Ab Noctem - s/t demo [2010]

Artist: Ab Noctem

Title: Ab Noctem (demo)

Genre: Blackened Folk Metal

Country: Italy
Year: 2010

Track List:

1. The Last Dawn
2. Through Ages of Wars and Gods
3. Keepers of Earth
4. Lu Rusciu Te Lu Mare

I found out about this (admittedly, very obscure) band circa 2008-2009, when I got nothing better to do than chatting on Myspace with their singer/keyboardist, Jolie aka "Yuka". (This nickname, according to her, was taken from some shoujo anime/manga - Fruits Basket, if memory serves me right, but I'm not sure... after all, I can't remember the last time I watched anime at all). She gave an impression of being a very nice and interesting person, but I had no idea of what kind of music her band was playing, as they didn't have any recordings back then.

Now I finally have listened to their first and only demo, and I have to say that I'm a bit surprised. I expected to hear standard Italian symphonic/gothic metal with female vocals - but instead of yet another Lacuna Coil clone, I got Scandinavian style folk metal with dual vocals (mostly male). The last track is a bit different, though - it's a folk ballad with only female vocals. Yuka's voice is a bit... "specific" (can't come up with a better word for it), and some listeners probably won't like it, but I have to admit that it matches this kind of music quite well. The production is of course far from prefect, but good enough for a demo. The melodies in all 3 songs (the 4th doesn't count, as it's a cover) are a bit simplistic, yet very catchy. Would like to hear a properly recorded full-length album from them, but sadly it seems like they've split up. 3 of 4 members of Ab Noctem (including Yuka) then formed a band called A Thousand Winters, but I couldn't find any further info about them.

Download