Memories Yet To Come 2012

Another year is passing by and hopefully we are still here, 
so these are my suggestions for some of this year's releases that kept my ears busy:

1. A Forest Of Stars - A Shadowplay For Yesterdays (Full-length 2012)

2. Absum - Odz Manouk (Split 7'' EP 2012)

3. Acrimonious - Sunyata (Full-length 2012)
4. Aluk Todolo - Occult Rock (Full-length 2012)

5. Arcana - As Bright As A Thousand Suns (Full-length 2012)

6. Bilskirnir - Der Wolkenwanderer (7'' EP 2012)

7. Borgne - Royaume des Ombres (Full-length 2012)

8. Burial Hordes - Descent (7'' EP 2012)

9. Dala Sun - Gegenschein (Full-length 2012)

10. Dead Can Dance - Anastasis (Full-length 2012)

11. Die Antwoord - Ten$ion (Full-length 2012)

12. Eïs - Wetterkreuz (Full-length 2012)
13. Elysian Blaze - Blood Geometry (Full-length 2012)

14. ForestMuse - The Land of Tall Trees (Full-length 2012)
15. Formloff - Spyhorelandet (Full-length 2012)

16. God Seed - I Begin (Full-length 2012)

17. Hail Spirit Noir - Pneuma (Full-length 2012)

18. Hexvessel - No Holier Temple (Full-length 2012)

19. Igorrr - Hallelujah (Full-length 2012)

20. Kawir - ΙΣΟΘΕΟΣ (Full-length 2012)

21. Mgła - With Hearts Toward None (Full-length 2012) 
22. Netra - Sørbyen (Full-length 2012)
23. NettleCarrier - NettleCarrier (Full-length 2012)

24. Open Grave - Fear (Full-length 2012)
25. Skygge - Knokkelkraft (Full-length 2012)
26. Svartidauði - Flesh Cathedral (Full-length 2012)

27. Tatir - Cave of Ephyras... To the Infernal Fields (Compilation 2012)

28. The Ascendant - The Spiritual Death (7'' EP 2012)

29. Vattnet Viskar - Vattnet Viskar (10'' EP 2012)

30. Vemod - Venter på stormene (Full-length 2012)

Grimm – Nordisk Vinter (Demo 1993)

Country: Norway

Tracklist

1. Intro: Darkest Depths 03:27
2. The Embrace Of The Cold 03:50
3. Born In The Hands Of Doom 04:49

Pre-Carpathian Forest demo featuring the two main founders of the band Nattefrost and J. Nordavind.
Some of the other Grimm members also participated in "Journey Through the Cold Moors of Svarttjern"

demo release as guests (Grimm and Damnatus).
Well this is a very good demo pointing the direction that the future relases of Carpathian Forest would follow.
With very few words what you get from this cult release is one intro, a black'n'roll track (in Carpathian Forest style)

and a more slow-atmospheric-black metal composition.
Re-released as a bootleg 7" EP in 2001 by Vinyl Maniac Records (sublabel of No Colours Records).

Memory

Skrol – Martyria (10'' EP 1998)

Country: Czech Republic

Tracklist

1. Soaking / Movie Martyr 10:22
2, Insomnia 08:00
3. Dei Irae 07:18

Skrol is a Czech avant-garde martial industrial band from Prague, formed in autumn 1995.
Bands activity started to evolve in 1996, consisting of composer, instrumentalist and sound alchemist Vladimir Hirsch, 
singer Martina Sanollova and lyricist and producer Tom Saivon.
The creative principle of the band is based on neo-classical concepts with a congregation of martial industrial, 
with an attempt to attain an organic amalgam of the two on rudiments of rock music patterns.
Martyria was released as a 10-inch LP on the LOKI Foundation/Power & Steel label 
in August 1998 as a limited edition of 300 copies. 
These tracks were also included in their later full-length album Insomnia Dei, released in 2001.

Memory

Bethel – Northern Supremacy (Demo 1997)

Country: Finland

Tracklist

1. Ave Inferno... 01:53
2. Wandering in the Lands of Dark and Frost 07:19
3. Triumph for the lost Azure 07:18

First and only release from Finland's Bethel playing melodic-atmospheric black metal
with a lot of variety in their compositions.
Keyboard parts,clean vocals,fast black metal,mid-tempo-acoustic parts
all these under a very good productions for a Demo release.

Memory

Pan.Thy.Monium ‎– Khaooohs (1993)

Country: Sweden

Tracklist

1. I Månens Sken Dog En Skugga 01:50
2. Under Ytan 03:56
3. Jag & Vem 05:54
4. Lava 07:37
5. Lömska Försåt 06:55
6. I Vindens Våld 00:50
7. Klieveage 02:48
8. Ekkhoeece III 00:44
9. Khaoohs I 04:47
10. Utsikt 08:12
11. Khaoohs II 00:40

Pan.Thy.Monium was a Swedish progressive/avant-garde/death metal band created in 1990 
and led by Dan Swanö with several members from another project of his, Edge of Sanity. 

Swanö constructed as a concept of the albums the fight between the virtual god 

Raagoonshinnaah (god of darkness, rain and emptiness) and his opponent Amaraah (god of light).
The first demo …Dawn was never released to the public. There are only a few copies in the possession of Dan and friends. Dawn of Dreams was released 1992 and neither had any track titles nor a list of band members. 

