Description

Russian 2000 Stellar Winter Records music cassette. Plain black cassette.

Boris Podsoblyayev, more known as Kaldrad, was once one of the most prolific artists in the Russian black metal community, releasing a massive slew of albums through Branikald, Forest, Nitberg, Temnozor, Vargleide, and others. He was also a key member of the Blazebirth Hall black metal circle. His musical work was probably at the peak in 2001 when he was put in jail. Of all his work, Branikald is one that stands out for its raw black metal and their debut demo Stormheit is one demo you need to listen to if youre interested in this band. Its snarling, raw black metal with an obvious influence taken from Darkthrone and Burzum. At 41 minutes, this is practically a full album’s worth of material, and the epic length of its compositions is actually one of its strengths; it is very easy to lose oneself within them, hypnotized by the winter wastelands Kaldrad is evoking. Stormheit is not accessible, certainly not by today’s standards. There is no sense for production value, it’s unhinged and bloody raw, and therein lies much of its charm. The guitars will often feel out of tune and the drums do little aside from keep the effective pace. You have to venture deep into the Branikald discography to find any semblance of studio standards, or polish. But that’s not the point of Kaldrad’s work. It is to capture your imagination and intone the unforgiving majesty of his land, the pride and history of his people. To this extent, it’s a successful demo, and the first of many worthy efforts. Unfortunately Kaldrad never released anything more with Branikald after he was released from prison and before getting killed by a car. But Branikald is a good legacy of this extreme man.

Track list:
1. Kaldevind
2. A Stormride
3. Celestial Clear Moonlit
4. Feldhall Og Kampf
5. A Crushing Hammer