Memories In Torment - Demo 2011

Self Released 2011

1.Self Inflicted Wounds 2.D.U.S.T 3.Horror Horror

Ugly, dirty old school death metal is where this self released demo is placing itself in amongst the multitude of sub-genres that have been created under the ‘Extreme Metal’ tag. The first thing that grabs the attention is the overall heaviness of the songs, opener ‘Self Inflicted Wounds’ rumbles along in a cess-pit of nastiness, the guitars very heavy and old school in their nature, the composition of the riffs bringing back memories of the early 90’s. It’s all very slow to mid-paced which suits the song perfectly, no need to blast here, the heaviness of the riffs makes up for the lack of blast! ‘D.U.S.T’ follows and is very similar to the previous track, the pace increased slightly in places to add some variety to the track. Variety is also added by differing vocals, guttural roars used alongside a more screamed main vocal, the guttural vocals drenched in reverb and echo which adds the old school feel. Final track ‘Horror Horror’ again sees the pace being upped slightly but then returning to the familiar mid-paced crawl. The ending to this track is very catchy, a definite ‘toe-tapper’ and just as the song is gathering pace and becoming appealing, it ends, which is a shame.

Overall there’s a hint of groove to the death metal riffs, reminiscent of Baphomet and slower Incantation in places. That’s basically what gives this demo its old school appeal, the death metal riffing being very catchy in places, simple guitar riffs and patterns backed up by simple, to the point drumming both used to create a real air of horror. Production wise, the guitars couldn’t be better, heavy as fuck and raw, just the way they should be on a release like this. On the down side, the drum production is awful. I’m not sure if this was the aim of the band, to have the drums sounding like they were recorded in the garage next door. The kick drums especially bad, barely audible through all the other instruments and vocals. A shame, but not too important as this is only a demo and in it’s (old school) nature shouldn't have a crystal clear production anyway. This demo will appeal to a lot of people and might even bring back a few memories for the older extreme metal fans listening to it (me included!). Admitedly, it's not going to set the world on fire, but it is a good solid death metal release which showcases a band who were hoping to gain some attention from it, before they sadly called it a day. Disappointing news, as their next release would probably have been a belter! Worth your time.

6.5 out of 10