At this time nobody knew who Pan.Thy.Monium was. The first trace to Dan Swanö was a greeting 
in the booklet of the album The Spectral Sorrows from Edge of Sanity from Benny to Pan.Thy.Monium. 

After that the identity of Pan.Thy.Monium was revealed. In 1993 Khaooohs was released.

 After its release the band fell silent. Khaooohs & Kon-Fus-Ion was recorded 1996 in which 

Amaraah wins over Raagoonshinnaah in a last fight. This marked the end of the band.
Pan.Thy.Monium never played live, even if there is a track on Khaooos which sounds like that. 

Also it is said that none of the songs has lyrics, and that the vocals were used mostly as an instrument. 

The band members were: Derelict (Robert Karlsson), Aag (Dag Swanö), Mourning (Robban Ivarsson), 

Day Disyraah (Dan Swanö) and Winter (Benny Larsson).

Memory

Proscriptor ‎– The Venus Bellona (1995)

Country: United States

Tracklist

Act 1. An Initium For You 00:58
Act 2. I Am The One 02:49
Act 3. Our Blood And Veins From The McGovern Regiment 02:28
Act 4. Hi Ri Ri Tha E Tighinn 02:06
Act 5. Lady Day Eve 04:34
Act 6. Madeleine 05:06
Act 7. Kiss Of Shame 01:38
Act 8. Tractatus 01:24
Act 9. My Legacy: A Crysknife 00:51
Act 10. Serpentine Of Six-Fold Stars 05:52
Act 11. The Barren Stones Of Lughnasadh 02:40
Act 12. Far Away From Balkan Hills 01:27
Act 13. De La Fletus Des Athroll (After The Massacre Of Glencoe) Part II 02:34
Act 14. Chomere! 01:02
Act 15. Commanding The Dragon Of Keppoch 02:03
Act 16. Ground's Afire 00:51
Act 17. Defeat 01:24
Act 18. We Raise Our Silver Goblets In Triumph 01:48
Act 19. We Procured The Non-Existence Of Xalteun 01:43
Act 20. Finem Habere: Flames For You / I Ran (So Far Away) 06:55

Proscriptor is more known as the drummer/mainman of Absu. 
His project as Proscriptor is more than a little different to what Absu explore musically. 
"The Venus Bellona" is a wonderfully strange & unique album based around the superstitions, folklore & mythology 
of Proscriptor's ancestral bloodline which hails from Glencoe, Scotland.
Combined with occult themes, & Proscriptor's mystical being, this collection of songs is nothing short of interesting.
At times hypnotic, as evidenced in "I Am The One" with its verbal assault, & chimes, 
while "Our Blood & Veins From the McGovern Regiment" is a more militaristic affair, with marching snare drums, 
bag pipes, & the sinister Proscriptor injecting verbal hallucinations. 
The diversity of  "The Venus Bellona" is one of its impressive features, & the incorporation 
of an extensive range of instruments (synths, percussion, acoustic guitar, grand piano, organs, mellotron & fife) 
is both appealing as well as contributing to this fact.
The 20 Acts presented here range in sound from ambient/darkwave to experimental/acoustic/folk.
For a bit of "new wave" nostalgia, a twisted version of "I Ran (So Far Away)" (originally by A Flock of Seagulls) 
is covered & given a bracing, & thoroughly entertaining, extreme metal treatment!
Released on golden CD as a multi fold-out digipack by Cruel Moon International (sub-label of Cold Meat Industry) 
& also as a red vinyl on a limited edition of 726 copies.

Memory

Fleurety ‎– Min Tid Skal Komme (1995)

Country: Norway

Tracklist

1. Fragmenter Av En Fortid 09:37
2. En Skikkelse I Horisonten 11:33
3. Hvileløs? 05:24
4. Englers Piler Har Ingen Brodd 12:33
5. Fragmenter Av En Fremtid 05:38

Popular music styles like "post-black metal" or "shoegaze-black metal" owes very much to mid 90's Norway's scene.
Back then there were terms like "avantgarde-black metal" or "progressive-black metal" 
for releases like Ulver's "Bergtatt", In The Woods "HEart Of The Ages", Ved Buens Ende "Written In Waters"
 and of course Fleurety's debut album "Min Tid Skal Komme".
The band was formed in 1991 by Svein Egil Hatlevik and Alexander Nordgaren 
and released their first demo Black Snow in 1993. After that came the 7" EP A Darker Shade of Evil in 1994. 
Both of these were in a fairly traditional Norwegian black metal style, with very high-pitched screaming vocals, 
giving the band a characteristic sound.
In 1995, the band released the album Min Tid Skal Komme, as a cooperation between Aesthetic Death Records 
and Misanthropy Records. This recording, that was ahead of its time on many levels, featured a rock/progressive/psychedelic/jazz black metal style with atonal harmonics, folk music elements and enchanting female vocals 
by Norwegian pop singer Marian Aas Hansen.
In 2000, Fleurety released the album Department of Apocalyptic Affairs. 
This album showed an even more eclectic musical style, spanning metal, progressive/jazz and electronica, 
and featured an array of guest musicians from the Norwegian avantgarde and black metal scene.

Memory