A Sorcery Written in Blood

Norwegian black metal and good production have always been mortal enemies as far as I'm considered. A handful of demos from the early days of the 2nd wave of black metal sound like absolute crap and are only enjoyable for a certain few people. While I am no stranger to the extremely raw music genres, after a certain point it becomes a lot less enjoyable for me. That being said, I'm a lot more tolerant towards early demos from the 90s than towards 90 percent of the talentless "raw black metal" trash trying to be pseudo-kvlt. On the other hand, Gorgoroth is a band that I generally dislike despite their 90s origins (mostly past the Hat albums), but I decided to give their very first record a try regardless.

The demo doesn't offer too much with its 3 tracks and one of those being an intro doesn't help it either, but it still manages to make "good" use of the 9 minutes of playtime. It's interesting to hear Hat's gremlin vocals in a far more primal form than they were on Pentagram. He is one of the most recognizable black metal vocalists and I kinda wish he would have stuck with Gorgoroth for a bit longer. His grim and horrifying shrieks barely resemble any human-like sound. Sexual Bloodgargling includes some nice tempo changes, blast beats, and it also has some lovely tremolo riffs but it's not entirely based on them either. Meanwhile, (Under) The Pagan Megalith has a more repetitive, but compelling guitar work going for it.

This sounds all good in theory, but the lo-fi production ruins it completely. Don't get me wrong, I get it, it is a demo after all, but it's not that there is an annoying amount of white noise or that the vocals are way too ear-piercing. No, my main issue is that the instruments sound like they were recorded with better equipment than the vocals. It feels like they are trying their hardest to sound apart from each other and this completely prevents the (slightly) enjoyable roughness of the record from blossoming. The second thing that kinda bothers me is that both of the songs can be found on the far superior debut album, Pentagram, so there is no real reason for me to listen to this over that. I should also mention that the intro track is more annoying than scary, but I guess it is what it is.

While the record isn't complete garbage that you should avoid at all costs, I wouldn't call it a "must-listen" either (except for raw black metal fanatics of course). The only reason I can see anyone listening to this is the lack of Hat era material, and this might be his best performance (which is still ruined by the production).

Almost every black metal band has poor demos recorded in its early years. Usually these records have an extreme lo-fi production and awful compositions, resulting in something that is better to be forgotten from the band's history. But, with Gorgoroth it's different.

This demo contains something peculiar that only beginner bands have: true passion. Yes, this is poorly recorded and too harsh for some listeners, but is undeniable that there is a genuine feeling in this music. These two music, plus the grim intro, have the purest black metal essence flowing in its rawer state; it is cold, violent and obscure. Hat's vocal on this record are exceptionally terrifying, scarier than in Pentagram. I'm a lo-fi (or raw, whatever) enthusiast, so all this harshness on the demo are a charm to me, it makes "A Sorcery..." sounds even more obscure and underground.

This demo is composed by a intro and two songs that integrate Pentagram one year later. I wish this record had one more song instead the intro, I like it, but would be great if there was just one more track. After I listened to "A Sorcery..." I felt a need to more of this purest black metal, so I was obliged to listen to it one more time. This demo let you with a desperate feeling of "I need fucking more!". Well...maybe because this they assigned with a label just one year after this release.

Returning to the subject, the intro, named Gathered at Blakulla, is pretty scary. It is just composed by insane screams, aleatory drum hits and guitar feedback. When it starts you know what kind of thing is going on: black fucking metal! Then comes Sexual Bloodgargling, an early version of "Ritual", I prefer this version instead the last one because the harshness of the record gives to it a more abrasive and hateful vibe. After this eargasm, the demo finishes with the primitive version of (Under) The Pagan Megalith, that I prefer, too, instead the Pentagram version. I love Pentagram, but the raw and harsh sound of this demo is absolutely killer!

