Demo 1992

Enigma, yes, cause apart from the presence of the vocal talent Ski (also Deadly Blessing, Altered State, Faith Factor) there’s no information about any other musicians involved. Well, the man just sang here for sure, he didn’t take care of the instrumental part (or did he?), but whoever else was involved in the recordings had done a fairly good job here since this is an admirable, appetizing slab of technically-minded power/speed/thrash that isn’t far from the more complex early-90’s demos of Deadly Blessing, and the only demo of Altered State, the band with which Ski got involved after the Deadly Blessing split-up.

In other words, we have a continuation of the loftier musical expressions from these two teams “Window to Your Soul” opening all windows and doors towards the progressive power/thrash realm with heavy steam-rolling riffs which become more and more hectic with time without breaking any speed barriers. Speed barriers maybe not, but all glass in your house will be broken by Ski’s skiing… sorry, shattering screams, the man beating Rob Halford himself in his own game with his at times over-the-top performance which even the more soothing balladic excursions on “Dark Shadows” can’t put under control, that number trying to match Ski’s vocal bravado later by becoming a frantic cavalcade of speedy riffage.

All banshees from the forest nearby will run away terrified once Ski enters “Bloodred Sin”, an awesome technical shredder which impressive riff-density and the stylish melodic leads still manage to find their way amidst the bouts of highly dramatic vocal exploits that threaten to turn into black-ish hysteria near the end. “Innocent but Fatal” finally succeeds in subduing the hellish throat being a wholesome lyrical piece Ski remaining within the acceptable, still high-pitched on occasion, confines. All roads inevitably lead to the man’s tribute to his idol with a really nice cover of “Beyond the Realms of Death” Ski impersonating the Metal God quite well on both the mournful tirades and on the soprano-like stretches, overdoing it a bit in the latter department perhaps.

Despite the vocalist’s front position all over, this doesn’t feel like a one-man show all the time as there’s definitely a strife for bigger musical expression outside the mere vocal feats although the more aggressive, also more technical moments are balanced by the more balladic ones in the second half, leaving the listener hungry for both complex and headbanging throw-ins. Well, within just above 20-min of showtime this is as much as one can get, and with Ski having obviously satisfied his passion behind the mike, this mysterious project was terminated.

Ski resurfaced towards the end of the 90’s with the classic heavy metal formation Faith Factor, but this stunt didn’t last very long as the man’s heart was obviously left with the Deadly Blessing saga which was given another chance in the new millennium with the original line-up brought together. The release of the “Psycho Drama” compilation was an adequate start also including the works of the Deadly Blessing continuation Optimus Prime (no Ski participation on it), those featured alongside the band’s 90’s demos; the ones that contained the sparkle which conflagrated this short, but worthy obliterating effort of old school metal steel.