A History Of Norwegian Black Metal

21. Isvind - Nivelheimen [1993]
	1. Kulde (intro) 2. Over blaamyra steg kongen 3. Davigene vi av underverden steg 4. Om natten flyr landen 5. Lysingen i skogen 6. Nivelheimen 7. Nattens vingslag bryter stillheten Isvind had already released a demo under the name Ice Wind, the previous year, yet it is this wonderfully atmospheric release that captures the band at their best. I even prefer it to the bands album, Dark Waters Stir, released in 1996. There were two EP’s and a second demo between this release and the album, all containing a similar one dimensional sound. Isvind are one of those bands who never quite reached the level of popularity afforded their
peers. This is no doubt due to the lacklustre album, albeit a sturdy collection of tight, roaring Black Metal, it nonetheless held no longevity in the eyes of History. This demo however, is a raw rendition of Black Metal primitivism. Like a collision of Darkthrone and Forgotten Woods, the music relies on its icy guitars and grizzled vocals to create the dark moods discovered here. There is an emphasis on mid-tempo arrangements and at time the compositions slide into the melodic paganism of Windir and Taake. The vocals switch to clean on occasions, reminding us of the versatility the band employ. The sound is typically demo quality, neither terrible or great, just raw, hollow and jumpy.

22. Forgotten Woods - Forgotten Woods [1993]
	Re-released as MCD 1995 [Pagan Records] and 12" EP 2000 [No Colours Records] 1. Winterly battle over northland 2. Grip of frost 3. Forgotten woods 4. Winterly landscapes The tinny sound, is home to some phlegm retching vocals [they sound like Abbath from Immortal being wrung though a mangle] The tracks here are very much the bass thrumming, sound Forgotten Woods fashioned on later releases. The demo has an In the Woods’ early guitar sound, and driving melodic spine, but for the most part its icy Black Metal without
any subtleties. The fusion of melodic mid tempo guitar sections and all out snare bashing is typical of the genre, although there is more substance to the material, with a very metalized edge to the compositions. The tracks have direction and depth, as in stark contrast to the primitivism of Darkthrone's more basic arrangements. One could cite Burzum as a more direct comparison to the cold, yet balanced song writing, with variety of pace and aggression melting though the swirling Black Metal demo atmosphere. ForgottenWoods - Through The Woods [1993 ] 1. Through the woods 2. Inside the witches cave 3. Storms from north This is the bands second demo, and also worthy of inclusion here. First track is a short instrumental, acclimatizing the ears to the dire sound, [in demo terms, not that bad actually] Clocking in at 10 minutes, the song is split into numerous levels of pace, and moods. The track starts at a mid-tempo pace, to break into a thrashing section, with the vocals leaping from gruffs to unnatural human whelps. After a few minutes the music slides into a doom like dirge, complete with a guitar solo. Then it's back to the mid-tempo Black Metal frost and thrashing counter balance. About halfway the music withers into a lazy jam like section, a heads down, Heavy Metal moment even. By this point the mood is bleaker than a graveyard in the black of night. The respite of a solitary guitar lead beckons the tracks finale, a melodic cold track with a very accessible melodic arrangement. The demo closed with a rather sprightly number in the form of Storms from North, a short and simple Forgotten Woods track that reveals the simplicity of the bands core elements.

23. Old Mans Child ‘In the Shades of Life’ 1994
	1.St. Aidens Fall 2.Seeds of the Ancient Gods 3.Manet Sorgfull Igjennom Skogen 4.The Old Man's Child 5....Og Jeg Iakttok Dødsrikets Inntog Not many demo’s can lay claim to having a set of songs that would grace an album with ease. The sound quality and depth of musical composition is very high. The Dimmu Borgir
‘Stormblast’ elements, and basic Dimmu style, can be attributed to this demo’s overall texture, albeit less keyboard driven than the aforementioned Stormblast, but compositionally similar. Atmospheric, gentle melodies, guitar leads, graceful arrangements tethered to a course vocal delivery and at times frantic drum work. There are acoustics elements, and numerous if not all of the elements that went into the following Born of the Flickering album. With these two releases, rest the defining Black Metal moments of Old Mans Child, the ensuing releases falling into a more commercial view, no doubt encouraged by the bands association with Century Media. Here however, is an unquestionable, melodic, Black Metal gem. The demo was released on Shagrath's, Hot Records, supposedly as a split with Ved Buens Ende, but this never materialized.

