Fir Bolg – Paganism
As we await the release of France’s Fir Bolg’s debut full-length for Schwarzdorn, the label has re-released this one man projects “Paganism” demo as an MCD. This is no frills black metal with obvious Scandinavian qualities and a very simplistic songwriting style that centers around very memorable riffs and powerful movement in the tempos for each song. Nothing on display here is new or necessarily that surprising, but it all somehow works well and clicks perfectly for me. In fact, I wish this was a full-length, for sole member Dagoth is a skilled performer with a unique screaming style that is coherent with often interesting lyrical phrasing. Acoustic guitars and subtle synth lines offer an effective “times of old” quality, and for a demo, the production is quite warm sounding which keeps the vibe of this material airy and full of life. I often slam on bands that do little to stay off the path cleaved by countless bands before them, mainly because it is easy to become bored of the same old mindless rehashing of Burzum and Darkthrone characteristics. Again, Fir Bolg may be wandering around on said path, but creates enough interest in sound and songwriting body to make me take notice and applaud such a nice blend of traditional black and pagan metal genres.
Schwarzdorn Productions
Worm Gear 