O.K....so here's how NOT to promote your band. First of all, just send out an unsigned E-mail with no subject header containing nothing but a link to your website to some of the online e-zines without even an accompanying message like "hey could you check out our band". Then have your site have absolutely nothing on it aside for a couple of songs and contact info (no band bio etc.) Then if and when you do get some interest and send out your CD to get some reviews, use a homemade cover that could be done with any Photoshop/Photopaint software and include absolutely nothing but the song titles (again no band bio or other information whatsoever). Oh, I forgot...before you send out the CD, paint it an ugly purple/mauve color using a brush to completely cover the top surface of the CD with a very rough surface. This ultimately results in it sticking to the felt at the mouth of my car CD player after being ejected and having this reviewer resort to using a pair of tweezers to get the friggin thing out!! I don't care if you're a blues band, jazz band, metal band or a black metal band like Oppressive Emptiness, proper promotion is the key to any band and don't give me that BS about being secretive, mysterious and "kvlt", bad promotional practises are lethal in this day and age of fierce competition with everyone trying to get their music out there and heard.

I assume that this band is from Germany as the contact E-mail seemed to indicate that. Oppressive Emptiness' 5 song demo Lasting Memories covers a range of styles including authentic and shrieking black metal with the title track Lasting Memories. Introduced by an eerie funeral home organ sound, the sudden fury of fast, tremolo picking guitar and shrieking vocals surely made me jump out of my seat! There are some melodic aspects with haunting backup vocal work and this track, like this entire E.P. uses a retro Celtic Frost type of guitar tone. Catchy guitar harmonies are used in some spots and I'm fairly sure that this track uses drum machines. About Respect And Disdain features more of a chugging heaviness but with a totally different production than the title track. The fast double bass tempo, chanting harsh vocals, complete with a Celtic Frost / 80's Mercyful Fate guitar tone reminds me of Hollenthon in it's overall atmosphere. Scars Of My Enemy once again uses the same great sounding guitar tone and features both gutteral growls and shrieks for the vocals. This track has an actual "chorus" section with some added atmospheric guitar effects and melodies. I Saw You Crying begins with the same eerie funeral home organ as the beginning title track (I was ready for it this time!!) but with some added clean guitar. The vocals are sung in a soft and sinister scowl with the track building and eventually getting heavier. The sudden change to a speedier double bass fuelled tempo sounds very cool especially with the great guitar tone. Like A Faded Rose finishes the album and features a slower trudging tempo before getting faster towards tracks end.

At first, I wondered whether this was a split effort with more than one band. It seems that these guys are trying to figure out which direction to take with their sound. I personally prefer the more riff driven atmospheric yet blackened sound of tracks like About Respect And Disdain and Scars Of My Enemy over the raw shrieking black metal styles of other aspects of this album. I think there's some potential here.....check out their website for some song samples.