SEOL, Üdvözlégy a Seolban (2007, demo)

The skull:
Is that a horn or… what is that? What the fuck is wrong with this skull? Is that just a massive third eye socket or something? Is this the skull of a deformed monster? The bed of leaves he’s sitting on and the nicely arranged candles make me think of some ridiculously decorated table at a holiday party. But not Halloween. That would be too obvious. I think it’s probably Thanksgiving, and the hostess who conjured this bizarre tablescape happens to hate all of her guests, with a deep and pervasive loathing, and she can’t wait until she pulls off the skull’s top to reveal the boiled organ meat inside which is the one and only course at dinner.

The music:
The only Seol music I could find is a couple of tracks on the band’s long-abandoned Myspace page, and hilariously, they’re both intros, including the intro to this demo. I love the idea that back in the heyday of Myspace (or at least back in 2007 when this demo came out and Myspace wasn’t completely irrevelant), Seol figured that a minute and a half of slowed-down sound effects and moaning was a good introduction to the band for curious listeners. Then again, it’s pretty clear from just those intros that Seol are a shitty low-fi black metal band, and maybe that’s all the info their theoretical potential fans would need to become interested. While I applaud the audacity of that assumption, I can’t say that I’ve been converted to the Seol cause by some spooky wind noises, but your mileage may vary.
— Friar Johnsen