December Moon

Before Pelle joined Mayhem, he was in his own band called Morbid, originally called Scapegoat. However, the band didn't got anywhere, as they only released a couple of demos before disbanding. It's kinda sad, because the band had some potential to make some amazing stuff, and there isn't a demo that shows that more than "December Moon".

What makes this demo stand out is its diverse styles. The demo features a mix between black metal, death metal, and thrash metal. While it leans more towards thrash and death metal, it also includes some black metal elements. All of the songs include some distortion, especially with the guitars, creating an atmosphere of darkness and horror. Most of the guitar riffs are also thrash-based, as Napolean Pukes and Gehenna play very fast and bring in a chaotic sound to them. Each element is done well, and offers something for anyone who's into thrash/death/black metal.

Then there's Dead, who does the vocals and lyrics. Pelle's voice has a different sound from when he was in Mayhem. In Mayhem, his vocals have a mix between screaming and gurgles. In this demo, he offers a more evil voice, and they sound mysterious. One good example of this would be in the intro song "My Dark Subconscious". His evil voice works well with the dark, creepy atmosphere of the song. His lyric writing here is also pretty good. The lyrics include themes of death, Satanism, and many more horror-based themes. The lyrics are executed well with Dead's vocals. He brings quite a performance in this demo, and are unique from his more violent moments in Mayhem.

The demo also includes some samples and interesting moments on the demo. "Wings of Funeral" starts off with a sample from the movie "The Evil Dead". We then move on to a guitar playing a slower, smooth riff that serves as a "calm before the storm" moment. Also, in the end of "Disgusting Semla", we hear Dead and ghastly voices laugh in a crazed tone. This moment shows that the singer has gone insane, and is done fantastic with the rough guitar riff that plays in the background.

This demo is easily the best one the band released in its short life, and it's not just Dead that carries the entire thing. Not only does he offer unique vocals, but the songs bring a haunting aesthetic and versatile style that makes them stand out. Even though the band is long gone, it's still remembered for starting the career of a black metal legend.

As much as I would like to try and leave aside any sort of fanatic legends or adolescent mystification about this band, this demo or its vocalist, and as much as I would like to ignore (or, rather, obviate) the history that succeeded it when writing this review, I still could never deny the bold, evident fact that, looking at it from today's perspective, Morbid's 1987 December Moon demo is the utmost manifestation of what genuine, authentic, no-gimmick evil extreme metal should sound like. Point blank. No discussion. It almost feels pointless for me to write anything at all on this release, since nothing I could ever say is of any value whatsoever compared to what the music actually meant, and still means to this day, not just to the genre of black/death metal or even the music world per se, but even more so for it being the evil, rotten, cursed spell deliberately unleashed on mankind as a whole that this thing is.

I would like to, again, state clearly and somewhat redundantly that I want to stay absolutely clear of any comparisons between Morbid's music and Mayhem's, as I just think it'd mean taking the easy path to try and somehow measure its attributes or qualities by scaling them, yet I believe that's an impossible and unfruitful task. This demo is so raw, mean and so perfect in all its ways that it'd simply be unthinkable for me to ever try to compare it to anything out there at all. The vocals are of course the main focus of my admiration and devotion towards it, yet the music accompanying them doesn't fall short at all, either. This demo is the sole proof needed to show and make obvious to anyone how Dead WAS black metal. Long before this demo became an underground, cult-like classic in the genre, he was already true to what he believed in, and he already lived (and died for) what he so passionately and aggressively screamed about in his demented lyrics. Long before Dead became famous for his godlike contributions to the Norwegian black metal scene, he was already dead. This demo is the only proof needed to realize it didn't matter where he was, or who he was with, because “it” all came from him. The darkness that consumed Mayhem, and turned Euronymous on to even darker, filthier, unexplored terrains of the musical and ideological realm emanated purely from this man himself.

