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Death metal from Turku, Finland since 2002.

“Formed in the spring of 2002 mostly out of fun and amusement for the band members. Torture Killer’s first-ever set consisted solely of Six Feet Under covers and they derived their name from an SFU song that they had performed that night. Shortly after this show, they decided to start writing original material” – Metal Archives

 

Heavy stuff and highly enjoyable. Good song writing, crushing live band!
I saw them once before in Stockholm ages ago (Shitty old pics: Kafé 44 w. Facebreaker & Demonical), right after the “Sewers” release. With Juri Sallinen as the vocalist.
They were great already back then but never saw them live again. Before now, that is:) The “new” vocalist (since 2011) Pessi Haltsonen is very convincing. Awesome voice!
Been listening to way too little Death metal lately…

 

 

[Live clips below by Gronn Onland, sarvi, saatanan Aslakki,]

 

Collected notes & links:
– Latest album: Phobia Full-length 2013
– Latest release: Dead Inside EP 2022
– Band: Tuomas Karppinen Guitars Tuomo Latvala Drums Jari Laine Guitars Kim Torniainen Bass Pessi Haltsonen Vocals

– Haltsonen is also the vocalist in BLOOD CHALICE
– Chris Barnes (Six Feet Under, ex-Cannibal Corpse) joined TK in 2004. No live shows but he is the vocalist on “Swarm” (2006).  Juri Sallinen  performed all live vocals after the album release.

facebook.com/Torture Killer official
open.spotify.com
https://www.reverbnation.com/torturekiller/
https://torturekiller.bandcamp.com/album/dead-inside-2
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“According to Desolate, Austere technically started before 2005 as a solo project of his, but he did not release anything until 2007, when Sorrow had already joined the project. The band eventually split up on May 19, 2010 and returned in 2021. Austere played their first live performance on July 28th, 2022 at the Dark Bombastic Evening in Alba Iulia, Romania.”
– Metal Archives

 

Realized (now) that they played their very first gig ever last year at Dark Bombastic in Romania. One of my favourite festivals and I wasn´t there!

No Dark Bombastic at all this year, but if Doru (the main guy) ever puts together another festival, just go! Always a great experience.
Anyways, got to hear this band for the first time now:) Just beautiful! Will definitely go and see again if possible.
Note: Aleksi Schorn, the vocalist from TOTALSELFHATRED played guitar on this set.

 

 

[Live clips by Gronn Onland & H C S E. And as an extra bonus: The very first livegig in full by @raulnegoita. 28-07-2022 Alba Carolina Fortress, Romania]

 

Collected notes & links:
– Latest release: Corrosion of Hearts Full-length 2023
– Label: Lupus Lounge
– Interview 2023 by RAUTA (youtube)

 

facebook.com/OfficialAustere
austere-official.bandcamp.com/
instagram.com/official_austere/
metal-archives.com/bands/austere
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Satanic Black Metal from Finland since 1992 (As Nocturnal Feast to begin with, changed -93 to Black Dawn, added “True” to it in 2002)

Approved by Infection & Spellgoth of HORNA:) Their bandmate VnoM also being the drummer of TBD. I heard about the “Meathook Mystery Theater” at the 2018 Steelchaos, but this one was without any side show. Not needed. Good stuff! And again…there is so much to Finnish Black Metal I had no idea of. Especially the true underground side of it. Steelfest being my main source of education in that field the past couple of years:)

 

“True Black Dawn have been doing Satan’s good work for nearly a quarter century, since the 1992 release of the Hymn to Darkness demo under the name of Nocturnal Feast. Add to that Finland’s penchant for raw, black metal filth, and these guys have got some serious anti-Christian heft (/scene cred).” – Decibel Mag. 2016

“Spectrophobia (fear of mirrors) and Dementophobia (fear of becoming insane) come to mind as fitting mental aberrants. A distorted reflection lurking in the looking glass, a shadow self grinning in the dark recesses of the mind, a soundless laughter echoing inside.” – Wrath describes True Black Dawn in an interview October 2018

[Live clips below by Gronn Onland, Saatanan Aslakki]

 

 

Collected notes & links:
– Latest release: Come the Colorless Dawn Full-length 2016
– Label: World Terror Committee Productions
– Band: Wrath Vocals Syphon Guitars VnoM Drums TG Guitars Cult Bass
www.facebook.com/trueBlackDawn
soundcloud.com/w-t-c-productions
https://www.metal-archives.com/bands/True_Black_Dawn/3411
music.apple.com
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Helvetes Regent!Satanic Extreme Metal!
“Nordjevel was started in the unholy year of 2015 by Doedsadmiral. He had a talk with Widigs (Marduk) and then Nord about this project and decided to start making music together.” – Band bio, Osmosis Productions

 

Awesome gig! One of the performances I watched til the end and enjoyed the shit out of it all. It´s a bit hard to take the time if you are shooting all bands and there are 2 stages.  “3 first songs, no flash” as usual:) But this year I allowed myself to stay at quite a few gigs. And then run like an idiot to the other stage because the band there already started playing. All that excercise!

