Artist: Vidarr
Country: Russia
Label: Self-Released
Formats: Digital Demo
Year: 2025
By the look at the grainy black/white artwork and this specific logo you might judge that this is yet another band of Ildjarn-worship. And, in a certain way you wouldn’t be too far off, but Vidarr, a relatively new Russian one-man band has a bit more too offer in terms of musical adventurism and wild excursions. But Vidarr shares the same sheer inaccessibility of Ildjarn, so, let’s put it this way: ‘Bäume Unter Dem Mond’ is not quite for everyone.
Apparently this debut demo had been recorded back in 2023 but the anonymous creator didn’t feel like releasing it until recently. No reasons for the delay were given, but after hearing the music a good couple of times I am glad he finally decided to share this work with those who are willing to take the dive. Just like Ildjarn, Vidarr too requires a trained ear or at least a certain tolerance for a harsh or non-existent production, extremely distorted vocals and guitars and a good portion of Punk-like simplicity.
‘Bäume Unter Dem Mond’ has basically all of that, but you also add some “drunken” clean bellowing (“lalalaaalaa”) reminiscent to Fenriz’ finest hours with Isengard. Blend in some trademark old Akitsa too and you have a clear picture of what this first demo sounds like. Not quite your Sunday morning recipe for easy-listening Black Metal, but definitely something that has a good sense of sincerity to it. The pureness of the music, including all the productional hick-ups and deranged vocal lunacy, makes this a demo that is thoroughly enjoyable. The occasionally silly sounding vocals might distract a bit from the music and tends to drag the it a bit too much into unserious waters, but in fact this is a product that should be well in place within the collections of those who enjoy some of the bands mentioned above. Yet, it must be said that Vidarr sounds much less “necro” and lacks the Folkish-intent when compared to the real deal of Ildjarn, instead you are getting a demo that feels even more punky and therefore brings something that is slightly different from the majority of its peers.
The musician behind this band, also in Ingwald by the way, refers to this demo as a “tape”, but as far as I have been able to find out, there are no physical tapes made yet. It goes without saying that this is the sort of music that by definition would do great on a cassette tape. Who knows what the future might bring,,,
