Hate Forest "Scythia" CD

Descripción Despite his relative anonymity, Roman Saenko is one of the biggest names in the Ukranian black metal scene. He's been through quite a few projects: Hate Forest, Drudkh, Blood of Kingu, Rattenfänger and others; but there's something awesome in particular about one of his earliest recordings. That's Hate Forest's Scythia demo. Not only does this contain some of the best material by this project alone, but it's some of the best black metal Saenko has composed in his entire career.
It's a demo. It's recorded in the late 90's and originally released on tape. You expect it to sound raw and it is. But aside from the weirdly modified vocals, everything sounds pristine here. The guitars sound strong and vicious, and the drums actually sound more natural in contrast to their brazenly inorganic sound on Hate Forest's later albums. Scythia is a very crisp sounding for a demo and the sound really compliments the music here.
Hate Forest put a lot of emphasis around the title track of this demo with it being the longest song on here and being sandwiched in between the release's intro and a calmer transitional piece "Forgotten Voice of Black Perun". "Scythia" is probably the biggest blueprint for their material released later and its just as well that its among their best tracks. As for the remaining tracks,"Shining Abyss" definitely stands out for having a lot of drastic tempo shifts which aren't something you hear in Hate Forest, but it's pulled off very well and it's the other big highlight on this demo. "Forest of Nevres" does follow this up with a rather dynamic (albeit still programmed) drum track which is followed by the more simple "Attila" and concluding with the epic guitar and keys only outro "Herros".
I want to keep emphasizing that Scythia might as well be called Hate Forest's best release. The energy here is so much stronger than on any of the subsequent releases. It's a must-listen if you want to explore the band's discography. If you are tracking down a physical copy, you'll most easily find Osmose Productions' reissue that also has a bonus track. "To Those Who Came Before Us" is a decent extra that sounds something a little more in the line of the Purity era with some Drudkh Blood In Our Wells flavor added to it, but it's still just an extra. The meat here is the actual demo and if you like checking out black metal demos, this is for you.
Sample:  HATE FOREST Scythia (Full Album)