Sincaldu - DEMONstration

Self Released 2013

 

1.Death Is The Sea 2.Echoes From A Past Life 3. Pale (The Infernal Struggle)

 

Obscure and relatively unheard of black metal band Sincaldu release their debut demo, the aptly named ‘DEMONstration’ and from the very first note of opening track ‘Death Is The Sea’ I was instantly hooked by their brand of hypnotic, raw and atmospheric bleak black metal. Simple but effective guitars and drums are backed up devastatingly by some absolutely hate-filled and scathing vocal work, a real sense of lonely desperation etched into every word. Musically, the majority of the song is slow and mournful. However, the pace is upped into mid-paced territory, both speeds suiting the fast tremolo picked riffs well. As the song draws to a close and the drums drop off, it allows the harsh guitars and vocals to end the track viciously and mournfully, sounding a lot like the earlier albums from Burzum. ‘Echoes From A Past Life’ is a harsh interlude acting as a bridge between the two main tracks. Guitars buzzing and feeding back in a hail of almost white noise nastiness. ‘Pale (The Infernal Struggle)' smashes in at an absolutely blistering pace, blast beat laden drums bursting forth, accompanying the guitars harshness and speed brilliantly. Reading through some of the bands info, they say future releases will have a ‘professional drum sound’, but to be perfectly honest, the sound they have opted for works brilliantly alongside the lo-fi production of the guitars. Devastating black metal like this can become a mush of buzz-saw guitars and biscuit tin drums, but Sincaldu get it just right here, the production sitting in just the right place to match and complement this style of black metal. This offering is only a demo, and only features 3 tracks that clock in at 13 minutes, but what a fucking 13 minutes it is! Its lo-fi to hell, but offers up an absolutely massive sound that really punishes the listener with its shear brutality, harshness and morose atmospheres. Mentioned earlier, but comparison wise, a good starting point would be Burzum with hints of earlier Ragnarok (Nor). For a debut this is mightily impressive. Raw harsh and atmospheric black metal that reeks of hellish desperation, it will be very interesting to hear what the bands next release sounds like because if it is anything like this demo, it will definitely be on my shopping list! Comes highly recommended.

 

8 out of 10

Listen: Here