Ainulindalë

The first thing to know about this 1996 Osgiliath demo, is what is important to it. Only within this context can the music be fairly appreciated. This is not an ambitious project with high benchmarks of musicianship, skillful songwriting or originality. It works best as a soundtrack to fitting activities like reading a fantasy novel or walking through the woods. If listened to under close observation it proves to be a monotonous undertaking. When judged by atmosphere, Ainulindalë is a worthy listen. The demo holds the fairly typical 90's synthy melodic black metal style, with folky, low-fi medieval Tolkien-esque ambiance. It is simple: if you enjoy this kind of thing, you will like this. If not, you won't.

Osgiliath try to strike a balance of being repetitious without descending into monotony, though as I hinted earlier, they did not reach their goal. My mind teeters close to the edge of becoming numbed and uninterested. This is because the band likes to fall back on copy-pasting different sections of the album back in when they know they want a longer song, but are unsure what to play next. This tendency has lead to the stand-out error found in Ainulindalë: the transitions and order in the songwriting are rather jilted and illogical. In fact, the different songs seem like different versions/interpretations of the same song, and the band couldn't decide which they liked best, so they just used each version as a separate song. Now, I love a feeling of cohesiveness and motif in an album, but they overdid it. However, these problems can be overlooked when the album is listened to as an accompanying soundtrack.

The endearingly amateur production helps to convey medieval ancientness. The mood here is epic, but without any bombast, so I would describe it as "quietly epic.". It is more uplifting than melancholic.

There are sections when a man speaks over minimalistic synth and some cymbals. Understanding these lyrics would pretty much be the saving grace that keeps these parts from being superfluous, and as I do not, these are among my least favorite moments. Fortunately, the man has a nice mystical voice and the presence of these breaks is probably preferable to another round of the same melody. At times the bass is on par with De Mysteriis as far as prominence in the mix goes. Guitar lines drive the faster moments in junction with sparkling synths. Riffs are typical and unoriginal, but a functional vehicle for the main course of epic folky atmosphere. The drums have a nice organic tone.There is a cool whistle synth, or perhaps an actual whistle, that provides the more memorable moments.

The male vocals switch between two styles. The first kind are spoken somewhat poetically. Their high frequency is unusual and very characteristic to this demo. The second vocal style is of typical black metal fare. Here and there is amateur female singing, following along with and complementing the melody line. Her voice sounds distant and wispy and fits the music well. Some might be annoyed that she sounds a little off tune at times, but to me it adds charm.

While Ainulindalë has many flaws, it's level of conviction in itself is enough to keep me listening to it semi-regularly.
Recommended to fans of 90's melodic and symphonic black metal, so-called dungeon synth, and anyone who likes the idea of simplistic, folky medieval black metal.