Like the band's first demo Necronomicon, Graveland’s second demo, Promo June ’92 is a mediocre mixture of industrial and ambient. While there are minor improvements in the overall atmosphere and somewhat more memorable songs, this is still an unimpressive recording. Once again Rob uses clunky industrial riffs, muddy vocals and a cheap drum machine to create messy compositions. However, the keys have improved enough that Promo June ’92 is slightly more tolerable than the debut.
The album is composed of four pieces. The intro is a pretty weak and uneven ambient piece with samples of monks chanting. “Cathedral of Shadows” is more dynamic, integrating the monk chants with deep growls and doomy riffs. This song actually creates a decent atmosphere—somewhat distant and haunting. The atonal church bells and spooky keys at the end do fairly good job of creating an ominous atmosphere. “The Dawn of Samhain” is violent industrial piece with whipping percussion that basically washes out every other sound in the recording. Poorly mixed and poorly executed. “Dark Visions” is a slower industrial piece with eerie atonal keys—an OK song, but ultimately forgettable.
While “Cathedral of Shadows” is actually a respectable track, on the whole this demo fails to impress. There are some nice touches of atmosphere, but the overall execution is extremely armature. Like the debut, this is worth hearing only if you’re a diehard Graveland fan who wants a taste of the band’s strange roots.
Overall: 3.5/10
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