Written by:	nikarg, RaduP, musclassia, Starvynth
Published:	08.11.2021

Clandestine Cuts Volume 11, Issue #10
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 nikarg@metalstorm.net to submit your music.)

In case you're new at this, go back and enjoy our last few issues:

Clandestine Cuts Vol. 11 #09
Clandestine Cuts Vol. 11 #08
Clandestine Cuts Vol. 11 #07

And now to the new music...

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I got my corpse paint on tonight
Svrfin' in the dark, in the pale sunlight
I got my svncreen on, ice qveen style
Spiked bracelets on, I'm feelin' alive

Oh, my Lord, I feel it in the air
The freezing svn above is sizzlin' like a snare
Honey, I'm frostbitten, I feel it everywhere
Nothin' scares me anymore

(One, two, three, fovr)
Kill me hard before yov go
Svmmertime madness
I jvst wanted yov to know
That baby, yov're the kvltest

I got that svmmertime, svmmertime madness
Sv-sv-svmmertime, svmmertime madness
Got that svmmertime, svmmertime madness
Oh, oh-oh, oh-oh

by RaduP

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I know a bunch of thrash trios or four-...os? Fiveos? Anyway. There's also Toxic Holocaust which used to be just Joel Grind doing everything. But I can't say I can think of any thrash duos. For pretty much any other genre (that matters) I can think of at least one. Now this isn't to say that Varnok only have two instruments playing at a time, but that Ralex handles bass, guitars, and vocals, giving each of those all the attention necessary. I'm not sure how it works in a live setting, but Anthropogenic has a lot of bass, and the production puts a lot of emphasis on that. It's clearly not a "professional" job, as Ralex is also in charge of the mix and master, while Baca, the drummer, did the artwork. But Anthropogenic sounds lo-fi in a really cool way, and that's not only in how bassy it is. That's 25 minutes of thrash that's pretty close to the heavy metal side of things, you know, the kind that doesn't shy away from mid tempo riffing. But I must admit, the production sets it apart more than the songwriting.

by RaduP

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The Book is a four-piece from the Czech Republic that was formed in 2018 from the ashes of Žrec after the latter disbanded. They play traditional heavy metal and their demo is very much helped by the organic production, but as a whole it doesn’t sound so traditional because it is mixed with more extreme genres. You can hear some sick thrashy riffs on it, a few more doomy parts, as well as some U.S. power metal passages, and there are even harsh vocals too. The music reveals influences that begin from Satan, Mercyful Fate, and Black Sabbath and go as far as to touch on Bathory, Iced Earth, and Celtic Frost. However, this is not your average rehashing trad metal release, it’s not a senseless mix and match of styles, but an eclectic and enjoyable piece of music that sounds as authentic as it possibly can in a style where everything has already been invented a long time ago. The two songs featured here are quite different from each other and I would be very intrigued to listen to a full-length album by this band.

by nikarg

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When is a solo project not a solo project? Arguably when there’s a dozen musicians playing on the record. Eonian is an extreme symphonic metal project founded by US-based Spanish guitarist Jaume Antuñano, although he has recruited the likes of drummer Freddy Ortscheid (ex-Entrails) and DM (Helioss) on vocals to bring his vision to fruition. The Nomad, the first offering from the project, flies by in a blaze of full-pelt melodeath riffs, blasts and grandiose mid-tempo marches, with each song capped off by intelligently implemented chorals and orchestrations (courtesy of Diego Soldi), as well as some exciting solo moments, such as the stirring folky violin solo in “Versus The Titan”. Kinetic and dramatic, The Nomad is a blast of a debut.

by musclassia

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Lichfield is a new project from Germany that define themselves as a "dark metal" band. Their music is a throwback to the '90s sound of iconic acts, such as Amorphis, Katatonia, Paradise Lost, Anathema, and Sentenced. If you like any, or all, of the aforementioned bands, you will almost surely enjoy Dead Trees. The music of Lichfield is gripping and lush, always melancholic but with a more uptempo approach than what is normally expected from doom metal. The melodies by ex-Anubis guitarist, Sebastian Kraus, are gloomy and bittersweet, and the use of keyboards serves to make the music a bit more dramatic. The clean vocals have a distinct gothic timbre, while the harsh ones are mostly deep death metal growls, and less often they take the form of hellish, blackened shrieks. Lichfield do not try to hide their influences, since they finish this EP with a cover version of "Black Winter Day". Dead Trees is a very promising debut EP, reviving a sound that is loved by many metalheads, and leaving much hope for the future.

by nikarg

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There are probably not too many atmospheric black metal bands hailing from the Andes of South America that consist of musicians deeply rooted in grindcore, deathcore and technical death metal through their previous projects. Formed in 2019 in Peru's capital city, Earthwomb prove with their first EP that the combination of technical finesse, a heavy, powerful sound, and an unerring instinct for pitch-black melodies works surprisingly well when you can boast a vocalist whose high-pitched, piercing screams and bloodcurdling growls recall the unbridled brutality of Travis Ryan (Cattle Decapitation) or Will Ramos (Lorna Shore). Becoming Immanence offers everything you can hope for from modern black metal: very varied song structures full of dynamics and tempo changes, concise riff thunderstorms, a top-notch production, and a horror-inducing, threatening atmosphere. It might as well be the soundtrack to an astronaut's nightmare come true - the free fall through the icy cold of space into a giant black hole that suffocates the last desperate cry and obliterates any memory of it.

by Starvynth

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