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Clandestine Cuts Vol. 13 Issue #1 - Awesome New Demos and EPs


Written by: nikarg, musclassia, Starvynth, AndyMetalFreak, F3ynman
Published: February 04, 2023
 


Clandestine Cuts Volume 13, Issue #1
The Metal Storm Demo/EP Spotlight

Brand New Independent Metal Lives Here.
Welcome to the Clandestine Cuts!


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 to this, go back and enjoy our last few issues:

Clandestine Cuts Vol. 12 #12
Clandestine Cuts Vol. 12 #11
Clandestine Cuts Vol. 12 #10

And now to the new music...






O Sluggard - Dragging Time (Australia)
[Doom / Sludge Metal]


O Sluggard are a self-described "two-piece caveman jam band from Sydney" that are ready to kick your teeth in with this groovy, sludgy riff-fest. Recorded during the sluggish year of 2020 and finally released three years later, the Australian duo's debut EP Dragging Time takes inspiration from the likes of early High On Fire, centering their music around crunchy rhythms and deep, spiteful vocals. Despite the title, the music here doesn't drag on in the slightest. The four tracks flow extremely well, carried by the catchy, buzzing melodies that keep the listener continuously entertained — and headbanging! One of the great virtues of this style of doomy sludge is its effective simplicity. There's no need for complex guitar solos or crazy time signatures. The best doom acts show off just how powerful a couple of well-written riffs can be — and these 20 minutes of fun, dirty, thunderous metal do just that. In the end, all it takes are two motivated musicians: one to chug and one to thud.

by F3ynman2000






Black Riding Hood - Into Imagination (Germany)
[Gothic Metal | Doom Rock]


If you're going by the gothic genre tag, the howling wolf, and narrative intro at the beginning, you might be fooled into expecting something along the lines of Moonspell, perhaps? Well, shortly after the eerie atmospheric intro, once the first track begins to take its shape, it's evidently clear that this is going in the direction of anything but. This musical style is surprisingly fascinating with its heavy use of clean vocals (and a great voice he has too, I might add), psychedelic keyboard effects, catchy guitar work, groovy bass lines, and general upbeat sound; there is actually a hint of Ghost here, which I find personally intriguing and satisfying. However, harsh vocals and heavier doom metal sections are also occasionally present along with the gothic lyrical themes, so this isn't entirely a rock release; there is just as much metal within its structure, making it all the more interesting. Into Imagination is certainly a pleasant surprise for fans of hard rock in the classic sense, and gothic and doom metal in the traditional sense, and a tasty delight for those of you who seek a combination of both.

by AndyMetalFreak






Druids Of Eld - A Day Of Sorrow (Australia)
[Melodic Death Metal | Gothic Doom Metal]


A Day Of Sorrow is a debut EP, but the man behind Druids Of Eld, Matt Dodds, is not a musical novice; not only is he a guitarist-vocalist in Arbrynth, but he’s also previously performed live in Be'lakor, and that past experience can be heard in the maturity of this record. The melodeath of Be'lakor and the blackened folksiness of Arbrynth can be heard in A Day Of Sorrow, but this is arguably more of a melancholic doom effort, with hints of gothic metal in there as well; ‘Be'lakor-meets-Swallow The Sun-meets-Agalloch’ might give some idea of what to expect from A Day Of Sorrow. The touching melodies, the melancholic atmospheres and the power of the album’s more extreme elements blend together quite sumptuously on what is a highly accomplished first offering from Druids Of Eld.

by musclassia






Servant Of Sorrow - A Dimension Of Pure Chaos (USA)
[Death Metal | Hardcore]


Fasten your seat belts — we're going on a bumpy ride straight into the dimension of chaos. Servant Of Sorrow is the name of this US band, although "Servant Of Pain" would be more fitting, as they deliver a mercilessly aggressive batch of metal that's not for the faint of heart. Like a herd of stampeding buffalo, these five musicians trample everything in their path, laying waste with the rapid-fire drumming and signature intense riffs of slam death metal, fueled by the ferocious attitude of hardcore punk. The first song on this EP starts with a blast, immediately grabbing every headbanger's attention, while the second song indulges further in the chaotic musicianship. The third and longest song, "Gravelung", is the highlight of this band's output, presenting eerie melodies to combat the brutal riffage. One thing's for sure: if you need a break from grandiose black metal atmosphere or sombre doom melancholy, if you want to embrace catchy, crushing death metal, this band's got you covered.

