self-released

Whorecore - Protection

Sharing TogetherChain Reaction Self-Released2006 Terrible band name, but thankfully the sound doesn’t match! Whorecore plays neither, say, swoop-do’d metalcore nor gore-grind, as the name might imply. Instead, this Israeli outfit rolls out death/grind like Belgian bands Leng Tch’e and Aborted, with plenty of half-speed grooves amid the requisite blasting. In fact, Svencho of these two […]

Wormtongue - Memorial to a Golden Age

Artifacts of the Great Race of Yith Self-Released2007 Wormtongue is Hastoth from Richmond, VA. First off – what’s up with the multiple layers of aliases in black metal? When Malefic has beer with his buddies, do they call him Malefic, Xasthur, or, god forbid, Scott? You can’t get more “tr00” than your birth name, folks. […]

Crimson Moon - Rehearsal Tracks

Untitled 2Untitled 6 Rehearsal Tracks1997-2000 As reported on Blabbermouth, Crimson Moon has leaked two rehearsal tracks from its upcoming album. Between the press release and the band website, it’s unclear what the hell has been going on lineup-wise. The sources list completely different lineups, but the upshot is that Malefic of Xasthur has joined the […]

Icon-Eight - Thrash the Moment!

Torn Asunder Self-Released2006 Icon-Eight is Mactabilis from Bergen, Norway. In Thrash the Moment! he’s concocted four cuts of raw, vicious thrash/death. The bio and title both reference ’80s thrash, but the sheer ferocity and occasional blastbeat tip this EP closer to death metal. Whatever you call it, it rocks. The production is gritty but solid, […]

SoulDaemon - Dead World

Wings of DeathOutro – The Breath of a New Day Self-Released2006 I firmly believe in “it’s not what you have, it’s what you do with it.” Italy’s SoulDaemon is a great example. Using only bass, drum machine, vocals, and effects, this one-man band has crafted a strange but cool EP in Dead World. Though the […]

Remorseless - Demo 2006

It’s a minor miracle that I’m writing about this demo. I picked it up at an Animosity show in SF earlier this year. The CD was free off a spindle, with no sleeve or case. All it said was “Remorseless Demo 2006.” No track names, no contact info, not the best first impression. I listened […]

Scale the Summit - Demo 2006

Scale the Summit is a Houston-via-LA instrumental prog metal band that began in late ’04. Influences are usually obvious with young bands, but with Scale the Summit, only a few reference points come to mind – Atheist, King Crimson, Dysrhythmia, the proggy parts of Between the Buried and Me. For being a bunch of guys […]

Piraña (Chl) - Manifestando el Absurdo

This is a demo, but it aspires to more, with eight tracks and fairly involved artwork. I must note that this Chilean band emailed me this demo as MP3’s and jpeg’s, citing the high cost of postage. That’s fair enough. However, most labels don’t accept MP3 submissions, and if the band wants to get anywhere, […]

The Sceptic - Psychopathological

If you order four or more CD’s at a time from Willowtip, they send you free stuff from their “shitbox.” Psychopathological came from said box, and my expectations were pretty low, given the horrible artwork (note to bands: putting fat, bloody people on album covers does NOT make people want to buy them). The logo, […]
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