Artist: Vainot
Country: Finland
Label: Self-Released
Formats: Digital Demo
Year: 2024
Honestly, I was planning to review ‘Rituaalikooma’, the first demo the Finnish Black Metal band Vainot. It came out in October last year, but even before I could blink there were three more demos. Alright, all demos are rather short, with the third one even only containing one track, but still… quite a steep working pace. In the end I decided to settle with reviewing the latest of the four demos, ‘Hasatur’.
The decision is motivated not only by the fact that all of a sudden there were four demos and taking the last one is the easiest, but mostly because ‘Hasatur’ is by far the best of them all. But, unsurprisingly, the differences are small. Much of this can be found in the short span of time between demos, but it is also clear that in this short time Vainot has increasingly found its niche.
Musically, Vainot can be positioned in between classic Darkthrone and the traditional Finnish Black Metal of the likes of Satanic Warmaster or early Sargeist. The ultimate raw production adds considerably to the overall experience, which more than once recalls the Black Metal of the early 00’s. Raw but with so many underlying layers of melody that it takes several listens to take in all the details of the music. Yet it grabs you by the throat right from the first spin, the melancholy and captivating melodies are evidence of particularly good musicianship.
With the first demo clocking in at around 8 minutes, the second on 13 and this one at 10, it shows that this sort of harsh but utterly refined Raw Black Metal might work even better in smaller portions. Yet, I am already curious what the music will do in a slightly longer demo or EP. Hopefully I’ll catch on in time, so the band won’t suddenly be another handful of demos down the road again.