It's extremely easy to get lost in this creeping music's dimension if you let it reach you, since it's so hiddenly hateful and skillfully evil that there's nothing for one to do to ever even think of escaping its poisonous, snaky grasp once it gets a hold of you. The masterfully crafted deadly melodies that constantly accentuate the devilish aura of the band's front-man are sickly infectious, and the combination of the painful buzzsaw guitars, the drowned out dramatic drums and the meaty, groovy bass together with the incessant screams make for the ultimate sound of mad darkness. The amateurish, annoying guitar solos are priceless pieces of primitive proto-thrash/death/black metal, and deserve a whole testament attributed to them for their own good. Even down to the lyrics, the gore, the satanic jargon, the coal-black humor; it's all proof that what Dead did was simply true, no matter which band he was in, since there was no visible evolution or change later on either, and he obviously had no regards for his environment or showed any intention of adapting later on, since he wasn't putting on an act, but what's scariest, he was being his own demon.

December Moon deserves all the praise it could ever get, more than anything else I could ever think of. What Dead did in Mayhem is obviously legendary, and releases such as Live in Leipzig, Live in Zeitz, Live in Sarpsborg or the studio tracks demo are all priceless pure black metal attacks. Yet, this demo is just such a clear taste of what could have been had he lived long enough to actually perform in proper studio, full-length releases that it'd be stupid not to call it epic. Nothing, I repeat, nothing could ever come close to this.

Usually, listening to a demo requires lowering your expectations. The contents of demos tend to be made up mostly of material expected to be on a forthcoming album, usually as a way to show off the ideas a band has before they tighten up the structures and polish their performances and the production. As such, they tend to be a bit lacking, especially compared to subsequent fuller-bodied versions of the songs. Going into this release, however, requires no such precautions. Production issues and rough execution aside, December Moon rocks just as hard and is just as well-composed as any full-length from the early days of Sweden's death metal scene.

Maybe the fact that it's impossible to compare ‘My Dark Subconscious’ or 'Wings of Funeral' to later, more pristine incarnations of themselves warps a listener's perception of December Moon. Would the demo version of 'Holy Wars...the Punishment Due' seem good if the perfected version from Rust in Peace had never existed? Whatever the case, these songs are extraordinarily well-executed, with tight performances and production well above average for a demo. Though everything sounds dirty, you never feel like you have to dig through a layer of muck to make out the instruments. The guitars are lean and biting, like trained attack dogs, even if the production doesn't emphasize them as much as it should. The tone the guitars employ for the leads and solos is powerful as well. The bass lurks in the background, tending to mimic whatever the guitars are doing to round out the album’s low end. While not what you’d call showy, the drums have a strong presence and are engineered well, without any of the individual parts seeming too loud or too quiet.

The music these instruments craft is an invigorating rush worthy of even the most jaded deathrash enthusiast. The riffs barrel forward at an intense pace and flow into each other nicely, giving the demo a satisfying sense of progression. ‘My Dark Subconscious’ is especially well-constructed, with each riff feeding logically into the next without the song ever feeling rote or predictable. There's even a bit of eerie atmosphere in December Moon, especially in the soft, haunting interlude and slow, doom-laden transitions in ‘From the Dark’. Throughout the demo, plenty of the riffs and leads go for a malevolent, dread-inducing character that's almost as big a part of this album's ghastly sound as its famed singer's voice.

Vocalist Dead, whose notoriety in Norway's black metal scene is probably the reason you know about this band, is the main selling point here. The young Per Yngve Ohlin's vocals are magnificent in all their filthy, off-putting splendor. His performance must have been blood-chilling at the time and it still seems menacing today, no matter how many times you've heard his technique imitated. The vocals, except for the bizarre “la la la la la” heard near the end of album closer 'Disgusting Semla', which is just as wonderful as it is out of place, are delivered with a sinister rasp that makes Quorthon's death croak seem benevolent by comparison. The production helps out a bit, placing the vocals exactly where they need to be, just under the crunch of the guitars, making Dead sound like some sort of Lovecraftian horror whispering sinister messages to you from just out of sight.

