Caarcrinolas - The Egg (1994)

Genre: Experimental Death Metal
Country: Germany
Year: 1994

1. ?
2. Anal Feast
3. Milted
4. Mucus

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Okay, sit down, you're gonna need something to support yourself for this wacked out demo. "Experimental" only begins to graze the surface of the music found in Caarcrinolas's "The Egg". An obscure release from the depths of France; not much is known about these guys aside from their sole, enigmatic demo presented in the most bizarre and otherworldly manner manner possible, while still retaining the elements of Death Metal.

"?" opens up with, well, what you'd expect. Confusion? Uncertainty? Suffice to say a soulless, unforgiving ominous, almost creepy sound perturbs all who listen. Setting the scene with an eerie atmosphere, this song sets the precedent for the rest of the demo. Oddly enough, the guitars come out in full force, with meticulous and clean riffing, albeit done in a wonky, unusual way riddled with strange time changes and huge leaps in creative genius that some might see as mere noise. It'll take a dedicated and open-minded ear to fully enjoy this demo.

Synthesizers are used heavily, as to be expected in anything labeled "experimental". It's almost like Caarcrinolas grabbed an electronic keyboard and just started randomly pushing the sound effect buttons to see what worked at what didn't. I'm hearing hints of mandolins, accordions, organs and other weird noises scattered throughout. However, it's all done in moderation, letting the guitars and vocals do their Death Metal thing. I wouldn't quite call this Avant-Garde, as they really do make an effort to stick to their DM guns, but it's definitely going to be something you haven't heard before. And for that, I gotta go ahead and recommend this.

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.

Hardware - Hardware (Cyber Death Demo) (1990)

Genre: Experimental Death Metal
Country: Mexico
Year: 1990

1. The Unknown
2. Skatological Encounter
3. The Ultimate Solution
4. Start to Think
5. Seasons of Belief
6. Unorthodox Sight
7. Cyber Death
8. Even Death Can Die

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This is it. Some of Mexico's finest right here, and at such an early stage in Death Metal's history! Not exactly a demo, more of an album in appearances, and actually kind of a mistake in its release. Is it a rehearsal? Who cares! This is some of the most bizarre and innovative Death Metal you will ever absorb into your ears.

Highly original and atmospheric, this is full of squeaky, chaotic guitar riffing and soloing, a variety of atmospheres, neat keyboard use... this demo has it all. A few doomy songs here and there, it sounds like these guys had a blast recording this piece of art (yes, this is some goddamn art if you ask me). There are no boundaries that this band didn't cross in the recording of the Cyber Death Demo. Look out for the next post, which will contain Souls Vortex, their EP/Single with a perfected sound!

Highly recommended.

Insomnia - The End of the Beginning (1994)

Note: Artwork unavailable

Genre: Experimental Doom/Death Metal
Country: Poland
Year: 1994

1. In the Beginning
2. In my Craft or Sullen Art
3. 24 Years
4. All, All and All the Dry Worlds Lever

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Continuing our trend of bizarre Death Metal, today's feature is Poland's Insomnia! I've found that Poland makes some of the best Doom/Death Metal and this is no exception. As an added bonus, let's throw in some keyboards and inventive guitar solos, as well as some fancy bass-work, and you've got yourself awesomeness in music form.

The first song starts off as purely Death Metal, pretty raw and speedy, not to experimental, but as the demo progresses and ends with the fourth track, you're starting to wonder where the hell these guys get off playing such an obscure brand of music. Good thing they took the plunge, and a shame they only recorded a couple more demos. Half of the bands that only make it to the demo stage are better than all those big name bigshot asshole bands out there. Goddamn.

Lavra - Bluenothing (1994)

Genre: Doom/Dark/Experimental Metal
Country: Finland
Year: 1994

1. Strange Lands
2. To Elide Something
3. Yesterday It Was Silent
4. From the Suction of Blue
5. E Minor
6. Never

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Fans of Sceptical Schizo will immediately leap out of their seats at the sight of Lavra's name. The once tough and robust Death/Doom band took a sharp turn with their self-titled EP, and the following Plight EP, getting rid of the harsh vocals completely, and playing a more heartfelt, melodic, and depressive form of Doom Metal. It still had that classic Schizo bite, though.

However, with the name change came a massive style change. If you were to simply listen to this music, there is no way that you could tell Sceptical Schizo and Lavra were the same band. Hell, just look at the band picture from the two eras. They look totally badass in their early days, and complete faggots as Lavra (gee, I hope the band doesn't see this!)

BUT, that's not to say this is a bad album, just different; in fact, I find Bluenothing very enjoyable. Seems the band had some sort of fixation on the color blue, most likely to depict sadness, and that's what they do, quite well, I might add. This is very melancholic, sometimes bordering on depressive rock, incorporating gothic and dark elements as well making this a very miserable sounding album; bleak and oppressive. I'm frightened to imagine another album by these guys, as I don't know how much more sad you could make it. Definitely not something to listen to after a break-up or on a sunny day. Well, if you want to completely immerse yourself in pity, dejection, despondency, anguish, etc. then go for it. The vocals are almost spoken and take on this very esoteric quality, echoing in the background, and neat little effects appear to make the vocals sound as one with the wind, like they're nonchalantly floating by, fully embracing the "grey whatever" vibe they're giving off.

All in all, phenomenal album, and highly recommended. Just don't go in expecting Sceptical Schizo!