Written by:	ScreamingSteelUS, RaduP, nikarg, Starvynth, Troy Killjoy
Published:	December 05, 2019

Clandestine Cuts Volume 9, 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 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. 9 #9
Clandestine Cuts Vol. 9 #8
Clandestine Cuts Vol. 9 #7

And now to the new music...

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Goura - Death Crowns [Hardcore / Sludge] Listen at Bandcamp When I first saw Goura cover for Death Crowns, I already knew they had a bit of a bigger budget than most other bands we review here, but I really never expected them to sound this good. Playing a lot of genres centered around hardcore, you could call their music metalcore or grindcore or sludge or deathgrind or even post-metal, but in its relatively long for an EP, Death Crowns showcases bits of each of these genres to create some of the most intense and heavy, and honestly most diverse debuts. With vocals a lot closer to low grunt hardcore inspired groove/thrash/death than high pitched grind. So you'll find fast paced grind, riffy groove, heavy sludge and atmospheric post all in one serving. by RaduP

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Gawthrop - Demo [Sludge / Doom] Listen at Bandcamp It takes sewer level production to produce sewer level sludge. And by that I mean sludge so low and slow and filthy it feels absolutely inhuman. Take the vocals for example, which were probably processed beyond recognizably to create a hellishly low growl that sounds nothing like something a human could perform, at least most of the time. And with the bassy slime of riffs, really really slow riffs that feel almost funeral doom-ish, the whole demo feels like 15 minutes of depravity straight from Seoul. In those 15 minutes they still manage to include just enough variation in the tempo and delivery to make it a bit more than just absolute slime. by RaduP

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Wykan - Brigid - Of The Night [Doom / Blues / Stoner / Black] Listen at Bandcamp How about a band that mixes Black Sabbath, Pink Floyd, Jimi Hendrix and Mayhem? Wykan from Canada were formed in 2017 by guitarist Jeremy Perkins and released their debut EP, Solace, last year, with Brigid - Of The Night emerging in 2019 "as the bright sun springs out from behind a dark cloud". The band uses classic riffing for each of the styles it's flirting with and boasts a ritualistic vibe by blending sounds that are not supposed to go together, like soft, atmospheric '70s rock transitioning to searing blackened doom. The music acts as a mind trip with the three songs telling tales of ceremonies and festivities based on the goddess Brigid (depicted on the excellent cover artwork by David Paul Seymour) and her relationship with the Celtic peoples of Ireland before Christianity. If you're up for some dark and mystical doom experimentation, summon Brigid and she will deliver. by nikarg

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Cheyne Stokes - Cheyne Stokes [Death / Alternative] Listen at Bandcamp Have you ever wondered how a mix of death metal, alternative, metalcore and doom could ever possible sound like? Well, neither have I. But Cheyne Stokes from Bogotá, Colombia have some answers even to yet unverbalized questions and three of their very appropriate replies and a short narrative intro are compiled right here on their self-titled EP. Focusing too much on the instrumentation of the first track, my initial impression was that I was indeed listening to some rather pure alternative metal, but my assumption dissolved into blue smoke as soon as the raspy vocals kicked in. Damn, this is some crazy blend of many influences! But regardless of its numerous ingredients, the final outcome sounds like a monolithic whole - unexpected passages are rather made to surprise the audience than to leave you with a somehow awkward feeling that something was out of place. There's one small blemish though: the promised portion of prog, where is it? Let's hope this ingredient is only hinted at on the EP in order to save a good dose of it for a full-length album soon to come. Regardless, this is some great stuff and highly recommended for fans of Paradise Lost's last three releases - and for fans of modern but uncliché metal. by Starvynth

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Room 101 - The Burden [Doom / Death] Listen at Bandcamp Room 101 is an American quartet pulling from a rather particular group of influences that include Neurosis, Crowbar, Eyehategod, and Acid Bath. They waste very little time conveying those influences, with hardcore-style raspy vocals grating atop buzzing guitars, but the speed with which they deliver their message is far more in line with the aforementioned influences' slowest pace. The interludes reveal an understanding of melody and atmosphere, but The Burden's proper tracks tend to focus more on establishing buildups of crawling groove and chunky, dominant riffs. Much like a smoke-filled dive bar carried by a couple over-age (and over-easy) waitresses, this little EP is run roughshod, grimy, and doesn't refrain from allowing nostalgia to take over the reigns. Its thick, murky production quality blankets everything in a sludgy haze, making for a one-night stand you'll gladly forget, but one you won't regret. by Troy Killjoy

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KillBorn - Genesis [Melodic Death Metal / Deathcore] Listen at Bandcamp KillBorn are five Canadian metalheads from Sherbrooke, Quebec and the EP Genesis is their third attempt to bring a breath of fresh air into a sub-genre that had already been declared dead a long time ago and countless of times. Their self-declared list of influences is long and stuffed with renowned artists of various styles, but it can easily be reduced to a core team consisting of The Black Dahlia Murder (the melodeath base), Lamb Of God (lots of groove) and Allegaeon (for the high dosage of technical inputs) with a tad of deathcore à la All Shall Perish. The result is a highly energetic but never chaotic, technical but very accessible and hard hitting but melodic blend of many aspects nowadays (melodic) death metal has to offer. And very fortunately, KillBorn's understanding of contemporary extreme metal is not defined by polyrhythms, blastbeats and breakdowns only - there's enough room on Genesis for midtempo passages and even a sweet acoustic interlude to grant their audience a short breather before the next neck-breaker begins. by Starvynth

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