Demo I

Viewing the Burzum origins is really interesting, because it serves to bring up a recurring theme that I've seen in regards to the sound of black metal. The second wave of black metal set several paradigms about the musical values of the genre, I'm not only talking about the famous "no fun no core no mosh no trends" which became an intrinsic element for many in this kind of music, but a musical value that adheres to the aesthetics, specifically I'm referring to the sound quality of the recordings.

This demo together with other early examples such as Deathcrush set a precedent in what became a marked tendency for black metal, having extremely low and poor sound production parameters. Many have been the artists who have continued this trend considering themselves as the continuators and bearers of the authentic essence of black metal, while other movements within the same genre decided to abandon the lo-fi and dissonant trend to embark on other kind of sounds, I have even heard people who believe that this kind of purposely bad sound only meant a senseless devaluation of the genre that caused black metal to not evolve in a favourable way.

As with everything in life, I don't see this as a case of extremes, there are recordings that benefit from that raw, noisy style and others that benefit from a more polished and arranged production. What I can say is that many artists missed the point of Burzum's recordings, the low quality is just another element and like any other musical element you have to focus on it to make it work in your favour, and that's what Varg did on these recordings, the fact that everything sounds so dissonant reinforces the simplicity of the percussion and the melody of the guitars. Perhaps this is most effectively seen on "Spell of Destruction" in the changing progression of the song. In the recordings for the studio albums one can appreciate the amount of melodic moments in the music of early Burzum but this was already present from the beginning, I think it is in these parts that the influence of folk music is most noticeable where the guitar is often used mainly as a backup for the vocalist, here there is no vocalist as it is all instrumental so Varg uses the second guitar as the main thread which is accompanied by the first guitar.

It's curious to see how much of what would become Burzum is already here, unfortunately not 100% developed, "Lost Wisdom" doesn't have that initial aggressiveness that I still assume it to be and is only a shadow in the form of a melody of what it would become. And even if he advocated a low quality black metal sound, the albums that brought him notoriety have nowhere near as poor a quality as this one, the songs lack that vocal extremism given by the author and as much as I personally enjoy early Burzum ambient here it contributes almost nothing because it hardly sounds like anything more than a half-baked idea, there is no depth and it seems more like a series of faint repeated notes without them being particularly remarkable. Overall it's an unfinished Burzum sound but it has its charisma, maybe I'm notably influenced by the fact that I'm already familiar with the songs and so my perception of them is more positive than it should be but that doesn't mean I can't appreciate that folk melodicism as the highlight of the demo.

This is a piece of great historical and musical value that would be totally overshadowed by clearly improved versions of all the tracks, this is more for fans like me who very occasionally enjoy a noisy and instrumental Burzum.

Burzum needs no introduction whatsoever. The Varg Vikernes solo outfit was one of the pioneering black metal artistes of the day, and the low-fi sound production with the steady and determined guitar riffage combined to put him on another level. The atmospheric and ambient metal he was able to create in the '90s was some quality shit, so to speak. His first demo, however... well, it's kind of a different story.

Varg recorded three instrumentals for this cassette, two of which would later be re-recorded on future releases. The problem with this demo isn't that the music is awful - it really isn't; right from the beginning, Burzum set itself apart with the quality on display. These are actually kind of nice instrumentals, all things considered. The real issue arises from the recording itself... it isn't good. Right from track one, it sounds as though someone just clicked "record" and started playing. Even then, that doesn't necessarily mean that it'd be terrible. I mean, black metal as a whole has never been a genre with great production - certain bands excluded - and at any rate, shit production quality was what made the genre "unique" at the time this was released.

The problem then doesn't stem from any sort of intention. The problem stems from what we actually get on this recording - a whole lot of air. Seriously. It sounds like someone was literally just recording air and then doing some metallic stuff in the background. It's certainly not in the forefront, and it's so quiet and poorly recorded that it takes a while before you realise there are actually drums on here. You can hear the guitar certainly, but the drums are so quiet that it takes keen listening powers to grasp their presence. Bass is another story completely. Someone with better hearing than I have would need to confirm that such an instrument is even on here.

When you listen to this recording of, say, "Lost Wisdom", it comes as a sort of shock to hear it in comparison to the version on Det Som Engang Var. That song had some really emotional playing, with tortured vocals that helped create a shockingly beautiful atmosphere and made for a great song all-round. This version has nothing like that. Obviously, there are no vocals, but there's nothing really outstanding too. The bulk of the song is here, but it's too faint, too unassuming to really stick out to you and make you come back to it. The same sort of thing can be said for "Spell Of Destruction". The ambient keyboard piece "Channeling...." sets itself apart a bit because it's only been released on this demo, but even then it doesn't require coming back to this demo repeatedly.

