There are very few bands that have managed to weave a web of mystery around them. Very few have survived and kept going strong until today. When faced with the question 'which' people tend to mention American death-mongers with the likes of MORBID ANGEL, DEICIDE or CANNIBAL CORPSE ... However, for a few years now in the same breath many have named VADER - perhaps the only band from Europe which has sustained it´s status for a number of years. Theirs is the cult of musical brutality and the urge to succeed. Few may remember that VADER were the first band ever from behind "the Iron Curtain" to sign to a Western label while their 1990 demo "Morbid Reich" is still considered to be the best selling demo tape in the history of death metal. VADER formed in 1986. In 1993 they released their debut album titled "The Ultimate Incantation" (Earache) which has since become one of the milestones of European death metal. These were also the first brutal sounds from behind "the Iron Curtain" which reached the audiences all over the world. Promoting the album VADER introduced themselves to the Western world by undertaking a forty-date European tour with label mates BOLT THROWER and Swedish deathsters GRAVE. Another, thirty-plus date tour with DEICIDE, SUFFOCATION, and DISMEMBER invaded American continent in May and June of the same year. Communication breakdown with their label led to the termination of the contract with Earache and the 1994 release of two then-underestimated albums: "Sothis" (Repulse) and "The Darkest Age - Live '93" (Baron). - (Read more)

VINDEX plays music based on rough power metal riffs and nimble twin-guitar neo-classical melodies. The trademark of the band is the vocalist, who is reminiscent of singers like Udo Dirkschneider, Chris Boltendahl or even Graham Bonnet. This gives the band’s music a rough edge to offset the smooth compositions and thus prevents the songs from becoming overly sentimental. The band started its existence in 2000/2001 as a studio project of young bass guitarist Ronnie König, who started recording his own compositions. The first one who joined him was a friend of Ronnie, guitarist Jozef Rigo (spring 2002). As the songs were arranged for two guitars, they soon invited Ronnie’s former school mate and talented metal guitarist Ado Kaláber. Unfortunately, they could not find a drummer capable of playing classic metal style in time for recordings. As a result, they had to compromise and use a drum-machine instead. Ludek Struhar, the vocalist had joined the band as the last one. Interestingly, he was found via Accept – tribute band FLASHBACK from the Czech Republic. Moreover, he is also known as a skillful drummer of now disbanded PREMIER, once one of the top-selling rock bands in former Czechoslovakia. This line-up recorded the band’s first and only demo CD named Rise Up! (September 2003). Ambitiously, the band started immediately playing their live gigs. The first two dates took place nowhere else than on two biggest summer rock festivals which were organized in Slovakia in 2004 – More Than Fest in Martin and Masters Of Rock in Senec. There they shared the same stage with bands like Helloween and recently reunited Europe. Their live activities continued also during the following year, although the band focused on rehearsing and recording new studio material, which comprised more tracks than for just one album. - (Read more)

VIR was formed in Minsk, 2000 by Jermak and Žen, - (Read more)

Weeping Birth is an extreme metal entity originating from Switzerland and lead by only one man: Vladimir. Influenced by a very wide range of formations, may they be metal or not, the music created evolves within a very fast death metal style, strongly influenced by black metal consonances. It was formed in 1999, year in which the first demo "Officium Tenebrarum" was recorded. Its reception was excellent throughout the underground press. The process of writing and recording the first album took four long years. It is only in 2003 that "A Painting of Raven and Rape" saw the light. The years that followed were very chaotic. New material should have been released on vinyl in 2006 by a more noise-oriented label, but for tragic reasons, the project could not and did not succeed. In the meantime, new songs had been produced as well and were ready to be released. But disappointed by the failure that had been the year 2006, and therefore lacking energy, Weeping Birth was put on an undetermined hiatus. Now Weeping Birth is back and ready to strike. All the past years songs have been compiled into one album that will be released early Spring 2008. Its name is "Anosognosic Industry of the I", and it will contain 13 tracks for nearly 80 minutes of music. - (Read more)

Xzoriath was formed 1999 in Linköping (Sweden) by Eve (vocals) and Geno (guitars), but has worked with the recent musical concept, which probably could be labeled as symphonic death metal, since 2001. In the beginning we tried some experimental ambient music but when Emil (drums) joined the band the jamming started to sound more and more like metal. Year 2000 Janne (bass) joined the at that time still nameless band. A few riffs was created that sounded much like death metal but meant problems for Eve who didn't know how to sing this kind of music. She started to play keyboards instead. That gave a new touch to the death metal riffs but now Xzoriath didn't have a lead vocalist. A couple of months passed and the problem was still there, until Eve got bored and learned how to growl. She combined this with her classical singing skills. The vocalist problem was solved and the producing of tunes started. The first live performance was made in November 2001 in Linköping (Sweden) and for now we have done about 20 live-shows and released three self-financed records. Through the years Xzoriath has established a steady fan-basis all over the world and the traffic at our website is increasingly good with visitors from 80 different countries since August 2004. In year 2002 Rikard (bass) joined Xzoriath in order to fill up the register between guitars and low bass. During this year our first demo - "The Laws of the Third Apocalypse" - was released and a couple of concerts played. In April 2003 Gustav ("Soulless Symphony") joined Xzoriath and took over the keyboards so Eve could concentrate on vocals. In June 2003 Xzoriath entered the studio and in September Xzoriath's 2:nd CD "Redimensioned" was released. Then a year of hard work with the new material followed and during the summer 2004 a new CD "Faces reversed" was produced - a very satisfying outcome that has given us a lot of new listeners. - (Read more)