Yet another reason for you to pay more attention to what's going on in the Baltic underground. This is an old (1994) demo from a project featuring members of Tharaphita. The entire line-up from the latter's "Kui Varjud Polevad" demo plays here, so if you ever wondered what Tharaphita would sound like if they were a death-doom band, here is your answer. And even if you never gave a damn, this is still very much recommended because it's pretty darn good.

Ank combines his usual piercing screaming with some excellent growls while the rest of the band back him up with four crushing, rock-solid songs and a cover of Bathory's "13 Candles" to boot. The first two songs are easily my favorites and in a way could probably be compared to some of the Finnish bands of this ilk. These tracks are more doomy and long, with cool lead work which sometimes gives-off some rather exotic (somehow I am tempted to say Middle Eastern) vibes. The other two pick up the pace a little bit with more aggressive riffing and predominating death metal feel.

I had no idea whether or not Discrucior were still active, especially given the age of this demo and the fact that it was the only release of theirs that I ever heard of, so I strongly suspected that the band was long gone. My suspicions, unfortunately, came true when I e-mailed guitarist Alo who broke the bad news to me. Discrucior, indeed, has been dead for a while despite the fact that both Ank and Massacra of Tharaphita were committed to the band 'till the end. On the bright side, the band's former bass player Ahto has a new pagan metal project called Loits, so if you are interested you know what to look for. For now "Mundus Subterraneus" definitely gets a seal of approval.

© 2000 boris