Soon To Be Forgotten
Demo
7.6
With a Snatch sample and a name that begs for a rimshot, Norway’s Soon To Be Forgotten announce themselves here with a three-song self-titled demo. Despite the awful moniker, I was pleasantly surprised by this excursion into Unsigned Band Country. The cover art and name had me expecting some sloppy, downtuned death/core/whatnot, but this band serves up a very melodically-oriented and enjoyable brand of thrashy black metal.
Opener “Deepest Fear” sees Soon to Be Forgotten at their Naglfar-y best—the song boasts some scalding dual-tremolo harmonies, and vocalist Alf Bjørnsen establishes himself as a noticeably talented frontman (though his occasional Tom Araya-like shouts seem a little out of place). The band’s rhythm section keeps the tempo and energy level fairly high through most of the opener, but comes off a little flaccid on the mid-tempo-dominated “Choice To Make” and “All Idols Are Dead”. These latter tracks see the band’s thrash/melodeath dimension manifest itself more noticeably. While this dimension of Soon To Be Forgotten’s sound isn’t objectionable, the speedier material is entertaining enough that I’d be remiss in not encouraging the band to explore it further. A clean, present production helps these Norwegians sound less typically Norwegian without even approaching overbearing polish.
Demo reviews are always risks and rarely are those risks rewarded, but for once I actually found myself actually wanting more at a demo’s end. Soon To Be Forgotten are certainly good enough to interest fans of black metal’s more refined and melodic—if not symphonic—side, and could be looking at a signing very soon if they play their cards right.
