Demo 1982

The Behemoth ‘death wings’ single has long been a favorite among FWOSHM (First Wave of Swedish Heavy Metal) collectors, and this demo offers the only other chance to hear what the band was capable of. Personally, I like the demo recordings more than those featured on the single. I do not know if it was intentional, but the lower sound quality of the demo recordings actually helps the music, whereas I think the single’s production is a little too polished and robs the songs of some of their heaviness. The first two songs on the demo are their best; ‘Agony of Love’ is a slow but heavy number; the best comparison I can make is to NWOBHM band Big Daisy if they had a vocalist with a lower voice. ‘Going Insane’ picks right up where ‘Agony of Love’ left off, but is more powerful while maintaining the same heavy atmosphere. After the short, untitled instrumental, the remaining tracks, while good, tend to be somewhat faster-paced and lose most of the brooding atmosphere featured on the first two songs. While the songs are still good and display some very sharp guitar work, I wish they were more similar to the opening pair, instead of being more in line with the songs from their single. Overall, a very solid demo that should help satisfy fans of their single.