Believe in Nothing
I (Demo CD) 2006 None
Looking at the cover of the demo, the release title has been put above the project name. The letter "I" can both be interpreted as the personal pronoun for oneself or the Roman numeral for one. However, when it is placed as it is on the cover, it spells out "I Believe in Nothing". A very nihilistic title that fits the equally nihilistic music.

Believe in Nothing is a one-woman funeral doom project by Sandra Emmerich. She herself claims to make progressive doom metal, but while I can hear some progressive elements, the music reminds me more of what Worship would have sounded like if they put less focus on the ugly and more on the pure depressive. The vocals are clean, but faint to the point where she almost whispers. In contrast to more powerful vocalists, she really sounds like she is quietly mourning. They also sound more hopeless. After all, there is no point in raising your voice when there is no hope that can hear your woes.

While I've made strong comparisons to Worship, you most likely have never heard riffage like this anywhere else within the funeral doom genre. The use of hollow drums and a faint church organ add to the music’s unique personality. But what strikes me the most is the music’s ability to slow down, almost to a halt at times. It's almost like the music itself has lost the will to continue and almost doesn't. Finally, the comparison with Worship isn't complete until it has been mentioned that while many might find them to be too extreme and too ugly to be truly depressive, Believe in Nothing manages this just fine. This project is mostly extreme in just one direction, the total lack of hope, and it pulls it off very well.

Most funeral doom fans would surely find something of interest here. Especially those who like obscure things which stretch the depressive part of doom metal to the extreme. However, I do not recommend it to people who are suicidal of nature.
Album Cover

1. Intro
2. Graveland
3. Another Day (The Premature Burial I)
4. Complete Obscurity I
5. Complete Obscurity II (Instrumental)

Approx. 35 minutes
Reviewed by: Arnstein H. Pettersen
The 28th Day (Demo CDr) 2007 None
'The 28th Day' is also the title of a modern sci-fi horror movie where humanity slowly succumbs to a man made virus that turns people into zombies. The movie puts a lot of focus on mankind's ability to deteriorate itself and the world. While I'm not sure this comparison was what Sandra Emmerich had in mind, I still find it to be fitting. There is at least something nihilistically apocalyptic about the music. Not to mention if you abbreviate the name of track two you get the word S.O.L.I.T.U.D.E., but perhaps that's an optimistic guess..? [edit by author: The guess was incorrect. The demo was made as an attempt to make the RPM Challenge. It's a challenge to make ten songs or at least 35 minutes of music in 28, or less, days. She's four minutes short, but making a great demo in less than a month still deserves great respect.]

Considering the previous question, when one listens to this demo it becomes quite clear that anything regarding optimism is outside the music's boundaries. Within them you'll only find funeral doom in a very depressed state. Like the previous demo, all that is needed to achieve this feeling is a guitar, some minor percussion, a little church organ on 'Descend', and occasional soft, mournful vocals. I'm not going to market this as "clean female vocals" because this usually means that they are powerful and dominating. This can hardly be compared to Sandra Emmerich' almost whispered gasps that closely resemble a dying breath. Some might consider this a loss, but for an ultimate aura of hollow inner loss I would have to argue that it's perfect.

It should be mentioned that the track 'Descend' is slightly different from the rest in that it has some more intense parts which give the lingering depression moments of focus. The way that it's played, and the intense church organ towards the end makes me think of death. More precisely, it makes me think of death and the descent to the fiery pits of damnation. It's like an ultimate pessimism. Not only is living a hell, but there is no hope of escaping that by killing yourself. You'll just end up in a different one. Again, this is my own conclusion and I don't know if the artist had this in mind.

The music has some similarities to bands/projects such as Nortt and Worship, but it still has a sound of it's own. It's hard to be innovative in this genre and there isn't much that's really new here, though it avoids sounding like a copy. Especially since the previous Believe in Nothing demo is quite similar in style. However, when it comes to listening quality, I'd still say that this project has a lot to offer. It should also be mentioned that I find this demo to be the better one of the two. They're pretty equal, but this is still slightly better.
Album Cover

1. Night
2. Seventy One (Lost Illusions Twisted Under Dusk's Embrace)
3. Just Like One Day
4. Descend

Approx. 31 minutes
Reviewed by: Arnstein H. Pettersen