Demo

Demo tapes always attract curiosity from reviewers, either because they in some cases may represent the embryonic forms of future major players. In the cases of the old demos of established bands, like this case, it is interesting just because of the retrospect factor. Certainly, if we look back to 1993 when this was recorded, there were very few hints that Bal-Sagoth would end up playing the style of the music they do today.

The first thing I noticed about it is that the production is RAW, even for a demo. It is not as rawly-produced as a rehearsal tape, but it still makes a Venom album sound clear in comparison. As such, it requires as much concentration to listen to as official Bal-Sagoth releases, but for completely different reasons.

The overall song structures are somewhat complex compared to traditional heavy metal, with a riffing style very similar to eighties death/thrash and equal focus upon getting the listener hooked and creating an atmosphere. Though the keyboards do not carry the songs on their own to the same extent as on Bal-Sagoth's subsequent output, they are still an integral part of the music as their eerie timbres and odd sounds are necessary to the atmosphere on the demo, which is far more "Tales From The Crypt" than "Conan the Barbarian".

Despite two of the songs turning up later on "A Black Moon...", the demo's vibe is far more horror than fantasy than was the case on the album, which probably is a function of the raw and fuzzy yet trebly production and the absence of Byron's trademark narration from this demo. They actually succeed quite well at creating such a pulp-horror atmosphere, albeit with more restraint and discretion than one would expect from Bal-Sagoth.

However, given the direction(s) that Bal-Sagoth would later take, one still has to wonder whether the impression given by this demo is the one they actually wanted to make. Indeed, I cannot help but think that this, being the metal equivalent of a pulp horror story rather than a pulp dark fantasy, went wrong in an unusually lucky way.

Even with the weight of the then-future Bal-Sagoth placed upon the demo, however, it is still a worthy piece of grim, sinister, murky and gloomy metal which manages to sound not quite like any other band out there, albeit in a rather subdued way.