A Sorcery Written in Blood is a herald of the great music that was coming from Gorgoroth. All started here with this "basement record". But even with all these great full-lengths launched, this record will be one of the all-time favorites of mine because it has the true black metal essence that too many bands loses when go to record in a professional studio.

Gorgoroth is currently one of the greatest still-active bands from the early Norwegian scene. A bunch of people today get their start in black metal by listening to songs like Carving and Giant and Unchain My Heart, which aren't bad, but Gorgoroth's really shining moments come from its earlier albums. "A Sorcery Written in Blood" is the prelude to future masterpieces, and it's worth listening to for historical value alone. You can really hear the first members of the band getting their ideas together in preparation for the wonderful "Pentagram" album, Gorgoroth's first true release.

With that said, ASWiB isn't very good. Two of the songs are ultra-raw cuts of pieces that make it onto Pentagram, but the latter versions are better. These are just unfinished and little more than rehearsals. The composition is sound, but the guitar work could be a little bit tighter and the vocals are difficult for me to grade. On the one hand, Hat is somehow even more chilling and evil in ASWiB than he is in Pentagram. On the other hand, he doesn't scream as long or as loudly, nor does he produce many of the banshee-like rasps that he does in Penagram.

The exception is Gathered at Blåkulla, which is the one unique ASWiB has. This really is the introduction to Gorgoroth. It's a dark ambient perversion of ice-cold hatred, misanthropy, amp feedback, slight bass work, minimalist percussion to keep the beat, and Hat screaming his head off while another vocalist responds to his cries. The troops are now at attention, and after training in the two songs that follow, they fight for the glory of Satan in Pentagram.

Overall, ASWiB is worth downloading and listening to as a prelude to Pentagram. I have managed to pick up a copy that a guy got from Hat himself, before the man dropped off the face of the planet, but unless you're a true, uncompromising fan of the Norwegian black metal scene, stick to MP3s. This demo is worth listening to, but it's not a masterpiece. Not yet.

I'm going to be quick about this one. The only real sensible way you can get the two Gorgoroth demos is the way I got them: by downloading them. And for that reason this is worth a listen. But at the same time it really isn't. The only song on here that doesn't see the light of day again is the intro. And though it's admittedly a great intro, with building dissonant guitars and the gurgling snarls of the hilariously named 'Hat', it’s still just an intro. And no one is really going to miss it.

The next song is Ritual with a stupid but funny title. It seems to be basically exactly the same as on Pentagram but with a pretty thin production. And it's the same deal with Under the Pagan Megalith. A fucking fantastic song, but now that I have Pentagram; I will NEVER listen to this version again. It's the same song, with the same vocalist, but with a worse production. Now, if I saw this demo tape in a record store, I would still buy it, but purely for collector’s value.

But, if you are one of those fans who like their music as under produced as possible, and there’s nothing wrong with that, this may be right up your alley. These are two awesomely written. heavy as hell black metal songs, just made a bit redundant by the subsequent versions on Pentagram. Either way, if you don't have Pentagram yet, this and the Promo demo are worth the download. But really, you’re better off just ordering Pentagram. That album is AWESOME.

For great songs with greater follow ups, A Sorcery Written in Blood gets a 55 out of 100 or a 3 out of 5.

This is Gorgoroth’s first recording, their first demo, which can be easily described as flesh-reaping black metal. The music is harsh, raw and brutal, everything that you can expect from Gorgoroth, but more primitive. The quality of the demo is better than the rest of the other demos that circulated the scene during that time, but still not flawless.

