Promo Tape '92

Shud were an old French death metal band that evolved from thrash into a more melodic and doomy style. They lasted for a few years, releasing a few demos without reaching the album stage. This promo from 1992 is their final demo, and it might be their best. Imagine something similar to early Massacra with more tempo variation, some Celtic Frost riffs (and drum patterns), and some melodic doom tropes. The results were not particularly impressive, but this band showed potential for something greater. That makes this demo worthy of a brief listen.

There are four songs, all of them lasting longer than average for death metal (between five and seven minutes). The songs vary. "Vox in Excelso" is pure death/doom, even containing some gothy vocals at the beginning. I suspect a Candlemass influence, some of the riffs and melodic choices remind me of that band. "Antithesis of Life" is more aggressive and thrashy, with none of the doom aspects. It is probably my favourite song because it is simpler and does not overreach. “Eternal Rest” is good too, being a progressive death metal track in the vein of early Atrocity (albeit less proggy).

The vocals are great. They sound like Chuck Schuldiner, maybe even John Tardy. The drumming is busy but doesn’t always connect to what the riffs are doing. This contributes to a feeling of incoherence. The band’s biggest limitation is an inability to string their good ideas together into something more meaningful. This is because the drumming is not quite at the level needed for this kind of music. Given another six months of practice, the drummer would have been able to nail these songs and the demo would have sounded much better. The production is OK, no worse than some albums from the period. The guitar tone is somewhat bland (particularly for the clean sections), but it is heavy enough.

I don't love this demo but I am interested in what this band might have sounded like with further evolution. Shud sounds like a mediocre death metal band here, but not a generic one. There are indications here that they could have risen to near-greatness. Fans of Massacra and Atrocity might still find something of interest, particularly on the final two songs.