For those already familiar with Demilich’s unique and fairly unorthodox approach to making death metal that was likely recorded in the cold depths of purgatory, you can stop reading here and fire up the media player of your choice, because
The Four Instructive Tales ...of Decomposition, the bands second demo, makes no changes to the sound you are already accustomed to. For the uninitiated, be forewarned: Demilich's sound is intense, inhuman, just flat out f
ucked up.
On
The Four Instructive Tales ...of Decomposition, Demilich's first real collection of songs (the previous demo was a twelve minute instrumental), the listener gets a real taste of what Demilich is all about. The riffs follow their own ideas of structure resulting in sections which sound like they should be jarring and similar to a free jazz inspired death metal album, but are joined so well together that they are saved and somehow coherent pieces of music. The drumwork on "Two Independent Organisms" is particularly noteworthy; fitting in perfectly (not at all) with the guitars and vocals with an incredibly wide-ranging display of fills and odd-time signatures. Blast-beats still featured as will most death metal of this variety, but they usually appear as opposites to the guitars as a way of keeping things interesting.
Although the mix is poor, it's probably one of the better produced death metal demos of the early 1990s. It still comes with flaws however, with instruments jumping around and the guitar levels occasionally being dropped in the mix due to a hard cymbal smash or a deep, belting "burp" from vocalist Antti Boman. It's also a real shame that the drums sit too low and the vocals always sitting too high in the overall mix. Although this put more emphasis on Boman's voice which is arguably the most obviously strange thing about the band (and for some, the most attractive), it does detract from the overall musicianship of the band.
Although not without flaws,
The Four Instructive Tales ...of Decomposition is a solid slab of Finnish death metal and if you enjoyed
Nespithe this is sure to tickle your fancy.
3.9/5
