Written by:	nikarg, musclassia, RaduP, Starvynth, AndyMetalFreak, F3ynman
Published:	December 07, 2024

Clandestine Cuts Volume 14, Issue #11
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 to this, go back and enjoy our last few issues:

Clandestine Cuts Vol. 14 #10
Clandestine Cuts Vol. 14 #9
Clandestine Cuts Vol. 14 #8

And now to the new music...

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Rüsty Diamönds are an exciting new Austrian traditional heavy metal band, featuring Yosh (vocals/guitar), Andi (guitar/backing vocals), Alex (bass), and Flo (drums), presenting here their delightful debut EP, titled Stormbringer. Throughout this EP, listeners can discover 5 gloriously catchy anthems of pure heavy metal as this talented foursome simply hold back no punches, bombarding listeners with classic galloping riffs, blistering bass, powerful drumming, wonderfully performed solos, and catchy fist-pumping choruses, all of which are served with a striking meaty tone and a remarkably high-quality production. Anyone feeling nostalgic for some good and proper traditional heavy metal should look no further, as Stormbringer genuinely sounds as though you've stepped back in time to the golden era of 80s NWOBHM. Much appreciation also goes to the gloriously epic fantasy cover art and logo designed by Velio Josto.

by AndyMetalFreak

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A doom metal band? From Greece? Not covered by Nik? I know, a complete shocker! Especially considering that Oath (not to be mistaken for The Oath) is a newcomer duo and this is their first release and yet it sounds quite professional already. The band makes it instantly clear that they're very much into Tony Iommi, having "We worship Iommi." on their bio, "Iommic rites have begun" in the album's description, and a cover of Black Sabbath's "Laguna Sunrise" as their only other release. Expect slow songs with ominous psychedelic riffing, a penchant for solos, a vocalist that doesn't sound exactly like any of the Black Sabbath vocalists but fits the sound nonetheless, and a sound that already feels expansive in its mixing, bringing the doomy sounds somewhere in between where its aforementioned originators started it and where its direct influences in Sleep, Electric Wizard, or Reverend Bizarre took it.

by RaduP

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Rheinkaos is a band formed in 2007 by guitarist Dimitrios B. and vocalist Savaoth, with a vision to play out-of-the-box black metal. They self-released a demo a year later, and it was all looking good for a full-length release, which never came. However, two songs were recorded and unfortunately went unnoticed, with the band going on hiatus. Fast-forward to 2024, Rheinkaos remastered these tracks, and they are now being released in the form of an EP, titled All My Being Is A Dark Verse, which is a great title for the music that is on here. It sounds like a collaboration between Dødheimsgard, Enslaved, Satyricon, and Ulver, with quirky and progressive songwriting, and heavy use of keyboards that can be cosmic, spacey, Daft Punk-y, trip-hoppy, or even dance-y. The atmosphere the music creates is very engaging, and, despite their extended duration, the songs are really over before you even notice, with the various instruments and the versatile (harsh and clean) vocals blending so well together. Hopefully, this EP will revive Rheinkaos, because such kind of visionary metal is very much needed.

by nikarg

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Abstention is the third EP released this year by Belfast hardcore/extreme metal band Urban Death; all three combined could have made for a strong full debut album for the group, but they clearly prefer to serve their grimly aggressive music in concise packages, as demonstrated by the short song lengths on this release. Their music has a punky current running through it on certain songs, as demonstrated by the song “Dead In The Water”, but Urban Death also incorporate influences from extreme metal styles such as death, black and sludge metal. The group’s range is fully demonstrated by the song “Concrete Vial”, a track that is at different times dirge-like, pulverizing, and janky, yet also finds time for a brief clean interlude mid-song. While there is scope to improve on the production front, Abstention demonstrates a promising degree of variety in its approach to rendering sonic violence.

by musclassia

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Welcome to the third wave of black metal! At least, that’s the bold genre tag claimed by Scotland’s Stillness Of A Dying World. Their debut EP God Of The Mind (featured in last year's Clandestine Cuts Vol. 13 Issue #10) introduced a murky, dense soundscape, and their new, two-track demo MMXXIV seamlessly continues this style, while also expanding their approach with the use of slower, eerie instances on the first track. Haunting growls and unsettling guitar melodies in the vein of dissonant black metal echo amidst the esoteric, cavernous sound. The second track is much shorter in runtime, but especially dense with cacophonous distortion, agonizing moans, and howling lamentations, reminiscent of the nightmarish atmospheres on Venomous Echoes’s releases. Thus, while the individual elements of dissonance and pain-stricken vocals aren't new to the genre, the combination that Stillness Of A Dying World provide makes for an intriguing and immersive experience. I definitely hope this marks a new wave of black metal, if that means I get more of this to listen to!

by F3ynman

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Do you know that strange feeling of stumbling upon something by chance that mentally catapults you back to a specific point in your life, reviving the memory of that special moment so intensely that, for a fleeting second, it feels like everything is just as it was back then? My special moment was in 1993, when I discovered Cemetary's album Godless Beauty. Musically, it was exactly what I needed at that point in my life: a mix of Gothic, As The Flower Withers, and Clouds. Fast forward to 2024: I'm listening to the first two bars of the song "Anansi" by a band from Jönköping I had never heard of before, and I’m instantly tapping my feet uncontrollably. The vocals kick in, and a chill runs down my spine. How could these four Swedes possibly know that this is EXACTLY what I had been subconsciously searching for all these years? On paper, Chronicles Of Ancestral Dust and Godless Beauty don’t have much in common aside from the shared element of doom. Yet both albums share a feel for immortal melodies and the rare ability to create a profoundly uplifting atmosphere despite the ever-present melancholy. The black metal elements on Volkra's debut EP are more subtle than the doom elements, but they give the three tracks a raw aggressiveness that provides a welcome contrast to the often anthem-like compositions. One thing is certain: if I find myself sitting under the Christmas tree in a few weeks with a big grin on my face, it won’t be because of the joy over a flood of gifts, but because I can’t get the chorus of my absolute favorite song of the year out of my head. The song pays homage to a cunning, trickster spider god from ancient West African myths - and you’ll find it on this EP.

by Starvynth

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