I always wondered if the Balkans had anything to offer us in terms of metal. There isn't much that I know of. I've heard of Castrum from Croatia, and I think that's about it. I don't know how much of it has to do with the fact that the past decade was quite a turbulent time for that region, and a lot of people there had more important things on their minds. You know, like killing each other. Yet here we have a band coming from Serbia of all places in the Balkans. This tape includes two of their demos, "Killed By The Sun" and "Serbian Woods" recorded in 1998 and 1997 respectively, before those NATO assholes decided to show the world how so very macho and self-righteous they are.

On the first side we have "Killed By The Sun" demo which consists of raw black/thrash. The opener "My Demonic Face" interchanges between that whole Bathory/Celtic Frost vibe and some very thrashy riffs like Slayer or Kreator or something. The remaining two songs are done in the similar vein, especially the title track, which is totally thrashy, but in an evil black metal way. On the second side, the "Serbian Woods" demo is bereft of any distinct thrash touches. Instead, it is choke-full of untechnical, but evil enough, orthodox blackness with even worse production.

There is nothing remarkable, much less original, about this band, but they do kick some ass in their own way. Their appeal, of course, will only be limited to the "true," old-school fans out there.

© 2000 boris