Morbid is perhaps the greatest could-have-been in metal history. This release is only a demo and already the band’s talent was plainly visible, shining extremely bright for a band that was around for such a short time. Employing a sound that sat squarely on the fence between thrash and the Swedish approach to death metal that was only just coming into being at the time, as well as foreshadowing Norway's black metal scene in the vocal department, December Moon is a gem, capturing a glimpse of one genre-straddling band's formidable skill before its premature demise. Mourn not this band's quick dissolution, sad though it may be. Celebrate the fact that we're blessed with this brief but monumental opus.

This is a fantastic demo from one of Sweden’s finest acts, Morbid. Most know them as “that band Dead was in before Mayhem”, however, I think of them as “that awesome Swedish death/thrash band that happened to have Dead on vocals”. I feel the latter statement is more appropriate, as Dead is far from the only thing about this demo that rules. Do not get me wrong, Dead’s performance is great and his brilliance is perfectly exemplified on this recording, I just feel that the rest of the band deserves just as much credit as he does. And to be totally honest, I think this demo is better then anything Mayhem ever did, with or without Dead.

Anyway, back to how awesome this demo is. Production wise, this demo is perfect, and for this type of music especially. However, I want to clarify I am talking about the way the original sounds, or the official reissues, not the ‘Tribute...’ bootleg, or any other shitty ones that have surfaced over the years. It is gritty and raw, yet perfectly clear and easy to distinguish what is going on with each instrument. Of course it may bother those who need everything pristinely polished and shiny sounding, but those who like the sound of decently produced 80’s demos will love it. Dead’s vocals can be heard with impeccable clarity and hold a firm place in the mix for the demo’s entirety. The guitars are double-tracked (which makes sense considering there were two guitarists) and both have similarly fuzzed-out yet razor-sharp tones. They could be thicker, but this is where the bass comes in, which accompanies the guitars nicely in the mix and provides the obligatory low-end with a deep, clean tone. The drums could have had some more power, but they are still perfectly clear and the only thing that really required some more work would be the ride cymbal, so it’s not too much of a problem.

The area of metal Morbid specialized in was rotten, mid-late 80’s death/thrash, breaking the barriers of simplicity bands such as Master/Deathstrike and fellow country-mates Obscurity were putting in place, but not quite reaching the level of technicality bands such as Protector, Insanity (US), and Morbid Saint were primitively toying with. But of course technicality and intricate song structures weren’t necessarily requirements for quality death/thrash, as Morbid perfectly show here. Tempo changes occur pretty frequently, and the variations from section to section do actually differ greatly and are very well-arranged, so none of these songs monotonously drag on throughout their entirety. Instead, they keep me attentive and on my toes, despite how many times I’ve listened to this thing, and from what I gather, many people get the same effect from it as I do.

As many have already said, Dead’s performance here is just incredible. Where as most other death/thrash vocalists would either scream, growl, grunt, etc, Dead utilizes an extremely eerie, almost whisper-like raspy hissing, which actually does a lot more for the atmosphere then any other form of vocals would, and Dead knows this, so he uses it to his full advantage. Really, anything else just wouldn’t work as well as the vocals do here. The guitar work is great as well. It is simplistic, but not overly so, and the way the riffs are arranged is what keeps you interested, rather then trying to bend your brain with technical retardation. It never reaches the muddiness of death metal’s downtuned ways, and instead sticks to higher, far more thrash-oriented type of riffing, with lots of rapid palm-mutes and things of that sort. Their early-mid 80’s death metal side does pop up a lot though, so do not let that give you the wrong the idea. And then of course there are the solos, which switch from atonal, whammy-abusing bursts of chaos to more note/semi-melodically driven ones, but are of course played at rapid speed with relentless tremolo picking, done in a very self-titled Bathory fashion. The bass follows the guitars for the demo’s entirety, which is good because the rather thin guitar tones need something more bassy to back them up and give them the meat they deserve. The drums are very well-executed, even if there are a couple sections here and there where the precision is lost amongst the thrashing fury, but it never lasts long. I also like how he does certain fills and things of that nature to accentuate a bridge or melody, a perfect example being thirty-seconds into “My Dark Subconscious”, where the fill follows the short bridge exactly. The tempo all together ranges from somewhat mid-paced sections, though never quite SUPER slow, to thrash gallops, to double bass breaks, to all-out relentless aggression, and each one is pulled off and transitioned into nicely.

