Dark Winter Solstice

As a Black Metal fan for many years I am always on the look out for new blood and new great music, but at these times it is hard to find bands in the genre true to their roots without becoming over commercialized and over repetitive from earlier acts. Druid differs however. I found this band through a friend of a friend who had picked up a copy of this demo and later got a copy myself. To my extreme surprise it was much, much better than I had at first expected, I mean "Irish Black Metal", I expected alot of Irish inspired folk riffs and beats and not pure raw black metal which this demo is comprised of.
The recording is definately self made, a ball of sound, making it hard to distinguish all the sounds, but they are definately there. After a few listens everything opens up and the music reveals much more.

The Intro is actually one of the darkest I have ever heard, voices chanting eeriely behind the thunder and rain, very cold. Before I continue with the review I would like to add I did not take any points off for the bad sound, it grew on me I admit and the feel is there, that is what actually matters in my opinion. The Vocals are very raw, agonizing and gut wrenching, sounding like chants and battle roars, they add a unique quality to the music itself. The layered guitars and riffs are extremely dark and exceptional for demo quality with a humming bass in the background giving it a great structure. This can be heard in all the songs. There is no one song that particularly stands out from the rest as I find them all very differant, in good way. The drums are like thunder rolls, exceptionally fitting to the sound as they create an element in the music with the other instruments that binds together an almost distressing feeling which at these times is hard to find Black Metal. The last song on the demo "All that Lies Dead" is a definate epic with alot of defination and thought provoking themes and the drumwork really bring this to life.

If you do not have this demo, try to find it by contacting the band because it seems to be pretty rare but definately a must have for anyone into raw black metal with feeling. I look forward to more from these two and wish them the best in the future

-Grimmm