Written by:	nikarg, musclassia, Starvynth, Thryce, F3ynman
Published:	February 09, 2025

Clandestine Cuts Volume 15, Issue #1
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!

(Do you 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 #12
Clandestine Cuts Vol. 14 #11
Clandestine Cuts Vol. 14 #10

And now to the new music...

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The crop of the painting Hypnosis by Sascha Schneider, also referenced in the film The Lighthouse by Robert Eggers, is a cover art that surely draws one in, but the music on this debut EP is what makes everyone stay. With no information on the line-up, Myncæfr dropped Ignorance Veil out of the blue black, and the production, the songwriting, and the arrangement of the music is one that would be expected from a seasoned band. This Mgła-meets-Suffering Hour-meets-Selbst kind of black metal hits very hard, both spiritually and emotionally, with tormented vocals, a twisted guitar tone, sick riffs and leads, all shrouded in bleak atmosphere. “Veil Of Lies”, with its acoustic intro reminding of Placebo’s “Twenty Years” played at half the speed, is one of the most gripping songs you will listen to this year.

by nikarg

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The first day of 2025 saw the re-emergence of Germany’s Cirrus Prior after their debut EP Sektor 2 in 2020; half a decade on, the trio has expanded to a five-piece, one that takes many of the strengths of sludge and post-metal and adds a few things extra to make Premonition a memorable early-year release. The opening title track shows off the EP’s high-quality production, which adds depth and clarity to the brooding sludgy riffs and clean accompanying textures, but those riffs eventually shift from typical heavy post-metal fare to a more twisted, dissonant approach that clearly exhibits features of dissonant death metal. Several disso-death bands have incorporated post-metal elements, but the way that a sludge/post-metal band incorporates disso-death elements in moments of Premonition feels fresh and works incredibly effectively.

by musclassia

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Many of you probably know of the horrific painting by Spanish artist Francisco Goya: Saturn Devouring His Son. The Colombian band Saturno Devorador (“Saturn the Devourer”), inspired by the original Greek myth and the 19th century painting, present their own terrifying artwork and an accompanying soundtrack of torment with their debut EP Inmisericordiam (“Unmerciful”). Indeed, their cacophonous musicianship shows no mercy, combining the nerve-wracking, crawling atmosphere of black metal with the brutal, stifling, and uncompromising pressure of death metal. In accordance with their name, Saturno Devorador make you feel as if you're being devoured by a malevolent god. Distorted, indiscernible growls echo throughout the loathsome soundscape as the pummeling drums beat you into submission, the razor-sharp guitar-work tears apart your flesh, and the lumbering, droning riffs slowly melt your bones—the final disintegration within Saturn's stomach acid.

by F3ynman

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Erode The Dream formed in late 2023 in Charleston, South Carolina, by musicians with history in rock, heavy metal, and hardcore. Ryan Martin (lead guitar), Jon Stout (rhythm guitar), Robbie Weise (bass), and Steven Wilson (drums) joined forces with vocalist Mauricio Sanchez who sings in both English and Spanish, with the intention to carve out an alternative metal sound with elements of grunge and post-rock. Their compositions ooze intensity, atmosphere, and emotional depth, while boasting a very professional recording and approach. The band is self-releasing this EP in vinyl and CD versions, along with the digital one, and they even made videos for four out of the five songs. Neon Nightmares is the product of a band whose members have experience and know exactly what they want to convey with their music.

by nikarg

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Divine Excruciation is the Aurora, Colorado-based brutal death metal two-piece DIY project of vocalist Bryce Mizrahy and multi-instrumentalist Nathaniel Damarelos, who also handled the recording, mixing, and mastering of their debut EP, Collapse Of Fractured Reality. Got all that? Good, now that we’ve got the formalities out of the way, strap in – because Divine Excruciation wastes no time straight-up assaulting your ears. I’ll try to phrase this with as little exaggeration as possible, but their infectious brand of slam and death metal is more brutal than a blindfolded Satan juggling live chainsaws while riding a pink unicycle through a lava fountain. This EP, dripping with intensity and malevolence, is your golden ticket to hack-and-slash territory. Like worms with razorblades glued to them, these five brutal tracks will easily wriggle into your ear canal, inflicting a relentless, pleasure-fueled onslaught that pushes on until the point of cerebral infarction. If you enjoy pummeling blasts, scorching guitar leads, chugging riffs so heavy they should come with a forklift, relentless drum patterns, and savage vocals, with the occasional pig squeal for good measure, don’t go past this band.

by Thryce

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I first came across Vitki in 2023 when they covered Joy Division's "New Dawn Fades" on their second EP. The fusion of funeral doom and depressive black metal intrigued me, as it cast the already bleak post-punk and gothic rock classic into an even more diffuse, barely perceptible light. However, on their third EP, the two Americans turn the dimmer switch all the way down, as their journey begins and ends in a place that couldn't be more inhospitable and barren: the bottom of the sea. Admittedly, you have to be in the right mindset to connect with Subterranean Womb, as its four tracks offer no uplifting or comforting moments to ease the plunge into this pitch-black void. Yet by the end of its twenty-minute descent into utter darkness, you're rewarded with a profound realization: even in the most forsaken depths, there lies a cathartic beauty that enriches the soul and wraps you in a womb-like sense of warmth and shelter.

by Starvynth

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