Review by Felix on January 4, 2026.

Two proverbs fight with each other (at least in my homeland). On the one hand, there is a magic in every beginning; on the other hand, all beginnings are hard. In the case of Norrhem’s first demo, I do not find much magic, or to be honest, none at all. But I understand the other statement all the more.

Norrhem, naturally hailing from Finland, has already published really strong full-lengths, full of Nordic spirit and vehement black metal with partly enchanting melodies. Maybe this demo from the year 2017 is musically not too far away from these outputs, but its production is a pure disaster. Everything sounds distorted, blurred, and somehow too loud. The voice is hidden between the quite nerve-shattering guitars, and the drums sound completely muddy as soon as the song's acceleration velocity (which is often the case). Yes, I believe that the material itself is not bad, but wrapped in this production, I cannot enjoy it due to this nearly mind-boggling storm of noise.

Nevertheless, let’s try to give some information concerning the songs. The “Prelude” consists of chirping birds and a discreet keyboard, while the three following tracks mirror a more vehement approach than, for example, the tracks of “Elonkehrä”, their last full-length. Less stormy sections, like the beginning of “Pohjan Tulet” do not represent the demo. But regardless of individual sections, the performance of the tracks sometimes seems a little uncoordinated. As a result, the whole thing doesn't come across as very brutal, and it certainly doesn’t look playfully smart. Naturally, they were newcomers, and therefore it is easily acceptable that the melodies are less expressive than those in their later works. However, the tumultuous scenario has not much in common with the stylish brilliance of their later works. After all, I agree. All beginnings are hard. But the good thing is that the comparison between “Voima ja kunnia” and “Elonkehrä” shows how many steps Norrhem has taken in a pretty short time. I am curious how many further steps they can go.

Rating: 5 out of 10