#199 Tom/EZR Reviews 4xMC Tapes: Beherit / Calques & Maltheist / VEC / Neurosis // September 2026

 

Píšem na pokračovanie o kazetách zo svojej zbierky a JDØS Distra. Výbery sú väčšinou náhodné, podľa momentálnej nálady. Niekedy sa snažím písať recenziu a niekedy len tak úvahy o albume pri jeho počúvaní. Kontakt s fyzickým nosičom je pre mňa kľúčový - ak chcete, aby som sa zamyslel aj nad vašou tvorbou, pošlite mi kazetu. Ak vás text v tomto článku z nejakého dôvodu osloví, môžete podporiť label JDØS nákupom v distre - ceny sú odporúčané a orientačné - napíšte mi koľko ste ochotní dať za čokoľvek vás zaujme. Dík za support a feedback, Tom/EZR

 

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SEPTEMBER 2026:

 

1. Beherit - The Oath of Black Blood (1991/2020, Nuclear War Now!)
2. Calques/Maltheist - Split (2021, Orb Tapes) ... IN DISTRO
3. V.E.C. - Mental Dental (1998/2026, Monastyr Records) 
4. Neurosis - An Undying Love For a Burning World (2026, Neurot Recordings)

  

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Beherit - The Oath of Black Blood (1991/2020)

Krajina: FI; MC Vydavateľstvo: Nuclear War Now! (ANTI-GOTH 500); 
Zoznam Skladieb: A1 Intro: Temple A2 Metal of Death A3 The Oath of Black Blood A4 Grave Desecration A5 Witchcraft A6 Goat Worship A7 Demonomancy B1 Black Mass Prayer B2 Beast of Damnation B3 Hail Sathanas B4 Dawn of Satan's Millenium  Celkový čas 25:59

V rukách mám americkú poctu kultovému albumu Beherit, ktorú na kazete s katalógovým číslom ANTI-GOTH 500 vydal label Nuclear War Now! pri príležitosti 30. výročia jeho prvého vydania. Toto je opradené legendami, ktoré si v skratke pripomenieme. Beherit založili traja mladí Fíni žijúci v meste Rovaniemi blízko polárneho kruhu s hrozivo temnými pseudonymami Nuclear Holocausto Vengeance (gitara, spev), Sodomatic Slaughter (bicie) a Daemon Fornication (basa). Pseudonymy, vizuál a aj hudba boli inšpirované Kanaďanmi Blasphemy a Brazílcami Sarcófago.  

Beherit v roku 1990 nahrali demo Demonomancy a EP Dawn of Satan's Millenium, ktoré na promo kazetách rozposlali UG labelom. Na tie zareagoval mladý Nemecký label Turbo, ktorý ponúkol kapele zmluvu na LP a poslal im menšie než malé množstvo finančných prostriedkov, ktoré údajne kapela utratila namiesto štúdia za alkohol. Turbo následne bez súhlasu kapely vydali album The Oath of Black Blood s demom Demonomancy na jednej strane a EP Dawn of Satan's Millenium na strane druhej - s pôvodným promo zvukom bez akýchkoľvek úprav ako kompenzáciu za chýbajúci nový materiál. 

Kvôli tejto kontroverzii sa The Oath of Black Blood spomína skôr ako kompilácia a nie ako legitímne oficiálne vydanie. Čo kapela a ani vydavateľstvo zrejme v čase vydania The Oath of Black Blood netušili, bolo aký kultový status album dosiahne. V čase, keď boli na vrchole metalového UG death metalové kapely, ktoré na vznikajúci druhú blackmetalovú vlnu pozerali zhora, bez rešpektu a často s neskrývaným posmechom, mohlo vydanie albumu so surovým a zlým zvukom a rôznymi nedokonalosťami znamenať koniec kariéry mladých hudobníkov. Asi nikto nečakal, že vydanie The Oath of Black Blood bude znamenať pravý opak, a že Beherit napriek všetkému s týmto vydaním položia základy nového extrémneho žánru - bestial black/war metal, ktorý žije dodnes. 

 

 

Na rozdiel od pôvodného vydania so zvukom, na ktorý Nemci Turbo v roku 1991 použili promo kazetu a nie master zo štúdia, americký label Nuclear War Now! spolupracoval s Nuclear Holocausto Vengeanceom, ktorý  vydavateľstvu dodal pôvodný master. Tento bol zreštaurovaný, následne remastrovaný a použitý pre potreby nového vydania. O vizuál sa postaral Dan Fried, známy aj z US doomovej kapely Mortiferum, a spravil ho rešpektujúc estetiku UG kazetových vydaní zo začiatku 90. rokov. Kazeta vyšla v luxusnom prevedení so štvorpanelovým bookletom, kde na vnútornej strane je fotografia s dvojicou Nuclear Holocausto Vengeance a Sodomatic Slaughter. 

