Garden Of Silence - Demo 92 (1992)

Genre: Doom/Death Metal
Country: France
Year: 1992

1. Sovereign of Sorrow
2. Through Infinity
3. At the End
4. The Farewell (At the End, Part 2)

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Even with all the genre descriptors to describe metal, Doom/Death still doesn't quite do the trick. There can be your dark and stormy doom/death, or the more bright and vibrant variety, if that makes sense. Garden Of Silence falls under the latter category; more uplifting than most. Obviously influenced heavily by traditional doom, I'm detecting subtle hints of Candlemass, especially in the clean vocals. So where's the Death? Well, we have harsh vocals, too! Mouthy rasps complement the clean vocals quite well, and are interlaced quite nicely with the rest of the music.

This is doom, but much more of a melodic type, without being melodeath. Filled with lively riffs and smooth melodies, this certainly feels more like a doom demo with some death metal elements.

Oh, almost forgot. These guys were previously known as Cemetery, who released a demo back in '91. I'll get around to posting that demo at some point as well.

Fun fact: Stephanie and Jerome later went on to form Horrors Of The Black Museum, which is a phenomenal doom project. I suggest you all check it out.

Paralysis (Grc) - Beyond The Chaos (1992)

Genre: Atmospheric Doom/Death Metal
Country: Greece
Year: 1992

1. Your Life... My Death
2. Born to Suffer
3. Dark Reality

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Multiple name changes here. These guys started out at Paralysis, changed to Phlebotomy in 1993, and finally to the well-known On Thorns I Lay in 1995. This is their first demo, and it really sets the stage for the successful career they've sculpted.

Right out of the box, the mood is set with the eerily disturbing intro. A monologue of sorts, littered with creepy, spacy synths. "Please let me go; I don't want to die..." The same feel is translated through the rest of the demo. I'm hesitant to call it "epic", but it does have a very mysterious and foreboding tone to it all. I feel like The Outsider in Lovecraft's famous early work. Not knowing where I'm going or what I'm going to find, I just keep climbing... the future will reveal itself to me. What will I discover beyond the chaos?

Melody abounds and heavy use of synthesizers aids in the atmosphere surrounding the chaos. Very deep and mystical-sounding, this is like an adventure through your mind. Eerie flute-sounding instruments are used, sprinkled with dangerously-close guitars make this a unique and fascinating listen. Recommended!

Natural Fear - Beyond Eternity (1992)

Genre: Atmospheric Death Metal
Country: Greece
Year: 1992

1. Intro/Souless Traitoration
2. Beyond Eternity

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Even more rare stuff from Greece! This is the only demo that I know of released by Natural Fear. I really like this demo. It's very short, but oh so sweet with two different styles of songs. Both start off with a far-off, distant-sounding introduction riff, leading into a mix of chunky and serene-like Death Metal with heavy use of synths. It sounds like it could go the brutal route, but then tapers off into spacey synths reminding me of the dark night sky, clear with stars spackling the heavens.

The second song sounds VERY familiar, especially the opening riff, and if any of you can pinpoint what this sounds like, I'll give you a cookie. It could just be my imagination, though! This track seems a bit darker and more foreboding than the other, and has a set, slow to mid-paced assault that doesn't let up, the drums pounding near the back, getting closer and closer and closer... Strangely enough, it's an almost calming style of Death Metal; difficult to explain.

Regardless, this one's only about six minutes long, so you could listen to this hidden gem twice in the time it takes to shower! Get it!

EDIT: Bingo! The familiarity comes from The Chasm... specifically "In Superior Torment". Interestingly enough, this demo came out years before Deathcult for Eternity: The Triumph...

Hardware - Souls Vortex (1992)

Genre: Experimental Death Metal
Country: Mexico
Year: 1992

1. Chants of Evil
2. Further the Hills of Dreams
3. Cybernetical Illusion
4. Souls Vortex

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Ah... perfection! On the back cover is written "YOU CAN'T STOP PROGRESS". Holy shit were these guys right on the ball. This is progress in every sense of the word (only one to my knowledge, but if there were more, I'm sure it'd be embodied here).

