Review Summary: The internet connection tried to kill my review. It failed. Hail Sithis!
Vintergeist's stunning debut demo Nemossos - Reedition is the perfect musical expression of traditionalist black metal. The music is as raw and aggressive as the sound that Crossfitters would make should they ever recieve communal blood eagles from their viking invaders at any point in time. One can only hope. The atmosphere of the record sounds like it was conjured up by troubled ancient spirits that are haunted by the grimness of war. Their bellowing screams sounding like the battle cries of the Dead Men of Dunharrow before they begin to *** *** up in Return of the King. On top of that the album features a great sense of melody and song dynamics that make it instantly stand out from it's jigglypuff contemporaries.
Hailing from France, featuring kvlt black and white album art and touching upon such epic topics like Gaulish warring, Gaulish warriors and Gaulish warriors going to war, Vintergeist aim for the balls and hit you straight in the jugular before hitting you in the balls. Ten tracks and fifty eight minutes of spiritually uplifting, face tenderizing black metal is what you'll find here. From start to finish the album is anthemic. Each scream is a battle cry being unleashed before a fist puts a hole in your face that wasn't previously there. Guitar patterns are rhythmic, driving and epic, ascending triumphantly into the great hall above with force and panache as your brain matter downstairs in the mortal realm simultaneously paints the earth with equal beauty and grace. Melodies and solos are prominent throughout without sounding like Dissection or worse, purple metal. Drumming is blistering and bass is nonexistent. That's ok because each drum hit sounds like a human being taking a full momentum cannonball to the face.
The lone musician behind Vintergeist would end up repackaging this demo as a full-length a little bit later down the road with much prettier artwork to boot but before you check that out listen to this demo in it's entirety. Feel the Celtic pride roar through your fingertips.
