Iced, in Extremis

A friend of the band showed me this demo when it came out, and at the time it was unlike anything I'd heard before, but after one listen I didn't really feel the need to return to it. Fast forward to a few years later, I stumbled on the band just looking around for new stuff and was completely blown away by the title track of their first full length "Blessed He With Boils." I showed it to the same exact person who reminded me that he had showed me the demo a few years back. Giving it another listen, I still didn't really find anything memorable or enticing about it. Other than the impressive musicianship, it's difficult to tell that it's even the same band. The musicianship shows very clear talent though, but it sounds like Sam Meador just fucking around instead of really taking it seriously. There's also an obvious drum machine being used, which is the final nail in the coffin making this demo barely listenable. The songwriting isn't nearly as captivating, and the track "All Abhorred" comes off spectacularly goofy and sounds like something Alestorm would have written... on a demo.

"Pashti" is probably the only track that had potential, with some deliciously dissonant black metal riffs and a bit of Sam's signature crooning on it. There's also a section on the track that resolved the tension of the track that was used later in the song "Blessed He With Boils," one of the few good ideas on this demo. The guitar has quite a grainy sound that suggests it might have been recorded on a laptop or a phone, the pinch harmonics sounding like a truck driver slamming on squeaky breaks somewhere in the distance. It is a demo after all, but even so, I would have expected better from what would later become one of the most compelling black metal artists around. Lots of ambition, clearly, but no substance. Demo is an abbreviation of demonstration, and there's really nothing being demonstrated here.

It's very interesting to take a peak into the seed that would eventually blossom into the massive songwriting force to be reckoned with that we now know as Xanthochroid, but other than sheer curiosity, there's really no need to dig this up. Or if you're a fan of Dimmu Borgir, there is a pretty good cover of their song "Alt Lys Er Svunnet Hen," but even their covers dramatically improved after this demo. "Harvest" by Opeth, and a couple Wintersun covers that they brilliantly refashioned into their own songs, just to name a few. It's not the worst demo by a great band I've ever heard, but it's only a few notches above being straight up embarrassing.