The Chasm Within

"The Chasm Within" is gold dust for anyone with an interest in 'melodic death metal'. Cyanotic were an underground Danish band who released two amazing demos and a disappointing album ("Sapphire Season"). The band didn’t seem to have a consistent work ethic; this 1992 demo appeared two years before the second demo and four years before the album. Nonetheless, the band reached great heights on their first attempt. These three songs present some of the band's best and most groundbreaking material, an early example of melodic death metal before the advent of 'melodeath'.

The distinction between the two terms is important. The former implies bands using melody in their death metal, the latter refers to bands with heavy metal structures and harsh vocals. I would cite Fatal's "A Somber Evocation of Nihilism" as the earliest example of the former, and maybe Eucharist's 1992 demo as the second earliest. I don’t discount contributions by Amorphis, Dismember, God Macabre, Desultory, etc, but none of those bands embraced melody in such complex terms as Fatal and Eucharist. Cyanotic belongs to this lineage. This demo sounds like that aforementioned Fatal seven-inch combined with Grotesque and (demo-era) At the Gates. Bands taking this route were rare once melodeath grew in popularity.

There are three songs. Each is a multi-faceted epic, full of riffs and tempo shifts. The band were excellent musicians. The music is tight, creative, cohesive and expressive. They riffed as hard as any death metal band before them, but deployed melody in ingenious ways. Some melodies are developed through the lead playing, some arise when the band drops the tempo to doom-ish pace (adding some mournful notes). However, the best (and subtlest) use of melody happens when the tempo accelerates, weaving melody into the ferocious death metal riffs. Still, this music is defined by structure, not melody. This is hard and intense music that pushes the boundaries of death metal.

This is essential listening. It is one of the best and most assured death metal demos I've ever heard (only beaten by bonafide masterpieces like "Gardens of Grief", "Inside the Labyrinth of Depression", and the band's own untitled second demo). Sure, the production might deter those accustomed to cleaner sounds. It sounds muffled in comparison to most melodic metal. Such a production doesn't 'showcase' the melody, but blends it into the wider musical framework. Personally, I appreciate this production more with every listen. It is powerful, bass-heavy and the band sometimes adds reverb for a swampy effect (e.g., near the end of "Eclipsed Existence"). Overall, this is one of the premier examples of early melodic death metal, a rare commodity.

Excellent demo!! I´ve just got from a metal store, and it blasted me away. Even though it´s more than a decade old, it still sounds as grimreaping and melodic as ever. It´s truly the sound of Scandinavian frostlike sorrow, and reveals the mentallity of textwriter Claus and musicmaker Kresten. The music itself is technically brilliant, due to axe player Krestens skills and talent of writing music. Emotionally he takes us to where the scenes are set in the cold frosty winter landscapes of Denmark, where the crystalclear nights - the solos - reliefs the snowfalls - the riffs. The music shifts and changes between crunching headbanging riffs and melodic pieces of such quality and intensity, that I almost couldn´t believe my ears. It´s mindblasting beautiful, and a proven example, that metal, at its best, rightfully can be compared to classical music when it comes to terms of dynamics, melody and ambience.

Literally, It´s as despite the long silence, there´s nothing more to hope for, due to fact that the band after the release split up, and sadly enough, didn´t produced anymore in that constallation.....
Only thing though, is the quality of the recording, which isn´t the best, hence the score of 95. The music itself is a outstanding 100!
So, if you ever get the chance to lay your hand on this demo, do it.