Lots of "Best of" lists for full albums in the "Worthwhile Albums of 2013" thread but thought a separate thread to highlight the best demos and EP's that came out last year would be worth having. These lists are my personal favorite because they're a great indicator of who to look out for in the coming years and it's always awesome to find some new radical bands to listen to... plus it's a great way for new/smaller bands to get their names a little more well known in the process.

This should focus primarily on demos and debut EP's, we don't need to hear about Amon Amarth putting out some EP between albums... everyone already knows who they are. If an established band puts out an EP that is notable for some reason (departure from their typical sound, significant improvement in quality over previous material) and you liked it a lot then that's fine, just use some common sense.

A couple additional guidelines:

1) DON'T JUST TYPE A FUCKING LIST WITH NO DESCRIPTIONS OR LINKS TO THE MUSIC, THAT SUCKS

2) DON'T JUST TYPE A FUCKING LIST WITH NO DESCRIPTIONS OR LINKS TO THE MUSIC, THAT SUCKS

3) A description AND link to the music and/or place to score the physical media is essential

4) Art is cool too, just put that shit in spoilers.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Here's some of my favorites, in no particular order:

Terminus - Into Exile CDEP and Centaurean EP
These dudes actually put out two awesome releases this year. First their Into Exile demo which is up on their bandcamp for free download or available on cd from Stormspell records and secondly the Centaurean split EP with Ravensire which was put out by Underground Power Records. They play traditional heavy metal/nwobhm in the style of Slough Feg, Isen Torr, Twisted Tower Tire, Pagan Altar, Argus etc. with some nice nods to Thin Lizzy. And really, if you dig Terminus you should check out Ravensire as well as they check a lot of the same boxes.


Eternal Champion - The Last King of Pictdom CS
Fantastic epic heavy metal from Texas. Cassette limited to 100 copies was put out by Swords & Chains Records and is already long sold out. Hopefully this will get a vinyl treatment since it appears the tape won't be repressed. Singer also puts in time in Graven Rite who put out a fantastic demo last year rooted in epic heavy metal/doom which I would also highly recommend.


Beastiality - Ancient Bell Chimes CS
Naaaaaasty black thrashing hell in the old style with some nice rocking parts thrown in to break it up. Cassette is on it's second press and is still available through Obsessed By Cruelty but it won't last long. Love the production on this, nice and blown out but with everything still plainly audible.


Disfigurement - Soul Rot CDEP
Blistering old school death metal form Atlanta. These dudes have managed to stay out of the atmospheric wastelands so many osdm bands are slopping through as of late and instead focus their time on worshiping Vader, Morbid Angel, and monstrous riffs. Not technically their debut (which came out last year) but Soul Rot will almost certainly be the catalyst for them to go much further as they have honed their craft to razor-sharp precision and it shows on this, their second release from Boris Records, who also happen to be running a special right now where you can score Soul Rot CDEP, their debut 7" EP "Abyss of Hatred" from last year, and an embroidered logo patch for $10.


Organ Donor - S/T CS
Thrashing old school death metal that worships at the altar of Cannibal Corpse and Morbid Angel. Comprised of current and ex members of Battlemaster, Cannabis Corpse, Parasytic, Volture, Bastard Sapling, and Inter Arma... this thing is just a beast front to back. If you like 90's US death metal then this is right up your alley. Band self-released a cassette version for their 2013 summer tour with Coffin Dust which may or may not still be available, hit them up on fb if you're interested.


Rude - Haunted CS
More thrashing old school death metal! These dudes love Pestilence and Possessed and it shows! Self released a cassette limited to 200 copies (I think) which sold out and then Dawnbreed Records did a euro press of another 200 which are also gone. They've got a full length coming out on FDA Rekotz in February this year with some ripper art from the mighty Dan Seagrave so be on the lookout if you like what you hear!


Ranger - Combat Metal CS and Knights of Darkness MLP
Killer speed/thrash metal from Helsinki! Combat Metal (Fanatic's Lodge Records) wasn't their first demo (they had 2 prior) but it was the first demo where I saw them getting some recognition and the fact that it led to the fantastic Knights of Darkness MLP later in the year which is on it's second press from Ektro Records warrants a mention on the list for sure! Fantastic vocals that trade Dianno-era Maiden barking and Halford falsettos flawlessly over 80's riffing that sounds perfectly authentic. If you're a fan of Running Wild, old Slayer, or Tyrant (US) then you need this in your life.