Anyway, this single is chock full of their very own brand of "Cyber Death Metal" and it's a shame that more bands couldn't understand and comprehend the brilliance that was Hardware, or we'd have much better Death Metal nowadays. The keys and synths are back, along with what I always thought a pretty neat production quirk, reminiscent of Cemetery's An Evil Shade of Grey guitar squeaking on the tremolo picks. Definitely adds to the already quirky atmosphere to make for something truly unique.

Thrust through the veils of cyberspace, sit back and bask in the Mexican glory of Hardware! Obviously recommended.

Sarcastic Existence - Judgement of the Dead (1992)

Genre: Death Metal
Country: Switzerland
Year: 1992

1. Intro/Senseless War
2. Tombs of Terror
3. Brain Devastation
4. Extreme Living Conditions
5. Die Schmuzige Hand am WC-Fenster
6. Ott Laughed (We Cried...)

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Not sure where I dug this one up; I was just roaming through my library one day and came across this, gave it a listen and was blown away. The first thing that struck me was the brilliant use of over-the-top riffing. Some of these leads are so gosh darn catchy it's too much! Most of it is very fast-paced, and while MA lists them as Death/Thrash, I can't say I agree, since this is much darker and full of that bitter hatred Thrash could never achieve.

Excellent drumming, and upon random inspection, I noticed that Peter Ott was the drummer! I had been in contact with this guy a few months back about a few things and had no idea he was the drummer in such an obscure Swiss band! Hell, he's from Germany I think. Great guy, with an absolutely MASSIVE collection, so if you'd like contact info, I'm sure he'd be delighted to hear from you.

"Tombs of Terror" is probably the highlight of this demo--it's also the longest and most involved, ranging in elements from slow, plodding doom to rapid, cutting Death Metal of the intensest degree. Expect fantastic solos and riffing that keeps beating you down into the ground! Recommended!

Eroded (Jpn) - Demo 92 (1992)

Genre: Death Metal
Country: Japan
Year: 1992

1. Conformed to Domination
2. Sick Yearning
3. Inhuman Soul

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WHOA. I did not expect such a high level of intensity from something coming out of Japan, still entirely engulfed in obscurity. Simply put, this is one of the best demos I have ever heard. Everything about it is perfectly in tune, balanced to a T, making this an engrossing and addicting listen. Touches of grindcore can be heard here and there, as blast beats often find themselves spiraling out of control, cementing the madness and destruction present on this demo. Fantastic guitar tone, very whole, gritty, and raw sounding, yet still easy on the ears. Very intense and fast-paced, yet somehow manages to avoid any sort of "brutal" tag, just impeccably crafted Death Metal.

The song structure in engaging; as previously mentioned, every aspect of this release blends together beautifully, from the perfect amount of riffing, to the raspy vocals that complement the guitars and drums wonderfully. Absolutely nothing irritating or grating about this release, just brilliantly enjoyable music of the purest kind.

Recommended.

Caducity - Incarnated: The Abhorer's Tale (1992)

Genre: Epic Death Metal
Country: Belgium
Year: 1992

1. Incarnated
2. Human Soul
3. Silvy
4. Red Army Ensemble
5. Dungeons Of Doom
6. Dear God

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Way out from Belgium, Caducity are something different. I rarely use the term "epic" to describe much of anything, but Caducity play a very special brand of Death Metal that can only be described as having that overpowering, mystifying feel that "epic" bands in other genres create. Opening with a spooky and esoteric riff, the demo soon erupts into full-sounding OSDM with a heavy focus on hypnotic and atmospheric riffing. Each riff is carefully planned out and they all flow together seamlessly, making this demo very engaging and easy to appreciate. Definitely not your average, everyday Death Metal, and this demo is where it all began.

Eructation - Demo 1992 (1992)

Genre: Death Metal
Country: Sweden
Year: 1992

1. Day of Confusion
2. Foul Feast
3. Consider to Die

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Whoa. Okay. This is probably the best demo from 1992. Everything about Eructation's Demo 1992 is absolutely perfect. Swedish brilliance of the highest degree.

