Traumatic Voyage (Ger) - Traumatic...(1992)

Traumatic... was the first full length released by Traumatic Voyage, an almost unknown German band in the OSDM scene, why is he/them so unknown? The reason is pretty simple, the music is really awkward and not everybody can get into this, it took me almost a year to appreciate this album, and it is worth every minute and second. Musically Traumatic Voyage is really different if it's compared to other death metal bands from those years, the only ones that I can think of are Infester, Sadist, and perhaps Nocturnus. A major influence for this band are drugs, depression, and despair, something very noticeable in many songs and in the atmosphere of the whole album. Mark does an excellent job as a vocalist, I specially like the way of how he sings, lot of despair and hopelessness can be feel, he also uses a wide variety of shrieks from the typical dm one to screams, the growls/clean vocals are sometimes one against the other and gives this feeling of constant agony and pain. The production is also pretty good, nothing modern or crystal clear but good enough to hear every instrument. An unique gem, enjoy!

Favorite tracks: Soulwinter, Life's Torture, and Shadowconscious.

224kbps
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Rotting Christ (Grc) - Triarchy of the Lost Lovers (1996)

While early Rotting Christ rules in it's own right, especially "Passage To Arcturo" EP and "Thy Mighty Contract"... they hadn't fully developed a strong musical personality until this, their third full-length album. "Triarchy of the Lost Lovers" is one of those albums that immediately appealed to me, and it's a solid full listen, from start to finish. While I was initially expecting some small improvements on the slight melody and unique riffing of "Non Serviam" it appears working with Andy Classen (Holy Moses) really took this band into the big leagues of extreme metal. This is less a Black Metal album than an epic, melodic piece of death/black metal. The heavy metal undercurrent is always there, and it could appeal to just about any metalhead no matter what sub-genre their head is stuck in. I haven't heard a "black metal" album that is better crafted, arranged and so mindfully memorable. In fact what struck me the most as I listened to this album more is how memorable it was, despite the vocalist being 75% unintelligable, and most of this is owed to the guitar performance. Great album, heavy black/melodic death metal that has speed and epic qualities throughout. Definitely a keeper in my book.

@320kbps

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Ogre - Plague of the Planets

Ogre has put out two albums that are in the vein of Black Sabbath and early 70’s rock ala Sir Lord Baltimore, early Pentagram, and Deep Purple, but probably easily pigeon holed into doom metal. The band has previously worn their influences on their sleeves; however, it’s never really hurt them because they’ve had epic tracks and astonishing song writing. On the newest album, Plague of the Planets, the band has finally made and album with their own sound.

The album is one 37 minute epic track, which is a concept album. The story and the cover really go hand in hand, and the story is interesting. The fucking riffs in this album are just so catchy and brilliantly put together. The band progresses from sweet melodic acoustic passages to slow melancholic doom riffs to a nice upbeat 70’s rock riff and then back around. They do this in just an original way, that it feels like they were evolving as the genre was progressing. The guitarist always weaves in a solo almost exactly when it’s needed, and it’s just completely heart felt; when the solo comes in through the riffs, the bassist continues the riffs, and the solo just warps the riff into a brilliant passage that mimics the story of the album. The vocals on this album are just flat out superb. The variety, the homage to early rock singers, the falsettos, and his own touch of insanity makes every single vocal line perfect. He uses both vocal melodies and ‘spoken’ vocals interchangeably, and it sounds absolutely fantastic. I can’t get enough of his style and sound, it’s unique, but at the same time you can feel his influences all meshed together in one. It’s also worth mentioning the circular use of some of the riffs in this album to keep the theme of the album together.

