Reviews 1996

1996 - 2000

More to be added on occasion

Killer Black Thrash Metal in the eighties’ style! That was the aim of the Decayed dudes when they did this project and indeed they succeeded! This is a fantastic CD with very heavy music and many great Thrash riffs. I still think the sound could have a better production, a tad cleaner perhaps, but in fact this dirty sound in a way fits the style. And it’s not as if you cannot clearly discern each instrument bludgeoning your skull! A killer CD with many great songs, closing with a cover of Whiplash, ‘Power Thrashing Death’.

ANGRENOST – ‘Evil’
CD, Andromeda Creations 1998, 19m51s, lyrics included

Inside the Starlight Tunnel | Cosmic Journey at the Night Skies | Timeless | Twilight Portal | Eternal Silence

This CD is referred to as a demo (despite the official release through a label) and it features a highly “cosmic” Black Metal that reminds me a bit of Emperor. There are lots of very atmospheric keyboards and the songs’ structure has been carefully worked. A good release whose negative points are that this doesn’t sound very original and the sound quality is rather weak. Their guitar player Ainvar was later a member of Sirius and Storm Legion.

ARKENSTONE – ‘Lusitanian Pride’
7”EP, View Beyond Records 2000, hand-numbered, 500 copies

Side A: Lusitanian Pride
Side B: In The Shadow of the Horns (DarkThrone cover)

Well, I find this to be a very weak release, from the cover printing quality (I can hardly read the name of the label!) to the music itself and the recording quality. The instruments lack tightness, and the sound is too muffled and feeble. The sound is not raw and dirty, but rather flat, really. The cover version is nearly unrecognisable. The only positive thing I can say is that it doesn’t sound quite like any other band I’ve heard.

CORPUS CHRISTI – ‘Anno Domini’
Demo-tape, Nightmare Productions 1998

Side A – Unholy Black Flame | Rape, Torture and Death
Side B – Ave Domini

This was Corpus Christi’s debut demo (they then changed the spelling of their name by adding a further ‘i’ to Christi). And despite the rather dirty production we have here three great tracks of extremely heavy and aggressive music. They were aiming to be the noisiest and fastest band in Black Metal and at least in the scope of the national scene they probably achieved that. Their insane drumming (from a drum machine) includes an interesting touch that is particular to this band, a kind of occasional “anvil chime”. Despite the presence of a keyboard player, they are very far away from melodic or symphonic Black Metal; musically this stands perhaps between Sarcófago’s ‘Hate’ and ‘Crust’. They pretty much followed the musical line of this demo on their subsequent debut CD (perhaps a bit noisier still?).

Corpus Christii play an extremely aggressive and noisy Black Metal, with a drum machine often at suprahuman speed. The production manages to concoct a sound that is both powerful and very dirty, even too distorted at times. But the riffs are good and the band does not spurn melody, primarily supplied by the keyboards. Inside the style, this is a very good CD. Tracks such as ‘Victoria Cruenta’ are catchy and effective and like a nuclear war inside your head!

In 1998 Fernando Ribeiro (vocalist of Moonspell) gave birth to the side project Daemonarch through the release of this CD. It is believed that all members of Moonspell were involved in this except for Mike, the drummer, and it is often noticeable that this is recorded with a drum machine, albeit a magnificently programmed one with a really great sound. What else to be expected from Moonspell other than the finest production? And these fine songs have indeed a very powerful sound. The hand of Moonspell is very present, perhaps mainly in the keyboards and some vocalisations, and some have said that this is what Moonspell would sound like had they not strayed from Black Metal. Melody mingled with power and speed in an exquisite way, and the occult imagery and ambiances that Moonspell have used in the past are here ubiquitous. This is also a reminder of Fernando Ribeiro’s versatility and what a damn great Black Metal vocalist he is. My favourite track is perhaps the crushing ‘Saniyaza’. But all the songs are really good, including the excellent Bathory cover.
It is unknown whether there will ever be a follow-up and a reawakening of Daemonarch.

