Ildjarn is best known for fast, energetic and addictive bite-sized
pieces of black metal. However, his debut demo, Unknown Truths is anything but fast, energetic and addictive; it is
plodding, monotonous and boring. His second demo, Seven Harmonies of Unknown Truths fails to improve on its
predecessor, suffering from the exact same flaws.
From the sound of it, the two demos were recorded in very
close proximity to one another. The style of songwriting—longer (by Ildjarn’s
standards), repetitive songs consisting of a few bumbling power chords—is exactly
the same. Even a few tracks are repeated between the two demos. Insofar
as the production is concerned, Seven
Harmonies of Unknown Truths has a slightly more powerful guitar tone than Unknown Truths. The other elements are
the same. The drums are very straight forward, while the vocals are rough and
hateful (the later once again being the highlight of the demo).
Like its predecessor, the downfall of Seven Harmonies of Unknown Truths is the mediocrity of the riffs.
There are very few elements to Ildjarn compositions and without quality riffs, the music doesn’t go anywhere. Here the riffs are just big,
weighted and flavorless. The result is an album that zaps the listener’s energy
and spirit. Seven Harmonies of Unknown
Truths doesn’t even have the weird, extraterrestrial-inspired ambient passages
of its predecessor. Sadly, those ambient passages were the strength of Unknown Truths, which means Seven Harmonies… is even less
interesting.
Fortunately, Seven
Harmonies of Unknown Truths is the end of the dry and dull opening stage of
Ildjarn’s career. With the self-titled 1993 demo Ildjarn’s signature style emerges,
setting the stage for some truly excellent recordings. Nonetheless, while good
news is close at hand, the fact remains that Seven Harmonies of Unknown Truths is a total bore.
Overall: 4/10
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