Servile Sect - "Demos 2005/2006" (2011) [Land of Decay]

In case you couldn't tell by my gushing review of their latest album, TRVTH, I have absolutely fallen in love with Servile Sect. This cross-country duo's otherworldly, tripped-out take on black metal is by far a breath of vitality in the polarized "Experimental" black metal scene. From nightmarish noise to dreamy, krautrock-inspired psychedelia, the duo of Nhate Clmnt and Luke Krnkr have unleashed three spectacular full-lengths of unique, thought-provoking music, but it really seems like they exploded out of nowhere. Before their Stratospheric Passenger album, there really isn't much information about Servile Sect - how they came to be, what they might have sounded like in the early days, et cetera. Luckily, thanks to Locrian-led Land of Decay Records, Servile Sect have dug deep into the vault to unleash some of their earliest demos on this spectacular new cassette release.

Within this cassette, much like their last album, we see Servile Sect in a dichotomous state. Alternating between bizarre, krautrock-like ambiance and something that is either "black metal so raw that it sounds like noise" or "noise so coherent that it almost sounds like black metal," we can clearly hear the building blocks on which Clmnt and Krnkr based their later, more coherent sound. Not to say that this demo is incoherent, per se, but what is presented is a much more simplistic and less refined version of the Servile Sect of which I have grown accustomed. However these are demos, and demo compilations are definitely something geared towards seasoned fans. If you are a Servile Sect fan, don't approach this cassette expecting something as mind-blowing and forward-thinking as their previous albums, rather with an understanding that these are their humble beginnings, and they are grand. ViralOptic/Kevin Gan Yuen provides stellar artwork yet again, adding to the synthetic, "outer space" vibes present throughout these demos.

Available soon from Land of Decay.

-Jon