68th part of short reviews.
ARMOURED ANGEL – Communion
Year of release: 1990
Label: Hells Headbangers
Rating: 7,4 / 10
Founded in 1982, ARMORED ANGEL was the first band to play extreme metal in their country, and this demo I brought up as part of my research into the Hells Headbangers release catalog. It was originally released on cassette in 1990, and the Americans reissued it on vinyl 26 years later, when the group had long since disbanded. This act of necromancy is explained by the fact that the demo recordings were not included in the full-length release, because after a while the band turned to the Death Metal style. The old songs, on the other hand, were high-speed thrash, and I must say that this is first-class thrash. The recording is rough but studio-quality, the performance is superb, the riffs are harsh and metal - many “pros” don't play on their albums the way ARMORED ANGEL did on the demo. Be sure to give it a listen.
INDOCTRINATE – Antilogos: Arcane Transmutation in the Temple of Flesh
Year of release: 2020
Label: Unholy Prophecies
Rating: 6,66 / 10
New Chilean band created by experienced musicians. You know that I always stand up for metal from Chile, but this album does not honor its homeland. INDOCTRINATE gravitate towards BLACK WITCHERY, PROCLAMATION, BLASPHEMY and others like them, and I must give them their due, do not try to slip through by making continuous mediocre blasting. The group is trying to find the right dynamics, experimenting with the rhythm and manner of playing, but the result is not very impressive. Sometimes the ear clings to a good riff or solo, but no more. The sound is also not good - the vocals are gravely and eerie, but the drums rumble like empty buckets. In general, there is still work to be done.
GOATVULVA – Goat Vulva
Year of release: 2020
Label: Werewolf Records
Rating: for the gourmets
"Satanic porno speed noise" from the members of BEHERIT, a booze project that existed from 1989 to 1992 and would have been hardly useful to anyone... if not for the sacred name BEHERIT. The collection contains all the recordings made by hell knows what and how. In between the samples from the porn, there are unintelligible shouts and sighs from the next room, senseless guitar masturbation, some claps, synth effects (the “pee-pee” on the track “Nuclear Clit Game” is really very funny). In short, if you have ever been addicted to porn grid, like I did, hen you will feel at ease. Some tracks are quite metal-like, but if you think that ILDJARN or something is an example of "bad recording quality" then you will blister from GOATVULVA.
GRIEVE – Grieve
Year of release: 2020
Label: Werewolf Records
Rating: 7,8 / 10
And this is, one might say, a supergroup created by three big names and the vocalist. Bass - Spellgoth (HORNA, TROLLHEIM'S GROTT, ex-DARKWOODS MY BETHROTHED), guitars - Werwolf (SATANIC WARMASTER, etc.), drums and synths - V-Khaoz (DRUADAN FOREST, VARGRAV, MARRAS). The vocals are performed by some guy named Valtias whose track record does not tell me anything (but he has a good voice). The band is expectedly performing archaic, melodic and romantic dark metal, characteristic of most of Werewolf Records' releases and, of course, not least reminiscent of THE TRUE WERWOLF. So far, the band has only 4 songs (two of them were included only in physical editions, so you won't find them on Bandcamp). Highly recommend.
DURTHANG – The Winter Woods
Year of release: 2020
Label: Crush The Desert Records
Rating: 6 / 10
A demo of a new band from Spain (not to be confused with the depressed Swedes), which is positioned as based on the classic works of ISENGARD and DARKTHRONE, as well as Tolkien mythology. Believe it or not: the band is really trying to follow the Isengard rhythm, to create a crunchy darkthrone-ish sound, and imitate Nocturno Culto's vocals. There are necrofolk motifs that work well. Unfortunately, the Spaniards did not manage to reach either one landmark or another. They are too mundane for DARKTHRONE, and not diverse enough for ISENGARD. It seemed to me that any ISENGARD fan understands that 50% of the coolness lies in these proud clean vocals. DURTHANG missed this point. Otherwise, the demo is good to listen to, but it won't work again, the band has to develop.
English (UK) 
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