When putting both of the brilliant riffing and vocals together, this album shines through on what Ogre can accomplish. They are so much more than another Sabbath worship band or a retro band. They have a tone of their own and use it to perfection. They did however use a few riffs they’ve used in the past, but they put them in a better context than their previous versions. This is by far the best Ogre album, and I cannot wait to see them continue and make an album better than this one!

http://www.myspace.com/ogre

Valkyrie - Man of Two Visions (US)

Valkyrie has just put out their sophomore album after their debut crushed everything in its path. The band plays a hybrid of rock, doom, and heavy metal in such a new and refreshing way.

Valkyrie still has some stoner rock feeling, but the lethargic feeling is not in the music. The guitar harmonies produced by the brothers of Valkyrie are absolutely stunning; moreover, the evolution of the riffs to the harmonies and the solos rival the greats in their respective genres (Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, etc). Each riff starts off with a certain tone or idea then evolves into harmonies and goes off of the harmony and the riff to a solo that rips through the listeners ears. Dual vocals, superb bass lines mixed through the fantastic guitars, and drums keeping a good solid backbone make this album so fucking easy to listen to over and over. With only five songs and two instrumentals, the band can keep the listener entertained for Man of Two Visions’ 37 minutes. The two instrumentals are actually really good and make sense in context of the album; moreover, the guitar work in both of the songs is put together so well that the listener can’t help but relax to the guitar work.

Valkyrie’s album should be mentioned with the best of 2008 because its songwriting, catchy riffs, and all around uplifting mood the album creates. Man of Two Visions will continue to slay in the future!

Official Valkyrie Website!
Official Valkyrie Myspace

Depravity (Fin) - Remasquerade (1992)

This is exactly my kind of death metal, raw but listenable production, excellent riffs, creepy solos, and a great vocalist. This is my favorite demo ever, a lot of people tend to say that "Silence of the Centuries" is their best output, I disagree with them, the clear production of that demo loses the creepiness and evuhl atmosphere that makes this demo and their older material so great. The production like I said before is raw but listenable and god, it fits the record so well, the production is what makes this so creepy and full of misery that one will listen to it over and over again! Enjoy another obscure masterpiece!

mp3@ 160 kbps
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Abhorrent (Nor) - Occultus Brujeria (1990)

This is the kind of death/thrash that I love, raw production, excellent riffs and solos, and one thing that most bands don't have are chants, the chants offer a different kind of atmosphere to the listener compared to other death/thrash records. The music here is pretty simple but good, like I said in a past review "Simple is better" . The riffs are great, they will keep the listener headbanging from the beginning till the end, why would someone listen to death/thrash if they cannot headbang to it! The vocalist is really good, it goes to the typical death/thrash growl to the black metal kind, this probably helped the vocalist in joining other bands, specially black metal bands. The production as I said before is pretty raw and it works great, you can hear all the instruments pretty well, so yeah enjoy this rare masterpiece!

mp3@ 160 kbps
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Ironsword (Prt) - Overlords of Chaos

A lot of the heavy metal that is coming out today can be considered as bands that miss the point of heavy metal. These bands have some catchy riffs every once in a while and those fist pounding choruses that one can enjoy, but kind make the listener get the feeling like Iron Maiden did it much better. However, in Kansas a band called Manilla Road evolved to a heavy metal band with tons of balls to the walls riffs which maintain the energy and fist pounding choruses of heavy metal, but riffs to blow you off your ass. Manilla Road made a few albums in this style (The Deluge, Open the Gates, Mystification, and Out of the Abyss), and the guys from Ironsword obviously eat this up because Overlords of Chaos takes the ideas from Manilla Road and expand upon them; it can be easy to think about Ironsword as just a Manilla Road clone, but they are so much more!

