Stygian-Lines In The Sand Demo

How about some top notch power/thrash? Or some catchy thrash? Well, Stygian have both of these in their music. Stygian play some of the best power/speed/thrash around. And their 1991 demo is the damnable evidence. I loved their 1992 debut album, but demos always have a great feel to them, and this demo is certainly no exeption. This totally intense and melodically groovy thrash will pump your brains out with it's catchiness and  superb riffage. Despite the year being 1991, the music sounds as if it could have easily fitted in the early to mid-nineties. Like Ghost Story, Stygian has a traditional power/heavy feel, only played faster and thrashier.

This headbangably terrific five-song is brilliant all the way. It has some dynamic riffage, solid vocal delivery, clean production and intense drumming. There lots of glimpses of technicalty in the album, though not too prevelent. The riffs are somewhat bluesy and very energetically played, especially along the vocals guiding them. As I said before, this demo can be compared to Ghost Story's ''The Image and The Reality'' demo in many ways such as the energy, the feel and the overall mganificence. The beautifully forged solos are full of melody and feeling, and when supported by the fast paced speed metal riffs, they can truely make a difference. Although at times you may get a somewhat pessimistic and dark feel from this demo, overall the music is actually quite the opposite and very fun to headbang to. The vocals are also very solid and though nothing too special, are very decent in terms of keeping the songs dynamic and fun. This crucial factor is actually something that many bands lack-keeping the listener entertained the whole album through. But Styian display their stamina and strangth in a great way. The real vocal highlight is when he sings his lungs out on the ballad-verse bridge riff on ''The Switch''.

 It can be the ballad-ish approach of the song ''The Switch'' or perhaps blazing solos that  highlight the whole demo, either way you will not regret giving this angry and lively demo a listen. Any fan of thrash metal, speed metal and even power metal will no doubt love this demo. And for people who truely enjoy this, I can also suggest their 1992 full-lenght ''Planetary Destruction'' and Ghost Story's demo aformentioned above.

Highlights:
The Switch
The Preacher and The Politician
Lines In The Sand

Rating: 87%

Interment-Where Death Will Increase Demo

If your into death metal than you already know that the old school scenes were the very best. And you would know that Sweden had some of the finest bands to offer in that time. Monsters like Unleashed, Dismember, Entombed and Carnage dominated these lands and laid waste to every place to they went. But there is also an abundance of really nderrated gems which released no more than maybe a couple of demos and called it quits. Interment is a perfect example of these bands. Their brand of dark and loomy death metal played in the traditional Sewedish ways was really enough for me to give this demo a nice review.

There is nothing really outstanding here. If you're familiar with that dirty, beefy and buzzing Swedish sound, then you won't be by any means baffled when you hear this. These guys play their death metal just like any other Swedish band really. Dark, mysterious and heavy. The production of the demo is certainly not the very best but it sounds pretty heavy and all the instruments are actually pretty audiable. The riffs have a good amount of thrash influences, waging from from tremolo riffage to some breakneck heavy thrash, well-supported with the heavy production. There are three songs in the whole demo, well four if you consider the creepy intro, and all of them are heavy and brutal as hell. Nothing very original or exeptional but something that can really put a smile on your face if you like Swedeath. The vocals are another cool bit, having a beefy and powerful voice, the vocalist can spread menace just as fast as the guitarists. His voice sometimes reminds of Grave's vocalist, with maybe a very small bit of blackness. The drums are also precise and stand out well, since the drummer likes to use some more technique rather than straightforward blast beats.

If you like the sinister and darkened sound of the old school Swedish death metal bands, you might aswel give this album a couple of spins for some nostalgia since it's pretty short. As I have stated above, this is nothing truely outstanding, but it is something worth listening for the sake of some nostalgia. It's a very good all-arounder, filled with stomping riffs and a cryptic atmosphere, and I could expect nothing more from such an underrated band.


Highlights:
Infestering Flesh
Morbid Death

Rating: 86%

Disma-Towards The Megalith

I always, for some reason, refused to listen to new death metal bands. What a retarded cock head move. The newer death metal bands today are making us re-live the early nineties death metal heydays. For some of the most typical kinds, bands like Vanhelgd, Miasmal and Bastard Priest are totally cryshing the Sweedish scene, just as it once was dominated by an abundance of bands. Ofcourse that doesen't mean the states cannot muster some great bands. Disma is without a doubt one of those bands. This is simply pure Incantation worshipping filthy DM in its most grotesque way. Ofcourse that's not much of a shock since both their drummer and vocalist are ex-members of Incantation.

