I had always been curious about this band (Turkish Black Metal?), so when I saw that a local distro had their demo in stock I immediately ordered it.

This 7 song demo is over-done in every respect. Let me explain...

First off, the packaging is extremely professional (how often do demos come shrink-wrapped?). The cover/booklet is in full colour and is printed on glossy stock. Included here are lyrics, bands photos, and even thank yous! This is more of a tape album than anything else...

Moving on to the music we discover the same trend. Where one would expect gritty black metal (with a title like 'Heathen Upheaval'?) one finds instead well produced overly-executed black metal. There are way too many breaks and interludes with acoustics, synths, and silly talking parts (the heavy turkish accent greatly detracts from any sort of serious atmosphere); there's no real room left to let the songs breathe. It is as if Pagan tried to cram as many influences and sounds as they could into a short span of time.

These guys are somewhat talented, but they should try to focus on the black metal feeling rather than the aesthetic. In other words, this will definitely appeal to those who are part-time black metallers.

It seems that Turkey has always been an asian country trying too hard to be european, and Pagan have affirmed this notion with their demo.

If you are still interested, email: heathen_dominion@usa.net

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