the ante it is instrumental. This is pretty marginal, I'd say. Once again we have master Sorvali to thank for the rip and cover scans. Look at that font, those pixels, how can you not love this?

Well, that love might not survive listening to all (nearly) thirty minutes of the content. This is instrumental doom, with a drum machine, by one guy. Yeah, let that stew for a while. It's not heavy, crushing, destructive, depressive or mournful. It's not very groovy or beautiful either. Nor is it very dark, more like... dim? It's somewhat atmospheric, I'll give it that, and a bit odd. There's plenty of synths, so much that in places it sounds more like a synth project than metal. Sometimes the sound actually reminds me of Sacrilegeous' stuff. There's certain disarming awkwardness to this too, another similarity there I suppose. I don't really know what more to say about this, except that the demo was dedicated to My Dying Bride. Wonder if they ever found out about that? A weird demo and hard to say whom I should recommend this to, but I'm certain somewhere out there someone will cherish and treasure this half an hour offering too.

Thousand Lakes Compilation Tape #1 (1995)

Various Artists - Thousand Lakes Compilation Tape #1 (1995)
1) Thy Serpent - The Forest of Blåkulla
2) Wanderer - Surrounded by These Firs
3) Azazel - The Glow of the Golden Fullmoon
4) Perkele - Summernight
5) Diaboli - Mesmerized by Darkness
6) Darkstyle - The Castle of Sorrow
7) Nidhoggr - Thou Shalt Burn at Our Stakes
8) Morningstar - The Eyes of Lamia
9) Nattvindens Gråt - A Lonely October Night
10) Throes of Dawn - Pakkasherra
11) Darkwoods My Betrothed - One Son of the Northstar
12) I Flow In Depths - So Free Are the Wolves (When the Storms Are Coming)
13) Crimson Midwinter - Across the Purple Vision
14) Wintermoon - Night So Cryptic Is All Mine
15) Barathrum - Beltane
16) Voices of Winds - Voices of Winds

Depositfiles / Mediafire

Today is the Finnish independence day and I thought this would be a fitting time to post an all Finnish compilation tape which is another result of my conspiracy with comrade passetiermes, from the selection of tapes he let me borrow in order to rip and scan them. Thanks again! Ok, let's get one thing out of the way immediately: I cheated. How, you ask? Well, I had to rip Nattvindens Gråt track from the CD and re-rip my dub of Voices of Winds tape to have that track complete as somehow the cassette was too short, missing the NG track completely and over half of the VoW song. Apparently it had been dubbed on a 80 minute tape (which I didn't know existed) which is a really bizarre screw up! I found it preferable to have the intended content complete as I had the missing stuff at hand.

As for the content, the selection very well represents the Finnish black and dark metal scene of its day. Obviously one could argue that this and that artist should be featured instead of some present here but such is the nature of compilations. I intended to get a copy of this back in the day but did not, can't remember why. I suppose it was a good thing since none of the material is unreleased so I guess I would've been dissappointed. Wait, that's wrong, Barathrum's contribution was unreleased. So much for that. Even though the material does range from raw, true black metal to atmospheric forest dark metal to Nattvindens Gråt's doom everything fits quite nicely together and nothing really sorely stands out of place as radically different, in out-of-place way. Personal top 3 here is Nidhoggr, Diaboli and Darkstyle. Which are all lumped together! It's a good compilation if you somehow aren't familiar with some of the bands here, or want a mixtape of Finnish 90's stuff for drinking or whatever.

'Til Your Ears Bleed: Vol III European Attack (2000)

Various Artists - 'Til Your Ears Bleed: Vol III European Attack compilation tape (2000)
1) Moonsorrow - Taistelu Pohjolasta
2) Hödur - Unpure Race
3) Tharapitha - Demon's Night
4) Alcoholic Smashing War - Hail to a Long Awaited Alcoholic Victory
5) Eviternity - Cant IV
6) Tangrycan - Immortalize Sacrament
7) Consecrated - The Charming Voice

Rusfolder / Mediafire

Today I've decided to post another compilation tape master Sorvali sent me. Thanks again for the rip and scans to Henri! This is a bit unusual one, though unfortunately does not include extra goodies like the previous one's newsletter. The very non-standard length (a bit less than 38 minutes) is the thing that really puzzles me. Just about every other compilation tape ("A History of Time to Come" would be the first exception that comes to mind) was practically as long as the tape the person used (so either 60 or 90 minutes usually) and seeing as this was divided pretty evenly to two sides makes me wonder if the guy had scored a load of 40 minute tapes somewhere?

