El-Ahrairah - The Blessing [MC] (2010)

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second demo

Drowning the Light - The Land of the Dead Sun [MLP] (2011)

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A very bizarre release.  Azgorh teamed up with Shatraug, Molestor, and Stormheit during his tour thru Finland and this record was the product.  That in and of itself is very normal; just some bros makin' beats, but I am infinitely baffled as to why it has nationalist themes..  Australia and Finland, so oppressed, so stained with blood together by those big bully Christians.  But, yeah, this record rips.  Buzzsaw guitars, tortured shrieks, and one of the gnarliest bass tones I've ever heard, it sounds like a mechanical shark dropped 8 octaves through a pitch shift pedal.  And as odd as the nationalist themes on this record are, they do set the backbone for some pretty triumphant riffs.  Hail victory Finlandaustralia I guess.

(Oh, and my bad about that annoying ground buzz between tracks; I'll rip it again)

Akitsa - Soleil Noir [PicLP] (2004)

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Absolutely killer EP from Akitsa, containing some of their best material spanning from noise to black metal to oi.  In the blown out, punkish vein of early Absurd, this record stomps through each track with furious momentum.

But, seriously, La Retour du Soleil Noir, great oi track. Soleeeeeeeil Nooooooir.

El-Ahrairah - Tribute to Bathory [MC] (2011)

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Recorded as promo for a Bathory set we played at a local cover show a few weeks ago; ended up selling most of them online before we could distribute to anyone locally.

3 tracks of raw Bathory worship, so put on that patch vest and nod slowly. Contemplatively, even. Just make sure that girl over by the bar sees your kvlt Moonblood patch.

Musta Kappeli - Saatanassa Ulvoneet [MLP] (2008)

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Uh oh, that Molestor is up to his old antics again.

What I've heard of Anal Blasphemy I wasn't too fond of; but, it's kay, this outlet for his "sigh Finland is soooo boring" productivity is focused more on wolves and satan than on penises and ejaculation.

This album is dark and sharp; mid-pace black metal made brutal and inevitable.  The chugging battlewagon only halted by some out-of-place keyboards that are trying to tie in with the "black chapel" theme of the band but falling short.  A name means alot in a band, it sums up the desired atmosphere or hopefully helps to illuminate it.  So, maybe I'm missing something when I listen to this and think more of a Nattens Madrigal-esque "wolf in man" rather than a satanic chapel churning out demonic hymnes fore his glorious rebirthe.  Also, the clean vocals are pretty sweet.

Sigh - The Curse of Izanagi [EP] (2010)

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<rant> I'll be honest; I hate how my love for Sigh is becoming more and more of a guilty pleasure as the band gets consumed with their Lacuna Coil-like marketing strategies.  Mirai makes a name for himself and his band (perhaps in lowercase italics, but still a name) keeps evolving it over a period of 20 years, then apparently gives it all up and yields control and front(wo)man-ship over to the Jessica Rabbit meets Beetlejuice of Black Metal.  Nice career move, Shadowking.  </rant>

And that's half of what is so great about this EP; it represents a different side of modern Sigh.  The reimagining of The Curse of Izanagi is even more brutal and hateful than the original (which all curses should be).  Definite highlight of the release.  Unfortunately they seemed to rush the production of the EP and threw filler tracks onto it.  I mean, the covers of Spiritual and Countess Bathory are great, except this marks the third time that the latter has been on a Sigh release. Excessive? You decide.

Drowning the Light - The Fading Rays of the Sun [MLP] (2009)

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I know, right? Another one of these. Fading Rays of the Sun was released immediately after Blood of the Ancients and it shows; this release echoes it's predecessor perfectly, which might be a problem if Blood of the Ancients was bland or mediocre, but lucky for ya'll it kills perfectly.  I don't mean that in like the "man, this Stormcrow record kills" way; fortunately for you this is the sound of death. Death, dying, and rotting.  Majestic keys might make the descent bittersweet while Azgorh's vocals and beautifully shrieky leads drag you down to the depths.  There really is no other atmosphere to compare this chapter of DTL's catalog to, all I know is that I can't wait for Land of the Dead Sun to arrive at my doorstep.

Syphilitic Vaginas / Nunslaughter - Under Satan's Command / Satanic Masturbation [EP] (2009)

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Another killer Syphilitic Vageenz post to add to the growing list on this blog. You know the drill by now, SV plays killer G.I.S.M. worshipping crust as fuck existence blackened speed metal bitch. Nunslaughter actually surprised me with this release. I had never given them the time of day before purchasing this 7", partly in fact due to the Satanic Threat 7" and also in part to them having a release schedule that competes with that of Agathocles and Abigail. But, nonetheless, I was missing out all this time. Nunslaughter is fukkin' killer, bro. For real. It's just a rowdy, raunchy, butt-fukkin' good time. Grab some beer in one hand, some tits in the other, and distort 'til deafness! Keep on it!


more pics after the break.

Revenge - Attack.Blood.Revenge [MLP] (2001)

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Revenge is another one of my absolute favorite bands. They embody chaos. There is nothing that can compare to Revenge. Other J. Read projects have come close, obviously Conqueror being the most similar, but none has ever emit such hatred or unleashed a pure fucking noise armageddon. Also, I dare you to find a more original and incredible cover of Bathory's "War." If you haven't already been obsessed with this band, now is the time to start. I'll post my other Revenge albums in the coming weeks. Play this as loud as you possibly can.


more pics after the break.