Sacridose - Anxiety Tremors EP
Ripping grindcore with ex members of Cellgraft! Riffs on riffs on riffs on riffs on riffs on riffs on riffs on riffs. Plenty of tempo changes and blasting and... did I mention riffs? It's got those too and probably enough metal influence to appeal to folks who don't think grindcore is their thing. Certainly worth a listen. Available on wax or cassette from Financial Ruin Records


Stallion - Mounting the World CS
Total Accept worship. Radical speed/heavy metal from Germany. Highly recommended if you're into the style. Limited run of 200 copies pressed by Sarlacc Productions are sold out but hopefully this will get a repress or vinyl treatment as well.


Possession - His Best Deceit CS / CDEP
Black/death harkening back to the glory days. Nasty nasty nasty riffing and vocals, totally evil and excellent. Cassette released by Iron Bonehead and CDEP by Invictus Productions

I'll only laud one EP, and that's Ghost Atlas' Vol. 1. That thing is so catchy that it eats any other EP I could possibly hear that was released last year. It's not metal or anything, but damn is it good rock.

http://ghostatlas.bandcamp.com/album/go ... coma-vol-1



"Glass Waves" especially is one that's ripe with harmonies and vocal hooks that build and build. That's the gist of the EP's first three out of four songs - climbing to that climax.








Edit: Full EP's been released. I'm listening to the 4 new songs and it's more awesome shit!

As I have said in other threads Bolzer - Aura is my favourite death metal release of the year.

Cavernous blackened death metal which can be heard in its entirety here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvkoqNrHFdw

bolzer will no doubt be mentioned by a ton of people. badass ep.

Disfigurement's Soul Rot was definitely one of my favorites for the year. That came out of nowhere and kicked serious ass.

Mansion is without a doubt my favorite EP of the year, it's in my top 3 overall. It's awesome mum doom! I wrote a review for it and I don't really want to repeat myself....
http://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Mansion/3540368846

Another finnish band because why not, Lord Fist! They released their first EP after a demo in 2012 and it's really cool trad NWOBHMish stuff. The vocals could be better but the riffs are pretty damn awesome and they have a lot of potential.
http://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Lor ... 3540351906

Boudain released their first EP this year and it's top notch heavy stoner/doom from Louisiana. I was supposed to review it but then, I got busy. They sent me a copy of the EP with stickers, nice fellows, I'll try to write one later. Villi Thorne did a good job though: http://www.metal-archives.com/reviews/B ... illiThorne

Assembly at Dusk: cool doomy heavy metal from Connecticut, they sent me the tape with both demos released in 2013 and it's a planned review on my schedule. Worth a look. http://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Ass ... 3540363910
Free on Bandcamp: http://assemblyatdusk.bandcamp.com/

Is it me or Noc Culto's EP under the name Gift of Gods went a bit unnoticed? I still haven't heard myself, I guess I should... There's no reviews on MA yet.
http://www.metal-archives.com/albums/Gi ... ive/391906

Totally forgot that Mansion record was an EP, fantastic release! I enjoyed that Lord Fist CS quite a bit as well, nice picks! Sarlacc has been putting out some quality stuff, I thought that Wytch Hazel EP they did/are about to do was tops as well. I'll have to check out that Assembly at Dusk later when I have some decent speakers available, sounds like something I'd enjoy!

As much as everyone loved that Bolzer EP... I just wasn't that into it. It wasn't bad by any means, just not really my thing when it comes to death metal, which is probably pretty obvious based on my dm picks.

Came here to post Eternal Champion, really sweet shit. Hope the band can pull out a full-length soon, the Graven Rite demo from 2012 is great as well.

Sexy thread idea.

Alucarda - D.F.F.L.: This band is strange in that they're easily identifiable as being Satan's Satyrs worship, which is weird only because Satan's Satyrs are also such a new band. Anyway some people have compared this to Electric Wizard, but I'd say that's only true if you imagined Electric Wizard basically not playing stoner/doom at all but instead some sort of punky primitive metal. Huge sounding though and fun as shit.


Deathcult - Demo MMXII: With everyone (appropriately) jizzing all over that Bolzer EP, I thought I'd bring some attention to the related band Deathcult who put out a cool-ass demo this year. It's much more raw than the Bolzer stuff and more obviously old school in approach (doesn't have Bolzer's more sophisticated, ruminant blackened edge to it) but still rips hard.


