AhnenHammer - Seelenwinter

I would rather call this debut album rather then demo as its described as but either way this first release from this Austrian band is a good one!

They play in a kind of mixed style but the overall main frame is in raw (as in production and delivery) Black metal but they have a flair of using ambient/atmospheric/samples in secondary layers that hightens the musics soul quite much, first track is a good example (and perhaps one of the best songs too) with these extra layers that both makes the experience richer and makes the band stand out from the crowd. Sometimes there is even a kind of a primitive punk/RAC/barbarian rythm and also quite slow/heavy tracks that oozes of melancholy and dread.
 Music in other words is both "simple" and "deep" which is a feat in its own to manage well.
Vocals is using both harsh screaching in higher and lower register and production is of course raw and in your face but enough balanced i think for this type of style.

All in all it is a great album perhaps a bit long (some song on side B could be excluded) but not overly so, i enjoyed it easily but it holds up with repeated spins, perhaps fans of NSBM bands like Der Sturmer, Wolfnacht and the alike will lapp this up like fine cream hehe....not that the AhnenHammer is waving  the NSBM banner but their sound and atmosphere is similar so besides regular BM fans those will feel at home even quicker.

War, hate and nobel vibes is streaming down the lake of time!

Solid debut release!

Track list:

Side A
1.     In Aeternum     04:50    
2.     Buried in the Woods     03:27    
3.     Spinning Black the Deathspelltune     03:51    
4.     Das Schweigen der toten Muehle     05:30    
5.     Das Tal des ewigen Nebels     05:01    
Side B
6.     Maidens of War     04:00    
7.     Schattenflüsterer     04:47    
8.     Wenn die Welt zugrunde geht     03:47    
9.     Dra til helvete     04:04    
10.   Heads Will Roll     03:23    
        Total:42:40   

Released by: Iron Scourge
link:
http://ironscourge.blogspot.se/

Moribund / Funerary Temple - Altars of Disease and Mortem

Here is the third split tape with Funerary Temple from last year, last times they "splitted" with Kryptus and Megalith Cave and now it is with a band called Moribund. For me this is a new band but they have already done some demos and splits (with Irae for an example) so i was intrigued on what they would puke up.

First FT kicks of with two pretty long noisy tracks, very organic and almost rehearshal-ish in production. It´s both hellish and demented in a crawling corpse fashion that rubs me the right way.
The songs hammer on and builds up to climaxes and vocals screams and wails (a bit away) pretty free over/under the mix, and not unusual for this type of "LLN" music is that parts if not the whole seems like its improvised....to keep the true beast of impulse alive and the unpolished hate of direct creation i guess and it works fine here. FT has be building up its own world quite fast these recent 2 years and for each release i heard i have gotten bigger respect for them.

Now over to Moribund, they have an even more rawer sound that almost is destroyed, their composition is more a structured one and has a melancholic atmosphere but also a bit upbeat (drums and guitar is the main drive force, a ghostly clean keybord part is a nice inclusion on the second track) in the  rythm department. Vocals mumbles away pretty deep in the "production" so they dont do much effect, it sound dirty as hell and the main tunes of importance is heard enough to keep clear impression for the the listener i think...as long as you enjoy ultra raw stuff. Even the GG Allin cover sounds good...not that i hear much of the original in here though hehe.
All in all Moribund was a nice experience and i would not hesitate in the future to pick up something from them.

Released by: Hatework
link:
http://hatework418.tictail.com/

Tracklist:

Side A
1.     Funerary Temple - Laborious Undulation Emanating form the Void        
2.     Funerary Temple - Grave Spirit Worship within Chambers of Rot        
Side B
3.     Moribund - Deathvoid of Negative Emissions        
4.     Moribund - Adulations of Morbid Offerings and Necro Sorcery        
5.     Moribund - Commit Suicide (GG Allin Cover)

Lord of Pagathorn - Daimono Philia

Ever since i heard their 7" "Shine Through My Scars, Morning Star!" my interest has been activated for this Finnish traditional black metal band, they originally started and released 2 demos back in 1993/94 to then go silent to later pop up again in 2010 with the "Msilihporcen" Ep/demo. After this comeback they have stayed above the surface and kept a string of releases coming out and this is their second full album.

