Chelmno

Chelmno - Chelmno
Self-Released, 2003
Genre: Black Metal

1. Intro
2. Necrolove
3. Grim Vengeance
4. Chelmno
5. Satan My Master (Bathory Cover)











I picked this up solely because of Vidharr's presence in this project.  I've loved his work with Tenebrae in Perpetuum and Beatrik, so I figured I would check out Chelmno to see if that level of quality would be maintained.  I was fairly wrong about that when it comes to this release.  I didn't enjoy this at all.  This was released on cassette only and limited to 88 hand-numbered copies of which I own #74.  The booklet is fairly well done, it has multiple panels, but is only single sided.  The tape is just a dubbed tape with a sticker on it with the bands name and written underneath is "Chelmno doesn't support the National Socialism, but the extreme evil actions it has done."

Moving onto the music... Chelmno play an extremely lo-fi harsh style of Black Metal.  This is to be expected in some ways since this was recorded on a 4-track as the tape explains.  As far as 4-track recordings go, this came out pretty well, but the music is nothing compelling.  There are some aspects of this that really shine through like the opening section of "Grim Vengeance" which has a fine Black Metal riff to start off.  The rest of the songs have that sort of old Punky edge to the riffing, but it is probably more drawn off of what Darkthrone has done.  However, Chelmno hardly even begins to keep up with the quality Darkthrone are capable of producing.  I may be a little biased, because I'm usually not into this type of Black Metal, but I've just heard other bands include these elements in a much better light.  I found the riffs boring and lost interest with most of the work because it didn't stand out very well.  The vocals are atrocious and it just sounds like someone chirping in the background with a lot of echo on their vocals.  They even felt the need to brag about this "No effects use (only echo on voice)".  This aspect just made the unmemorable music unbearable...

Chelmno are not off to a good start with this demo.  However, since bands can change drastically from their demo days into their albums I will at least check out any debut full length they produce.  Maybe I'm missing something that a studio recording will bring to light and make the band sound much better to me.  In the end, I really don't think this demo is meant for me and if you like ultra primitive Black Metal then you may find some merit in this.