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Tsjuder > Demonic Possession > 2005, CD, Drakkar Productions (Reissue) > Reviews
Tsjuder - Demonic Possession

You will be killed!!! - 100%

ImpaletheCunt, May 2nd, 2019
Written based on this version: 2002, CD, Drakkar Productions

Most fuckheads think Desert Northern Hell is Tsjuder's pinnacle album. Ill give it kudos as being totally brilliant but this here is the magnum opus of all things pitch black. Frost bitten landscapes and demonic warriors are the order of the day, an offering so unpure that a virgin sacrifice in the pentagram of blood is demanded. Father Satan is pleased more now then the day his bitch-slut Jesus was crucified on the Calgary cross. Burn that scum-buckets corpse in the infernal pits of glorious hell. Tsjuder are the new Gods for sure

Eriphion Epistates gets us started and its a fucking ripper. Come to think of it, which track isn't!! If you can stomach the first four minutes maybe you will survive..... just maybe!!! This is pure rage drenched in copious amount of aggression and hell does it let loose. Tsjuder state their intention from the get-go and fuck me do they deliver the tremolo picking goods. Their style completely transformed from the days of their debut - Kill for Satan. Nag realized that catchy tunes are one thing but pulverizing black metal bludgeoned out at mind-warping pace is another. They upped the ante and created pure black magic. Demonic possession is the stuff of legends and has a vice grip strangle hold on your very pathetic existence. Every instrument in the production is exactly what it needs to be. The bass stands out, the drums are thunderous and the guitars are laden with molten speed. A perfect combo of fire and ice, darkness devouring light. This is metal my friend so go burn your cradle of filth fucking albums and catch a wake up you goddamn posers!!! Survive the whole album and you're a legend destined to the sacrilegious halls of Valhalla because Tsjuder want you dead.

The production is sufficiently raw yet does not fall into the trap of sounding "Kvlt". So many assholes think that Kvlt production is bad ass, yet their bands play bubblegum metal crap that sounds like it was recorded in a toilet. Newsflash, that's not heavy, that is just fucking pathetic and lame. I for one fall asleep listening to shit like that. Here's a 3 piece that will strip the flesh from your godforsaken corpse. They are as tight as it gets and create a whirlpool of sound that only the top echelon of bands have the ability to do. This album is already 17 years old and has stood the test of time, it never ages. A timeless classic of the second wave. Drakkar promotions need to be hailed for putting this out. Its part thrash, part black and all total chaos with the whole being more than the sum of its parts.

A legend album written at the tail end of the true second wave. Bone-crushing brutality at its best. Kneel at the altar of Lucifer and sacrifice your soul. This is the soundtrack to Hell and Master Satan is fucking pleased!!!

Buy or die!!!!

Will it blend? - 75%

FLIPPITYFLOOP, August 12th, 2012

A few months ago I went downtown with my friend to a record store that apparently had a ton of really rare metal albums all used and on sale for about $3.00 a piece, and when I made my way down there with him the following weekend I realized he was absolutely right. I went there a couple times and purchased a nice stack of albums including a few blind buys, including Tartaros' "The Grand Psychotic Castle", Seth's "By Fire, Power Shall Be..." and Tsjuder's "Demonic Possession". I was always curious about Tsjuder and wanted to look more into them as a band but never really got around to it. I figured that the worst that could happen is that I don't end up liking it, and for 3 dollars and change it wouldn't really matter too much. I've listened to it a handful of times since purchasing it, and while it hasn't really drawn me to become obsessed with Tsjuder, I've heard this album enough times to be able to review it and I can safely call it a solid effort with some definite highlights.