Ok, to content. Another thing that I was perplexed by was the timeline presented by the tracks here, four of the seven date to 1997, Tangrycan's track is from '96, Alcoholic Smashing War (jesus what a name!) dates to '98 and Moonsorrow is (again) featured with "Taistelu Pohjolasta" from the '99 demo. Did it really take so long to compile this? Or did he make three volumes and released them simultaneously when finished? And why does he stubbornly misspell Hödur as "Höndur"??? So many questions, so few answers and nobody probably cares. Well, I do so if you have more information, please share. Sound levels here are even and things flow surprisingly well, bands present are interesting enough and almost all play some variation of black/pagan metal (even A.S.W. - to my surprise) with the notable exception of Consecrated's gothic doom. A pretty neat little compilation.

Exitus - Live in Pormestari 27.4.1990

Exitus - Live in Pormestari, 27th April 1990
1) The Metamorphosis - Black Heritage
2) Reprobate
3) The Scourge of War
4) Thanatos

Medifire / Depositfiles

I've made it back in one piece from Steelfest and I guess I could celebrate that by posting a live tape ripped by brother Suuret Muinaiset (attended the festival too). He also delivered the other Exitus tapes to the Coven, thanks for your work! This is the last of the batch and had no cover so there's a placeholder seen above with the later logo version.

SM's rip was all as one track, which I separated to four parts as seen on the tracklisting, but otherwise I have not tampered with his work. Good live sound though the guitars are pretty low and buried under just about everything else, though this is remedied later. Three of the tracks appeared also on the rehearsal tape and the demo while the last seems to have been played only live, another version appeared on the bonus tracks to the Svart Records re-release of the demo. Not really much to add, most of what I wrote about the music in the earlier entries applies here and if you liked them earlier you'll want to check this recording out.

Exitus - Reh. 23.10.-89

Exitus - Rehearsal 23rd October 1989
1) Tears of Despair / Hymn to Sorrow
2) Reprobate
3) Intro: The Metamorphosis / Black Heritage
4) Mannam (The Lord of the Dead)

Rusfolder / Mediafire

Another death/doomy contribution to the Coven, this is again from brother Suuret Muinaiset and the rehearsal tape I was referring to in the comments here. You can read more background info on Exitus on that post so I'm not going to repeat myself here. It looks like this rehearsal tape was one of the few around with a cover, SM provided images of it which are included in the download.

Looking at the tracklisting you may note that 3/4 of the tracks presented are included on the 1990 demo, these versions naturally sound rougher being both earlier and rehearsal recorded to boot. However the sound is good, most notable flaw would be the bass (I think) bleeding all over everything else occasionally. If you don't mind that too much this is another good slab of old death/doom with classic touch.

Exitus - Statutum Est Hominibus Mori demo 1990

Exitus - Statutum Est Hominibus Mori demo 1990
1) The Metamorphosis / Black Heritage
2) Reprobate
3) A Light in the Darkness
4) Tears of Despair / Hymn to Sorrow
5) Thanatos

Rusfolder / Depositfiles

One more contribution, this one from brother SuuretMuinaiset, thanks alot for the rip! And yes, I know Svart Records just recently re-released a remastered version of this demo on vinyl but since brother SM went through the trouble of ripping me his copy I decided to post it anyways. Plus it's a pretty awesome demo if you like doom metal which is a little underrepresented genre here in the Coven is it not? Exitus was a pioneering Finnish band active around 1989 - 90 who played doom metal with touches of death and thrash, think Celtic Frost, Winter early Cathedral and so on, but leaning a bit more to the classic doom side. Ripped from an original tape, which I already mentioned but no cover scan as SM has no access to scanner at the moment, he did include a pic of the cover though, see below for a smaller version.

Very good sound, quite powerful but "airy" enough to sound really more like proper doom than death metal. I'm honestly not sure if remastering is even necessary but on the other hand I haven't heard the LP so let's not go there. Long tracks, as befits a doom band except for number 3 which is a brief, one minute interlude and as you might notice from the tracklisting, there are two more instrumentals that blend in with "proper" tracks and we didn't separate them here. I don't really have much to say here except that this is a pretty damn good demo and surely worth the re-release. Check it out if you like doom and if you have a vinyl player and won't get bankrupt by madly expensive postal charges buy the Svart release too!

