Ungod

Germany's UNGOD, hailing from Bavaria, is a band that has made an impact on German black metal, but is not as widely known outside the borders of their native land. Their music in the early 90s helped shape the German scene almost as much as that of Desaster's or Eminenz's, and in that regard, they are an important band.

Ungod was formed in late 1991 by Schiekron (bass), Condemptor (drums), Ancient Blasphemic Grave Invocator (guitar), Angel of Blasphemy (guitar), and Infamist of Tumulus (vocals). Citing old-school masters Hellhammer,  Venom, and Bathory as inspiration--as well as Master's Hammer, Samael, and the early Greek scene--Ungod set about creating vile, blasphemous music shortly after their inception.

Here is their 1992 demo in its entirety

The result was the 1992 demo Magicus Tallis Damnatio. As you can hear above, this demo is raw and primitive black metal that not only bears the imprint of Ungod's aforementioned inspirations, but you can also hear the influence of bands like Sarcofago and Blasphemy. The intense minimalism of their sound also calls to mind the style of Dutch band Bestial Summoning.

Speaking of Bestial Summoning, the release of Magicus caught the ear of The Unsane, vocalist for that Dutch band. After reviewing the demo favorably in his underground zine, he approached  the band with the idea of putting out a full-length album on his label, Heretic Supremacist Records. The band agreed.

This is the title track from Circle of the Seven Infernal Pacts

The resulting album, Circle of the Seven Infernal Pacts, is a refining of their demo sound and a milestone in 1990s German black metal. The influence of Samael and Master's Hammer can be heard pretty strongly, yet the album stands on its own. Heretic Supremacist Records released the album on vinyl in early 1993 before folding. Germany's Merciless Records then put out the album on CD in late 1993.

With this album, Ungod had now established themselves as a force to be reckoned with in German black metal. That being said, they still remained a very underground band. Over the next few years, they only managed to put out splits with other underground bands and the occasional demo. While their cult, underground ethos propeled them forward, they never exploded on the international scene in the way that fellow Germans Desaster or Nagelfar did. Due to personnel issues, the band broke up in 1998.

The 2009 self-titled EP is the source of this song, "Dawn of the Black Apocalypse"

Other than a re-release of the Magicus demo as a split with Baxaxaxa (a band that featured Condemptor and Ancient Blasphemic Grave Invocator) in 2002, there was silence from Ungod for many years. Then, in 2008, members of the band were approached by Kneel Before the Master's Throne Records about re-releasing 1993's Circle. This eventually led to the band re-forming with the original line-up fairly intact (new member Kvaltor was now their sole guitarist, however). Since re-forming, Ungod has been extremely prolific, putting out multiple full-length albums and continuing their tradition of collaborating on split albums with other underground bands.

An example of their recent sound, "Blessed by the Whore" is from their 2016 album, Bewitched by Sins and Lust

Select Discography:

Magic Tallis Damnation (demo) (1992)

Instrumental Rehearsal (demo) (1993)

Circle of the Seven Infernal Pacts (full-length album) (1993)

Conquering What Was Once Ours EP (1995)

Renaissance of the Dark Arcade 7" (split with Cabal) (1995)

Aeon of Sunless Dominion 7" (split with Desaster) (1995)
Promo 1995 (demo) (1995)

Phallus Cult 7" (split with Sadistic Intent) (1998)

Ungod EP (2009)

Cloaked in Eternal Darkness (full-length album) (2011)

Bewitched by Sins and Lust (full-length album) (2016)

Next time: SATYRICON

Bestial Summoning

Not known for its black metal, the Netherlands has nevertheless produced some really amazing bands. I absolutely love Unlord, for example, for their raw, in-your-face, blisteringly fast style, and Urfaust's recent work is otherworldly and transcendent while still remaining firmly within the black metal genre. But a lot of early Dutch black metal bands have flown under the radar and were really only known to hardcore fans or those who obsess over every facet of the genre. The highly influential BESTIAL SUMMONING, from the city of Venlo, is one such band.

Formed in 1990 by band members Conscicide, Sephiroth, and The Unsane, Bestial Summoning cited some of the darker and more evil elements of the 1980s black metal underground as their influences: Blasphemy, Sarcofago, Holocausto, and even the recently-formed Beherit. The Satanic bastards of Bestial Summoning were utterly devoted to creating nasty, raw, evil music in the black metal style.

In the early months of their existence, they jammed a few times and even had a few recorded rehearsals circulate as bootlegs. These are extremely difficult to find and I am only aware of one rehearsal ever making it onto a CD: the "Black Rites (Sinister Ritual)" rehearsal, which was a one-song rehearsal from 1990.

This is just a snippet of a 1990 jam session 

Bestial Summoning's rawness in their style was partially due to their DIY ethos--it is said that most of their music is the result of improvisation. After some other noteworthy rehearsal sessions (including one that eventually made it onto the 2008 split with Heretic, Splitting Skulls With Satan), Bestial Summoning put out a demo, Sodomistic Rituals, that quickly became well-known in the darkest circles of the black metal underground.

In its entirety, here is the 1991 demo

The waves that this demo made in the underground led to interest from some pretty noteworthy extreme metal labels, among them the Swedish label No Fashion. The members of Bestial Summoning personally knew the men of No Fashion Records, so that is who they chose to sign with. This led to the release of their one and only full-length album, The Dark War Has Begun.

Off of the full-length The Dark War Has Begun, this is "Victory is Ours"

By admission of the band themselves, their style was more controlled, less chaotic on their full-length album. They still relied heavily upon improvisation, but elements of structure were present in ways that simply were not there on the demo material. That said, Bestial Summoning's trademark rawness was still in full-force on Dark War. In early 1990s black metal,bands tended to polish their sound more and more as they emerged from the underground. This was simply not the case with Bestial Summoning.

They didn't last long after this full-length---just long enough for them to put out an official live tape (known as the "Live in Venray" tape), and for a couple of other bootlegs to surface. But by this time, their mark had been made. Their material has re-surfaced a couple of other times--most recently in the form of a 2008 compilation--thus showing how important they were in the underground.

Select Discography:

"Black Rites (Sinister Ritual)" (rehearsal track) (1990)

Sodomistic Rituals (demo) (1991)

The Dark War Has Begun (full-length) (1992)

Official Live Tape (Live in Venray) (1992)

Next time: EMINENZ