Carpathian Forest - Bloodlust & Perversion

I managed to get ahold of this little black metal cassette gem from some stupid punk internet forum page, hiding amongst the mass amounts of old screamo records being dropped like hotcakes,grim score! The tape is made up of the 'Bloodlust & Perversion' demo from '92, the 'Promo Tape' of '93 and a bunch of studio rehearsals from '92 which include Venom and Bathory covers. This stuff even predates the current and popular alias of Nattefrost and Nordavind (instead named Lord Nosferatu and Lord Karnstein on these recordings) who have pretty much been Carpathian Forest from these demo beginnings till 2000 when Nordavind left and Nattefrost remained the driving force for Carpathian Forest and his solo Nattefrost recordings (plus kult figure due to his scene stealing pics by Pete Beste that have been splattered everywhere from books to art galleries to Vice mag).

The first demo starts with some really meadieval hoof clops and dark synths with drawn out moans before the first song kicks in with a much slower feel to it than what i was expecting, like the slower Burzum songs. With most of the CF records i own being a fast to mid paced affair and a heavy punk leaning, these songs are surprisingly glacial and sparse instead and at times doomily slow with Nattefrost's sneery vocals being drawn out to create atmospheric noises, nothing like the 'Black Shining Leather' and 'Morbid Fascination of Death' era i grew to love. The rest of the tape follows in this vein which reminds me of Nortt and Xasthur from todays crop of Black Metal that isnt triggered blastbeats and speed riffing.

The song titles too are more in keeping with something from an early Darkthrone record with titles like 'The Woods of Wallachia' and 'Return of the Freezing Winds' unlike later Carpathian efforts 'Bloody Fuckin' Nekro Hell' & 'The Good Old Enema Treatment' which definately makes me enjoy their tongue in cheek version of the second wave of Black Metal from Norway.

This tape still slays though, this is by no means a criticism, just very different to what i expected but still very grim and necro, all i ever want from a BM record/tape.

From Bloodlust & Perversion (1992):
1. "Through the Black Veil of the Burgo Pass" – 2:20
2. "Bloodlust and Perversion" – 4:10
3. "Return of the Freezing Winds" – 3:56
4. "The Woods of Wallachia" – 3:27
5. "Wings over the Mountain of Sighisoara" – 4:02
From Journey through the Cold Moors of Svarttjern (1993):
6. "Journey through the Cold Moors of Svarttjern" – 5:21
7. "The Eclipse/The Raven" – 3:30
8. "The Last Sigh of Nostalgia" – 8:02
From a rehearsal:
9. "Carpathian Forest" – 3:18
10. "Call from the Grave" – 4:56 (Bathory cover)
11. "Return of the Freezing Winds" – 4:18
12. "In the Circle of Ravens" – 6:48
13. "Warhead" – 4:24 (Venom cover)