Artist: Gaalvan
Country: Germany
Label: Crimson Reign Records
Formats: Demo Tape
Year: 2026
In the introduction part of my review of ‘Geschworener Hass’, the previous demo of Gaalvan, I already cited that many one-man Black Metal bands do not beat around the bush a lot and fire away recording after recording. I wasn’t lying. ‘Geschworener Hass’ was released in March of this year and now we have yet another demo in our hands: ‘Beastial Serpent Of The South’.
And that is not the only thing, Dark Tormentor (sometimes D.T. or just his real name Leon Cyrol) is equally active with his other project, Asmodeum, or at least he was, as it seems he put that project on hold, In addition he also runs the label/distro Crimson Reign Records, on which he also releases his own music. So, whether D.T. has an endless source of inspiration, or he just has a lot of time on his hands. Given the fact that D.T. was born in 2010 it could be both, the blessing of youthful energy and no other things to worry about.
Anyway, on a musical level, Gaalvan continues the path chosen earlier, meaning rather well-played and thought-out Raw Black Metal with a good dose of melody and a profound sense for melancholy. D.T. might be born only about yesterday, he does know his craft. Nothing on ‘Beastial Serpent Of The South’ sounds or feels like it has been made by someone who hasn’t lived through a few more years of Black Metal experience. The fast pace and the moody and atmospheric keyboards do add a very structured backdrop for the equally fast tremolo riffs and the icy screeches. And, frankly, they do all blend in surprisingly organic as well, making this latest Gaalvan demo a much more mature sounding effort than ‘Geschworener Hass’.
That maturity is mainly achieved by keeping a more steady direction musically. D.T.’s musical capacities weren’t really in doubt, as he showed some decent playing and good ideas on the compositional level. This demo, with a total playing time of just under 13 minutes, feels like a solid piece of tracks truly belonging together. So, it’s not only youthful energy, but also the youthful capability of learning quickly.
