I couldn't find much information about this band, other than what I could find on their Soundcloud page. Apparently, it's a one-man black metal band from Russia that released their first demo earlier this year. Personally, I find it odd that a black metal band from Russia would want to call itself Old Man Of The Desert. Then again, I have heard stranger names for bands. Also, the name doesn't matter. It's the music that matters. Does this band produce good music? Let's find out.
The first song consists of some simple acoustic guitars that sound like they're telling the tale of an old man of the desert. Oh hey, it matches up with their band name. The second song is actually a Pink Floyd cover. Kind of odd to have a cover as the second song on your album, but whatever. I'm not at all familiar with Pink Floyd beyond their famous song “The Wall”, but this cover sounds pretty good. Post-rock guitars are at the forefront while the electric guitar buzzes in the background. Both exhibit a great sense of atmosphere.
The third song features some actual black metal, and it's pretty nice. The riffs are simple and are wrapped in cloudy distortion. The drum machine plays lots of simple blast beats as well as a few mid-paced rhythms. Nothing special, but it still gets the job done. The cymbals are rather prominent, though, which helps gives the music a dissonant quality. All of this creates an experience that vaguely reminds me of Branikald. There are no vocals. Instead, it's all about the instruments. I think it's for the better, as vocals would only distract from the thoughtful instrumentation.
With the exception of the song “Veni Redemptor Gentium” which only consists of some simple acoustic guitars, the rest of the album is like this. The drum machine provides some simple beats, the guitars play an equal mix of black metal and post-rock, and they even throw in some keyboards for a bit of variety. Overall, this was a really nice demo. In all honesty, I expected it to suck, but I was pleasantly surprised. I especially loved the use of keyboards and their mix of post-rock and atmospheric black metal guitars.
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