Let's hear them! Whether they refused to move beyond demos and EPs or just released one album and faded away, I'd like to hear your favorite bands with minimal discographies.

Personally, I'd give anything for another Murmuure album, so that's my initial pick.

Strid. They made three songs, of which the two-track self-titled EP from 1994 is a pure masterpiece.

That EP was indeed a great one! And I'd like to add Noenum before I forget. I love all of their stuff, and they got better and better till they disappeared. Never any full-lengths, though.

INFESTER. Their record still really holds up, and I play it as often as I listen to any other death metal band.

Also, bringing up Nespithe is almost hack considering how obvious it is.

Above All - barely-known UK metalcore band from the mid90s. Pretty much sounds like a stripped down Chaos A.D. without the filler.

Zyklon-B - pretty obvious really. I don't consider Zyklon to be a continuation of it since the style is so radically different

Unmerciful - "Unmercifully Beaten" is one of the most ruthless brutal death metal albums ever made. Pretty much the pinnacle of the style, in fact.

Black Knight (Canada). 80s USPM that released an EP in 1985 called Master of Disaster. On the whole, a pretty good EP, but two songs in particular, Warlord's Wrath and Aaraigathor, rule hard. In the 2000s, the EP was re-released with a good number of bonus tracks. I just checked their MA page, and it seems it has been released again this year, with even more bonus tracks! I don't know if it has already been released yet or if it's later this year. I definitely want to get it.

Emerald (USA). 80s Christian USPM that released a great EP in 1987 called Armed For Battle. Not the heaviest or most aggressive USPM ever, but really catchy vocals and riffs.

Icecross. Not metal enough for the archives, but I think they're pretty metal. An Icelandic band from the 70s, released an obscure self titled album in 1973. It has recently been reissued by Rockadrome, so it's pretty readily available now. Really cool stuff for anyone interested in 70s proto-metal/doom.

Dished - Obscure Polish death metal that released just one full length in 2005, then poof. I have no idea what happened to any of them. Quality stuff though.

Immanifest - Just one 3-track EP in 2010. They made a lot of noise for awhile about a full length entitled Macrobial, but nothing ever came of it.

I guess the band I with their extraordinary "Between Two Worlds" record don't even need to be mentioned.

Italian band Catacomb. One classic ep by the name of The Return Of The Ark, and that's about it...

Oh, and also Magus, the ancient US death/doom band with one dark and raw ep by the name of Ruminations of Debauchery back from 1992...

Daemonarch, Mezzerschmitt and Wongraven.

Indeed.

Weakling would be an obvious choice. I consider 'Dead As Dreams' to be a masterpiece, so the fact that they only released one album is a bit less bitter. Other obvious choices include Demilich and Lykathea Aflame.

SSWG was a damn good American black metal band that released one album and disbanded. That one album was fantastic though, I wish they stuck with it.

Also, since I don't think we'll ever see a follow up from Shrinebuilder, I'll include them here.

Just remembered another one: Eyes Of Noctum.

Sacra Arcana's Titkos szertartas from 2005(?) still ranks among my top clean vocals folk metal albums ever. The two singers worked fantastically together, though I would have liked more from the lady as she only sings in I think 2 of the 8 songs. Cool variety of Hungarian and Celtic-based folk tunes too.

EDIT: Must add the self-titled demo from Witch Desire - some rusty, creaking raw-ass black metal from Moldova. That song "Mighty Light of War" especially slaps.

Best album Moonspell ever made.

Shiva's only album Firedance (a great mix of NWOBHM and early Rush) and Culprit's Guilty as charged (all-around kick ass heavy metal) are really fascinating if you like really old school sounds, i suggest both of them!

Kvist's only album must be heard to be believed, it's still one of the best album of the norwegian scene, along with the brilliant oddity that is Written In Waters, by Ved Buens Ende

I also add death metal favorites like Crypt of Kerberos (especially the Cyclone of insanity Ep) Gorement's The ending quest (a forgotten swedeath masterpiece) and the weirdos Mephisto and Timeghoul

Slightly surprised nobody's mentioned Timeghoul yet...

Edit: Dammit should've read that most recent post.

They're about to come out with another one. They're in the process of finding a drummer I believe and John Longstreth played on it, so we'll see what happens.

I wonder what this band would've been like had they had time to develop their sound. I think it would've been interesting, but we're left with a short four snippets of what might have been.


Yeah, with the rise and rise of the Internet, Timeghoul now have their fame, but it would've been nice to see them progress beyond the demo stage. Tumultuous Travelings is pretty good, but Panaramic Twilight is where they started to flirt with unusual song structures, and I wanted to hear more like that in the future. It was not to be, but thankfully Dark Descent re-released them in 2012 so we can all have a copy of this great band.

Fredrik Thordendal's Special Defects released one album, Sol Niger Within. It says the project is active, but it's been 20 years since then, so I don't know if anything else will see the light of day. I really enjoy that album - a great mix of Meshuggah's polyrhythmic leanings, and some great jazzy breaks and licks, with some of the best drumming. I was hoping for another album like this but it seems unlikely.

Fractal Point released a bunch of smaller releases until their only full-length The Bizarre Machinery of Universe came out. Not exactly the most innovative death metal album out there, but the lyrical themes were ahead of its time and the riffs within are pretty good. Well worth seeking out.

Virus released just one album, too. I'm talking about this one. Bio-Level 4 is the best album Fear Factory never made. It's like Demanufacture but with more pronounced industrial elements. After hearing the potential, it's a shame they only lasted for one album. They could've very much rivalled Fear Factory, but it was not to be.

