Violence Demo - 1986

This is Vio-lence's second demo (first “official” demo, since the previous one was just a glorified rehearsal) and their first recording that features the infamous Sean Killian on vocals. The first three songs here would later re-appear on Vio-lence's first full length, Eternal Nightmare. The fourth song is Paraplegic, which was recorded under a different name in the first official demo.

The production and sound quality is a whole lot better than the first demo, but the drums can barely be heard. Like in the first demo, there are sometimes brief moments where the volume suddenly goes down, and the solos are a real pain to hear. Still, it's an improvement over the first demo.

There isn't much to be said about the music, just that 3 of these songs are rawer (and maybe a bit more fun) versions of the songs that would appear on Eternal Nightmare. Kickass riffs, over the top vocals and whatnot. This was Killian's debut with the band and he really gives the band a unique sound. The previous vocalist sounded like Show No Mercy era Araya and as a result, the music sounded different and more "evil." Killian brought a crossover flair and made the songs sound better. Just listen to the first tracks on both the demos and notice how different the overall music sounds just because of the different vocalists. The vocals are not as crazy as they would be in the debut album and they feel more controlled. Even though I love the vocals on Eternal Nightmare, I have to admit that Killian's vocals on this demo are also pretty good. If Vio-lence had the money to record an album in 1986, it would have ass-raped every other album released that year.

Not much to be said about this demo, except that it has the best riffs ever made in thrash metal history. If you like Vio-lence, you should check out this early demo.