Funeral Fog

No Colours Records, Tuman’s current label, has made available the band’s 2004 demo as a limited release, like the original, of 666 hand-numbered copies. New to this CD are a bonus track and the “Transylvanian Dreams” video plus a folder of band photos not listed on the cover. It’s worth noting that No Colours calls the band “Tymah”, ignoring the allegedly Cyrillic script that renders the name “Tuman”.

The album opens with a cover of Mayhem’s “Funeral Fog”, the demo sound quality, solid time and sheer bravura giving the interpretation an authentic feel. What distinguishes the performance here, unlike so many other swampy-sounding BM demos, is the clarity of the vocals: they stand out openly from the instrumental mix and were obviously recorded separately.

Tuman’s excellent full-length “Transylvanian Dreams” is more worthy of your purchase than this disc. The main problem here is that every track on the demo is taken at exactly the same tempo and feel. I love BM demos but even I get a little tired half way through. It’s competent and you can see why No Colours proffered the contract but it becomes an ordeal to listen to.

“Freezing Moon” is not the band’s finest moment. It starts out stridently and essentially faithful to the original Mayhem classic with, like “Funeral Fog”, a few individual touches to give the performance some character. Gelal knows he’s not Hellhammer and doesn’t overly try to be but, let’s face it, this is “Freezing Moon” and Jan’s drum style is integral to the song so Gelal gives it his best shot. Sadly, the time wanders a little and the pulse is lost to an extent. I was wondering how Dim would handle Euronymous’ iconic guitar solo. It’s a passable if lackluster performance without any of Euro’s desperate emotion, and pushed back in the mix to smother a few errors.

The bonus track “A Gonosz Sotet Erdeje” is obviously from the sessions that yielded “Transylvanian Dreams”. The stereo spread and icily bright guitars are the same but it’s an outtake, rejected from the full-length and deservedly so. The time meanders and there’s a feeling that the riffs, arrangement and the song as a whole song hadn’t been fully considered before recording. It’s also at odds with the full-length album’s “forest gloom” aesthetic.

The video is available on YouTube and elsewhere so it’s hardly a “bonus”. Obviously inspired by Varg’s “Dunkelheit” video and Darkthrone’s many DIY efforts it’s hardly original. The video’s chief virtue is that it doesn’t start automatically when the disc is inserted in a computer CD drive. The folder of pix is a thoughtful inclusion as there are so few of the band available anywhere that I’ve looked. It’s widely asserted that guitarist/vocalist Dim is female although it’s impossible to tell from the Dead-inspired vocal performance, the photos on the disc or the video.

In short, “Funeral Fog” is a solid black metal release but an unessential purchase. Save your money for “Transylvanian Dreams”.