A creepy intro with minimalistic instrumentation ushers the listener into the harsh, sylvester sound of Arckanum. If I was facing that kind of psychological tests where someone shows a bunch of stains and you have to tell the words they inspire you, I´d define Arckanum with cold, forest, raw, rotten, bewildered, intense, among many others. This seminal release gave birth to the main traits of the unique brand of black metal created by Arckanum´s only member Shamaatae: abyssic shrieks often strengthened through reverb effects, cold guitars deprived of technical extravaganzas, steady drums both in the fast parts and the consistent mid tempos, lyrics written in a hardly decipherable ancient Swedish; these are some of this act´s trademarks. The demo is built around songs interwoven with short interludes. Some tracks are present in further releases such as the debut full-length “Fran Marder” and “Kostogher”so the rawer versions included here add the typical lure for maniacs owning the albums. Therefore we can taste the unrelenting wrath of “Yvir Min Diupe Marder” with those tortured vocals, the classic “Gava Fran Trulen” with its characteristic weird broken pace, “Et Sorghetog” and its unbridled fury or the slow and meditative “Bærghet”. Die hard fans can find a gift in the last three tracks of the CD which are nothing less than unreleased versions. All in all “Trulen” sets the foundations of Arckanum black metal vision and the differences between this release and further efforts are mainly placed in the sound and arrangements of the songs. In this demo the drums are much more simple and less richer, the clean vocals are a bit weak and were clearly improved in subsequent releases and the guitars in mid tempos sound a bit skinny compared to the albums.

To end these lines, I´ll say this is one of the most uncompromising Nordic black metal demos ever released. Though sometimes misunderstood, underrated and ignored, Arckanum is a band that has always been devoted to honest music and a solid lyrical and philosophical concept. A band to respect. A band to admire.

written by Fjordi

Playing time: 52.57