Friday, May 31, 2013

Vergissmeinnicht - "Whispering Solitude" [2008]

Artist: Vergissmeinnicht
Title: Whispering Solitude
Genre: Neofolk/Neoclassical
Country: China
Year: 2008

Track List:
  1. Left Forgotten
  2. Wither
  3. A Poem For The Shadow
  4. Dimension Of Souls
  5. Innocent
  6. Whispering Solitude
  7. My Colourless Reflection
  8. Dust
  9. Buried By Time
  10. Depression (Abyssic Hate cover)
Very good Chinese neofolk that was already mentioned on my blog a couple of times before. The album doesn't sound particularly "Chinese", though; the same kind of music could very well be played by a band from any European country...

Finnugor - "Death Before Dawn" [2003]

Artist: Finnugor
Title: Death Before Dawn
Genre: Sympho-Black Metal
Country: Finland/Hungary
Year: 2003

Track List:
  1. Princess of Eternity
  2. Death Before Dawn
  3. Solar Eclipse
  4. Astral Fornication
  5. Cosmic Nest of Decay
  6. Battle at the Heart of Dreamland
  7. From Hell I Still Remember
  8. Korg Polaris
  9. Ghosts Around the Bonethrone
  10. Supernova
Finnugor is one of the most interesting Hungarian black metal projects, whose music I can compare only to Arcturus, and maybe also to Covenant (of "Nexus Polaris"-era). The band was founded in 2001 by Gabriel Wolf, also a member of Infra Black (TBM/industrial metal) and Ywolf (avant-garde gothic metal/darkwave). All the 6 albums by Finnugor are worth listening to (except maybe for "My Sick Files" - a kind of experiment with more "industrial"-esque kind of sound, that apparently went wrong), but I personally would recommend to start from "Death Before Dawn" - that's the kind of "cosmic" black metal I really like.

Thursday, May 30, 2013

Uranium 235 - "Total Extermination" [1995]

Artist: Uranium 235
Title: Total Extermination
Genre: Black Metal
Country: Monaco
Year: 1995

Track List:
  1. Nuclear Satan
  2. A New Order, a New World
  3. Sodom 1999
  4. The Third World War
Very few "true black metal" projects can be taken seriously with their "ideology" and aesthetics. However, there still are "true" BM releases that really carry the seeds of insanity, such as Mayhem's "De Mysteriis...", or "Blood Must Be Shed" by Zyklon-B. This very obscure demo cassette may be not as impressive as "Blood Must Be Shed", but Uranium 235 and Zyklon-B certainly have a lot in common, both musically and aesthetically (not to mention they both started in 1995). The only member of Uranium 235 also has a much more prolific industrial black metal project called "Godkiller", which I haven't checked out yet. Uranium 235 is also a title of a NY-based industrial rock/metal band which has nothing to do with the black metal Uranium 235 from Monaco.

Monday, May 27, 2013

Fleurety - "Min Tid Skal Komme" [1995]

Artist: Fleurety
Title: Min Tid Skal Komme
Genre: Post-Black Metal
Country: Norway
Year: 1995

Track List:
  1. Fragmenter Av En Fortid
  2. En Skikkelse I Horisonten
  3. Hvileløs?
  4. Englers Piler Har Ingen Brodd
  5. Fragmenter Av En Fremtid
Fleurety started in 1991 as a standard Norwegian black metal band, but quickly evolved into something more sophisticated. Their first full-length album, "Min Tid Skal Komme", is widely regarded as one of the pioneering albums in avant-garde black metal, and one of the first attempts to mix metal with post-rock (only an year after the very term "post-rock" was coined by Simon Reynolds). I personally view this album as one of the masterpieces of the 90's Norwegian avant-garde metal scene - along with "Omnio" by In The Woods (1997), "Written In Waters" by Ved Buens Ende (1995), and "666 International" by Dødheimsgard (1999). The second and the latest full length by Fleurety, "Department of Apocalyptic Affairs", was even more experimental (bordering on avant-prog), and wasn't welcomed both by critics and fans. I personally like both their albums a lot, but I definitely would recommend to start listening to Fleurety from "Min Tid Skal Komme":

Illegal Operation - "Digital Hero" [2002]