24. Satyricon ‘My Forest is My Throne’ 1993
	1.Black Winds 2.The Forest Is My Throne 3.Min Hyllest Til Vinterland 4.The Night of the Triumphator The bands second demo, having already released the All Evil’ demo in 1992. The hardly ever mentioned first demo. Starting with the very familiar, All Evil, [this track has the first chords of Into the Mighty Forest, found on the Dark Medieval Times album.
The second demo featured, Min Hyllest Til Vinterland, that would make the Dark Medieval Times album, the acoustic piece having a certain aura of olden times, leaving the remaining three tracks to virtual obscurity. Opening track Black Winds, is pretty much how you would imagine Satyricon to be at this early stage. The sound is cluttered and muggy, although the echoed guitar sound still very much in evident. The arrangements are focused on lengthy compositions, with no real immediacy to the songs. This was the first time Satyr and Frost appeared together, and this unison has progressed to this very day. Again, there are obvious references to Celtic Frost and Bathory shifting within the music, and this is mostly discovered on the final track The Might of the Triumphater. A tribute to the bands influences, thrash and Black Metal.

25. Ved Buenes Ende ‘Those Who Caress the Pale’ 1994 [Ancient Lore Creations]
	1.A Mask In The Mirror 2.The Carrier Of Wounds 3.You That May Wither 4.The Plunderer 5.Those Who Caress The Pale A testimony to the early scenes pioneering impetus that paved the way to ensure the genre would survive and not drown in its own self ‘Trueness’ path of one dimensional icy four
track recordings. Ved Buenes Ende means, at the end of the Rainbow. Experimental with its almost VoiVod style of guitar arrangements, Arthur Brown vocal chanting, and a completely unpredictable compositional style. A doom version of VoiVod is the best way to describe this demo. The band featured members from Dodheimsgard and Arcturus. There is an early Arcturus feeling to the atmospheres that derives from the clean vocals and when it appeared in 1994, the music was extremely experimental and out on a limb. The demo is a more aggressive beast than the following Written in Waters album, with faster sections creating a more definitive Black Metal familiarity. The dark grizzled vocals are also more prominent here, and the overall mood is one of darkly mystique.

26. Gorgoroth ‘A Sorcery Written in Blood’ 1993
	1.Gathered At Blåkulla 2.Sexual Bloodgargling 3.(Under) The Pagan Megalith This demo owes its title from a line from Bathorys, The Return of Darkness and Evil. The track, Sexual Bloodgargling was later renamed to, Ritual on the Pentagram album. In its original form, the 3 tracks on this demo are raw, rehearsal recordings and reveal the bands more violent, extreme approach. This is absolute ‘TRUE BLACK METAL’ in every sense of the word. Quite mesmerizing in its own abysmally bleak way. The vocals are raging shrieks that rip though the air, the tracks, fast and compact. Here was the raw form of the following, Pentagram album in all its corrosive degradation. This demo is what many purists would cite as absolute Black Metal hell, as the sound is abysmal, the music blatantly
one dimensional, raw to the marrow, unholy Black Metal. This has to be one of the most loathsome demos to emerge from Norway. The line up was, Hat, Infernus, Goat (d), Kjettar.

