I truly did not think I am going to love Anguished approach to black metal after hearing the opener These Gray Days. Punky, chaotic and destructive, with guitar slicing eardrums at the root, the over the top voice flailing of this one-woman band pushed this concoction from edgy to ridiculous. But then Come to Me Satan and September Nights totally made the believer out of me.

Call this tattooed body a Harpy, a Medusa Gorgon, any evil creature in any mythology – you have not heard shrieking like this before, and early Cradle of Filth has nothing on Possessed Demoness, despite what the promo sheet says. If the vocals, however, were the sole focus point of Cold, the album should have been deposed to the poser file. However, when vocal anguish meets the melodic undercurrent in the riffs of Come to Me Satan the audio begins slicing not only ears, but the soul as well. I felt your pain at that point, Possessed Demoness, and, yes, both of us are reaching that mental edge. The doomy minor melody of September Nights fouled up by that voice, the startling break in the song to a clean acoustic, and the sad melody, dense and radiating, towards the end prove the songwriting abilities of Anguished.

This is definitely the type of black metal which would either be made a laughing stock or embraced, if suffering and individuality is detected. The block of Depart This Life, Tired and The Last Trip would make Shining proud with their suicidal rocker motif. Tired is zoned out, but still contains a caged animal lashing at the listener, albeit frightened and on its last breath. The Last Trip is totally resigned to its fate, while Depart This Life contains the most powerful suicidal poetry I have read in a while.

Verivala is paying homage to the Finnish roots of Possessed Demoness, the whole song being carried forward by a non-stop lamenting shriek. This song is good for when you are in the mood to cut your veins, and all of us have probably faced such moment one time or another, despite some of us, of course, overdramatizing the degree of their desperation. But then, when you feel like “I can’t take this anymore”, seek Verivala out. The title track closing this short, but impactful, album is based around a quiet electroascoustic melody, some cold and windy night, and vocal ah-ohs which would not confuse Possessed Demoness with Anneke von Giersbergen. And then one final blood curdling shriek announces this tortured soul departure. It was all over for Cold at that point, but hopefully Anguished will return.