Artist: Illegal Operation
Title: Digital Hero
Genre: Industrial Metal
Country: Romania
Year: 2002

Track List:
  1. Trails To Nowhere
  2. Antourage 
  3. Digital Hero
  4. Unfair 
  5. When All The Children 
  6. Digital Hero (remix)
  7. Encounters 
  8. Unexpected Error 
  9. Life As Lie 
  10. C.P.U. The Hero 
  11. Mystical 
  12. Welcome 
  13. Under Underground 
  14. Again And Again
The only Romanian industrial metal band I know of. Unfortunately they released only one album in early 2000's and then split up without getting much publicity - maybe because their music wasn't very accessible for the majority of metal fans back then. The only download link I have is this one (lossless rip, because I'm too lazy to convert it to mp3).

Saturday, May 25, 2013

Frozen Dusk - demo tracks

Artist: Frozen Dusk
Title: demo tracks
Genre: Symphonic/Gothic Metal
Country: Romania

Track List:
  1. Bindfold Cabaret
  2. Absynth
  3. Silent Winter
  4. Faraway So Close (remix 2008)
  5. Return
  6. Deserted
"Frozen Dusk is a Romanian symphonic metal band founded in august 2002 by guitarist Stefan Mustata and opera vocalist Adina Bajenica. The band’s first songs were recorded in 2003 as a demo used primarily for publicity. This was soon followed by a series of concerts together with well-known Romanian rock bands such as Iris and Vama Veche. In 2004 Frozen Dusk headlined a series of concerts, among them the Steel Stage Festival. In 2005 the band took a break so that its members could finish their studies. In July 2006, the band recorded a demo album, which led to a new series of concerts in Bucharest"

Of course the "Nightwish syndrome" is present on this demo, but I think it's unavoidable for an young symphonic/female-fronted metal band. I still find their music much more honest and worth listening to, compared to a lot of much more well-known sympho-metal bands.

Interitus Dei - "In Motion" [2009]

Artist: Interitus Dei
Title: In Motion
Genre: Gothic Metal
Country: Romania
Release date: 2009

Track List:
  1. In Motion
  2. When the Metal Meets The Flesh
  3. Pagan And Proud
  4. Rain Of Fire
  5. The Portrait of Pain
  6. Lord Of Flies
  7. Arabia
  8. Strained
  9. The Memories Of The Snake
  10. Deny Denial
  11. Hasta Siempre Comandante Che Guevara
Interitus Dei were labelled by some critics as the best metal band in Romania, which I think is a too strong statement, but nevertheless close to truth. Labelling them as "gothic metal" might be inaccurate too, because they, among with other early gothic/"dark" metal bands formed in mid-90's such as Samael or Moonspell, doesn't sound similar to the modern trendy "gothic metal" bands. And yes, "gothic metal" itself is a quite vague term (even though "dark metal" is even worse). It's also remarkable that their lyrical subjects are quite diverse - from typical black/pagan metal stuff to a cover of "Hasta Siempre..."

Emerson Dracon - "Mañana Lloverá En Buenos Aires" [2011]

Artist: Emerson Dracon
Title: Mañana Lloverá En Buenos Aires
Genre: Martial Industrial, Post-Punk
Country: Argentina
Release date: 2011

Track List:
  1. A Las Barricadas
  2. Reign Forever? (Blood Axis re-cover)
  3. Fusiladora
  4. Operación Masacre
  5. Sear Me MMXI (My Dying Bride cover)
  6. They Walked In Line (Joy Division cover)
I see a lot of people coming to my blog by searching "martial industrial blog" etc. in google, so I think it's time to post a martial industrial album with some worthwhile ideology (from my point of view). It's a pity, though, that more than a half of this EP consists of covers, but it's still good enough for a first self-produced release.

Monday, May 20, 2013

Blind Owl - "For My Shadow" [2008]

Artist: Blind Owl
Title: For My Shadow...
Genre: Dark Ambient
Country: Iran
Release date: 2008

Track List:
  1. Hazardous Creation [Intro]
  2. Surreal Illusions & Majestic Path
  3. Insomnian Dark Night
  4. Live For Nothing
  5. Illa Tithandi [Burzum Cover]
  6. Dunkelheit
  7. A Man Who Talked To His Shadow
As I've said before, there are at least two bands under the name "Blind Owl", one of them being a dark ambient duo from Iran. So far they've released one demo, titled "For My Shadow", inspired by a 1937 novel by a Persian writer Sadegh Hedayat. Right now I'm not in the mood for reading long texts in English, but I definitely will read the novel some time later, it certainly looks interesting.

