Lavra - Bluenothing (1994)

Genre: Doom/Dark/Experimental Metal
Country: Finland
Year: 1994

1. Strange Lands
2. To Elide Something
3. Yesterday It Was Silent
4. From the Suction of Blue
5. E Minor
6. Never

Download at Mediafire
Metal Archives
Last.fm

—————————————————————

Fans of Sceptical Schizo will immediately leap out of their seats at the sight of Lavra's name. The once tough and robust Death/Doom band took a sharp turn with their self-titled EP, and the following Plight EP, getting rid of the harsh vocals completely, and playing a more heartfelt, melodic, and depressive form of Doom Metal. It still had that classic Schizo bite, though.

However, with the name change came a massive style change. If you were to simply listen to this music, there is no way that you could tell Sceptical Schizo and Lavra were the same band. Hell, just look at the band picture from the two eras. They look totally badass in their early days, and complete faggots as Lavra (gee, I hope the band doesn't see this!)

BUT, that's not to say this is a bad album, just different; in fact, I find Bluenothing very enjoyable. Seems the band had some sort of fixation on the color blue, most likely to depict sadness, and that's what they do, quite well, I might add. This is very melancholic, sometimes bordering on depressive rock, incorporating gothic and dark elements as well making this a very miserable sounding album; bleak and oppressive. I'm frightened to imagine another album by these guys, as I don't know how much more sad you could make it. Definitely not something to listen to after a break-up or on a sunny day. Well, if you want to completely immerse yourself in pity, dejection, despondency, anguish, etc. then go for it. The vocals are almost spoken and take on this very esoteric quality, echoing in the background, and neat little effects appear to make the vocals sound as one with the wind, like they're nonchalantly floating by, fully embracing the "grey whatever" vibe they're giving off.

All in all, phenomenal album, and highly recommended. Just don't go in expecting Sceptical Schizo!

Arkana - Demoni (1996)

Genre: Dark/Death Metal
Country: Italy
Year: 1996

1. Presagio
2. Il Ritorno
3. Errtu
4. Demogorgon
5. Sangue Maledetto
6. Uomo e Bestia
7. Nuova Profezia

Download at Mediafire
Metal Archives
Last.fm

—————————————————————

Don't recognize the name? I'm not surprised; these guys are fucking obscure. Absolutely nothing is known about them, even the year they released this demo is disputed. Was it 1996 or 1998? I doubt anybody will ever know for sure. It's also interesting to note that a few websites list this demo as having four tracks, yet the copy I have distinctly has five. Huh. Oh well, this is definitely one for the ol' collection!

Mostly Dark Metal, still not quite sure what that is, but this isn't quite Death Metal. Everything about the instrumentation and vocals scream DM, but the way it's composed makes it seem a little different. The vocals are far back in the mix and sorta blend in and aren't your typical death grunt; more along the lines of a rasp. The entire demo just sounds dark in itself. We have spooky riffs and eerie organ music peeking out from the darkness and the slow to mid-paced melodies and drums help to define the brooding, doomy sound. Very cool. Recommended because it's just so cool.

Thanks, entity!