The demo begins with “Gathering at Blåkulla (Intro)”. Since Blåkulla is a place in Sweden where witches gathered in the past, you can only imagine that this intro is obscure and bizarre. The vocalist, Hat, growls something indistinguishable (does not seem like lyrics, but some growl improvisations) while the guitar “tortures” the listener with feedback from the amp and the drums are pumping on the bass drum in what it would seem as an extension to the “torture”. The intro gives an overview of what the listener should be prepared to listen to the next 7 or so minutes; a pure, raw, harsh, piercing recording and all those people who like melodic stuff should stay away from it. “(Under) The Pagan Megalith” is one of my favorite songs on this recording, it has variation, switching from fast to slow. Also the drums are varying which is good sometimes when you don’t always want to hear blastbeats in the entire song. The structure of both songs is well thought, but the lack of good quality makes it harder to enjoy them.

Another plus here is the artwork who is really good, although minimalist and primitive. The demo features one of the best demo covers I’ve ever seen. The lack of good quality does not stop me from enjoying a recording. I am a big fan of bootlegs and old demos, however crappy they sound (but there is a limit to how crappy the quality of a demo can be), but that could create some problems for those who like crystal-clear productions. In that case perhaps this demo is nothing that you can enjoy of, so stay away from it. The others, who hunger for raw and harsh recordings, dig in!

Gorgoroth's first and only demo, "A Sorcery Written In Blood", serves as a reliable document to prove how this band has stayed true to its roots. Listening to any of the band's future album releases (especially the first three, but "Destroyer" could also fit) it's amazing to discover that, a year before the release of the debut, the Gorgoroth sound was already there in its entirety. You just have to compare these early versions to those who would later appear on the "Pentagram" album to discover it.
This demo was recorded by the band's original line-up consisting of Infernus on guitar, Hat on vocals and Goat Pervertor on drums, plus a bassist named Kjettar that only appeared on this release (not a big deal since his playing doesn't really stand out in any way) and would be replaced by Emperor's Samoth on the first album.
The sound is amazingly good for a demo; the overall feeling is that of a rehearsal but everything comes out rather clear. The guitar has its own share of static but is suprisingly thick, the drums are a bit lacking in tone but are very audible in their entirety - and believe me, this is a real rarity for a demo of this kind - and the vocals (not as Donald Duck-ish as on "Pentagram" but still pretty shrill) are loud and powerful... heck, we even get hints of the bass at times, although being slightly distorted it ends up being a single entity with the guitar most of the time.

The demo opens with an intro named "Gathered at Blåkulla", which is basically a minute and twnty seconds of incoherent screaming backed by sparse percussion and feedback noises; someones is actually performing backing vocals (if we can call them that way), although we don't know who he is.
Then we find "Sexual Bloodgargling", which is NOT an unreleased song but an early version of "Ritual"; it could possibly have dfferent lyrics but since they have never been officially printed I challenge anyone to figure them out (both here and on the "Pentagram" album), and it's also interesting to note that near the end of "Gathered at Blåkulla" we can hear the word "ritual" being repeatedly screamed rather clearly. Musically, however, the song has never changed from this phase: it begins pretty fast but then slows down for a rather ominous riff, then it picks up again and goes into a more plodding section backed by nice double bass drumming and a good melodic guitar line (you can hear it better than on the album here actually, because of the absence of a second guitar). Definitely a great choice to show the band's potential.
"(Under) the Pagan Megalith" finishes the demo, and once more it's the same song we will hear on the debut; this song keeps a faster pace most of the time, and even incorprates a nice Thrash break that definitely pushes up the variety meter quite a bit. A slower but no less powerful part finishes the song, and the slightly processed vocals that come in this are the only hint of any studio work on the recording, otherwise I could have believed it to be a very good rehearsal tape.

As I said, if you heard these songs on "Pentagram" you basically heard this demo (apart from the intro, but I can't really rate it as essential), as this is basically the same songs with a rawer and less polished sound - yes, I know band's like Gorgoroth never go for that 36 track studio sound, but "Pentagram" has a great drive anyway. If you really are into this band, you can try to find mp3's of it or even get the recent 7" bootleg reissue, but don't pay ridiculously high prices for this - there are better underground rarities to hunt down, honestly. Everyone else can move on to the "Pentagram" album right away.