The first thing you'll notice when listening is that the production is flawless. Very clean and full-sounding for a one-demo band, having released this mere demo way back in '92. All the instruments can be clearly heard, and it seems each and every part of this band gets their shot in the limelight throughout the course of this short demo. The guitars are the main highlight with their superb riffing. As you may already know, a lot of old school DM focus on the art of the riff, but Eructation take it to a whole new level (well, at the time). It seems like the basic foundation is built upon addictive riffs and very powerful, energetic hooks. Upon first listen, my mouth dropped open out of sheer disbelief. It just didn't add up, but here it is, destroying my ears as I post.

The bass player also gets his chance at some glory, especially toward the end of "Day of Confusion". He really goes wild with some fantastic bass..ing. In addition to these unheard-of techniques back in 1992, there are quite a few bizarre chunks to the demo. Mostly in the first song, there are these weird robot-like clean spoken vocals and during "Foul Feast", we're hit with this WTF sound effect. Just listen to this shit; my words don't do it justice.

Recommended to the highest degree.

RIFFS

Cemetery Earth - Here Rest Remains From Centuries of Demise (1992)

Genre: Death Metal
Country: USA
Year: 1992

1. Slow Inevitable Decrepus
2. Mortuary Science
3. The Plight of Cartaphyllis
4. Tormented by Apparitions

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First post in a week, and I apologize for that, but allow me to make it up to you by introducing you all to something that is relatively obscure and unknown to a lot of people.

I always find great interest in little bands that never managed to make it past the demo stages, especially those who only released a single demo. Recorded in 1992, and out of the US (!), this band didn't gain much attention at all. Even after a name change to Mourn Thy Passing, nothing changed. If anything, they became even more unknown, because as far as I can tell, nothing ever resulted from this new band.

Anyway, onto the demo itself. This is raw, dirty, and gritty death metal; a perfect representation of the pinnacle of old school death metal. The production is just shoddy enough to allow for that messy feel, but also keeping the musical instrumentation intact. Nothing is overly sloppy or chaotic, and a very controlled demo for its sound. Often traversing in doom territory, we're hit with suberb and lively riffs that help break up the gloomy atmosphere (the name is partly responsible for that). Plus, the intro and outro are just too cool. Recommended!

Scypozoa - Diary (1992)

Note: Artwork unavailable

Genre: Death Metal
Country: Sweden
Year: 1992

1. Diary
2. Until The World Is Blind
3. Compensation

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Scypozoa's second effort, this time more of a promo, in the hopes of attracting a record label to sign with. It seems as though their first demo did the trick, and this was to seal the dea. However, this promo is... admittedly worse than the demo. I'm not saying it's bad, but it just seemed like all the things that were so likable about the first demo sort of disappeared, and we're left with two somewhat different releases. The vocals have changed, and seem a bit tamer, which might appeal to some, but not to me after Signs from the Erratic Past. You can still count on those riffs, though, and while they've lost some of that thrashy edge and have developed more into full-on Death Metal riffs, they definitely slay quite nicely. Some stuff is the same, some is different, but apparently wasn't enough to garner any attention! A valuable addition to any 'kvlt' collection!

Preprophecy - A Tomb of Sanity (1992)

Genre: Death Metal
Country: Finland
Year: 1992

1. Laugh of God
2. See the Paradise
3. Deadly Conspiracy
4. Depth of Delight

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Preprophecy are a very obscure little band coming out of Finland, which is surprising, considering the tremendous fame they went on to achieve playing melodeath as Cryhavoc. I guess nobody cares about how these great bands start out, but I certainly do, as should YOU. This is fucking Death Metal. Stuff that was designed to rip your entrails out, and most of that can be attributed to the vocalist. No pussy-footing around, this guy is intense and brutal. You know how Swedish chainsaw-like guitars ripped you apart? Yeah, well this guy's vocal style is the exact same way. To further accentuate this, the vocals are fairly high in the mix, only throwing more emphasis on this guy's killer vocals. Other than that, this is pretty standard DM, nothing too special in the riff department, but definitely worth a listen for this guy's vocals.