Morbid’s ‘December Moon’ is, by far, one of the best releases to have ever come out of Sweden during that country’s magical heyday, and is certainly my favorite recording Dead ever had anything to do with. It’s a shame he left the band so soon, as this demo certainly showed magnificent potential that they did not fulfill on the following recording. But luckily, they did leave us with this masterpiece, so I’m satisfied.

Also, if at all possible, I recommend trying to find an official reissue of this, or an original (good fucking luck), and avoid the shitty ‘Black Emperors...’ bootleg, as well as most others. The one that was released as a split CD with Poison (Ger)’s ‘Into the Abyss’ sucks too, so definitely avoid that one.

Morbid is something of a cult band within Black Metal circles since it was the first band of Mayhem ex-singer Dead. They're also known for having other members move on to Entombed. Anyway, Morbid played thrash/death with a touch of bm (obviously because of the vocals) and December Moon was their only official demo, a great one to boot. Moving on to the review...

Best thing about this demo are the vocals of Dead. I would explain them as hoarse, dramatic whispers, something like a crossbreed between a snake and a zombie with crushed throat roaming the graveyards of Stockholm... Enough rambling already.

The music itself is simple, good thrash/death. It's nothing too special or great but it has enough variation to be interesting. There are some nice touches here and there on the demo, one is the intro of "wings of funeral", which consists of a obscure Evil Dead sample and a clean arpeggio riff that creates a sombre feel before the action kicks in.

Worst thing about this demo is the production. It is pretty poor but still listenable, especially for BM fans used to raw sound. There are a few times on the demo though where it can be hard to discern what every instrument is playing, I suppose this is a combination of the bad sound quality and sloppy playing from the band (they were kids with their first demo after all, so I'm not going to criticize that).

I always liked this demo and still do, so I'm never going to quit thinking about what could have been achieved if Morbid had a couple of more songs and better production on it. Thats my two cents, so to sum it up:

"December Moon":
+ Great vocals, great atmosphere and good music.
- Poor production.

The one reason that I will not give this album the 100% moniker is because there is a filler on it, otherwise it is a superb release with absolutely no faults what so ever, the recording is awesome, the songs are fucking killer, the vocals are the nastiest thing Dead has ever done, which is saying quiet a lot seeing that he did so much nasty fucking shit. But in reality, the best vocalist who has ever walked the earth in my opinion is Dead. I doubt many people can refute this claim, among the vocals he did he is absolutely the ruler, no other black metal vocalist can come even relatively close, perhaps the guy from Inquisition, and maybe the guy from Bestial Summoning, who dedicate shit to him, but that is really it. For those of you who might not be familiar with his vocals, if any of you still exist, he sounds just like his name. Lifeless, hollow, painful shrieks and raspy ass drawn out notes that sound like he is truly dying. With his death metal band Morbid, he does not do so much of that, he just sounds vile and disgusting to the extreme, still raspy, still hollow, but in a thrashy way, instead of his usual stuff with Mayhem. The guitars are very thin sounding but they work really well for this album, no bass can be discerned by my ears, although perhaps someone with more experience can tell you about it, I could not find the lows anywhere on this recording. The drums sound pretty tiny and cardboard, but in a good way, the bass drum lacks depth, but aside from that I think it works really well for their aims.
The first to the last track of this demo are absolutely amazing, except the one filler track which is o.k. but still needs something to happen to it so it can be as good as the rest of the stuff Morbid has released. That track is ‘From the Dark’. It is really nothing, it just kinda rolls along and does not do much. The opening track slays the life of any listening to it, with a sick guitar track to it, and a crazy depraved sound, and the second is their bomb track to my ears, ‘Winds of Funeral’. This track has some of the most memorable ghastly ass vocals, and a great riff to go along with it, although everything else is just kinda there for the effect. And of course there is the last track, ‘Disgusting Smegma’, which has the funniest sing along section in recorded history. And here I would like to point out the use of vocal distortion in certain places on this demo, it just occurs from time to time, but is very distinct from the undistorted Dead. All in all this is a great demo, and I think all fans of Mayhem should get it to see what else this man did, as well as all old school death metal fans, but they probably have it already.

