The Eternal Winter

Uluun is a four member band from France which was formed in 2011. “The Eternal Winter” is their first demo that was recently released and it contains three studio and two live tracks of about thirty five minutes. In their first release attempt, the band mostly plays mid – tempo, harsh Black Metal with dsbm features and many influences by the French scene. They remind me of Peste Noire and Nocturnal Depression.

The riffs are quite interesting, although they are cold and harsh concerning the sound, they put out melancholy, nostalgia and generally warm feelings, unlike the demo’s title (The Eternal Winter). Also despite the tracks’ big duration, the compositions have been elaborated well so as to be able to keep the listener’s attention. The guitar is very raw, cold and harsh, it delivers the compositions’ feelings well. The bass fills the compositions well, while many times it gets the leading role with a very good result. The drums do their job but they don’t have anything special. The vocalist is very good, he combines very nicely the cold Black Metal vocals with clean vocals which remind of psalmody. The production is dirty, it fits to the compositions and it doesn’t make the listening difficult. The mix is good without anything remarkable. The lyrics of the three tracks are written in French and those of the rest two in English. I don’t have the lyrics in my possession so I don’t know what they are about.

Generally the five tracks don’t have any innovations or anything you’ve never listened to before. However their first effort is quite good. What I didn’t like is the addition of the two live tracks, that although they are good tracks, the recording, especially of “Soul of Ice”, reduces their quality. The French underground scene brings out many mentionable bands the last few years. I think that Uluun is one of those bands and they deserve your attention.