Matricide - 2004 - Blasphemic Fire

Swedish Black Metal act Matricide has offered us seven tracks on this cassette, which is a re-release of their 2002 demo with three bonustracks added, including a Von cover. The music is mid-paced to fast and the first four tracks remind me of a tighter version of early Emperor and Sorhin. The vocals on this part sound very much like the vocals of Sorhin.

The bonus material shows some progress toward the newer Swedish Black Metal sound similar to the likes of Watain, Ondskapt and Funeral Mist, with the vocals sounding reminiscent of those of
Ondskapt. The first four tracks have a considerably worse soundquality than the bonustracks, the music can be heard somewhere in the distance, but the feeling in these tracks is just amazing.

Be sure to check out their recently released debut album Black Mass Gathering.

Standout tracks are "Blasphemic Fire" and "Seven Daemons".

Friday October 29 2004, by :Vragh:

Ondskapt - 2004 - Draco Sit Mihi Dux

Out of the Swedish Black Metal scene comes Ondskapt with their first fullength album, following their debut mini lp Slave Under His Immortal Will. It took me a few listens to get into this album, but it is a very good one. Here are many an influence. The soundquality is a little dark and the sound is more bassoriented than is common in Black Metal.

The vocals remind me of a slightly less bizarre De Mysteriis era Attila Csihar, operatic and with a sound of desperation. On this album are both moments that could have been taken from De Mysteriis era Mayhem as well as from Angst era Shining. Mostly this is not an album that is built upon fast double bass drums, the tempo is more towards the midpaced with tracks around 6-10 minutes long.

The allover sound on the recording and the vocals creates a very dark mood. Some truly amazing riffing on this album. If you enjoy Mayhem, Attila Csihar and Shining you are going to enjoy this album. This is a well executed, very professional piece of Black Metal Art.

Standout tracks are "III" and "VI".

Thursday May 20 2004, by :Vragh:

Obscurus Advocam - 2004 - Fervour and Devotion

This French Black Metal horde has unleashed their demo upon the underground. Presented on this tape are five tracks, including intro and outro, of mostly mid-paced Black Metal featuring members of Glorior Belli.

The music reminds me of the mid '90ies, with a sound reminding me somewhat of Ondskapt and Shining, being slightly melodic and depressive Black Metal. The vocals are at times similar to those by Attila on De Mysteriis, but mostly they sound like a more guttural version of those by Akhenaten
of Judas Iscariot.

The soundquality is a bit murky, and the volume of the recording is lower than average, but I really like this demo. It just emanates an aura of darkness. There's this dark feeling in the music that many bands of today just don't have.

Standout tracks are "II" and "V".

Tuesday January 4 2005, by :Vragh:

Haemophilia - 2006 - Demo 2006

Out of Sweden comes this Black Metal horde with their first demo. 4 tracks of well executed mid-paced to fast, slightly melodic blastbeating Black Metal with a slight twist of Death Metal from time to time is what we get here. There are some interesting ideas in the music here. There is a distinct Swedish sound to this release. This reminds me of the newer Swedish bands like Ondskapt, Watain and Chaos Omen. Quite interesting.

The vocals sound like a hoarser version of early Quorthon of Bathory, with added reverb and not as highpitched. Also slightly like Graav on the earlier Armagedda releases.

The soundquality is very good, well above the usual demo quality. Every instrument can be clearly heard in the mix, with a slight focus on the drums and the vocals. Over all a very enjoyable demo. This is a band that, if given time, can go far. They have since changed their name to Orcivus. Limited to just 50 copies, so act fast!

Standout tracks are "Interitus" and "Corpus Ferrugineum".

Monday November 27 2006, by :Vragh:

Frozen Shadows - 2004 - Hantises

Here we have the second assault from this Canadian Black Metal horde. We had to wait for 5 years for this release, but it was well worth the wait. 8 tracks of blistering fast Black Metal with the occasional slower and heavier parts is what we are presented with here. As with their first album, this
sounds very Nordic and it is nice to hear that some bands can still get that special old sound. Musically I would say that this reminds me of the newer school of bands, like Watain and Ondskapt as well as older Immortal, Enslaved and the old side project Zyklon-B, with members of Emperor, Satyricon and Dødheimsgard.

The vocals remind me mostly of those by Grutle of Enslaved, mainly because they sound as insane as the ones he did on the Frost album. If you've heard that album you know what I'm talking about.

The soundquality is very good. The drums and the vocals are what you hear most in the mix, but the guitars are not far behind. I must say that I really do enjoy this album. A keyboard is utilized at times on this album as well, but as with their previous album they're used sparsely. Good musicianship and good production gets us a real good album. I would strongly urge you to get this album. If you're lucky you might even find the limited edition of this album with their demo as a bonus cd.

Standout tracks are "As Old as Time Itself", "Des Siecles d'Epitaphes", "Battered Souls" and "Towards the Chambers of Nihil".

Monday November 27 by :Vragh: