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Top 50 Norwegian Black Metal demos
1990-1996
Compiling a list of Norwegian bands is one thing, but to unearth a
list of 50 demos, all pre 1996, now, that’s a quest! Some of the
demos in this list have been re-released on cd, others are just
enigmas, lost recordings that will possibly never see the light of
day. I have compiled this list out of pure interest as the more
obvious bands do not even appear in it. These bands that cannot be
included are,
Darkthrone ; released 3 demos [dread awful sound at that] prior to
their debut, Soulside Journey, none of the material to that point
was Black Metal.
Mayhem ;were a few years past the muffled, Deathcrush’ MLP, and
would on its merits have vanished into the ocean of other
underground acts if it wasn’t for the wonderfully macabre sequence
of events that spawned the Norwegian Black Metal scene. Mayhem, had
no demo output after Deathcrush.
Dimmu Borgir, had a rehearsal tape of the, For All Tid, sessions in
1994, but this is not included as it was never an official release.
Immortal ; released a couple of demos, in 1990-91, both having a
very Death Metal sound, both sounding as bad as the Darkthrone
demos.
Ulver, released a decent demo in the form of Vargnatt, and yet I
never looked upon it as having any Black metal attributes. Some of
you will scorn me for uttering such blasphemy, but that’s how I see
it. Also, Mysticum released a demo called ‘Wintermass’, that also
appeared prior under their first name, Sabazios. The demo in my
opinion is not better than the following list. Borknagar,
Dodheimsgard, and other bands, never released a demo, a few
promotional tapes, but no actual demo recordings.
One could cite, Dismal Euphony, as having Black Metal credentials
with their 1995, Spellbound demo, but I have not included this here.
Burzum, certainly had some rehearsal tapes in 1991, and 1992, the
first being an instrumental set of songs, nothing riveting, albeit,
historically essential, but not as captivating as some would argue.
All the following demo’s have been assessed in their cassette
originals, the digital re-released of some are cited where relevant.
The eroded, muggy nature to the sound can in some cases offer a
completely different audio experience than the digital re-mastered
versions. So, we are left with the following list that I feel
represents the finest Norwegian Black Metal demos. All releases are
pre-1996, as there are numerous acts who appeared during and after
this date, all contributing to the scenes growth, none part of the
scenes conception. |
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Top 50 Norwegian Black Metal demos
1990-1996
1 - 10 |
11 - 20
| 21 - 30
| 31 - 40
| 41 - 50
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Many thanks to
www.theundergroundcollection.com for whom this list would not
have been possible in its entirety.
Just for the record, I have now rediscovered what a pain in the ass
it is playing cassettes, fast forwarding and rewinding to get to a
certain track, and generally spending most of the time hitting
buttons on the player. Oh, how the digital age had simplified the
demo, and yet how it has also destroyed its charm, and the very
heart of the underground. |
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