Ageotan reached out to me via Blueksy and then email – which is something I recommend any band or artist that is interested in being featured ilin the site do – asking if I or Sean would be willing to give them a listen and maybe a recommendation. Well, as we’ll happily listen to anything you send us – though not everything will get a recommendation as not everything will be up our alley – I headed over to their Bandcamp page to see what I could see, and what I saw, and heard, is a band that are very raw, but have a lot of promise.

Or had a lot of promise as both the tracks on offer here – The Scythe of Olde and Lion of Pestilence – are from 2021, so I don’t know if they are still together. However, I hope they are, as even though the recordings are rougher than a Bangkok hooker at 3 am, there is enough about Ageotan to suggest they could have a bright future.

Now, let me explain, when I say raw what I mean is these two tracks were, I’m guessing, recorded in a rehearsal room with either a tape recorder placed in the middle of the band as they played or on a cheap four track with a couple of broken channels. This isn’t a swipe at Ageotan by any means, after all, I’ve been in enough bands myself over the years and heard enough demo tapes to know that studio time is expensive, so sometimes juat slapping it down the best that you can is the best way to do it.

Needs must when the Devil vomits in your kettle and all that.

Yet, in amongst this old school demo vibe are two very well written and incredibally well performed black/heavy metal songs.This is shit you bang your head to while throwing up the devil horns. This is shit that would get you into the pit, slamming off of your brothers and sisters like a demented pinball, while screaming ‘METAL!!!’ at the top of your lungs.

There is an obvious black metal influence that runs through what Ageotan do, but there is also a large dose of straightforward heavy metal thrown into the mix. It’s like Mayhem hanging out with Venom while drinking Iron Maiden beer. And I, for one, am all for it.

I do hope that Ageotan are still making music together, and if they’re not that they read this and reform, as I truly think they’re onto something here that people need to hear, and you can hear what I’m talking about yourself by heading over to the Ageotan Bandcamp page and checking them out for yourself.