Demonic Slaughter - "Revelations of Death" (Hellthrasher Prods)

Genre: Black/Thrash Metal

Country: Poland

Band Website: Myspace

Label: Hellthrasher Productions

All hail. What we have here is a dirty rotten piece of old school black metal music for fans of that real nasty and unpleasant horror atmosphere.

Demonic Slaughter pull no punches as they plunge on to the sheer necro debauchery after a quick intro characteristically entitled "Funeral". The sound is a  low-budget, dirty and flat barrage of noise, reminiscent of that gone but not forgetten early BM époque, or even the modern black thrash revival.

There is really nothing modern about the sound of these Polish necro fiends, while they destroy all in sight with this 3rd album of theirs. And even though they have the aforementioned BM worship (early Mayhem, Burzum etc) locked down, that's not all that's going on: Demonic Slaughter manages to sneak in some unholy death/thrash metal influence that is really subtle, but definitely doesn't go unnoticed. The band also layers its sound with lots of intros, samples and weird passages that bring on that real old school horror atmosphere. What we're talking about is not Necrophagia's Lucio Fulci, but the real black & white cvlt horror atmosphere which is also the most effective. The album is spiked with weird sounds, satanic poetry, weird keyboards, cracks, screams, yelps and indiscernible sounds that makes your hair stand up. Real haunted house (check the cover), cemetery, grave-rising atmosphere that will put your thoughts in a loop.

While the aforementioned theatrical atmosphere goes on, there is nothing theatrical about the band's playing, as the drummer produces some crushing BM blasts and the sharp riffs give lessons in old school black thrash violence. The distortions are not huge or anything but that's also the point here, to make a nasty necro sound that is not based on huge amps but on the "right" quality of dirtiness. There are also two kinds of vocals: nasty and super nasty. The plain nasty ones are typical blackthrash screams and they are used as the main singing voice. Then again, the super nasty ones are weaker but definitely more unholy and are used in the aforementioned sick poetry and sometimes during the verses. This double vocal exchange is quite intriguing to the ear that only expects one kind of vocal. All in all, fans of Aura Noir, Cadaver, Desaster and that whole old school thrash black sound will just love this. However, be forewarned that this band is more underground and harsh to listen to (yay!).

Fotis.TYS