The first album was a solid debut album & also a very strong conceptual one ...soo how holds this second opus up? Well first few times i listened to it i was not getting any hot vibes from it and felt it was a bit boring and loose around its edges...it felt more like a random regular black metal album that was not bad nor good and i was missing the weight of the goat the weight of "Pagathorn"!! ...Luckily i did not write this review at that stage because now after 5-6 spinns more i have reevaluated it!

Yes this album needed some extra spins for me to open up show its treasures, so while i still feel it is missing some of its meaty personality as the first album and demos had there are some good songs to be heard here as the grand " Rise of the Celestial  Scythe"(probably the best track) or the heavy final track "Throne of Lucifer" or the melodic but evil "Ghosts Among Us".

If this was an album from a new entity i probably would have been more positive but as this is quite far into this bands history i cant say its their best release but saying that i cant say its a crap album as it is a good delivery of satanic music (also production is clean but punchy, guitars,drums and the nice raspy vocals is in great balance) just not as complete as a release as before.
Fans of the band shall of course pick it up as it is worth hearing.

professionally made record but uneven in songwritting i feel this is an album between albums.

Released by: Woodcut Records
Link:
http://www.woodcutrecords.com/main.html

Tracklist:

1.     Intro: Nietzscherion        
2.     Evil to Destroy Evil        
3.     Ghosts Among Us        
4.     Prayer of Desecration        
5.     Rise of the Celestial  Scythe       
6.     Builders of the Higher Places        
7.     The Spirit of Perversion        
8.     Spiritual Spiral Stairs        
9.     Throne of Lucifer

Regnans - Land of Fire and Blood

Early in 2016 i heard the split tape with Regnans/Draziw and i liked it but it was awhile ago so its existance had drifted away a bit so when this popped up i felt it was more then welcomed!

After a little intro where it sounds some heavy breathing man/demon is moving through a jungle or forest with birds and parrots noising around (Australian wilderness?)....hehe sounding a bit funny but it also set the tone for this new year (last year) of the band.

As before it is soaked in cryptic melancholy and hate but here i feel that the band has reached a new level, as i said it carries on with its previous sound but here there you find a new fresh compositions and especially new audial layers.(and perhaps production)
Its a bit hard to put in words but there are some nice clear guitar tones that works great in contrast with the rest which are pretty raw sounding...perhaps one could say its has a bit of pagan flair in it but only so slight.  Here the darkness is a bit cracked and sharp knifes of light is penetrating its veil, it is both a negative and a positive thats struggling here...and now not  so deep underground but rather closer to surface....closer to the light which brings out the ugliness in life.

Besides the good main songs there are some nice atmospheric parts that works well to bind it all together, overall it is a well done  demo (or EP it could also be called) with a big cut of integrity and strenght. I feel the band is in a good swing! Look forward to their coming releases!

Well worth getting!

Released by Hatework Propaganda
link:
http://hatework418.tictail.com/

Tracklist:
1.     Land of fire and blood        
2.     Celtic blood stains this land        
3.     War inside my head        
4.     My kingdom of solitude

Pleasant End - Serenity In Suffering

And a pleasant tape it was... well first i like to point out that this could have gone really bad as he (Kale) mixes inspiration from both post rock/indie (a bit shoegaze) rock with bleak mid-tempo black metal...usually i hate these mixes but here it has a delicate balance that the end result is solid and not dumb and hipster´ish....while not perfect the songs has a good slab of memorable melodies and variation in between them and also inside them.

Nice witchy raspy vocals (and some clean back vocals) and the fronted guitars carries the somber melodies well along with the quite upbeat drum beats, its melancholic but also a bit romantic (dont go running now! I dont mean romantic in say a Twilight way or something) as the cover suggestes so dont expect total coldness here.

The big negative for me here is the production while it has a nice raw and balanced sound it has something that pumps the sound in and out of the whole sound from start to finish which strips away from the enjoyment, first i listened in my earphones but there the pumping sound got too dominant so i had to listen to it without them. You can listen to it though as it is but it would been so much better without this effect. (or if it was something that just got wrong?)

All in all a interesting off-shoot (strong personality for such a early demo) from the more standard BM styles out there, will try to snap up some future release of this Australian one-man band Pleasant End to see what he will be up to.

Track list:
1.     A Bitter Woe of Existence        
2.     Silent Screams and Sleepless Dreams        
3.     Stages of Depression        
4.     Philomisia...        
5.     Darkest of Spaces

This tape was released by Eternally Cold Records
link:
http://eternallycoldrecords.bigcartel.com/