by F3ynman2000






Tumulation - Savage Blood Domain (USA)
[Doom / Death Metal]


This demo was released just before the new Conjureth album in the beginning of the year, and, in fact, Tumulation’s members are the same as Conjureth’s, but everyone has switched around instruments and roles. The core of the music is still death metal, but unlike the thrash-boosted and technical style of Conjureth, Tumulation are exploring the doomy, sludgy, and swampy side of death. On this first demo, every member wrote a song for it, so there is some variety between the tracks. The best of them has to be “Rites Of Forgotten Misery”, which has more hooks in the riffs than your local abattoir. The sound is superbly cavernous and covered in just enough filth to get its point across; after all, it’s a demo recorded in the same studio that Conjureth record, and it was mixed and mastered by Gabriele Gramaglia from Cosmic Putrefaction. Savage Blood Domain is ruthlessly heavy, stomping, and old-school death metal that definitely does not give the impression of a demo at all, neither in the songwriting nor in the performance department. Fans of Incantation, Bolt Thrower, and Demilich, make sure you dive into this bile-blasted pit.

by nikarg






Сатано - А​н​а​ф​е​м​а​ (Russia)
[Atmospheric Black Metal]


Cyrillic names are always a bit tricky. Are they actually called Сатано or is it supposed to be Satano, and is the official title of their first EP really Анафема or maybe Anathema? There's a certain ambiguity about the album cover too, as the artwork illustrated on the Bandcamp page (the one with crows or ravens moving along a cloudy, grey sky) has little to do with the embedded Bandcamp player's sacral motif as shown above. However, the quality of the music leaves no questions unanswered – Сатано's domain is atmospheric, highly melodic black metal with frequent outbreaks into symphonic realms, which is produced so professionally and crystal clear that one can hardly imagine hearing the work of a new and still completely unknown project. Especially in the polyphonic passages, Анафема unfolds its true strength, because when black metal shrieks and death metal growls duel each other, while in the background a hymnal male choir unflinchingly gives its best, this interplay has just as stirring and majestic an effect as a religious experience.

by Starvynth






Poll

What's your favourite new release of this issue?

Login or register to vote. Results are hidden




Comments

Comments: 14   Visited by: 80 users
04.02.2023 - 15:59
Bad English
Tage Westerlund
Listening this now, super good written. Equally strong bands. Best review is kyrlic band music will judge later, but far away land music is awesome, Wil listen rest now.
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I stand whit Ukraine and Israel. They have right to defend own citizens.

Stormtroopers of Death - "Speak English or Die"

I better die, because I never will learn speek english, so I choose dieing
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04.02.2023 - 16:45
AndyMetalFreak
A Nice Guy
Contributor
I've not got around to listening to them all yet so can't judge which my favorite will be overall, but I have to say there are some pretty outstanding cover arts.
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05.02.2023 - 08:14
Bad English
Tage Westerlund
Best band is Londoners choice what mix Australian bushes whit Washington bushes, and plays good music, also that band name is coolest
----
I stand whit Ukraine and Israel. They have right to defend own citizens.

Stormtroopers of Death - "Speak English or Die"

I better die, because I never will learn speek english, so I choose dieing
Loading...
05.02.2023 - 11:11
F3ynman
Nocturnal Bro
Contributor
Written by Bad English on 05.02.2023 at 08:14

Best band is Londoners choice what mix Australian bushes whit Washington bushes, and plays good music, also that band name is coolest

Which band do you mean?
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05.02.2023 - 11:13
musclassia
Staff
Decent bunch - Black Riding Hood has more character to it than a few of our hard rock nominees this year IMO, and Tumultation further indicates that Messial is the exception rather than the rule when it comes to the quality of Sarantopoulos' releases. I'd have Druids Of Eld and Сатано at the top 2 - the former has exactly the kind of style to appeal to the various melodeath/melodic doom fans on this site, but Сатано is impressive in managing to do the orthodox BM thing without sounding like a Batushka ripoff
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05.02.2023 - 11:13
musclassia
Staff
Written by F3ynman on 05.02.2023 at 11:11

Written by Bad English on 05.02.2023 at 08:14

Best band is Londoners choice what mix Australian bushes whit Washington bushes, and plays good music, also that band name is coolest

Which band do you mean?