Čo sa týka dojmov z hudby, tak o mojom prvom stretnutí s The Oath of Black Blood som napísal pár slov v prvom dieli série A Blaze Through the Vinyl Collection - a všetko platí dodnes. Album sa začína dvoma údermi hromu a končí zvukom organu, ktorý prejde do digitálnej odoznievajúcej ozveny. Všetko medzi tým je mágia, ktorá okrem toho, že prepíše estetické nastavenie jedného teenagera na celý život, obsahuje v sebe esenciu, ktorá vytvára nové žánre a subkultúry, ktoré sa ďalej mutujú v čase a priestore s jasným odkazom na svoju pôvodnú DNA. Interpretov a albumov, ktoré vznikajú len tak niekde na okraji diania a bez väčších ambícií no majú tento magický potenciál je podľa mňa v posledných rokoch ako šafranu (budem veľmi rád ak ma vyvediete z omylu - pošlite mi vaše tipy prípadne nahrávky). Ďakujem, že som mohol byť prítomný v čase vzniku prísahy čiernej krvi a sledovať jej tok naprieč dekádami až sem.  

 

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Calques/Maltheist - Split (2021)

Krajina: US; MC Vydavateľstvo: Orb Tapes (OT_146); 
Zoznam Skladieb: A1 Calques - Consumed A2 Calques - Expiring Mind B1 Maltheist - Subserve B2 Maltheist - Toil B3 Maltheist - Weak Flesh (Godflesh cover) Celkový čas 28:55
 

Moja cesta ku kazetovému splitku dvoch amerických telies Calques a Maltheist bola zaujímavá. Niekedy v zime som si od slovinského labelu Rope or Guillotine kúpil kazetu americkej funeral doom kapely Depleted - Failing (2023). Depleted som predtým nepoznal a na stránke ROG som vyberal podľa obalu - rovnako ako v 90. rokoch z výkladu v pololegálnom kazetovom obchode v Nowom Targu. Failing na mňa zapôsobil hneď pri prvom posluchu - jednalo sa o precítený doom so skvelým zvukom, ktorý som vzápätí recenzoval a tiež napísal kapele či nemá záujem o interview. Na e-mail mi odpovedal Matt Sullivan - recka sa mu páčila a s interview súhlasil. Zároveň mi poslal poštou z Portlandu v Oregone, USA aj balíček s kazetami - medzi nimi aj najnovší album Depleted, ale aj Mattove iné projekty ako Maltheist alebo noiseový Red Boiling Springs.

Dnes už vypredané splitko Calques a Maltheist vyšlo 30. júla 2021 na labeli Orb Tapes z Pennsylvánie, USA v náklade 50 kusov. Orb Tapes definuje svoje portfólio ako "okrajová hudba na fyzických nosičoch" a zameriava sa na kapely prepájajúce extrémny metal, grind, noise, sludge a ktorým záleží na DIY kazetovej kultúre. Prvá z dvoch kapiel Calques je pre mňa tajomnejšia pretože som nezistil odkiaľ pochádzajú a či hrajú aj v iných projektoch. Jej členovia sa však podieľali na zvukovom a grafickom prevedení splitka. Calques prispeli dvoma skladbami, ktoré trvajú 17 minút a majú blízko k prieniku pomalého experimentálneho sludge s harsh noise. Dlhé skladby fungujú cez opakovanie a postupné vrstvenie, ktoré kapela balí do tajomnej atmosféry plnej pochmúrneho napätia. Toto vytvára prenikavá, vysoko položená gitara na podklade hlbokých sludgeových riffov, do ktorých spevák vrieska skresleným vokálom. 

Na druhej strane prispeli troma kratšími skladbami Maltheist, ktorí majú blízko k old-school death-grindu. Ten je však spomalený, riffy sú úderné, rázne, plné hnevu. Z pozadia k riffom preznieva noise, ktorý sa stišuje a zosilňuje ako vlny oceánu a vytvára dynamickú atmosféru nahrávky. Vokál Maltheist je extrémne nízko posadený deathový growl, ktorý v kombinácii s riffmi, noiseovým hlukom a bicími vsuvkami smrdí hnilobou starých časov. Ako tretí song si kapela vybrala cover legendárnych Godflesh, ktorý industriálnu-noise-sludge líniu zvýrazní ešte viac. 

