To my knowledge a box-set with the first nine Nunslaughter demos was released via HHR back in 2006 (limited to 100 copies)… but who the hell knows with this band with 109 releases under their belt (probably more by the time this review comes out – though being crushed by fellow release-hoarders Sabbat (Jpn) who have 146). Anyhow, here is a new CD version of ancient material dating back to 1987; Demo after demo of Nunslaughter’s trademark less-than-two-minute anthems for Satan.
The first demo, ‘Ritual of Darkness’, whilst ferocious and naïve in a good way, marks the very beginning of the band, before they had really figured things out. Whilst you cannot hear much through the tape delay, one grows to appreciate the recording eventually as it starts revealing some of the bright ideas the band had in the very early days, mainly influenced by the European Thrash and American Black/Death Metal of the day. That said, frankly all of Nunslaughter’s material is Death Metal with Thrash elements. The 1989 second demo ‘Rotting Christ’ is simply unlistenable, and that’s coming from someone who appreciates them raw sounds. Musically it is very much on the same lines as the debut demo.
It Is the 1991 third demo ‘Impale the Soul of Christ on the Inverted Cross of Death’ that starts showing signs of the ‘devil’s metal’ that Nunslaughter have dubbed themselves the masters of. Don of the Dead takes over vocal duties at this point. We get the buzzing underground guitar and production, improved vocals and more of that primitive take of what bands such as Possessed were doing in the day. Killer demo!
Having gained some international recognition with the previous demo, its anticipated follow-up arrived two years later, entitled ‘The Guts of Christ’. The demo was famously recorded live in someone’s living room. That considers the recording captures the atmosphere of the music incredibly well, as their biography states: “Hell bent on keeping the intrinsic, unrefined sound that had become their trademark”.
Along with ‘Impale…’, the 1995 demo ‘Face of Evil’ is another of the better recorded demos. At this point Nunslaughter had gone through numerous changes in line-up, but for this demo the band reunited with their original line-up, minus the drummer. The introduction of Jim Sadist on drums made a massive difference and sped up the music up significantly, to its benefit! Excellent demo; by this time the band had really found themselves. The ‘Evil Speaks’ demo is the last chapter of this compilation and is a rehearsal recording anno 1998. Musically it is similar to its predecessor, but played somewhat faster, as you would expect from a rehearsal. As with almost all of the demos on this compilation, horror movie samples make their appearance, adding to the atmosphere.
So all demos from 1986-1998 can be found on this collection, is it worth it? Absolutely! Whilst the band nowadays seems to release record after record, split after split, it is great to listen to over a decade of this band’s development, like re-living history, listening to the demos chronologically. This compilation took me by surprise and I ended up enjoying it a lot! Not just another Nunslaughter release!
http://www.nunslaughter.com
