UMUR "Those Who Caress the Pale" is a demo release by Norwegian avant garde extreme metal act Ved Buens Ende. The demo was originally released in 1994 on cassette tape but saw a CD re-release through Ancient Lore Creations in 1997. The re-release features the bonus track "Insects, Part I" and is probably the most readily available version. The demo led to the band signing with Misanthropy records for the release of their debut full-length studio album "Written in Waters (1995)".

At the time of the release of this demo, Ved Buens Ende consisted of Vicotnik (Dødheimsgard, Code, Manes, Naer Mataron) on guitars and vocals, Skoll (Arcturus, Fimbulwinter, Ulver) on bass and Carl-Michael Eide (Dødheimsgard, Aura Noir, Cadaver Inc, Infernö, Virus, Satyricon, Ulver) on drums, guitars and vocals. This was also the three-piece that recorded "Written in Waters (1995)".

Ved Buens Ende is a rather unique act with a unique sound that is both raw and aggressive but at the same time melancholic/atmospheric. The music sometimes reminds me of the most raw Voivod albums mixed with primitive black metal but with strange twist and turns and haunting deranged vocals.

Out of the five tracks on "Those Who Caress the Pale", "The Carrier of Wounds" and " You That May Wither" are also featured on "Written in Waters (1995)" but the rest are tracks didn´t make it unto the album. Both "A Mask In The Mirror", "The Plunderer" and the instrumental "Those Who Caress The Pale" are great tracks and should be of interest to fans of the band while the CD version bonus track "Insects, Part I", which consists of insect noises and tortured screaming and yelling for a couple of minutes before there is silence for about 4 minutes until the insects noises reappear, isn´t really much of a bonus to my ears.

The sound quality isn´t professional but the lo-fi sound production still suits the raw music well. All in all "Those Who Caress the Pale" certainly is a worthy purchase to fans of the band. Newcommers should probably start with "Written in Waters (1995)". A 3.5 star (70%) rating is warranted.

Conor Fynes 'Those Who Caress The Pale' - Ved Buens Ende (6/10)

Although released officially in 1997, 'Those Who Caress The Pale' is a demo that predates Ved Buens Ende's full-length opus. It does seem somewhat redundant to hear this album after hearing the fulfilled vision of the band on 'Written In Waters', but as it stands, 'Those Who Caress The Pale' is a very good demo that shows plenty of the potential that the band would later go on to realize in greater detail. As anyone who has heard 'Written In Waters' can attest, the band has a very unique sound to them, one that twas years ahead of its time and much different from the typical Norwegian black metal that the band was surrounded with. While 'Written In Waters' makes quite a bit of the material here obsolete, there is thankfully enough stuff not yet heard to make this a worthy listen of its own.

Much of the music here is dominated by abrasive, harsh riffs and the decidedly un-metal crooning of vocalist Czral. Many of the songs here would later be re-recorded for 'Written In Waters', with musicianship and especially the vocal performance being tightened up for it. Here, I get the sense that the band is just as capable as they were on the full-length, but they were less meticulous about it, moreso wanting to get the music out, rather than focusing on the details. This shows, and much of this demo is muddy and obscured by a fairly thin production that some would say was typical of the black metal scene of the time. The standout tracks here are the same ones that managed to find their way onto the full-length, although for a Ved Buens Ende fanatic looking for a few extra minutes of dissonant riffing and maniacal vocals, this recording is far beyond what I would normally expect of a demo.