With the return of JM and his vocals an essential part of Decayed that had been lost after their debut CD was present once more! And so this was almost a return to Decayed in their former glory, although the drum machine is scarcely able to replace JB
(who did not return).
Still, this is a great CD with some great tracks such as ‘Fuck Your God’ or ‘In the City of the Horned Ones’, including also a cover of Decayed’s ultimate inspiration, Venom, and a great «extra single». It all finishes with some cool effects and female screams. The sound is very aggressive although a bit more muddled than in ‘The Conjuration of the Southern Circle’.

DECAYED – ‘Behold the Wrath’
7”EP, self released 1997, hand-numbered, 500 copies, lyrics included

Side A: Behold the Wrath
Side B: Black Magic (Slayer cover)

This is a great piece of violence and blasphemy by Decayed, featuring ‘Behold the Wrath’ (one of their best songs) and a Slayer cover. As it often happens, I find the sound quality a bit too dirty, but this material is so good I don’t even mind. The EP ends with a version of that little outro from every Bathory LP up to ‘Blood Fire Death’.

On this split Decayed’s part is called ‘Sacrifice of the New Born’ and Alastor’s ‘Gates of Darkness’ (this being Alastor’s very first release). Decayed’s songs are great, but in my opinion they are marred by the bad sound quality, the sound being really too dirty. The cover version of Bathory’s ‘You Don’t Move Me (I Don’t Give a Fuck)’ is even dirtier than the original! Anyway, the first and third songs are great typical Decayed songs, and the title track is a cool slower piece. The final track is just a sort of outro.
Alastor’s Black Thrash also suffers from the same low sound quality, but it seems it doesn’t show as much for some reason. Perhaps due to the style of music itself, or perhaps because it opens with a totally killer song! A real headbanger! But all of Alastor’s songs are fucking great, very eightieslike, resembling Decayed but Thrashier. Awesome riffs! And after Black Sabbath’s cover (this song always reminds me of the version Master did) there’s an unnamed crazy track with a guest on vocals parodying ‘Knocking on
Heaven’s Door’.

This is another total headbanger by Decayed. It reminds me of Venom’s ‘At War With Satan’, not so much because of the music but mainly because of the lyrics and the fact that the first song is over 20 minutes long. This is more of the top quality Black Metal that Decayed have always done, with excellent songs such as ‘Sacrificial Rites’ and ‘Tribulation’.

DECAYED – ‘French Attack’
CD-R, self-released 2000, 19m05s, hand-numbered, 69 copies, lyrics to the track 'Necromancy' included

Necromancy | Behold the Wrath | Darkness Falls | Death Chimes of Armageddon | Goddess of the Ancient

This great piece of Underground Black Metal has one studio track, ‘Necromancy’, and four tracks recorded live at a Decayed gig in the Ritz Club, in Lisbon, on 29 April 2000. ‘Necromancy’ is in my opinion one of the very best songs of Decayed! It was released in a different studio version in their ‘Ten Years of Steel’ Digipak, but I definitely find this version the better of the two! Killer! As for the live tracks, although the sound is not indeed pristine, they perfectly convey the hell-broken-loose that is a Decayed concert! The renowned comments between songs of JM are also present!
Indispensable!

A great tape! Kickass songs with short classical music pieces inbetween. The sound quality is pretty good although perhaps slightly muffled. This is not a gig, but it's "live" because it's recorded with no overdubs during a rehearsal. Everything from JM's vocals to each instrument sounds totally killer! A really very good release!!

DECAYED - 'Ataque Infernal'
Tape, Lucidist 2000

Side Black - From The Catacombs (introduction) | In Lustful Mayhem | Cannibalistic Devourment/Deliverance (Grog / Sacred Sin cover) | The Seven Seals
Side Metal - Tormentor (Kreator cover) | Sign Of Evil (Violent Force cover), Woman of Dark Desires (Bathory) | The Conqueror (Sodom cover)

Here we have another tape with killer music by Decayed! Great as usual except for the fact that the production is bad. The sound is too dirty for its own good! But still, a bunch of in-your-face Black Metal songs and covers with the mark of Decayed!

