Review by Felix on February 21, 2026.

I confess: the headline is taken from the best comment on YT for this demo. Anyway, this statement precisely expresses how I felt when I first heard the tones of “Dödenlicht”. The spirit of black metal blares from the speakers immediately, and the Dutch duo captures the atmosphere of the genre in a fascinating way. Do not expect any features you have never heard of before. All black metal supporters should be familiar with an opaque and foggy sound, based on nagging vocals, restless guitars, rapidly hammering drums, and cloudy background keyboards. Gärgäntuäh do not set sails to new shores, but their demo impresses in view of its supreme songwriting. Okay, it is only demonstrated twice, because the intro is not a song in the strict sense. But the 7 minutes of “Ossaert” are filled to the brim with Scandinavian-inspired sounds. The violence of the legendary period of Darkthrone meets the atmosphere of early Ancient, and maybe one can also find also trace elements of early Enslaved. Only at the end, we leave the top of Europe, and a Desaster-like tone sequence appears.

“Dwylljocht”, the second regular track, confirms the high class of the material. Both tracks have fast parts, almost hypnotizing sections, and an amazing flow. The voice does not stand in the center of the tracks, with the effect that the instrumental coherence cannot be ignored. No inappropriate breaks disturb the all-embracing aura of darkness. The Netherlands is not famous for vast, cold, and wet forests, but either the duo has spent the vacations in Norway, or the corpse-painted guys are natural talents in terms of forging the perfect mood. The black and white artwork underlines the magic of the material and the style of the band.

A warning for purists – it is true that the keyboards are very present in this work. But they never gain the upper hand. Just like the voice and all other components, they deliver their part to the sinister overall picture in a very cleverly designed manner. The fact that the production is much better than on many regular albums is amazing as well, especially when considering that the professional sound is not at the expense of the underground charm the demo spreads. Given all these positive elements, it is a pity that the outro (a sad melody is played on a wind-swept sailing ship) remains vapid. Usually, this is no big deal, but here the outro takes up more than 20% of the total playing time…. Okay, let’s be generous and concentrate on the really “trve” examples of black metal art. In short, both are perfect. Although it is only a single-sided vinyl, I am a proud owner of this document of black metal underground integrity. Gärgäntuäh catapults me into the darkest past of the genre, and this alone is simply wonderful.

Rating: 8.8 out of 10