Written by:	nikarg, musclassia, Starvynth, Abattoir, Nejde, AndyMetalFreak
Published:	07.08.2023

Clandestine Cuts Volume 13, Issue #7
The Metal Storm Demo/EP Spotlight



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!

(Think your band has what it takes to be featured in the Cuts? Email demos@metalstorm.net to submit your music.)

In case you're new to this, go back and enjoy our last few issues:

Clandestine Cuts Vol. 13 #6
Clandestine Cuts Vol. 13 #5
Clandestine Cuts Vol. 13 #4

And now to the new music...

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Swamp Dukes are a newly formed hard rock/stoner metal act consisting of Ilija Stevanovic (vocals and harmonica), Bora Jovanovic (guitars), and Stevan Fujto (bass). To put it simply, this is a Serbian swamp-dwelling trio (yes, Serbia has swamps too; many in fact, very much like Louisiana in the U.S.A.) that play Deep South-inspired bluesy stoner metal. Here, on the short EP Living Nightmares, you can expect to get your deep Southern groove on, through classy, bluesy-inspired solos and cool guitar licks, deep stoner vocals, and even a touch of the harmonica. Just think of Creedence Clearwater Revival meeting Clutch and you'll get the idea of the style we have here. With added sound effects, such as footsteps and bell rings, you even get the feeling that you yourself are dwelling through the heart of the treacherous murky swamplands; just watch out for whatever creatures lurk within these Serbian swamps!

by AndyMetalFreak

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Ve is a new band from Gothenburg, and they play music that can be best described as melodic death metal. However, and before you jump to any conclusions, this is not the standard melodeath kind of music, which is basically power metal with growls. Depending on which track you listen to, you will find that Ve’s music has groove, epic folkiness, doominess, blackened twists, and even a gothic rock element, with the lead melodies always tying everything together nicely (check out the sweet solo on “Awake”). There is quite a bit of variety on the Shackles Of Reality, and the use of clean vocals and clean guitars is a nice touch, as is the audible bass. This first EP is a very promising start for a band that clearly has many more strengths than weaknesses, in the sense that there is very little, if anything, to be corrected when they decide to go for a full-length album.

by nikarg

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I’m pretty vocal about my infatuation with post-metal, but still, with the sheer volume of bands in the genre, if a new group wants to stand out, it certainly helps to have a little something extra to their sound to distinguish themselves. In the case of Louisiana’s Fauns, they opt for a post-doom hybrid in the vein of groups such as Process Of Guilt and Ortega; the structures and various aspects of the textures on Surcease owe themselves to post-metal, but doom has more than a supporting role too. The type of doom can vary a bit; there’s bits where the sludge origins of post-metal coalesce into a sludge/stoner doom sound, but Fauns owe more to death/doom and gothic doom. The deep growled vocals fit nicely with the dirgier death/doom passages, but some of the cleaner slow passages, particularly one running through the middle of “Ashen”, bear some influence from groups such as Draconian and Swallow The Sun. Together, these ideas come together very effectively, with Surcease offering crushing heaviness, melancholic atmospheres, and menacing aggression in almost equal measure.

by musclassia

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If you think that the Clandestine Cuts series offer too much extreme metal and you're looking for something softer and more melodic, Conflicting Dreams is the band you should check out. This Swedish duo offers some melodic hard rock with tinges of heavy metal that is heavily inspired by the '80s rock scene, but with a modern touch. The EP opens up with the excellent "Blindsided" and it sets the bar quite high for the following tracks. It begins with a straight forward guitar riff with some strings on top, setting the mood. Singer Robert Lindberg immediately shows us the whole register of his voice, starting off quite soft during the verse just to deliver some powerful high notes during the extremely catchy chorus. Second track "Slumbering Heart" is a synth-driven song, and we get yet another great chorus. Both these songs also feature some great '80s-oozing guitar solos. "Finally Sane" is slightly heavier and more proggy, even though it's the shortest track here, but funnily enough the chorus is softer. And just like in the '80s, we get the mandatory ballad to round things up. "Treasure" shows the gentler side of Lindberg's voice. For us who were young back then, this has a really nostalgic feel to it. What impresses me most though is the excellent production. This has big studio quality written all over it, even though it's completely made in a home studio. If I didn't know better, I would have thought that this was a band with several albums under their belt already. So, for those of you who love melodic '80s rock, you don't want to miss this one.

by Nejde

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Although we should (normally) always be afraid of nuclear threats in every aspect, this one comes along in a bit more harmless way. Well, maybe not for your ears. Hailing from Springfield, Massachusetts, the Nuclear Threat duo brings to the table a six-piece debut EP of a solid-strong thrash metal in the vein of Toxic Holocaust as well as some legendary German ("teutonic") thrash metal bands, such as Kreator and Sodom. The music of this band, which is basically built around multi-instrumentalist/vocalist (and also producer) Mike Silva, possesses a fierce approach throughout the 20-minute runtime with raw vocals, intense, pounding drumming, lots of diverse guitar shredding including several solos, as befits such a style. With this product, Nuclear Threat paved themselves a way from a very good starting point onwards to the next endeavors. And while this one is still fresh, Mike Silva is already working hard on the follow-up (due out in 2024).

by Abattoir

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In my experience, there's usually only little substance and not enough musical relevance when extreme views and extreme music unite, and that's why I'm always sceptical when artists use their music and their social media to propagate their political aganda. However, here's A///Plague from São Paulo, founded in 2019 to prove that exceptions to this rule do exist. While their previous releases - three demos and a 2021 EP - already stood out from the broad mass of RABM due to solid songwriting and musical prowess, the current EP represents the most mature offering of the Brazilian duo so far. The digital version of Long Dark Veins contains only two songs (the simultaneously released cassette offers two bonus tracks), but these eight and a half minutes are so varied in pace and style, that both fans of melodic mid-tempo black metal and friends of fast, no-frills crust punk, get their money's worth. A special highlight are the tribal-esque interludes, which serve as a short breather in between and further intensify the doomy atmosphere and the slightly sinister, menacing aura of this short but sweet EP.

by Starvynth

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