The bulk is here for a master to push forth from the abyss, but it'd take better recording prowess to truly get that. Maybe some people like the sound of air in their black metal - I could see an argument made for that giving it 'atmosphere' - but for me, all I can use this for is background music. I prefer my metal to require my full attention, and this just doesn't really beg for that. It's only about fourteen minutes long, so it's not a waste of time to listen to - and thus I can't really give it an uber-low score - but I'd recommend listening to other parts of Burzum's career before coming to this. The novelty of it being the first recording is about the only special thing it's got. Other than that, it's mostly just air.

One might think that a band like Burzum would have some amazing demos. Heck, his early albums are raw enough as it is and the production is so minimal that some would argue that they aren’t far from demo quality to begin with. The primitive style of early Burzum works so well with a raw atmosphere that it seems as if it could sound really powerful in an even rawer form. Well, that all works better in theory then it does it practice. Burzum’s first demo is a complete and utter disaster; a god-awful performance and comically bad recording that renders several classic tracks intolerable.

The recording quality is just awful and not in a “raw” or “necro” way, but rather in a “this guy had no idea what he was doing when he recorded this,” way. The sound quality is horrendous. The music constantly fades in and out, increasing and decreasing in volume, sometimes to such a degree that music almost goes silent. There is also a ton of hiss and other interference. Furthermore, the guitars just sound awful. They lack punch and are overly jittery as if the battery on the amp was about to run out of electricity. Furthermore, the demo is totally instrumental, which means there are no vocals to distract us from the abdominal performance. While these are excellent compositions, without Varg's ravaging screams they lack a center point.

The ambient track “Channeling…” fares no better than its metal brethren. There is a highly irritating and constant clicking noise in the background; it’s as if a metronome was accidentally left on while Varg recorded the track. There is also a random burst of distortion that washes out the sound. The keyboard itself doesn’t sound awful, but it is fairly one-dimensional and lacks the girth Burzum's later keyboard recordings have.

There is really no benefit to this demo. The execution is awful and the production is horrendous. This does not create a dark or evil atmosphere or anything of the sort. Time would be better spent listening to the studio versions for a hundredth time than listening to this demo even once.

(Originally written for http://deinos-logos.blogspot.com)

The start of Burzum. The infamous Burzum, arguably one of the most influential and infamous black metal bands...and what a way to start.

This demo is breathtaking. The absolutely horrible sound quality of early 90's Norwegian black metal demos is present and it adds so much to this demo it is unbelievable. At least half of the atmosphere is created by the sound quality because it just feels so dark and destructive and hopeless. I don't understand why people complain about how bad black metal demos' sound quality is because it adds so much to the music.

Now to the music itself. It's pure genius. Varg is a mastermind at creating this type of ambient black metal. His use of minor scales and tempo changes are insane, especially if you take into account how young he was when he released this. Love him or hate him, you cannot help but respect his musical capabilities. The riffs are executed at a very slow pace and somewhat melodically, although they do suffer a bit from buzzing. The drums are also played slowly. There isn't anything special going on in the drums or the bass as well, but that's fine by me because they would ruin the atmosphere of dread that this demo has. Okay, maybe a little bit more bass would have helped, but still. Every track is unique and has breathtaking riffs. This demo is instrumental as you probably already knew, which adds even more to the overall affect.

This demo creates a great atmosphere and has some ingenious work, however it is far from perfect. The bass and drums are lacking, and even though each song is unique, they do stay at around the same tempo. This demo is still well worthy of the name Burzum. If you see this on Ebay or something, I would definitely get it. It's a piece of black metal history and is awesome music as well.

Burzum... Varg Vikernes... one of the most famous (or infamous) metal musicians ever. Burning churches, murdering people, you know the deal. However, I have never listened to his first demo, until today. Believe me folks, this is true evil black metal at its finest. No blast beats, no fast drum patterns, no vocals (huh? yeah, it's true), just eerie, highly distorted, low quality produced music. Extremely harsh and ear raping (good for me, bad for many), this is something a true black metal fan (or weird music altogether) should definitely not miss, for you shall not be dissapointed.

The atmosphere is just brilliant, like something you would hear in your nightmares; truly evil. Maybe gothic people claim they're evil and dark, but they're not close to this. Gothic music makes you think of darkness, only with a light. Like there's some sort of hope. You stand in the darkest place, but you can still see the light. While the song ''channeling the power of souls into a new god'', for example, brings you to a place where there's absolute darkness, ghastly sounds and no hope.

Black metal demos are usually like this. Raw, harsh and really agressive. And this is certainly not the exception. So, if you want to hear the soundtrack for pure darkness, this is the perfect choice.

Burzum Demo I. is the most raw release of Burzum ever. The rythm is slower than on later tracks and sometimes the parts are strangley mixed, but its still Varg and this is still Burzum - and that makes it great. Vikernes put soul and heart in it and rawness makes it just better.

