Face Your Underground Vol. 27 Belgian Metal Sampler by Various
Release date: December 27, 2023Label: Rotten To The Core
Well, we rarely take the time to write about compilations or samplers but Face Your Underground Vol. 27 (this number seems unbelievable but correct) couldn’t be ignored. Belgium, a country known for its special beers and delicious chocolates has in fact a very fertile metal underground scene.
These CDs have been compiled by Filip Rottoc since 2003. He joined forces with Ondergrond (“Underground”) in 2023. Ondergrond is a non-profit organisation from Kortrijk (a city in South West-Flanders) that wants to offer a forum for (even) lesser known (local) metal acts that can be interpreted in a very broad way. The organisation wants to support musicians by helping to distribute their work and merchandise through their web shop, markets and performances.
The free sampler is one of the actions to reveal the teeming metal acts in Belgium. Face Your Underground Vol. 27 contains also two Dutch bands (Nercrotesque (death metal) and Der Mancha Red (psychedelic emocore)). We won’t describe every band on this varied and fascinating compilation, but we could find some surprising high-quality metal that leaves you to dig deeper and wanting more. Opener Verwilderd blows us immediately away with their grinding hybrid form of black and death metal. Other very interesting (atmospheric) black death metal acts are Descensus and Absolutus. Not every band on this compilation is our (or will be your) cup of tea but we really enjoyed the trip through the Belgian underground scene with old school metal, post metal, power metal, brutal death metal, the thrash metal of Guilty As Charged and the awesome hardcore punk (with humour in it) of Röt Stewart who will release their debut album later this year.
Listening to Face Your Underground Vol. 27 feels like touching the first addictive poisonous mushroom heads of the season. For the record: Face Your Underground Vol. 28 will be released around the middle of 2024. We’re definitely ready for more of that kind of tasty stuff.
