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Decent Varathron Worship - 75%
I got this tape after hearing that Bemdesar mixes black metal with heavy metal style riffs. Taking influences from the Greek black metal scene these guys have actually managed to spawn out a somewhat decent demo tape from the Bolivian underground. However does this measure up to the likes of Varathron or the many other famous Greek black metal bands?
An answer falls somewhere between yes and no. Musically the influence is present but the songwriting could use some improvement. This tape comprises of one three minute intro and then three other songs ranging from six to nine minutes. While on the surface, that doesn’t seem like a problem in about the middle of the third song these guys run out of steam, then everything sounds forced and much less interesting.
The guitars are blended together so you get a nice raw consistent sound. Bass is only slightly audible once through the entire 27 minutes. The riffs sound interesting at first, offering a nice blend of heavy and black metal. Eventually however guitars start repeating and every song starts to drag along.
My Spanish is very rusty so I can’t read the insert to see who is responsible for the vocals, but whoever it is seems to have some experience. The deep growling vocals seem to fit right in with the fuzzy guitars and varied drumming. My only problem with the vocals is that they are drown out by the production from time to time.
Unlike about a million other random underground black metal bands I have listened to, Bemdesar actually has somebody behind the drums, not just a machine. Drum patterns range from very slow to blast beats so you get a nice variety.
In closing, I feel that this band has some potential but need to find a way to vary up their song structures a little bit as well as add in a couple fast parts to keep everyone awake. If you see this someplace and are looking for something a little different I would recommend getting it.
