Norway Day! (Part One)

Just for the hell of it, today is Norway Day where I am sharing demos that pre-date the rise of Black Metal and all the associated nastiness that went with it.

It is also a good excuse to rummage through the early days of many of the musicians who would make their names in the 90s, so in alphbetical order;

Amputation "Achieve The Mutilation" Demo 1989
Amputation "Slaughter In The Arms Of God" Demo 1990




This was the band that pre-dated Immortal, featuring both Harald Nævdal (a.k.a. Demonaz) & Jørn Inge Tunsberg (who was also in Hades & Old Funeral). Musically it is pretty good death metal, showing very few if any hints of what was to come.

Link: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=7ZQG7T49



Checker Patrol "Demo Reh 1986"



This throw-away band would no doubt have been forgotten if it were not for the presence of a certain Euronymous and Necrobutcher from the fledgling Mayhem and to a lesser extent Markus, Michael and Robert from Germany's Assassin. Probably written and recorded on the same night in a sweaty bedroom filled with empty beer cans, it is pretty awful to be honest. Listen to "Satan Dies In Hell" for eternal proof that the super evil Øystein Aarseth did in fact have a sense of humour once.

Link: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=F56OEKOX



Death Fuck "Abnormal Rape" Demo 1987


Very primitive thrash that features Mayhem's Messiah on vocals, the band didn't last long, soon changing their name to Impostor who were a much better prospect.

Link: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=PS00DBZN



Impostor "Little Hitler Illusion" Demo 1987



I'm not sure if Bard Faust plays drums on this tape, but he was certainly in the band at some point. This marks a great improvement on Death Fuck, with a distinct Hellhammer influence.

Link: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=ZE9Z8MSH

Death "Live Demo, Tampa, Fl. 11th Sept 1984"

Today I present a very important part of death metal history,a very early Death live tape with a crystal clear soundboard recording.At the time of recording they were still known as Mantas changing monicker by the time this demo came out. For reasons unknown this never appeared on the Zero Tolerance releases or any of the many Death bootlegs.
"Evil Dead" and "Beyond The Unholy Grave" make an appearence, but other than that this draws on the demos, with killer versions of "Reign Of Terror", "Corpse Grinder" etc. Worth it for Kam Lee's song introductions alone!

Link: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=OGUTJEG2

Master "Rehearsal Demo August 1985"

Spending your formative years listening to demos, rehearsals and live tapes of a somewhat lo-fi quality can have a strange effect on you. It means that you often find yourself enthusing about recordings that were done on a cheap stereo, costing the price of a D90, with no production at all. One such tape for me is the August 1985 Rehearsal Demo from Master, which despite them releasing albums even to this day, remains their peak IMHO. The "mix" (ahem) is too drum heavy, especially the cymbals but to my teenage ears it meant that Master thundered along in the same way that Genocide (later Repulsion) had managed on their "Stench Of Burning Death" tape. Most of the tracks were recorded for an album in 1985 which did the rounds on the tape trading scene but didn't see official release until 2003, but this recording shades even that. When Master released their self-titled debut for Nuclear Blast in 1990, the songs were well past their sell-by date.

Link: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=9768G1E4

Savage Death "Mass Genocide" Demo 1985 & "Crucified In Hell" Demo 1986

Two classic demos of mids 80s death thrash from a long forgotten New Jersey band. Basically a mixture of early Slayer, Possessed and Death, with plenty of messy solos. "Mass Genocide" is the better of the two, as by 1986 they were writing short but sweet songs like "I Impaled Your Mother" and "Kill The Posers", well this was the era of S.O.D. the temptation of a throwaway hardcore song was too much for many bands, but it's worth the download.

Link: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=7DBTFWV2

Necrovore "Divus De Mortuus" Demo 1987

Although many of the first generation Death Metal bands went on to have at least some kind of success, Texas' Necrovore never got past the demo stage, in fact the 17 and a half minutes of their Divus De Mortuus was their lot (there is another demo, reputed to be by this band called Mutilated Death, but itis a fake).
A true cult band who cannot be ignored by those looking to understand the early days of the genre. Okay the production is typically mid 80s, but the songs rage along in a fashion that you have to keep reminding yourself that this was from 1987 and not 1990.

Link: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=B5V4NXIJ

Jackhammer [pre Whiplash] "Lethal Injection" Demo #1 1983 & "Chainsaw Love" Demo #2 1984

A long forgotten nugget from the very early days of thrash, the first tape features Tony Scagilone on drums and Rob Harding on bass, both of whom would turn up in Whiplash with the guitar and vocals handled by Chris Ott. The riffs owed a lot to the NWOBHM, but "Live By The Sword" is pretty thrashy for the day. The second tape was a more embryonic version of Whiplash with Tony Portaro now on guitar and vocals, and it shows the beginning of the buzzing guitar tone he would use to great effect in the next few years. Although these are far from the best demos ever recorded I've posted them out of historical interest and I also have a number of other demos from famous musicians making their first tentitive and often embarrassing steps into the world. If you think this is a little lack lustre, wait until you hear the band that came before Darkthrone!

Link: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=1GOWA0SP

Warhammer "Abattoir Of Death" Demo 1985

The UK's first death metal band! It was also the starting point for Shane Embury who appears here on drums. As you might expect it's primitive stuff, owing a large debt to Possessed, Sodom and Bathory. In 1985 when most people were happy to rip off Metallica and Slayer, Warhammer were pushing the envelope. This was their only demo although I seem to remember a live tape and a bunch of rehearsals doing the rounds, now if anyone has these, please contact me!

Link: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=IGCMXQK6

Devastation "A Creation Of Ripping Death" Demo #1 1986

Not the Devastation who recorded the Violent Termination & Signs Of Life albums, but a bunch of death metallers from Chicago. Their output was limited to this demo, which was re-released the following year with new vocals under the title "A Re-creation Of Ripping Death", they also recorded an unreleased album called "Dispensable Bloodshed". Think proto-death metal important enough to warrant a cover version on Napalm Death's "Leaders Not Followers Part II" and exactly the kind of band this Blog intends to focus on: influential as hell but relatively unknown due to never releasing an album.

I was going to upload my rip of the demo until I stumbled across their official site that has both demos and the album for free download, so go to http://www.devastationmusic.net and get clicking!

Awesome stuff!

Requests?

No I'm not posting anything by Metallica, Slayer, Exodus, Anthrax etc., this is a Blog dedicated to obscure 80s bands only.

Expect goodies from the likes of Amputation, Antichrist, Azagthoth, Black Death, Black Majesty, Cremains, Devastation (Chicago), Fatal, Future Tense, Hellpreacher, Leviathan, Master, Mefisto, Morbid, Redrum, Satan's Bake Sale, Sindrome, Terminal Death, Tirant Sin, Vacant Grave, Voor, Wargod, Warhammer and Xandril to name but a few.

I have a stack of stuff to share, so any requests?

Greetings Thrashers!

I've looked everywhere for a Blog that deals with rare 80s Thrash and Death metal and have drawn a blank.

So I'm doing it myself.

I'll be posting rare demos from bands that time seems to have forgotten but deserve to be remembered. Some of them are my rips, most are not, but all hark back to my tape trading days when the TDK D90 was king.

Enjoy!