Artist: Abbashaitan
Country: Finland
Label: Consumed By The Flames Productions
Formats: CD
Year: 2026
When I reviewed the ‘Sorceritual’-demo tape from last year I already wrote that the previous two demos slipped under my radar when they were released in 2017 and 2020 respectively. But ‘Sorceritual’ offered an interesting bit of Black Metal that combined both Finnish and Norwegian Black Metal with a distinct sort of Heavy Metal song writing. The diversity of the demo was the thing that stuck with me most, solid riffs with some great leads. The title of this CD, released by the Mexican label Consumed By The Flames Productions, already gives a bit of a hint about what we have to work with here. This is a compilation of the aforementioned demo and the one titled ‘Rites Of The Unlight’, which was released in 2020.
To start with, this CD has a playing time of 37 minutes, which means there was enough space left to include the 2017 demo, ‘Fullmoon Rites Rehearsal’. But I suppose the band must have had its reasons for leaving that out, but as a completist and a fan of complete works, this feels like a bit of bummer. But well…
The CD starts with ‘Sorceritual’ and comes in its entirety and as far as I was able to find out, not much has been done with it in terms of mastering or overall sound, if anything at all. That means that the review I did for that demo still stands including the conclusion that it is a solid demo that displays a thoroughly creative mindset. Especially with the Heavy Metal structure it is a demo that offers something that is not necessarily a thing you run into on a daily basis.
The second part, the ‘Rites Of The Unlight’ demo, is quite a different cookie. Although, after a few spins, it is clear that these guys are also offering a decent display of musicianship and creativity, the music is more traditional. Not only in riffing, which is remarkably melodic by the way, but especially in the tone and overall sound. It is a much sharper piece of music that is poured in an equally raw mould. But these tracks are very enjoyable as well, although it almost feels like a completely different band. The thing that makes these tracks truly inferior to the ‘Sorceritual’ demo is the vocal work; the shouty vocals, and sometimes even yelling, doesn’t really fit into the overall picture. It does contribute to the rehearsal sound and vibe, but that’s about all there is to it.
