Sanzia

Demo #1 '98

Review by Neil St.Laurent

Thanks to the band for the Cassette

The guitar riffing of black metal is becoming very recognizable today, popularized by bands like Cradle Of Filth, and done well by bands like Dimmu Borgir (fellow Norwegians to Sanzia). This demo isn't just the blazingly fast drums and guitars though, for if it were there would be no choice to pass it off as just another black metal album. Instead the music has a sort of rock element to it, using the black approach however. This is tough to explain, but sections of the music seem to use fast guitar riffing to form a larger, simpler melody, that is combined with a very simple, yet effective drum beat. There are a lot of original riffs here, which are unfortunately repeated a little too often, or without sufficient variation elsewhere to not sound repetitive. This is often the point where many black metal bands just alter the vocal style, Sanzia tries to hold it all together with one vocal style -- and above everything else, the vocals of Hegal really stand out (except when they are lost in the mix), the continous non-shriek, but raspy approach sounds very harmonized, and although totally incomprehensible, they are the item close to perfection in this recording.

Overall, Sanzia won't likely to appeal to anybody but the avid black metal fan, but then again it is just a demo (i.e. given the consistancy of the genre it is often difficult for even the most well produced black metal acts to appeal to anybody other than the avid black metal fan). Although it is unlikely Sanzia will be wildly popular, with an improved production and a little bit less repetition they should be able to create some incredible music.

Sanzia is:
Hegal - Vocals, Guitar
Telal - Drums
Zahgurim - Guitar
Krieg - Bass

Contact:
Sanzia
c/o Anders Larsen
Skatvedtveien 44
N3475 Saetre
Norway

Web: http://home.sol.no/~blaster/Sanzia/

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