Only Death Remains

Just when you thought that you’d found every single German technical/progressive thrash/death metal act of the-90’s including some with the silliest names around (Shit for Brains, to give one example; a pretty good band, by the way), comes this nerd, or rather maniac, literally out of nowhere and hands you over a shabby-looking, relic-smelling demo that had somehow sneaked under everyone’s radar back in those days. Needless to add, the guy warns me that the quality is “quite crappy”, but since there has only been this copy circulating in the underground, there's not much to be done about it.

Yes, the sound quality could be a real challenge, but this is one of the rare occasions when the music steam-rolls all over the sloppy production emerging victorious from the tough tussle, leaving the listener thoroughly satisfied with what he’s just heard. The other opus I recall which comes with a similar awful sound, but with extraordinary musical merits, is the Poles Acrimony’s “In Unknown Direction” (1992). The compilation reviewed here doesn’t include the band’s whole discography, though; it contains the “Only Death Remains” demo, the “Lavatory” one, and one song from the “post-production” demo. However, it very nicely represents the band’s style showing them as one of the finest practitioners from the more technical side of the genre, and respectively one of the most obscure ones.

Actually, this is so supremely technical that borders on the absurd at times; a totally unknown German trio unleashing some of the best technical thrash/death on the whole field nonchalantly, just like that; come on, it can’t be true, can it?! Well, it’s true all right, and the fans will have no choice but to sit and enjoy this otherworldly rifforama which varies from one demo to another, but always stays within the delectable confines. The “Only Death Remains” demo comprises six numbers starting with “Inquisition 2000”, a fine intricate shredder which immediately brings Invocator’s “Excursion Demise” and Baphomet’s “No Answers” to mind, but the rhythms are more elaborately embedded despite the dominant fast-pace, the only setback being the not very expressive shouty death metal vocals which create quite a bit of noise when in action.

“Nightmare Souls” begins with a doom-laden stroke, but later expect some of the most perfectly executed staccato riff-patterns this side of Pestilence’s “Testimony of the Ancients” and Gorguts’ “Erosion of Sanity” with fast precise guitar duels that will literally take your breath away at times played at the speed of light, at others calling for help pounding mid-paced, equally challenging sections those having a strong virtuoso flavour reminiscent of Toby Knapp’s “Guitar Distortion” (1993); Shrapnel is in Deathland again, and remains there till the end. “Raped Chylde” ties an untiable knot around your neck from the get-go with most stupendously complex riffs which get deciphered by the ensuing speedy assault the latter smelling full-fledged death metal, no kidding here, with lashing riffs flying from all sides remorselessly. “Body of Christ” leads the guitar pyrotechnics to their culmination producing some of the finest technical thrash/death around, the guys changing the pace at will preferring the stomping mid-tempo as a way of expression with some standout bass exploits. “Living the Lie” creeps forward in an officiant doomy fashion until a head-splitting faster passage ala Death’s “Human” breaks the idyll later alternating with more seismic motifs; still, the thunder is stolen by aggressive smattering riffs and blazing screamy leads. “Complete the Human Death” tries to complete every single human’s death with the only marginally more linear approach on the demo, the guys thrashing with gusto inserting more intricate licks here and there, but generally not getting distracted a lot from the intense mosh.

The “Lavatory” demo is just two songs “Beware of the Blast” being a dense meandering opus concentrating more on atmosphere and mood with a very active participation of the bass; and “Raining Fire” being a more dynamic headbanger the band treading deeper in death metal waters. “Wind of Pain” closes the compilation, the only cut from the “post production” demo, a brilliant atmospheric saga with plenty of jumpier moments, a consistent diverse progressiver with a speedy second half where the eccentricity reaches near-Voivod-ish proportions with surreal scratchy riff-formulas interfering at every opportunity.

Now if that wasn’t one of the most pleasant surprises of the past few years… one simply can’t get enough of these unexpected gifts from the bottomless pit that is the metal underground. The band were shredding their hearts out, blissfully unaware of how great their music sounded putting them right next to masters like Baphomet, Assorted Heap, Decision D, Invocator, Jester Beast, Pestilence, Aspid, etc., all these acts having appeared in the early-90’s to twist the classic metal canons even more, probably as a counter-reaction to the groovy/numetal tsunami. Actually, it’s in those acts of desperation that the masterpieces in the field of art become created, and the ones from the Pounding Demise camp don’t end with this compilation, I should tell you.

The “Adeptus Delicti” (1992) demo is another first-rate showing, sloppy production qualities again notwithstanding, the band even notching up the guitar pyrotechnics turning it into an exuberant display of technical mastery, 30-min of Shrapnel-like technical thrash feats that might not make much sense as separate tracks, but fans of the super-stylized metal arrangements would do no wrong tracking down this obscurity. Alas, a string of high quality demos never led to an official release in their case, and the guys turned to the dark side under the name Disorder early in the new millennium where the style changed to much more conventional black/thrash with two full-lengths and one EP released so far. That band are still active singing odes to Lucifer, but the eyes of the fanbase are fixed deeper down the underground hoping to spot more signs of ancient, pounded into oblivion remains.