Divine Eve - The Last of the Sunset Faded (demo)

Once in a while I come across a demo recording that simply blows me away. I shouldnt be as suprised when it happens I have heard many truly excellent demos in my time; however, there are great demos and then there are the HOLYCRAPTHISSHITRULES demos. Divine Eve's Last of the Sunset Faded is one such demo. The fact that The band were subsequently signed to Nuclear Blast and this demo re-released on cd (under the title As the Angels Weep) is a good indicator of the quality herein.

My first reaction upon hearing this was how good it sounds, considering this is a demo it sounds huge and professional while retaining that demo rawness. The second thing, whilst being musically primitive the songwriting across these four songs is exceptionally mature especially for a first effort. Mixing crusty, d-beat inflected Scandinavian death metal (despite hailing from Texas) with the slow and dirge-like riffing of Celtic Frost they create a very dynamic listen; however, they weren't exactly breaking new ground. Acts such as Dream Death, Aspyhx and Sempiternal Deathreign had already defined the Death/Doom style, and it is very likely influenced Divine Eve themselves.

As is the case of Asphyx The Rack, Last of the Sunset Faded triumphs simply for being a brilliantly written and executed slab of crushingly heavy death metal. Sadly internal tensions ripped the band apart after one further demo, Xan Hammack went on to form Crimson Relic essentially the spiritual air to DE and released the excellent Purgatorys Reign for Nuclear Blast subsidiary Radiation.

Pictured is my own copy of the original tape which i picked up on ebay for a staggering £6 earlier this year, having misplaced my copy of the cd i jumped on this, if anything it sounds even better. Both this and the following demo are available on the Upon These Ashes Scorn the World compilation and Divine Eve are back once more and releasing new music, good times.

Pyrexia - Sermon of Mockery

I thought i would begin this blog with one of my favorite Death Metal albums.

Pyrexia alongside Suffocation were among the earliest (and best) exponents of NYDM (New York Death Metal) and progenitors of the Brutal Death Metal genre. Anyone familiar with either of those sub-species will know that means intense percussive DM with deep guttural vocals and massive grooves, to which Sermon of Mockery is absolute testament.

This is the original pressing on Drowned Productions from 1993 which is something of a collectors item. I picked this up after a frustrated day of record hunting in London 2 years ago. At £20 it is one of my most expensive purchases, but still very much a bargain. There was a re-issue from 1998 on Pathos that includes the Liturgy of Impurity demo again very much out of print.

Pyrexia whilst derivative of their peers Suffocation were no mere clone, perhaps the most striking aspect of Sermon of Mockery is its exceptional rhythm section, the bassist and drummer give equally stellar performances laying a solid foundation for the guitars to focus on pummeling riffs based around twisting, syncopated chord progressions. Sermon is not without its faults. While the vocalist possesses a brutal low growl but never really explores beyond that. In comparison to another NYDM classic Effigy of the Forgotten the songwriting of Sermon is less varied, while there aren't exactly any weak tracks being honest the structures and riffs from track to track are very similar.

Despite these flaws and the legion of questionable Brutal/Slam acts that profess its influence Sermon of Mockery is a seminal example of this specific sub-species of DM and well deserving classic across the wider genre.