Review by Vladimir on March 23, 2024.

When it comes to black metal bands with names that are Tolkien related, it can be a very hit or miss thing for the majority of times, however in this review, I will be covering a polish band called Sauron, who have re-released their demo Wilderness as a physical CD on September 7th, 2020 via the label Demented Omen of Masochism. 

After building up the atmosphere with a dungeon synth/dark ambient intro, eerie melodic black metal comes to haunt the crypt and sacrifice virgins in the name of Lord Belial. If you are brave enough to venture forth and follow along this demo, you will hear a lot of atmospheric moments in Sauron’s music, especially on the third track 'In The Shadow' which has a very Egyptian scale-like melody and some monk-like vocals, whereas for the most part you will be embracing the standard black metal traits from tremolo riffs to dynamic drumming with various tempo changes, along with keyboards and harsh vocals. Interesting bits that will also come to play on this demo is the classic guitar moment on the final track 'A Cold Wind Gaeth' which at first gives you some vibes of those magnificent instrumental acoustic tracks by Dissection, and as it goes along it transitions slowly into doom and gloom as black metal makes a return with the aforementioned monk-like vocals, while still preserving the presence of the classical guitar throughout the rest of the song. 

The songwriting is somewhat mixed in the sense that it feels very straightforward and very simple, yet on certain occasions it can truly feel like there is a sense of dynamics, but I think that the last track 'A Cold Wind Gaeth' should mostly take credit for it. The strongest aspect of Sauron’s music is definitely the atmosphere, which succeeds at grabbing the attention by holding the listener on edge, constantly wondering what will come next. Some of the times I felt like I was playing the second act of Diablo 2 when you truly felt like you wandered off to explore the crypt, only to find yourself in a deadly situation where you realize that it’s haunted by evil dwellers who are always looking for their next victim to spill their blood. At times, I also felt like there was a strong influence of Burzum’s "Det Som Engang Var" album, especially because of the particular drum patterns that Varg used on some of the songs like 'Lost Wisdon' and 'En Ring Til Aa Herske', and I wouldn’t be surprised if they were actually heading for that direction. When it comes to Sauron’s overall black metal performance as the main theme of discussion, there is not really much outstanding work to be found on this demo, however it did show a great deal of potential that could have been expanded into something much bigger from here on. The melodic and atmospheric elements in their music, with the inclusion of keyboards, classical guitar and monk vocals, truly hint at what kind of direction the band was going and what would have come afterwards would have definitely been very pleasant and enjoyable. 

Wilderness is a very solid demo with a somewhat “less can be more” approach that turned out to be quite effective and it really seems like it’s got a real deal to be considered an underground gem. This demo reissue is probably a treasure worth hunting for crazed collectors and supporters of the polish underground scene, so make sure you give this album a listen if it ever crosses your path. 

Rating: 7.7 out of 10