When Naturmacht Productions gave me the opportunity to listen to Knokkelkraft, the debut for Norwegian act Skygge, I swore eternal gratitude to this label. …kind of… Seriously, I was enormously impressed by this stuff conceived by multi-instrumentalist Frank ‘Skyggemester Kuldegys’ Bratten (formerly also in Viðr and Frozen Cries, by the way).
One of the best acts I know from New Zealand are Apnea, which were formed about four years ago by Drew Reid. Initially Apnea was supposed to be a solo-outfit by this multi-instrumentalist, but after a (short) while he joined forces with guitar player Ben Mikkelsen, and together they created a first EP in 2012, called Silent Cities.
Finally! The first release of Belgian horde Ars Veneficium! All together: joepie! Why such enthusiasm? Well, actually I need to do so, because this is one of the bands Immortal Frost Productions’ Surtur is involved with, so I cannot but be positive…
Eratomania were formed in 2010 by Galgrat and Surtur. Both of them were in B.A.H., and the latter is known from bands like Hammerstorm, Endless Sorrow or Lost Inside (amongst several others), and he’s the guy too who runs the fantastic Belgian (Black Metal) label Immortal Frost Productions as well. In 2011 they recorded a demo-MCD, Mental Suffocation, before splitting up for a brief period.
The origins of London-based, yet Polish-rooted Scutum Crux go back to 2003, but it wasn’t until 2011 before they released anything ‘decent’. Their self-titled promo / demo drew attention of Belgian label Immortal Frost, and the band released its debut (and until now their sole full length, if I am not mistaken; anyway, do they still exist?...) via this great label.
Ondfødt are a very young Finnish band that self-released an EP called I in 2013. Unfortunately I haven’t heard this material, but the three tracks from that EP appear on this album.
Well, within ‘music’ it is easy to label something as ‘beautiful’. It has to do with personal, subjective preferences. I won’t come with a philosophical essay about this subject, but this introduction is helpful to understand what Subscribers Of Death stands for. Why? Because this simply is the aural definition for ‘beautiful music’.
The scene from New Zealand isn’t that known in our countries, and that’s a pity for there seems to be quite a vivid and interesting scene out there. 8 Foot Saliva, Ulcerate, Dawn Of Azazel and maybe a (child’s) hand full of others; everybody knows these, but there are plenty of superb bands and projects dwelling at the other side of Mater Terra (down under and then to the right…).
HellHate are a Ukrainian act that were formed in 2008, but despite five years of career, they didn’t release but one EP / MCD, called retsonretap (got the meaning? does it reek of blasphemy? Look at the artwork and indeed, the Horned One must be a close friend of this trio). Noxious (b), Ugrum (v, g) and Bloodsucker (d) recorded this material in very early 2013 at the P.A. Studio, and the five tracks last for fifteen minutes and a half.