Na záver opis ešte jednej cesty alebo skôr premostenia. Ako som už spomenul, Maltheist je Mattov skorší death-grindový projekt, z ktorého sa časom posunul do melodickejšej tvorby Depleted. Po skúsenosti s pomalou, ale melodickou tvorbou Depleted, začal Matt experimentovať s doomovejšími, ale viac noise orientovanými prvkami aj v Maltheist. Toto smerovanie sa po prvý krát bjavilo až na tomto splite. Za mňa sú oba projekty Depleted a Maltheist vysokokvalitným prínosom do sveta Pomalej, Hlbokej a Ťažkej hudby (Green man approves) a som vďačný za náhody, vďaka ktorým sa mi otvárajú staronové cesty a premostenia k neznámym príbehom zo sveta undergroundu. 

 

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V.E.C. - Mental Dental (1998/2026)

Krajina: SK; MC Vydavateľstvo: Monastyr Records (STYR-100); 
Zoznam Skladieb: A1 New Art: The Crushing Symphony A2 Scrawl Down A3 Which Way to Go? A4 Cry For Nothing A5 Yourself A6 Perfect A7 Real Look A8 Citizen X A9 About Girls A10 Platonic Letter for Karyn A11 Society A12 My Ego A13 Psychical Bastard A14 Blues... A15 Vodka, rum a zelená  Celkový čas 23:02
 

Písal sa rok 1998 a na Slovensku podľa miestnych kronikárov prebiehala už asi tretia vlna grindcoru. Žáner, ktorý sa zrodil v polovici 80. rokov v UK, u nás prakticky s minimálnym oneskorením odpálili Lues de Funes, Abortion, Mentally Parasites a Obliterate (EP posledných menovaných, nahrané v reinkarnovanej zostave, vyšlo v roku 2025 na JDØS ako split so Samorast).

Začiatkom 90. rokov si grindové vplyvy čoraz výraznejšie osvojovali aj deathmetalisti. V podstate tak kopírovali vývoj v rodisku žánru, kde sa grindcore zo svojej pôvodnej hardcore/crustovej kolísky začal prelievať do deathmetalových vôd - stačí si porovnať prvé nahrávky Napalm Death s Harmony Corruption alebo raných Carcass s Necroticism - Descanting the Insalubrious. Súdiac podľa dobových tričiek, kaziet a katalógu Earache Records (ktorý mi v rokoch 1990-1991 chodil do schránky každý mesiac), nemalý podiel na tom mal aj US death metal, predovšetkým floridská scéna.

 

Aj na Slovensku tak v priebehu 90. rokov vyrástla pomerne silná základňa deathmetalových a death/grindových kapiel. Grind sa na chvíľu akoby nasťahoval k death metalu - aby sa potom z jeho útrob ku koncu dekády opäť vynorili aj nové, punkovejšie mutácie. A presne niekde tam sa objavili V.E.C. zo Žiliny, ktorých vznik sa datuje niekedy do roku 1998. Podľa vlastných slov, boli V.E.C. štyria teenageri očarovaní grindom a death metalom, ktoré nasávali teoretické skúsenosti v skúšobniach iných kapiel. Po tom ako dali dokopy kapelu spevák Miško a bubeník Milan, prizvali si na gitaru Ivana a výmenou basáka sa ku nim dostal aj Dano. 

V.E.C. koncertovali v Žiline a okolí, hlavne na študentských koncertoch a rôznych prehliadkach kapiel. Používali na tú dobu netradičné kostýmy, spevák Miško si balil hlavu do fólie a spieval do trúbky, robil sa stage diving a lámali sa kosti interpretov. Väčšia odviazanosť kapely, než na akú boli doboví organizátori pripravení, viedla neraz k predčasnému ukončeniu vystúpenia. Inými slovami - skoro zovšadiaľ ich vyhodili. 

Demo Mental Dental vzniklo v septembri 1998 v skúšobni v Trnovom pri Žiline spôsobom, ktorý vystihuje dobu aj samotnú kapelu. Pätnásť skladieb nahrali V.E.C. naživo, ako na obyčajnej skúške, viac-menej na prvý pokus. Odmenou pre zvukára bola fľaša - presnejšie jeden liter - borovičky. Deväťdesiatky zhrnuté do jednej vety.

