Demigod - "Unholy Domain / Promo 92" CD

Imported from Raw Skull Recordz (Netherlands)

Legendary Finnish death metal EP and demo tape compiled on one compact disc. Released with full approval of Demigod guitarist/frontman, Esa Lindén.

Unholy Domain is of the most important releases of the early 90s Finndeath scene. ABSOLUTELY MANDATORY. One of the greatest death metal demos/eps of all fucking time. Originally released in 1992 by the notorious Seraphic Decay Records, this is the first time it has been officially reissued.

GET. THIS. NOW.

Metal Archives review:

Finnish Death metal is a genre closely related to the eponymous death scene from neighboring Sweden. The style is quite similar and one can hardly establish an unambiguous criteria for differentiating them. However, Finnish death metal is darker, slightly more malevolent and cruder. Yet, the most noticeable difference, and the one that makes Finnish death a heavyweight on its own, is their masterfully orchestral intros. Finnish bands have the very best and most atmospherically terrifying intro songs of all. Groups such as Sentenced, Convulse and of course, Demigod specialize in symphonic compositions that demonstrate both a considerable level of musical technicality and amazing creativity. For its part, Necropsy is a more straightforward band, focusing in sheer brutality but without losing content and that Swedish-like edge.

Perpetual ascent is the first song one gets to listen in this demo. It simply leaves you speechless… The song starts with some vocal effects, like lamenting souls and then the buzz saw riffing begins, along with otherworldly bells. It creates a perfect atmosphere one can almost immediately associate with the end of times. It forebodes the coming of perdition and darkness. It is truly impressive and it will make your skin shiver in ecstasy. The next song is relentless and will pound your ears and cerebellum into a rotten pulp. Anxiety will make you feel uncomfortable and in constant need of banging your head against the wall until you crack your skull open. Reincarnation sets about a new mood and settles with a more punkish sound. The riffing gets more conventional, but you can almost sense the decay coming out of the chords. How the emaciated and broken guitar sounds raise at the tune of a butchering drumming that culminates with a deranged and ephemeral guitar solo. The vocals are gritty and agonizing.

Yet the crowning jewel of the whole record is Demigods’ last song: Succumb to darkness says it all. There is no escape; one is already entangled by the bands’ decaying martialness. It almost feels like a military march, but of the undead. And then comes the absolute core, the one moment one has been expecting, a wicked riffing that sounds like a black hole engulfing the whole universe forever into the void. With a slow tempo, the riffing opens a melodic vortex of simple, yet infinitely dark ambience many bands can only dream to emulate.

Necropsy is a more ghoulish band. It’s more about shocking with decadent and brutal songs. There is no better way than to describe Blasphemous Degradation. Whereas, Demigod is analogue to an old school horror movie focusing on scenery, photography and detail, Necropsy goes directly to gore. However, it is a wonderfully crafted dissonant band. The riff at the middle is an excruciatingly painful melody reeking darkness, and by no means has it felt unoriginal. Necropsy is thus closer to US contemporary death bands, being blunt, gory and violent. The next song has a more Swedish sounding buzzing riff but it overall sounds very “Finnish”. From then on the song gets thrashier and near the end, one gets blown away by structure similar to that of old school Exodus. The vocals are more typical and can be considered the low point of Necropsy. In any case, they fit just fine and do not feel out of synch compared with the rest of the instruments.

Under the masses manages to shake away the numbness of the past song and sounds a lot like Pestilence in Malleus Maleficarum. The song goes in a more melodic direction and the riffing surprisingly breaks the tediousness of the previous songs by adopting a canorous and rich solo. The drumming is heavier but not brutal and its superb. There is a noticeable change in the vocals and they get more complex and capable of executing a wider range of sounds and howls. The last song unleashes all of Necropsy’s potential and kind of feels as a condensation of all their influences tending to a thrashy sound that is thrilling and very enjoyable. The sick guitar makes you feel hunted and persecuted and the riffing is tense and potent. By the end of The Morass you’ll already by drowned and fortunately in love with this excellent split that ought to be heard a second time in order to fully appreciate its richness and vast influences. It has enough of its own to stand aside as an example of innovative and well done music and it is easy to access and to listen.

All in all, I feel this is the Excruciate/Epitaph split twin, and many similarities can be drawn between them. Melody and brutality like sweet and sour are inseparable but rarely they taste so good. This is split is a must have along with the Swedish one mentioned above in the comparison. With nothing left to say, I would say the Finnish death metal scene is the twisted, lesser known sibling of the more famous Swedish one, but in some aspects, it is superior to it, and this split demonstrates it.

100/100.