I should say this band is totally awesome live and it goes to their studio performance as well. The band was founded back in 2006 and this promo is their second studio stuff yet, but what a great stuff! The Rzeszów-based quartet – Maniek (guitar & vocals), Jun (guitar), Fishdick (bass & vocals) and Mayo (drums) – delivers us 3 songs (12 minutes) in a maximally groove-oriented Thrashcore way with strong Death Metal influences. Quite interesting mix to be honest! And what is great about this band, they deal with lots of modern stuff in their music, but somehow everything they do sounds the old good way. The song-titles are "Sekta", "Zdrada" and "Doktor". As you see all of them are in Polish and that's the second thing that is great about them, because the vocal parts provide some special I would even risk to say dark atmosphere to the overall material, which I prefer so much! Aggressive, hateful music it is with ominous energies to materialize in the following sound-formula & proportions: crazy bass lines placed onto massive groovy guitar riffs yet incorporated by devastating double-bass attacks and last but not least spiced up with deep growls, angry screams and shouts! As a parallel to be cited regarding their musical approach I should name BEHEMOTH here, because of some riffing and accenting similarities, but it's only my view. Finally, I would also like to recommend for all the fans of Death & Thrash Metal to keep your eyes and ears on this formation and their new materials as their name will definitely haunt us in the future!!!

HYPERION was formed in 2001 by Architect (guitar) and Max (drums). Later on joined them Sirius (guitar), Pastr (vocals) and Vitek (bass). This promo displays 4 very well composed songs and lasts exactly 18 minutes. The core of their music is definitely Death Metal, but a small dose of Black Metal influence is also presented there, mainly due to the use of keyboards. Anyway, it is rather OK as far as it adds some ominous atmosphere to their repertory. The lyrics were written in Russian language and have been executed by Pastr quite decently to my surprise. However, in my opinion the language of Death Metal is English. The pair of guitarists did a damn good job recording their twisted harmonies and complex riffs onto the undoubtedly complex rhythm section. Congratulations! By the way, the solos are simply splendid. Well, let's see the rhythm section. Bassist Vitek handles well his instrument, but his parts sometimes drown in the overall sound production (which is surely a mix problem). Now let me say some words about the drummer. First of all, Max without any doubt is one of the best yet high-skilled metal drummers over here in Ukraine. His technique is incredible and at the same time diverse from the usual metal drummers. Secondly, he likes to mix the fast grind beats with catchy china-based double-bass attacks as well as to combine some so-called follow-the-rhythm patterns, for example like at the end of the "Creators of Absurd" song. Structure-wise it reminded me a bit VADER's "Sothis" track, but it's just my comparison anyway. I also noticed a strong BEHEMOTH influence in the "Decayed Cross" tune. Nevertheless, we have a deal with an original band that will definitely raise the flag of the Ukrainian Death Metal high with time. The success is inevitable! So labels please give the deserved chance for HYPERION!

The debut material from this Ukrainian trio became quite futuristic so to say. I would call their musical approach as technical cyber-motivated Death Metal. It's mainly due to the big portion of unordinary samplers & weird effects involved there, which makes them sound pretty fresh and always focusing the listener's attention onto different sounds & noises. The circa forty-minute long stuff sounds proportional & rather tough taking into account that it was a self-produced one, but somehow the drum sound leaves a plastic feeling after all. The technical aspect of the band is quite fascinating and surely represents the visions of today's modern & progressive genres embodied in our beloved Death Metal style. The classical & basic elements of this style can be also found there in riffs that mostly reminded me BEHEMOTH, DEATH, BRUTALITY, CANNIBAL CORPSE or MESHUGGAH, but for example the song "Delusions" has a strong DISSECTION touch that is definitely due to the female vocal parts which are pretty similar to those applied in DISSECTION's "Maha Kali" song. In total, "Spectral Whirlwind" is a decent and promising debut material. So I am eagerly looking forward to its continuation and herby warmly can recommend to all the fanatics of technical, jazz-influenced & progressive music. Futuristic yet atmospheric Death Metal at its best!