If you know what Incantation sounds you'll certainly know how this sounds. This album could have been simply an extanded version of the pioneering debut ''Onward To Golgotha'', with perhaps a few Bolt Thrower influences thrown in it. This album is the definition of darkness, filth and macabre. There is so much sludgy and doomy influence here that it is just bewildering. Only albums like the aformentioned can sound as heavy and muddy as this, as it is certainly ''heavy fucking heavy''. I'd say that there is more doom in here than fast and aggressive death metal, mainly because I like the doomy parts better. They are just son chunky, full and evil-sounding, and along with those creepy melodies looming at the back, it sounds as if the whole album engulfs you and gets ready to eat you whole. This experience alone is enough for an OSDM fan to love this instantly especially is they are into Asphyx, Incantation or Autopsy. The guitars make the riffs so filthy with their pummeling riffage and highly distorted and mangled tone. The gain must be at full because you can hear buzzing at doomy parts as clear as you hear any other other instrument present.

These guys have a great way to fill their doom-laden passages, and that's by putting some downtuned and doomy melodies or mini-solos as some may call it. These not only fill the empty atmosphere waiting to be darkened, but also create a disturbingly evil old school sound, which is basically your ticket to a nostalgic time machine. I sense absolutely no modern sound in this, so maybe that's why I like it so much. Many bands get all gay with their music while trying to be original and end up failing. I just think they should stick to the old sound. I'm not saying that this isn't original, because it certainly can keep you entertained throughout all forty-six minutes, but it basically sticks to the rule if you know what I mean. The melodious approach consists of technical riffage and low-tuned thrills which I adore. They can even sometimes sound harmonious in a dark way, echancing the experiance even more. The tremolo assaults prevelent on many more energetic albums, is not too frequent-at least not as much as the macabre-cloaked doom laden passages and bloodchilling harmonies and melodies which are the main highlights fro me.

Now allow me to describe the vocalist with two words: Craig Pillard. That's right, to our incredible luck, the demo who played on the legendary ''Onward To Golgotha'' and many other Incantation releases, is on this album. His vocal perfprmance and delivery is outstandingly genius. He's basically the missing link in that monstrously evil effect that the album creates. The sounds so deep, so low and abnormal and sometimes you feel like Pillard will swallow you hole and consume you. Behind doomy chords and thrills he sounds like the devil speaking, epic but in a totally blasphemous way. Infact anyone who liked his delivery on Onwards, will love him here just as they loved him on the Incantation record, because his voice sounds almost the same. He sometimes growls rather long howls they slowly descend from a low growl to a furious shreik.

Disma certainly created one of the best album of 2011, and were able to sound like 1992 with only better production maybe. With crushing and doomy riffs yet a bloodcurdlingly horrendous atmosphere totally altered by Craig Pillard, commanding his dark army from the sky, like a god. No modern sound whatsoever or any sort of new sound. Just pure face melting doomy goodness and face pummeling riffs with blasting drums. If you like death/doom, doom or death metal, you'll love this hell of a masterpiece.

Highlights:
Lost In The Burial Fog
Chaos Apparition
Spectral Domination

Rating:  92%

Ghost Story-The Image And The Reality Demo

My, my, my, what a nice piece of speed/thrash do we have here. The Image And The Reality is a marvelous five song demo filled with speed and energy. Despite coming from the USA these guys never got the respect they deserved. After going through a bunch of fairly decent demos, I finally come across this mini-masterpiece to top them all. This demo is certainly not the thrashiest or heaviest demo out there but it certainly has a high amount of energy to keep you entertained throughout 5 songs. Having a rather melodic to their music, Ghost Story certainly put out a demo that will ring in your ears for many years.

