perjantai 4. huhtikuuta 2014

Nehëmah - Light of a Dead Star demo 1995


Nehëmah - Light of a Dead Star demo 1995
1) Light of a Dead Star
2) Across the Landscape
3) Black Winds over the Walls of Csejthe
4) Sønner av den Fimbulvetr
5) In October Nightshades
6) I Will Sleep with the Dragon
7) Cycle ov Werewolf
8) Outro

Yandex / Zippy

Today I'm fulfilling an old request and by old I mean almost three years old. An anonymous reader was asking for the 1995 demo of the French black metal band Nehëmah here and not too long ago I came across a copy of it, bought it, ripped it and finally got around to post it. Not sure if that person checks back anymore but here it is now. Ripped from either an original tape or a bootlegged dub, can't say for sure which one, but I got copies of the covers and sound quality seems fair enough.

Someone might think that this demo and the debut album of the same title would be basically the same thing, but as a look at the tracklisting there and that of the album confirms this is not so. Or you could alternatively check that from Metal Archives or something, it's 2014 after all. Note though that the track durations at M.A. aren't correct. this demo actually has a slightly longer playtime than any of the albums at almost 57 minutes. There's an obvious intro before the first track starts and more are found between the rest of the songs. At first I toyed with the idea of separating these to their own tracks, but then decided to go with the tracklisting printed in the cover and leave them be. Tracks 3 and 4 would make a reappearence on the second album "Shadows from the Past..." and track 7 appears to be exclusive to this tape. Unless it was renamed and/or worked for either album, I'm not feeling devoted enough to confirm that right now. Sound is a little murky and grim, guitars buzz like on "Under a Funeral Moon" and drums are a rumble mostly in the background, vocals raspy and grating. Surprisingly enough, you can occasionally hear the bass clearly. There are synths too but they are used sparingly. If you've heard either of the old Nehëmah albums you'll know what you're getting here, early 90's Nordic-style black metal worship and I'm ok with this. That is all.

11 kommenttia:

Argus Monitor kirjoitti...

Velkaarn, thanks so much for this, I had a dub of this way back in the mid 90's and lost it well over 15 years ago and have been looking for it ever since. Back in those days I was watching what was coming out of Norway, Poland, and France very carefully and most especially, and that's where my fellow tape traders were located. I even remember who made the dub for me, Erik from Franang Zine, he was a very good tape trader and basically had every demo the French black metal scene had to offer at the time. Thanks again!

Argus Monitor kirjoitti...

Another story about this band. In 1999 I did a newsletter(Solomon's Gate) which was a spinoff of my zine and I interviewed Corven from Nehëmah, who by this time dissolved Nehëmah and joined Himinbjorg. I asked him about this demo and insisted he had to re-release it on some other format since it was practically a full-length release. He said he had no intention of it, ever, and Nehëmah was finished and would never be revived. I was quite surprised two years later to see the Light of a Dead Star full-length available in a mail-order but was disappointed it was a re-recording. Maybe I'm making a bigger deal of this recording than it's worth but the time I first heard it, I was very much into specific countries that were following the Norwegian style. Of course my tastes expanded since then dramatically, but that where I was at back then.

Borderline1991 kirjoitti...

Thanks very much for this!

Velkaarn kirjoitti...

@Argus:

So it was you who was looking for this then? Well, glad to have been of service and I understand your feelings, I've had similar relationship with a few recordings myself.

@Borderline:

You're welcome, it's quite a good listen!

Argus Monitor kirjoitti...

Yes, it was I who requested this back in 2011. I believe this is the very first time this has ever leaked on the internet. I've been listening to this non stop since Saturday 2 to 3 times a day. I like some other obscure French BM acts from back them, and I don't need to mention the French Legions bands, although I like some of their material too. Some non French Black Metal Legions bands that were ignored and forgotten who were in my opinion quite good demo material include, Vlad, Anaon, Imperial(before that horrible full-length on Osmose), Helgrindr, early Seth, Osculum Infame, Eurynome, Funeral, Bekhira, Tzaphkial, Satyrium, and one of my personal favorites Puritas Virginum. Even the first Count Nosferatu demo was good. They had quite an active scene without even including the Black Legions bands. Velkaarn, were you a fan of the Polish BM scene from back then? The scene in Finland also started to take off after the first Darkwoods My Betrothed CD, and the Azazel EP. Vornat anyone? Vintersemestre and Diaboli were faves of mine too.

Velkaarn kirjoitti...

@Argus:

I agree, there were and are quite a few good French acts who often ended up in the shadow of the LLN, from your list I also like Osculum Infame, demo era Imperial (though wasn't the last demo already trendy black/thrash?), Bekhira, Tzaphkial and Vlad demos. The last one hardly is obscure after the name change! I also enjoy Lord, Blessed in Sin and others I forget now. First French bm I heard was Gorgon around '94 when a comrade of mine bought the 7"Ep. Haven't really kept up with their stuff. I think I liked some Puritas Virginum stuff, but wasn't at least one of the demos terribly long and kind of uneven?

Yes, I liked Polish bm and still do. Back then I listened to Behemoth, Graveland, Xantotol, Veles, Hödur and My Infinite Kingdom most. Many others too but I suppose those were among the top of the pile. Xantotol was excellent and very underrated in my opinion and M.I.K. was quite special. Oh yeah and I also really liked Christ Agony's Moonlight album.

As for the Finnish scene, well, you've seen me posting. It sure got more busy circa '95 or so, where those releases you mention date to. Azazel's demo was better than the EP. Sigillum Diaboli/Diaboli and brother band Nidhoggr have long been faves, Vornat demos are great too, I posted brother Unholydeath's vastly superior rips back... whenever it was, on the blog. Vintersemestre was a bit dodgy case but the MCD was good I think (haven't heard that since ages!) and album ok too.

Velkaarn kirjoitti...

@AM:

Oh, one more thing, the Eurynome you mention. I remember the name from somewhere (tradelists, 'zines probably) but I don't think I've ever heard them. You have any of the recordings?

Anonyymi kirjoitti...

Hi there,
First of all, very nice blog indeed!
Thank you so much for this demo, this is a true gem.
Never thought i could find this anywhere on the internet.
This is one of my favorite Black Metal band, not only because i'm french, but because this band really got something...
Is there any chance to have a lossless version of it???
I'll love to have it in FLAC if it was possible.
I'll never find an original copie of it since there is only 166 copies!!
So please if you could upload a lossless version of it, i'm sure i'm not the only one to would have it!!
Anyway, you made my day with this gem, many thanks again!!

Velkaarn kirjoitti...

@anon:

Hi and thanks for the compliments, glad you enjoyed it! Sorry but I don't do FLAC/lossless, I've been asked before but it's just not worth it for old tapes. Maybe they'll re-release it one day, with proper quality from the masters.

Anonyymi kirjoitti...

It's OK, fair enough.
I've seen on discogs this has already been re-released, it's part of a vinyl boxset.
So i quess it will be easier to get a copie.

Many people are into FLAC, especially for rare gem like this. It's pain in the a** to find clean tapes nowadays, plus they can cost lot of money...
I'm a real collector, got so many original CDs, more than thousand, and it still growing up.

Anyway, i just found your blog yesterday, and it's a real pleasure to get through it!

Cheers.
Blaise

Velkaarn kirjoitti...

@Blaise:

Great, I think I've noticed that set myself earlier but sort of forgot about it. Better check it out again, I think it had something interesting in the unreleased department.

Hope you'll find some interesting things and if you encounter a broken link at something you need, leave me a note and I'll fix it ASAP.