UMUR
"Pagan Token" is the fifth demo release by Norwegian death/black/thrash/doom metal act Valhall. The demo was independently released in March 1991. It succeeds the "Live Demo 91" which was released earlier the same year. Opening track "Melting Picture" had already been released on "Live Demo 91" and the same with "Painful Solitute", although they of course appear here in studio versions. The latter was also on the tracklist of the April 1990 "Trauma" demo. Other than those two tracks "Pagan Token" features "Versatility" and "Moribund Penisual".
Compared to "Trauma", this demo has a more homemade feel to it and it´s not nearly as well produced. "Pagan Token" features more of a rehearsal space recording quality. Stylistically Valhall had reached a point where they played a death-doom metal style which isn´t terribly different from the sound of the first Paradise Lost album. It´s slow (although occasionally faster-paced), sorrowfilled, and doomy death metal with a raw shouting/growling vocalist in front.
Coming from a good quality demo like "Trauma" to this is a bit of a disappointment. It´s not a bad quality death-doom metal release, but it´s not a particularly great one either. It sometimes sounds almost too stripped and it feels like there are empty spaces in the music where little is happening. It´s too bad because I felt Valhall was on to something with the "Trauma" demo but it appears to have been a one-of. A 2 - 2.5 star (45%) rating is warranted.
