Eternally Forgotten / Curse the Sunrise

Another forgotten band and forgotten EP, this slice by Apparition is worth getting if you run into it in some obscure second-hand shop. Two songs of old-school thrashy death metal bounce their way from riff to riff in a way not unlike Autopsy, and even the vocals share similarities with Mr Reifert’s hoarse grunts, with a hint of Nocturno Culto of the Soulside Journey era.

Albeit not as dark and grimy as Autopsy, Apparition does evoke some menacing imagery, implementing slow crawling riffs and tortured, moaning guitar solos among thrashier lumps of noise. A couple of passages with odd rhythms find their way into the songs, but this experimentation never goes overboard, and the band keeps its act together rather well – imagine some lost Suffocation tracks from their demo/EP days.

The production is a bass-heavy mess, but since nothing is too badly lost in the mud, it’s nothing to moan about. A bit of grime never hurt a death metal album, anyway. Just don’t assume this to be one of those terribly clean Sunlight sound jobs.