Chroniques des terres de l'ombre Pt.1

The guitar in this inaugural release from Daedeloth (Fra) dominates, slouching from riff to riff in a pleasingly sloppy way. Chords are held as the volume is adjusted and effects are turned on and off which suits the organic feel of the work overall rather than grating on the listener. The drumming, on the other hand, is precise and at times quite technical. The contradiction between the two elements is what makes this demo just a little different.

The sluggish riff at the heart of 'Lumière Oubliée' is trance (rather than coma) inducing, and vocal passages and variations add welcome variety. The drums are nothing short of fascinating. Whilst they are very heavily reverbed, and sound as if they were recorded in another room, from what you can hear the drummer was beating the life out of his skins. It is reminiscent of the freak-out style of drumming in 'Journey through a burning brain' from Tangerine Dream's first (and entirely synthesizer-free) album, 'Electronic Meditation' (1969), and I enjoyed the reference (intentional or otherwise) enormously.

The rest of the demo is interesting enough to merit at least a listen, but this was the stand-out track for me.