Hexenslaught – (Invictus Productions. 2016).
This demo was advertised as being a worthy contender to Necrovore’s Divus De Mortuus, Morbid Angel’s Thy Kingdom Come, and Incubus’ God Died on His Knees. With this in mind, I was very excited to get hold of this demo, and I was not disappointed. A raging slab of death metal madness, I would not be surprised if you had told me that it was actually released in 1987 and had been unreleased until now. Hexenslaught’s debut is a worthy tribute to the ungodly abominations to which it has been compared without sounding like a mere pale imitation. It comes for your throat and does not let go, savaging you like a rabid wolf. The riffs are catchy, and evil, absolutely and utterly evil, and you will be possessed by the demonic energy contained within and find yourself being consumed by the Devil’s tunes. The leads are equally malevolent, blood-curdling squeals through the speakers and adding to the sonic savagery. Overall, it is generally a high-speed affair, with little rest, perfectly highlighted on the flesh-ripping Bleed for Satan, where the closest thing to a rest is an upper mid-tempo section that just builds up for the end of the song, with devilish, chaotic leads. Your blood will be pumping from the get-go, especially with the exhilarating Hell-ride that is the song Altar of Death. The production sounds suitably raw, blown-out, fuzzy and noisy, and adds to the feeling that this is some lost gem from the birth of Death Metal. Yeah, there are crackles and pops, and yeah, sometimes the guitars get somewhat buried by the vocals and drums, but who cares? It all adds to the ancient feeling that every song is imbued with. This sounds like it was dug out from someone’s demo collection of obscure, forgotten gems. It is honest, impassioned old-school Death Metal, a sign of true devotion to the morbid art with memorable riffs that worm their way into your head. Time flies whilst listening to this release, as it blasts through in just over 16 minutes. 8.5/10.
SADISTIC SCREAMS 