Sunday, May 19, 2013

Vermi Sinti - "Sequoiae" [2012]

Artist: Vermi Sinti
Title: Sequoiae
Genre: Industrial/Darkcore/DnB
Country: Hungary
Release date: 2012

Track List:
  1. Sequintro
  2. Ruined
  3. The Younger Son of Apocalypse
  4. Magnolia Soulangeana
  5. Just a Little More
  6. Born Beneath Birches
  7. Let Me Breathe For You
  8. Te Veo
  9. WinterWall
"Vermi Sinti is a Hungarian musical project which started when the first snow fell on the ground on a cold day of December in 2010. The name is originated from a spanish expression, however it is better if its meaning remains a mystery. As for the musical genre, I would call it experimental in a sense that the purpose of the project is to make a fusion of different styles, mainly electronic (industrial and darkcore), but some metal stuff is present too. Neither it is by accident that the sound is noisy, confusing and often raw"

Maybe it isn't the best example of Hungarian avantgarde music (I personally would prefer it to be more metal and less dnb), but it's already quite good for a debut self-release. The EP is completely free:

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

V/A - "Darkwave from the South: Music From The Other America V" [2011]

Artist: (various)
Title: Darkwave from the South: Music From The Other America V
Genre: Darkwave, Gothic Rock
Country: (various)
Release date: 2011

Track List:
  1. Réquiem Para Nadie - Fuego [Uruguay]
  2. Electroespectro - Soneto de Una Maquina [Argentina]
  3. Denébola - Ángel sin Cielo [Chile]
  4. MekRokieV - Respiro (Demo) [Mexico]
  5. Das Projekt - Morbid Love [Brazil]
  6. Ewiges Delirium - En Busqueda de un Eterno Resplandor [Colombia]
  7. TaxidermiA - Mentes Oscuras [Venezuela]
  8. Antonio Amador - Fantasma [Mexico]
  9. Miguel ERRE - Cáscaras Vacías [Argentina]
  10. RRRRRRR - Transmission (Trance-Mission) [Uruguay]
  11. Hemophilia - Quito Siniestro [Ecuador]
  12. Persephone Eyes - Take the Chalice [Brazil]
  13. Dulce Muerte - Maldoror (Maldoror cover) [Peru]
  14. Draconian Incubus - City Of Lovers [Costa Rica]
  15. Megadriel - Rape of Innocence [Puerto Rico]
  16. Fixion - (No) Quiero Ser Dios [Uruguay]
  17. Xianotic - This Abyss In Your Arms (2010) [Chile]
  18. Epic Church - Flow My Tears (Short Edit) [Brazil]
  19. Amöniacö - Caer (Single Version) [Chile]
  20. Sunset Down - A Far Place (Horses) [Brazil]
The 5th (and probably the latest up to date) "Darkwave from the South" compilation. Of course, like the previous parts, it has a lot of weak tracks (many of the included bands are either copying European gothic scene, or just have too "amateur"-ish sound), but it's still a good source of underground darkwave and gothic rock with lyrics in Spanish. My personal favourite is "Ángel sin Cielo" by Denébola.

Monday, May 13, 2013

V/A - "Darkwave from the South: Music From The Other America IV" [2010]

Artist: (various)
Title: Darkwave from the South: Music From The Other America III
Genre: Darkwave, Gothic Rock
Country: (various)
Release date: 2010