"Lost Wisdom" - The guitars do get kinda annoying sometimes on this track, because of bad mixing, but its raw and thrashy - just as it should be. Vikernes is a great composer and drums mix with the melody perfectly.

The fact that this album was produced so poorly, makes it really just better. The drums on "Spell of Destruction" are 1000 times better than on later productions. They sometimes sound like smashing some wood with drum sticks, and its extremly fantastic.

"Channeling The Power Of Souls Into a New God" - Wow, amazing, reminds me of old Mortiis' stuff, its pure ambient and beautiful. Varg is a genius composer, as I said before, and that fused with his feelings, creates togethere great ambient music and thats why Burzum didn't stop losing fans even after he switched to ambient.

I give 50 % for great composition and the other 50 % for extreme production, which I love so much. Hails!

The first, and most noticable quality of Burzum's first demo, is the terrible sound quality. Depending on the release media you happen to listen to, this can range from nearly inaudible drums to a hiss that is equal in volume to the guitar. In addition, the volume levels do fluctuate throughout the release, even within a single track, at times.

In some ways, the production of this demo adds to its charm and mood. In "Channeling the Power of Souls", the keyboards have an ethereal quality, expanding out of the background hiss and then retreating, once more, back into nothingness.

There is a fantasy element to this music, an epic quality. Eschewing complexity for emotional resonance, each piece defines its own space and terms. Ascending guitar slides in "Spell of Destruction" not only mark a shift in phrase, but accentuate a philosophical point.

This is the nascent artist finding his voice. It is emotionally complex, compositionally interesting, and difficult in its language. It is "orchestral" music played on primitive instruments. In every way, this first release from Burzum defines everything that is good about black metal, and sets out a trajectory for the new genre to follow.

Hearing this now, over fifteen years later, I am still amazed, and moved.

Varg Vikernes' project, Burzum, was formed after the departure of Old Funeral. The Youth's musical passion hadn't died, and the spirit lives on as the first demo was released, simply titled Demo I. Demo I has 3 songs that have been a major target by bootleggers, Lost Wisdom, Spell of Destruction, and Channeling the Power of Souls.

The demo was recorded what sounds similar to the production quality of Mayhem's famous Pure Fucking Armageddon demo. With it's noticable "taking low end too far" production that makes your ears scream in pain due to it's harshness the release is one that is so cryptic to hear what's going on in the background, which is usually a few chords here, and there. Like most demos by early black metal bands it was limited, very primitive music for the sake of being extreme, far before any idealogical concepts were concieved through the art of black metal.

Also it seems there are no vocals on this original demo, which makes the minutes seem like hours as each of the 3 songs drag on 4 to 5 minutes with 2 riffs consisting of a couple chords played in very raw, low end be-all-end-all muddy production. The overall music itself is pretty dark, and moody like much of Varg's work has been throughout the years.

A powerful demo if you can stand listening to it once, and even so it merits that much. A must listen to for any serious burzum fan, just to experience this release one time is a fascinating treat. The dark, yet primitive aesthetics of this release give the music a lot of character despite it's poor production quality.

I know that my rating is a bit high for a demo that only has guitars and drums, but this recording is something really special that caught my attention from the first time. The quality you can imagine is not the best you can find. But in those days you did not have a lot of money to pay for studio time. Grishnack recorded this in (what it seems to be, I don't really know) some rehearsal place with a regular radio-cassette system so I've heard. Since Grishnack only could have handled one instrument I've wondered who the drummer is. Could he be Olivier Lancelot (Ulver, among others) who is sometimes credited as beeing a part of Burzum? Nevertheless I've just thought of that just for the sake of it.

Lost Wisdom - One of the best Burzum tracks, re-recorded later for the "Det Som Engang Var" album shows what Burzum is really about. Minimalistic composition, but still energic in mid-tempo. The drums are also primitive and not that extranvagant as some people demand nowadays.

Spell of Destruction - A track that stinks of intelligence. I haven'r really said this about any track before, but this composition is really one of the smartest and intelligent ones. Grishnack used as with the previous track minor scales. The drums are more energic on this track than the previous, hiting the tomes also, not just the hi-hat, bas, snare and crash as the previous one. The rythm shifts between slow and fast on different parts of the song.

Channeling... - Performed on keyboards and I think guitar or bass (or both). The keyboard pretty much plays everything over and over again, a melody that is filled with melancholy and loneliness. The guitar or a distorted bass is filling in with great tunes that concorde excellent with the keyboard. No drums on this track, which is fine, since drums would have been a terrible misstake on this song.

Outro - The ending of the demo, this outro is unlisted. Keyboards and what seems a guitar are performing something indistinguishable. The quality is too poor to make a proper description of this. But the track however made me fantasize about exploring a dark cave with only a torch in my hands.

In the end I would like to say that it doesn't really matter how bad the quality is of a recording if it has feeling and that is exactly what Burzum's first demo has. This is one classic recording that will never die.