DECAYED / CORPUS CHRISTII – ‘Decadentia Christii’
7”EP, Hiberica 2000, hand-numbered, 500 copies, includes lyrics

Decayed side: Holocaust | Supreme Evil | Necrocunt
Corpus Christii side: Reflex of Nothingness

This is Decayed in its fastest and most brutal. They really went for high speed and dirty production here. In fact, perhaps inspired by this being a split, they actually approach Corpus Christii’s style in these songs a bit, although with a still discernibly Decayed sound and composition. Perhaps they decided to show they can be as brutal as any other band. And these are really excellent and earth-shattering songs. As to Corpus Christii’s side, they may be a little less refined, but they are perhaps even noisier and heavier. This is, in fact, one of the heaviest releases of the Portuguese Underground ever. The overall impression it leaves is somewhat like that of listening to a nuclear war. With rhythm.

FIRSTBORN EVIL – ‘The Awakening of Evil’
Demo-tape, Sword Productions 1996, hand-numbered

Side A: Curse of the Noldorin (intro) | A Legacy of Moonlit Lycanthropy | Passion, Desire… and Blood (Act I – Opus Sanguinae)
Side B: The Mistress and her Deceiving Beauty | Passion, Desire… and Blood (Act II – Vampiric War)

This is one of the best releases of what I will call the second wave of Portuguese Black Metal. Heavy and fast, well composed and often employing melody and atmosphere. The keyboards and the heavily vampire-inspired themes, as well as occasional parts of the singing, betray a Cradle of Filth influence, but only vaguely has this has an own personality. Great stuff by a by then
very young band.

A good debut for Firstborn Evil. By this time they had not yet defined their own sound very solidly, and so this comes across as a somewhat typical-sounding Black Metal, although there were clear evidences of the potential the band could fulfill in the fullness of time. Complex, well-played structures, good sound quality and a very good vocalist whose singing in this CD was occasionally compared to Dani Filth’s; the association is neither totally unjustified nor wholly fair. Still, this band would later have the chance to show just how good they could really be. But this one already was very good.

This is a very melodic band (partly due to the heavy usage of keyboards) and what most approaches them to the Black Metal sound is definitely the vocals (and a few faster moments) because other than that the music is a bit more Goth Metal oriented, and the lyrics are about depressions etc. They often remind me of what Heavenwood were doing back in their first CD, such as in the song ‘As the Moon’. The band is competent and the songs are good, some of them even rather fast such as ‘My Tears’ or the title track. The CD closes with an unnamed atmospheric instrumental song.

IN THA UMBRA – ‘The Göatblöd 666’
7”EP, Hibernia Productions 1999, hand-numbered, lyrics included

Goatface – To Chaos and the Chant of Nymphs | Blackface – Crescent

This EP is an absolute blast of very aggressive Blackened Death Metal. The music is structured and complex (no grim noiseblack metal at all) but at the same time it manages to very often be chaotic and distorted, which is further intensified by the somewhat dirty production. The vocals also flow back and forth between death growling and a blacker style. The tortured solos and other elements create a distinct sound, which is certainly to the band’s credit in a music style ridden with clone bands.
A very blunt and in-your-face release, with a nice layout included.

In Tha Umbra’s music has a very particular sound, full of unusual and unexpected riffs. It’s well built and aggressive, and the style is a sort of Black Death Metal, with peculiar overlapping vocals. The production could be better, but I don’t complain much about that. There are one or two fleeting moments that remind me of Bruno’s earlier Grind acts, but quickly the music resumes its more sophisticated structure. The lyrics are carefully written and very literary in form, and include quotations of the masters; Shelley, Poe, Milton and others. Melodic moments also come on occasion, such as the title track, that being an instrumental vaguely brings to my mind the wonderful song ‘Landscapes’ from Bowelrot’s ‘A Peculiar Flavour’ promo 95.
Original, fast and very heavy!

NETHERMANCY – ‘Towards the Astral Twilight’
Demo-tape, Luci Dist Productions 1999, hand-numbered, includes lyrics

Skullcrushing Paradise | Cosmic Apocalypse | Spectral Ancester

This is another project by J.A. of Decayed. In this case the aim was to create Norwegian-inspired Black Metal, or more precisely Darhthrone-inspired Black Metal. And the result is pretty grim and hateful. The production is rather dirty, as befits such a project; still, I think the second guitar in the first track, for example, ought to be a bit more distinguishable. The drumming is really fast, but a little more variation might not have been a bad idea. The vocalist is none other than Pedra of Grog, and it’s remarkable what a fine Black Metal vocalist he gives!
Not too original indeed, but it aptly fulfils the idea behind the project.

