Pure Fucking Armageddon

That's really all I can say about "Pure Fucking Armageddon". When I first saw the CD version of this demo (used - for $17.99) sitting in the "Mayhem" section in my local record store, I thought I'd found something incredible. I liked the "Deathcrush" album so I assumed that "PFA" would be equally impressive. When I put the disc in my CD player at home, I was thoroughly disappointed.

Upon hitting the play button, a static-washed rumbling came out of my speakers. Soon I could make out the severely muffled, barely audible banging of a snare drum amidst the horrible noise. And this is basically how every song on the album goes. I couldn't believe that this was the demo that so many people have worshipped and praised as being such a brilliant piece of work. I was also pissed I threw down 18 bucks for this garbage!

I'm not very picky when it comes to an album's production, especially in this kind of music, and I understand that a lower quality production creates a darker, more harsh atmosphere, but to me, this is totally unlistenable, this has no atmosphere. This is twenty-seven minutes of total shit, recorded solely for the sake of making something that sounds like shit (probably to piss off the "posers" and trendy metal kids Euronymous loathed), and the premise fails horribly.

I give this album a rating of 10, because I have heard later recordings of the songs presented here and they aren't bad songs, but on this demo, the recording is so bad you wouldn't be able to tell.