Samotný materiál je drsný a neučesaný. Grindcore sa tu mieša s noisecore, punkom, hardcore a death metalom, pričom z toho celého cítiť ducha improvizácie a mladíckej bezprostrednosti. V.E.C. nehrajú technický death/grind, ktorý sa v druhej polovici 90. rokov čoraz viac stával štandardom extrémneho metalu. Mental Dental je skôr impromptu zrážka Terrorizer, Brutal Truth alebo Exit-13 s punkovým bordelom Anal Cunt a Meat Shits. Do toho pozorné ucho poznačené roky trvajúcim tinnitusom zachytí v skladbe My Ego riff, ktorý akoby z oka vypadol skladbe Freezing Moon od istej nemenovanej kapely z Nórska (pošlite mi jej meno a vyhrajte last minute zájazd prstom na mape na Kubu).

Prešlo skoro 30 rokov a z Miška je Michal, respektíve M., známy ako zakladateľ a frontman seriózneho projektu Zmyrna, raziaceho stredoveký black metal ovplyvnený reálnymi udalosťami zachytenými v dobových listinách. Stojí tiež za mikrolabelom Monastyr Records, ktorý sa špecializuje na blackmetalový a darkambientný underground.

Michal doma nedávno našiel pôvodný master Mental Dental na kazete a nechal ho zvukovo zreštaurovať a zremastrovať v krakovskom štúdiu Krypta. Do skladieb sa tak po rokoch vrátil pôvodne chýbajúci low-end. Mental Dental následne vydal na svojom labeli na kazete v limitovanom náklade 50 kusov a pripomenul nám tak časť histórie slovenského undergroundu, ktorá by inak zrejme ostala stratená.

 

 

Na úplný záver prosba. Michal momentálne zvádza ťažký boj s vážnou chorobou, ktorá mu okrem iného výrazne obmedzuje možnosť pracovať a zabezpečiť si prostriedky na bežný život. Ak vás V.E.C., Zmyrna alebo tento text oslovili, zvážte, prosím, jeho podporu.

Support links & Bank details: 
Revolut: https://revolut.me/michalcetera 
PayPal (friends/family): zmyrnablackmetal@gmail.com 
CZK bank account: 5357227083/0800 CZ60 0800 0000 0053 5722 7083 GIBACZPX Michal Cetera 
EUR bank account: SK60 0200 0000 0025 8499 0958 SUBASKBX 
Michal Cetera Distro & Zmyrna merch: https://monastyrmetal.bigcartel.com 

 

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Neurosis - An Undying Love for a Burning World (2026)

Krajina: US; MC Vydavateľstvo: Neurot Recordings (NR 138); 
Zoznam Skladieb: A1 We Are Torn Wide Open A2 Mirror Deep A3 First Red Rays A4 Blind A5 Seething and Scattered B1 Untethered B2 In the Waiting Hours B3 Last Light Celkový čas 1:03:30 

Do počúvania nového albumu Neurosis, ktorý vyšiel po desiatich rokoch, som sa pustil bez toho, aby som si vyhľadal akýkoľvek kontext alebo informácie o kapele či vzniku nahrávky. Čiže okrem všeobecne známych faktov, ako je počet rokov od posledného albumu a zmeny v zostave, v tomto momente neviem nič. Nasadzujem slúchadlá a idem na to.

 

Tempo skladieb je primárne pomalé až stredne rýchle. Bicie sú usadené, strojovo presné, no napriek tomu komplexné a inovatívne. Miestami, hlavne v protirytmických pasážach, dokonca navodzujú dojem industriálneho metalu v štýle starých Ministry. Akustické a čisté plochy, v ktorých vyniká s citom zahraná gitara, sa striedajú so sludgeovými riffmi tnúcimi do živého mäsa. Repetitívne pasáže sa vrstva po vrstve stupňujú, vytvárajú rozsiahle hudobné plochy a následne sa trieštia o agresívne, sekané post-HC výbuchy.

Celá táto dynamika je podliata samplami a synthom ako zapečená cuketa v sójovej omáčke. Práve elektronické a krautrockové elementy posúvajú feeling kapely k akejsi dystopickej nostalgii. Tak ako My Dying Bride kedysi v hradnej veži smútili za mladou kráskou, ktorá pri milostnej predohre vypadla z okna, Neurosis sedia na obhorenej verande a s jointom v elektronickej cigarete smútia nad zničenou krajinou po nukleárnej apokalypse.

Basa a gitary sa navzájom dopĺňajú a kombinujú melodické, na akordoch postavené mohutné riffy s vyhrávkami, vybrnkávačkami a basovými zbehmi po hmatníku oboma smermi. Do toho neustále presakuje atmosférická elektronika. V akustických pasážach sa vynára na povrch, aby sa pri sludgeových výbuchoch opäť ponorila do tmavej kaluže, z ktorej pulzuje, prebubláva a neustále vábi poslucháčovu pozornosť.

