Cemetery Fog-Shadows From The Cemetery (Tape)

Iron Bonehead
2014


As they say there's no school like the old school. And when it comes to "From The Cemetery", which is the third demo to come Finland's own Cemetery Gates since they first assembled back in 2012, that saying couldn't be anymore true if you wanted it to be! Initially self-released in 2013, with xeroxed covers appearing on home-dubbed cassette tapes according to the Metal Archives, the five track "From The Cemetery" will be seeing a second release on tape thanks to the fine folks over at Iron Bonehead Productions. Be sure to mark down the date on your calender (March 31st, 2014) as this atmospheric doom-death release is delightfully haunting and a bit edgy just like they used to make them way back in the day (say late eighties to mid nineties). To their advantage Cemetery Fog chooses to forgo the usual small gaps that would normally appear between each individual track. All of which makes the 23 minute plus "Shadows From The Cemetery" that much more cold, unearthly and unflinching (by which I mean spectacular!). Every track here just seems to fold in and out of, over and under the previous track and, seeing as I listened to this one none-stop a few times over on loop, it takes on a life of it's own. From their sound, which is strengthened by the otherworldly essence of J. Filppu (vocals and guitars), to the way in which this demo was actually recorded (it really comes across as if it was recorded in another time period and just stored away in some tape collectors closet waiting to be unearthed again!) everything about this Finnish trio known as Cemetery Fog feels old world and somewhat classic. Or could it just be that they ghosts that haunt recordings such as this one are actually more comforting then scary? Either way the result is the same. Add it all up (from the magical, near-sludgy riffs of days long thought passed that seem as if they were assembled as if to pay tribute to the gods of old to the eerie, ghoulish vocal delivery of  J. Filppu) and it results in a (undoubtedly recommended!) demo like this one that is unlike any other that you are likely to hear anytime soon my friends. It's a demo that seems to call out for, make that cry out for(!), fans and collectors alike who still hold out hope that they might, even if it is just for one last time, experience musty, creaky, cold and crumbling (and even mysterious) doom-death like our forefathers used to craft!