Written by:	Nefarious, BloodTears, Susan
Published:	September 01, 2016

Clandestine Cuts Volume 6, Issue #4
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 at this, go back and enjoy our last few issues:
Clandestine Cuts Vol. 6 #3
Clandestine Cuts Vol. 6 #2
Clandestine Cuts Vol. 6 #1




And now to the new music...

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Ànteros - lunas Listen at Bandcamp Ànteros is a band from Barcelona, Spain and lunas (moons) is their debut EP and what an EP it is! The music is a fusion between the splendor of post-metal innuendos and the fury of hardcore/screamo tinges. However, what makes the songs great is the perfect coexistence of these two seemingly conflicting states. Also, the screams in Spanish are quite distinctive and perfect in the context of their music. Whether it's in the exceptional beauty of the piano in "Luna" or the restrained wrath of "Nereid", Ànteros are classy and engaging in all their arrangements. The lunatic world of lunas deserves to be explored and discovered. by BloodTears

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Equipoise - Birthing Homunculi Listen at Bandcamp This is kinda stating the obvious, but Technical Death Metal is a hard genre for a band to master. There's so many bands out there filled with talented musicians who wield their instruments with technical wizardry & write impressive intricate songs with surgical precision yet somehow the final product is left feeling sterile & soulless. Luckily for us, Equipoise avoid this pitfall & have provided us with a truly magnificent debut EP. All tracks on display here are executed with extreme technical proficiency, yet the intricate songwriting and variation in tempo, melody & aggression really make Birthing Homunculi stand out & live long in the memory. As an added bonus, the whole EP is available on Bandcamp for free, however I would highly encourage anyone who enjoys this to throw a few dollars the bands way, as Equipoise are donating 100% of the proceeds made from this EP to Jason Becker's Foundation. So not only would you be buying a brilliant EP from a hugely talented & promising band, but you'd also be supporting a great cause. by Nefarious

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Abest - Last Listen at Bandcamp The music in Last is quite suffocating and uncomfortable. I don't know about you, but that's what I like to feel when I listen to a darker type of post-metal. The Germans display their influences of hardcore and sludge metal to build an atmosphere of anguish and unsettling nature. Abest aren't reinventing the wheel and, in fact, seem to draw a lot from other sludge/post-metal explorers such as The Ocean and Cult Of Luna. The only problem with this release is that it's too short. You sort of get a bittersweet taste in your mouth afterwards, wanting more. by BloodTears

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Cloak Of Organs - Cloak Of Organs EP Listen at Bandcamp "Follow me into the darkness," wails Jennie Mather in opening track "Blood Moon". You don't think; you simply follow. Cloak Of Organs has crafted the kind of excellent debut that could appeal to so many different listeners, based on quality alone. It would be pointless to reach for a genre or style they're inhabiting; instead, they give us heavy mood, an ominously calm retro vibe, and visuals to dance across our minds while listening. The fuzzy guitars will gently encompass you while the ethereal vocals, as balanced as any instrument, yet with decipherable lyrics, will penetrate your soul like a scalpel. by Susan

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Twingiant - Demo 2016 Listen at Bandcamp Twingiant hit the reset button on their music and, after 2 full-lengths, are releasing this 2-track demo to introduce their evolved sound. Formerly a band of very raw sludge with rock and blues influences (I know, you're also thinking "why the hell change that?!") they've pared down the sludge and stoner elements to present a more heavy metal, focusing on groove, but without losing any of the rawness in their sound or darkness in their color. The result is highly successful and, while I wouldn't wish anyone away from sludge, Twingiant is gifting us with a type of heavy metal as gritty as the bits you can't ever clean off a cheese grater. The songs build and grow at such a perfect pace that I can only imagine what is in store for their next full-length. by Susan

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Conjurer - I Listen at Bandcamp Formed in 2014, Birmingham, UK-based quartet Conjurer have been around for a couple of years now without actually having a physical release to their name, until now. Their debut E.P. I is a punishing yet captivating 34 minute journey into the world of heavy, intense sludgy goodness. Conjurer's sound is actually an amalgamation of Death, Black, Doom, Post & Sludge, yet rather than allowing their eclectic mix of influences to result in an incoherent directionless mess, the overall sound is focused, concise, coherent and heavy as hell. by Nefarious

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