#demonstratio

Since this artist has done a number of short releases, I’m going to use this post to talk about two of them - the above linked Vanitas demo, and the first-released “Demonstratio”. This is the artist behind An Old Sad Ghost and A Letter for Carmilla, although the project is distinct enough to the other two that this isn’t totally relevant. I’m covering them here chronologically based on how they were recorded, as flavor text indicates that Vanitas came before the Demonstratio release, even though it was released later.

The first track on Vanitas starts right off with a slow drum beat and a voice slowly chanting an unknown text. The vocals slowly evolve more into a sickening throaty vocal that really seals the atmosphere. The melodic composition sounds like a single string pad that could be playing an atmospheric black metal riff - although with this instrumentation and at this slow pace, the atmosphere becomes considerably more doomy. Google translate doesn’t exactly help with the poem included in the bandcamp flavor text here. The second track here feels a bit more like PC VGM - although the instrumental palette here is similar to the previous track, the mood feels more driving here, and the composition of the piece is a bit more varied, each one creating a hypnotic mood along with the mechanical tread of the drums. The amount of reverb does sometimes mask the rhythmic quality of the melody - places where repeated notes make the melody more like a riff than a kind of chorale of sustained notes, but the effect is overall pretty agreeable on the atmosphere of the music. The third track here uses a different drum style, and marks the return of the vocals, again alternating between a disaffected chanting and the harsher vocal. All of these tracks show a fondness and connection to black metal in the composition, and those looking for the spirit of black metal in their dungeon synth should certainly enjoy this. In a way, it is almost more black metal in its sound than some of the earliest examples of dungeon synth, but is not unlistenably bleak given that.

Going onto Demonstratio, right off the bat we have a wider sonic range - including some brass and choir pads to supplement the string pads which formed the basis of the first release. The amount of reverb on this recording makes it hard to tell individual instruments apart sometimes, but this is not a criticism. I love how patient this is - a slow, hypnotic melody that seems to unfold without a steady pulse. It’s a very organic sound, very minimal compositionally but totally engrossing. The sound is MUCH more restrained from the melodies on Vanitas, while the orchestration is more complex. It’s a notable change, but one that I find endearing. The second track uses what sounds like organ and string pads and percussion exclusively, and the composition is locked between two melodies - one driven by strings over a steady, sparse drumbeat and a very classical-DS two chord progression in a low organ organ - the second, a more spare organ melody that is slowly joined by mournful strings. This feels extremely connected to old school DS in composition. The third track is a bit more lush, with two sections in different time signatures, both anchored by some wide, enveloping organ chords with a melancholic melodic instrument trying to cut through the texture. The effect is quite impressive - not suffocatingly bleak, but enough so that the impact is really felt. A two minute track serves as an outro, following a simple chord progression in electric piano which is joined by strings briefly. It’s nice to have a shorter piece to help shake off the profound hypnotic state this project achieves.