Clandestine Cuts Vol. 8 Issue #1 - Awesome New Demos and EPs
| Written by: | Nefarious, RaduP |
| Published: | 30.08.2018 |
Clandestine Cuts Volume 8, Issue #1
The Metal Storm Demo/EP Spotlight
Brand New Independent Metal Lives Here.
Welcome to the Clandestine Cuts!
Welcome to the Clandestine Cuts!
Is independent, unsigned, and underground metal what you seek? Weary traveller of the metal world, rest here a while. Clandestine Cuts are the best demos and EPs from these bands, the heart and soul of metal music. These musicians are slaves to their passions, and their blood keeps the metal machine alive and turning. Support them with a simple listen, and discover the future.
Metal Storm users: you can vote in the poll below to choose your favourite demo/EP of the issue. The winners each year are nominated in our annual Metal Storm Awards so exercise your rights: this is the one category chosen completely by YOU the readers. Make sure your favourite independent metal is recognized each year!
(Think your band has what it takes to be featured in the Cuts? Email demos@metalstorm.net to submit your music.)
In case you're new at this, go back and enjoy our last few issues:
Clandestine Cuts Vol. 7 #1
Clandestine Cuts Vol. 6 #5
Clandestine Cuts Vol. 6 #4
And now to the new music...
| Toadeater - Demo Listen at Bandcamp Do you like your black metal a bit more crusty? Toadeater from Germany are here to deliver you a bit under 10 minutes of black metal can that both create atmosphere and be moshed to. All with a production quality that is surprisingly decent for a demo, so every riff and every beat packs a punch. Already within three short songs, Toadeater show mastery of slower ambiance setting and vicious blackened crust. by RaduP |  |
 | Gaupa - Gaupa Listen at Bandcamp Ever wondered what it would sound like if Björk fronted a stoner/psychedelic hard rock band? Then wonder no more! (Hint: It's seriously good!) Emma Näslund's fantastic voice & vocal delivery really help give Gaupa their own identity, but she ably supported 4 fantastic musicians that know how to employ creative songwriting that seamlessly drifts between atmospheric psychedelic passages interspersed with some seriously heavy yet groovy stoner riffs. For a debut EP this is seriously impressive and I can't wait to hear what these crazy Swede's offer up next. by Nefarious |
| Meridian Sun - The Curse Listen to Bandcamp You know those really long epic 20 minutes long album closers that you just can't wait to get to? Meridian Sun decided to cut to the chase and give you nothing but that 20 minutes of a single epic stoner doom track. The Curse is short enough to be an entire condensed album, long enough to scratch every itch you may be looking to scratch with stoner doom. It's got fuzz, acoustic guitars, bluesy bits, post-rock bits, progressive tinges, thus the songwriting is competent enough to make the song worth its length. by RaduP |  |
 | Death Will Tremble - Departures Listen at Bandcamp Departures features a single 14 minute track that really packs an emotional punch of sludgy doomy post-metal. Departures deals thematically with loss & grief, a subject matter known all too well by two of the members after recently losing their father to a rare neurological disease. Within seconds of this EP starting, you are smacked in the face by a sludgy guitar driven wall of sound that creates a claustrophobic atmosphere while emotionally charged vocals scream right into your soul. 5 minutes in & the dense wall of sound is lifted momentarily as a brief instrumental interlude seams to clear the mind of the listener & allow a moment of introspection before the crushing riffs return and harrowed screams cry "Pull yourself together". Departures really takes an emotional toll on the listener, but it is journey well worth taking. by Nefarious |
| Nug - Темна Маса / Dark Mass Listen at Bandcamp Dark Mass is only Nug's debut EP but it already feels like the work of a band with a few more years down the line, which means there's still potential for more. The production isn't perfect, but it's more than necessary to give the songs the impact they need. And impact they have, as Dark Mass is a massive blob of post-metal. While the songs are a bit short, they're well composed, the vocals are emotional and the musicians clearly got the chops. by RaduP |  |
 | Potion - Women Of The Wand Listen at Bandcamp The Aussies sure are vengeful after their defeat in the Emu war, so much so that they've been crafting some of the most disgustingly slimy riffs here in Women Of The Wand. Potion are tired of the jammy floaty type of stoner, so they're up to putting some of the sludge and evil back into it. With a production dirtier that the USA's foreign intervention history, Women Of The Wand is 13 minutes of doom that's gritty, dark and full of that crunchy bass that's so needed in doom. by RaduP |
Comments
Comments: 4
Visited by: 88 users
| musclassia Posts: 7031 From: UK  |
I've never really dug into these Clandestine cuts, but I'll give this one a look Radu: Toadeater - kinda dug the intro, but after that, was pretty typical lo-fi punky BM. It's fine, but nothing I'd care to listen to again. Gaupa - unsurprisingly given my recent listening in the past few months, I liked this one, particularly the opening song, with the Bjork-esque vocals and the moodier vibe to the instrumentation. Thought more straightforward songs like 'The Autopussy' were less appealling. Meridian Sun - took some time to get going but found myself getting properly pulled into it around the 8-minute mark, enjoyed the mix of energetic drumming, heavy riffs and melodic guitar leads, and found myself warming to the vocals that I initially found a bit 'eh' in the beginning. I know from recent experience that keeping a song interesting for 20 minutes is no small task, so this was impressive, and it really peaked at the end. I liked this a lot. Death Will Tremble - a bit of a slog to get through, appreciate what they were aiming for but didn't particularly engage with it. The stretch from the beginning of the soft section to the first distorted passage (ending around 8:30) was pretty satisfying though. Nug - enjoyed this one, liked the use of lead guitars and the song arrangements, and the harsh vox were more to my taste than those on Death Will Tremble. Also very much dug the build-up in Enemy. Potion - wish this was a bit longer, takes the nearly the whole first song to get going (although with a satisfying build up) and get stuck into a fat fucking riff, and then there's only one song left. I enjoyed this. Overall, ended up voting for Meridian Sun, but Nug was a solid second place, and am likely to revisit both. 1) Meridian Sun 2) Nug 3) Potion 4) Gaupa 5) Death Will Tremble 6) Toadeater
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| Bad English Tage Westerlund Posts: 60946 From: Sweden  |
Lets continue tradition and talk weird.... I vote for Falun.
---- Life is to short for LOVE, there is many great things to do online !!! Stormtroopers of Death - ''Speak English or Die''  apos;'[image] I better die, because I never will learn speek english, so I choose dieing
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| KutAd Posts: 8 From: The Netherlands |
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| nikarg Posts: 7035 From: Greece  |
Meridian Sun is light years ahead. Progressive doom along with many other things that RaduP described, one song just under 22 minutes that you wish will never end. And the cover art is great. I also liked Gaupa, mainly because of the Bjork-ish vocals.
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