Artist: Nargothrond
Country: Germany
Label: Narbentage Produktionen
Formats: LP
Year: 2025
Although the extensive back catalog of Germany’s Narbentage Produktionen has repeatedly delved into the country’s history to unearth some forgotten gems, the label now seems to have turned it into something of a sport. Over the past months, or years maybe, the label has presented us more than one obscure recording from the German Black Metal scene, often stuff that must have been gathering dust in the label’s owner’s boxes full of demo tapes. Another such example is the recent re-discovery of Nargothrond, a band that only released two demo tapes in 1995 and 1997 respectively. ‘Im Schatten Der Festung’ is the first of the two and is now to see it’s second coming on vinyl through the archaeological label.
Nargothrond was the result of only one musician that went under the name of Carcharoth, who was also part of the Heavy Metal band Skyconqueror between 1999 and 2004 and, perhaps most notably, Dark Embrace who released a good split 7” EP with Nagelfar on the cult label Sombre Records in 1997. Other than that, there’s very little to tell about the band, that is most likely been put to rest somewhere after the release of ‘Kampf’, the Nargothrond’s 1997 demo. However, on a musical level, Nargothrond has something particularly interesting to offer.
While the music as a whole, a bit on the slow side, clearly venturing into doomy territories, offers a thoroughly enjoyable ride. It is mainly the overwhelming sense of nostalgia that does the trick here. Don’t get me wrong, ‘Im Schatten Der Festung’ is a great demo that indeed deserves a second life and it surprisingly stood well the test of time – in fact, such a demo could have been made today. Especially the guitar tone is something that makes this demo tape a very interesting listen, somewhere between Burzum’s second and third album and the sound that Nargaroth took a few years later. Grainy, melancholic but above all very sinister. The gloomy semi-acoustic strumming and the off-key murmuring clean vocals even give this demo something rather unique. Yet, if anything ‘In Schatten Der Festung’ is a prime example of how Black Metal demos sounded some three decades ago and, admittedly, I am a total addict of such old recordings.
Whether you are, like me, a fervent admirer of obscure recordings as well, or, also like me, just dig some eerie and gloomy 90’s Black Metal, ‘Im Schatten Der Festung’ is a great example of how much music there still is to be discovered. The world would be a much nicer place if this sort of stuff would get a re-release instead of the umpteenth pressing of ‘Fallen Angel Of Doom’ in a whatever kinky variant.
