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The band puts their best foot forward for this promotional release.-
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| Pandemonium: Promo 2010 |
Black Metal, Death Metal
Godz of War Productions
2010
Audio:
- Black Forest - 4:33
- God Delusion - 3:43
Video:
- Intro (Live from Metal Tram Festival 21.08.2010)
- Asaku Marsuti (Live from Metal Tram Festival 21.08.2010)
- Dingir Xul (Live from Metal Tram Festival 21.08.2010)
- Unholy Existence (Live from Metal Tram Festival 21.08.2010)
- Intro (Live from Od Nowa Metal Fest 23.10.2010)
- Hellspawn (Live from Od Nowa Metal Fest 23.10.2010)
- Hypnotic Dimension (Live from Od Nowa Metal Fest 23.10.2010)
- Intro (Live)
- Frost (Live)
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| Review Information |
Release length: 8:16
Review posted on July 13th, 2011
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| | Overall Score: 8/10 |
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| Discography |
Discography covers all information available up to day of review and is updated if future albums are reviewed. |
| Full-Length(s): |
The Ancient Catatonia (1993) • Pandemonium (1995)* • ...from Oblivion... (1999)* • Gat Etemmi (2002)* • The Zonei (2004)
Hellspawn (2007)
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| EP(s): |
Promo 2010 (2010)
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| Demo(s): |
Reh/Promo (1991) • Devilri (1992)
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| Compilation(s): |
Devilri/The Ancient Catatonia (Box Set) (2001) • Unholy Bible of Polish Death Metal Vol. 2 (2004)
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| Alias(es): |
* marks an album issued under the name Domain.
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| Review |
Pandemonium is a Polish Black/Death Metal act, or "Satanic Dark Metal" according to sources on the net apparently quoting members of the band, that formed way back in 1990. Shortly after their debut album The Ancient Catatonia, the group switched their name to Domain and issued three full-length efforts under that monicker before switching back in 2004 to Pandemonium for their next full-length effort, Hellspawn. Since then, the band issued a promo entitled Promo 2010 through Godz of War Productions, which seems to be more of a way to attract attention to their upcoming 2011 album through Pagan Records. This promotional disc consists of two recordings, probably off the upcoming album, as well as a small assortment of live videos taken from various festivals the band has played. So, does this effort really set the tone for what's to come, or does it fail to excite on any level?
For the audio section of the release, the band presents "Black Forest" and "God Delusion". Both songs are a muddier raw quality, but still clear enough that the vocals could be understand though the music itself feels a little muffled. The guitars sound haunting and more lika traditional Black Metal act with some Death Metal influences thrown in such as guttural vocals and some chugging bridges here and there. The drumming sounds great and remains as unique as the Black Metal heavy compositions, sticking to the later second wave Black Metal style without fading into modern blast beats that helps the atmosphere of the recording come off sinister, which is needed given the guttural performance sounding strained and a little sickening, both not in a good way, all of which takes a little getting use to but isn't really anything that dramatically hurts the album. When you sit down and listen to them compared to the evil gurgling rhaspier Black Metal wails, it seems more like the same style is used when it comes to the growling, but just in a toned down style that just simply doesn't pack the same punch.
"Black Forest" makes for a fantastic track that does get the listener excited for what's the come on their upcoming effort. The song blends together some melancholic material with Death Metal tones, weaving a brutal yet despair ridden track that sounds sinister. Again the gutturals don't really do the song justice, but overall the band pull off a very entertaining track well worth checking out. "God Delusion" also makes for a good song, and the ritualistic approach to the music in the vain of bands like Immortal, but with a more dominant Death Metal atmosphere. The track does slow down here and there, which makes up a good chunk of the song, and when it does the rhaspier vocals kick in with their gurgling repulsiveness and really just make the impact the song has on the listener a lot stronger. Overall, both tracks do manage to stay unique and far away from the blueprints laid by bands like Behemoth so despite the concerns you may have, and that "God Delusion" takes the ritual feel too far when it slows down about half way and just keeps up that slower pace until the end causing it to feel rather drawn out, as well as ends with a very quick fade out that ends the song in an awkward manner.
While the audio section is pretty good, there's also a decent amount of video live footage included, which obviously you would have to watch on a computer, or extract the files off the disc in order to watch on a different medium. First up is a three song set with intro taken from their 2010 performance at the Metal Time Festival. The video and audio quality are both raw, clearly being shot through regular camcorders, but you get the view and sensation of being in the crowd, and know what to expect from their live show. Once in a while you get some flashy effects like slow motion, the "Intro" to this festival isn't bad, and there's some zooming in and out as well as decently executed blur effects. The second set from the Od Nowa Metal Fest is a little more raw, the audio isn't as clear, but the camera work is still about the same, just without the fancy effects used like slow motion and blurring effects.
The only complaint you could have is that these performances are just a few songs from the set, though are all in consecutive order as they were performed at the show, or so it seems. The only thing that would have made it better was if the band were able to include a full set on the disc instead of three various shows, or at least that full set with one or two other videos attached from other performances as well. Given the energy the band has, and the first set on the disc's actual quality, it would have been nice to sit down and see the whole set, especially for someone outside of Poland who may never have the chance to see this group live in person. The last set of videos on here are apparently just random live clips, but they are more live live music videos then anything. The footage is raw and seems to come from both prior sets, as well as has plenty of effects on them. Like the other sets they don't tell you what the "Intro" is, you just plow through it and go into the song, which of course is denoted by a song name at the bottom left. So, technically you're watching a music video for Frost since the audio is the actual song layered over various live shots with some professional-looking post-editing.
Overall, Promo 2010 from Pandemonium is a nice little promotional EP that will get the listener psyched for the upcoming release. While the song "God Delusion" takes things a little too far, it and "Black Forest" are both enjoyable tracks that set up what the band is about, which is great if you haven't had the chance to experience Pandemonium or Domain, their other monicker. The additional live footage is nice to have too, though it's very limited, and each of the two main sets pose their own pros and cons, such as one having better audio quality, while the other feels more natural and visually better from lack of effects. The final is a music video, which is just nice to be able to experience considering you just saw the raw footage that video was taken from, plus the song "Frost" is just a generally intense track to begin with. If any of this is an indication of what is coming next from the band for their 2011 full-length recording, then checking out this EP is well worth your time, or not if you wish to be surprised or already have an idea of what to expect. Either way, Pandemonium do a good job of putting their best foot forward to impress the listener.
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Physical review copy of this release provided by:
Godz of War Productions.
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