CDs/LPs - DEMOS - OLD STUFFS - FANZINES - GIGS
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LABYRINTH (Usa) Inside/ Outside Demo CD. 2022. Self-released.
Inside the apparently endless maze, your brain is drowned in confusion.
Inside the infinite maze, your mind is gasping for a solution...
Before the final surrender...

Here is a quite great sounding demo. This is not the kind of thrash I'm the most used to (The one I dig sometimes seems to be an excuse to listen to more death metal AhAh), but this first demo of LABYRINTH from Houston/ Texas isn't devoid of qualities.
Here you have 3 songs of great 80's American thrash, which (for me) sounds like a cross between old FORBIDDEN (2nd album), old EXODUS, old DEATH ANGEL, perhaps RE-ANIMATOR (Uk) and a bit of DARK ANGEL... I think you got the spirit.
I feel a nice, quite "paranoid" vibe of terror (It feels like an imminent cataclysm is coming).
This is not the rawest kind of thrash, so some kind of "melodies" and technical parts appear at the level of guitars, and the vocals aren't the most extreme, but this is related to the genre they play, I'm only describing... For me it sounds well done and composed in the style.
Now I'm not the biggest expert in 80's US thrash, so my opinion is worth what it's worth, but I was quite happy to find this demo browsing on Youtube, and it comes without apparent fails for an early recording.
So, thrashers and evil pizza reversers, get your ticket and enter the maze! (The Minotaur is waiting for you, patiently...).
https://labyrinthrash.bandcamp.com

LACERATION (Usa) Imitation Demo tape. 2018. ROTTED LIFE Recs.
Reviewing isn't a crime.
Reviewing metal records isn't a crime.
Reviewing metal records of bands that talk about bowels isn't a crime.
Reviewing metal records of bands that scream about chopped bowels and meticulously torn apart entrails isn't a crime.
Reviewing chopped bowels and meticulously torn apart entrails isn't a crime... Or is it?

LACERATION is a nice death thrash metal band located in California, Usa.
Their style can remember of DEATH ("Leprosy") in the heavier and thrashy parts, while a lot of fast moments have more to do with DEMOLITION HAMMER, some old NERLICH (The demos) or some old MALEVOLENT CREATION (First CDs).
The vocals can sound quite screamy and angry, it might please the fans of PESTILENCE (Van Drunnen era) even if the vocalist doesn't always ripp in this territory.
On can also hear a couple of blast beats à la early DEICIDE or old ALTAR (Holland), but most is about "death thrash".
The style isn't really morbid or too raw and cavernous, this is rather about being kicking and "efficient" (Yes, this word can mean a lot of things), and in this meaning the old DEATH comparison fits quite seriously well (The old MALEVOLENT C. quote works also quite well, even if this aspect of efficiency has more to do with the structure of songs, while the DEATH quote was more about kicking your balls... Well...)
The production is quite clear, perhaps only the drums are a bit too loud (The snare sound works in the heavier moments, but when the tempo is faster I'm not totally sure).
LACERATION didn't reinvent the wheel of torture, but this tape sounds quite efficient and the DEATH alike moments were somewhat of a pleasure to hear.
It might be cool to check them out live, and breaks a couple of bones from your neck (If you're really drunk).
https://lacerationbayarea.bandcamp.com

LAGO (Usa) Marianas Demo 2010. PALE HORSE Recs.
This kind of Death metal isn't very far from what I released on split CDrs few years ago.
This is something like decent Death metal, with a quite classy touch that reminds me of MORBID ANGEL around the "Domination" era (And some "Gateways..." for heaviness). Yes, mid old Morbid Angel is a quite strong influence, but you also hear some NILE (In a less ultra technically brutal manner), some DEICIDE ("Once upon the cross"), the atmosphere and style aren't so far from Norwegian EXECRATION sometimes (But it sounds a bit less savage) and little touches of black metal arpeggios are used here and there.
This is quite controlled music, but it's doesn't sound particularly technical. There are quite a lot of fast parts (Aka blasts), as well as some slower ones that rather reside in the double-kicks ridden mid tempos. The production fits quite well for the style, quite heavy and relatively clean, but not too much.
I feel some riffs are a little too common, especially in some fast parts. Sometimes you're kinda digging the atmosphere, but a little of frenzy or energetic idea lacks to refresh the interest. I also think the first half of the demo is better, as the last songs sound less appealing or efficient (Maybe it shows the band will improve with time).
This demo isn't really a Cosmos Liberator, but for a first recording it's quite encouraging: Nothing bothers the voracious Death metal head and some nice atmospheres are developed from here and there. Hope LAGO will learn how to catalyze more cosmos and darkness in their forthcoming compositions.
http://www.myspace.com/lagoaz

LEFT HAND PATH (Ger) Time to die! Demo CDr. 2010.
Using the titles of old Death metal albums as band names isn't always a good idea, for example if you choose "Like an ever flowing stream" you could be taken for modern deathcore...
Hopefully for them, the Germans we are talking about didn't make the worse choice as "LEFT HAND PATH" sounds quite kicking for a Death metal band, but unfortunately for the listener their music doesn't match what you'd expect from this name...
The 3 tracks from this demo are located somewhere between old Death metal and old blasting death, and still need some improvements... The problem lies in the fact some of the riffs sound too much like regular-regular Death metal in my hears, or maybe some parts aren't played at the right speed (Or something?).
Anyway, during the listening I thought about some old BOLT THROWER in the slow "steamroller influenced" riffs and faster "Epic war" blast parts (I mean their old albums, before and including "The 4th Crusade"), some slow (But not doomy) riffs like old ASPHYX, a bit of fast old INCANTATION, the old REGURGITATION "Conceived through vomit" Demo tape for mid-paced Death metal, and a portion of faster parts that could sound like regular blasting death or ooold brutal death...
Some riffs aren't necessarily bad, and I feel there's a little atmosphere that might strengthen with time, but maybe the songs aren't built the most embalming way...
There are two kinds of vocals: The regular death vox which takes 50% of the oral affair, and the higher pitched ones that could remember of some ASPHYX (Drunnen era), or eventually VIOGRESSION (Not to quote Obituary, it's not so deep)
This is just an average demo from a young band... There's a little atmosphere, and some riffs could sound better when they will be tighter, but they still need to work and improve the efficiency and morbidity to reach an higher level of mausoleum vibrations! They need to AWAKE the dead, the mummified and the malignant spirits.
http://myspace.com/lefthandpatheastfrisia