You even have a hint of traditional metal thrown into this mixture of speed/thrash and power metal. Although the power influence is not as prevelant as the thrash influence, it's quite possible to hear it in the epic-esque choruses guided by some powerful chords from behind. Now, the tracks may not so heavy or brutal but they certainly possess a shitloads of ferocity and agrression and along with rampaging riffs the energy that these guys create is undeniable. These riffs are enough to drive anyone totally mad and headband their necks out, but at the same time showing some supreme musicianship.
On the other side of the spectrum you can hear, melodisized riffs and a less harsh vocal performance to soften things down. The riffs on the demo are nothing totally exeptional but will get you headbanging fast and will show their effect in mere seconds. Also showing technical brillinaces at times, the demo will never cease to grow on you. As you listen more and more to the record, you will like it more and more and will slowly become addicted to it, like alcohol or cigarattes. The uncontrallable riffs will slowly build on you and you will erupt in a frenzy, thus breaking your neck.

Another thing that I wan't to touch on is the great deal of musicianship going on here. The riffs are not really too technical and easy to comprehend and sometimes you will feel that they remind you of some old heavy and power metal bands. the leads erally rip and carry alot of melody, but also know when they need to go a harsher road. There is alot of power metal-ish group singing on the album which magnifies the epic touch of the demo. The riffs are also really crunchy and catchy and with a healthy dose of epic power metal riffage, will sound unrelentingly beautiful. The music even has a happy and jumpy feel to it at times, which will get you hopping and singing along in no time. This is highly displayed in the song ''I Won't Change''. There are also very soft and ballad-ish parts in the songs, but they don't ruin the whole song by making it sound repetetively dumb, instead, the music quickly fastens up its pace and suddenly turn into the jumpy riffs that you were listening twenty seconds ago.

The vocalist does and fine fine job in this album, it sounds nothing absolutely outstanding but he finds a way to make the music even more convincing, albeit the music alone is huge highlight. He can sing mellow murmours and than suddenly turn into a guy shouting about how he won't change. Because most of the bands vital energy is hidden in him, he is a crucial element to the band, unlike many bands who sound better without their vocalists.

Overall, Ghost Story's sophomore release has definetely convinced and many other people probably, although this is a criminally underrated piece of pure old school speed/thrash with atiny doze of power metal. It is certainly a vivacious demo, dynamic, fast and aggressive. No old school thrash fan should do without this demo, especially if they are searching for one of the purest thrash demos out there that even reflect the 70's punk energy with a fresh and melodic sound.

Highlights:
I Won't Change
What Few Even Dare
Silent Masses

Rating: 90%

Purtenance-Member Of Immortal Damnation

While the States and Sweeden offered some of the finest OSDM scenes ever, scenes like The Netherlands or Finland were actually pretty close behind. Especially after mustering bands like Convulse, Demilich or Sentenced, my love for the scene icreased rapidly and I began searching for more bands of the scene. My search only ceased for a small amount of time after I found this band. Purtenance were known as Purtenance Avulsion in their early demo days and decided to leave out the ''Avulsion'' when they released their only full-lenght. This is some great piece of death/doom taking influences from Asphyx and Autopsy. Despite the heaviness of the music there is still some room for melodicism and feeling.

The album starts really slow and you can sense that huge doom influence from the start. Although they sound influenced by the bands aformentioned, they actually took the trademark Finnish, which he dark, rotting and crypticly enchanting feel, and combined it with some of their ownstyles to create this album. The large number of down-tuned doom passages are highly present and the everything done in the intrumental department all sums up to one thing, the evil sound. Purtenance can be as crushing as doomy and evil and totally fill the atmosphere with hulking riffs and and actually a rather smaller amount of tremolo pickings. The guitar tone is extremely filthy and muddy just as the vocals, which are continuesly guttoral and doomy like the riffs. Just like the riffs, the vocals can instantly change speed and all of a sudden become this outrageous beast trying to eat you up. The vocals really have rather black-ish edge to them as they tend to echo during the slower parts of the album.

The album also incorporates a large amount of melody into their riffs, delivered in a melancholic sense. This, I believe is also an important sound of the Finnish death metal sound. While heavily distoted guitars play their doom-laden filth in the background, the melodious and darkened notes fly around and spread chaos and terror. These mini-leads really help keep the vile nature and feel of the album vile, despite being so harmoniously crafted. Something that I love about the album is how it suddenly changes its speed and phase with just a click of the hi-hat. Ofcourse the same thing can be done vice-versa, which is just as good. You suddenly get shock from relaxing to a slow riff then suddenly being blasted off by a powerful slap from a bone-splitting riff. Anything is present on the album, from melodic mid-paced riffage to doomy passages to pounding and punishing double-bass drum assaults.