 

There were a bunch a Norwegian bands at the festival and I think that Doedsadmiral guested all of them at some point.  Last year he was at Steelfest with his other band DOEDSVANGR.

 

Also freaking great to see Broddesson (HILD, Funeral Mist, Marduk etc) on guitar. I met him earlier somewhere in the back area and he gave me some cool HILD stuff. Only one album (Valfreya) and some singles out so far and made as an one man project (everything by Broddesson) but with a great live line up they do gigs every now and then. Very nice and violent  black thrash. Haven´t seen yet but I will asap. The other Swedish guy in NORDJEVEL is the drummer Nils ‘Dominator’ Fjellström who replaced  Widigs (Great drummer but not in any band these days. Focusing on other stuff.) some years ago.

 

Band: DezeptiCunt Bass Doedsadmiral Vocals Dominator Drums Broddesson Guitars

 

[Live clips below by Gronn Onland, Saatanan Aslakki & Tales From The Frontline. Check out their channels!]

 

 

Collected notes:
– Booking @ District 19  district-19.com/portfolio-item/nordjevel
– RAUTA interviewed Doedsadmiral a month or so before Steelfest @Inferno: https://youtu.be/W6IVd4zeREg

Upcoming gigs in Sweden:
07-10-2023 Morkaste Smaland: Slaktmanad Hultsfred
04-11-2023 Stadsgårdsterminalen Stockholm

 

https://www.facebook.com/nordjevelofficial
https://www.nordjevel.com
https://nordjevel.bandcamp.com/
https://soundcloud.com/nordjevelofficial
https://open.spotify.com/artist
metal-archives.com/bands/Nordjevel
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From Paris, France. “Founded by guitarist Perversifier aka Amfortas in 1994 with a clear vision to keep the black metal flame burning as an act of aesthetic terrorism – as adamantly based in the underground as opposed to any attempts to co-opt, commercialise or turn the style into a self-parody” – Bio @ Season of Mist
“Merrimack means infinite depth/abyss, taken from a Graham Masterton book, where it refers to a great marine chasm swallowing up every human travelling near its borders, as explained by Perversifier in an interview”

 

Fantastic gig!! I saw MERRIMACK in 2010 at Party.San with a very young Vestal. Met  Perversifier himself when he was talking to a friend of mine and just had to ask  if the front guy was still the same.  He told me that the PSOA gig was one of the first live with Vestal. Maybe even THE first.
13 years  and counting and the guy was absolutely furious and brilliant. Stayed around for most of the set. Good stuff and convincing even in full sunlight.
Something about the French bands…so many cool ones.

 

Band: Perversifier Guitars  Daethorn Bass   A.K. Guitars Vestal Vocals Blastum Drums

Collected notes:
– Latest album: Omegaphilia Full-length 2017
– Current label: Season of Mist Underground Activists
– Mortuus (Marduk, Funeral Mist) did some (additional) guest vocals on the 2012 album “The Acausal Mass” (Abortion Light)
– The drummer Blastum is also live drummer for Osculum Infame, one of my favourite bands @ the last years festival!
– Interview w. Perversifier @ thisisblackmetal.com 2019

[Live clips below by Tales From The Frontline & Gronn Onland. Check out their channels!]

https://www.facebook.com/merrimackofficial
https://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Merrimack/7714
https://www.season-of-mist.com/bands/merrimack/
https://merrimack.bandcamp.com/album/omegaphilia
https://open.spotify.com/artist/3XWKabUW6Y9pm9vyNGlrhV
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Black/Thrash from Tampere, Pirkanmaa, Finland. Originally founded by Sulphur (Jarno Hämäläinen), Infernus (Kaitsu Pekkarnen) and Pimeä (Mikko Äimälä) in Kuopio, Finland in 1994. All 3 also in BARATHRUM at that point (according to Metal Archives).

Definitely a band I would go & see again. Somebody bring them to Sweden!?
Me & Marco totally took advantage of their demon stuff we found lying about behind the stage. A nice picture somewhere below ⇓
Band: Sulphur Vocals, Guitars, Bass Axeleratörr Guitars (lead) Pestilent Slaughter Guitars Kalle Salminen Drums
[Live clips below by leatherheaven & Tales From The Frontline. Check out their channels!]