After hearing the legendary Dead from Mayhem, I immediately did some research and found out about this demo by Morbid. After the great pains I went through to get it, I was not dissapointed.

Dead's vocals on this demo are very different then the ones on any Mayhem release, but different for the better. Instead of the possessed screaming, his voice sounds like a loud whisper that tell tales of dark wizards. It makes one think of being alone in the woods of Sweden and a voice speaking from the trees. Superb work by Dead here.

The guitars courtesy of Uffe Cederland and John Berger are equally impressive. You can tell that Uffe Cederland is destined to be in a great band in the future, which he did with Entombed. The guitars, like the vocals, are rather subtle, with much of the bass left in the EQ, unlike many other black/death metal guitarists who cut out the bass and mid range frequencies mostly or sometimes entirely. Uffe Cederland shows some exposure to other forms of music, especially in the solo to "My Dark Subconcious", which clearly has Indian influences. My only complaint in this department is the bass. Although the use of the bass frequency is a good thing, they over do it. If the actual sound of the guitar wasn't as thin as it is, it would be hard to tell the difference between the guitars and the bass. Overall, however, the guitars and the bass are excellent.

The drums are the only thing I have any real complaints about. It is quite obvious the band was going for a more subtle sound, but the drums are entirely too low in the mix. Since the most used drum is the bass drum anyways, this is a serious problem, as bass frequencies are generally quieter than treble ones. It is also some very basic drumming, nothing special that blew me away, I think he is better off singing for Entombed.

To sum all of that up, a superb demo, even if they got a little bass-happy with it. I would also like to say that I hesistate to call this any genre of metal, I know earlier I compared the guitars to black/death metal, but that was just to
have something to compare them to. I have never heard anything like this before, and it is unlikely that I will ever hear it again. If i had to give the genre a title, I would say "mystery metal" because, obviously, of the mysteriousness of the songs and the mix. I know several people who are not into metal at all that like this demo, so I would definitely recommend it to anybody, provided they can find it.

Yeah, this is what Dead did before he joined to Mayhem, and it isn't a bad stuff here, but without Dead's presence there is nothing special here. It's a death/thrash metal demo which has been recorded in 16 hours and it's pretty sensed here. The production is pretty bad, everything sounds distorted and there is a little mess among the instruments. The guitar has horrible sound, it sounds scratchy and a bit muted, that's a bad thing of course because the songs could be delivered much better with more powerful guitar tune.

The song themselves are pretty solid. 'My Dark Subconcious' begins with a weird sound and then comes a guitar with a pretty good opener riff and the song continues with a nice riffing and cool drumming. The vocals sounds pretty sick and occult, but sometimes it gets louder than the rest of the instruments and you can't hear well the riffs and also the drums blends a bit. 'Winds Of Funeral' begins with an awesome clean interlude and then it suddenly changes and becomes straightforward with some aggressive drumming and great riffs. I think it could be much better song if they were developing the clean intro and than changes the mood, because it really could be an outstanding track if they weren't waste such a great opening riff.

Anyway, the songs here are pretty rhythmic and has some catchy moments, but nothing more. The vocals pretty good and so are the riffs, but the production is really sucks and it sounds too much dirty like that. It's a good demo but not something essential.