Review Summary: Underground rap psychos Ill Bill and Necro used to be underground death-metal musicians in the short lived band, Injustice. After this demo was recorded, the band split up and the bros moved on to start fruitful rap careers.
If youre familiar with the underground Hip-Hop madmen Ill Bill and Necro, you should also be familiar with thier explicit and gory brand of lyricism (especially with Necro) as well as their passion for extreme metal. So it should come as no suprise that these Jewish jackals got their start in the music biz as none other then a a death metal band. But what DOES come as a suprise is how good they were.
At the time of the bands formation in 1988, bassist/vocalist William Braunstien (Ill Bill) was 16 years old, while his guitarist brother Ron (Necro) was only 12. The talent of the boys displayed in this demo is remarkable for thier age. Bill made for a very solid vocalist; with a sinister, snarling growl of a voice that sounds like Quorthon mixed with Jeff Becerra. His bass playing isnt anything to write home about, but it fulfills it's purpose. Ron was a pretty good rythem guitarist, especially for his age. Sir knew how to churn out fast, chugging riffs before his balls dropped and he left the playground. The band's other guitarist, Mike Nabotov, had a typical style of lead-playing. Yet he also made inventive usage of effect pedals which added color to the group's music. Drummer Mike Palmeri did a great job on this, his rythems providing a strong backbone.
One would expect the lyrics to be ultraviolent, blood-soaked obscenity when considering the writing style of the Braunstiens in thier Rap music. But instead the focus is placed on nihilism (Ascend To Obscurity), refusal to be brainwashed for social acceptance and thus becoming an outcast (Wisdom Of The SubGenius), and suicide (Necrosphere). The writing style is reminiscant of 80s hardcore, which im sure was a big influence. The songs are pretty good considering the age of those involved. The most notable element of these recordings are the (at-the-time) innovative use of dynamics, as well as acoustic guitar and atmospheric breaks.
After releasing this demo, the band split up and the Braunstien brothers began to involve themselves in Hip-Hop. Mike Palmeri went on to join Life Of Agony, and Im not sure about Mike Nabatov. All in all, this is a pretty badass demo, the band probobly wouldve grown into something great if they wouldve kept at it.
