Written by:	nikarg, musclassia, Starvynth, RaduP, AndyMetalFreak, F3ynman
Published:	November 09, 2024

Clandestine Cuts Volume 14, Issue #9
The Metal Storm Demo/EP Spotlight



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 to this, go back and enjoy our last few issues:

Clandestine Cuts Vol. 14 #9
Clandestine Cuts Vol. 14 #8
Clandestine Cuts Vol. 14 #7

And now to the new music...

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Behold the newly formed death metal quintet Enucleate, one of the most extreme and exciting prospects to emerge from Scotland's steadily rising Glaswegian death metal scene. Enucleate is a band that definitely lives up to the title of this resounding 3-tracked debut EP, Chaorealm, which exposes listeners to 15 minutes of brutally chaotic OSDM. Immerse yourself in these suffocatingly powerful hellish soundscapes crafted by Earth-crushing, intertwining OSDM riffs, bone-grinding bass, thunderous drumming, and terrorizing, monstrous, gnarly gutturals, all masterfully layered and held together with an impeccable production. All-in-all, Enucleate offers some of the most extreme death metal to ever emerge from Glasgow!

by AndyMetalFreak

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As I mentioned in my review of Torpor’s last album, Bristol’s produced quite a few noteworthy sludge metal bands. As it turns out, this isn’t just applicable to England’s Bristol, as Obsidian Urn are churning out grim vibes from Bristol, Virginia. Their debut EP Burden is a substantial effort at 27 minutes in length, and delivers all the swampy guitar tone and bilious rasping vocals you’d hope for from a sludge album. There’s occasional sad guitar leads accompanying the plodding doom riffs to add an extra dimensions, and longer songs such as “Oathing” contrast the crawling, misanthropic trudge with some cleaner tones. At its core, however, Burden is mean, bleak and slogging.

by musclassia

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‘How is this band not signed yet?’ reads the first comment on The Forest Forgets' Bandcamp page, and it's an exceptionally good question - one that only gets more pressing the more you listen to Of Wind & Willows. I'm not gonna lie; I’ve never been a fan of stoner rock or stoner metal, and I doubt I ever will be. But every few years, an album from this genre surprises me so much that it absolutely floors me. Three years ago, Khirki from Greece managed to do just that with their debut album Κτηνωδία, and in 2024, it’s been this first EP by four Americans from Manchester, New Hampshire. It won me over with a rarely heard authentic, down-to-earth blend of stoner metal, bleak post-rock, sludgy riffs, radio-friendly alternative metal, and a dash of doom - all proving that stoner can be a hell lot of fun without conforming to the usual stereotypes such as the obligatory mammoths, mushrooms, wizards, or desert landscapes on almost every album cover. Looking for a few new songs to add to your playlist, the kind you can’t help but belt out as you drive down a dusty country road in an old convertible, with no fixed destination but a limitless horizon promising freedom, adventure, and a hint of the unknown? You don’t need to look any further because, thanks to the excellent songwriting and the powerful, dynamic vocals of Griffin Romprey, the five tracks on Of Wind & Willows are a perfect addition to any playlist.

by Starvynth

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Symphonic deathcore is not a new thing, especially since fairly big names, like Lorna Shore and especially Shadow Of Intent (Bryce Butler is actually behind the drum kit here), have been embracing the sound. Canadian band, Heteromorphic Zoo, are new to the game, but they are sure to win everyone over with their progressive songwriting, their catchy melodies, and the neck-testing breakdowns. Self-described as “Worship Music for Monsters”, the New World EP is a mix of melodic death metal, progressive deathcore, symphonic and neoclassical metal, with impressive musicianship and arrangements. The band has already put out videos for the songs “Avatara”, “Ritual Of Fidelity” and “Napalm”, which further shows that they are taking what they’re doing seriously and professionally, and it surely won’t be long before a label picks them up. The violin gives the songs a more dramatic flair, while on the last track, “Aura Of Despair”, four different types of trombone are heard, and the orchestral arrangement was made by Francesco Ferrini of Fleshgod Apocalypse.

by nikarg

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We're not always prone to return, in this feature, to artists we've already covered, either because some of them make it to the full-length stage or because they fall off our map. Svn.Seeker isn't even a name I personally covered, but the last time we heard from them, Means To An End showcased a brand of melodeath that was both technical and imbued with both blackened and thrashy tendencies. Crystal And Gold is a more concise affair, with the "Crystal" part being an admittedly good cover of Death's "Crystal Mountain", where the band gets to pump their old school technical death metal muscles, and "Gold" being the new song and star of the show "The Gold Will Rise", a Soilwork meets The Black Dahlia Murder meets Obscura cut that acts as an apt companion and has a lot in common sonically to the Death cover.

by RaduP

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I understand raw black metal isn't everyone's cup of tea. I myself often find examples of the genre that sound too weak, too amateurish, or too randomly cacophonous. But, once in a while, I do come across a project that draws me in and ensnares me within its abyssal atmosphere. The New Jersey band Drape, with their EP A Thousand Cuts, have done just that. Offering dense layers of distorted tremolo-riffing, an appropriately chilling gravelly voice, and slow drum beats echoing through a cavernous underworld, Drape’s self-described “funeral black metal” creates a deceptively simple yet effectively hypnotic experience. The mist-shrouded production and the convincingly chthonic vocals enhance the eerie musicianship, entrenching the listener in haunting, fathomless depths of blackness.

by F3ynman

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