While Finland offered bands like Demigod, Demilich and Convulse and Autopsy and Asphyx delivered doomy death metal, Purtenance were able to blend them both into something different and much more evil. And not only that, but this hunk of OSDM also offered a fine amount beautifully classy and dark melody as seen in their riffs and their acoustic medleys. If you like any of the bands aformentioned, get this because you will not regret getting!

Highlights:
Deep Blue Darkness
Black Vision
Crown Waits the Immortal

Rating: 90%

Mutant-Laserdome EP

Mutant are a four-piece thrash band from England, playing some of the most diverse and original thrash around. Taking spacey or futuristic themes into their lyrical content, they managed to make a pretty cool album. Sometimes they want you to have abit of that futuristic taste, so they add special effects to the music for the sake of it. Even the riffs sounds rather ''Cyborgian'' at times andsometimes I can really forget that this is so called straightforward thrash metal. How very very, very untrue.

The great thing about this band is that they're super melodic and catchy and are also very tight. They don't play like any other stereotypical retro-thrash bands, and that's whats great about them. They can be just as fierce as some, just as technical as some and just as tight as surely any big thrash band out there, but for some reason they sound different. The melodicism and technicalty are so consistent on this EP, that it's just phenominal. And adding a few chords and palm mutes just makes the songs even tighter and crunchier. Another great mention is that these guys play their instruments in a very controlled way. It almost feels like you are in some sort of laserdome that keeps steady during the whole listen. The music is good enough to keep you entertained troughout the whole record, unlike some bands who fail to keep you awake. The production is also great and tight, but that's not much of a shock since pretty much no thrash band releases an album with shitty production, well unless its a demo that is.

When I say the music is melodic, I don't mean the whole EP is just a piece of classical music played on guitar. I mena, the music has a ton of thrash traits and will definetely get you headbanging fast. The opening riff on ''Turbo Hyper Ultra Mega Power'' is still one the best inro riffs in metal for me. And I'm not exaggerating one bit, that riff is an instant win. Melodic crunchiness and pounding drums will be enough to create a headbanging infection. The vocals are full of energya nd along with group shouts, the EP can keep you really entertained. The songs are also progressive, especially with the riffs at the background creating a menacing atmosphere. The leads are also very melodic and marmonious and played just beautifully. The modern sound of the album is not fr everyone, but albeit I am not the biggest modern metal fan, I quite enjoyed this twenty-minute ride.

Mutant come from the UK, which had a thrash that many other scenes would have been envious of. Unfortunately this scene was never really exploited to the many people, besides Sabbat and Onslaght. A new scene is rising, bands like Gamma Bomb, Warpath and Sharpnel coming out of the woodwork to deliver thrashers a good meal. And no doubt one day, Mutant will be one of the leaders of those bands.

Highlights:
Scrap Brain Zone
Turbo Hyper Ultra Mega Power

Rating: 88,5%

Electrocution-Inside The Unreal

Among all the great DM bands who came from Florida, Germany, The Netherlands or Sweeden this one had to come from Italy. Italy? Did Italy even have any sort of proper metal scene? Not as far as I know. But for some odd reason Italy gave birth to this OSDM band Electrocution, and they gave birth to a highly overlooked landmark album-''Inside The Unreal''. Now the riffs are rather in the vein of their US counterparts however later Electrocution turned even more technical. Supposing they very technical in this album also. The album has 10 atrocious songs, all equally technical and brutal and equally effective.

Due to the huge thrash and USDM influences, It's hard to say that the band had a very distinctive style of their own. However they possessed the technical talent that many bands failed to have and that was a really how they got they fairly unique sound. Now this is certainly not straightforward death metal, even though the vocals sound as if they are. However it not shocking that someone would find this piece of music in the more extreme genres of metal. I say there are thrash influences, but I never said that there weren't any death influences. The tremolo pickings and doomy stomps are all taken from DM but the technical musicianship and thrash riffs wipe most of that away, so you get a magnificently dark, rotting, heavy and harmony laden album. There is also a display of Cannibal Corpse influence and the music may even turn into a Brutal DM direction. But most of the riffs are basically based on the things listed above.

