Käärmeenkantaja

Kyprian's Circle is one of the more obscure Finnish black metal acts despite its connections to Satanic Warmaster and Horna (and a host of other well known groups) via Nazgul and Shatraug. This is a crying shame because it's also one of the better bands from the region. Unfortunately its lifespan was short; just seven years and only three demos and a single EP, all hard to find. Kyprian seems to have disappeared completely, without a trace. He is reportedly the only official member and only plays guitar, the rest of the instruments manned by session musicians.

On this demo, either Shatraug or Nazgul perform the vocals. I'm not sure which one it is and I haven't heard Shatraug sing before. The vocal delivery is rather raspy and curt, quite unlike what I've heard from Satanic Warmaster, so I'm going to make an assumption that Shatraug was on the mic. It really does sound like an old forest spirit rasping ancient tales in a woods, which I think is what they were going for.

The riffing is actually really nice. There's a lot of tremolo going on throughout but not nearly as much as other Finnish bands. They're well-written and numerous with enough progression amongst themselves to keep the songs fresh. A lot of black metal bands lack genuine power in the guitar. Though Kyprian isn't wildly shredding away, the guitar feels in control completely, something more easily heard than described. Not once did I feel like fast forwarding through the rest of a song. In fact, this demo tape had me rewinding on more than one occasion. Words do not do justice to the beauty of this release. It wouldn't work without the keyboard, which is played to perfection by Toni Raehalme (of the funeral doom group Shape of Despair). It's never overbearing or too loud and the melodies intertwine wonderfully with the guitar. Symphonic black metal bands take note: this is how it's meant to be played.

The drums are, like the keyboard, full of feeling and purpose. Though nothing outstanding, they really compliment the music, rather than blasting over everything else haphazardly. The sound is great and I really don't believe that anything could be done to improve on them. Something I should point out is that everything is audible on this tape. This is remarkable for a mid '90s black metal demo. And one thing those demos are notorious for is the absence of bass. Its organic meaty thump can be heard easily here, more or less conforming to the guitar melody.

Unfortunately, there are only four tracks. Three of them are metal and the intro is an acoustic instrumental. Once again this little demo proves to be unlike so many published albums. This is an intro track that the listener actually gives a damn about, not some garbage dark ambient throwaway piece. In fact, there are no purely "ambient" sections and I still find it more peaceful than any ambient album. I want to spare this demo from a song by song summary so I'll leave it at this: prepare to be impressed.

Käärmeenkantaja is 18 and a half minutes of pure woodland black metal. It's atmospheric, curious, and soothing. I cannot stress how perfect this recording sounds. Recommended to anyone who enjoys black or "dark" metal.