Overlords of Chaos is filled balls to the walls riffs from start to finish. The growth of songwriting and riffs from Ironsword’s previous two albums is phenomenal. When writing the songs this time around, Ironsword uses much better leads to enhance the riffing and the flow of the songs. During each song, a crushingly heavy metal riff comes out, but to make sure the song doesn’t get tedious the band throw in heart felt leads and emotive vocals to keep the listener entrenched in the album. All out aggression is the point of this album (with a few acoustic parts, but work perfectly in the album) with deep vocals that are reminiscent of Mark Shelton of Manilla Road; however, the use of Manilla Road style vocals, just makes it feel like the aggressive days of Manilla Road are continued into today’s metal; however, the band has loads of catchy fist pounding heavy metal choruses as well! Overlords of Chaos is filled with emotion from the entire band; it’s obvious that each band member puts their heart and soul into each riff, bass line, drum beat, and vocal lines. Emotion in this album just makes this album from a good heavy metal album to something great.

With a combination of great influences, superb songwriting, and emotion, this album can easily be described as a worthy album on its own or an expansion of the great works of Manilla Road!

Go to Shadow Kingdom Records and buy this heavy metal massacre!

Darkspace (Che) - Dark Space III (2008)

Darkspace has put out a third album after two fantastic albums. The third one stays in the black metal/ambient genre, but they are starting to explore some more ideas. The band got its fame from Paysage d'Hiver, but now it's looking like Paysage d'Hiver is going to be the side project of the Darkspace guy. This highly anticipated release does not let down.

The band plays a unique combination of dark ambient and black metal, but the style of black metal has switched on each albums. This album is almost a mixture of their first two albums, bu they start to explore a mixture of the chugging parts and the traditional hypnotic black metal. Darkspace intermixes both of these styles to create some hypnotic characters that rival some of the black metal greats, in a new and excitingway. As the name implies, Darkspace creates the emptiness of space, mixed with evilness. This mixture turns out to be completely brooding and perfect for the band's approach. The band's approach uses ambient passages and actual black metal to create the ambient feel to the album, aside from the huge hooks some of the songs evolve into (Dark 3.13 is a perfect example). While listening to the album, it's obvious that the atmosphere is the main goal of the album, and Darkspace makes the atmosphere exactly as one would expect, yet not using the standard black metal approach.

In total, the riffs, the ambient pieces, and the incoherent vocals lead the listen in a winding spiral in outer space; there is a coherent confusion through this album that keeps the listener in the atmosphere and all around enticed to put it on again. Don't expect this album to catch your attention on the first few listens; it's complex, dark, and ambient. The album is a joy to listen to and repeated listens only bring out more and more complex hypnotic states in the listener.

http://www.myspace.com/darkcyberspace for some samples!

Nifelheim (Swe) - Nifelheim (1995)

Alastor's third album was a good example of the type of black metal I enjoy on a regular basis. But this Nifelhiem album is much higher on my list of essential european blackness. The thrash and early black metal influences are in full force on this release, it's too bad somewhere along the way they lost their intensity and "evil" feel after this classic first album. Reference to Morpheus (Swe) and Necrophobic (Swe) are important here as the ties are deep and some members are shared. Tyrant is a true artist (Just check out the cover art he did for Necrophobic's most recent "Hrimthursum", and it has always shown in his work with both Nifelheim and the more serious stuff in Necrophobic. If you like intensly satanic, no frills black metal with thrashing in abundance definitely check this one out. Balls out, ripping black metal! Hail satan.

192kbps
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Disciples of Power (Can) - Invincible Enemy (1993)

While the epitome of Disciples of Power is their "Ominous Prophecy" album, "Invincible Enemy" is a righteous contender as the band became more technically proficient and introspective. As always the performances are thoughtfully arranged and distinctly possess their own style. You simply can't compare Disciples of Power with many other bands. Progressive, technical but not wanking, rocking but not pedestrian, thrashing but definitely death metal. Any album maintaining a unique and heavy atmosphere such as this is welcome in my top 10 list of favorite releases. DoP would go on to their technical height "Mechanikill" after this, then split up for a short time until their final, less ambitious swansong "In Dust We Trust". For fans of all eras of Chuck's Death, and death/thrash metal in general. I don't feel comfortable m too many comparisons as none of them seem to fit. A starving, talented group of musicians who were in it solely for the musical expression and passion for the genre. Legitimately heavy and extreme metal.

