The Best of Demon Volume One

Demon, while officially from Stoke on trent in fact hold their origins in Leek (my town about 10 miles from stoke, you can see the football field in the picture shown on this site), and their “Night of the demon” album is what first dragged me out of the nu-metal rut, sure- I may prefer a good blast of Gorgoroth or Behexen these days, but Demon are arguably the greatest band ever to descend from the moorlands, so it seemed fitting I should review them.

What we have here is NWOBHM supremacy, simple riffs, mesmerising solos, primitive drumming, smooth bass and great vocals by Dave Hill (whose shop I purchased this from- sadly he has resorted to selling nu-metal seemingly to keep afloat, shame, that shop is awesome, very old school record shop like- if you ever get a chance check it out)
Back to the music, the songs are incredibly catchy, and as this compilation dances around you in majesty- you can feel the occult (though tongue-in-cheek) lyrics, “The Spell” almost sounds like Meatloaf at times, except much much more metal and generally better. There are also incredibly catchy moments. “Night of the demon” is the Ultimate Metal dance floor filler, and I can say that with all sincerity. There are also some incredibly solos such as on “Don’t Break the Circle”, there are also moments of gang vocals “Into the nightmare”, “Sign of a madman”, The Hurricane is either the ultimate tribute or the ultimate Irony, as in 1987 a Hurricane tore through the UK, first time in hundreds of years-this song either reflects that, or I believe may have been released before, making it ironic but the ultimate showstealer is yet to come, the leviathan of this ocean of excellence
“Remembrance day” begins with a drifting flute, which should bring any Englishman to silence, for this song is a tribute to our warriors who fell in World War II, the keyboard intermingles behind, this is not catchy, this is not tongue in cheek. The guitars seep into the proceedings and the drums create an ominous background. The vocals tell of the horrors of war, and you can’t help but feel regret at the loss of life, the last verse is repeated several times-


I pray they find a peace
In a great and proud land
Where their sons and daughters
Will walk hand in hand
And all the hearts will beat
To the sound of one drum
When the streets no more
Echo the gun

And as the song echoes away into nothingness, I can’t help but feel proud to be English, and to have partaken in this excellent album

Conclusion- a fantastic NWOBHM release, I highly commend it, and suggest you buy it- you will concur