Jej využitie je pritom prekvapivo rozmanité - od melodických zvukov pripomínajúcich 80. roky cez krautrock až po moderné beaty, pri ktorých mi miestami napadne dubstep či bass music. Podobne rozmanité sú vokály. Občas mám dokonca pocit, akoby na albume spievalo niekoľko rôznych ľudí: od hlbokého hrdelného revu a NOLA sludge štekotu cez melodický spev až po harsh vokálové sample. Všetko je pritom zasadené do hudby podľa momentálnej dynamiky a atmosféry.

Objavia sa dokonca vrstvené melodické sludgeové duety mužského a ženského hlasu, ktoré na elektronickom podmaze vo mne vzdialene - a v dobrom - vyvolávajú asociáciu na starých Ulver z obdobia Blood Inside.

Najviac ma však prekvapuje nečakane pozitívna, miestami až optimistická melodika, ktorá pretkáva disharmonické sludgeové riffy. Neurosis tak proti sebe neustále stavajú dve nálady - nádej a bezvýchodiskovosť, pokoj a násilie, svetlo a spálenú zem.

Pri prvom posluchu mám zároveň pocit, že album postupne oťažieva. Z melodickejších úvodných skladieb sa pomaly prepadáva hlbšie do sludge a miestami až noiseových pasáží, ktoré vo mne vyvolávajú rastúce napätie a akúsi predtuchu konca. Posledná skladba je zároveň najťažšou na albume. Podladené skreslené riffy a spätné väzby tlačia na ušné bubienky v pomalom bahennom tempe, všetko hustne, vrství sa a tlačí dopredu, až zrazu príde katarzia.

Koniec.

Spásonosné ticho.

Tak a dopočúvané jest. Otváram internet a googlim. 10 rokov, Scott Kelly je preč a Aaron Turner (SUMAC, Isis) je dnu. Okamžite zapadol - pred 30 rokmi podľa vlastných slov vďaka Neurosis objavil hudbu, teraz sa stal spolutvorcom jej najnovšieho smerovania. Album vznikal viac menej potajomky počas troch víkendov v štúdiu. Mixoval sa tri dni a na švrtý vstal z mixpultu. Žiadne ohlásenie, proste album bol jedného dňa, konrétne šesť týždňov po jeho nahratí von. Kapela spomína témy albumu ako klimatická kríza, masové vymieranie, úzkosť, izolácia a smútok. Medzi piatym a šiestym masovým vymieraním ubehlo 66 miliónov rokov, medzi jedenástym a dvanástym albumom Neurosis ubehlo desať rokov. 

Odkedy som sa stal fanúšikom Neurosis, ubehla jedna hodina, tri minúty a tridsať sekúnd. 

 

I’m writing an ongoing series about tapes from my collection and the JDØS Distro. The selections are mostly random, depending on my mood at the moment. Sometimes I try to write a proper review, other times they’re just thoughts about an album while listening to it. Having physical contact with the release is essential for me – if you want me to give some thought to your music too, send me a tape. If something in this article speaks to you for whatever reason, you can support the JDØS label by picking something up from the distro – prices are suggested and indicative, so just let me know how much you’re willing to pay for whatever catches your interest. Thanks for the support and feedback, Tom/EZR
 

 

The Oath of the Black Blood (1991/2020)

In my hands I have an American tribute to the cult Beherit album, released on cassette by Nuclear War Now! under catalogue number ANTI-GOTH 500 to mark the 30th anniversary of its original release. The story behind it is wrapped in legends, which are worth briefly revisiting.

Beherit were formed by three young Finns living in Rovaniemi, close to the Arctic Circle, and hiding behind the menacing pseudonyms Nuclear Holocausto Vengeance (guitar, vocals), Sodomatic Slaughter (drums), and Daemon Fornication (bass). Their pseudonyms, visual aesthetic, and music were inspired by Canada's Blasphemy and Brazil's Sarcófago. In 1990, Beherit recorded the Demonomancy demo and the Dawn of Satan's Millenium EP, sending promotional tapes to underground labels. One of those who responded was the young German label Turbo, which offered the band a deal for an LP and sent them a small advance. Allegedly, instead of spending the money on studio time, the band spent it on alcohol. Turbo subsequently released The Oath of Black Blood without the band's consent, putting the Demonomancy demo on one side and the Dawn of Satan's Millenium EP on the other, using the promo cassette sound without any further treatment as compensation for the missing new material.