320kbps
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Apoplexy (Svk) - Tears of The Unborn (1995)

Great Slovakian death metal bands are few and far between, especially in the old school. Sure there are some above average bands here and there. My personal favorites are Dehydrated's "Ideas" a brutal yet intelligent offering, Protest's oddly titled first album... and this amazing, original Apoplexy album. This is truly an old school classic offering, combining the melodic prowess of mid-era Loudblast, the sound and (again melody) of Sentenced's masterpiece "North From Here" Apoplexy really pull it off with this debut. The songs are mid-to-fast paced, and short acoustic/clean guitar passages are thrown in to add to the unique yet familiar atmosphere. Recommended for anyone who enjoys Loudblast, Demigod (Fin), early Sentenced, and the first three Amorphis albums. Listen to "Confine Shadows" and tell me that isn't a classic death metal song!

192kbps
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Cruciform (Aus) - Atavism (1993)

Cruciform is an Aussie doom/death barely known, with only a full length and a demo released throughout their career. Both genres here are well blended there is more doom than death here, the riffs however are really slow, repetitive (but not boring) and moody but with a strong death metal feeling. The drumming is more doom than death metal but then again we have parts that resemble a lot to the typical death metal drumming style. The production is also really good, actually excellent, you can hear from the whisper to those killer riffs without any kind of trouble! In this album we have three kinds of growls really deep ones, the others that are closest to the raspy growl, and finally one that is more in the middle of those mentioned before. These guys also use keyboard or synthesizer, I'm not really sure, they use it only for the intro of the album and that's it and that's my only complain about this album, the intro is kind of long and it doesn’t really add anything interesting to the album. Enjoy!

192 kbps
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Agatus (Grc) - The Weaving Fates (2002)

Agatus is probably one of the most important bands from the Hellenic BM scene, especially because of their first album being an essential one amongst the followers of that scene. In their sophomore album Agatus have done something really different and refreshing comparing to their peers Greek peers and other scenes. In my opinion this is one of the greatest black metal albums released in the post 2000 era. One thing that one will notice right away is the strong heavy metal influences, this album is epic, crushing, and at the same time unique. The lyrics are cheesy as hell specially the ones of "Conqueror of Fear" that might be a turn off for some people but then if you are one of those that care too much for what they say just don't read them! The guitar work here is the most important thing, it's well done, lot of nice riffs, like the one at the beginning of Night of a Thousand Stars. The vocalist does an excellent job specially in the song "Conqueror of Fear" this is pretty much my favorite song of them, it's metal in every single way, it has awesome riffs, an excellent drumming, and epic as fucking hell. Being these guys Greeks you will found the typical Hellenic influences like the synthesizers and piano and they are done in such a wonderful way that you would want to listen to this more, a clear example of this is found in the song "Progonalatria" when you think the song won't get anymore epic than that it just gets! If you don't like this you should kill yourself!

192 kbps
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Age of Agony (Hun) - War, Hate, Blasphemy (2005)

Age of agony is one of those bands that worship OSDM, and they do a pretty good job at it. Most Retro dm bands fail like Nominon, Bloodbath, Kaamos, and Ribspreader; they are absolute shit and they just fail at trying to revive something that is almost impossible to bring back. On the other hand we have a couple of pretty good retro or not necessarily retro bands that just know how to write modern dm but heavily influenced by old bands like Repugnant, Dead Congregation, Nerlich, and Age of Agony. Age of Agony like most old bands rely more on the guitar work than anything else, the riffs are pretty good some of them will remind you of early Suffocation and others of early American and Swedish DM. The guitarists are not technical at all they keep it very simple and in my opinion sometimes simple is better. The drumming is really interesting, this is not a blast beat album, they are well used, and pretty much keeps the music in a mid paced direction. The vocalist sounds a bit like Frank Mullen at least for me, kind of monotonous at times but I guess that's alright. The only complain that I have about this album is the production, it could have been better, you will hear the vocalist and most of the drumming coming from the left speaker and in the very few fast parts of the album it sounds like complete shit; other than that is a pretty good album. Enjoy!

