This came highly recommended, from VERY discerning individuals no less, so perhaps I was expecting too much when I put the tape into my deck. Not that this is bad, by any stretch. It is in fact, pretty good on most counts, and perhaps it is good to mention the good points of the recording before I go on to the ones that really bother me.

First off, this is well-produced and well-played. Good drumming, competent bass playing, decent riffing, varied vocals and lots of keyboards and wind instruments make for an interesting listen - in fact, the interludes and instrumental passages are quite good. As are the clean vocals, sung in Russian (points for a band singing in their native language... what I wouldn't give to hear Darken sing po Polsku!!!). But I find the shrill vocals sometimes a little hard to put up with and the 'folk' melodies a little too happy, carefree... this is after all a dark, pagan metal band with an agenda, and this doesn't always come through. I find Skyforger's 'Semigalls Warchant' demo succeeded in some of the aspects that this one didn't, and perhaps it is unfair to compare the two, but this didn't resonate with me the way that one did.

To be fair, when this demo is good, it is fucking great. A valiant effort, and successful in many ways, and from a band that seem to come about what they do honestly. But I certainly feel that this gem, in some ways at least, is a bit flawed.

© 1999 the barrow man