This is melancholy music coming from a dreamers with an edge. SEIDE are a four piece band from France that play, in their own words, Dark/Black Metal. And that would be a perfect short description of their sound – Black Metal aggression tools used with the backup of Dark Metal melancholy note of heartfelt pain and loneliness. One thing that stroke me before anything else is the humility of their approach. In stark contrast to the most Black Metallers, these guys are not shrieking their contempt for the world thinking they are the new messiahs. For me that is a big, big bonus. And now the music. This demo consists of 5 songs and is crafted well with guitars, bass, drums and vocals each getting equal share in the mix. The guitars are languid and piercing at the same time, the bass provides a good grounding and ads heaviness and the drums pinpoint the sound with the flow. The vocals range from the raspy shrieks to doomy semi-growls and come from the depths of desolate life experience. The songs are varied and contain aggression, mournful slow parts and epic heights all used with the measure and style. The production is extremely clean for Black Metal, let alone for a demo. Its airiness is wisely used, because the kind of darkness that this demo represents is clean and breathable, without a usual filth and decay found in Black Metal. There is a strong current of decadence flowing beneath which also needs clarity to best express itself. So, the production is flawless. With track names such as ‘Unbeliever’ and ‘The Outsider’ you can already get the impression of their lyrical content. I don’t know if the latter song has any connection with the books of Colin Wilson and Albert Camus that go by that same name, but I find toying with this idea amusing. The interesting side of this record is that it will appeal to fans of aggressive Black Metal, but also to the more quiet types that like to drown in forlorn atmospherics. Maybe to the latter even more because a certain amount of introversion would be most helpful to appreciate this and SEIDE scales of Dark Metal are slightly more tipped to this side. You can call it a coincidence, but I see it as a good fortune to find this album in early spring – it is the melancholy of this season, with the still, crisp air and the shy sun, that brings out the pain of the most peculiar kind. And “Dogma” is its ideal musical background. Even without a proper album out this alone would be an enviable accomplishment. Very good. www.myspace.com/seide666