This is Sirius’ debut CD. And in fact, it is awesome!! The only problem with it, as has been very often said, is that the Emperor reference is more than unavoidable – the music is extremely similar! Perhaps more “astral” and keyboard-oriented (and certainly very well played and with a great production courtesy of Mr Samoth himself). But leaving that detail aside, the CD is wonderful. Great and aggressive songs, very fast and technical playing, and a terrific vocalist (whatever happened to him? Has he quit singing after Sirius’ demise?). There are also keyboard tracks (and mainly ‘The Stargate’ is very orchestral) which are, as everything else here, remarkably well-achieved.

This compilation was released when the Underground Black Metal scene in Portugal was starting to visibly grow. Still, the scene was perhaps not yet ripe for a compilation such as this one, which is probably why along with some bands of less than average quality there are also a couple featured that are actually not quite Black Metal. So, in spite of this first volume (and only one so far) being a reference of its time, it is not quite what it should have been. Besides, although Moonspell's absence is easily justified due to the fact that by then they were already in a different sphere, Decayed's absence is much harder to swallow.
Still, a commendable initiative.

The CD opens with a song by Candle Serenade taken from their CD 'Nosferatu's Passion'. By now Odranoel was out and Stregoyck was doing all the vocals, with a variable degree of success. I find their music a bit too ambitious for their technique and tightness, but still one good slow and melodic Metal song. Firstborn Evil's track shows the band at an early stage, still feeling their ground but already with some interesting touches compositionwise. Filii Nigrantium Infernalium are next, fast and furious, with perhaps their best-known song, 'Abadia do Fogo Negro', taken from their mini CD 'A Era do Abutre'. In Darkness follow with a solid track that would profit from a heavier sound. Then, Infernal Dreams with a good mid-tempo song and vocals that alternate Death Metal growling with a Blacker approach. Celestial Dark, on a different tone, play a sort of slow melodic Metal with lots of keyboards and stuff. Not very Black-sounding at all even because the vocals are mostly clear and quite honestly not very good. Afterwards come Celtic Dance, with a grim and harsh-sounding song. Annwn's song consists solely of keyboards and vocals and it's very atmospheric, resembling a horror movie soundtrack or something. A well-achieved track. Unburn turn up a good effort but evidently by a still young band; rather hollow production and simple structure. The song by The Pantheon's Key is definitely one of the tracks that most captures my attention on this CD. Primitive-sounding Black Metal but a true fucking headbanger! Blood Quest present us a nice Black Metal song that progressively picks up speed and heaviness. The Sorcerer's song is a very good and atmospheric piece that would sound killer with a better sound quality. Finally, Purgar's track is a dragged and tortured mix of guitar, drums and keyboards, rather basic.

I personally consider this to be one of the very best CDs to ever emerge from the Portuguese Underground. It puzzles me how this band didn’t achieve a good record deal after this outstanding release!
After 'Rebirth of evil', their more typical Black Metal debut under their previous name, Firstborn Evil, this CD reveals a huge musical maturation and allies a high technical level with very strong composition and a very good production (the latter courtesy of Luis Barros of Tarantula and Rec ‘n’ Roll Studios). Powerful riffs, great solos, an extremely talented and versatile vocalist, keyboards in the right measure and a killer rhythm section, all in the service of the creation of aggressive yet melodic music that transcends the Black Metal label. Tracks like ‘Shrouded by Fog’, ‘Into the Crystal Maze’, ‘Fortress of (Firstborn) Evil’, and indeed several others, show a band able of creating music that truly stands on its own as some of the best Metal anywhere!

WAR MASTER
‘The Black Horde Reigns Supreme’
Demo-tape, self-released 1999

March to the War (Intro) | War Master (Satans Enthroned) | The Rising of Darkness | Lilith, the Queen of Evil | Journey to Hell (Outro)

After a keyboard intro we have an extremely dirty and raw Black Metal, very noisy and with a very bad sound quality. The vocals are very grim, Norwegian style, and the playing is very basic. The fast moments are sometimes alternated with slower or acoustic parts. Everything here is very aggressive, though.