Demo:listen: Ultra Silvam

Welcome to Demo:listen, your weekly peek into the future of underground metal. Whether it’s death, black, doom, sludge, grind, thrash, heavy, speed, progressive, stoner, retro, post-, punk-, -core, etc. we’re here to bring you the latest demos from the newest bands. On this week’s Demo:listen we usher in the end of it all with Mälmo’s Ultra Silvam.

Sweden’s Ultra Silvam play their black metal full of wrath and fury. Their three track self-titled debut is one of those demos you’ll find yourself listening to again and again. In less than 14 minutes the Mälmo-based trio accomplish what many bands never do in their entire career. Ultra Silvam not only stir up the dark sediment of your Self; they not only make you fall to your knees due to intensity, but—most importantly, as far as we’re concerned—they’ve also released a demo that is both irresistible and satisfying. A rare, seemingly contradictory trait that only exists in the truly consummate.

Ultra Silvam waste zero time before conjuring up a vortex of arpeggiated riffs, blast beats, infernal guitar solos, and blasphemous howls. Dig an eerie dungeon synth intro? Sucks cuz you won’t find one here. How about a little introspective fretboard navel-gazing to paints images of monochromatic landscapes before your mind’s eye? Better look elsewhere if that’s your thing, dude. Because Ultra Silvam’s M.O. is pure, unrelenting intensity in the form of incisive black metal.

Vocalist/bassist M.L. sounds like he’s spewing up whatever goodness was left within himself; drummer A.L. stomps his kick pedal as if he’s some kind of goon hired to get money out of his poor bass drum. All while guitarist O.R.—our contact with the band—controls your brain with legion riffs, demented licks, and death-affirming solos. When we ask O.R. what compels Ultra Silvam to make such cruel black metal, he replies: “There is no option when you are running the Devil’s errands is there? It’s either that or mundane masturbation. If you cannot hear the Devil in the music you are doing something wrong. I would boast that you do indeed hear something ‘other’ in these songs.”

Ultra Silvam’s demo arrives during a particularly frustrating era in the black metal underground. In a scene lately corrupted by poseur materialism and flipper scum, it’s some kind of dark miracle to receive a demo that cannot be jammed enough times, a demo that satisfies the bloodlust it creates within you while increasing your need for more. “Current black metal is a joke,” says O.R. “People behaving like self-proclaimed prophets, hiding behind complex terms and esoteric sigils, pretending to be some sort of peace-loving black metal mahatma gandhi, FUCK OFF!” You’ll find no such pretensions anywhere near the Ultra Silvam camp. Just look at that demo cover. “It portrays Gabriel, the archangel,” O.R explains. “The symbolism behind the rifles is PURE FUCKING ARMAGEDDON.”

Ultra Silvam’s debut already has many metalheads in the underground in a frenzy of anticipation, so get your hands on a physical ASAP. The band is currently selling tape copies of the demo, while a 7” version is planned for later this year via Shadow Records. And for those of you desperate for more, fear not. According to O.R. Ultra Silvam are already at work on a full length.

Journey beyond the forest and into the land of death. Ultra Silvam awaits you.

You heard Ultra Silvam here first on Demo:listen. Check this space next and every Friday for more promising metal.