From the deepest depths of Uddevalla, where the unformed chaos spreads its dark wings, hails JORMUNDGAND. This obscure formation lurked in the shadows of the underworld since 2004, but the time has finally come and now the first omen was born & unleashed upon the mortals in the form of a 4-song demo. Forces to join in for the recordings of "Satanic Attack" are as follows: Tobias Fongelius (lead guitar & vocals), Erika Hansson (guitar, piano & keyboards), Tobias Pettersson (bass) and guest appearances by Erik Kjörnsberg (lead guitar & solos) and Marcus Fors (drums). The demo starts with an atmospheric keyboard-based tune called "Occult Sacrifice", which slowly fades into the opening riffs of "Black Winds of Death". This almost 9 minutes long tune offers us a big variety of dark feelings and atmospheres from the worlds beyond. You can find there slow marching-like guitar passages & melodies to grasp your soul mixed with an awesome portion of galloping riffs, which reminded me quite a lot the 80s Euro Thrash Metal bands' song-writing formula, while the vocal parts sound really like a wind of death and thus I can only compare them to Jon Nödtveidt's heritage. The third track is "Satanic Attack". It delivers us a 6-minute long journey into the storming spheres of darkness & death. It also captures the cruel backing vocals by Hellbutcher of NIFELHEIM. The demo ends with the sorrowful "By the Grace of Death" tune. The guitar harmonies there are just masterful and what's more they were accompanied by some real death-like whispers. At the very end of the track the aforementioned guitar harmonies slowly turn into the splendid sounds of a piano. Strange, but the overall atmosphere of this piano passage reminded me pretty much DISSECTION's instrumental track, namely "No Dreams Breed in Breathless Sleep". Musically JORMUNDGAND unites the darkest marks & traditions of the Scandinavian Death & Black Metal scenes (especially DISSECTION should be mentioned here, 'cause their influence is evident and vital for the music of JORMUNDGAND) as well as the attitude of 80s Thrash Metal movement. I would recommend this 19 minutes long demo to all the extreme metalheads dwelling in the Death & Black Metal underground worldwide. It's a must to have "Satanic Attack" in your collection. Eagerly looking forward to JORMUNDGAND's new material!

This young Italian metal band was formed in June of 2007 and a few months later in November they've recorded their first demo called "Human Answer". KLISYOS' style can be explained as a compound of traditional Heavy Metal and progressive music. There are parts inspired by such great progressive metal bands as DREAM THEATER or OPETH, while their Heavy Metal roots are really in the past, 'cause the following bands came first into my mind: BLACK SABBATH, IRON MAIDEN & MERCYFUL FATE. During their almost 37 minutes long demo you can get acquainted with 6 chapters reminiscent of the old good Heavy Metal times injected with elements coming from modern & progressive bands. The seventh piece of "Human Answer", which is the very first actually, is a nice symphonic intro. I've really enjoyed the twisted harmonies of both guitarists as well as the technical bass parts there. 99% of the vocal parts are melodic and they come in a rather clear way paying tribute to the above mentioned classics. I wouldn't say the band opened the gates to something new or innovative here, but this is a decent demo, which despite its home-recorded nature sounds pretty good. Looking forward to their next release! On this demo the band's line-up was: Flavio D'Ambra (voice/rhythm guitar), Santino Puleio (solo guitar/voice), Alberto D'Ambra (bass) and Gabriele Palumbo (drums).

The most insane maniacs of the Ukrainian Death/Grind community are back! Their new 3-song promo is a precursor to their upcoming full-length album called "Disgraceful Sores", which besides these tracks will contain four more songs. At once I should point out that the band managed to create their most devastating sound production to date. Congratulations guys! It's simply killer! The guitars sound so destructive and ear-crushing that sometimes I felt a bulldozer going through me or so. Fester and Pinky can really get your brains out of your innocent head. The riff-masters brought us their most complex and sickest riffs ever. They really know how to give a song optimal heaviness and dynamism at the same time! On this promo we can finally witness how powerful and clever the live drum-sound of MENTAL DEMISE is. Non-stop blasting assaults and ultra sophisticated breaks are the ingredients of Tom Grinder's play. Maybe natural brutality would be the most proper expression in this case! Old's very deep growling style is the cream on the cake so to say. He's not a one-dimensional vocalist at all as he always spices up the deep growls with unique high-pitched-like sounding screeches and inhuman voices. The new bass-player, Baltus Hash, maximally performs his parts and delivers us an incredibly strong and grumbling bass-sound. This extraordinary bass-sound can be easily heard in the aptly titled "Coitus per Machina" song! If you crave for an ultra tough yet overbrutalized Death/Grind material then do not waste your time and get in touch with the band directly! Sonic suffering guaranteed! Labels don't be fool, give this band a chance! No doubt, it's a milestone for the Ukrainian brutal scene! Preferred tracks: "Pornopedophilic Mockery" and "Soporific Anabiosis".

MURK EXORBITANCE was born in autumn 1999 and this is their first demo to date. The material of this demo is quite varied so to say. It includes 2 studio tracks and 7 live tracks from which 4 are cover versions. Their line-up is also as varied as the material having different drummers and vocalists on most of the songs. So I'll better concentrate more on the music itself. We are speaking of brutal Death Metal even if the sextet likes to spice up their songs with melodious solos and acoustic guitar inclusions. Unfortunately their sound production not supports entirely their style (I mean the prefix "brutal" here), because the sound is very weak and chaotic at times. OK, after being separated all the instruments from different kind of noises I can conclude that these guys have a big potential in song-writing and attentive listeners can also separate every instrument on this demo and enjoy their insane repertory as I did. Strange thing, but I better liked the live songs instead of the studio ones, maybe because of the raw live feeling. Nevertheless, I would like to point out "Sounds of War", "Ichorizing Gastrolith" (both live tracks) and the studio track called "Self-Autopsy" as great examples of the band's talent and dedication to Death Metal. For me was also extremely interesting to listen to the cover-songs of such Death Metal monsters as CARCASS (they selected "Incarnated Solvent Abuse" and some riffs taken from a song of "Symphonies of Sickness" album and called it simply "Instrumental"), DYING FETUS (hey, they play "Grotesque Impalement" very intensively live!) and CANNIBAL CORPSE (of course, they picked up everyone's favourite "Hammer Smashed Face") even if the band doesn't played them properly, but they've done it with feeling and that's count! Oh, I almost forget to take a mention about their double-vocal assassination. It's like in case with GOREROTTED; they use low growling and mid-pitched screaming vocalists. Very effective and "pleasant" assault on ears, for sure! I think it's a good demo despite of the production defects I listed above. Keep your eyes on this band as I am sure they will surprise us in the future!

