Teitan is a duo from Netherlands, and it was formed in 2008. This tape a re-release of their debut demo from '09, and the same material will be soon featured on a split with Weltschmertz, also a Dutch band. This demo is also the debut release from the label Zwaertgevegt, which was founded solely to promote the Dutch BM-scene with cheap (three euros plus the postages) and bare xeroxed tape-releases.
The first track is a nice intro, based on some militant drumming and melodic and pretty basic synth-work. It's nothing new, but it works just fine in setting the mood right. The first real song shows well what the band's about: fast, violent riffs backed with pretty simplistic but fitting drum programming, and topped with higher screeches and a bit lower gurgles that have a good amount of attitude and blasphemy in them. One can instantly tell that the band is a fan of the more straightforward and hasty output from Marduk: it shows in the song structures and the riffs themselves, Teitan just executes the same style in a lot more bare way.
The three real songs have a good dose of violence in them, and they also have a good amount of changes so that they don't get dull. The band slows down a bit quite often to keep the fastest parts effective, but know how much they can slow down without the songs getting dull. Even though the songs don't really offer anything new, especially for a Marduk-listener, the band has the basics together pretty well and they have a good dose of attitude and appeal in their output. The vocals are not professional, not even close, but they keep the songs interesting nonetheless and fit to their aggressive style.
The demo is, well, very demo-like. The guitar sound is too powerless and thin, and the soundscape is a bit empty because the bass isn't there to be heard. The programmed drums are decent and fit well to the songs, but they don't bring any mass to the songs, and occasionally they break the riffs of the guitars. The vocals are also too high in the mix, they fill the soundscape a bit but they also cover the instruments too easily.
The band is not too original, it's pretty obvious, but they seem to have a decent image of what they want to do. The demo is a good listen every now and then, but if you focus on it you'll just keep on noticing more flaws in it. Teitan have a lot of work to do in order to give their output more mass and impact, and to add more feeling to the songs. The occasional low spoken parts and short samples add to the songs' violent feel, this is something I'd like to hear from the band in the future too. They also need to work more on the whole, as now the last song "Ha-Satan" ends way too suddenly to the short outro-track "Gnir".
The xeroxed and traditional visual side is also very demo-like, but it adds to the "nothing new, but it works"-feeling of the tape. A good dose of hate for occasional use, but not recommended as a serious purchase. Maybe on the band's next release.