Because of this controversy, The Oath of Black Blood is generally regarded more as a compilation than a legitimate official album. What neither the band nor the label probably realised at the time was just how much of a cult status The Oath of Black Blood would eventually achieve. At a time when death metal bands ruled the metal underground and tended to look down on the emerging second wave of black metal with little respect and often open ridicule, releasing an album with such a raw, ugly sound and all its various imperfections could easily have meant the end of the young musicians' career. Probably nobody expected The Oath of Black Blood to have exactly the opposite effect, and that despite everything, Beherit would use this release to lay the foundations of a new extreme genre – bestial black/war metal – that remains alive to this day.

Unlike the original release, for which Germany's Turbo used a promotional cassette rather than the studio master in 1991, the American label Nuclear War Now! collaborated with Nuclear Holocausto Vengeance, who supplied the original master. It was restored, subsequently remastered, and used as the source for the new edition. The artwork was handled by Dan Fried, also known from the US doom band Mortiferum, who approached it with respect for the aesthetics of underground cassette releases from the early 1990s. The tape comes in a deluxe edition with a four-panel booklet, the inside featuring a photograph of Nuclear Holocausto Vengeance and Sodomatic Slaughter.

As for my impressions of the music, I already wrote a few words about my first encounter with The Oath of Black Blood in the first part of the A Blaze Through the Vinyl Collection series – and everything I wrote back then still applies today. The album begins with two thunderclaps and ends with the sound of an organ dissolving into a fading digital echo. Everything in between is magic. The kind of magic that, besides permanently rewiring the aesthetic sensibilities of one teenager, contains within itself an essence capable of creating entirely new genres and subcultures, which continue to mutate across time and space while carrying an unmistakable trace of their original DNA.

Artists and albums like this – emerging almost accidentally somewhere on the fringes, without any grand ambitions, yet ultimately changing everything around them – have become incredibly rare in recent years. I'm grateful that I was there when it appeared and that I've been able to follow its journey all the way to where it is today.

 

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Split (2021)  

My journey towards this cassette split by two American entities, Calques and Maltheist, was an interesting one. Sometime last winter, I bought a tape by the American funeral doom band Depleted – Failing (2023) – from the Slovenian label Rope or Guillotine. I hadn't known Depleted before and picked the tape purely by its cover on the ROG website – pretty much the same way I used to choose tapes from the window of a semi-legal cassette shop in Nowy Targ back in the 90s. Failing grabbed me immediately on the first listen – deeply felt doom with an excellent sound, which I reviewed shortly afterwards. I also contacted the band to ask whether they'd be interested in an interview. Matt Sullivan replied to my email – he liked the review and agreed to the interview. At the same time, he sent me a package of tapes all the way from Portland, Oregon, USA. Among them was the latest Depleted album, but also some of Matt's other projects, including Maltheist and the noise project Red Boiling Springs.

The now sold-out Calques / Maltheist split was released on July 30, 2021, by Orb Tapes from Pennsylvania, USA, in a limited edition of 50 copies. Orb Tapes defines its catalogue as "fringe music on physical media" and focuses on bands operating somewhere between extreme metal, grind, noise and sludge, while maintaining a strong connection to DIY cassette culture.

The first of the two bands, Calques, remains the more mysterious one to me, as I wasn't able to find out where they come from or whether its members are involved in any other projects. They did, however, contribute to both the sound and visual presentation of the split. Calques offer two tracks spanning 17 minutes and inhabiting the space where slow experimental sludge collides with harsh noise. The lengthy compositions work through repetition and gradual layering, wrapped in a mysterious atmosphere full of bleak tension. This is created by piercing, high-pitched guitar hovering over deep sludge riffs, while distorted screams cut their way through the whole thing.

On the other side, Maltheist contribute three shorter tracks rooted in old-school death/grind. Here, however, everything is slowed down. The riffs are blunt, forceful and filled with anger. Noise seeps through from behind them, rising and falling like ocean waves and creating a constantly shifting atmosphere throughout the recording. Maltheist's vocals are an extremely low death-metal growl which, combined with the riffs, walls of noise and bursts of drums, reeks of the rot of old times. For their third track, the band chose to cover the legendary Godflesh, pushing the industrial/noise/sludge connection even further to the foreground.

To finish, let me describe one more journey – or perhaps, more accurately, another bridge between different paths. As mentioned earlier, Maltheist is Matt's earlier death/grind project, from which he gradually moved towards the more melodic world of Depleted. After experiencing the slower but more melodic approach of Depleted, Matt began experimenting with doomier, yet more noise-oriented elements within Maltheist as well. This direction appeared for the first time on this split.

For me, both Depleted and Maltheist are high-quality contributions to the world of Slow, Deep and Heavy music – Green Man approves – and I'm grateful for those little accidents and coincidences that keep opening old-new paths and building unexpected bridges towards unknown stories from the underground.