27. Ragnarok ‘Pagan Land’ 1994
	1.Intro .Pagan Land 3.From the Darkest Deep 4.Hammerens Slag 5.Et Vinter Land I Nord 6.Ragnarok A band who have never become more than an acceptable part of the Norwegian Black Metal scene. Their position in the scene is of the same stature as Limbonic Art, Urgehal, and Aeternus. This demo contains some fine melodic Black Metal moments wrapped in a symphonic cloak, Dimmu Borgir’s early primitive works can be likened to the easy on the ears music found here. The music harnesses the Black Metal style of its day, without being swallowed up in the ragged minimalisms and calamitous strains used by the likes of
Darkthrone and Burzum. It is a very surprising demo, having a set of songs that in their entirety, make for as good a listening experience as any of the following albums the band would release. The keyboards certainly lift the songs into a more gentle level of darkly atmosphere, the snarling vocals always a reminder of the cold nature of the music’s core. The Norwegian scene in 1994 was very much split between the more orthodox styles and the keyboard affiliated styles. Ragnarok, at this stage of their career were a band stuck between the two, neither style having an overwhelming dominance of the other.

28. Voluspaa ‘T.A.E.M.E.M.’ 1995
	1.De kristene i jerngrep 2.Vandring 3.Over en stygg og hatfull gård 4.1349 A strange demo in that it incorporates the acoustic grace of Satyricon's Dark Medieval Times, with Gorgoroths Pentagram. Add a very Fenris vocal bark, and what we get is a very strong purposeful, easily acclimatized demo. The songs are well constructed and have
the bite of the aforementioned acts, as well as a certain individual charm. The vocals are very high in the mix, and this does enhance the vehemence of the music. The guitars are very busy, as are the drum patterns and this gives a very frantic pace to the 4 tracks. The merging of the more subtle acoustic sections is very well pieced together and this adds depth and atmosphere to the demo. The collision of styles that Voluspaa employ makes this demo instantly enjoyable, and yet the originality of the material is less forthcoming. I have heard many demos and this is definitely one of the better ones. A solid pure Norwegian Black Metal demo in every sense. Try to obtain it on cd form from Sonic Death, http://armageddon.hypervorea.net/

29. Ildjarn , Seven Harmonies of Unknown Truths, 1992
	Tracks untitled. Ildjarn played in Thou Shalt Suffer, with both Samoth and Ihsahn in 1991. Simple, guitar strums over a drum machine, distortion playing a big part in the primitive one dimensional musical ethos of Ildjarn. There are no guitar leads, no elaborate string arrangements. This is music that is easily created in a jam session or just mucking about in the home studio. This is how best to describe this demo, a very D.I.Y affair, that has a distinctive punk backbone to its feral sound. The most basic Black Metal demo you’ll ever hear. Three chord punk arrangements driven through a distortion and trampled with a blaring vocal roar. This is the minimalist awakenings of Ildjarn, a fleshless musical entity, stripped of all definition. There are no elaborate arrangements here, only a resounding despondency, a Darkthrone like chill regressed into its most base form. The inelegant nature of the material makes it a very digestible demo, even more so if you extract the vocal coarseness.

30. Tulus ‘Midtvinter. ‘ 1995
	1.Midvintermåne 2.Inskripsjon etter jordferd 3.Tunge dråper fra et morkt hjerte A band who were to release 3 underground albums [that were equally underrated], to melt into Khold, and reanimate back into Tulus. This was the bands second and final demo, a bass heavy reflection of the very embodiment of the Tulus musical experience. Fast tracks and slow atmospheric slow burners, and yet the high in the mix bass lines, played not to the lead guitars directive, rather the chords twist along in their own path. This is where Tulus accomplish their unique sound, not from any variance of the normal Black Metal framework, but through the bass delivery. The vocals are very Valfar [Windir] style of lacerating snarls, with the occasional clean chant. The finest moment on this demo is
the brooding, Inskripsjon Etter Jordferd, an infectious track with a slight keyboard backing. The demo can be unearthed on the Cold Core collection double cd, originally released on Face Front records. I believe this excellent compilation is re-released on Indie Recordings www.myspace.com/indierecordings

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