Orcustus - 2002 - Demo

Orcustus is a Norwegian Black Metal band with a few rather known names in the ranks. Tormentor (Gorgoroth, Gaahlskagg), Dirge Rep (Gehenna, Enslaved) and Infernus (Gorgoroth) are members of this band, along with newcomer Taipan. This demo is really great, retro Black Metal at its finest.
The soundquality and vocals give a feeling of classic 1992-93 era Black Metal with the vocals sounding reminiscent to those of Emperor on their split with Enslaved and Marduk on their Those of the Unlight album.

The music is midpaced to fast with influences from the Emperor part of the aforementioned Emperor / Enslaved split and early Gorgoroth. The last track, "Lucifuge Damnation", could very well have been from Zyklon-B's Blood Must be Shed MCD. This is very interesting, and the coming fullength, to be released probably towards the end of 2004, certainly is something to look forward to.

Two of the three tracks from this demo, "World Dirtnap" and "Death Becomes You", have also been released on a 7" by Southern Lords in 2003. Unfortunately both of these releases are sold out. Both the demo and the 7" were limited to 1000 copies.

Standout track is "Death Becomes You".

Thursday May 20 2004, by :Vragh:

Ansur - 2005 - Carved in Flesh

Norwegian Black Metal horde Ansur have just re-released their first demo through Nerbilous Productions. Wellplayed mid-paced and slightly melodic Black Metal is what we get here. Musically this reminds me of a more melodic version of Disiplin with parts Orcustus, Borknagar, Watain and later Satyricon. A nice mix. A drum machine is used on this recording, which sounds ok, apart from the sound of the ride.

The vocals remind me of a harsher version of those by Slavia, formerly of Disiplin, mixed with those by Satyr, Erik of Watain and Taipan of Orcustus.

The soundquality is quite good on this recording. The emphasis is more towards the treble, to get that special, cold feeling. The guitars and the vocals are what stands out in the mix a bit, but you hear all the instruments here. Definitely a band to keep an eye on. Limited to 200 copies.

Standout tracks are "Murder", "Carved in Flesh" and "Through Snowlands".

June 4 by :Vragh: