Les ailes des Carpates

For this review challenge, I'm gonna bring in some light to another one of those obscure raw black metal bands that not many know called Saatkrähe. This one's a predecessor to Sale Freux as this project formed four years prior, and Ludovic "Dunkel" Miet would release multiple demos in this project. Most the demos are okay, but the one I'm reviewing in particular is "Les ailes des Carpates" because I think this is the one that stands out the most.

Starting off with the instrumentals, the opening track "Errant en royaume Carpates" starts off with some ringing bells before quickly jumping straight into the chaos. The guitar riffs sound really raw, and play some basic power chords that repeat throughout much of the track. The drumming is also very simple and basic, as besides some occasional out-of-place cymbal crashes, there's not a whole lot of variation in the the beat patterns. The bass is pretty much non-existence, as its bass play is drowned out in the noise. This simple and raw take on black metal has been done many times before, even back in 2005, and those who've listened to many black metal releases like me will not find much surprises here. However, I think this demo executes this type of playing the best out of all the demos because its more atmospheric nature is executed a lot better, especially in "Errant en royaume Carpates", "Les vent du dragon", and "Et la neige commence à recouvrir", which is where the simple, yet hypnotic riffs shine the most. There's also a cover for Darkthrone's "Over fjell og gjennom torner", which is shorter than the original, but still captures the same raw and energetic atmosphere with a more simplistic guitar riff. While this is the standard raw black metal playthrough that won't impress the more experienced black metal listeners, I still personally think the instrumentals are decent at its raw execution.

However, the vocals are the weakest part of this whole thing. Dunkel does some typical high-pitched shrieks as you would expect, but when I say typical, I truly mean typical. A good example of this is in the track "Les vent du dragon". Like I said earlier, this one's stronger in its raw and atmospheric tone, but Dunkel's shrieks have a basic execution and don't really enhance the riffs any further. They also gurgle a bit at times, which actually worsens the vocals a bit as he sounds more like he's choking than he is shrieking. There's not really a whole lot to say about the vocals because they're really basic, and if you're expecting some brilliant vocal performances, then you're gonna be disappointed.

But despite the vocals being weak, the instrumentals are still good at its raw and atmospheric sound, and actually does it a lot better than with some of the other demos. Saatkrähe would change its name in 2008, though there's still some demos and compilations being released under that name from as recent as two years ago. And even though much of the band's releases is average raw black metal, "Les ailes des Carpates" is probably the best at this type of stuff in my opinion.