Suicide Fixation

Hypothermia haven't always put forth hopeless, original, high-quality depressive black metal. There was once a time that they were nothing but a lost-cause, just another clone, strongly resembling the likes of Burzum, Forgotten Woods, and so on, so forth. Just to think, at the peak of there career (so far) we have 'Gråtoner'; bleak, hopeless and emotionally draining, and at the other end of the spectrum, so to speak, we have this - Suicide Fixation. Simple, repetitive, uninspiring black metal. This may be their second release, proving all bands have to start somewhere, but honestly, this is a poorly executed album, even going downhill from their first release, Saphien Irretable.

What could one possibly expect in this album?! Well... nothing worth mentioning, really. Standard 4/4 beats, tremolo passages, poorly executed vocals (even Kim's torment and agony can't save this one!) and... that's about it. Even the cheap keys heard on the previous release don't even appear on this release. The only song worth excluding from all just said, is the Intro. I actually enjoy that song, very slow, pulsating black metal; a 'sample' of what was to come in the next few years.

The reinvented Evig Kyla is another trace of hope for Hypothermia. Second time lucky, I suppose. Though, once again, just the standard ingredients for a black metal song, the vocals create the desired effect - watered down immensely, but still - the desired effect. It's just songs such as Outro - glitchy, poorly 'programmed' music that seems the band would be stuck in a hole for quite some time - if not, for the length of their career. (obviously, that theory was smashed to shit, with the release of 'Självdestruktivitet Född Av Monotona Tankegångar'.

Apart from the poorly mixed tracks, the compositions themselves aren't appealing in the least - hell, even Kim's vocals prove to be a catastrophe, albeit the fact they are unbelievably high in the mix, the tormented, agonizing sound present in basically every other release is simply not there.

All in all, this is the only Hypothermia release that cannot - correction - will not, leave the listener awestruck. A small, but harsh review, but after listening to releases such as Köld, and the likes - Suicide Fixation leaves the listener unfulfilled, and simply can't belive this is the same band.

This is Hypothermia's second demo. It has a total of 5 songs. Two of which ("Intro" and "Outro") are instrumental. The other three are made up of depressive black metal inspired by the likes of Burzum, Nargaroth and Abyssic Hate.
But one can't make Hypothermia off as a clone. This band has been working on their own sound, that is easy to hear on here, and even more on later demos.
The intro and outro tracks are excellent instrumentals, creating a sense of being covered by snow, slowly dying. The first regular track is "Sjalvhat," and is fairly long, with a good feeling. The production it must be noted is not top notch, it is along the lines of Mutiilation's "Vampires of Black Imperial Blood," meaning the drums are pretty loud, whilst the guitars are left lower, and the vocals are pretty high with no reverb, which is a pretty harsh and raw sensation, as the vocals on here are as brutal as Varg Vikernes'. "Evig Kylat" is shorter, a little more driving, but still as good, the depressive quality is still strong. Same with "Your Misery," the only song to feature lyrics in English, which have a few oddities due to unfamiliarity with English, but it still gets its point across. The song is longer though, with a good feeling, and some good drum beats that are similar to Burzum's work on "Det Some Engang Var."
Overal what you have is a fine demo from Sweden's best depressive black metal band Hypothermia, who is certainly crafting their own realm in this style of black metal.