Dusk - Where Dreams Bleed promo 1998

Dusk (pak) - Where Dreams Bleed promo 1998
1) Await Thy Doom
2) Mass Grave

Rusfolder / Yandex

Here's something slightly more exotic: death/doom metal from Pakistan. That's one country not really known for its extreme metal scene. Unfortunately their band name is again far from unique but at least there's not like 5 or 10 countrymates to mix them up with. These guys are still around, I believe, though their music has evolved from the death/doom of earlier releases to more progressive metal and apparently most recently gotten thrashier vibe to it. Even though I've only heard their doomy sounds and possibly a track or two of the more progressive stuff. But this promo tape I ordered from the band back in 1998 or maybe early 1999 after spotting their flyer, mainly because it seemed so exotic, I'll be first to admit. So ripped from an original copy and with a cover scan.

Two tracks for a little over eleven minutes of death/doom metal with a quite primitive demo sound which however is very... uh, audible and airy but kinda lacking in the heaviness department. But it sort of fits with the music and the whispering vocals they employ besides the death metal belches. It's not right away bringing anyone to my mind but I'm sure I'll read a few accurate comparisons in the comments very soon to snap my fingers whilst frowning with annoyance "how didn't I think of them?" - you know the drill. Oh, earlier Anathema might be a name to drop now that I've sat here for a while. But I got things to do and food to cook so enough typing, download it already.

Pogrom - A Dream of Nightful Silence demo 1995

Pogrom (aus) - A Dream of Nightful Silence demo 1995
1) Intro / The Twilight Groves
2) Everdusk
3) Requiem for the Defiled
4) Shade of Morrow

Yandex

It's been quiet recently, a little summer break. To make up for it, two posts for today and first another contribution from down under, a rip of the Australian Pogrom's demo sent by brother Wehrwolf. Thank you! Ripped from his tape and including cover scans it has a quite good sound, excluding a minor, brief flaw on the first track proper but that's not a big deal. It sounded very quiet so I upped the volume just a little bit. Almost forgot, Wehrwolf also scanned me an interview from Decompozine which you can see below, thanks again Ww!

Interview from Decompozine

Four tracks and an unnamed intro for over 26 minutes of old style death/doom which is more in the atmospheric and doomy end of the pool. Main voice is a deathly one, growling and rasping over a slightly surprisingly groovy and more like traditional doom oriented music instead of the slow death metal style I was for one reason or another expecting. Works nicely! Clean sound with audible instruments and bouncy bass. Some of the guys later formed the death metal band Innsmouth (recommended) and others another doomy unit Across the Scarlet Moat which I haven't heard yet but assume to carry the torch for Pogrom. Not much to add now, give it a listen if you enjoy doom metal or happen to be a fan of the other bands mentioned.

Nezgaroth - Demo 1-93

Nezgaroth - Demo 1-93
1) Postbellum
2) The Vast Plains of Nifelheim
3) Necronomicum Ex Mortes (pt II)
4) The Final Twilight

Yandex / Medifire

Today's item is doom metal for change, this is the first demo of the Swedes Nezgaroth whom I'd been wanting to hear since I read about them in Goetia #2. Don't know why I never got around to order their demos but eventually I got the demos from traders, this one was sent along with some other items burned onto CDr so it's not my rip. Well, except that I ripped it from the CDr but you know what I mean. No covers either, the image above was borrowed from Metal Archives. I'd like a real cover scan, as usual.

Nezgaroth was formed in 1992 by a bunch of guys most of whom played also in the death metal band Vomitory, which did have a quite long career releasing 8 albums. Nezgaroth only released two demos and recorded some rehearsal tapes to a few people. I'd be interested to hear these as they (should) contain material that wasn't on either demos. The guys were probably a bit ahead of their time as their brand of more traditional doom metal wasn't that popular in the early 90's. Four songs spread over 30 minutes so they're mostly quite long. The sound is not very powerful, all the instruments are audible enough and all that but it'd need a bit more substance to the low end especially. Vocals are mainly clean singing, sounding melancholic and kind of... weary? Which suits the music, of course. Maybe not the greatest vocalist I've heard nor the worst or bad in general so I'm fine with this. He provides some variation with narrated parts and changing the tone from track to track, the weary melancholic approach of the first track being replaced by a raspier, more aggressive voice on the second song, almost growling at places. "Necronomicum..." falls somewhere between the previous examples plus features some very Sabbathy riffs which is always cool. Actually the raspier sort of vocal is more common than the melancholic one. Oh well, listen for yourself if you enjoy doom metal, it's good stuff!

