Demo 2006

I recently had the pleasure of listening to this demo after digging around for a little while to find it, and I feel it was definitely worth the time and energy. Colosseum's 2006 demo is a small piece of their discography and is quite often overlooked among their music. Essentially, all it is are three demo versions of tracks that appear on their debut album that released a year later in 2007.

Since there are only three tracks to pick on, I'll elaborate why I like the demo so much. The demo variation of Saturnine Vastness (which is my favourite Colosseum song) manages to give the already icy and isolated feeling of the album version, but at an even more frigid feeling and tone. The overall sound feels more drawn. The notes and lyrics are the same but the sound is colder and a bit lower quality in terms of recording. However, the demo version of the song is raw with emotion and delivers just as well as its debut counterpart.

The Gate of Adar was an alright track on the demo. I prefer the debut album version over the demo's, but the track is still potent and delivers as well as the debut. Of the three tracks, the one I like to point out the most is the final track, Aesthetics of the Grotesque. In the debut album, I felt like the song was great but the sound to it was just a tad warmer (probably because the keyboards aren't as prominent) than the rest of the album. The demo version of the song manages to outclass the debut one in terms of atmosphere and emotion to the listener. The opening notes of the song send a shiver down my spine with their distant echoing sound. The song paints images of the frigid empty vacuum of space, distant and lonely. Something about the song just feels more potent than the debut variant and it makes me wish they had kept the sound from the demo for Aesthetics of the Grotesque.

I highly recommend this demo to those who love Chapter 1: Delirium. It's a nice start to Colosseum's short-lived musical career, but it was the first step in their masterful pieces of funeral doom metal.