Svart Records Maggots Part I - Abhorrence / Disgrace / Messiah Paratroops - 7" box set

Underground extreme metal flourished, and the main centrifugal force that got bands known globally was tape trading. Influences spread like a disease, and young, emerging death metal groups were eager to be more brutal than the next. Lack of money meant that studios couldn’t be booked for weeks, so the first logical release for starting bands was usually a self-released demo tape or a seven-inch vinyl, where they could squeeze in two to four tracks.

Even though we are talking about Finnish death metal here, the American record label Seraphic Decay, run by Steve O’Bannon, plays an important role in this story. It was the label that originally released the first 7” records for three Finnish bands: Disgrace's Debts of God (1990), Abhorrence's Abhorrence (1990) — the band that later morphed into Amorphis — and Messiah Paratroops' The Past (1992).

In the years that followed, death metal evolved into many different subgenres, but here we have three legendary releases rooted in the core of darkness and brutality from the formative years, none of which clock in at over 14 minutes. True gems — rotten little nuggets —for you to enjoy again and again

• Sealed box set
• 3-7" Black vinyl
• Released by Svart

Abhorrence – S/T 7” (originally released in 1990)
A1 Pestilential Mists
A2 Holy Laws Of Pain
B1 Caught In A Vortex
B2 Disintegration Of Flesh

Disgrace - Debts Of God 7” (originally released in 1990)
A1 Debts Of Gods
A2 Deprive My Innermost Soul
B1 Incinerate
B2 Offering

Messiah Paratroops – The Past 7” (originally released in 1992)
A1 Lost Soul Domain
A2 Buried In The Mud
B1 Under The Skies
B2 The Past