Watain come show that nowadays, good black metal is still produced; This trio is most known for its satanic rituals though there are some decent riffs. Here and there, the overall arrangements are haphazard and lack consistency. A good example as it begins with a slower riff that possesses a darker feeling, at least in the early moments, the main tremolo riff is pretty good but the thrash part in the middle is about as generic and out of place as it gets. It is all still somewhat scrambled but at times, the guitar melodies do manage to cut through and to be a bit more audible, the best melody of the song comes about a minute and a half in. Very fast-paced and straight-forward, this features more possessed and pure chaos yet with a cold tremolo melody cutting through it and circling like a vulture over a carcass which allows the atmosphere of gloom and dread really begin to unfold and to consume the listener. That said, the tone is less anguished than it is just utterly consumed with pure, cold hatred. The first time that I heard this, one can sense a very raw atmosphere, though not nearly as good as the album that would follow.
Still, somehow, as a result of the production and the execution, to some extent, it is almost like the different between Transilvanian Hunger and De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas. It is quite evident, from this recording, that. The Mayhem and Dissection influences can be heard; the band really seems to shine during the mid-paced sections, though it seems as if there was also a strong Darkthrone vibe as well from time to time, that don't fit in at all. It lacks a lot of the clarity one would expect from a group of teenagers making their first attempt at Black Metal. Occasionally, it even seems like the drums disappear altogether - that would have left people wanting more and being disappointed that the band had vanished into obscurity as far as allowing the riffs to breathe a little more. Even for a Black Metal demo, it's very memorable and almost seems like something that one would expect on an early Dissection record, or maybe even Cardinal Sin.
As with the last song, this is a good mixture of the northern style of Black Metal and the old school sound of the '80s but it loses something in that his previous approach was just so utterly hateful that you could truly feel it. Nevertheless, after a few listens, before slowing down a bit, it became clear that this much more primal sound suits the manner in which the music is presented, here. The production is the rougher production: gives the music even more of an old school feeling a primitive atmosphere that is much uglier than what the band would go on to do.
The first thing to mention has to be the vocals but that don’t fit.