He's referring to my write-up - I'm from London and Druids Of Eld are Australian
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05.02.2023 - 11:15
F3ynman
Nocturnal Bro
Contributor
Written by musclassia on 05.02.2023 at 11:13


He's referring to my write-up - I'm from London and Druids Of Eld are Australian

Ah ok
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05.02.2023 - 13:23
Bad English
Tage Westerlund
Written by F3ynman on 05.02.2023 at 11:11

Written by Bad English on 05.02.2023 at 08:14

Best band is Londoners choice what mix Australian bushes whit Washington bushes, and plays good music, also that band name is coolest

Which band do you mean?

In cuts articles i speak in elder tongs
----
I stand whit Ukraine and Israel. They have right to defend own citizens.

Stormtroopers of Death - "Speak English or Die"

I better die, because I never will learn speek english, so I choose dieing
Loading...
05.02.2023 - 13:24
Bad English
Tage Westerlund
Written by musclassia on 05.02.2023 at 11:13

Decent bunch - Black Riding Hood has more character to it than a few of our hard rock nominees this year IMO, and Tumultation further indicates that Messial is the exception rather than the rule when it comes to the quality of Sarantopoulos' releases. I'd have Druids Of Eld and Сатано at the top 2 - the former has exactly the kind of style to appeal to the various melodeath/melodic doom fans on this site, but Сатано is impressive in managing to do the orthodox BM thing without sounding like a Batushka ripoff

Russian band gets second choice to me as well.
----
I stand whit Ukraine and Israel. They have right to defend own citizens.

Stormtroopers of Death - "Speak English or Die"

I better die, because I never will learn speek english, so I choose dieing
Loading...
05.02.2023 - 17:25
nikarg
Staff
Quote:
There's a certain ambiguity about the album cover too, as the artwork illustrated on the Bandcamp page (the one with crows or ravens moving along a cloudy, grey sky) has little to do with the embedded Bandcamp player's sacral motif as shown above.

That was the case with Tumulation too, but they fixed it before the article's publication. I'm sure these Russians will eventually fix it, as well.

I quite like all the releases featured here; don't know where my vote will go yet.
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07.02.2023 - 10:43
Nejde
Druids Of Eld got my vote, excellent stuff. Сатано is really good too. The rest felt pretty uninteresting to me.
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Liebe ist für alle da.
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07.02.2023 - 23:19
AndyMetalFreak
A Nice Guy
Contributor
Having listened to them all thoroughly Druids Of Eld definitely gets my vote, the songwriting is remarkable and it has a great melancholic atmosphere and very impressive vocals.
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30.03.2023 - 01:54
Elpeciss
During some moments Druids of Eld gave me Caladan Brood + Grima vibes, and so also hearing the melodeath influence made for a very interesting and unexpected combo. The songs Sacrifice and A Day of Sorrow were just too beautiful not to sway me into voting this way.

Although I didn't vote for Black Riding Hood, the number of friends I shared this EP with (who all happen to be Ghost fans) shows how highly I think of it, despite not being a Ghost fan myself. I genuinely found it unique and fun. I hope on future releases Felix improves on his vocal abilities because he definitely has potential.

I found Сатано to be more like a combo of symphonic black (sometimes) + melodic black (mostly) but their general sound is very diverse and I look forward to more releases by this band.

I enjoyed this line-up! Thanks for sharing.
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08.04.2023 - 19:35
X-Ray Rod
Skandino
Staff
A close one between Сатано and Druids Of Eld for me but I''ll go for the later. Pretty solid selection.
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Written by BloodTears on 19.08.2011 at 18:29
Like you could kiss my ass

Written by Milena on 20.06.2012 at 10:49
Rod, let me love you.

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