LETHIFEROUS (Ireland) DEMO MMX. Tape. 2010. WAR COMMAND Recs.
There are multiple ways to discover cool new music. For example, I bought the cassettes back stock of a french label that stopped its activities, and in the package of 120 cassettes there were some "surprises", including this demo of LETHIFEROUS.
This (is/was) a solo project from Dublin, Ireland, that (plays/ played) quite sulfurous metal.
Even if the music is listed somewhere as "black death" there are quite a lot of death metal influences in the riffing.
The first song "Serpent embodiment" is nice, to me is sounds like a mixture of early IMMOLATION (First album), early DEICIDE (First Lp, or the AMON days), perhaps a bit of INFESTER (Usa) for the strange side, with some "sarcastic" vomiting vocals. Nice song to enforce the gates of your local church :)
The second composition, even if it remains in the path of old DEICIDE, contains more mid-paced beats and a part of the riffs is more usual... It's not as sulphurously "crucifucked" as the first song.
The more you advance in the listening, the more I find the playing to contain classical 90's DM, with more double-kick moments... Perhaps quite close to what we had in France for DM or even "techno death" in the mid 90's, but with a more evil/ black metal packaging... Some peoples might also hear a bit of mid old VITAL REMAINS ("Forever underground"), AMON (Switzerland), or perhaps JUDECCA...
Oh fuck! After writing half of this review, I realized this demo actually came out in 2010 and not 2020 (Thanks to the Latin numbers AhAh) and LETHIFEROUS didn't release anything since then...
Well, anyway I finished this review, and it's finally published in the name of the obscure underground! These words might serve as a "testimony" for this pretty nice demo...

LOOKING FOR AN ANSWER (Spa) Buscando una respuesta Tape. 2003. HAUNTED HOTEL Recs.
Bleuuuuargh, bleuaaaaarging the dead, bleuuuuaaaaaarrrging the remains of the burnt carcass... This shit doesn't stop blablablasting my hears all day long. It's not even torture but pure wide opened mouth vomiturition! ARRRGH! I need a cryptotherapy! To plunge deeper into undersoil symphonies of cavemen vibrations... To blast your ass and decapitate the mortal scrutiny from the top of nightmarish bowels... Let flow rancid visions of torn irreality!
For those who might be looking for an answer, they might need first to ask themselves the right questions... And my most important question on a musical point of puke is "Does it suck?". In the case of these Spanish seekers of blasting response, the answer is rather no. L.F.F.A sounds like some old styled but accelerated Grind the "modern way", so this isn't particularly old school or modern but kinda in the middle of both (Depending on how your head is turned inside out). There are also some death metallic riffs and grooves, but most is fast in the blasting way. Some ideas or breaks would be influenced by some powerviolence or "Modern-core-of-6-years-ago".
I think the low death metallish screams are cool while the high pitched vokarghs are only ok.
I find the whole quite a(r)g(h)ressive sounding; Some parts are enjoyed by your pustular demo retriever while some are less zig-zaging in my cannibal dog-eating spheres... Globally I could say it's a quite solid tape, even if it didn't really catch my abdominal-attention or violently punch my face to explode the brain and paint the wall with new red colors... It's this (is it) this is it (beer!) the kind of stuffs that could turn on grinders. Shake your local black market dog supplier for more infos.
Your pustular demo retriever has prepared an interview, hope it will work, otherwise I'll have to order a new boomerang...
DOG EAT DOG or GOD EAT GOD? Who cares, it's always cannibalistic stuff at the end...
http://www.myspace.com/lfaa

LUCID TERROR (Usa) Whip till you faint Demo tape. 2015. SERENITY Now Recs.
This is old shit, but who gives a shit?
This band plays (Or played?) quite good Grind/ Crust/ Deathgrind the old school way... The old way infused in the names of ooold NAPALM DEATH, old PHOBIA, old ATROCITY (Usa), old TERRORIZER, old NYCTOPHOBIC, and all kind of cool stuffs like that, mixed in an underground shaker. (With all these "old" mentioned before each band name, I think someone should really start a band called "OLD", release some great demos then change their style on the first full-length... So I will be able to quote "old OLD" or "very old OLD" in my reviews! ahah)
Let's come back to the musick: This is quite kicking and motivated old styled grind/ crust/ deathgrind... In fact, I hesitate to use the word "grind" alone, because I expected to hear more blastbeats: The drummer is a bit more often in the "thrash/ dbeat" style, but at least it doesn't "borether" (Bore + bother) since it doesn't sound weak.
You also have quite angry vocals in a "deep way", a couple of quite cool groovy parts in the early style... This is not bad in the old school style!
It seems this band from New York released only a demo, on a short-lived label (That released 4 tapes in 2015/2016, then stopped, apparently).
This is not reekvolutionary musick, but at least it sounds quite kicking, with a quite good underground production. It (is/ was) probably cool to shake your skull live hearing the sounds of LUCID TERROR.
Now it's time to go to bed, and rest in a sea of endless hungry leeches.
https://lucidterror.bandcamp.com

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