Butchery - Necropsy Profane (1992)

Genre: Death Metal
Country: USA
Year: 1992

1. Necropsy Profane
2. Invitation To Eviseration
3. Zombification
4. To Kill For A Feast
5. Mass Grave (A Love Song)

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Butchery was an obscure little band from the backwater hick country known as Alabama, USA. Surprisingly enough, despite being in such a non-metal location, they managed to churn out a few very well-produced recordings. Here is their first demo, entitled "Necropsy Profane". Don't mind Metal Archives, they've got it backwards, listing this as their second demo. I mean, come on, how do you fuck that up? Take a wild guess as to what their second demo is called. Yeah, Demo II. I swear, bunch of monkeys... but I digress.

On this demo, we have some heavy, brutal and fairly underdeveloped Death Metal. Every single one of the five songs are about 2 minutes long each, leaving you with some fast, pummeling, hard-hitting music in very short bursts. Probably for the better, though, seeing as their style is more suited towards brutal DM or grindcore. They certainly felt that way, considering their gory lyrical content. Usually very fast-paced with some killer double bass, this demo does slow down a bit here and there, making it seem more like Death Metal. Take "Zombification" for instance. We've got some slower-paced stuff, with more emphasis on the riffs. Overall, quite an interesting release, and it seems as if the band were just experimenting to see what sort of direction they would like to head. Not to worry, though, they chose the Death Metal path. See next demo!

Butchery - Demo II (1992)

Genre: Death Metal
Country: USA
Year: 1992

1. The Last Supper
2. Scrotal Amputation
3. Blasphemous Butchery
4. Baptised In Excrement

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Butchery are back at it again, with their second demo, and definitely heading down the road of Death Metal. The songs are more developed here, and about twice as long on average, allowing for some more room to push boundaries and stuff. The first thing I noticed is that they went a little overboard with production and overproduced the demo so much that it seems like the vocals, guitars, and drums are all collapsing in on each other, mushing into one globby mess. Not a bad thing, though. It give the release a much fuller/satisfying sound, and with every breath, I can actually feel the DM in my lungs. Awesome. The vocals are similar to the previous release, but seemingly less throaty and more along the lines of yelling than inaudible growling. Still unable to hear what the guy's saying, but the vocals definitely seem much more lively and entertaining. Riffing is cool, and works well with the solos, each complementing the other and working off each other to produce neat effects, keeping the song progressing forward. Nicely done.

Burial - Frigid Cold (1992)

Genre: Death Metal
Country: Netherlands
Year: 1992

1. Intro
2. Frigid Cold
3. Perpetual Demise
4. Traumatized
5. Pitiful God
6. Outro

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Yet another Burial, this time from Holland! This is some excellent, very well-done Death Metal of the most professional quality. You can definitely tell that these characters spent a lot of time into making this demo the best it could be, and it obviously carries onto their only album. It's a bummer they broke up so soon, but it looks like they actually reformed and released another demo. Huh.

I wouldn't call this thrash, but it's fast-paced DM with a serious punch. Very heavy drumming that beats you continuously into submission. The riffs are simplistic, but this demo has what most demos of the time didn't, a shitload of solos. The solos are very fast and dangerous, often seemingly spinning wildly out of control, destroying everything in their wake. A great demo with deep guttural vocals sure to rip you apart. Death Metal if you like it raw-sounding and dirty.

Funeral Feast - Demo #1 (1992)

Genre: Death Metal
Country: Sweden
Year: 1992

1. Intro
2. Inhuman Acts of Sexual Perversion
3. Consumer of a Captious Carrion
4. Necro-Lustful Exhumanation

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When most people hear Funeral Feast, they think of the Finnish band, but today I'm featuring the lesser known Swedish act of the same name, who only managed to release a single demo, simply named "Demo #1". Starting with a reverberated intro track, the demo proceeds to erupt into some classic Death Metal with a beat. Very easy to headbang along with, these guys know how to create hypnotic song structures with catchy riffing. Songs can be repetitive at points, but that's a good thing in this band's case, as all of the material is definitely worthy of being played multiple times through. Slightly thrashy and very enjoyable for fans of early Bolt Thrower.

