Vampire Magazine

Artifact from Stavanger, Norway, was founded in 2002 and after many line-up changes the band got together in its latest and most consistent line-up in 2004. In the current line-up we find Tor Arne Fassotte (Unpure/ This Negative Karma) on vocals, Bjørnar Landa (Sirenia/ Deathfare) on guitars and finally Pål Evensen (programming and guitars). Their first release is the demo "Abandoned e.p.", released late 2005.

Musically Artifact shows many resemblances with Type O Negative because of the depressive and dark melancholic atmospheres and because of Tor Arne's deep vocals which are quite similar to Peter Steele's vocals. Biggest difference with Type O Negative though are the many electronic sounds with which Artifact's music is enriched. Because of this quite occasionally I had to think of The Sisters of Mercy and even a little bit of Depeche Mode with a touch of Ministry's industrial sound added as well. All these influences are quite different and it can be hard to imagine something good coming out of this musical mixture. But Artifact succeeded with this. All aforementioned influences fit together just fine which results in a really enjoyable demo. "Abandoned e.p." contains five songs with a total duration of just over twenty minutes. The title track "Abandoned" is the track most resembling to Type O Negative and for this is the best and most enjoyable song on this demo. The combination of melancholic, depressing music and unhuman industrial music turned out really good here.

With "Abandoned e.p." Artifact managed to come up with a quite original mix of different musical styles which all blended together resulted in a really enjoyable and entertaining demo. The biggest difficulty will be to reach the correct audience though because Artifact is most probably too industrial-sounding for the fans of Type O Negative and The Sisters of Mercy and on the other hand too soft, melancholic and dramatic for the fans of industrial bands like Ministry and perhaps Nine Inch Nails. Still, when listening with an open mind all aforementioned fans can find something pleasing in Artifact's music.

Reviewer: Marcel Banziger

Link to original article: http://www.vampire-magazine.com/demo_reviews/artifact/40891_artifact_abandoned_ep.html

Rating: N/A