Moonblood - Fullmoon Witchery [LP] (bootleg)

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Regardless of the legitimacy of this release, I'm still so fuckin' stoked to have Moonblood on vinyl. These are some of their best tracks, taken from rehearsals in 1996 and 1998. I can't even think of words to describe this record. Moonblood makes the best black metal I've heard. Just...listen guys...for real...you'll shit.

Blutschrei - Voice of Forbidden Pride [LP] (2006)

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Blutschrei is a Finnish band comprised of members of the almighty Hammer and Horna, and it’s very obvious that they share members. The riffage on this record is incredible. Very simplistic, but extremely powerful mid-tempo war hymns, it’s almost crusty in a weird sort of way, made evident by the first track on the b-side. The lyrics are pretty ridiculous. I face palm a few times every time I hear this record. But, regardless, it still manages to be a killer record.

Thorazine Gaze / Marsh - Split [MC] (2010)

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Obscure split between Thorazine Gaze from Pennsylvania and Marsh from Minnesota.  The Thorazine Gaze side starts with a Xasthuric riff which totally amped me up to get depressive with my tape deck for the next 10 minutes.  What followed wasn't exactly what I expected or craved, but took that brief depressive mood and morphed it with raw, passionate black metal punk. Marsh begins their side with a dark ambient piece that drifts between industrialism and drug-coma for awhile, sating my craving for depression that Thorazine Gaze built up to, but decided against delivering. Now cue the post-punk black metal madness.  Yes, this combination has been bullied unto many albums, especially splits, but this ain't your mommas post-black amalgamation.

If there's one thing this cassette has in spades it would be passion.  Passion is the brownish DIY tape that holds the grab-bag of ideals found on this tape together; Thorazine Gaze moves between depression and raise-your-fist incitement, Marsh journeys from feelings of being lost, finding forgotten technologies, and building new hope.  Raw.

Sadorass - Strength and Wisdom [LP] (2002)

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Raw hateful black metal from Germany. Sadorass is in the same vein as Ildjarn and Moonblood, but don't be fooled, this isn't some trendy fucking bullshit. It's raw, duh, but the perfect amount of raw. The guitars are complete fuzz. Also, there's some whack-ass noise/booty-clap/techno intro. Don't be misled by this, it gets a lot better. There's also Absurd and Werwolf covers.

Aesahaettr - Æsahættr [MC] (2010)

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Ice cold. God destroying.

Cognitive Dissonance - Prison Under The Cross [EP] (2010)

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Pounding war drums, Flooded frozen basements, buzz-saw guitars, tortured shrieks. This is Cog D. This is their second release and it fukking slayz 4 dayz. All the best elements of D-Beat, Thrash, and Black Metal combined into one huge slab of wax. I think this 7" is still available, so do yourself a favor and pick it up. You wont regret it.

Celestia / Goatfire - Split [EP] (2001)

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Celestia hails from France and plays excellent LLN worship. "Darkness Enfold The Sky" is played at blistering speeds, creating an extremely chaotic and hateful sound while still managing to be melodic. The distortion on the guitars is total fuzz. It sounds like a fart played through a bunch of effects pedals.
Goatfire, from Italy, plays evil as fukk black thrashing death. The intro to their side is some sort of whack-ass techno sounding beat, but don't let the rave music fool you, it leads into pure debauchery and sin.

Dispirit - Rehearsal at Oboroten [MC] (2010)

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This band has apparently been around for 10 years and just released their first rehearsal tape.  Holy shit.  If this is a mere rehearsal and they are seasoned veterans of playing live, I curse my mid-west roots more than ever.  The flag-bearer of this noisy, mid-tempo black metal band is John Gossard of Weakling and Asunder fame.  It's like he took the shoe-gaze-ingly addictive USBM melodies from the former and combined it with the heavy trudging pace of the latter, then threw in gallons of raw production (possibly owed to the fact that this is a rehearsal tape, I dunno, we shall soon find out with the next release).  I really hope the production stays like this.

Evil / Satanic Warmaster - Southern / Carelian Black Metal Holocaust [MC] (2008)

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Here we have a short, goofy release from Brazil's Evil and the notorious Satanic Warmaster. Evil contributes a slow, depressive track similar to some Mutiilation. Satanic Warmaster's track is...different. It's more along the lines of Incriminated. Mid-paced thrashy black metal. Recorded in 2004, Annos Satanas.

Cognitive Dissonance - Omens of Doom [MC] (2008)

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Minnesota's bleak and fucking relentless winters have spawned one of the best demo's I've heard in a while. This came out about two years ago and it's still one of my favorite tapes. Cognitive Dissonance offers up the perfect blend of crust, black metal, and 80's thrash that doesn't quit. This demo ist winter. It's cold. It's raw. It's brutal. Think Abigail meets Darkthrone and Anti-Cimex. Enjoy.

Satanic Warmaster - Carelian Satanist Madness [PicLP] (2005)

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Satanic Tyrant Werwolf's LLN-worshipping opus.  Despite controversial and arguably marketable political beliefs, Satanic Warmaster has captured the ear of many a black metaller with his catchy melodies and harsh sound.  "My Dreams of 8" is one of my personal favorite black metal tunes of all time, as the melody is hauntingly intoxicating and the vocals are spot on.  Definitely a must have for any fan of raw black metal.

As a side note; every rip I've heard of this album seems to skip and bug out on track 3 - True Blackness.  Rest assured that this is not just a hand-me-down of the same ol' buggy rip.