Artist: Barbarian Ring
Title: Demo
Type: EP
Label: Digital / Blaggard Records
OK, now this begins with a bit of an apology. When I started this blog I decided on my set of ‘rules’ and one of them was ‘no demos’ as I thought I needed to both cut down on what I reviewed and also demos can sometimes be a bit… well, demo. So when this came out digitally though I enthusiastically posted about it on the old Instagram, I didn’t actually review it. And of course since then I had to abandon that rule. And have felt guilty ever since.
Now there has recently been a physical release it gives me the excuse to right that wrong. So here were are.
It announces its arrival, and style, in no uncertain terms with the loud and wonderfully gritty opening salvo of ‘Barbarian Ring’. Yet what immediately got me was the melody that crept in and segued with that wonderful distorted noise. The effect on me was just stunning. This is primitive, dark music and already you know this place is not safe. Not effete. Not cosy or civilised. It is raw and nasty and beautiful and death lives here.
‘Campfire Beside The Ruins’ is less brutal in its introducing itself. There is a calmness now, a chance for a snatch of serenity in the lightly plucked notes and lonesome whistle. Yet still there is that hiss in the background, the slight crackle and drone of darkness; just it keeps its distance and together with the flickering campfire even a place of mystery and secrets buried by time can show that glimmer of beauty.
‘Celestial Enchantment’ draws you in with those tinkling lights and the siren call of the spheres. There is a sense of unease in the background with the persistent deep drone and the occaisional downwards lilt of the choral sounds but of course we are already enraptured, ensnared as the unwary always are. But the delicate beauty against the dark pulse of something stranger than we can know is all that we see, all that we hear.
The demo closes with ‘The Anvilonian Grimoire’. The synths here raise the epic sweep here, powerful and mysterious and eaten by time. But as we approach the grandeur breaks through and the awe surrounds us. A little spoken word leads us out, setting sail for Daggerfall no less. I cannot wait.
There is so much to love about this first foray into the murky depths of dungeon synth. The fantastic gritty, dark and distorted background here is so atmospheric. Old school and raw but beyond that it has its own vision and uses this in the most perfect way. The melodies slip beside this so easily and there’s a restless, delving heart behind it. Just brilliant. They have their sound right out of the night and I am so very very intriuged as to the horrors and adventures that await us all.
Demo be damned, this is a statement…
Gizmo
BARBARIAN RING – The Barbarian Ring (Demo) | BARBARIAN RING | Blaggard Records
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