End of Life

When one thinks of depressive sucidal black metal, Strid is often spoken of in the dark corners of the underground, and with very good reason. They are often regarded as the fathers of DSBM, and have proven very influential to many of the heavyweights in the genre. They didn't release many titles, only currently having this "End of Life" demo, and their self-titled EP, released in 1993 and 1994 respectively. Hailing from Norway, they took the second-wave of Norwegian black metal to an even darker, more atmospheric deminsion. "End of Life" is a single song, and will forever be a classic.

The music on here is not complex. In fact, like a majority of the bands falling into the DSBM category, it is quite simple. Simplicity is used as a tool to create a haunting, repetitive, droning atmosphere that is ever so cold and grim, literally looping through the head of the listener. This is the goal of this type of music, to haunt the listener's mind as he/she is consumed by the cold embrace. There are some interesting notes to be made of this song, however. One of these easily noticeable factors is the bass. The bass on this song is actually audible. Usually, the case with black metal is to have the bass either drowned out, following the same exact riff as the guitars. Here, the base does seem to follow the guitars, but it can actually be heard, which is very atypical for black metal, and even more so for DSBM. There are even some bands out there that don't utilize bass at all on their recordings, so it's not even a necessity, but it is nice to actually hear the bass. It even helps to further darken the already dark mood.

The guitars on this song are a highlight. They follow a haunting riff structure, and have that perfectly atmospheric fuzzy sound. The production on this demo is actually really good, being more clear and overall better produced than a lot of black metal demos, especially the ones that were released in the early to mid 1990s. As we all know, certain bands produce demos that are unlistenable and very harsh on the ears. While the lo-fi sound definitely is an asset and adds atmosphere to the music, it can be a hinderance and completely mess the music up entirely (Mayhem's "Pure Fucking Armageddon" demo from 1986 is a prime example of a black metal demo ruined by atrocious production). Here, the production is lo-fi. It is an example of the former, being a huge asset to the music. The fuzzy guitars are cold and sharp, which compliments the melodic, simple yet effective riffs. A certain guitar riff has even been used by the legendary and highly controversial German band Nargaroth, on his highly controversial song "Black Metal Ist Krieg". It's literally the same riff, and for some reason, isn't spoken of too often. This shows how influental this demo tape truely is. The actual riffs are not complex and repeat themselves often. This is one reason the song is so effective. Minimalism works very well here, as previously mentioned, engulfing the listener's ears and taking them on a sonic journey of emotional despair. This is helped by the vocals. Espen "Storm" Andersen handled vocals on this song, and he uses a technique that almost sounds like a wolf howling in pain. These vocals really accompany the music well and show just how tormented this man was. Not so ironically, Storm commited suicide in 2001. The guitarist, Lars Fredrik Bergstrøm, also died, in 2014. Although I'm not certain how he passed. Lars was 40 years old.

As captivating as the guitars, vocals, and even bass are, the drums, played by Jardar, are effective as well. They are more typical black metal, ranging from mid paced to the typical, insane blast beat. The drums in a way create a duality within the music. The guitars are often slow, although they have moments of speed, but the drums seem to go against the guitars at a few instances. This keeps it interesting. Speaking of interesting, Jardar is the only member who recorded on this demo that is still alive.

A demo that has passed the test of time, "End of Life" lives on today as one of the most recognizeable, influential songs in the history of black metal. Throw this on during a cold, rainy night, and experience Norway through the eyes of these tormented souls.