Coming of War

Some 20 years later, I still remember buying this demo from the band after a gig they played in my hometown. It still is one of the greatest death metal concerts I've seen, because these guys were a fierce live act. Not so long after, they lost some members, and pretty much vanished into obscurity. In my opinion, it still is a bloody shame, even today.

If you look at the music on this demo, it's not hard to understand why they were such a great live act. Combining death metal in the style of Deicide, early Asphyx and Massacre with a goodly dose of thrash metal in the vein of Destruction, Kreator, Devastation (TX) and Slayer, this was a concoction that would've taken any casual onlookers head clean off. The compositions are steel-plated chunks of well thought out metal, combining uptempo hammering parts with heavy-as-shit slow pounding sections, held together by excellent musicianship and, not in the least part, by the vitriolic gravel-coated voice of Sven Van den Broeck. The choruses are catchy, and the tracks contain hooks for days, while remaining aggressive and menacing throughout. Delivered with huge doses of energy, this music simply could not fail to impress, either on CD or live.

The production is equally as powerful as the music. Agreed, it still is of demo quality, but the guitar, bass and percussion are clear in the mix, with the acidic vocal delivery neatly on top. Of course, the balance between the instruments could've been a tad better, and the triggered kicks provide somewhat of a bum note on an otherwise awesome release, but to say it again, this is a demo, recorded on whatever budget that was available to the band. With that in mind, it still sounds massive, and I've heard way worse than this.

"Coming of War" was, and still is today, a solid offering of old school death metal with thrash metal undertones. Apart from some details here and there, it has gloriously stood the test of time in my opinion. Too bad they never got around to record a full length album, but sank away into obscurity instead.

They deserved way better in my opinion.