A band’s first steps are always fascinating to behold, even if it was met with naught but a stumble. Retrospective is something that can be a true gift and a vision for those who are sharp enough to learn from it, and that goes double in today’s world where we can witness in minutes the transformation of any band by simply looking up their discography. In the run of Ungfell, it’s been relatively short especially when compared to others, but to witness the rise of Ungfell is to see transformation on a scale undeniable, and that’s even with the band’s first stepping-off point nothing to scoff at whatsoever.

Revisitation like this is something that we don’t get to witness often given that most bands tend to leave their early material to the stage years after the original release, but it’s in opportunities like what we have here that we’re able to have a renewed appreciation for what’s come before and where we’re at today. Given the status that Ungfell has today as a multi-faceted act that is certainly an act to know in the wide realm of the black metal underground, a beginning such as what’s on display with “Demo(lition)” is a breath of unexpectedly fresh air in familiarity in all the right ways. A far more simplistic creation with more than a few inklings as to the wonders that would come later down the line for Ungfell, it’s with a much more straightforward take on black metal that’s no less effective than its successors that the seven tracks here, including a brand new track, are more than compelling enough to lose yourself in no matter how new or familiar you are with the very name of Ungfell. It proves more than ever before that a humble beginning that’s a work of one’s influences can grow to become something truly compelling in the right hands, and if “Demo(lition)” doesn’t prove Ungfell to be the among some of the very best hands we’ve seen throughout the underground, then I don’t know what I’m even doing here anymore.

This is but a simple return to a far simpler time for a band that’s grown to become so much more, and sometimes that’s all we need in order to appreciate where we’ve been and how far we’ve come. The retrospection that’s offered to us by “Demo(lition)” is a real treat to behold in virtually every aspect as we’re really able to see the progression of Ungfell since then, and I don’t know about you but I wouldn’t dare change a single thing about this first but incredibly promising step in Ungfell’s path to conquest.

LISTEN to “Demo(lition)” on Bandcamp here.

LIKE Ungfell on Facebook here.