Barathrum - War Metal Studio Session 1993

Barathrum - War Metal Studio Session 23rd October 1993
1) Beltane
2) Boundless Arts
3) Sinister Autumn
4) Soaring Up from Hell
5) War Metal
6) Dagger, Seal, Vengeance
7) Moonshine Calls

Narod / Depositfiles

Saturnal Bandcamp

Today's item is another contribution by brother Drowned and quite a rarity, the studio session for what was supposed to be Barathrum's fourth demo "War Metal" but it remained unreleased as something went wrong during the sessions and Demonos was very displeased with the producer and the recording. Later it seems like the band members have lost the tape but luckily some copies had been dubbed to people. Drowned had gotten this from a US trader who possibly got it directly from a band member, whatever the case may be in the end I'm certainly thankful for them having it and sharing it! No cover was made (as far as I know) so I just made up another one. Was a bit torn between using the old logo and the new version but considering the era of the recording went with the old one. See below how it'd look with the more recent one. And I know it's been spelled "Warmetal" everywhere but I went with how I got it, though I have my doubts the spelling might've been corrected by the traders somewhere along the chain.

Tried the new logo too.

All seven tracks were new at the time and like the Barathrum tradition is, would all eventually be recorded and used again on the future albums: first two would appear on 1999's "Saatana", next two on a 1993 rehearsal tape and album-wise as late as on 2002's "Venomous", the title track, with spelling "Warmetal" would be included on 1997's "Infernal" and last two tracks on the second album "Eerie" (1995), with "Moonshine Calls" changed to "Moon Calls". So all tracks are in a sense familiar ones and move mostly in the slower midtempo speeds, the title track being fastest number and others having that black/doom vibe to them.

Yeah but what does this sound like? Well, it is a studio recording and Barathrum stringed section of the time consisted of two guitarists and either two or three bassists, I can't remember if all three were actually there for this recording. So it sounds quite heavy and the bass presence is certainly there. Which fits the slightly slower overall tempo well. It doesn't sound quite as powerful as it might and the vocals are maybe a bit high on the mix, not completely overpowering but the most audible element still. Perhaps the sound isn't the optimal but it sounds good to me, it's a demo anyways, and it's certainly easier to digest than the rather exotic sound used on "Sanctus Satanas"/"Sanctissime Colere Satanas" so I'm not really sure what was the issue with this. Was it something to do with the mix? Or the vocals? Whatever the case, if you enjoy older Barathrum style I'm quite sure you'll like this recording too.

UPDATE: I can't believe I forgot to mention here that Saturnal Records re-released a remastered version of this recording as "Warmetal" on vinyl and digital (Bandcamp link added above) and as "Jetblack Warmetal" on CD, which has the "Jetblack" 7"EP as bonus and is obviously the recommended version! Unless you're an impractical, vinyl collecting snob in which case you need to track down a separate copy of the EP, it was also re-released but limited to 300 copies.