Columns, Demos From the Vault

Demos From the Vault #14: Conjureth | Infestment | Disrotter | Mental Casket | Cadaveribus

It’s demo Sunday again, and this time we have yet another collection of Death Metal demo releases that might already be known to the attentive listeners of you.

Conjureth – The Levitation Manifest (Death Metal 2020 – USA)

I don’t think that this band is a secret to anyone anymore, since those two demos that were released already stirred up the Death Metal scene a lot. This second demo, though, tends to be even more on point than the already highly acclaimed Foul Formations. You are served with very classy and well-played Old School Death Metal that draws influences from a lot of classical sidelines, especially reminding of the soaring vocals of late-era Carcass that combines elements from both Black and Death Metal vocal styles. The guitars made me somewhat think of a little sped-up Grave style, yet it is especially this sound that also makes up a very significant overall style of the band. I hope everyone reading this was smart enough to either pick up one of the tape versions or the double-sided vinyl version that came via Fucking Kill Records.

Infestment – Maggots in Your Brain (Death Metal 2020 – USA)

When first having listened into this record, my future music selection was immediately impacted big time. The strong Tomb of the Mutilated early Cannibal Corpse vibes on this release are so damn high that this already shoves you towards picking out your copy of TOTM to get into the right mood. The raw production as well as the somewhat (delibaretly) messy playstyle of the guitars comes together to an absolutely outstanding Death Metal demo here. What eventually pushes this demo to the forefront are the inhumane vocals that ultimately push the early Cannibal Corpse influence right into your face. This was probably one of my most favorite demo releases of 2020 and I still consistently listen into it, waiting for the full-length debut to come.

Disrotter – Plague (Death Metal 2020 – USA)

When following Sewer Rot Records as one of the labels that comes up with consistently nasty tones within the range of Death Metal eras, I came across this demo release that was brought out on tape by the fine folks at Sewer Rot. The Death Metal tone you can hear on this one definitely pushes further into the speed of a Grindcore release yet still maintaining a very distinct Death Metal tone. This somewhat sounds as if you spilled highly prominent Death Metal tones on top of Terrorizer’s World Downfall – spicing it with soaring a soaring guitar sound. Especially the drums push the entire release into the forefront and blast an absolute wildfire into your face. If you need music to accompany your bad Monday, go ahead and put on this demo.

Mental Casket – Demo (Death Metal 2020 – Poland)

There is some more technically-influenced Old School Death Metal coming from Poland. Don’t be afraid when hearing the word technically in combination with Death Metal, this still is a very raw and Old School sound of Death Metal yet coined by distinct guitar lead melodies on mid-tempo rhythm. Next to those melodies, this demo is coined by stomping rhythm parts that interchange with faster yet not Grind-fast sequences and fierce riffing. I really like the guitar playing on this demo, especially because of the variety between strong riffing as well as memorable lead melody sequences.

Cadaveribus – Open the Gate (Death Metal 2020 – Japan)

In the end, we also have the recommendation for the exclusively cavernous Death Metal fans among us, coming straight from Japan. Cadaveribus play very groovy and riff-driven, nasty and disgustingly produced Old School Death Metal sound that gets your head nodding all the way through. This reminds a lot of the disgusting sound genre colleagues such as Undergang are playing – especially these Danes Misantropologi is what comes to my mind when listening to this rough output from Tokyo. If you need more rabid and nasty Death Metal in your life, you should definitely have Cadaveribus on your scope for their upcoming releases.

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