‘Revelations of the Black Flame’ was a strange album, though not in a bad way. There were some theories going around Blabbermouth suggesting it was composed and compiled in the way that it was, just to fulfil their Candlelight contract obligations, but somewhere along the way it went wrong, and they made a fairly decent album instead.
‘Demonoir’ musically lies somewhere between ‘Hellfire’ and ‘Revelations...’, displaying the power and fury of the former with atmospheric interludes between each song. Many people were outraged when they tweaked their style so drastically, and in a way it sounds on some of the songs as if they’re overdoing the brutality to make up for the lack of it on the last record.
‘Tunnel of Set I’ is an atmospheric start which sets the tone nicely for ‘Atomic Chapel’ to come in blasting away. The pace dives and a meandering, sorrowful riff arises like a forlorn spirit wandering to and fro in the background. It’s a good start combined with the blasted riff, and some melodic chords leap up as Frost’s feet whirl away momentarily into overdrive. They keep the pace low for a minute or so, keeping things interesting until they can resist no longer and some Death Metal flourishes creep in. At over six minutes however, and without keeping the earlier pace changes, one’s attention may begin to wane.
I’m not entirely sure what’s going on in ‘Tunnel..II’, but it leads well enough into ‘When I was Flesh’, which sadly lacks all the excellent dynamics the band created on ‘Hellfire’. This is the track I was mainly referring to a little earlier when I mentioned making up for the lack of pace on ‘Revelations...’. There’s plenty of blasting, a few rhythmic bits and the odd wisp of melody. Unfortunately the only words to describe this would be dull and monotonous.
The third ‘Tunnel’s’ acoustic guitar is tuneful and the distorted one even points to Opeth as an influence, introducing ‘Psalm 7.77’ nicely. It builds the mood excellently, as one guitar’s chugs lurch over the other’s hissing chords, a blackened Death riff spirals out of nowhere and Frost’s toms momentarily get a rapid battering. This one’s a vast improvement, with rolls which contain the rhythm effectively and riffs which speak to you. Ravn’s vocals are short, snarled
and aligned well with the instruments, leading you into the song; savage and better composed.
It gets better with ‘Pandemonium Warbells’; a slow few darkened chords and they’re off again, keeping the rhythm part in check with very brief stops in pace, like on ‘Slaves to Slaughter’ (from ‘Hellfire’). Out spills a dash of melody reminiscent of the ‘Beyond the Apocalypse’ era and immediately afterwards one hinting more so at the moodier strains of ‘Hellfire’. There’s groove, misery and pace here and it doesn’t go unappreciated; a potential pick for their live show perhaps.
It’s a pity they didn’t finish the true songs off with ‘The Devil of the Deserts’ as this is quite easily one of the finer moments on this record. All of the essential elements are here, providing a far more satisfying listen than that of ‘Demonoir’ and it’s groovy chugs which don’t really go anywhere. A disappointing end to what many were hoping would be a return to form. Well it partly is, but the fact that half of the album doesn’t hold a torch to past glories isn’t particularly inspiring or enticing.
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