Demo / EP / Split

Blood Ouroboros – Demo MMXXII [USA, Black / Death] (2022)

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Self Released | 2-14-22

This is one of the coolest demos I’ve heard in the last few years – and that superlative isn’t for its own sake. Blood Ouroboros put out their first equally-awesome demo in 2020, which captured the attention of not a few extreme metallers who like their guitar leads at that curious superposition of melody. Two years later, and we have another – the appropriately titled Demo MMXXII. This leads from the very start with pseudo-punky black / death rhythms and chugs that show remarkable songcraft abilities within this two-piece. The production has that ever so slight guitar crunch to it, which only adds to the wrung-out growls. It’s all full and fire – and full of fire. On their Bandcamp page, the band implores “any label” who wants to release on tape to get in touch with them. I can only hope that this write-up into the aether will help them with that goal. Besides, I want one.

Demo MMXXII by Blood Ouroboros

Begravement – The Anaphylaxis Demo [USA, Death / Thrash] (2022)

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Self Released | 1-7-22

Ah, I’ve now hit that point in my life where I look upon ye band photos and despair, for I cover musicians ten years younger than me who have far better taste than I had at their age… and have been in more bands than I’ve been in now. To quote a famous extreme pop punk band – well, I guess this growing up. Enough blather. Begravement is a four-piece from Minnesota, a place so well-known for cold and ice that a bunch of Scandinavians moved there in the 1800s. This demo is their fourth release since forming in 2018, and it demonstrates one hell of an evolution. Three tracks riff between mid-90s death / thrash rippers, some terrifying spoken word (about whom I assume to be Jeffrey Dahmer), and a dual-vocal attack. The band describes the release as “represent[ing] our transition into a more intricate and technical style”, and I’m inclined to agree – a comparison to Morbid Angel would not be inappropriate, along with some punk-laden thrash on the mid-track break of the title track. There’s a slight undercurrent of melodic death metal, especially in how the vocal tactics are slightly reminiscent of an early Black Dahlia Murder (think “Funeral Thirst”). One would be tempted to say this is impressive given their age, but I find that an unnecessary (and condescending) qualifier – this is impressive, stop. While one may point to the stitched-together riffs being a little too stitched-together, it’s very exciting to hear a band so fresh with ideas that they want to include all of them in as much time as 15 minutes will allow. Suffocation, no breathing – this is my anaphylaxis demo. (go home, booo, you’re not funny sunn_bleach)

The Anaphylaxis Demo by Begravement

Pungent Shroud – Demo Collection [US, Black / Death] (2022)

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Weregnome Records | 2/25/22

This is funny since it feels like both of my worlds are closing in on each other. Weregnome Records is a dungeon synth label who fervently features outsider and weirdo synth records to the delight of everyone. Over the past few months, the label has been branching out showcasing a more diverse selection of strange. Pungent Shroud is an Ohio based black / death act which spawns from the local Ohioan underground. Demo Collection is a tape compilation of all existing demo material plus three additional tracks. Demo Collection in an introduction into the haphazard and often times hazardous world of Pungent Shroud who leans on the the aesthetic of eternal rot. Whether or not its extended guttural intonations, near collapsing production, or ripped sound clips from the film Blue Velvet, the style of Pungent Shroud is one of freedom from all social contracts. This is music of the feral which will attack you in the daylight and it is everything you need at the moment.

Mharasiidr – En Uggles Blick [Denmark, Raw Black] (2022)

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Self Released | 1-22-22

i wonder if I could capture the essence of ugliness in a sound. Mharasiidr is from Denmark and for the debut EP, this project has decided to smear the world with black gashes. With a ferocious typhoon wall of raw black, En Uggles Blick embraces atonality, dissonance, and also the inclusion of two musicians who play traditional northern European folk instruments which are paraded in the EP’s last track like some condemned prisoner being drug through the streets. Mharasiidr presents a world where everything is horrid and there is little chance of redemption. What is left is a riot of chaos which takes its form as a debut EP from an intriguing band of misfits.

Profane Ruination – Profane Ruination [US, Death / Doom] (2002)

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Self Released | 1-19-22

I would like my demo as raw as possible while still being safe to consume. Profane Ruination comes from a very complex tree of Tennessee based death/black/grind/void music and this venture seems to be the start of something sinister. At only three songs for its debut, Profane Ruination makes an opening statement which is full of not only spastic violence but also veneration for old masters of death metal. Wild solos, eternal riffs, and a drum sound that lives in the basement, this debut demo shows a duo that is ready for many sweat drenched nights in a places I can only assume are dim and humid with death.