256 vbr
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Agonized (Fin) - Gods...(1991)

Agonized is a really unknown Finnish band that only released a demo and what a demo if you ask me! This demo is pretty brutal compared to most bands from the early Finnish scene except Demilich. Agonized has a really dark, creepy, and sinister atmosphere only surpassed by fellow country mates Demigod and Depravity. The vocalist uses a different kind of growl something in the middle of Antti's vocal and your more typical death metal growl. The music here is pretty much mid/slow paced with some fast parts. The guitar work is pretty simple yet does a pretty good job. The production is also pretty good for a demo

160 kbps
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Phantasmagory (Ukr) - Odd Sounds (1999)

Phantasmagory is an obscure band from Ukraine that has released three albums and all of them are highly unknown probably because the Ukraine scene is known for its BM scene. These guys rely heavily on keyboards and synthesizer to create a really weird and abstract atmosphere. These guys are also very proficient musicians with their instrument and one can hear the bass throughout the whole without any trouble, and if you pay enough attention to the music you will hear a couple of nice bass solos, something that is not very common in dm, besides of course some technical death metal bands like Gorgut or Pavor. The drumming is also good, not really technical but makes it appearances here and there. The guitar work is really good, both guitars do an excellent job, lot of good leads and riffs are found in this album. The production of this album is not that good taking into account that this is an album that was recorded in 1990; the production here is kind of muddy and the vocalist can't be heard that well. The singing is similar to the raspy growl of the guy from Sadist, some clean vocals can be heard through the album but they are really short. I recommend this album for people interested in bands similar to Sadist's first album or are new to this genre, despite a couple of problems with the production this album is highly recommendable. Enjoy!

192 kbps
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The Lamp of Thoth (UK) - Portents, Omens & Doom (2008)

Miskatonic records has been putting out The Lamp of Thoth material for a couple of years, starting with Cauldron of Witchery. Which includes a stunning version of Cirith Ungol's Frost and Fire. They doomify that song to the nth degree. Miskatonic now unleashed Portents, Omends, and Dooms satanic frenzy upon the world.

When listening to this album it's a must that one would put what style of doom metal the Lamp of Thoth are going for. The band isn't trying to do something that is revolutionary, yet they aren't another retro rip off band. That being said, how do we find this middle ground? Well, the band has a lot of riffs that are reminiscent of their predecessors; however, the band uses the musical ideas and mixes them with an anti-religious, pro-satan atmosphere. When stating that the band has the pro-satan atmopshere, it's not clear what is actually going on in the music; the band uses the satanic/cult atmosphere in an incredibly uplifting way. Their message is more about, what could be possible better than fucking on the local church altar, in the most mocking way possible. The Lamp of Thoth runs through some catchy songs/quirky songs that embellish Satan like Blood On Satan's Claw to something dark and sinister like Victorian Wizard. Mention quirky songs might put some people off, but when listening to The Lamp of Thoth the band meshes both quirky/uplifting songs with the dark and sinister songs.

All of this being said, it must be noted that the album should be listened as a song by song album, rather than some unifying concept. All the songs are quite good and are great to listen on their own and in the album. Sit down, crack open the nearest craft brew, and vast in the glory of Satan!

www.myspace.com/isentorr to listen to Hand of Glory!

