VERMINOUS - Smell The Birth Of Death 7" / MCD

I remember hearing this material not too long after it came out. It sounded somewhat like Exhumed going Merciless to me.Well honestly it still does to this very day. I remeber a lot of folks into goregrind and deathmetal complaining about how today there is only a handful of quality Death Metal bands and the rest was just utter shit.. ( I'm talking almost ten years ago ) They'd go on counting the good guys understandably mentioning Funebrarum from the U.S. , Slugathor from Finland and then they'd continue with counting newer Swedish acts such as Serpent Obscene, Kaamos, Repugnant. Well that's it actually. Not many true DM bands at the time. Verminous appeared from that Swedish "corner". Years later I got into Kaamos, actually thru Revokation, but from the very begining I was hooked on this material by Verminous. It was all I needed back then. It was a fast and a short output,  four tracks of killer energy , blitzkrieg Death-Metal with raw sound. Intense & adernaline-laden. Safe to say this release managed stay on my top 100 all-time E.P's. still to this day. Don't know precisely why, there's just something fascinating about it. Killer shit.

INKISITOR - Inkisitor 7"

Death Metal with War Metal and occasional Orthodox BM parts. Weird but a very interesting combination hailing from France. Powerful and violent. Worth your attention if you would or can enjoy Angelcorpse meeting Ondskapt. Sad of Christicide played drums here. The Christicide link was actually the reason I got into Inkisitor. Great 7", well worth your time.

DOLORVOTRE - Dolorvotre CS / CD

Most certanly, at this very moment of writing, in my humble, ignorant, stupid oppinion, the best release coming from the so called "black twilight circle". Not only the best in that context but also very, very good from any other perspective ( when talking of essence of what I understand  black metal is in its core). I am very positively suprised and also very pleased a release like this emerged from the other side of the pond. 

VERMETH - Suicide Or Be Killed LP / CD

Vermeth deliver what they know best, raw Bathory-an staright-forwad Black Metal with the 90's necro-production and primitive riffing. Slightly more intelligent than Torgeist but not all too different in it's essence.There quite a few things I like about this album, the main ones being so low-fi, ugly & honest. Everyone who ever felt the touch of Satan going thru Transylvanian Hunger back in the days would probably know what I mean. Just like the aforementioned audial terror "Suicide Or Be Killed" has its little moments all around; be it a catchy riff or a catchy verse but foremost it just reeks of malice and perversity, of bloody spears & primitive animalistic growls deep down from the gut. The pit of horror within creators insane mind. Replay value: Very rare but it KILLS each time you're spinning it.

PESTILENTIAL SHADOWS - Depths CD

Very well crafted and executed Australian Black Metal with european B/M vibe. I am talking Macabre Omen, Luror and , well I hear Klage aswell. I swear first time I heard this album I've could have sworn it's an european band, a pretty good one, but european, I would have cut both my legs for a bet.

Anyway, this album is flawless. Great songs, good guitar work, good drumming, vox are generic for this type of style. The album does have longer songs but that dosen't matter as they're not boring at all. Production is top-notch for this type of music, never too clear , never to muddy.  Everything is perfectly balanced and seems being thought-over a lot.

Replay value: Very high in the first week, settles down a bit with time passing ( naturally with new releases coming in.. ) but still manages to stay somewhere in between Mid to Mid High. After a year it's pretty much a one-time-a-month thing. Still very enjoyable. So yeah, I'd say it's a very good release.

COITUS DIABOLI - Goat Kult 7"

Von-esque, simple, loud, passionate and pretty much the most lively VON tribute band I heard. At times even comparable to something off "Ugra Karma". These French maniacs certanly deliver. It's is really nothing new, but a hell of a enjoyment to spin and listen to once in a while. Replay value is somewhat between medium to medium high, that is you happen to be on a VON trip, Chalice of Blood Angel releases trip, Chris Moyen covers trip and/or just need some simple, fast & foremost newer Black Metal to chill out to & rest your head after a demanding album of any sort. Not bad. Decent presentation aswell.