Track List:
  1. Projeto Renfield - Night [Brasil]
  2. Anfisbena - Vidas Y Muertes [Bolivia]
  3. Maresantos - Alma [Peru]
  4. Aldearoja - Manto Negro [Chile]
  5. RRRRRRR - Ella Es Tan Pálida [Uruguay]
  6. Taxidermia - Karma Demoniaco [Venezuela]
  7. Septima Sima - El Imperio De Los Desposeidos [Argentina]
  8. Under My Nails - Dagas [Colombia]
  9. Igreja Do Sexo - Igreja Do Sexo [Brasil]
  10. Flood Of Tears - Love Don't Work [Argentina]
  11. Ewiges Delirium - Corazon Roto? [Colombia]
  12. StrangersAngels - Noises Of The Broken Souls [Paraguay]
  13. Hemophilia - Gothica [Ecuador]
  14. Nene Altro & O Mal De Caim - Cor De Prata [Brasil]
  15. Starselect - Angels On The Amazonas Storm [Argentina]
  16. La Devoción - Isabel [Peru]
  17. Convulsiones - Dulce [Chile]
  18. El Viejo Matadero - Alguien Sangra [Colombia]
  19. Dulce Muerte - Lamento [Peru]
  20. Álgida - A Fé Está Morta [Brasil]
  21. MekRokieV - Una Vez Más [Mexico] (Bonus Track)
  22. Draconian Incubus - King Of Misery [Costa Rica] (Bonus Track)
Another compilation in the "Darkwave from the South". Frankly speaking, I found it to be the weakest one out of all the "DftS / MftOA" series, but maybe some of you will find it (or at least some tracks off it) interesting.

Saturday, May 11, 2013

V/A - "Darkwave from the South: Music From The Other America III" [2010]

Artist: (various)
Title: Darkwave from the South: Music From The Other America III
Genre: Darkwave, Gothic Rock
Country: (various)
Release date: 2010

Track List:
  1. Crucifix Nocturnal Christians - The Cross On The Wall
  2. Elegia - Medieval
  3. Aldearoja - Aldearoja
  4. Céfiro Nocte - El Lado Oscuro De La Luna
  5. Septima Sima - Natacha
  6. Hemophilia - Sol Negro
  7. Das Projekt - Betrayal
  8. Ewiges Delirium - Abandonado
  9. Taxidermia - Pesadilla
  10. RRRRRRR - Frío
  11. Virgine Dramatica - In The Presence Of The Frost
  12. Sunset Down - Genocide Of Angels 2.0 [Live Demo]
  13. Porcelain Doll - After This...
  14. Plastique Noir - Silent Shout
  15. Flood Of Tears - The World
  16. Bloodparade - Nevermore
  17. Luna In Caelo - Llorar
  18. StrangersAngels - End Of Tears
  19. Dulce Muerte - Brujas
  20. Convulsiones - El Último Minuto
A compilation of various underground projects from the gothic/darkwave scene of South America. Of course don't expect top quality musicianship and production, but there definitely are some projects that's worth attention (i.e. Virgine Dramatica). Besides, it isn't like there are many well-known darkwave bands with lyrics in Spanish, so this compilation sounds quite exotic to me, even though there's a lot of so-so projects.

Escape - "La Hora de la Verdad" [2012]

Artist: Escape
Title: La Hora de la Verdad
Genre: Industrial/Alternative/Thrash Metal
Country: Cuba
Release date: 2012

Track List:
  1. Rompiendo el Silencio
  2. La Hora de la Verdad
  3. Peligro
  4. Símbolo de Libertad
  5. Decisiones
  6. Crisis de Fe
  7. Caos en Orden
  8. Cuba en Rebelión
  9. At Mountains (versión Darkening)
"Harsh reality decribed through subversive and political lyrics, corrosive and dynamic hardcore/metal music. ESCAPE comes from Habana, Cuba. Not exactly folk or touristic one but from the boiling cuban underground metal scene.The force of sound is overwhelming and the great artwork filled with symbolic references"

This is the first Cuban industrial metal band I know of... well, maybe not exactly industrial metal, but a kind of alternative metal hardcore with some industrial elements, apparently influenced by the bands like Sepultura as well. The album is officially available for free, so I downloaded it just for curiosity, and wasn't disappointed.

