Unsigned

Oskoreien – Illusions Review

Oskoreien – Illusions Review

Oskoreien is another one of those DIY projects that I was directed to which delighted me to check out. There was a time when you, as a metal guy, probably got friended by Oskoreien on MySpace, when the creator was in full-on promo mode. The tracks that I remembered hearing were very much in the Ensiferum / Wintersun kind of vein. Lots of sweep picking and sort of melodic death influences. So when I got my hands on the Illusions EP I wasn’t sure what to expect.

Petrychor – Dryad Review

Petrychor – Dryad Review

I frequently complain about black metal these days. Partially this is because I think that a lot of post-black metal is fucking boring and partially ’cause the not-post-black metal is also fucking boring. In general, black metal is in a place where nothing really that interesting is going on. Sure, there are bands out there that are putting out good material, but for the most part the signed stuff is so-so and the classic bands are disappointing with new material and the state of the scene, in my opinion, is pretty sad. So I was pleasantly surprised to get turned onto this piece of art by the Californian do-it-yourselfer just called “T”. The project is called Petrychor and displays all of the things that I would hope to hear out of this budding scene sort of embodied in a single 3 song EP entitled Dryad.

Death Maze – Prodigy of Death Review

Death Maze – Prodigy of Death Rating: 3.5/5.0 – Very good Label: Unsigned Website: myspace.com/deathmazeswe Few unsigned bands in Sweden have been getting the kind of press that UmeÃ¥’s Death Maze has gotten in the last 6 months or so. There are probably a few reasons for this, firstly, there are a lot of unsigned […]

Diemertus – To See Skies Fall Review

Diemertus – To See Skies Fall (Demo/EP 2009) Rating: 3.0/5.0 – Good demo, has room for growth and improvement Label: Unsigned Website: myspace.com/diemertus Frankly, I had no idea what to expect when I was given Shorewood, Wisconsin-based Diemertus’ EP To See Skies Fall to review. Of the bands from Wisco that I’m familiar with, they […]

Iron Thrones – Visions of Light

Iron Thrones – Visions of Light

It’s maybe just me that falls for this kind of stuff, but sometimes bands just jump out of nowhere and bite you in the ass and present to you their own version of exactly what it is you appreciate in the music that surrounds you. In this case, what it is in the underground scene that still appeals to you even though you’re getting old, bitter and disconnected from a lot of the modern bands that people are pissing themselves over. Iron Thrones are just that band, that band that makes you jealous as a musician, that makes you excited about the future of metal and makes you totally, ridiculously confused as to why on earth they’re unsigned!