Inarborat Wisdom Sans Words

When you’re a new band awaiting the release of your debut, why the hell wouldn’t you give away your demos? That’s exactly what German black metallers Inarborat were thinking when they decided to upload an album’s length of raw studio material.

Just months before their self-titled album was set to drop through Twilight Records, the Munich/Bavaria-based trio chose to not only sell copies of the Wisdom Sans Words demo — which went on to sell out — but also offer it as a free download. Whether you’re willing to spend the money or not, the six-song effort is worth checking out.

With all of the crossing over and experimentation going on in the black metal underworld these days, purists should find plenty of fat to chew on with Wisdom Sans Words. Inarborat don’t fuck around with their sound. They aim for clear-cut black metal, working the guitars to a mix of piercing riffs and doom-y drones, while synths fill in the solemn mist to complete the haunting, funereal atmosphere and C.’s blood-curdling bawl.

"The Brook Lies Silent” balances the beautiful with the hideous, capturing the band’s heavy, brooding side as they go from a doom-filled serving of poetic spoken word into an ominous blast of blackened pounding. Two interludes — "Intro” and "Trommeln in der Tiefe” — demonstrate their cinematic curiosity, building trance-inducing ambience emotional enough to deliver a touching eulogy. And then there’s the demo’s cornerstone, the menacing, near-seven-minute "That Dwells Within the Mountain,” which borders on Venom-like hostility and hook-filled riffage.

Four of the demo’s tracks find rebirth on their new album, but if this sounds good to your ears, you can buy that newly released debut here.

Download Wisdom Sans Words

• More Inarborat