Clandestine Cuts Volume 15, Issue #6
The Metal Storm Demo/EP Spotlight
Brand New Independent Metal Lives Here.
Welcome to the Clandestine Cuts!
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!
(Do you think your band has what it takes to be featured in the Cuts? Email demos at metalstorm dot net to submit your music.)
In case you’re new to this, go back and enjoy our last few issues:
Clandestine Cuts Vol. 15 #5
Clandestine Cuts Vol. 15 #4
Clandestine Cuts Vol. 15 #3
And now to the new music…
Crusader – In For The Kill (UK)
[Hard Rock]
In For The Kill is the debut EP from hard rock newcomers Crusader, a quartet from the UK that captures the sound of ‘80s hard rock in such great detail that it surprises by coming out in 2025. The spirit of Def Leppard, Scorpions, and Whitesnake is very much present here, and the singer reminisces David Coverdale in his prime. The band’s influences are the opposite of understated; even the cover art is very similar to the one of Wild Cat. If you miss songs that are made to sing along to, with catchy riffs, memorable choruses, and a clean sound, this should hit the spot for you. In For The Kill sounds confident and made by talented musicians, and, if Crusader can find a way to have a more personal and unique sound, they will have a bright future.
by nikarg
Between Nothing – Ghost (Poland)
[Melodic Death Metal | Extreme Power Metal]
Having formed in 2008, Between Nothing are an unusually old band to be appearing in Clandestine Cuts, but with only an 2009 demo and 2017 EP For Your Enjoyment (plus a few singles) to show for it, they’ve not been the most active over the years. It’s still seemingly not yet the time to create a full album, but the three singles they’ve released in the years since For Your Enjoyment are packaged together with a few more new tracks to create Ghost, a tasty interpretation on the melodeath/extreme power metal style popularized by the likes of Children Of Bodom. Between Nothing aren’t quite as pyrotechnical on the instrumental side as that band, but the higher-pitched rasped vocals, twinkling keyboards, and impressive guitar leads and solos of Bodom all work their way into tracks such as the title track and “Fate Masters”. The record has more than its fair share of hooky riffs and guitar leads, and the satisfying surges of speed in the likes of “Fathomed In Greed” will easily sweep up many a classic melodeath fan.
by musclassia
Chronepsis – Weight Of Eternity (USA)
[Melodic / Technical Death Metal]
Chronepsis is a new band from New Jersey, taking their name from a Dungeons & Dragons character and playing a fantasy-themed, blistering, and eclectic kind of death metal that is, at the same time, melodic, progressive, and highly technical. As if created after a glorious threesome between Allegaeon, The Black Dahlia Murder, and Archspire, this 5-piece is an unstoppable machine of mind-bending riffs, scorching leads, intricate bass lines, and off-kilter drumming, with a bipolar vocalist spewing out brutal death growls and screeching blackened shrieks with equal conviction. Clocking in at just under half an hour, Weight Of Eternity could have easily been a full-length with the addition of one or two more tracks, but it is clear that Chronepsis opted for keeping the best parts of their ideas and got rid of any fat, resulting in this unexpected aural assault of an EP, that is surely only the great beginning of greater things to come.
by nikarg
Everybody Dies – Everybody Dies (USA)
[Death Metal | Hardcore]
Turns out Isaac Hale must’ve found a way to cram more hours into the day than the rest of us. When he’s not busy blowing out eardrums as the guitarist and backing vocalist of Knocked Loose, and, like, juggling three other side projects, he’s now also fronting Everybody Dies. On this filthy new side quest, he takes over lead vocal duties and is joined for the recording of this debut EP by Sanguisugabogg drummer Cody Davidson and the Kisielewski brothers of Year Of The Knife… Boy, that’s some hefty name-dropping for a Clandestine Cut. All that just to say: these guys are worth their salt. Musically, this sounds like early Six Feet Under getting locked in a basement gym with a bunch of hardcore kids. The sloppy, gritty, yet oh-so-charming death metal gets tossed around and spiced up with juicy slam sections, elbow-throwing hardcore grooves, and frequent tempo shifts. Strap in, because Everybody Dies come in swinging with a baseball bat. So, aside from a few kneecaps, are they breaking new ground too? Well, no, not really. But not everything needs to be a revelation, silly. And that shouldn’t stop anyone from having a good time stomping through this 14-minute EP. Still, some might want to consider wearing a helmet for this one. You’ve been warned.
Listen on Spotify or Apple Music.
by Thryce
Unhallowed Earth – Unending Depths / Sown (USA)
[Blackened Sludge Metal | Post-Metal]
Unhallowed Earth is a post-metal band from Portland which arose from the ashes of Sól and it is easy to notice that these guys are no newcomers. The brooding ambience that is built during the first few minutes, with the delicate guitar melodies and foreboding bass, is one that could come straight from an Amenra record. As the tension increases, some of the pummeling riffs and drums are more akin to good old Neurosis. Unhallowed Earth’s style is then completed once the two songs reach their respective climaxes as black metal influences take hold in the form of tremolo picking, blast beats and raspy howls. Even though the band holds a hard grip on their musical influences, it is the combination with the extreme metal elements that guarantees that these two songs will be a rewarding experience for the listener.
by X-Ray Rod
Branch Of Melas – Demo (Germany)
[Acoustic Black Metal | Neofolk]
Anyone who’s ever been to a scout camp or taken part in a school trip with an overnight stay outdoors will almost certainly know the situation: you’re sitting around the campfire, suspecting nothing, when, by the second round of marshmallows (or stick bread) at the latest, the head scout (or teacher), who considers himself especially musically gifted, suddenly pulls out a guitar and forces the kids in his care to sing along to the classic, inoffensive rock and country songs of his generation. What it might sound like if the person in charge knew more than two guitar chords and had grown up with the music of Fenriz, Vikernes, and Quorthon instead of Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, and John Denver can be glimpsed on the debut demo by the one-man band Branch Of Melas. Acoustic black metal and neofolk blend seamlessly in this Cologne-based project, with the dominant genre at any given moment largely shaped by the varied vocals. The instrumental side also avoids falling into monotony, with the unexpected use of accordion lending the compositions the air of blackened sea shanties.
by Starvynth
Poll