With so much Swedish death metal heritage in this band, it is no wonder I was looking forward to receiving this album. Created by Rogga Johansson (‘Paganizer’ and ‘Ribspreader’) and joined by death metal counterparts Dan Swano (ex-‘Bloodbath’, ‘Edge of Sanity’) on guitars and keyboards with Ed Warby on drums (‘Gorefest’), this crowd of musicians produce some classic old school death metal sounds (courtesy of Unisound Studio’s) with some diverse attributes more akin to both brutal death, groovy thrash, and even black metal.
‘Resurrecting the Rotting (Flesh Festival Part II)’ opens up with mid paced brutality. The diverse nature of this album comes in mid way through the tracks, very short synth bursts, these are done tastefully and only for atmospheric content, and by no way form a major basis of the track. ‘Cremated Lies the Day’ pounds into action. Fans of ‘Dismember’ and early ‘Entombed’ will love this one with a typical old school Swedish death metal guitar tone heralds a return to crushing guitar chugging followed by a blitzing solo and ending that requires mandatory headbanging. The vocals become even more guttural on subsequent songs, and it has to be said, you do not want to turn off the music at all. It definitely keeps the listener wanting more and more.
Some raspy black metal tinged gurgles ensure that there is the variation. ‘Wolves at the Gates’ starts out with a lovely melodic guitar piece, oh how it changes! The mid section gets groovy and downtuned, and oh so dirty. The only slightly annoying thing is at the end of some tracks where there are little extras of musical pieces; these are sometimes lost in the fade-out.
‘The Apocalyptic’ produces some black metal rasps like ‘Immortal’, with Death Metal barks overlaid in the mid-section. This is also a track where the bass is much louder in the mix than on previous ones, and this is something you don’t normally hear so much on death metal albums.
There is something for everyone on ‘The Hate Chamber’. Although, Swedish death metal old school style is the majority, ‘Demiurg’ back up this with some other influences not normally associated with the genre. The interludes are leaning more towards the black/evil end of the musical spectrum with brutal guttural vocal lines.
Lead breaks when they do appear, are damn fine examples of technical brilliance. ‘World Destroyer’ is a particular favourite, whilst ‘Dawn Dusk Delusion’ does give you that latter day ‘Carcass’ feel, in most aspects, except the eerie synth passages; another cracking tune!
Pär Johansson provides the clean vocals on ‘Cult of Dagon’ which is a perfect album closing track. This one is particularly different more a doom/death song structure that is akin to very early ‘Paradise Lost’. There is not a single weak track on the album; all of the tracks are powerful and perfectly arranged. It just proves that these Swedes know what they are doing and push all the right buttons.
‘Demiurg’ are a top class band with many an influence. You just can’t help liking this album (not that there is anything that you could really criticise the band or album for anyway). It’s a stomping brutal metal juggernaut.
http://www.myspace.com/demiurgofficial
http://www.mascotrecords.com
http://www.myspace.com/mascot
