Thromdarr - Winds of the Fall demo 1997

Thromdarr - Winds of the Fall demo 1997
1) Thromdarr
2) An Eclipse Over the Mountains
3) The Embrace of Cold
4) Winds of the Fall
5) Eyes of Crystal
6) Frozen as the Moon
7) October

Mediafire

Those of you who have heard Thromdarr's debut album "NorthStorm Arrives" will probably recognize again several of the titles from this, their fourth demo under Thromdarr name. I got this too from Mika, thanks again to him and it has no proper cover art so once again just the logo to decorate the entry.

Seven tracks might look a lot at first glimpse but the self-titled first track and last one (which would seem to cut but that's how I got it) are more like an intro and outro while three of the five proper tracks are rather short clocking under 3 minutes. This makes the whole demo just a bit over 20 minutes in duration. Musically still based on the Finnish black/death sound but adding more bits and pieces from thrash and traditional metal into the soup. The absence of the raw, cold guitar sound and more prominent synths present on the previous demo are the most immediately notable changes along with the change in the vocals from the more growly main vocal to a hoarse half scream. The songs are more melodic, faster and slightly catchier, at the expense of the brutality. Soundwise it's somewhat messier than the "Silverthrone" was but by no means bad. Quite typical 90's demo sound. You can still make out everything even if the vocals and synths are buried a little deeper this time.

I actually enjoy this very much. All three tracks used later on the debut album work very well with the two longer ones maintaining their momentum while having memorable riffs & melodies and "Eyes of Crystal" has certain frantic quality to it that appeals to me. Well ok, "The Embrace..." stumbles a bit to its end but manages for most of its lenght. "Frozen as the Moon" kind of combines the qualities of the three album tracks being shorter and more intense like "Eyes.." but less repetitive. A good demo definitely recommended to those who enjoyed the other Thromdarr posts and others as well!