Swedish PLUTONIUM was formed in the year of 2003. This is their debut 4-track demo, which displays a marching essence out of the most abstract elements of the Black & Death Metal styles. Although the band labels their music as extreme metal with industrial touch, I think the influences coming from the beforehand mentioned styles are more than evident for the musical approach of PLUTONIUM. Their songs are definitely not about the speed, they rather about some atmospheric mid-tempo passages filled with the voices of depression and despair. The eighteen minutes long demo captures a materialization of their dark feelings. In some ways musically I can compare PLUTONIUM to SATYRICON, DISSECTION and BATHORY. Also interesting fact that the band dedicates this release to the memory of Quorthon. Now about the industrial touch. Well, I won't say their first 3 tracks are too industrialized or so, but their last one, the title track "Wind of change" is a pure industrial cut. On this demo the band was: J. Carlsson (lead guitar, vocals, programming), H. Fossmo (guitar) and Lars. H. (bass). If you like to listen to some experimental extreme metal music then feel free to check PLUTONIUM's demo along with their recent releases.

SCORN AGE is a young but very promising quintet coming from Kiev (Ukraine). Their 2-song promo has been kept in the classical Death Metal vein, even if we have a mix between melodic and brutal Death Metal at once. The first song, called "Scorn Age", displays a rhythmically well-thought chain of blasting double-bass attacks, memorable guitar riffs, rolling bass lines and two types of terrorizing vocals. Basically the same goes to their second tune "Goat Saved Us" too, which they managed to shorten down to less than 2 minutes. Hell, next time I advise to record more than 5 minutes and 38 seconds as this kind of music is better enjoyable with a half and hour playing time and minimum 8 songs! However, I see a bright future for SCORN AGE as the five-piece handles well their instruments and their musical level in general is also above average. Just increase the number of songs, please!

OK, that is truly inhuman! Never heard such a great mix of sick pig-snorts along with ultra deep growling vocal-assaults before! The band features some of the craziest grind freaks ever, i.e. K.P. Ripper (vocals), J.J. Blaze (drums), D.K. Destroyer (guitars, screams & robovox), Captain Party (bass & the so-called pig snorts) and Sticky Privates (guitars on 1st song). With their new 6-track massacre they put the etalon of brutal Death/Grind even higher! Songs like "Septic", "Blowtorch Lynchings" and "Judeo-Zoophilism" can easily take the intestines out of your rotten stomach due to the overloaded brutality and pressure on nerves they serve there! And if you still crave more for your ulcerous soul then you can take a listen to two more brutal (s)hits ("Skunk Butt - Gutter Pussy"; "Colostomy Bag Mouthwash") and a brilliantly executed cover-version of TERRORIZER's "Fear of Napalm"! The sound is as brutal as possible so don't waste your time and invest into this killer stuff! By the way, these 6 tracks will be released as part of a split with MINCING FURY AND GUTTURAL CLAMOUR OF QUEER DECAY on Bizarre Leprous Records! You can also order the band's debut CD "Puke Pile" from United Guttural Records.

Lately it seems to me is quite common thing amongst the die-hard metalheads to form a band that plays & supports totally old-school music! With VIOLENT ASSAULT we have this case maximally fulfilled. Being formed in 2006 and after 4 rehearsal recordings the band decided to come up with their first demo called "The Flag of the Inverted Cross". The demo embraces 4 tracks + intro/outro executed in the best traditions of 80s German Thrash Metal bands. I would say every inch of this demo is dedicated to that great period, i.e. music, lyrics, nicknames, packaging, etc. If you are into bands like SODOM, DESTRUCTION, KREATOR, VIOLENT FORCE, NECRONOMICON or TANKARD just to name a few, this material won't disappoint you. My personal favourite is "Devastator", which combines some really memorable thrashing riffs with razor-sharp guitar sound and vocals straight from hell. The other songs like "In Honour of Satan", "Antimosh" & "Teutonic Furor" are also about to capture the greatness of the Thrash Metal style. Remember, this 19 minutes long demo has been released only on tape and was limited to 222 hand-numbered copies! So if you feel enough old-school yourself, order this piece of thrashing art right now! Wimps & posers please stay away! It's exclusively for headbangers worldwide!!!