Collected notes:
– Latest release: Iron Will of Power Sept 2019
– Interview w. Sulphur from 2019 @ metalinsider.net

https://www.facebook.com/Urnofficial/
https://urn-official.bandcamp.com
https://open.spotify.com/artist
metal-archives.com/bands/Urn/500
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The French never cease to surprise.This one was spectacularly odd:D  Basically an one man band by Léon Harcore / Vaerohn (who still back in 2010 didn´t necessarily fancy doing live gigs. Glad he changed his mind later, tho:))

 

Can´t really describe the show, so I borrow from Brutal Assault (where they are playing in August this year!!):
“After more than a decade of existence, PENSÉES NOCTURNES, a one-man band led by Vaerohn, have gone from a studio project to the stage.
Get ready for something crazy. Black metal music enriched with brass instruments, piano, accordion, Theremin etc. surrounded by a nightmare: all this creates a twisted and grotesque, chaotic, avant-garde, deranged circus.

PENSÉES NOCTURNES will take you to carnival parties, showcasing spectacular church organs, philharmonic orchestras, but not forgetting brass bands, piano decadence, dissonant or depressing black metal riffs or even post-black, crazy pure voice.” You get the idea?

The Live guys:  Gégé Accordion, Keyboards, Vocals Le Grand Bass Jacky Drums Roro Guitars Zakouille Guitars

 

[Live clips by Gronn Onland, Tales From The Frontline & Infinite Chaos Promotions]

Collected notes:
–  PENSÉES NOCTURNES is a real French UFO – brutalassault.cz
– “The rule is actually there is none” – Vaerohn, July -22 @ metallerium.com
–  Absolutely nothing to do with anything, but there is a wine called Pensées Nocturnes

https://www.facebook.com/PNRecords
https://penseesnocturnes.bandcamp.com/album/douce-fange
https://open.spotify.com
https://www.metal-archives.com
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Black/Death from Hamina, Finland. Existing as WITCHCRAFT since 2013. They started up as Black Feast (2009-2012) and in 2013 name change to Blasphemous Witchcraft. For a short while.
The past decade they´ve released a whole bunch of ltd edition demos (mostly cassettes) and some splits.

 

 

Collected notes & links:
– Latest release: Evil Manifests Compilation 2022 (cassette / Ltd 50 copies)
– Label: Escafismo Records
– The German quality tape label Darkness Shall Rise got some of the tapes in stock darknessshallrise.de/product/witchcraft-fin-black-imprecation/?v=f003c44deab6.

A couple of cd/lp @ levykauppax.fi.

There are several places you can still find WITCHCRAFT tapes so just google for them.

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Death Metal from Zion, Illinois since 1997.
VERY sunny and hot on stage when the guys performed but they did a good job:)

“Evil Incarnate specializes in pure death metal a la Possessed, Numskull and otherst. They were formed in 1994 as Apollyn and released a demo called Beyond Blasphemy.
With Vehenkamp in the fold the band recorded a new demo called Deliverance From Salvation. In 1997 the guitarists change and two former Fear Spawned Religion members join. Simultaneously, the band changed its name. The demos Evil Incarnate and Christ Destroyed followed. Blood Of Saints was essentially a compilation of the band’s music so far. The 1997 and 1998 demos were put on CD by Deathgasm and on cassette by Ramu Records. After several years of absence the band returned in the summer of 2005 with a new album, label and drummer. Vehenkamp was reportedly booted from the band for personal reasons. The band planned to work with Sinister Sounds as of 2006, but the two parties split up when the Canadian label was unable to issue a band compilation on time. Christopher of Krabathor joined the band in 2008.” – metallian.com

[Live clipS by Gronn Onland, sarvi, ]

Collected notes & links:
– Latest release: Lucifers Crown Full-length 2023
– Label: Bestial Burst
– Interview @ Canadian Assault Zine March 2009

www.facebook.com/people/Evil-Incarnate
https://www.instagram.com/evil.incarnate.band/
https://www.youtube.com/channel
open.spotify.com
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Can´t find so much information of these guys but VORNAT was formed in 1993 in Kotka, Finland. Lyrics about Occultism, Darkness, Satanism & Anti-Christianity.

 

Released a couple of demos (-94 & -96), a split (w. HELLFUCKED from Germany) in 2002 and a compilation in 2020. After 20 years of absence they played live at Haukka Winterfest 2019 ((w. Thaukhnifur – Guitars, Vocals; Behemoth – Bass, Vocals; Erektor – Guitars; Nekroblaster – Drums). » 3 songs recorded by Baltic Sea Productions. Most (or all, really) info is from the Metal Archives.

 

Really liked this band and been listening to whatever I could find on the web after I got home. Lots of good songs! Was already hooked on “Unholy Evil One” when they played it so good thing that is also the one in the live clip so you can get the idea:) VORNAT don´t play so much, basically never, but at least the status is now “on hold” instead of “split up”.

 

[Live clip by Gronn Onland]

 

Collected notes & links:

– SATANIC WARMASTER recorded a (VORNAT cover “Korppi”) in 2014. // The original from a 1994 demo
– The compilation is available right now at least @ Horror Shop
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