Written by:	Doc G., Thryce, BitterCOld
Published:	December 10, 2010

Clandestine Cuts #3
The Metal Storm Demo/EP Spotlight

Welcome to the 3rd edition of Clandestine Cuts, where you get to be on the cutting edge of the future of metal (excuse the terrible pun.) 2 noteworthy things about this issue: #1 - it is probably the most extreme C.C. to date - be prepared. #2 - We've introduced a new voting feature, where you choose your favourite from each issue! What's the point of all this voting? Well, the top 6 voted for (from all the issues combined by the start of January 2011) will be nominated in 2010 MetalStorm awards in a brand new category known as the Clandestine Cut Of The Year! A nomination or even being given the belt may be a huge boost in many of these bands budding careers! You get 1 vote per issue, so make sure you give each one a good listen, and decide which you think is best. For the purpose of making things as impartial as possible, all results will remain hidden until the nominees are announced in early 2011.

That being said, don't forget to go back and vote for your favourite from our first 2 issues!
Issue #1
Issue #2

Update: Voting closed January 14th, 2011

Razorwyre - Coming Out http://www.myspace.com/razorwyreband Some humorous bands can leave you feeling satisfied musically while still being funny, others are funny but lack any artistic merit whatsoever...Then you hear something like this. It's another old school revivalist band mixing thrash and NWOBHM. Occasionally, the music matches the ridiculousness of the pairing of the title & cover art, and just when you're about to discard this band as a ludicrous waste of time, they pull out some totally awesome riffs. Coming Out is an EP that flips between those two states; stupid bullshit & a kick ass NWOBHM thrash hybrid. The final verdict? Who the fuck knows, this one is best left to personal interpretation. by Luke Godin

Disintegrated - This Is Art http://www.myspace.com/disintegratedmetal There's ground-breaking, genre crossing, boundary stepping, envelope pushing, avant-garde death metal, then sometimes, there's just death metal. Granted, Disintegrated do borrow some subtle elements from black metal and some not so subtle elements from grindcore, but overall, these guys just play unabashed death metal. It's not the most creative and original piece of metal you'll ever hear, but these guys kick a lot of ass within the parameters they set for themselves. Sometimes you need to broaden your horizons, other times you just wanna clench your teeth and bash something hard over your head (your keyboard should suffice - do it...do it now.) Disintegrated offer a satisfying soundtrack for that. by Luke Godin

Everfailed - Biological Order http://www.myspace.com/everfailed There's no stoppin' the Cretins from stomping! Hailing from Crete, Greece, Everfail don't fail this go around with Biological Order. Straddling the line between melo-death at some points with nice twin guitar harmonies and more direct and brutish at others they hit a nice mix between the two, not too slick for the hardcases nor too sick for the melo yello crowd. Not particularly innovative, their HELLenic take on DM is enjoyable nevertheless. And "Flaming Mass of Pain" is a great title for a track, although the instrumental piece is a bit on the mellow side given the title. by BitterCOld

Apsis - Demonstration http://www.myspace.com/apsisband Ethereal black metal like this is always a daunting task to get into. You can't just pop it on your Ipod in shuffle and expect to "get it". No, you need a good 30 minutes of solitude to let the music soak in. Apsis are no exception - it's all about haunting tranquil passages building into grandiose black metal sound-scapes at a glacial pace (comparable to Wolves In The Throne Room in many aspects). Having the patience and dedication to let music like this hit you at it's full potential can be tiring if you're not in the right mood. However, given the right mindset, Apsis provide some great music to drift off to. by Luke Godin

Magrudergrind - Crusher http://www.myspace.com/magrudergrind The armored panzer tank rolling you over this time is the new release of Magrudergrind, one of those kickass yet criminally underrated modern grindcore acts in today's world. The title of this EP is, well, pretty much self-explanatory, really. What you're about to hear is an act of punishing brutality that will almost literally floor you in style. The kind of hateful stuff that makes you want to bang your head off, rip something apart, punch someone in the teeth and have hot, blasphemous sex all at the same time. Classy, huh? Only turbo-nerds will not stream this shit on Soundcloud and/or download it for free (available until its online sale date of January 18th). by Thryce

Gallowbraid - Ashen Eidolon http://www.myspace.com/gallowbraid Now that the new Agalloch album turns out to be a bit of a letdown (there, somebody finally said it), I need to look elsewhere for my quick fix of atmospheric folk-ish, uhm, black-ish, uhm, whatever the heck it's called Agalloch are good at. Luckily there are enough Agalloch clones bands heavily inspired by said band floating around; one of them being one-man project Gallowbraid. His music is decidedly dark, eerily atmospheric and fueled by melancholy. Just the stuff I need to get me through these cold winter days. by Thryce

Catuvolcus - Terres De Sang http://www.myspace.com/catuvolcus What a bunch of assholes. Seriously, who releases something this awesome but only as a 6 track EP? Catuvolcus play a sort of black/folk metal with progressive touches, picture Enslaved meets Ensiferum. On top of being jerks, these guys are obviously well trained in the art of mind reading as well - in each song just as you're about to think to yourself "Ok, enough blast beats" they bring out some outrageously epic sounding melody or acoustic guitar segment. It would take some kind of moron to not check this out. by Luke Godin