 

⏭️ ⏭️  

 

 

Mental Dental (1998/2026)

It was 1998, and according to local chroniclers, Slovakia was already going through something like its third wave of grindcore. The genre, born in the UK in the mid-80s, arrived here with practically no delay, ignited by Lues de Funes, Abortion, Mentally Parasites, and Obliterate (an EP by the latter, recorded by their reincarnated line-up, was released in 2025 on JDØS as a split with Samorast).

By the beginning of the 90s, death metal bands were increasingly absorbing grind influences as well. In a way, they were simply following the evolution taking place in the genre's birthplace, where grindcore had begun spilling out of its original hardcore/crust cradle and into death metal waters – just compare the early Napalm Death recordings with Harmony Corruption, or early Carcass with Necroticism – Descanting the Insalubrious. Judging by the T-shirts, tapes, and Earache Records catalogues of the time (which used to arrive in my mailbox every month in 1990–1991), US death metal – and the Florida scene in particular – played no small part in this development.

Throughout the 90s, Slovakia likewise developed a fairly strong base of death metal and death/grind bands. For a while, grind seemed to have moved in with death metal – only for new, more punk-oriented mutations to crawl back out of its guts towards the end of the decade. And it was somewhere around this point that V.E.C. from Žilina appeared, their beginnings dating back to sometime in 1998. In their own words, V.E.C. were four teenagers fascinated by grind and death metal, soaking up theoretical experience in the rehearsal rooms of other bands. After vocalist Miško and drummer Milan put the band together, they brought in Ivan on guitar, and following a change of bassist, Dano joined the line-up as well.

V.E.C. played shows in Žilina and the surrounding area, mainly at student gigs and various band showcases. They wore costumes that were rather unusual for the time, vocalist Miško wrapped his head in plastic foil and sang through a tube, there was stage diving, and performers' bones occasionally got broken. The band's level of wildness was often somewhat beyond what local promoters of the time were prepared for, resulting in their performances being cut short on more than one occasion. In other words – they got thrown out of almost everywhere.

The Mental Dental demo was recorded in September 1998 in a rehearsal room in Trnové near Žilina, in a way that perfectly captures both the era and the band itself. V.E.C. recorded its fifteen tracks live, like an ordinary rehearsal, more or less on the first attempt. The sound engineer's payment was a bottle – or, to be precise, one litre – of borovička. The 90s summed up in a single sentence.

The material itself is raw and unpolished. Grindcore collides with noisecore, punk, hardcore and death metal, while the whole thing carries a spirit of improvisation and youthful spontaneity. V.E.C. don't play the technical death/grind that was increasingly becoming the standard of extreme metal during the second half of the 90s. Mental Dental is more like an impromptu collision of Terrorizer, Brutal Truth, or Exit-13 with the punk filth of Anal Cunt and Meat Shits. On top of that, an attentive ear damaged by years of tinnitus might catch a riff in My Ego that sounds suspiciously like the one in Freezing Moon by a certain unnamed band from Norway (send me their name and win a last-minute finger-on-the-map holiday to Cuba).

Almost 30 years have passed, and Miško is now Michal – or M. – known as the founder and frontman of the serious project Zmyrna, playing medieval black metal influenced by real events documented in historical records. He is also behind the micro-label Monastyr Records, specialising in the black metal and dark ambient underground.

Michal recently found the original Mental Dental master tape at home and had it sonically restored and remastered at Krypta Studio in Kraków. As a result, the originally missing low-end finally found its way back into the songs after all these years. Mental Dental was subsequently released on cassette through his own label in a limited edition of 50 copies, bringing back to life a piece of Slovak underground history that would otherwise most likely have remained lost.

And finally, a request. Michal is currently fighting a difficult battle with a serious illness which, among other things, significantly limits his ability to work and earn enough to cover his everyday living expenses. If V.E.C., Zmyrna, or this text have struck a chord with you, please consider supporting him.


Support links & Bank details:
Revolut: https://revolut.me/michalcetera
PayPal (friends/family): zmyrnablackmetal@gmail.com
CZK bank account: 5357227083/0800 CZ60 0800 0000 0053 5722 7083 GIBACZPX Michal Cetera
EUR bank account: SK60 0200 0000 0025 8499 0958 SUBASKBX
Michal Cetera Distro & Zmyrna merch: https://monastyrmetal.bigcartel.com

 

 

⏭️ ⏭️ 

 

 

 

An Undying Love for a Burning World (2026)

 

I started listening to the new Neurosis album, released after a ten-year gap, without looking up any context or information about the band or how the record came together. So apart from the generally known facts, like the number of years since the last album and the changes in the line-up, at this point I know nothing. Headphones on. Here we go.

