Written by:	nikarg, musclassia, Nejde, Starvynth, Abattoir
Published:	07.04.2024

Clandestine Cuts Volume 14, Issue #3
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 #2
Clandestine Cuts Vol. 14 #1
Clandestine Cuts Vol. 13 #12

And now to the new music...

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Self-described as a hybrid of melodic avant-garde metal, black metal, doom and ritualistic drone, the self-titled second EP from Amandine Fradejas’s solo project Eyriahrk Nunshkar contains music as unusual as its name. While there is peculiarity in the album’s songwriting along with extremity, as the opening song “Oblivious Etymology” traverses dirgy blackened doom and vocal theatricality, there is also a melodic touch to the shimmering guitar tremolos and almost operatic singing in the closing stages that lends the song a touch of accessibility. Subsequent tracks offer additional new sounds, from the gloomy, processional title track through to “Dieu, Incandescent, Pénètre”, which almost feels like a legitimate example of the ‘voidgaze’ genre term so often mocked in Spotify annual round-ups.

by musclassia

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Depicting a Madonna-esque figure spewing forth black blood while standing in a field of flowers, the cover art for Saint Heaven’s debut EP I conveys the duality in the anonymous band’s sound. The strain of blackgaze on I is rife with blasts and blackened tremolo textures, but also consistently conveys a euphoric and dreamlike vibe. In contrast to many such acts, Saint Heaven eschew vocals, instead focusing purely on melodic textures, particularly as it flickers between full-pelt intensity and gentler passages.

by musclassia

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Metal bands having lyrics based on the works of H.P. Lovecraft are too many to count, and I suppose the reason is that his twisted horror stories go along very well with the harshness of metal music. Here we have Darkvoid, who have crafted a neat little EP consisting of an intro and four songs, based on the stories The Call Of Cthulhu, Pickman's Model, Nyarlathotep and Azathoth, which, honestly, is playing it a little too safe. But they more than enough make up for it with the eerie cosmic intro and some excellently produced death metal, mixed with a big chunk of early Trivium. The deep growls work very well with the clean singing, which is reminiscent of a young Matt Heafy. It's heavy, it's catchy, it's melodic, and it's Lovecraftian. What more is there to ask for?

by Nejde

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Out of Chicago, Illinois, comes the band Ancient Seance, playing a successful and very enjoyable slab of old school heavy metal, with riffs that bear the thrashy edge of US power metal. This band released a demo, titled Cryptic, back in 2018, and a couple of more new songs in 2019, but they had been radio silent since 2020. Astral Funeral came unexpectedly this year, and it apparently consists of recordings from 2018, while two of the songs were featured in the Cryptic demo, with the production being clearly much better here. That said, the mix of this release is still somewhat amateur and a bit dry, but it is good enough to appreciate the obscure music which feels like King Diamond jamming with Cauldron Born. The band’s catchphrase is ‘Heavy metal and demon shit!!!’ and it couldn’t be more accurate. Let’s hope that Astral Funeral will not go unnoticed, and that it will reignite the flame for the band so that they can give us a full album.

by nikarg

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Nuno Verdades and Sérgio Ramos are two musicians who have been active in various bands (such as The Devouring Void, Baltum, and Cold And Deceased, to name but a few) for several years, and so far, I have not encountered a single one of their projects that did not appeal to me. Nevertheless, I was initially a little skeptical about Ethereal Wound, because I usually find it difficult to get excited about dissonant music in general. As it quickly turned out, however, all my concerns were unfounded, as Eclipse | Advent offers a very balanced mixture of atmospheric black metal and dissonant death metal, shining with excellent songwriting. The first EP of the two Portuguese is a tribute to Berserk, the popular and highly influential dark fantasy manga by the legendary Japanese artist Kentarō Miura (1966-2021), and this is reflected not only in the lyrics but also in the music.The four tracks sound as brutal, grim, and menacing as a battle between a marauding troop of mercenaries and the monstrous creatures of a medieval fantasy world, yet there is still enough space for dense atmosphere and epic riffs. Sérgio's rough vocals and Nuno's guitar work are brimming with brutality, yet are technically refined, and they complement each other perfectly to create a mood akin to Miura's manga series. For anyone who happens to be planning to go to war against a horde of demons, Eclipse | Advent certainly provides the perfect sound backdrop for this endeavor.

by Starvynth

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I guess I’ve been quite fortunate lately with some fresh, new-coming, and, most importantly, well-composed black metal releases. After finding Crypts Of Dusk last month, I’ve been now able to choose the next promising offering from the diverse musical plate that our CC editor provides on a regular basis. Finland’s Chymist are presenting themselves with a tight melodic black metal debut EP, titled Opus I: Nox, that reminds me of the Norwegian band Sworn, albeit with less pace and weaker production. Just short of a 30-minute running time, this outing possesses a proper and strong vocal execution in the manner high-level black metal vocalists perform. The core of this effort, which remains a constant satisfaction until the very end, is the guitar work and its diverse skill. Liking the drums as well, although adding more power to this area wouldn’t harm. The song "III. Epitasis - Invocation" may well be the starting point from where you will be sucked into this band's immersive atmospheric/melodic black metal world.

by Abattoir

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