The Black Tower

Warloghe are for me the unsung heroes of the Finnish black metal scene. Bands like Horna, Behexen and Satanic Warmaster get a lot more attention, while Warloghe seem to be lurking in the shadows. If I remember correctly, the band’s name means “oathbreaker”, as in breaking the oath with god. So, let’s check out what their only demo has to offer. “The Black Tower” starts with a nice acoustic piece in the shape of “The Mist of Aeons”. The three tracks that follow consist of raw and somewhat melancholic black metal without synths. Musical comparisons can be made to early Graveland and 90s French black metal. Despite the fact that we’re dealing with raw black metal the sound isn’t that bad at all. The instruments are well balanced in the mix with the bass taking a surprisingly prominent role.

Even though Warloghe aren’t doing anything that revolutionary here, I still like the music a lot. The band stay faithful to their influences and are obviously content with that. What I further like about Warloghe is that there is a kind of sickening feel to their music. When you listen, it’s like something takes possession of you and forces you into a negative state of mind. The only other band that has given me the same type of sickening feel is early Mütiilation material. The biggest reason for this sickening feel lies in the vocals of Eorl Torht Tyrannus aka Glaurung. They’re very cruel and affect me in a way that I start to experience a lot of negative emotions. Every track on this demo is good but I’d say my favourite is “He Who Comes With Dawn”. During this track I get the strongest feelings of negativity and melancholy. The only serious complaint from my side concerning “The Black Tower” would be about the fadeout of the last track. It sounds very rushed, the track just ends too abruptly.