Demo 2008

Man, this is a versatile demo. Each song takes on an entirely different spin. I generally don’t do reviews track by track, but here it feels like I couldn’t go any other way. I feel obliged to go through each track to give the reader an idea of Old Bones’ sound. And I think you can bear with me since it’s only a four track demo.

"Old bones" (the song, of course) starts this demo off in such a marvelous and arse-shredding manner. The mix the harsh old school black metal with some very sluggish doom, presenting some enchanting riffs and haunting vocals. At times there’s a bit of that 70ies psychedelic touch to it, incorporated into raw-as-hell tunes reeking of utter depression and solitude. I really love this track, so imagine my surprise when the entire atmosphere changes as the four minutes of "Old bones" is up…

Now this is something completely different. "Nekrophelia" still carries the old school black metal banner high, but with such a punk attitude. It can’t sound anymore hardcorepunk without being hardcorepunk, and it’s almost impossible to not mention Darkthrone here, as they’ve been doing this style of black metal for some albums now. But Old Bones do not sound like a copycat, and in fact I’d prefer them over previously mentioned act.

With "Alcoholic blasphemy" it’s back to the recipe of the opening track, but still with a twist of course. The emphasis here lies deeply with sludge, in an oh-so-sluggish tempo. However there’s not a lack of black metal, as the sound is cold and harsh, and the riffing carries a black approach. And as the last track, "Devils content", sets in we’re given a mixture of the previous three songs. True raw old school black metal with a punkish attitude and semi-slow tempo.

It’s difficult to guess which approach Old Bones will go with for upcoming releases, or if they’ll keep this schizophrenic mixture. But I certainly hope they won’t let go of the sludge/doom influence, as it kicks so much arse, especially the opening track. I dare any fan of harsh doom metal to deny the quality of the song. The only negative remark I can make is on the sound, as the bass-drum almost completely disappear.

Originally written for http://www.mylastchapter.net

The two guys behind «Old Bones» are not new to the scene. In fact, after they laid «Mordgrim» down to rest, this band came to existence and judging from the music, the choice for a name seems to be quite appropriate, as it covers the whole concept of the art; in the sense that it is intrinsic. Indeed, these four songs or fifteen minutes of black metal smells as fresh as a corpse being moved out of coffin after having lain there for at least hundred years or so ... while happily decomposing. Dirty, venomous and certainly loaded with the air forgotten times is what the archaeologist (or maybe grave robber) is confronted with.

Such is also true when it comes to actually describing the first demo of «Old Bones». There is this vibe of anti-modernism and 'we do what we want to do'; which is really neat and makes it all much more enjoyable. There are no keyboards to be found here either, no sound samples or anything else that might disturb the atmosphere and could work as a counter-point to the dark atmosphere which is created by the guitars and the (slightly?) raw produced drums. Raw and old-school are two aspects generally true for the art of «Old Bones» and the two musicians did a fairly good job in creating it; keeping it true and not making too many compromises.

First of all, the music is not very complex written. The arrangements are neat and quite catchy, have this modern Darkthrone feeling, but keep the whole idea rather in the realm of doom. While listening to the songs, you can easily lay back and relax, sit yourself on a coach take a glass of wine and follow the melodies. In case you search for a demo to make you mosh and jump around, then this one is surely of a wrong kind; yet Necrophelia might give you a kick now and then. In terms of the vocals it should be noted that they have a slight sludge sound, which is strange but works fine with the music.

As already mentioned, there is some slight rawness in the music, yet in terms of the impact rather limited to the drums or better said the snare drums; the bass-drums is quite bloodless and often hardly recognizable. Even though their performance is quite neat and the motives not bad, the overall emphasis lies on the guitars. The percussions add some to the atmosphere, but have not the impact and quality to actual manipulate it in a broader sense. Of the bass-guitar the same can be said, due to the mix which put this instrument far in the background and only on some rare occasions chords can be recognized clearly. Accordingly there is one main point of attraction: the guitars. The music switches between doom and black metal influenced parts or better said, the compositions offer either the former or the latter as a predominant aspect. Each of these is interesting, but perhaps this phrase is the worst that could be used in terms of describing the music. Even though some nice parts appear now and then, the whole concept lacks a little bit of fascination. It flows along gently and possesses accordingly no real outstanding facets; something that would make someone remember anything of the art.

This demo is not bad, but the production and the general absence of bass have an impact on the whole perception that cannot be neglected. Due to this flaw in the concept, the music has a strange touch and leaves the impression of a band whose attempt it has been to sound old-school but actually missed the goal for a good deal. Even though the songs are not bad in particular, there is something missing and the moments in which the band is really able to fascinate are simply too rare. Further does the track «Necrophelia» lack of identity, as it is pretty close to the modern Darkthrone stuff. Finally, it remains unknown where the band really wants to go to. With a mixture of fast or quite slow compositions, the demo sounds rather like experimenting a bit and trying to find out how the masses might react to the music. The gained input is then used for the next album/demo/rehearsal or whatever and the concept adjust in such a way as to present a more coherent and better crafted framework. A neat demo, some nice ideas, but certainly nothing I would listen to on a daily basis.

Old Bones began their musical career entitled Mordgrim, but after a slight genre switch they are now entitled Old Bones. Old Bones plays a more doom influenced black metal, as Mordgrim played a more black metal centric music. I enjoyed both bands, so the switch did not bother me any. This demo is a very good start for Old Bones.

As I said in the introduction, this demo fuses black metal and doom together nicely. Musically, it is very pleasing to hear, and keeps my attention the whole 14:51. The guitar riffs maintain a heavy tone, and differ in speed each song. The guitarist knows how to write very solid slow, heavy riffs as well as fast ones. The vocals also bring out the extreme side of the music. The vocalist uses a scream that sounds like something out of a death/thrash band, but is obviously black metal influenced. I enjoy the vocals a lot, and they are very fitting to the style of music. The drums are also well played, and have nice variations in speed. They fit very nicely into the mix of music.

Old Bones is a very interesting band to listen to. After listening to this demo a few times, I've come to appreciate it. I'm glad they took the time to send this to me all the way from Sweden. I'd recommend you check this out if you like extreme metal with doom tendancies.