The BAZ Underground ABC – I

For some time, we at BAZ have regularly posted our Sunday feature “Years of Decay” where we have picked a year, and each one of us writes about a memorable album from that time. Well, with the years running out on us, we have decided to start another series to open up more possibilities for us.

Instead of a random year, picked by a special BAZ member each time, we now have our members pick a random letter of the alphabet which we then each choose a band who´s name starts out with a said letter. And let us just say, we are very excited to kick this article off!

The very first article of this brand new series is P, so let us see how creative our team of writers got this week.

Band: Prong

All the way back in 1986, two men got together and formed the band Prong. While brutal hardcore punk was their original sound, the group soon released Beg to Differ which contained the aggressive experimental sound and started to become more and more known for mixing thrash metal with industrial. read more

Although having replaced members regularly through their lifespan as well as disbanding in 1997 only to reform again in 2002, one of the original founding members Tommy is still kicking it strong with the group and together with Aaron and Jason they continue to bring us the pleasure of the mix that we have fallen in love with ever since they first appeared and rumor has it the group has their 13th full lenght album in the works. Julia

P is for… Primitive Man

When thinking of great Metal bands beginning with P my first thoughts were with Pantera, Primus and Prong, but for this inaugural edition of “The BAZ Underground Metal ABC” I decided I’d shine a light on Denver Colorado’s Primitive Man. If their stark record sleeves and songs titles such as “Empty Husk”, “A Marriage With Nothingness” and “Pitiful & Loathsome” are not explicit enough for you to glean the tone of the band’s music, I’ll give it to you straight (like a pear cider that’s made from 100% pears). This music is heavy, noisy, punishing, harsh and bleak as waking up in a coffin buried in the middle of the desert. read more

Not that I thought you’d come here expecting a Power Metal singalong… Though the band will occasionally take on a propulsive, thrashy pace (as on the excellent “Stretched Thin” from their debut album “Scorn”) for the most part it’s torturously slow, noisy and unrelenting. This is Sludge Metal at its most jarringly misanthropic. While an early cover of Crowbar’s “Suffering Brings Wisdom” indicates where some influences lie, you won’t hear any Led Zeppelin references; Primitive Man have more in spirit with the New York No Wave of early Swans, but taken to a harrowing Noise Rock/ Sludge Metal extreme. It certainly ain’t pretty, but damn it’s effective. Tom

Band: Portrait

Cheers everyone. For us, this new article called The Baz Underground Metal ABC It is a new writing challenge since this time we are not going to talk specifically about an album, but about a band that starts with a letter, this time is chosen by our dear partner Julia, who chose the letter P. Thanks for that Julia! I can speak a bit of a great band for my taste.

We need to move to one of the greatest countries, metal related for sure, and I´m talking about Sweden. Yes, another band from this incredible land. My pick is Portrait. What can I tell you about Portrait? It is a band that already has a certain career, formed in 2005. read more

The band had some changes in their line-up, including the vocalist Per Lengstedt who now commands the spectacular vocals that accompany all the heavy machinery of this spectacular band. After releasing a demo in 2006 with the title “Welcome to My Funeral“, later they released a split with other renowned bands like Enforcer, RAM, and Atlantean Kodex, which I recommend because it is fabulous. From there the band began to appear on the underground scene with increasing strength.

Their first LP was the self-titled Portrait which put them on display as one of the great promises of Swedish heavy metal. And it is not for less since their level is high and they achieve a metal quality of the highest elaboration. Per immediately fitted into the needs of the band, which meant a great improvement and identification of a style of his own.
After joining Metal Blade Records in 2010, the band finished the material for their second full-length album, Crimen Laesae Majestatis Divinae, an awesome record released in 2011.

At this point comes the consolidation and they already showed that Portrait came to demonstrate that Swedish heavy metal has a lot of power and it´s a demonstration of the technique, quality, and perfection.
Then, in 2012, and after some line-up changes, the band enter the studio to record their third album Crossroads released in 2014, which received a lot of good vibes. Tours in Europe and the UK followed the launch being very well received and getting rave reviews.

In 2017, a new album saw the light, entitled Burn the World., features guest appearances by Set Teitan (Dissection/Watain) and Kevin Bower (Hell). An album that contains 10 songs and a total running time of 50 minutes. I think Portrait is a band that deserves more recognition and followers. Jammerfal

Band: Profane Prayer

Well… A new article is born in BAZ HQ.
Every month we will bring to you some new or old bands.

For the first time, the “P” word is the chosen one and decided to talk a bit about my “P” choice… Profane Prayer from Greece…

I knew this band back in 2011 when the first full length named “Eye of Sin” was out. And the Black Metal that the band was doing that time was really good. Black Metal mixed with some Rock’n’Roll… So a Black’n’Roll music style is the best definition for their sound at that time… read more

I remember that time I tried to get the previous release from 2006. A CR-r demo named “Bloodred Fullmoon” but… Never managed to get it. Damn… After the first album released in 2011 the band managed to make a deal with the cult German label named No Colour Records and in 2013 the album “Tales of Vagrancy and Blasphemy” was released. Comparing this album with the previous one, the band lost the Rock’n’Roll spirit and the band is more related to the Fast and furious Black Metal. Not a bad album, but comparing and in my opinion the previous one was much better.

Since 2013… nothing released. The band still active but nothing released since then. I think I understand the reason, cause the members of this band have many other bands, specially the drummer.I will just mention a few and all them are know Metal bands from Greece…

Caedes Cruenta, Embrace of Thorns, Thou Art Lord, Nergal (Live), Slaughtered Priest (live), ex-Abyssgale, ex-Disharmony, ex-Dødsferd, ex-Ectoplasma, ex-Ravencult, ex-Dizziness (live), ex-Hordes of Decay etc etc etc…