Sadistic Intent have been around for nearly 30 years (wow!) and never produced a full-length. Their EP's Resurrection and Ancient Black Earth are fantastic old-school death metal pieces, with maybe a hint of blackened death in their production. Expensive to purchase these days, but they're worth having. Really great stuff.

The Shattering released one album The Shattering Begins. For fans of Spawn of Possession.

Viraemia is a well known one. Such wild, crazy technical death metal that never progressed due to the sudden exit of the vocalist. Too bad - the music is blazing and awesome.

Derketa for my money. Easily one of the best bands U.S. bands to only do a few demos in the 90's and then fade away. Thankfully they did that compilation of their old demos and then actually managed to get out a full length a couple years ago. I really hope they find a way to release more material in the future.

This was my first thought, goddamn I love that album.

First one that came to my mind was Morbid Scream. I have that Signal to Attack:1986-1990 compilation that was put out in 2007 and man have I played the shit out of it since! The band only ever released demos, but fuck is that some seriously awesome and gritty thrash right there! Thing is, as much as I love that compilation I don't think they're a band that I'd want to attempt some sort of comeback. That material is just so awesome it would be too disappointing if they attempted to reform and fucked it up. Rather appreciate it as a moment in time.



Agree very much with this!

I just remembered that Paysage d'Hiver also fits the description. All they've ever done is demos and splits. (And everything I've heard was fantastic by the way)

Caladan Brood. Echoes of Battle is probably my favorite album of all time. Pure majesty; a perfect mix of Summoning, Elffor, Windir and others. It has its faults, sure, but its highs more than make up for them. It's also the album that made me a fantasy reader, since I just had to read about the world of Malaz after hearing the album. I believe they have another one planned but for now, they work here.

Seriously? That shit's barely three years old, they haven't even been a band for more than eight. I mean hey, you do you, but that seems super extreme to me.

I guess my answer would be Timeless Miracle. Thanks to Facebook I happen to know that they're working on their second album finally, and getting as much fan input as they can, which is really cool, but for well over a decade we've only had Into the Enchanted Chamber to listen to. It's easily one of the best flower metal albums out there, with uniquely dark themes for how upbeat and optimistic the music is. Some of the catchiest stuff out there, I absolutely love it.

I don't think I've played any album nearly as much since I first came across Echoes of Battle a little over three years ago. My enjoyment of it has waned slightly (only slightly!) but I can't stress how much that album blew me away when I first heard it. I was in a Summoning binge, checked out their similar artists tab here, yada yada yada, I check out the track "Echoes of Battle" on YouTube and my jaw actually physically dropped. If I check something out on YouTube, I always go to a different tab and just go about my internetting. But I sat there and stared incredulously at the video (it probably helps that the art is extremely fitting). Plus, with it making me check out the Malazan books, it genuinely changed my life as I've become a pretty voracious reader of fantasy novels since. I get why people may not like the album, but it resonated with me in a way I genuinely didn't think was possible.

/fangirling

Armoured Angel! Stigmartyr and Mysterium are two of my favorite death metal EPs ever. Such a unique but accessible sound, it's amazing that more bands didn't capitalize on it. I hate to use the term 'chugging' to describe their style, but's that the best word to describe it. Just these mid-tempo, steady, heavy guitar chugs that they use to create this menacing, dominating, and sinister atmosphere. Kind of like what Bolt Thrower do with their war theme. Unfortunately their one full length didn't quite measure up to the EPs. Their Communion demo, which I recently discovered after its re-release on Hells Headbangers, is damn great too, albeit a bit more thrash influenced.

Also, seconding the guy who said Weakling. Dead as Dreams is probably my favorite black metal album ever.

Sweet! I'd given up on ever hearing from them again after 10 years

Internal Decay & Visceral Evisceration & Leviathan (SWE).
And Infester of course, but it was mentioned already twice or so

DEATHEVOKATION. Someone already mentioned Gorement so it's only fitting to mention this excellent American death metal band that basically sounded like if you took Gorement's sound, added some more slow passages and rolling grooves, plenty of melodicism and gave the whole thing these giant epic song lengths that kind of puts them in The Chasm territory. Amazing band and it deeply saddens me that they only ever did one album.

Agony - The First Defiance

Both of these are my favorite listed so far. I don't know why I didn't immediately think of Kvist and Ved Buens Ende.

Another band worth mentioning is Threnos. Their only release, a demo called By Blood and by Earth is a really solid release and perhaps the genesis of "cascadian black metal." That demo bridges the gap between Weakling and WITTR.

Parade Of The Lifeless
Lethargy
Ripping Corpse

Italian symphonic black metal band, Nazgul. One demo and one album that came out in 2002 and then a mystery to whatever happened to the band members. They were apparently working on a second album, but it never came to be I guess.

Blind Illusion would have made a great addition to this thread if not for that goofy fuckup "comeback" album..

Slumber. Glorious death/doom band that released one of my favorite albums

I definitely agree with Infester. "To the Depths, in Degradation" is one of the most grimy, ugly, and murky sounding death metal albums I've heard.

Winter, obviously!

I'd disagree. The "these are just demos" talk reeks ov stvpid kvlt mentality when the recordings are very finalized products and released in extravagant A5 digipaks – shrouded in black envelopes for fuck's sake! – and having no intentions of ever releasing a "proper full-length". (I love Paysage d'Hiver, by the way.)

Thergothon. Stream From the Heavens is absolutely perfect from beginning to end, and it's such a shame that they never released anything afterwards. The album to which all funeral doom is measured in my book.