VORPHALACK - Daemonium Magister 7"

With Khal Drogo handling all of guitars & synths here, you can very well guess what this piece of wax sounds like. Lord Alatoth , the supposed main figure in Vorphalack, merely handles the microphone duties and even then he is heavily distorted by the overwhelming effects of the echo. So, in a way, this is in true sense a hidden Nocternity release with each and every detail Nocternity obtained and therefor sounded like in times of the mighty "Onyx" LP. I am sure, I don't need to add anything to this. It is then, very funny, as this great little 7", pressed in 500 units, by a small yet respectable Italian label, still is sitting amongs european distros, as a little piece of plague, that just won't sell, even with a reduced price, whereby Nocternity 7"s, split 7" etc. are considered rare collectors items. Enough said.

COMMUNION - Communion MCD

Chilean, truly bestial black/thrash hailing the 80's with newer sounding production of , let's say, the late 90's. Old Necronomicon, Sodom, Venom, Sarcofago etc but also Gospel Of The Horns, Nocturnal, Desaster & Cruel Force fans beware! This is some total headbanging madness. Three words that describe this best probably are: Rawness, Satan & METAL. I had the feeling how Communion layed pretty interesting foundations to their style on their first demo tape, but that material was kind of too short, and besides you never know if small bands like that would ever hold up to record their material in a proper studio. Prooves they did, and the result's sounding pretty good. The studio allowed Communion to increased their dynamics by bringing their killer treomolo riffs upfront, that were somewhat blurred by the vocals & drums on their demo tape. The angry echoed vocals now lurk above and around the steamy, fairly simple yet effective thrash riffs resulting a mighty sound that spreads thru the room and instantly forces some heavy headbanging upon the metal mind.

So to put it short, this is some real crushing material for old school metal fans. Hail the poisoned medicine!

ORMGÅRD - Ormblot CS

Fairly violent old-school blackmetal with high screetching vocals like on long forgotten Gorgoroth's Pentagram & older works of Abigor . Riffs sound somewhat Greek, kind of older Varathron and they are being backed up by the synth on various parts. Drummer tends to change his beats a lot which also reminds me of the mid 90's style drumming. This work could be compared to Opus IV by Abigor going Varathron with some Emperor "In the nightside..." thrown in.( There is even a clear Emperor riff among here)

Sure, there's nothing new Ormgard does but it's still good work with no mayor flaws. Sound is very 90's and I like the atmosphere it creates a lot. The overall release, musically speaking , I'd say, is  fairly good. Artwork is just awesome.

MYRKRAVERK - Nordvegen 7"

Slick & crafty BlackMetal with an Isengard touch. In no way another artsy/assy folkmetal puke you'd expect. On the contrary it easly evokes the feeling you had first time you heard Vinterskugge. Medieval? Yes, Pretentious? No way! Just a really good selection of riffs/melos combined with  the honest BM spirit that is even capable of being an ear-worm , yet you don't feel raped by it at all. Very nice.

TOMHET - Purpureargotamiceps CS

Insanely eccentric BlackMetal with ritualistic ambience inspired by Furze / Exitium and the likes. Apart from twisted riffs lots of other different sounds & interludes make thisa very interesting listen. Not like you'd wanna listen to this each day, but it's one of those releases that stand out in the crowd. Clearly not for everyone into BlackMetal. Pretty much THE definition of uncompromising BlackMetal that I doubt will ever be marketable.

Very good presentation aswell - the artwork just kills.

TUKAARIA / ODZ MANOUK Split CS

Both American BlackMetal Acts. Split CS starts off with Tukaaria. The band is pretty much in the way of older Ulver in terms of sound. Raw & Melodic BM really well executed . Guitar is playful with lots of melodics ; bass is pretty audiable which I like a lot, drums are fast and vox somewhat remind me of early Norge BM especially few demo bands from 90's. The First track "Mythology" slays the rest but these are pretty good tracks overall. Odz Manouk is blackmetal but with sort of a death metal sound to it unlike their debut album that was more into the Tukaaria sound.. The Scavenger is their side's better track eventou the mentioned track is a bit too long and not that interesting in it's "second part". Track "The sloth" is a slight let-down , I mean , it can pass as "average" but should have been placed before "The Scavenger" on the tape. Overall both bands deliver pretty good material, but Tukaaria is clearly the leader here.