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Street Child - s/t [1989]

Artist: Street Child
Title: Street Child
Genre: Epic Heavy Metal
Country: USA
Release date: 1989

Track List:
  1. Temple of Set
  2. Streetchild
  3. Erotic Insomnia
  4. Building a Wall
Another New York-based 80's heavy metal band that released only one 10'' EP and then disappeared. However, this EP is a real MASTERPIECE, and probably one of the most overlooked metal releases of all times. Well, feel free to say that their musicianship (especially the drumming) wasn't perfect, the vocals are a bit dull, etc. - but as for me, this record creates an INCREDIBLE atmosphere, which probably wouldn't be achieved if it was too overproduced. My personal highlights: "Streetchild" (a >6-minutes epic with very touching lyrics) and "Building a Wall" (probably the best track on the whole EP). "Erotic Insomnia" is a bit weaker than the other tracks, but still very good. It really sucks that they've released only 4 songs and then disbanded (there are several more songs on youtube, as well as some live recordings, but they aren't as good).

By the way, it looks like their ex-vocalist is active on last.fm and youtube, and he does agree with the critics of his vocal style. However, I personally liked his voice a lot, in my opinion it's one of the few things that made the "Street Child" EP sounding so unique. And of course, the cover art is among the best I've ever seen.

Attila - "Rolling Thunder" [1986]

Artist: Attila
Title: Rolling Thunder
Genre: Heavy Metal
Country: USA
Release date: 1986

Track List:
  1. Turn Up The Power
  2. Urban Commandos
  3. March Of Kings
  4. Defcon 1
  5. Thermonuclear Warrior
  6. Rolling Thunder
  7. Wild
  8. School's Out (Alice Cooper cover)
  9. Chains Around Heaven
  10. Tryst
Attila were a 3-piece band from NY, formed in 1983 and released only one album in 1986. You can easily guess the main lyrical themes of this album - post-apocalypse, nuclear warfare and the general atmosphere of permanent fear in the times of Cold War - by just looking at the album cover and the song titles. Will, these times are long gone, but I still remember how it was in the late 80's-early 90's; moreover, I'm generally interested in post-nuclear/post-apocalyptic art, so I couldn't just get past this album. The music is somewhat simplistic, but it isn't a big flaw, and it's quite expected from a debut album of a band which had only 3 members. My personal favourite track is "March Of Kings".

Blind Owl - "Lady Of America / Rainbow Rider" [1985]

Artist: Blind Owl
Title: Lady Of America / Rainbow Rider 7''
Genre: Heavy Metal
Country: USA
Release date: 1985

Track List:
  1. Lady Of America
  2. Rainbow Rider
"Blind Owl was formed summer 1972 in Gardena, California. They won Battle of the Bands at El Camino College, played the Hollywood scene, Trubador, Gazzarri's and Golden Bear. In 1985 they put out the Lady of America single on the Blue Streak label (MCF 2016A). The only member known on this single are "David Jeru" the other members are unknown"
That's all I could find out about this really obscure band. Apparently there's also a dark ambient project from Iran under the same name, which I haven't checked out yet. Speaking of this single, it a very good example of mid-80's US melodic hard rock/metal, shame that during their >13 year-long existence they never released anything beside this. Unlike most other classic metal bands on my blog, I discovered this one not because of Vibrations of Doom collection, but via Strappado Metal Archives (excellent blog, highly recommended!)

Monday, May 6, 2013

Dresden - "Too Many Skeletons" [1986]

Artist: Dresden
Title: Too Many Skeletons
Genre: Thrash Metal
Country: USA
Release date: 1986

Track List:
  1. Too Many Skeletons
  2. In Fear Of God
  3. Life On The Edge
  4. Black Riders
  5. Sounds Of Silence (Simon & Garfunkel cover)
  6. Firestorm
  7. Starvation
  8. It's Your Funeral
  9. Open Your Eyes
  10. Dirge
Gloomy thrash metal with some punk influences, side project of the members of Lost Generation. This album has left a strong impression on me ~10 years ago, when I discovered it on the Vibrations of Doom site (the only place where I could find the audio files of all these rare 80's metal albums back then). After 10 years of listening to a lot of all kinds of metal it doesn't seem to be as impressive anymore, but it's still one of my favourite 80's thrash metal albums. I also think the album cover adequately reflects the atmosphere that the music creates.


P.S. Speaking of 80's thrash metal legends - rest in peace Jeff Hanneman, even though I never was a big fan of your band, you were a classic, and Slayer's "Reign in Blood" (1986) is undoubtely one of the best metal albums ever made.