Necromantia (Grc) - Scarlet Evil Witching Black (1995)

This is probably one of the best black metal albums ever released, together with Varathron’s first! Necromantia's sophomore is a monster of black metal album, one of the few albums that was way ahead of it's time and it's still ahead when it's compared to other black metal bands. One of the things that made this album so ahead of it’s time were the two basses, no guitars were used in this album except for the few solos found, another thing were the other instruments used from saxophone to flute and even a flamenco kind solo in the last song. As you can imagine this is more of an avant-garde album than anything else and everything is so well done that it’s hard to believe that only two guys did all this. One of my favorite songs in this album is Black Mirror and that riff at the beginning pretty much kills everything else recorded by their Norwegian peers, this is not about rawness or ‘kvltness’ but how black metal should be done, everything is done in a tasteful way, nothing is missing, the production fits the idea of the album. Enjoy!

320 kbps
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Dead Congregation (Grc) - Purifying Consecrated Ground (2005)

This is the first ep released by the guys of Dead Congregation after changing names. This ep is a lot different than their full length and also a lot different from the demos that they released under the name of Nuclear Winter; the atmosphere is way more sinister, the riffs have a stronger black metal feeling, and the production is also different, rawer would be my guess. The riffs in this ep will make you feel like you are in some sort parallel universe where Satanism, madness, and evilness are all that matters. If you are familiar with Incantation or Immolation you will hear a lot of similar sounding riffs through this ep. Enjoy!

192 vbr
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Burial (Hol) - Relinquished Souls (1993)

Burial’s first and only full length is pretty much Massacre but from a different country. If you are familiar enough with Massacre’s first, you will noticed a lot of similarities from the beginning of the album, like the same thrashy and morbid riffs that will keep you headbanging, the vocalist also sounds pretty much like Kame Lee, and even the drumming is very similar. Production wise is as good as or even better than Massacre’s From Beyond.

224vbr

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Dolorian (Fin) - When all the Laughter has Gone (1999)

There are band that tries to sound all evil and dark, most of them fail, then we have bands like Dolorian that are completely out of this world, this is one of those albums that are all about despair, darkness, and evilness, and that’s something that is really hard to find. The way this band uses the synthesizer is very impressive, they use it a lot but only to create an atmosphere of endless despair and darkness. These guys also use the piano; the piano is played in a real subtle and moody way. The vocalist does an amazing job, it’s one of the things that I enjoy the most; they are raspy and deliver a lot of emotions. Enjoy!

192 kbps
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Loudblast (Fra) - Sublime Dementia (1993)

My personal favorite melodic, mid-paced death metal album. A great apex in the career of his long standing French metal band. Having evolved from a Slayer-esque thrash band to a death/thrash style, then two Morrisound recorded death metal albums... and later melodic death/groove metal. 'Sublime Dementia' was the band's second album recorded at Morrisound and contains their strongest material. The riffs and song structures are unrivaled in their execution, each song is smartly crafted, unique and memorable. A rare feat in every sense for a death metal band and an original piece of death metal art.

mp3@320kbps
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Monstrosity (U.S.A.) - Millenium (1996)

From it's inception Monstrosity's second (and last) album with George Fisher on vocals is neck breakingly brutal and shit splatteringly technical. The guitar and drum work on this album was easily 10 years ahead of it's time. "Millenium" was Monstrosity's "Pierced From Within", definitely a high point in their career as a band, and as far as I'm concerned their last 'great' album. The sheer twisting intensity of this music is easily enjoyed by any and all fans of all things death metal, technical enough to please shred-diddly fruitcakes and just brutal enough to please both fans of the old school and the new. A very hard release to top, and probably the best true death metal album from 1996. Highly recommended listening.

mp3@320kbps
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Seance (Swe) - Fornever Laid To Rest (1992)

One of the most brutal death metal albums from Sweden's old school. The sound and style of Seance on "Fornever..." is decidedly more in the vein of Dutch and American death metal bands and does not have the "Stockholm sound" you find in bands like Dismember, Afflicted and Entombed. Deicide's "Legion" or Polluted Inheritance's "Ecocide" are good comparisons to be made, although this music is more authentic and varied sounding than Deicide... far less cheesy as well. Seance lost integral member Patrik Jensen (Witchery, The Haunted, Satanic Slaughter) and soon after became far less interesting so I would only recommend this album and the demo "Levitised Spirit."

