Heresiarh - Dragons of War demo 1998

Heresiarh - Dragons of War demo 1998
1) Horns of War
2) The Cruel Bard
3) Lamenting Shield-maid
4) Dragons Domain
5) Wolfghosts (In Winter)
6) Ælfwine
7) Hidden Live Track

Zippyshare / Mega

South of Estonia lies Latvia, our next stop with this contribution picked from the seemingly inexhaustible supply of rips Henri sent me. Strangely enough, I had also ripped my copy already long time ago but it got stuck in the unfinished items folder, so thanks for saving me the trouble! Though I had to work a bit on my audio to add the seventh, untitled "hidden" bonus live song master Sorvali had either forgotten or left off for some reason. But back to business, this is Heresiarh, Elven Witchcraft's Morgueldar Dragonseye's own band with their one and only demo. Scans of the quite fancy covers are included.

Heresiarh labels themselves as "dragon metal" which on this release means melodic metal based on dark/black metal with vague touches of gothic and folk to it. Vocals are divided between the roars and growls of Morgueldar and the female voice provided by Rasa which has a strange divisive quality to it; I remember I used to like the vocals back when I got this tape originally, then much later returning to it I could not stand them. Now I'm somewhere on the fence, but still can't say I'd enjoy this demo like in my youthful days. In theory the sound is good for a demo, but also there something bothers me. Would be interesting to hear this as an instrumental version, or with vocals mixed lower or something. The additional live track sounds frustratingly familiar but I can't remember what it is, I'm pretty sure it's either a cover or some traditional piece that has also been used by someone else. The great Skyforger pops to mind but not any particular song that'd fit timeframe. As usual, if you have knowledge do share. Interestingly, I also enjoy this performance more than the studio recording. I guess that's not really a surprise to people who know me by now. Nice screams by Rasa. Recommended for people driven to collect all Elven Witchcraft releases, fantasy metal enthusiasts and, uh, people who enjoy epic sort of melodic metal I suppose. It just doesn't click with me these days like it used to, though I'm likely to eventually change my mind again.