Vehemency This new Finnish black / death metal group Tatanhammer plays in safe waters on their first demo, ”Blasphemy, Blood Necromancy”. The band utilizes the style of Archgoat to great extent, and while I love the aforementioned band, the similarities that Tatanhammer present are sometimes way too evident: the way the songs are structured to change between mid-paced and fast sections, low grunting vocals, and the drummer whacking his kit with those familiar china symbal accents.

Luckily, there are some differences, too. Bass guitar parts, credited to all of the members on the demo, have a strong role, being mixed quite high and sometimes even responsible for the main melodies. In fact, when compared to the guitar, the bass is clearly louder. At times, the vocals get into high-pitched hysterical screams, which is a nice change and fits the morbid, crude and filthy atmosphere of ”Blasphemy, Blood, Necromancy”.

With more focus on this kind of more unique features, Tatanhammer would give a better impression. As it is like now, it tends to lean a bit too heavily on Archgoatian walls, but it is still a worthy demo of underground, raw old school black / death metal. ”Blasphemy, Blood Necromancy” contains eight tracks which is a nice amount for this style, as the songs aren’t fortunately prolonged; they tend to be swift presentations, and that is good.