Eoront - Д’хаар: As much as I loved the debut full length (which also came out this year), I think the follow-up EP might be even better. Playing folky, atmospheric black metal in the same general vein as bands like Drudkh or Wodensthrone, the EP sees Foltath Eternum move away from the vaguely nautical theme and feel of the album for a more earthy vibe. This time there's tribal percussion and throat singing, bringing it closer to something like Darkestrah or maybe a less busy, more focused version of Negura Bunget but still being quite obviously Eoront. Apparently he's got a full band recruited for the next full-length, so that'll be neat to hear.

Thank you sir. Really dug that Eoront EP! That kinda stuff isn't usually my thing but I thought those songs were done really well. Will have to check out that LP, good lookin' out.


I think the next thing in line for EC is a split LP with Gatekeeper (CAN) which is supposed to be out late summer/fall of this year... so def something to look forward to there. Last King of Pictdom 7" should be out in April on Hell Massacre Records (division of Painkiller Recs).

Saw an interview with the singer and, when asked about Graven Rite, he said there probably wouldn't be anything new from them for a while. The other dudes are in Ancient VVisdom and I guess don't have much time for GR... though he didn't say it couldn't happen so that's good I guess. I can wait as long as there will be more EC stuff in the meantime!!

Few more I enjoyed this year from relatively unknown bands. Probably a little biased since two of these are locals in my scene and the other is a band we did a split with but I thoroughly enjoyed all of these releases so I'm gonna list 'em.

Death of Kings - Knifehammer EP
Traditional heavy metal on thrash metal steroids. Lotsa gnarly riffs and totally in-the-pocket drumming make this one cut extra sharp. Ferocious vocals are just the cherry on top. While lots of bands settle squarely in either the spectrum of modern or retro sound these guys do a great job of sounding modern and like they're trying to do something fresh and inspired while still wearing their influences on their sleeves and not coming off as stale or overly-polished. 500 7"s on glow in the dark vinyl still available courtesy of Boris Records.


Sadistic Ritual - Hellish Mercenary EP
Crippling fuckin' thrash metal. These dudes rip it. Great pacing and riffs that have enough technical flourish to keep it interesting without detracting at all from the jet-powered bulldozer tempo. Some nice blackened feels in there without turning into black/thrash and the vocals... good god, the fucking vocals on this thing are absolutely vicious. 300 7"s on black wax still available courtesy of Boris Records.


Coffin Dust - Ancient Rites of Getting Conjured CS
Self described crossover death metal. These dudes bring in influences from Exhumed/Carcass and then hack through them with brutal thrash metal complete with some nice mid-tempo mosh parts and some great spooky sounding leads. Great songwriting with lots of nice tempo changes and well thought out transitions allow them to take the songs a lot of different places while still keeping everything coherent and concise. Their side of the split is comprised of two new songs and then the tracks from their Ancient Rites of Buried Evil demo. 200 pro printed cassettes courtesy of Headsplit Rekords. Band copies are gone but Headsplit should still have a few more copies.

Death of Kings was awesome! Never heard that.

Bumping this thread because it rules and because there's another release I wanna bend the rules a bit and sneak in here.

Crone - Crone: This is listed on MA as a full-length, but it's on cassette only, the production sounds nice and raw like a proper demo should, and Abysmal Sounds was calling it a demo back when it was being recorded so I'm just gonna roll with that. Anyway, this is wonderful slow, epic doom that's sort of like if Candlemass on funeral doom sedatives supplied to them by Shape of Despair or something, so winds up being not too far from stuff like The Wounded Kings I guess. It also features the wonderful vocal stylings of Murkrat's Mandy Cattleprod doing exclusively forlorn clean vocals this time. You can stream the whole thing on that Abysmal Sounds site.

Oooooh that ruled! Rule bending for something of that caliber is totally acceptable, plus it's doom so it's going to have a long run-time even if it's a demo!! Stuff like that usually isn't my bag but those vocals were fantastic and they do a good job of keeping the music from dragging, even though it's slow. Nice find!

Infiltrator - Infiltrator EP
Balls to the wall speed metal! Steve Jansson of Trenchrot's solo project that is no longer such as Chris Grigg (Woe) and Grzesiek Czapla (Infernal Stronghold / Woe) filled out the lineup for this EP. Killer guitar work and burly man vocals make this thing a total ripper. CRUSH THE FALSE

Shit, I hadn't even heard of Boris Records till today, but they have like 3 or 4 bands that sound pretty damn good on first listen!