So what exactly do we have here? This is Tsjuder's second full length album, and it is a deadly firestorm of Norwegian black metal fury. I remember hearing/reading somewhere that Norwegian black metal has it's own characteristic sound, and that it has that certain je ne sai quoi that makes it unmistakable for anything else. Demonic Possession is no exception to that rule, however the interesting thing about this album is that Tsjuder give it a special overtone that is reminiscent of "war metal" bands like Revenge or Conqueror, or similar to something you'd hear on Panzer Division Marduk. Black metal riffs of a noisier variety are based around aggression rather than a distinct melody (although the guitars still don't consist of ONLY that. There is still some sort of melody to be found at times). They quickly change between different power chords, and each strum of the chords sync up perfectly with the blast beats to give the songs that sort of "machine gun feel", if you catch my drift. One thing that is really cool about this album though is that many of its songs have moments where they slow down to a more moderate pace, and the instruments cooperate perfectly to make the movements very heavy and at the right times, examples of this being in parts of "Eriphion Epistates", near the middle of "Deathwish" and towards the end of "Ancient Hate". It's not just a total blast fest; it has moments where you can take a break from the battlefield and just rock out. These parts also allow the drummer Jontho (notable as the drummer of Ragnarok) to express some creativity, playing off-beats and more elaborate fills, rather than just your usual sweep through the kit. While he's not as dynamic as Proscriptor of Absu, Garghuf of Enthroned, Hellhammer or Trym Torsen of Emperor, Jontho does his job well and doesn't slack. I can think of a dozen drummers in black metal that would have made some of these slower parts sound absolutely boring, but Jontho made them sound absolutely crushing. Tom Gabriel Fischer was right, metal songs sound much heavier overall if they aren't blisteringly fast.

The main reason why I am giving Demonic Possession a score of 75% though is because of one reason, and it is that this album suffers from having a HUGE blend factor. While there are some distinct moments like the aforementioned heavy sections, the whole product has the same feel from beginning to end and many of the songs simply fly over your head without really sticking around and having lasting power. The songs all tend to have their cool moments, but it's those specific moments you remember rather than the song as a whole. I for one might get a specific riff in my head and I'll think to myself "that part was pretty awesome... but where the hell was it?". Many of the riffs consist of very generic melodies that sound OK for a little bit, but eventually they all start to sound the same and as a result the songs start to lose their character. There are still some interesting moments throughout the album that make certain songs stand out though, I think one of the most notable ones being towards the end of "Deathwish" where the guitars suddenly transition into a slightly more elaborate clean section. "Eriphion Epistates" also has a pretty well done and suitably ripping guitar solo, and "Primeval Fear" has some intense, ballsy thrashy moments throughout its 8 1/2 minute composition. The fact of the matter though is that these moments are few, and far in between.

Other than that there isn't really much to say. The vocals are what you'd expect for your higher pitched screams, and the production is decent, except for the fact that the bass and some cymbals should be turned up and the guitars sound slightly jumbled (however that could easily just be a performance issue). I'm not a big fan of the "war metal" subgenre of black metal, although I find this more tolerable because it has a great deal of that Norwegian style that I adore so much (I absolutely love the Norwegian black metal sound), but in any case I still have to be in the right mood to listen to it. I wouldn't call it essential in any case, but for 3 dollars and change I definitely got my money's worth. Fans of "war metal" or diehard fans of Tsjuder might get a bit more enjoyment out of Demonic Possession than I would, but if you find it in a store for cheap then I can safely say that it won't be a waste of 5 bucks.

It's solid and has it's great moments, but this type of thing could have been so much more. Maybe I'll look into Desert Northern Hell... from what MA shows, that album seems to be their magnum opus.

Final Rating: 75/100

Highlights: Cool moments throughout the disc, but specifically: Eriphion Epistates, Ancient Hate, Deathwish, Primeval Fear

Demonic black metal - 75%

Taliesin, August 6th, 2010

After a first disapointing album Kill For Satan, which featured a thin production and a drum machine (or what sounded like one) Demonic Possession could be considered Tsjuder's first real full length. This is a heavy brutal affair, and though it has an atmosphere of coldness and evil, Tsjuder focus more on brutality and aggression here.

The production is clear and bass heavy, the guitars have a thickness to them and the bass is audible underneath adding depth. The drums are thunderous though not over powering, and are played decently with skill. The vocals are a reverberated howl, the vocalist sounds hate filled and passionate.

So production is great, what about songwriting? Well Tsjuder write good songs on here that suffer a bit from being samey and only at times slow down from hyperspeed. The riffs tend to either be thrashy chordal oriented or a bit on the death metal side. Indeed the opening riff on the album could almost be on a death metal album. This unites with the uniform heavy production to create a dense brutal effect that lacks in atmosphere but gains in heavy headbanging attitude.

Overall a quality release, but asides from their demos and Desert Northern Hell, I've never been the biggest fan of Tsjuder mainly because the music is almost too unrelenting, a problem I have with 1349 and such bands as well. They're great for a bit or when you're drunk, but after a while they give you headache. Aside that point I would say that in the style that they perform, Tsjuder have crafted a very solid recording and is enjoyable given the proper mood.

Recommended with reservations.