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Alastor (Prt) - Infernal Lord (2004)

Old school black/thrash from one of Portugal's earlier extreme metal bands (formed in 1988). Their style showcases the rawness of early Bathory and Venom meshed with the menacing growl of Kreator's "Total Death", and the demonic pace of Sodom or Nifelheim's earliest recordings. The influences are sometimes too obvious but "Infernal Lord" flows well and doesn't drag it's ass before its over. The lyrics are likely satanic, though on this third album they chose not to translate their native language into English. I chose this one as a prime example of the bands output, the two previous albums are more raw and sung in English. Worth checking out for fans of old school black metal and early satanic thrash.

mp3@160kbps
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Necrophobic (Swe) - The Nocturnal Silence (1993)

The first and the best album ever released by Necrophobic. This album is a masterpiece when it comes to melodic death/black, lot of tremolo picking through the whole album is found, excellent riffs, very good drumming, and a good production makes it one of the best melodic death albums ever released.

320 kbps
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Sacramentum (Swe) - Far Away from the Sun (1996)

This album in my opinion is in the top 10 of best metal albums ever, everything here is done with such a passion and perfection that is impossible to be overlooked. From the incredible drumming to the and what makes this album so amazing, the guitar work. The guitar work makes a heavy emphasis on atmosphere, and it manages to deliver emotion and an epic feeling every time one listens to it. This is the kind of album that most bands wouldn't even think about it but dream about, mostly because of its complexity. Words are simple not enough to describe this album.

320 kbps
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The Elysian Fields (Grc) - Adelain (1995)

Adelain comes as a melodic black/death album with a lot of of symphonic influences, most of the time I don't enjoy this, but these guys sure know when and how to use them. The use of piano and violin gives the music a really epic sound, the riffs in this album are great, they are moody yet agressive. The vocalist does an excellent job, he keeps the mood of the music with his use of clean vocals and raspy growl. The production is also really good, probably because of George Zaharopoulos (Necromantia, Thou Art Lord). For fans of black and death metal.

192 kbps
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Deteriorot (U.S.A) - In Ancient Beliefs (2001)

Deteriorot’s first and only full length so far is pretty much death metal in the vein of Autopsy/Incantation with Old Swedish Death Metal. The way this album builds up is pretty interesting, relying a lot in the guitarists and vocalist to create an atmosphere of gloomy darkness, the drumming is also good, it helps a lot with the atmosphere. The bass player almost never shows up, except in the beginning of “Manifested Apparitions of Unholy Spirits”. The production of this album is excellent. If you are a fan of Old School Death Metal you will enjoy this.

192 kbps

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Urgrund (Aus) - Unchangeable Fate (2005)

Another masterpiece of black/thrash and again from Australia. Most people will agree with me when I say that the Aussies are damn good when it comes to black/thrash. Urgrund takes some elements from Deströyer 666, gives it a personal touch, a more raw and dark production and what we get is a top notch album. The guitar work is the best, the drumming and vocals are also pretty good Enjoy!

320 kbps
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Goatlord (U.S.A) - Reflections Of The Solstice (1991)

For people that enjoy really sinister atmosphere in their metal, there is no better band for that job than Goatlord. This record is impressive, highly interesting, and like most good metal very underrated. The bass work in this album is pretty good and different in comparison to other doom/death album. It won't disappoint you!

320 kbps
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Disciples of Mockery (U.S.A) - Prelude to Apocalypse (1999)

The only album that these guys recorded pretty much starts where Onward to Golgotha ended, even the line up for this album was pretty much the same as the one in Onward. What makes this album a lot different than Incantation is that has more doom elements, the result is heavier, more powerful, and relentless music. The production of this album could have been better but I think it gets the job done, matter of taste I guess. For fans of Old School Death Metal.