And whoever recommended Eternal Champion (don't feel like going through the thread again, sorry) was dead on. I'm not the biggest fan of newer trad/power metal stuff by a long shot, but this band kicks ass in truly timeless fashion - could've come out in 2013 or 1983! I wish they had some kind of physical release I could cop, though - an Eternal Champion record would sound fucking sweet on my nice new turntable.

Anyway, my demo/EP picks for 2013:

T.O.A.D. - 'Endless Night' (They call it a full-length, but I'm dubious...)
War Master - 'Blood Dawn' EP
Ringworm - 'Bleed' EP
Dementia Senex - 'Heartworm' demo
Noothgrush/Coffins split
Dead Man - 'The All Too Well Known' demo (The only band on the list I know personally...)
Blaze of Perdition - 'Necrosophist' 7"
Pendulous - 'Mirrored Confessions' EP

Since I am posting from my mobile, this is not gonna be the best, most detailed post ever.

Have any of you guys listened to the Speed Metal band Infiltrator, from Philadelphia? Their 2013 EP is one of the coolest and most badass things I listened to last year. Its really a blast!!!

infiltrator.bandcamp.com/

Fuck, I kind of forgot the "description" part, didn't I? Stupid stoner me!

T.O.A.D. is described on MA as "blackened sludge metal" or something like that, but to me they have almost a death'n'roll kind of vibe. Pretty catchy and melodic, but the guitars kick some serious sludgy ass as well.

War Master is straight-up early Bolt Thrower worship - think 'In Battle...'/'Realm of Chaos' era - but with a possibly even bigger helping of old-school U.K. crust.

Ringworm is a longtime fixture of the Cleveland metallic-hardcore scene which also includes Integrity (whose 'Suicide Black Snake' from 2013 is fucking excellent). 'Bleed' is a digital-only release if I'm not mistaken, barely 10 minutes with 5 tracks, but it's just as good as any of their other material I've heard.

Dementia Senex might be described as "post-death metal" (sorry) with lots of melody and slow-building and all that stuff. The 3-song demo certainly intrigues me enough to want to hear more.

Noothgrush is a longtime solid favorite of mine - I listened to them even during my "non-metalhead" years - and the new split sounds more or less exactly like their 90's stuff, albeit perhaps with a bit more of that Samothrace/Nux Vomica "melodic crust" vibe. The song dedicated to late Bay Area DJ Cy Thoth is pretty sweet too. Coffins, on the other side, pretty much just do what they always do, straight death/doom with plenty of grime and crustiness.

Dead Man are actually friends of mine from Oakland, CA - I know, big whoop - and while they're listed here as "death metal/crust" that seems to ignore the very present black metal vibe, especially in the vocals - though I guess those could also be classified as crust-type screams. But seriously, check these guys out if you have any interest in crust/hardcore stuff *or* extreme metal generally!

Blaze of Perdition I'd never heard of until a few months ago, when I read about the horrific tour bus crash that killed their bassist and injured the other members. I bought their 7-inch - to be honest - partly out of sympathy, but it turned out to be quite good, with a pretty kickass melodic(-ish) black metal track on the A-side and a nice Dissection cover on the other.

Pendulous was a random end-of-year find on Bandcamp, but after half a listen or so I bought their digital EP for a dollar - come on, guys, put out a vinyl, I'll buy it! The EP is your basic doom metal, with mournful, relatively high-pitched male singing and occasional growls, but something about it really grabs me. May just be the common SoCal origin, but for some reason these guys remind me (in a good way) of classic Orange County doom band Mindrot.

Kamlaniye - Kamlaniye
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ap6NZkMLhMw
Kamlaniye is the "live counterpart" to Skagos that has existed in some form or another for a while, and they finally released and old rehearsal recording as a demo tape this year and it's incredible. Easily the best Cascadian black metal release in years. Not only one of my favorite demos of 2013, but one of my favorite releases overall. I'm pretty sure it's sold out everywhere though.

Mizmor - Untitled Winter EP
http://mizmor.bandcamp.com/album/untitled-winter-ep
Awesome black/drone/doom metal from this one-man Oregon project from one of the live members of Hell. Very similar sound to Hell except with more of a black metal influence. I'm pretty sure the tape is sold out everywhere too, but it can be downloaded from their bandcamp.