Let Me Dream - The Maze demo 1996

Let Me Dream - The Maze demo 1996
1) The Maze
2) My Doom
3) The Spear in Your Hand
4) Wolfborn

Mediafire / Narod

Time to post something else than black metal for change. This one is still metal, though narrowly. Let Me Dream, previously known as Congestion, played gothic doom metal, though I guess around the time of this demo the sound went much further into the gothic territory and very little doom metal remains. I remember I used to like one of the tracks on Congestion's "Bed of the Ancient River" demo quite a bit and was to some degree into gothic so I was interested in this band as well. Now that I listen to this demo I can't say I'd be that enthusiastic. Ripped from an original copy, cover scan enclosed.

Like I sort of established above, this is musically more like gothic rock forced into metal mould than gothic doom or other gothic ___ metal combinations. The demo has a pretty good sound while sounding kind of weak. It's clear, with vocals on top and everything else audible but would suit pure gothic rock much better than metallic version. The main vocal is a clean voice, familiar from what they already used as Congestion and, of course, it's bordering on cringe-worthy and listenable. Sort of mix between Fenriz on "Vinterskugge" and the guy from The Equinox ov the Gods. TEotG would be a comparable band from the ones posted on this blog except that they're much heavier. The vocalist uses also a half growl half croak in addition to the clean singing which is okay but sounds first kind of odd over the goth. Repeat listens actually make me appreciate it on the 2nd song.

It's a little hard to say in the end what I think about this, at first I hated it, then it sounded kind of ok, then again utterly horrible, then this bit was great and this ok... well, you get the picture. My comrade SuuretMuinaiset absolutely hates gothic metal so I assume he won't stand this either but the rest of you feel free to give it a try if you're not allergic to genres and artists mentioned. Oh I suppose I should mention Let Me Dream has also a 1999 EP also called "The Maze" but with different content.

The Equinox Ov The Gods - This Sombre Dreamland demo 1994

The Equinox Ov The Gods - This Sombre Dreamland demo III 1994
1) Intro - The Beast
2) The Golem
3) DeathWish
4) Into the Slumber
5) Lord of the Crossroads
6) Dance of the Dead
7) Sombre Angel
8) The Obituary

Reuploaded

It's been a little while since the last post, I've been busy attending Black Flames of Blasphemy II event, Death In June gig and some other, more mundane stuff. Anyways now I'm back and here's a bit unusual demo, the third (as far as I know) demo by the Swedes operating under the monstrous monicker The Equinox Ov The Gods. Still active, they have released four albums in addition to the smaller releases. I'm interested in hearing the older demos so you know what to do. Traded item, no cover so M.A. image was used.

The music on this half an hour demo is sort of mixture of doom/gothic metal with some heavy metal thrown in. It's not of the whiny sort of gothic quite a few of you probably dislike and expect, it's more dynamic to say so. The vocals are of an untypical clean sort, they occasionally stumble but generally work fine for me. Quite a good sound for an unknown generation dub and the demo itself has a decent, heavy sound on itself. If you're into doom and/or gothic metal you'll want to check them out. I had something else in mind to say too but I'm in a hurry so it'll have to wait.

Anathema - Live in London 23.06.1995

Anathema (uk) - Live in Camden Underworld, London UK 23rd June 1995

1) The Silent Enigma
2) Mine Is Yours to Drown In (Ours Is the New Tribe)
3) Sleepless
4) Under a Veil (of Black Lace)
5) We, the Gods
6) 666

Mediafire

A live tape and from a little different genre for change. You're probably familiar with Anathema from England? This is an old show I got from a trader and as you can tell with minimal research, it is dated between their "Pentecost III" mini and the second full album "The Silent Enigma" which means they still play doom/death metal at this era, well with very little death at this point to be honest, but still metal you know. I guess people call them atmospheric/progressive rock or whatever in the later stages of their career.

The sound is pretty good, though it could really be a little stronger. The vocalist isn't really in his prime I'd say, he sounds pretty feeble occasionally when trying to do the more growly strong parts. The gothy moanier bits naturally come easier, you know the half spoken, half clean vocal he does. And My Dying Bride did/does too. Well, whatever. Moving on. I'm not sure if this is a complete recording of the gig, more likely not since it's only about 37 minutes and I find it hard to believe they would've had only that to play. More likely is that this recording is missing something from the beginning. If you were there that day maybe you could tell how much is missing? Till then, give it a go if you like their old stuff!