Released through Prehistoric Sounds, this four-track offering draws deeply from Balkan myth, particularly the vampiric figure of the Shtrigë, while embracing the grainy aesthetics of classic 1990s raw Black Metal.
From the opening moments of ‘Spektres over Dyrrachium’, the atmosphere leans toward restraint, rather than chaos. The guitars feel distant yet piercing, while the drumming moves with ritualistic pacing that allows the melodies to breathe. Tracks like ‘Into the Illyrian Forest’ stand out through their melancholic phrasing, evoking emotion, rather than aggressiveness.
What makes this demo resonate is not complexity, but conviction. ‘Of Blood and Night’ feels shaped by Old School sounds and melodies, lo-fi textures, unpolished melodies that avoid modern excess.
A modest, yet evocative first step, “Of Blood and Night” leaves the impression of distant torches flickering somewhere deep within forgotten forests. (Daniel Utopia Platafórmica)
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Shtrigë is a new project conjured by two damned entities from the abyss of Black Metal: Solaris Lupus of Aspaarn, Basiliskus and Sanguis Antiquus of Thecodontion, Batrakos, among other hordes.
In 2025, according to available information, they began conspiring together to vomit their first and only known demo, ‘Of Blood And Night’, in 2026. It’s an ode to Raw Black Metal with many echoes of LLN demos or the old Moonblood. This diabolical artifact was released into the full light of day by the Finnish label Prehistoric Sounds. It features four damned attacks and a mere 18 minutes of runtime, enough to spit in your face that this is a damned demo that will drag you back to the glorious past of Black Metal demos.
Therefore, a delve into its depths… ‘Spektres Over Dyrrachium’. It establishes itself as the best introduction with dead chords shot into the ether; the march changes rhythms accelerating the frenetic hatred alongside proud riffs pregnant with tremolos and several cuts to solemnly announce the new rhythmic blocks; a bloodbath with this welcome of more than 6 murdered minutes. The second attack ‘Dhampyric Maledictions’ has already become a favorite as it deploys rhythms audibly influenced by the Finnish school and follows in the footsteps of the previous track with proud cuts and announcements. The distortion of this demo is simple and rustic but the secret is the way the riffs, the chords and the sonic impurity are executed. ‘Into The Illyrian Forest’ continues in the same vein, and nothing less was to be expected. Just listening to it while looking at the cover art and considering Shtrigë’s lyrical references to Western Balkan folklore and vampirism legends, everything conspires in favor of the demo.
The damn concept, the sound, the composition, the recording, the name, the art, the logo; everything is in ‘Chaotic Harmony’ (for those in the know). The closing track, ‘Torches Through The Crimson Fog’, briefly captivated, transporting the listener to those desolate mountain landscapes amidst the black shadows of night, illuminated only by torches and this damn infernal noise shattering the peace of those condemned to the flames! Midway through the attack, a keyboard emerges from the depths, marking the rhythmic path that will consume the final seconds of the attack.
‘Of Blood And Night’, a suggestive title with a sound that is a damn delight for the anachronistic followers of Black Metal, where hatred, rawness, filth, minimalism are combined, sometimes accompanied by ceremonial verses and the proud funeral march through ancient myths and legends recounted as a nostalgic injection for the past buried and forgotten for the many of the modern world but alive for the few.. (Seth Nekromancer)
