| Reviews for Heirdrain's Beginning |
| Angry and frustrated underground black metal - 78% |
| Written by Muloc7253
on November 3rd, 2009
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| The first thing I should say about 'Beginning', and for that matter all of Heirdrain's back catalogue, is that it is only for black metal fans. Now, you might consider yourself a fan of black metal, but are you? Like, do you really actually enjoy black metal? Because a lot of people seem to think they do, yet they actually just like the music that a few bands like, and those bands happen to fall into the black metal category. So ask yourself, is it the sound and feel of black metal that you like, or do a few black metal bands happen to write music that you enjoy, that you might enjoy all the same if it was played in a different style? If you think you might be part of the latter, then I would all out avoid Beginning, Heirdrain and the majority of the underground black metal scene. I'm not saying that you have to be true to like this, or that you're just not 'elite' enough to get it, or anything like that, but you have to really crave that feeling of blackness and anger and frustration. Otherwise this is just some dude making noise in his basement. It's just some dude making noise in his basement anyway, but whatever. There's just something so significant about this demo, and if Heirdrain had actually sat down and took the time out to compose it, and then set up some proper recording equipment and really thought about how to deliver it, it wouldn't have come out right, it just wouldn't be the same. But as it is now, it has a real dungeon quality, and a real desperation to it, like Heirdrain wanted nothing more than to just sound as evil, despaired and pissed off as possible. Beginning just screams inexperience in the most beautiful of ways, in the same way that thousands of old, raw punk bands did in the early 80s. Except it was easier for them, because they were making purposely catchy music, whereas this is the opposite. Heirdrain has always favoured noisier and more experimental music, and even this early entry is no different. The structures make little sense even to the trained ear, with harsh, abrasive chords clashing against each other and cutting each other off. The percussion is perhaps the most unique element, as the (completely obvious) drum machine isn't programmed to play regular rock or blast beats, but to play a sort of war march rhythm, like some mad dictator's metronome. I like the vocals a lot too, Heirdrain doesn't really have a stye here, he just screams the lyrics (probably improvised, and used without any real pattern) with a painful sounding shriek, like he's tearing up his throat screaming 'I hope you die!' and 'the fucking underground!'. Is there any point in me reviewing this? I'm sure you won't like it, and if you will, you probably already have a dozen Heirdrain releases. But I like this one a tad more than his other early demos, it feels more frustrated, more desperate. Sounds really, really pissed. There's so little care for what anyone will think, and due to this it sounds undeniably personal. I really enjoy this, perhaps for all the wrong reasons, but I have to say that if you identify with what I said in the opening paragraph and you really love black metal for what it is and not what a few bands have done with it, then you should definitely check out this demo. |