Compulsory: "Gnosis"

An obscure gem from the cassette-age

When Gnosis came out in 1994 as Danish death practitioners debut demo, their style of specialised weirdening death metal was perhaps a bit late to the ball. After all, off-kilter death metal classics like Considered Dead and Piece of Time had already been out for a few years at this point. However, Compulsory's demo isn't without its own flair.

U.D.S.: "Too Fast for Love"

Thuggish grindcore beatings

Self-proclaimed practitioners of goreviolence, U.D.S. curate their brand of ghetto grindcore with all knobs turned to maximum. They're not too fancy to not include a bunch of pitch shifted vocals to go with their devastating low-end grooves either!

Gestapolis: "Amagerland"

Amagerbro grindcore warmachine!

With grindcore it's no good to just claim something as being no-holds-barred, unrelenting, or extreme, because that's basically just the name of the game. There are other factors to take into account instead, otherwise you would just be describing every grindcore band ever.

Demon Head: "Thunder on the Fields"

Bluesy Heavy Rock Thunder from Denmark

With exceptional and prominent bands praciticing the style like Horisont, Kadavar, Witchcraft, Graveyard and many, many more, the sort of proggy sound of 70's-tinged hard rock is back in full vigour. Add to this roster the Danes in Demon Head, and you've got yourself a fully fledged 'scene' with a lot going on.

Excision: "The Drowning Tear"

A gem of death metal with few side steps

A band like Excision from Netherlands never really got an international break and is as such one of those well-hidden gems of the metal underground. Even a split with Paul Speckmann's Master from 1996 and the Dreamality full length album from the same year couldn't give them a true breakthrough, but there's some definite quality in their quirky darkness.

Muka: "Sveta Stoka"

While playing the imitation game, Muka found their own sound in tightly-knit chaos

Listening to Muka's 2017 EP Sveta Stoka at full volume allows one to fully appreciate their dissonant, intricate layering. Each track is a roaring flurry of bone-crunching processions, echoing efforts by bands such as Deathspell Omega, but never resorting to straight up imitation.