DEMONICA - review added 24th February 2010
Album Review: Demonstrous (2010)
For fans of: Thrash... and Slayer crossed with Destruction
Demonica is part American, part Danish, and, for want of a better phrase, all badass. The line-up features Klaus Hyr on vocals, Craig Locicero (Forbidden) and Hank Shermann (Mercyful Fate) on guitar, Marc Grabowski (Corruption) on bass and Mark Hernandez (Forbidden) on drums. Yep, some of these guys are big names in the world of metal.
Demonstrous is a f*cking heavy album, be in no doubt. If you took three parts thrash, one part industrial death metal and two parts C4 you'd have the right mix. The sound is like Slayer and Destruction kicking the cr*p out of Testament whilst Burton C. Bell shoots the members of Biohazard at the ensuing carnage through a rocket launcher.
Klaus Hyr has a seriously cool tone. Okay, there's a comedic slant to the way he enunciates his words, but no more than Cronos from Venom...and we certainly like his work. The guitars shred like a jet engine tipped with razor blades. The rhythm section ain't exactly bad either. The end result is like a part-animated version of Judgment Day.
Opening track 'Demon Class' belts forwards with double-speed thrash. The singing is straight from the Tom Araya school of screaming. You've heard music like this a hundred times before, but this is in no way a bad track. 'Ghost Hunt' again sounds bloody good, but does nothing spectacularly new. 'My Tongue' is more like it. The lyrics have a cool individuality to them, and the grinding slow nature of the track makes it damned memorable.
'Luscious Damned' is another brutal beefcake of a track. The beauty behind the stomach clenching heaviness means the slight lack of catchiness is irrelevant. Some of the musicianship on 'Below Zero' is astonishing, although main kudos goes to Marc Grabowski's pounding bass line. 'Alien Six' is built around a full-on artillery of kick drums and mountain-moving rhythms. The fact Klaus sounds like he is singing 'Alien Sex' barely seems to matter.
'Palace Of Glass' is a couple of steps ahead of anything else on the album. Just how awesome and heavy is that chorus?! 'Fast And Furious' rattles with a passion. The more thoughtful 'Summoned' is full to the brim of phat riffs and beast-slaying beats and works well. The final instrumental track 'Astronomica' is features more sensational musicianship.
Huge chunks of Demonstrous are achingly unoriginal, and few of the songs are that amazing in standalone form. However, the sound and performances and first class and make Demonica's debut a lot more enjoyable that it has any right to be. It's not what you could call utterly brilliant, but it's definitely worth checking out if you love thrash or brutally heavy metal.
Check out... 'Palace Of Glass'. Oh yes.
Track List:
01. Demon Class
02. Ghost Hunt
03. My Tongue
04. Luscious Damned
05. Below Zero
06. Alien Six
07. Palace Of Glass
08. Fast And Furious
09. Summoned
10. Astronomica
Label: Massacre Records
Artist's website(s): Demonica , MySpace
