In an era of polished productions and A.I. generated music, it can seem like black metal has lost its way in an attempt to be marketable. That's part of what makes Lufthammer's Choir of Reverence so refreshing, for it's a demo recorded way back in 2003 that's finally risen from its grave like a bloodthirsty ghoul without a lick of refinement or basic clean up added. Akin to the demo days of Emperor, this release is all about melding melody and atmosphere with a cavernous, feral edge, and it hits that aim with an unfiltered ambition and unrefined hunger that you can really only find in demo material.

Album opener "Angel of Destruction" starts things off with blistering tempo shifts and reverb-drenched guitar work that swirl and scream like a blizzard through a ruined cathedral, a tone that stays with us going into the title track's icy tremolo riffs and piercing shrieks before it slows down to generate a dark, brooding mood. "Taciturn Fire," maintains that brooding with a more atmospheric approach that practically oozes with melancholy before the rocking simplicity of "Bestial Mark" stomps in and goes as far as tossing in some clean singing for good measure. The album closes with a rehearsal instrumental called "Encounters in Counter Dimension," and it's honestly cool enough that it could have done with being re-recorded as a proper song.

I'm not one for track-by-track reviews, but the thing about this demo that really stands out to me is how much of a time capsule it is. Pretty much every idea is one that was had in the '90s by the icons of the Norwegian scene, ideas countless demo-level bands still draw from to this day, but while I can't say they do any of them as well, Lufthammer went at it with a purity of purpose I just don't think there's enough of anymore. So many bands want to be the next big Bandcamp hit or the next trend on whatever social media music gets shared on these days, but back when this was released, the only real motive was to embody the cold hatred of their forefathers and maybe get some underground notice, notice that it hopefully gets now. Fans of the early Emperor or just 2000s cult demos in general will find this to be an unexpected gift, a lost relic finally unearthed, an echo from the past that still resounds with chilling power.