Sceptical Schizo - Into the Suction of Blue/Withdrawn (1992)

Genre: Atmospheric Doom/Death Metal
Country: Finland
Year: 1992

1. Into the Suction of Blue
2. Withdrawn

Please note that this release is actually self-titled, but in the sake of attracting search results from Metal Archives and to avoid confusion, the album is titled as such in the post.

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In case you still weren't convinced of the Atmospheric tag, then this EP is the release for you. Only two tracks here, but they are written in such an overwhelming way, these tracks will actually speak to you. What they will say depends on the person, but as for me, I get a strong air of melancholy and nostalgia from these tracks. I can't say exactly what I'm feeling, but it certainly tugs at the ol' heart strings in one way or another. Full of synths, other various instruments and sad, doomy riffing, this is definitely a very unique and powerful masterpiece. There are a lot more clean (spoken) vocals on this EP than in previous releases, but I think it goes very well with the music and helps add to the incredible imagery that is bound to bleed into your mind. Somewhat different from older Sceptical Schizo, this definitely marks their transition into the style they were going to play as Lavra.

Enough said, just listen to this and be blown away.

Spina Bifida - Symphony of Indictment (1992)

Genre: Death/Doom Metal
Country: Netherlands
Year: 1992

1. Witchfire
2. Verdict
3. Die
4. Purest Queen

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Here is Spina Bifida's 1992 demo. Everything here was featured on the full-length, but these four songs weren't changed much and, interestingly enough, are the four best tracks on the album. Guess they got a lot of practice and had a lot of time to perfect their craft! For Death/Doom fanatics and avid collectors, this is for you!

Pestigore - Promo 1992 (1992)

Note: Artwork unavailable

Genre: Death Metal
Country: Finland
Year: 1992

1. Stream Of Corruption
2. Within Debris...

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This is the confused Promo that everybody seems to think they have, but nobody really does. Good thing I'm here! This is probably Pestigore's best release, because it features "Stream of Corruption", the greatest song Pestigore has released. Absolutely vicious riffs dominate the entire piece, cleaving through your body like a katana through a fat guy. Combined with the innovative and creative song-structure, this piece never gets boring. Awesome song. The second track follows suit with killer riffs and kickass drumming. Rare stuff. Recommended.

Pestigore - Twisted Perversions... Unbearable Delight (1992)

Genre: Death Metal
Country: Finland
Year: 1992

1. Plaguelord
2. Sea Of Souls
3. Incur The Gods Great Disfavour
4. On The Holy Ground To Be

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The fourth and final offering from Pestigore, and it is much fiercer, with an massive emphasis on speed and chaos. It's also cleaned up a bit in terms of production, although the instruments seem to be separated from each other a little. For example, the drums seem to be pounding inside your head, while the rest of the music is on the outside looking in. Regardless, a very fast-paced and evil demo. The vocals haven't really changed and even exude a slight burping quality to them, giving them a few more points on the evil scale. Don't know how these guys managed not to be signed, because they were going places.

Creepmime - Anthems for a Doomed Youth... (1992)

Genre: Death/Doom Metal
Country: Netherlands
Year: 1992

1. Orgasmic Statement of Existence
2. Corpus Diseased
3. War Heads Surgery
4. Nature's Sacred Path
5. An Anthem For Doomed Youth

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You heard me right, this is not your typical Creepmime with hints of technicality and speed. This demo is drastically different from Creepmime's other offerings and we see that this band started out as Death/Doom. This is a very slow release, but we still see some of the aspects of Creepmime that defined them in their full-lengths. For example, the tortured and deranged vocals. Mostly higher-pitched, but with the occasional low, throaty growl, they sound, at times, like a depressive Black Metal vocalist. Sort of a shrill voice that sometimes seems to crack. Combined with the doomy atmosphere, this makes for a rather interesting release. Very dangerous and fans of Creepmime should definitely grab this! Very rare!