So I'm going through demo/EP compilation of Black Cilice. You see, when I first heard this band, it was their latest album, Banished In Time, I was immediately struck by the production. It wasn't exactly some innovative riffs or heavy atmosphere, it was the sound of that beast of an album.
However, The old stuff on demos seems to sound way different. The compilation Curses and Oaths seems to be a complete resource, so here we go. First two tracks are from Demo I, and they sound like what bedroom black metal should sound like. The guitars are fucking thin af. There's no predatory bird vocals as you would expect, instead there is some weird reverbed howls providing a background to it, like a recording from some cathedral. This is unlike the album I knew, this is atmospheric as fuck, even reminded me of Paysage d'Hiver - something like that.
The Purification Through Sacrifice demo also has a demo-like black metal production, everything seems sort of distant, only the cymbals sound upfront like lashing christians to death or something. A BEAST. Under Satanic Philosophy provides the good old midnight howling from a cave type of vocals. The music seems to hold together a little more, and the vocals do hold the typical function of vocals in black metal, and there's tempo changes like in most music.
Next demo is Human Poisoning, now it sounds like you're inside some iron-processing factory and some maniac turned all the machines at once and one of the machines cut off someone's hand and the man started howling like a motherfucker. how am I going to provide for a family with no hand? Always been a manual worker. Third song here starts with a chuggy riff but the guitar is so crispy, it's just to set the tone for more of what we already had in the beginning.
The howling is more obscured on Portal of Revelation, the guitars are especially sharp here, or maybe I'm feeling it more going further and further into this abyss of madness.
I'll continue later.
Any opinions on this band?