Deadyellow / BOBAK – Unbound [US, Black] (2022)

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Self Released | 1-20-22

There is something rotten in the state of New Jersey. I do not know where Bobak calls home but I am going to assume it is near an overpass in the northeast section of the United States. Both bands Deadyellow and Bobak had under reviewed full length debuts in 2021 and this followup EP might be a way to call attention to both projects. Deadyellow brings accessibility to this EP in only so much as the sound inst ear shattering upon arrival. The two songs from the New Jersey project shows the remnants of a post black sound with hints of melody. this is of course dissolved in the second track “Aporia” which is more visceral and ultimately more interesting. The two tracks leads into three from raw black act Bobak. In the style of Bone Awl and other acts found on this site, Bobak screeches and claws violently through three tracks leaving nasty gashes and a lasting impression. This EP does its duty by highlighting two up and coming acts that may have been forgotten throughout the year. Unbound is a reminder that there are horrid things hiding in grisly places.

Phlegmesis – Sewer Pop [US, Death] (2022)

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Self Released | 1-10-22

Somewhere in Massachusetts is a festering wound. This wound is spreading to various projects all centered around the vague notion of death and maybe drugs. Joey Cinz participates and leads various projects such as Morgued, Inhalement, Cacophonia and Phlegmesis which all more or less strive for the same thing which is the gross unease in ones stomach after learning something awful. Sewer Pop is the debut demo from Phlegmesis which strikes a balance between gross aesthetics and irreverent tone. Billed as music one can fuck to, the two songs from Phlegmesis tiers to recreate the manic laugh one gets while watching slasher movies in the dark with just a bong as company.

Vessel Of Iniquity – Graveyard of Dead Gods [UK, Black / Death / Noise] (2022)

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Self Released | 1-12-22

Back in 2017, I wrote about the debut from UK project Vessel Of Iniquity. The self titled debut came out on various labels and I believe I wrote about the Xenoglossy Productions version. I was blindsided by the force and reckless abandoning of the sound. Graveyard of Dead Gods and Architecture of Existence are two “new” EPs for 2022 consisting of songs that were “An old unused EP I found on my hard drive.” The dichotomy between the music and the seemingly carefree attitude of its creator is striking as both EPs feel like a terrible storm. v operates without constraints and the sound of both new EPs has a driving rhythm that feels more like a mounting wave of chaos and confusion. The addition of the music being without a time or place of conception adds to its other-worldly-ness as these two EPs have appeared in our world and now are set loose among the population. This project is unpredictable as it is intriguing and I fully expect to be terrorized by it in the near future.

Extinguished – Vomitous Manifestations [Finland, Death] (2022)

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Caligari Records | 2-24-22

As of writing this review, Extinguished is without a Metal Archives page. I am sure this will change though it seems like the band is just getting together and going through some sort of metal customs area. Extinguished comes by the way of a confluence of Finnish black / death bands namely Obscure Burial, Sickness, and Sadokist. While the sound s of grinding death maybe new for this venture, the energy of chaotic nausea might be a an aesthetic waymark. Though only one preview track available the power and force at which this music is delivered is enough for interest. At the moment of this writing, there are tapes available for preorder which I am sure will sell out soon. I am sure of it as I can see this sound hanging in the air like dangerous miasma.

Phenocryst – Explosions [Portugal, Death] (2021)

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Blood Harvest | 12-17-21

Blood Harvest is a pretty well known label for many and also the source of some great releases in 2021. In fact many of you already know the mode and operation of this label and can probably guess this new release is going to sound gross. Explosions is the debut EP for this Portuguese death metal band which has been released late in 2021. I have designated all December releases apart of a cusp of the year which includes them into the next one. this way even a stellar death metal EP being released on the 17th of December can be celebrated with all of the blood and lava as fitting. Phenocryst revels in the sound of subterranean death but now instead of graveyards, metaphysics or alien landscapes of ruin one is confronted with the violence of geology. Lyrical themes are always fun when engaging with a band as what they chose to base their music around can be illuminating to the way they see the world. As of writing this review, Phenocryst is the only band listed on the Metal Archives with Volcanology as a theme. While this theme sounds wild and random, the type of grinding death fits perfectly with images of pyroclastic flows and igneous fluids. It is truly music that makes me feel underground being pulverized into oblivion by emotionless phenomenon.