Vilkacis - The Fever of War
https://soundcloud.com/psychicviolencer ... eam-in-the
Unrelenting, devastating, and melodic black metal from Mike of Fell Voices, Ruin Lust, Sleepwalker and Vorde. Incredibly intense the entire way through. This might still be available from some distros but I'm not sure.

You guys forgot the best Death Metal demo that year:

Ancient Crypts - Devoured By Serpents

http://ancientcrypts.bandcamp.com/

I am not good at comparisons, I hear Convulse and Sadistic Intent in it with that said tons of nice riffs, tempo changings, morbid melodies and sinister atmosphere. Just buy it!

Good thing I re-read the OP, I was shocked to see no-one mention BaN and Grave, which we're my favourites of last year.

I kinda liked this EP from a band that I stumbled across looking for active bands from my hometown, and what's more it's a "name your price" bandcamp download. Bong Goblin have a moderately interesting mix of sludgey-stoner and death metal and they've got a certain amateurish charm about them. It's a solid EP, nothing particularly special, but I'm more looking forward to them building on their work so far.

http://bonggoblin420.bandcamp.com/

Haha about two posts above you! Cosigned on it being totally badass though, hope they put out some more stuff!

@Jimmy - Can't believe I failed to mention that War Master record, totally killer stuff.

@Aaattaack - Ancient Crypts is pretty rad... but I think Disfigurement smokes 'em! Solid demo though, def would like to hear some more output from those dudes.

Battalion Slaughtered - Succession Warfare
Speaking of Bolt Thrower worship, this EP came out right at the end of the year and is rad as shit. Self described as Gore Grinding Bolt Throwing Annihilation and that's exactly what you get... a lovely combination of Bolt Thrower worship and mincing goregrind.

The Gates of Slumber's Stormcrow is what immediately comes to mind for me. It was one of those free EPs released through Scion A/V but it just might be the last thing they ever put out and the songs are great. I particularly like the riffs on Death March and Son Of Hades.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P ... bkk7zBehlA

Necroblood - Second Coming EP


Even though this is only two tracks and about 10minutes in length it is really good bestial black metal. Love their evil sound.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r42U2ZmRylk

These four releases all have traits that are unique to each, but all sound like they born out of a some sort of cavernous hell. Some more than others.

Bölzer - Aura
Death/black


Mitochondrion - Antinumerology
Death/black


Antediluvian - Septentrional Theophany
Death/black


Blut Aus Nord - What Once Was... Liber III
Black

Gowl - Buzzbox EP
Blistering grindcore noise attack from CT, USA! These dudes have put out a couple splits and tape EP's prior to this but this is their first wax treatment and definitely their best shit so far. This thing sounds absolutely monstrous! I am really skeptical of groovy parts in grindcore, it's gotta be done just right, and these dudes nail it. Tons of tempo changes and stop/starts make this thing a fucking whirlwind of viciousness and Gowl shows their chops by being able to go from all out blasting mania to stop on a dime... then stomp the gas back into more blasting fury, thrashing, or groovy headbanging shit without a second thought. These dudes actually put out two killer EP's this year, the aforementioned Buzzbox EP, and the equally blistering Raging Like A Heart//Attack CS. You can listen to (and download for free) all their releases on their bandcamp. Hit up the band on fb for physical copies, shotgun Four Loko, and grind along.

No Illusions Dead

Sacrificium Carmen - Sanansaattaja
Definitely the best 2013 demo I can think of off the bat (thanks Sick6Six!). Fast, intense, melodic and brilliantly raw in the best Finnish black metal tradition. My only complaint is the vocals, which aren't entirely convincing. The trebles on this record are ear-piercing!

Since Laster's fine Wijsgeer & Narreman is from 2012, I'll mention a fairly similar one (thanks STORMM!), Malacath's An Ode to the Loss of Life. Ponderous, introspective slow-paced black metal with pleasant melodies and good atmosphere.

The Bölzer EP was quite a ride, definitely. It deserves the attention it gets, I think.

Kaevum released their two demos in a compilation last year, does that count?

Oh, Illusions Dead released their demo on Bandcamp, nice, I'll check it out. I liked what I heard!

It has the same songs as you heard previously, barring one that didn't pass the muster.