For such and obscure group, crappy record label and early year the production is just very decent. The guitars have a sort of buzzsaw sound, although it is not present and the drums are also a great stand out for me. The drummer can shred it up on the drums, finding the right beat anytime and using his bass-drums on standard beats aswel as brutal tremolos. The album has a great feel that I can't quite explain on plain paper. It's like the catchiness and brain-pumping heaviness combine along with the bashing drums to form this really head-bangable riff medley. The level of intensity is absolutely monstrous, as it never strays from its path.

All of the songs are brain-meltingly brutal and will pumel your face on the ground and rip your guts to shreds. All 10 songs have some bone-cracking solos in them, and the musicianship tirelessly increases which the icing on the cake. The vocals are how DM vocals should be. Not very aggressive, slightly doomy even or melancholic but it fits the music and that is all that matters. There lots of fast tempo changes, to spice things up and the riffs are the perfect instruments in doing that. Some may be simplistic like the intro/verse riffs on ''Behind The Truth'' but are always furious and crushing espeacially when the production adds a small dose of additinal thickness. One of the best tracks on the album is without doubt ''Bells of the End''. It is abit longer than only three minutes but is a proggressively fierce track. It kicks off with a catchy riff then onto a brutal tremolo assault. The vocals are perhaps the most ferocious that they've been and sing with absolute anger and abhorrence.

From the creepy intro of ''Premature Burial'' to the blazing solo of ''Bells of the End'' which marks the end of the album, Inside The Unreal is a feast for anyone who loves their OSDM creepy, heavy and technical. It gives me pain to think how this four-piece never made it to the big legues along with Death or Cannibal Corpse. Such talent and musical genius was wasted on nothing just because the band came from a Latin country and got signed to a shitty label. It is truely a sad to endure how this masterpiece can only fall into the hands of a rare collector.


Highlights:
Bells of the End
Back To The Leprosy Death
Growing Into The Flesh
Rising Of Infection

Rating: 97%

Skeletal Remains-Desolate Isolation Demo

Do you know, when sometimes you come across a band who basically worship one legendary old-school band and play in their exact vein? Well, I found one of those bands: Skeletal Remains. These guys come from Californie but their sound is hugely influenced by Dutch DM legends Pestilence. In fact you can not only hear the influence but also see it as it is blatantly obvious from their cover of  ''Chronic Infection'' by Pestilence. This menacing four-piece, created an independent demo with only four sogs-in which one is a cover. But whether they worship Pestilence or not they still kick planty of ass.

Even though the archives state these guys as straightforward death metal, I think they're much more than that. This is a heavily thrash-tinged, death metal demo with alot of technical elements thrown in it. The technical bit makes the songs really catchy and as a result you get something between Pestilence's debut and their sophomore effort. This when brutality meats catchy and memorable yet surprisingly melodic riffs. The top notch riff pattern and technical riffs which are somehow linked together really make time fly. The demo may have been recorded in a garage or maybe a porr studio, but the production certainly is great. I's bulky and pretty loud, especially when the vocalist screams out the lyrics. The music is really intense and never ceases to downgrade in quality or intensity. Speed may change-but energy never goes down.

The vocalist sounds like a madman during last confession of serial-killing. Anyonw who hears thevocalist for the first time will instantly think-Martin Van Drunnen! But it really isn't. After giving this demo multiple listens during a bus tour I even thought that this might have been sort of a side project the the legendary growler-after all wouldn't be that surprising since he joined so many bands, but that's not the point. The point is that the vocalist sounds alot like Van Drunnen even though he isn't, but I don't care if someone calls him a wannabee, I think he ads a great flavor to the bands not-so-present distinctive sound. The solos are also great. Long, melodic and lasting, unlike many other bands who just want to shred a few notes then get back to smacking some chords.

Skeletal Waste really surprised me with this catchy and brutal demo, and I was even more surprised by the age of the band. But that's how big bands get big now isn't it? Three songs, one cover song is surely not enough to be a legend, but it's a start.

Highlights:
Sub-Zero Termination
Traumatic Existence
Desolate Isolation

Rating: 87%