[Note: I have heard these songs through the bonus tracks on the Dark Recollections re-release.]
It’s pretty odd to see how much Carnage's sound had changed in just one demo. It is also somewhat strange to witness their drastic increase in quality since "The Day Man Lost". This is the first demo which featured them playing their signature brand of Swedish death metal. This demo is also the first time they got it together and really started to excel. Now don't get me wrong TDML was pretty good, but this stuff is truly great.
The two songs on here would later be on Dark Recollections, and they are done just as well on this demo as they would be done on DR. All of the guitar riffs on both songs are superb. The band plays some very catchy melodic riffs that don’t lose any of their power despite being very ear-friendly. They counter these by also playing absolutely crushing, somewhat thrashy, death metal riffs that are just as satisfying. All of the riffs are nicely completed by the dirty guitar tone that the demo possesses.
The vocals aren’t really a standout quality but they’re pretty good. The vocalist uses a mid-range death growl that was pretty typical for the time. Unlike the first demo, the production on this is quite good. Everything comes in decently clear, the mix is virtually flawless, and, as I mentioned before, the guitar tone is very good.
There is really nothing bad I can say about this release. The songs are well-written and well produced, and the guitars riffs are absolutely killer. I guess the vocals could be better, but they’re good enough so I’m not complaining. This demo is one great piece of death metal and it is highly recommended to fans of the genre.
- Xeroxed onto grey paper
- Demo was recorded onto regular studio tapes.
Recorded and mixed at MARKSTUDIO, 11 - 12 November 1989.
This band also released a special promotional copy of this demo that has a slightly different cover.
