Introduction: released almost one year ago, but Thrash-fanatics: be prepared for another combo from Belgian soil about to conquer the planet…
Location: Liège (Belgium)
Current line-up: Kévin Lambert (drums), Ludovic Hubert (vocals & guitars), Morgane Greeven (bass), Sébastien Grätz (guitars)
Recorded: at Le Garage Créative Music
Mix & mastering: Psycho
Artwork: I think from the band itself; simple and characteristic yet effective!
As fast and fierce as this demo, the fast and fierce this review will be.
Skorb are a very young four-piece formation that hail from Russia (St. Petersburg), and they recorded a first demonstrational EP in Winter 2019-2020. This material drew attention of Germany’s Corrupted Flesh Records, ergo: decent release of these four lullabies on cassette format (limited to one hundred copies).
A while ago, Apocalyptic Records did send me the untitled demo-EP by Cleveland, Ohio, uSSSa-based duo Nekrophasm – sometimes known as Nekröphasm, with the diaeresis on the ‘o’ included. Yet since this one is (1) very satisfying, (2) way too underestimated and (3) not published yet, I felt the urge to write down my thoughts and publish this two-tracker.
Note before starting off: when I refer to Black Flame, it is not the (great) Italian Black Metal band I am referring to, but a one-man project, also from Italy, that unfortunately stopped its activities in Spring 2019. A pity…
(and oh yes, I have no cover art, so I’ve used the artist’s profile picture)
I will start with a sad advertisement: Misandreproductions are no more (weeping smiley included…). The store is still active, but unfortunately there will be no more new releases in the future. Don’t ask me why, for that’s of no importance, but I’ll miss them.
About four years ago, two friends from the Tienen-area (in the East of Flanders, in between Leuven and Sint-Truiden) started jamming together in some moisty and smoky cellar. Sometimes it seemed to come with a modest hit-potential, then again the material could not satisfy the members’ ear drums. But that good stuff, well, slowly on they started memorising the better elements from their jam sessions. Finally, some first songs became reality. In a next step, the band started playing live too, trying to remember the songs they created before.
Tzelmoth are quite an ‘old’ formation from the Medellin region (Colombia), with two full lengths, some EP’s, and a hand full of split contributions (with e.g. Behalf Fiend, Black Angel Dagon, Black Abyss or Nox) on their roster.
Forever Plagued Records are releasing another Orcultus recording, at the very same moment of the Endless Hate & Misanthropy re-release (which was reviewed in 2014 – check the site somewhere, sometime). This sweet Swedish outfit and the label did choose for a cassette edition once again, instead of fully mastered CD-stuff, in order to express their adoration for the underground.
Forever Plagued Records are releasing another Orcultus recording, at the very same moment of the Endless Hate & Misanthropy re-release (which was reviewed in 2014 – check the site somewhere, sometime). This sweet Swedish outfit and the label did choose for a cassette edition once again, instead of fully mastered CD-stuff, in order to express their adoration for the underground.
Melancholy… But beware! This intro is not meant to have some philosophical expression of modernism versus old fashionism. When I just came into the scene during the second half of the eighties, all recordings were released on vinyl or tape. You had lots of rehearsal tapes, demos were released on cassette only, and full lengths were done on vinyl (LP); and you had EP’s (7”) on vinyl too. Then, during the nineties, the CD made its entrance, and since a couple of year, technology introduced digital possibilities. It has both its advantages as well as disadvantages.