The songs move primarily at a slow to mid-paced tempo. The drums are grounded and machine-precise, yet still complex and inventive. At times, especially during the counter-rhythmic passages, they even evoke the industrial metal of old Ministry. Acoustic and clean passages, where the sensitively played guitar comes to the fore, alternate with sludge riffs cutting straight into living flesh. Repetitive passages build layer upon layer, creating vast musical landscapes before shattering against aggressive, chopped-up post-HC eruptions.

All this dynamics is drenched in samples and synth like baked zucchini in soy sauce. It is precisely these electronic and krautrock elements that push the band's feeling towards a kind of dystopian nostalgia. Just as My Dying Bride once mourned in a castle tower for a young beauty who fell out of a window during some amorous foreplay, Neurosis sit on a charred veranda, a joint stuck into an electronic cigarette, mourning the devastated landscape left behind by a nuclear apocalypse.

Bass and guitars complement each other, combining massive melodic, chord-based riffs with guitar leads, picked passages and bass runs travelling up and down the fretboard. Atmospheric electronics constantly seep through it all. During the acoustic passages they rise to the surface, only to sink back into a dark puddle during the sludge eruptions, pulsing and bubbling from underneath, constantly luring the listener's attention.

The way electronics are used is surprisingly diverse – from melodic sounds reminiscent of the 80s through krautrock to modern beats that occasionally make me think of dubstep or bass music. The vocals are equally varied. At times I even get the impression that several different people are singing on the album: from deep guttural roars and NOLA sludge barking through melodic singing to harsh vocal samples. Everything is placed within the music according to the dynamics and atmosphere of the particular moment.

There are even layered melodic sludge duets between male and female voices which, floating over an electronic backdrop, remotely – and in a good way – bring to mind old Ulver from the Blood Inside era.

What surprises me most, however, is the unexpectedly positive, at times almost optimistic melodicism weaving its way through the dissonant sludge riffs. Neurosis constantly pit two moods against each other – hope and hopelessness, calm and violence, light and scorched earth.

During this first listen, I also get the feeling that the album gradually becomes heavier. From the more melodic opening tracks, it slowly sinks deeper into sludge and, at times, even noise passages, creating a growing tension and some kind of premonition of the end. The final track is also the heaviest on the album. Downtuned distorted riffs and feedback push against the eardrums at a slow, muddy pace; everything thickens, layers up and pushes forward until, suddenly, catharsis arrives.

The end.

Blessed silence.

And thus it has been listened to. I open the internet and start googling. Ten years. Scott Kelly is gone and Aaron Turner (SUMAC, Isis) is in. He immediately found his place – 30 years ago, in his own words, Neurosis helped him discover the music he had been looking for; now he has become one of the people shaping its latest direction. The album was created more or less in secret over three weekends in the studio. It was mixed in three days (and on the fourth day he rose from the mixing desk). No announcement – one day the album was simply out, just six weeks after it had been recorded.

The band mentions themes such as the climate crisis, mass extinction, anxiety, isolation and sorrow. Sixty-six million years passed between the fifth and sixth mass extinctions. Ten years passed between the eleventh and twelfth Neurosis albums.

It has been one hour, three minutes and thirty seconds since I became a Neurosis fan. 

 

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CASSETTE REVIEWS @ JDØS:

 

JUL'26: 4x Cassette Review: Hrob (2026); Morgh (2026); Temora (2025); Witchburn (1997/2020)

MAY'26: 4x Cassette Review: Peace Vaults (2026); Sniffah (2026); Cancer Void (2025), Torturetwinn (2025)

APR'26: 4x Cassette Review: False Figure (2026); Gott (2022); 2x Otras / Chevallier Skrog / Bahratal / Pakosteň (2026) 

APR'26: Therapist (2026); Carnivore A.D. (2026),  Miguel and the Living Dead (2026)

MAR'26: 5x Cassette Review: Depleted (2023), Sekeromlat/Vazio (2024), Messa (2022), Wermut (2010), Morgain (1997)

FEB'26: 5x Cassette Review: Necroratory (2024), Ockultist (2024), Ys Jensyts/Howl (2025), Dool (2018), Bizarre of Brutality (1997)

JAN'26: 5x Cassette Review: God's Funeral/Hades (2019), Hibernant (2025), Morbid Angel Dust (2022), Master's Hammer (2025), Mentally Parasites (1993)

DEC'25: 5x Cassette Review: Sír (2025), Burial Hex (2025), Bleib Modern (2024), Aeon Winds (2025), The Last Days of Jesus (1995)