Ivan Tibos.

The Kerala, India-based act Chaos released a demo in 2009 with the name Violent Redemption, but since most tracks differ, you cannot call this album just a re-release, and nothing more either. This just for your sweet information…

Vermiin are a new project, formed very recently by John Stillings, the guy behind Steel Hook Prostheses (and part of the Kerrstillingskozletskynyströmpetrus-collaboration), and Bathory Legion. John co-operated with Bathory Legion before (even live), so that explains the cohesive interaction of both parties.

I have to admit that I did not know any of both projects involved with this split, but I wonder: did you? Actually, this split, with two US-based bands, will see the light via upcoming Magic Bullet Records, evidently via the digital channel, as well as on both black and white vinyl.

Spires were formed in 2008 in Manchester, U.K., by guitarist / vocalist and producer Paul Sadler. Shortly after, with a fix line-up (including Paul Cuthbert), Spires recorded a first album, Spiral Of Ascension, which was reviewed very positively by the international press. Our own colleague Tony wrote a very honourable review, which you can still read on Concreteweb (see update February 8^th 2011, Archive-tab).

Raggradarh are a very productive solo-outfit by a very productive Bulgarian human being, Georgi ‘Erilyne’ Georgiev. You might know him as well from bands or solo-outfits such as Aeonless (their new Vacula-album Underearth Horizons, by the way, will be reviewed in a very near future), Forgotten Forests, Calth or Perverse Monastyr, amongst others (often under different pseudonyms).

A very young band from Ukraine is this one: My Dying World ‘Mako’, formed in Autumn 2013 by former DEC’50’s Sergey ‘Mako’ Tereschenko. He wrote some material, and after about ten months, he was joined by Artur ‘Shadow’ Goncharov on guitars. In mean time also a vocalist was recruited, i.e. Nikita ‘Ioria’ Eremeev.

Weltfeind are a new label, formed by Castellum Stoufenburc’s Soldat D. This label, with three releases at this moment (all of them will be reviewed, evidently), was founded in order to support and promote ‘Depressive Underground Music’. Two projects out of these three perform so-called DSBM (Depressive Suicidal Black Metal), but the label does not want to focus on that specific genre only, which I think is very honourable.

I like to read the great works by the hand, and mind, of J.R.R. Tolkien. Everyone knows The Lord Of The Rings and The Hobbit in mean time, thanks to the two movie-trilogies, but Tolkien’s other works are at least as interesting, if not more attractive! In The Lord Of The Rings, the ‘Dagor Dagorath’-battle gets mentioned, but there was a first reference to it in the posthumously published The Silmarillion (the Valaquenta-edition, more specifically).

Humiliation are a band from Malaysia, not immediately the country-number-one when it comes to Death Metal nowadays. There was quite a vivid scene at the end of the eighties (as well as in the neighbour countries, like Indonesia – it truly was the case!), but nowadays it’s rather an exception to hear (new) material from bands hailing from that part of our ugly globe. But Humiliation are such a band that will put Malaysia on the map again.

Everyone knows that Czech Republic-based Bizarre Leprous Productions are (one of the) most prominent labels when it comes to Grindcore. I think it is somewhat doubtful. At the one hand they house several splendid acts, with sublime release that caress every Grind-freak’s ear drum with rusty razor blades and electrified barb wire. At the other hand, unfortunately, there’s quite some ‘pulp’ around to within this scene, and I think Bizarre Leprous Productions sometimes took a wrong choice by signing band X or Y.