As Eternal as the Night

Spain and black metal? From 1994? This is astounding enough, but more confusing is that the four songs are good AND sound like Carpathian Forest! So, one might think the band from the Iberian Peninsula took the ideas from the Norwegian one and used them for their own compositions, but Carpathian Forest had not reached the status they have now and had also been a small band from the underground. Yet by comparing Black Shining Leather with As eternal as the Night, then one has to acknowledge that there are some similarities; these are not limited to the vocals.

When it comes to the music then some similarity to the drive and catchiness of the aforementioned Scandinavian band can be found on this demo. Yet, the three tracks are generally more aggressive, have more power and a larger emphasis on higher tempo with some slower/midtempo interludes. All fine already, but the tracks offer no simple song-writing or pure blasts, but rely instead on neat melodies together with some amount of variation in the motives. A surprisingly high level in coherence in terms of the atmosphere and the song-writing can be examined -- the tracks from the re-release do not fit entirely into it, though, but this is a minor flaw -- and this makes this release, even after around fifteen years since it saw the light of day still pretty enjoyable. Actually, I wonder why a lot of bands of today's scene seem to be satisfied with the quality of their music, which would not stand a comparison with demos like one this review is about. Whatever their motives may be, releases like As eternal as the Night are certainly preferable.

Anyway, the vocalist wakes some memories on Nattefrost; style and sound. The whole production is pretty raw, but this is fine, because the instruments have enough power and beyond some slight unbalances when it comes to the drums, they would have a little bit too much power or better said had wrongfully been placed too far in the foreground, there is nothing to complain about; even the bass-guitar can be recognized; which is a little bit too far in the back, but the listener should be glad to hear it at all. When subsuming all these aspects, then the performance is quite astounding considering the circumstances and time from which it is.

So, bored of today's Carpathian Forest? Annoyed by Nattefrost's lame solo performance, then this first demo by Primigenium might be something to raise some interest. As eternal as the Night has to be put into perspective and accordingly is it necessary to emphasize its release date: 1994; before the Norwegian band got prominent and their famous releases out. I have my doubts they took their inspiration from this Spanish release, but one never knows. Black Metal with some good drive can be found here; some may it even sort under the category black'n'roll, but such is not consistent over the whole length of the demo.

This release, except for the shitty outro, can be whole-heartily recommended to all fans of Carpathian Forest and to all those black metal fans who are still in possession of their balls and have accordingly not turned their head towards the depressive and suicidal crap.