Lys- Drifting Through Despair demo

Lys is a two piece atmospheric black metal band that features members from Olathe and Oklahoma. This is the first demo the band has released and it clocks in at just over fifteen minutes. Go into this expecting a wall of noisy, raw black metal that should be welcomed with open arms by listeners with frostbitten ears.

The guitar tone on this demo is very high pitched and somewhat piercing. This element alone will most likely turn away some of those who choose to listen. In terms of style Lys comes with an extremely primitive approach. The vocals are delivered in a very raw manner to fit in with the rest of the musical output. The tortured shrieks of Thor echo throughout the ears of the listener.

The drumming is very simple but powerful. Due to the fact that most of the songs are slow in pace there are no blastbeats featured during the entire runtime of the demo. Though it is simple some of the drumming on the demo is very interesting when put into the context what is going on with the rest of the musical elements. A prime example of this would be on the final track "Exit Life", a simple repetitive beat that doesn't seem to fit at first eventually sinks into the rest of the noise and meshes in a very cohesive manner and even manages to make the track the biggest standout on the demo.

 It isn't a very easy task trying to describe the atmosphere that Lys creates with this demo. The best words one could use to describe it would be dreary and gloom filled. Don't expect to hear anything relatively upbeat on Drifting Through Despair, if you do you will be extremely disappointed. This release displays utter darkness in the form of music. In certain ways this demo reminds me of Summoning's album Stronghold, it doesn't sound similar in anyway musically but it gives off the same vibe. It manages to have this hard to digest sound that is very unappealing to many listeners but at the same time it is very relaxing to listen to.

I can't say that this demo is something that I would recommend to everyone due to the fact that it may be a bit to raw for some. If you are in search for something grim and raw though this should be one of the first things on your to get list. The demo was self-released on tape and is limited to 50 copies. Upon the first couple listens it may be hard to make out what each individual instrument is doing, some notes run together due to the production and though this may bother some it definitely adds to the raw aesthetic Lys seems to be going for.

Check out Lys here:
http://www.myspace.com/lysblackmetal

Email here to order the demo for $5:
iggnsthe@live.com
kelkum@live.com