Ives & Amort - split (2010)

IVES / AMORT split

Year: 2010
Genre: Blackened Crust (Ives), Funeral Doom (Amort)
Country: USA
Label: Boue Records

Track List:

Ives

1. Intro (Consume)
2. A Tangle of Hair and Bone
3. Feral
4. Sweet Field of Ecstacy
5. Regression
6. Outro (Death within Primal Grain)

Amort

1. In Bed With Decay

bandcamp

I received an email from Boue Records informing me about this release about half an year ago, but then I had to many demos waiting for a review, so I decided to post this one a little later. Ives' side of this split is actually a re-release of their debut, "Burial of the Modernized Soulless", but with much better quality of production. As for Amort, they're a band from Seattle playing very slow funeral doom (nothing similar to Ives). Personally I think "In Bed With Decay" can hardly be called metal, but fans of dark ambient/drone will probably like it. The whole split is available for streaming @ bandcamp, and according to Boue Records, it's also free to distribute ("we don't have copyright shit").

P.S. Looks like Ives have released a single called "Ugliness and Its Proud Bearer" in late 2011, but I couldn't find it anywhere (and I wasn't that impressed by what I found on youtube). Anyway, if you have listened to it, feel free to share your impressions.

World To Be Ashes - "Fraud" (2012)

WORLD TO BE ASHES "Fraud"

Year: 2012
Genre: Blackened Crust
Country: Indonesia

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World To Be Ashes are a 3-piece blackened crust/sludge band from Bandung, Indonesia, formed by members of Jenath (black metal) and Madnessyouth (hardcore). Their music is influenced by crust, black metal, doom, sludge, post-metal, hardcore, post-rock and drone. Related projects also include Winternight, Hatelord, and I.Owe.You. "Fraud" is their first single, released only a few days ago, and it will be the first blackened crust/RABM release from Indonesia posted here.

It's curious to see how Indonesia becomes the biggest producer of metal and punk in Asia, leaving behind even Japan (and I'm talking not only about the death metal scene). As for this single - the music is quite good (especially for a first demo), but the vocals are a big problem. "Fraud" could be an excellent demo, if not for the vocals. Iowa Ababil (vocalist/guitarist of WTBA and sole member of Winternight) is definitely a very good composer of music, but I'd recommend him to find a better vocalist for WTBA.

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Amiensus - "The Last" EP (2010)

AMIENSUS "The Last EP"

Year: 2010
Genre: Melodic Black Metal
Country: USA

Track List:

1. Desecrating the Throne
2. Kosmetisk Mørke
3. Prometheus

bandcamp / facebook

Some more atmospheric stuff released in 2010, this time from the United States (Rochester, MI). The band was started in 2010 by old members of Rochester bands The Last & Minos, with the intent of bringing together 6 people who were extremely into the black metal scene but had several different talents. "The Last" EP was recorded in Wisconsin, mixed and mastered by Ken Sorceron (Abigail Williams, Aborted). Don't expect it to be raw and agressive, it's melodic and atmospheric stuff (but not in the "Cascadian" way). Of course, the EP is free for download, and posted here with the permission of the band.

An upcoming 8-track full-length album will be titled "Restoration", and is expected to be released August this year. Here's a preview (the 1st half is entirely acoustic):

Barshasketh - "Defying the Bonds of Cosmic Thralldom" (2010)

BARSHASKETH "Defying the Bonds of Cosmic Thralldom"

Year: 2010
Genre: Melodic Black Metal
Country: Scotland (formerly from New Zealand)

Track List:

1. Entzauberung
2. Imprisoned in Flesh
3. The Whisper of Abyssal Winds
4. Pantheon of Traitors
5. Penetrating the Unplumbed Darkness
6. Illuminated by Shadow
7. Upon the Ashes of the Betrayer

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"We are a black metal from New Zealand/Scotland, and we would love it if you could feature us on your awesome blog!". So, why not?.. The music is very good, definitely recommended for everyone who likes atmospheric black metal with acoustic parts.

"Barshasketh is a project firmly rooted in the darkest recesses of the underground. Utterly opposed to religion and politics in all of their corrupt and hypocritical guises, Barshasketh’s message is one of adversarial spirituality and the unrestrained exercise of personal will. Without pretense or posturing, Barshasketh is our honest and uncompromising interpretation of Black Metal music"

bandcamp

Incipit - "Ida" (2012)

INCIPIT "Ida"

Year: 2012
Genre: Black Metal
Country: Argentina

Track List:

1. Muerte del humano
2. Transcurso Dia-Noche
3. Falso
4. Ida

DOWNLOAD


"Ida" is the second demo by Incipit, an one-man band from San Juan. It's fairly good for a self-produced demo, especially if you consider that it was recorded in a provincial Argentinian town. BTW, the project has a facebook page now.

Depravation - "I​:​PRAEDICTVM" (2012)

DEPRAVATION ""I​:​PRAEDICTVM"

Year: 2012
Genre: Hardcore/Metal
Country: Germany

Track List:

1. Wrath
2. Ruins of Mankind
3. PRAEDICTVM

bandcamp (remastered 2013 version / old version)

Blackened hardcore from Giessen (Germany) that strongly reminds me of Suicide Nation and Arsen aka König Der Monster. #3 is a quite lengthy ambient track, so we can say that at least half of this demo is dark ambient (personally I'd like to hear more in the vein of first two tracks, which are definitely worth listening). The demotape is limited to 50 copies (25 white / 25 black; each with different covers; handnumbered with human blood). Click here for a more detailed review of the tape.

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