192 kbps
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Ares Kingdom (U.S.A) - Return to Dust (2006)

This American band delivers one of the finest, if not the finest death/thrash album from 2006. This album is made of riffs, riffs, and even more riffs and also kick ass solos. The vocalist does a great job keeping this interesting and the drumming is also good, keeps up with the rest of the instruments, nothing is over done. The overall production of this album is pretty good. This album will keep you interested from the beginning till the end.

224 vbr
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Threnodist (U.S.A) - The Vomitous (1991)

This is the first demo that the guys from Infester recorded, after this one they changed names and also their style to a more black/death one. This is thrashy death metal and the thing that I like the most about this demo are the riffs, they will keep you headbanging from the beginning to the end, and you gonna listen to it over and over again because if this. The drumming is also spectacular, and the vocalist does an excellent job. The production quality is pretty good for a demo, you won’t miss a thing

192 kbps
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Runemagick (Swe) - The Supreme Force of Eternity (1998)

If there's a phrase to resume this album it would be "Destroys everything in it's path" but that just won't simply do it! So lets start, The first album of Runemagick is top notch doom/death, everything here is just ace as hell, like the riffs, solos, drumming, production, vocals, and even the cover art! So if you're a fan of doom/death I suggest you to grab this album, if you don't know anything about doom/death, pick it because it will be blown you away.

224vbr
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Gospel of the Horns (Aus) - A Call to Arms (2002)

The Aussies never stop surprising me with their -know how to do it- blend of black/thrash, and these guys are a living proof of that, they also managed to put a bit of punk music in their blend of black/thrash and the result is amazing, the riffs are really good and they always come with a nice lead, so if you enjoy Aussie black/thrash or black/thrash in general, give this album a try. Another thing about this band is that the lead member (Howitser) was the drummer for Deströyer 666's first album.

192 kbps
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Cremation (Hol) - Retaliation (2002)

Cremation's first and only full length is one of my favorite discoveries of this year, this album is very well written and featured a great line-up composed by people well known in the dutch death metal scene. Production wise this album is ok nothing brilliant but it fits. The only complain that I have is that the album feels kinda short, so if you need more of it get those demos that they recorded before their full length, they won't disappoint you. Recommended for people that enjoys Arghoslent's brand of death metal.

192 kbps
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Delirium (Hol) - Zzooouhh (1990)

Being these guys from the Netherlands I can only expect quality death metal, but it gets better, they managed to blend doom and death metal at the same time, the result of this mix is an amazing doom/death album in a vein similar to Winter's Into Darkness album. Production wise, this album is well recorded, nothing is missing, so you won't have any trouble while listening to this. This album is filled with a lot of good riffs that you will enjoy no matter if you are more into doom or death metal.

192kbps
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Insatanity (U.S.A) - Divine Decomposition (1996)

Think Infester should have released more material? Then you would love Insatanity's first release, anyone familiar enough with Infester material will notice a lot of similarities betweeen these two bands, like the vocals, and that creepy atmosphere pretty much unique to Infester. A must have!

256 vbr
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Dead Congregation (Grc) - Grave of the Archangels (2008)

In my honest opinion this is the album of the year, not even the new one by Arghoslent can stand before this one, don't get me wrong, new Arghoslent delivers DM from the highest order but the new vocalist just doesn't seem to fit there. Grave of the Archangels mix OSDM, with a hint of bm to create one of the most atmospheric albums of this year. The production in this album is pretty much perfect, you can hear every single instrument without trouble, and the way the riffs come one after the other is just outstanding. For people that enjoy good dm, no wankery bullshit.

320 kbps
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Varathron (Grc) - His Majesty at the Swamp (1993)

What a better way to start a blog than with one of the finest black metal albums ever! Everything in this album is perfection, from the sorrowful vocals of Necroabyssious, very interesting drumming patterns of wolfen, and riffs (courtesy of Necroslaughter) that will make you headbang to death! You've been warned

192 kbps
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