Livsgnist

First things first, when coming from Norway itself it is even easier to look up to the ideals and indeed, milestones, the old movement created. Taakeferd seems to be such a band, still looking for an own image and identity. In fact the word copycat doesn’t seem that far-fetched in this case. The style they’re playing could be described as melodic black metal of average quality, everything on this record has been done in a better way by other (older) bands.


Stereotypical riffing, with many obligatory tremolo-picked ones do not show us anything new, as a matter of fact, ‘Livsgnist’ gets boring most of the time. Not that this record is entirely bad, it has some fairly interesting riffs or even some catchiness from time to time, but it completely lacks originality.


On with the positive sides, the production (especially when speaking of a demo-release) is quite good, both clear and raw enough so to speak. The vocals are also quite well-performed, the dry screams and occasional mid-paced grunts fit the music well. Some ideas on this record show that the band could withhold some hidden potential, the main melody and clean guitar parts on ‘Du Tapre Soldtat’ (0:30 – 2:25 and 3:38 – 4:30) as well as the beginning and the mid-tempo parts of the title track ‘Livsgnist’ are memorable enough to prove this.


To conclude this review I will say the following words: if you’re not too critical about originality and like Norwegian black metal with some melody in it you will probably like this record for what it is, but I definitely wouldn’t recommend ‘Livsgnist’ to those who seek originality above all.

Taakeferd has been around for a few years now, having released 2 EP's and a full-length album before this demo. I haven't heard the other stuff, but from what i'm hearing here, I don't feel like checking out their other stuff. What we have here is some very cliched stuff, see bromide. I guess those are the only 2 words that actually come to mind when listening to this demo: Cliched and Bromide. The thoughts that came to mind while listening to this demo were "Heard it before...oh, heard that before too!". It's nice to see more and more bands are trying inovate the Melodic-Black style, but this band does nothing new to complement the style or add any new elements to it. Apart from that melodic part in "Du Tapre Soldtat" and the slower parts to "Livsgnist" (the song), this was very boring.

Ok, now you're thinking this is the worst band ever. It's not. It's just very, and I mean very generic. On the good side of things, the production isn't bad in any way, it reminded a bit of Will of the Ancients. No hissing, no "lagging", and the riffs are well-played. Also, I found the song "Livsgnist" to be more original compared to the other songs on here. It starts off with a very simple yet interesting lead, which then develops into a full mid-tempo riff, and then becomes an extremely fast and brutal minimalist riff-fest which pays homage to their Norwegian roots. The very melodic break near 3:30 is also a good attempt at something original, and I especially like the riff right after, fast and brutal.

So yeah, this demo is pretty "simple" if you understand what I mean. Very cliched and generic songs with your average run of the mill vocals, normal drums, and an overall great production. The only ones who could actually are probably those who are newcomers to the melodic-black style in general, but for everyone else it's a big no. What this band needs is one simple thing: Originality. Nothing else.