Written by:	Nefarious, RaduP, nikarg
Published:	December 07, 2018

Clandestine Cuts Volume 8, 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. 8 #3
Clandestine Cuts Vol. 8 #2
Clandestine Cuts Vol. 8 #1

And now to the new music...

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Pale - EP Listen at Bandcamp Standing up to about 12 other artists named Pale (or Pále), this Japanese band decides to fight even more against all odds by being a blackgaze band in 2018. Quite akin to djent and thrash revival, blackgaze has had its peaks and lows and has been generally on a downward slope as a genre for a while, with less and less interest for newer artists in the genre, with all the attention going to acts like Alcest and Deafheaven. But if Møl can break the surface and gain attention, then so can Pale, and this EP, already released through Pest Productions, an underground label with a lot credibility, displays 25 minutes of extremely aggressive post-black metal and post-hardcore, only blissful and tremolo-picky enough to merit its "-gaze" suffix. The vocals though? Some of the most tortured and vicious you'll hear in the entire genre. While the performance is obviously the high point of this EP, the songwriting and production are worthy of praise for a debut EP. by RaduP

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Abyssal Vacuum - MMXVII Listen at Bandcamp I know MMXVII basically means last year but bear with me here. If you know anything about French black metal, you'll know this will be dissonant and ominous. What you probably didn't expect is that it will be so goddamn cavernous. I've heard my fair share of ambient and atmospheric black metal, which this certainly is, but I have yet to hear anything that sounds like it, like the deepest magma-filled, claustrophobically gigantic caves of hell. Kinda like the black metal version of Autokrator. With the music feeling disjointedly slow and fast at the same time, at least elements of it, the 20 minutes of this EP feel like an eternity of desolate wandering. Though the debut for one-man band Abyssal Vacuum, you may know Sébastien Besson for his work with Dysylumn. by RaduP

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Heift - Gyðingurinn Gangandi Listen to Bandcamp Featuring Aðalsteinn Magnússon of Auðn fame and Kolbeinn Þórsson and Matthías Hlífar Mogensen from progressive/psychedelic rock outfit Lucy In Blue comes this new Icelandic black metal band. Heift means "fury" but the trio's music manifests much more than that in Gyðingurinn Gangandi. There is no dissonance here or the familiar Deathspell Omega worship which has been quite common recently with bands from this frozen island. Instead, a strong post- element can be felt in Heift's compositions, accentuated by inventive drums and exceptional bass work which can actually be heard. I never thought I'd write something like this but I would have preferred it if the tracks were longer in duration. That's how good this debut EP is. by nikarg

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The Ashen Tree - The Ashen Tree Listen at Bandcamp The Ashen Tree is a duo from India and Sweden. Bizarre combination but this self-titled debut EP delivers the goods. Progressive, post- and, above all, melodic death/doom metal that should please the fans who like their music filled with feelings of longing and melancholy. The melodies and tempos are beautifully intertwined, resulting in the songs being less one-dimensional and often faster than traditional, crawling death/doom, which makes The Ashen Tree all the more interesting. Highly atmospheric and emotional with a crystal clear production that helps bring out the musicians' talent, it will surely appeal to those into Slumber, Swallow The Sun and the like. by nikarg

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Foul - Of Worms Listen at Bandcamp Fellas, what we have here is some of the filthiest death/doom you'll find lurking in the depths of the underground. Foul is so underground that this EP's Bandcamp page is the only info you're gonna find on them so far. What makes Of Worms so amazing is that the production makes it sound less drowned in bass induced heaviness that you'd expect from death/doom, which should make it less potent but the vocals come and just pack such a filthy punch that all the shortcomings of the production are left behind, or perhaps the raw production does add to the obscure and primitive feel of the album. You can tell Foul are apt songwriters (especially due to the way some sections almost sound like post-black metal or atmospheric sludge), you just wish they spent a little more time making sure that the snare didn't sound like shit. But it just makes Of Worms be what it is: 27 minutes of disgusting. by RaduP

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Mortuary Punishment - Pride​.​Power​.​Punishment Listen at Bandcamp Sometimes fast is heavy, sometimes slow is heavy. This time really slow is really heavy. Like a slow motion nightmare where you're chased by a big ass demon. That demon's name? Bigg o))), who is the sole member of this one-man project, though you may know him as the guitarist of hardcore outfit Xibalba. Whether he sings about literal demons or the cartels that run LA should be of no importance, what matters is that you should be scarred. The mid-to-slow-to-really-slow paced death/doom is inter-cut by news clips of gang violence and the occasional beloved "Ugh". by RaduP

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